Boutique - More Pictures

Here are some miscellaneous things I had for the Boutique which was held yesterday, December 6. These are two pillows I did some time ago. The fronts are pictured first and then the next picture is the backs. The yellow and pink one with yellow fringe is just a contemporary cotton print, and the back is vintage chenille. A pretty plain item, relatively speaking. The green, gold & pink pillow is made from vintage (1920's) drapery fabric I bought a couple years ago from a local linens dealer. The fringe is contemporary bullion fringe.


The back of the rectangle pillow is gold silk with lace that I dyed to match with potassium permanganate. This is my favorite one! :-)


Below are a couple totes; the first is a tourist-themed tapestry (double seamed, box-bottomed) and the second is a cotton duck print, also double seamed and box bottomed.

Then I experimented with a few different purse sizes and techniques; a denim purse, a small lace & bead-trimmed tapestry print (this was a great print of a French cafe that I used to have on my favorite chair and ottoman....) and a smallish purse of home dec fabric scraps...

And finally, below is an array of the curling iron cozies that I make. I did a tutorial for for these cozies (or "caddies") for the July 2008 issue of CQMagOnline here. The wrapped soaps were an idea that I got from Lilla; she blogged about them in November. I also had a lot of these stretch bracelets on hand, as well as miscellaneous beads, so I threw together a rainbow of bracelets.

An now a report on the Boutique. It was a disappointment, to say the least. Although there were 65 vendors and it was well advertised, we didn't have the loads of foot traffic that I've seen in Holiday Boutiques in years past. And those who did come didn't seem to be buying. Most people I saw leaving were not carrying bags or sacks.

One thing I didn't like that is was not an arts and crafts boutique per se. Rather, it was a "womens' boutique". Consequently, many of the vendors were beauty suppliers, health product vendors, importers/resellers (of junky purses, shoes and whatever), and even a vendor of sports-themed wallie-type things. Sigh.

But I did sell three of the six aprons I had on hand, some soap and some of the vintage tea towels. Made right around $100, which was disappointing. I had several pieces of CQ on hand, but not for sale. My intent was to create interest for passersby so they would stop at my table. It worked, and people in general were truly enamored with CQ.

I'm going to forget these boutiques and concentrate on Etsy and our summer Farmer's Market. I can get a Sidewalk Artist permit for an annual fee of $30 and set up my entire booth at the Market every Saturday and have ten times the traffic. I also will concentrate on strictly CQ and sewing-type things (aprons and purses and pillows) and leave out the crafty part - soaps, bracelets and altered bottles - except where I've got stuff already done that I can unload. Oh, speaking of altered bottles! I've got to get pictures of the four that I made. They didn't sell, which is OK - I'll just pack 'em away and sell them at the Farmers Market next summer....... But I want to show them to you, so I'll get pictures tomorrow and post them. Again, I got the idea from Lilla, bless her creative heart!!

And now my big goal for tomorrow (Monday) is to get my studio cleaned up and re-organized. Then I can start on two CQ blocks for a Crazily Cream round robin that I've been holding up. I can't wait to get back to stitching!!!