Life update....

So it's been a while since I opened up about my recent struggles so I thought I would give you an update on where I am at the moment and what I've been up to....

I have been told I'm brave for opening up but believe me I don't feel brave! The good news is therapy has started and I'm starting to understand myself better and the route of my problems, it's a journey but I'm on the right road to recovery. Thank you to everyone who reached out to offer their best wishes and virtual hugs, I really appreciate your support and understanding.  I have been touched by the personal messages where others have opened up and have shared their emotional battle scars with me. 

The risk with blogs and social media is that everyone looks like their life is fabulous but I hope I have showed that everyone can have a bad day/week/month/year but not everyone will want to share it and that's fine. My blog is supposed to be a happy, crafty place and I wouldn't usually choose to share something so personal but I hope I have helped others in some way, even if it is to realise they are not alone and that there is help out there. 

If there is one thing I have learnt it's not to compare my life and success based on the highlights of others on social media. So if you are having a bad time of it, don't think you are the only one and everyone else is living the high life, the truth is you don't know what is going on behind the computer screen.

So what else have I been up to....
Although I've been quiet on here I have been doing crafty stuff, I've been working in No3 Royston and focusing my production to replenish my stock in there. I was pleased I was able to attend the Royston Craft fair that I had booked.  If you are a regular reader you know this is a favourite of mine.  I've made great friends and it is a good excuse to catch up with other crafters as well as promote the shop.

I had a lovely day out on an Art Deco Photowalk, organised by the talented Kate of Made By Mrs M. There were 6 of us, I only knew Laura (of Bugs and Fishes) who I've met up with before on fun days out and it was lovely to meet the others. 

I had a great time meeting new people, looking at tube stations in a different way as well as getting to practice with my DSLR camera on manual. I'm pretty pleased with some of the photos. I just need to go through them all now. Don't worry I will be sharing them in a post soon, but here's a taster....

In other news....

Meet Jenson, the newest addition to fizzi~jayne's HQ! 

He's been with us for nearly 7 weeks now and he's the most lovable pup, even when he's naughty! He's called Jenson because he's cute as a button (like the racing driver!) and he's an F1 Cockapoo! He even has his own Instagram account and at this rate he will be more popular than me on there. He has been a welcome distraction and been keeping me busy. 


I've made him a toy by upcycling an old fleece jumper....

I can hide treats in it as well for him to find.

What's planned for the future....

The plan for the next couple of months is to work part-time hours and focus on getting ready for Christmas.  I have been planning ideas for my blog and will be working on new posts in the next few weeks.  

This time out has helped me to take a step back and given me the space to think about how I want to develop creatively. Hopefully I will soon be in a much better place soon and ready to take on the festive season as well as anything else the world has to throw at me!

fizzi~jayne x

a life update....

It's been a while since my last post so I thought I would give you an update on what has been going on behind the scenes.  Part of the reason for my lack of updates on here has been to do with being struck down by winter bugs, nothing too serious but I started with one bug which made me no good for anything other than wrapping up in the duvet and feeling sorry for myself and then as soon as I got over that I got struck down again! Hopefully that is me done with the winter bugs for this year at least! The upside was I got to watch the first two seasons of Homeland!

Thankfully I was well enough to celebrate my birthday and I went to see one of my favourite bands, Garbage and they were amazing, I had the best birthday. It was their 20 year anniversary tour, which makes me feel old as I saw them live on their very first tour! 

I've spent the rest of the time (when I've not been ill) keeping on top of orders, as well as making stock for No3 and the craft fairs I have booked. Unfortunately I had to drop out of the Little Fox Market this month due to illness which I was gutted about but I will be back there again before Christmas. I couldn't have picked a busier month to be out of action. I was well enough to do the two other craft fairs that I had booked for November and I got into the festive spirit with a range of Christmas decorations which have been popular.

My Stall at the Royston Craft Fair

My stall at the Radlett Winter Fair

Whilst I have been catching up there are a lot of things that are on my to do list that haven't happened, like keeping on top of my plans for this blog and keeping my online shop up to date. I started to beat myself up about this but there is not much I can do, I'm a one woman band. So once I stopped feeling sorry for myself, I started to plan 2016 whilst wrapped up in the duvet. Thinking about next year made me feel more positive and excited about what I have planned, but more about that in the new year! I hope in the meantime you won't be too upset with me if I'm a little sporadic on here until the end of the year whilst I get back on track with everything but I hope that normal service will resume soon.

Until the next time, I thought I would leave you with a bit of fun.  You may have seen the latest tag game on Facebook - 7 favourite songs over 7 days. A friend of mine nominated me to do this. Music is always playing in the craft den whilst I work and I love going to live gigs so I thought it would be fun to share my favourite songs with you as well....

Day 1 - Vow by Garage

As I went to see Garbage live recently, for day 1 I picked my favourite song from their first album....

Day 2 - Best of You, Foo Fighters

My favourite song by another awesome band who I've seen live more times than I can remember... (I love to rock!)

Day 3 - Great Things, Echobelly

Today's favourite was some motivation to do Great Things....

This is another band I saw live back in the 90s

Day 4 - Things Can Only Get Better, D:Ream

By this point I was in my sick bed so to cheer myself up here is my 4th song....

Day 5 - Chasing Cars, Snow Patrol.

This was our first dance at our wedding....

I've seen these live too in the amazing venue of the Royal Albert Hall.

Day 6 - Two More Years, Bloc Party

It would have been our first dance had it not been about getting over a break up!

I've not seen them live but would like to.

Day 7 - Keep the Faith, Bon Jovi

For my final song I have chosen a great anthem by Bon Jovi. This was the first album of theirs I bought many years ago and I have seen them live so many times since then!

I hope you have enjoyed this little insight into what I listen to in the craft den, what are your favourite songs?

fizzi~jayne x

How to price your handmade products....

One of the great things about the Royston Craft Fair are the friendships I've made with the other stall holders and the support we give each other.  We meet up once a month to chat about selling our crafts, sharing advice and tips.  I was asked to lead October's chat on pricing, which is a difficult subject for many crafters and artists so I thought I would share it with you all on here....

Pricing top tips....

There are 3 factors which are critical to pricing calculations

1. Costs

Don’t forget to include all of your costs:

• Materials
• Tools used. These will need to be replaced or upgraded at some point.
• Rent
• Services, including electricity, gas, phone and other bills
• Travel
• Products used in giveaways
• Website costs
• Stationery & marketing materials i.e. business cards, printer cartridges
• Fees, i.e. PayPal, Etsy, Craft Fair charges
• Packaging
• Waste. This includes supplies used and items produced that are not suitable for sale.

Some costs are easy to calculate whereas others will need to be split over all your products and taken into account.  One way to do this is to calculate your overhead cost per month and then split the results across the average number of products you expect to sell per month.  I personally add a percentage to my cost.

2. Don’t forget your time!

You need to know how long it takes to make each product and how much you expect to be paid per hour.  You can include this in your price or break down your costs and charge your time separately for a bespoke piece.

3. Profit 

As a business you need to make a profit in order to grow and continue running as a business, so add a profit margin.  There is no set figure to which to work this out.  Deciding upon your profits is a balance between what you want to achieve and what you can realistically charge.

An example of a formula for calculating a price

For a retail price if you are only selling to the customer =
Costs + time + profit (+VAT if applicable)

If you are selling wholesale the retail price is calculated =
(Costs + time + profit) *2 (or 2.4 if you need to apply VAT)

Selling wholesale may not be possible at first.  It might be that, in time, as your sales and production volumes increase, your costs per unit fall, creating a bigger profit margin which then allows you to sell to retail.

Only use this formula as a guide. Do not rely on it as if it is not the right price, especially if it’s the lowest possible price.  You also need to take into account the following....

Know your Competition

Research what others on Folksy/ Etsy/ NOTHS sell similar items for and noting the advantages they offer the customer.

It’s not just about price but the value you give to your customer.

Know Your Target Market

What you are willing and able to pay for a product may differ vastly from your target market’s budget.  By knowing your customer you will be more confident in setting a price based on what they are willing to pay.

Independent creative businesses have an edge over bigger, impersonal companies. Your prices should reflect that specialness, value, personal connection and craftsmanship.

What if I am too expensive?

• Pitch to a more expensive market.
• Change your product to add value. People are prepared to pay a little extra for something unique.
• Source cheaper supplies and/or buy in bulk.
• Invest in tools or use a different technique to speed up production.

Experiment

Your handmade products are unique and require a unique price so you do not have to follow a formula. Test your price, assess what people have been paying in your online shop, test prices at craft fairs and try to see how your work is perceived at that price and whether it sells. If your work doesn’t sell, people don’t see its value as being in line with its price. I have heard from other crafters who have sold more of their product after increasing their prices, due to the perception of the quality of the product.  For many people 'cheap' equals rubbish. Is that how you want your business to be perceived?

Once people get used to a set price they are generally unhappy if prices increase.  As a result, it is better to start at a higher price and lower your prices.

I hope you have found this useful and if you have any further tips on how to price your products please leave a comment.

fizzi~jayne x

August Craft Fair and fizzi~jayne makes.... first stockist!

I had one craft fair in August which was at one of my regular and favourite fairs in Royston.  

Even though it was prime season for everyone to be away on holiday we still had more footfall than I expected. I think that is down to the hard work of the organiser and the local support we get, which is brilliant.

I was also excited to see the new No3 Royston. If you follow me on Facebook and Twitter you may have seen my excitement about No3, it is a new independent shop opening in Royston by the same organiser of the craft fairs. I am thrilled that a range of my products will be available in the store when it opens on 5th September!!

I am sooooo excited to be a part of this venture which is supporting small creative businesses and can't wait to see everyone else's handmade products on the shelves. 

If you are local I hope you can pop by when it opens, you can find the shop at 3 Melbourn Road, Royston, Hertfordshire, SG8 7BP.  The shop will be closed on fair days as it’s only a short distance to the Town Hall where I will be joining the other crafters from the shop.

I now have a busy and exciting week making stock ready for the launch!

New shop opening on 5th September at 9:30am!

fizzi~jayne x

April Craft Fairs....

I'm now in full swing with spring craft fairs, during April I went to two fairs....

First was New Milton....

I attended this one twice last year and it was one of the successes of 2014.  It was also a good excuse to see my parents and visit the beach.

A trip to Mudeford Beach

The tables seemed larger than usual and I was really worried about the space on my table so I had to be clever with my display, what do you think?

There are a lot of crafters in the area that came to the event so I had a lot of fun conversations taking about craft techniques and took the opportunity to plug this blog (if I met you at New Milton, Hi! *waves*). 

Sales weren't great but I have ideas for new products in the future and people signed up to my newsletter. (Some exciting news coming in the next 2 weeks!!).

The following weekend I was at Royston....

I love Royston, it is such a well organised event by Laura from Kozmic Dreams.  She is so passionate and has worked so hard promoting the event and managed to get featured in local press.  The Mayor came along and spent time taking to all the stallholders, it was lovely to meet her.

There is a good variety of stalls and I was opposite the tea room, Vintage Allsorts, which serves tea in vintage teapots and cups. 

Of course after staring at the cupcakes all day I did have a snickers one and it was delicious!!

From June it will be monthly, unfortunately I can't make the June and July dates so I will be back there in August and every month until the end of the year.

I'll be back at the Little Fox this month and you can see all the craft fairs I have booked for the year here.

fizzi~jayne x

Psst.... if you would like to sign up to my monthly newsletter, click here.

Christmas craft fairs....

It's been a crazy few weeks, well it is that time of year! I had my last craft fair on 6th December and I've been finishing lots of orders plus a winter bug came to visit me (I don't have time to be ill!). Anyway, this post isn't about 'poor me' and what a bad blogger I've been for not popping by to say "Hi" recently, I want to show you the photos from the craft fairs I did in November and December....

My stall at Royston before opening

Royston was a new one for me. It was the second one that was organised by the lovely Laura from Kozmic Dreams and she did a fabulous job organising and promoting it. There were two floors of handmade goodness. It was a busy and successful day with lots of visitors.  It was a friendly and upbeat atmosphere. Laura is looking to do more, I hope she will and she'll have me back!

Everyone getting ready at Royston

My stall at the Radlett Winter Fair 2014

The Radlett Winter Fair was another new one for me and was a very festive affair with Santa and his reindeer. 

A real Reindeer!

We had singers on the stage behind my stall getting everyone in the festive mood, although it was hard to talk to customers at times!

I've been back to The Little Fox Market in Rickmansworth, twice.

The soup was yummy!

I'm usually opposite The Maverick Kitchen, her cupcakes are sooooooooo delicious. The Little Fox is not good for my waistline!

Not everyone appreciated the countdown!

My coasters have been popular, making perfect stocking fillers and Secret Santas

I like this photo I took of my Reindeer Christmas Decoration

Having been to a few craft fairs now I'm starting to see familiar faces and make friends.

This year has been all about trying different craft fairs and I think I have found some really good ones to focus on next year.  Expect to see me back at the Little Fox in Rickmansworth and New Milton Craft fairs.  I hope there will be more in Royston and Radlett too.  Due to the success of bespoke orders this year which has been unexpected, but fantastic, my online shops have been negelected. I will need to give these some TLC and I'll be relaunching my shops with new and exciting products in 2015. 

I'm now finishing off the last custom order and I'll hopefully finish my Christmas gifts I'm making in time!

Are you ready for Christmas?

fizzi~jayne x

Psst.... My Etsy and Folksy shops will be closed from Friday 19th December 2014 until 29th December 2014 so I can take a much needed break and enjoy family time.  I may not be taking orders or making new products but I will be popping up here and on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter so please come and say hello!