♦♦♦♦ Alberta Street Team CHAT THREAD for October 26 ~ Nov 1, 2015 ♦♦♦♦

[Former_Member]

Hello and welcome to the Alberta Team Chat Thread for October 26 ~ November 1, 2015. Posting here counts towards your team participation and is the main place to get up to date on what we are doing as a team!

Post your New Listings in our promo thread:
www.etsy.com/teams/5084/alberta-street-team/discuss/16866629/

Post your Treasuries or social media links here (posting in this thread counts toward your team participation):
www.etsy.com/teams/5084/alberta-street-team/discuss/16866657/

WHERE TO FIND OUR TEAM & PARTICIPATE:
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/AlbertaStreetTeam
TWITTER: twitter.com/etsyalbertateam #EtsyAB
PINTEREST: www.pinterest.com/ABStreetTeam/
INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/etsyalbertateam/ #etsyalbertateam

If you have any questions about the team or how to get more involved please contact Ann, the Team Captain, at www.etsy.com/shop/MagpieQuilts.

Previous thread:
https://www.etsy.com/teams/5084/alberta-street-team/discuss/16946548/

[Former_Member]

Two community league craft show opportunities:
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Subject: CALL FOR VENDORS - WCL "SHOP THE HALL" 2015
Do you have handcrafted items to sell this Christmas?

Calling all Westmount Residents! Do you know of any home-based businesses which specialize in handcrafted items? The 2015 edition of the Westmount Community League's "Shop the Hall" event still has room for more vendors.

Hosted by the League's Vegetable Garden Volunteers, this one-day event will take palce on Saturday, November 21 between 10am and 4pm at the Westmount Community Hall: 10970-129 Street. (The event is NOT taking place at St. Peter's Church as incorrectly published in the Autumn 2015 Westmount Window; we apologize for any inconvenience.)

If you would like more information on registering as a vendor, please contact Dianne Hopkin: hopkin@shaw.ca before November 5 for more information.

Otherwise, please mark your calendars to get a head start on shopping for the upcoming holiday season, while supporting some great local businesses
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Also on November 21st, GCL Gift and Craft Sale (GCL = Glenora Gift and Craft Sale):

...(to receive an application form, contact Stephanie Cordova, Glenorasale@shaw.ca)...the application form for the Glenora Gift and Craft Sale. Once I have received and reviewed your application, I will send a confirmation email with directions for payment. Payments can be made by EFT only. Tables are $35 if you bring your own (no larger than 8'x3' please) and $40 if you require Glenora Community League to supply you with one (6' x 30").

Tables are on a first come, first served basis, so please get your application in early. As much as possible, duplication will be kept to a minimum. For example, there will not be 2 Jamberry's. There may be some duplication as most crafters are artists and they differ greatly under the same category.

All applications must be sent in with some pictures, a website and if possible, a Facebook (or other social media) page link to be considered.

Cafe Rista will be providing a cappucino bar (and possibly a small cafe environment), there will be a 50/50 draw (proceeds split between Glenora Community League and Glenora Preschool), door prizes (please let me know if you have a product to contribute to the door prizes) and lots of customers.
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If you are interested in either opportunity, I would suggest you act quickly. Good luck!
:-)

[hopnflop]

Morning everyone! Sorry for being completely off the radar. I've had several weekends of driving back to Edmonton for birthdays and what not.

How are you guys getting ready for holiday market season? I just know I'll be up late every day going forward.

[Former_Member]

Good Monday morning; so gray and overcast outside. :-(

Going to be a busy week, and a busier weekend--Halloween and time change. Anyone have any special Halloween plans? I'm trying to talk our youngest and her boyfriend to handout candy to trick-or-treaters, but it sounds like they are thinking about going to a party somewhere instead. Still, I've got all week to make my campaign! :-)

[MagpieQuilts · Accepted solution]

Just a reminder we have a little promotion game happening here https://www.etsy.com/teams/5084/alberta-street-team/discuss/16946569/page/1

[MagpieQuilts]

I have a customer in Calgary looking for someone to make a vest for her little boy - she's a great customer, local in Calgary if anyone is interested? Message me please!

[MagpieQuilts]

This is what she wants https://www.etsy.com/listing/103652918/boys-formal-wear-rustic-ring-bearer

[WireExpressions]

Ann, I just want to say your quilt that you promoted on FB is gorgeous! I sent out a survey to find out how my pricing was for my new ornament hooks...Most of the people who know me well said..."They are too pricey" and wouldn't pay more than 2/3 what I was considering selling them for. I was discouraged too. So I set my price in between mine and theirs. I probably didn't need to based on how they are selling, because strangers are loving them and paying money to buy LOTS of them at a time. My point is, someone, the RIGHT person, will see the value in that quilt. And they will be sooo excited to buy it! I think the people who are closer to us, perhaps don't understand why we wouldn't just give it to them for free, therefore they don't see the value in the work. It's very discouraging, but you have to let it go. And don't undervalue your work because they do. And they likely aren't trying to hurt your feelings. I find people use strange language to say, "it's nice but I don't need/want it right now". See you at Chestermere!

[BlueWorldTreasures]

Its a beautiful Monday morning here in the wildlife preserve, and it's great to be able to watch the herons and egrets while working, but I really miss doing all the holiday craft shows :( I really hope that my Etsy shop does well this season to make up for it. Have a great week everyone!

[junquete]

It's a great Monday morning. Hubby is home now, picked him up an hour ago! Healthy and happy like before so I guess he's just fine now. lol
Thank you all for your kind comments.

[MagpieQuilts]

Thanks Kristi!

Yay Norma for getting to bring hubby home!

Tara - just where in the world are you????? Sound lovely!

[ArtbyAeris]

The wind is so chilly..

[Former_Member]

Norma, it's wonderful news that your husband is doing better and is now home!
((Hugs))

[Former_Member]

hello new week. we are puppy sitting a friend's Westie puppy so that means two people two dogs and a cat, and my stepdaughter comes home this weekend. it is a busy place. LOL

Kellie, I am going to be part of Shop the Hall, Dianne came to see me at On the Spot on Saturday and asked if I was interested. I have to get making more trees and paws and other ornaments.

Now I have four shows next month. whew! good thing I am not working and can work in creating instead.

Pricing, the toughest part of creating. we have to pay ourselves at least a little bit for our time, effort and materials. enough said on that always frustrating subject.

[Former_Member]

Just a quick jump in to say hi. I just picked up a "trunk show" that I'm excited about - it's at a local Senior's Lodge two weeks before Christmas. My plan is to feature the disability friendly line that I've been developing this fall, plus a section of small ticket items for stocking stuffers. This makes 4 for me in 5 weeks...

On the personal front it looks like I'll be apartment hunting after Christmas. This has been a long haul (living with the family I grew up with and left at 16 yrs of age) and I'm getting excited about being on my own again. So, if you know anyone in Calgary with an apartment or basement suite to rent after Christmas, let me know!

[Former_Member]

Phew! I thought may I was crazy for taking on so many shows! I have five shows in November and one in December (maybe two, I haven't decided if I want to attend the second one, being December and that it's an hour drive both ways).

[Former_Member]

Wow - you people taking on 4, 5 and more shows - brave! I'm just applying to two shows that will be fairly low key and I'm stressing out like mad.

It has been insane around here at my full time job, so I've unfortunately been neglecting my Etsy shops - I have 22 aprons sitting in a pile waiting to be photographed and listed - I must get them up soon, as the holiday shoppers are out! Can I have about 10 extra hours (spent at home of course) in the day please?

[Former_Member]

Megan, I have been neglecting my shop too, which is probably why I'm generating zero sales. I love creating things, but beyond that, nothing else gets done because I don't much care for the "administrative" aspects, like pricing, photographing, editing and listing the items. Which is why I have about 50-60 new pieces that I've made recently that are just laying around my house...

[MagpieQuilts · Accepted solution]

Just in case any of you is looking for another show opportunity, I just received this from Helen (Helen.read@cnty.com)

Hello Time, My name is Helen and I am the event and marketing coordinator at Century Downs Racetrack and Casino in Rocky View County just north of Calgary.
We are in the process of organizing a German themed Christmas market and are currently reaching out to vendors. Here are some details for you:
· Sunday, December 6, 2015.
· 10:00am – 4:00pm
· 8:00am-10:00am (set-up)
· It will be outside (weather permitting), or else we will have it indoors. I am currently looking into having some authentic wooden "huts" made, however this is not a guarantee at this point.
· We will be advertising the local vendors
· There will be Gluhwein Mulled Wine being sold at the craft sale
· We plan on having a skating rink and either dog or horse sleigh rides
· We will have a food donation hamper
· There will be no charge to vendors this year
Whilst doing some research, I came across your website and thought your products looked fantastic and they are something that I think would work really well at the market.
If you are interested in participating, or require further details and information, please feel free to email me back.
Have a wonderful day!

[etceterahandcrafted]

Ann, I'm getting cold just reading about the outdoor market!
We lived in Vienna for two years and thoroughly enjoyed the Christmas markets but it seldom went below -10, even at night. A little different here!

I've got 6 markets and two private parties and was even considering having a personal private party for friends and neighbours at my place. I love the markets and while I will be exhausted after, I'm exhilarated during. Last year was my first Etsy year and I didn't have a sale from the end of October until mid- February. That was discouraging but things have been steady since that blib so I'm hoping I have a better Christmas season this year. Keep tweaking those SEOs!

On a funny/interesting note: after all the talk last week about the home country preferential treatment, my third and fourth ranked countries were the UK and Australia (after the US and Canada, of course)!

[MagpieQuilts]

I wondered about the cold too - outdoor markets in December in Calgary?? Are they crazy?? I said no!

I like the idea of private parties in people's homes - would mean more space to actually show my quilts, but do you have to have insurance coverage for that? Pretty sure homeowner insurance doesn't cover that?

Anyone else do the private parties? Let us know the ins and outs, pros and cons!

[LogeePhoto]

Ann, with regards to insurance, you technically need it no matter where you are when you're representing your business. Even at a show, their insurance does not necessarily cover you as a vendor (it's an expensive and really involved process for a show to insure every vendor in addition to the show itself).

[LogeePhoto]

I just went through my stats after testing a few photos with Shop Updates a couple of days ago - there was a noticeable increase on views for those items I featured on the two Shop Updates pictures I posted.

It wasn't any more of an uptick than I normally see when someone features one of my items in a treasury, but given that it wasn't much effort (they were both images I was going to post to Instagram anyway), I could see using it more often.

I did more reading about it after I posted last week, apparently anyone who is following my shop will see the notification about a Shop Update on their home page when I post one. I don't see any on my home page, but it's possible none of the people I follow have posted one (or the updates have been lost in the feed of items favourited by people I do follow). It looks like there's no designated spot to see them in one place, which I think would be a nice feature.

[SimpleisEssential]

Jillian - Interesting to know about the Shop Update and the notification on their home page. I agree, it would be great to have a designated spot to see all the shop updates from the shops you favorite in one spot.

Last weekend I finally had some time to myself. Guess how I spent it... cleaning the house, how fun is that? Oh well, but I feel a little less crazy knowing that I've clean up a little. The shop has been busy which is a good thing, I just feel like I'm reacting to everything and not having any time to plan anything out. I feel a little all over the place.

[Former_Member]

There is a pottery sale on Nov.15th at the Triwood Community Hall in Calgary, 2244 Chicoutimi Dr.NW. Its put on by the Mount Pleasant Potters Guild. I'll be there with my lamps and there is literally tons of great pottery there. There is a lot of serious talent at North Mount - its really something to see. People line up to get in- hope they do that this year too! We set up the day before. I have been advertising it on my instagram page https://instagram.com/ceramicfixtures/