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Post by felicity on Jul 27, 2021 10:59:16 GMT
If you meant art cooperatives or shops where you rent a shelf or wall space, it varies very much. Low commission may mean high rent or long hours to work in a shop or slow sales in general. Usually when considering such options I try to calculate general commission percentage - see the example: say, rent is £20, sale commission 10%. If your sales are around £200 monthly, the expenses are 20% approx. which is very good from my point of view. But if you are doing hours you need to count this as well and it's very personal, depending on how busy you are, how far is the shop, family commitments etc. The trick is to find what suits you best. Usually rented space is small or not very suitable for exhibiting textile pieces especially if you want to display a variety. Also often you sign a contract for a few months and can't withdraw even if sales are poor. Check this before sign. There are very quiet periods (depends on location) but you still have to pay rent. My experience with such arrangement (rent+commission+hours) was not good eventually but I met a lot of nice people and made a few friends. If there is no fixed term in contract it's easy to try and see. Time from September onwards is the best.
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Post by felicity on Jul 27, 2021 8:29:20 GMT
Hi Caterina! I live in York UK and have tried all the options above and more ! - shops and small galleries. Commissions vary from as little as 25% to as high as 45%. Obviously low commission means slow turnout and rare sales and the other way around - good sales and high commission. - art/craft collectives. I had to pay rent, commission on sales and to man the shop - all three of them. This option works well for those who can produce a lot of identical/similar products. I am not selling with them any more. - online sale. I run ETSY shop for about 6 years and it worked well for me but with endless lockdowns, shipping delays, postal expenses and now Brexit - it's dormant at the moment. - art/craft events/shows. This is what I am focused on at the moment. A few events in a year with a variety of locations and audience. It allows me to try different things and see where public interest is and then work from there. And I feel more in control this way. I agree with the opinions above that you need to try everything before you find what works for you.
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Post by felicity on Jan 17, 2021 13:00:04 GMT
It's a great idea Ruth and it could be a very useful resource. My opinion is that breed and micron are the main factors which define the result and I usually consider them when decide on the choice of wool. But another important point is the way the wool was felted and to what level of firmness etc. It's much more difficult to make the samples consistent in way of felting but it could change the appearance of the sample significantly. Unfortunately I work with merino mainly and a bit of Blue Faced Leicester and Bergschauf. But I can make samples of Kap merino and 16 mic merino which are not that commonly used I believe.
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Post by felicity on Dec 21, 2020 16:53:42 GMT
Paid. Thank you Ruth!
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Post by felicity on Dec 15, 2020 16:24:38 GMT
Any month please Ruth !
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Post by felicity on Oct 13, 2020 11:00:32 GMT
Thank you Lindsay!
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Post by felicity on Sept 26, 2020 16:59:24 GMT
I stand. Actually I stand mostly in wet felting, but sit if I need to needle felt a bit or similar fiddly parts. The same as Karen.
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Post by felicity on Sept 24, 2020 19:24:34 GMT
As I have a large eucalyptus tree in my garden my "ears" pricked up at Antje's post. I googled it and came up with this site www.fiberartsy.com/eco-printing-eucalyptus-leaves/ Some very useful articles on this site, but what interested me was the fact that you can print eucalyptus leaves onto wool as well as silk. Lots of wonderful ideas. I hope that Galina will do us a post on her methods. The scarves look beautiful. Ann Eco printing is a universe in itself Eucalyptus is the most popular plant in eco-printing because it can produce the most unusual colour - orange! The technique is not mine, unfortunately ! I wish! It was a tutorial, a very good one.
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Post by felicity on Sept 24, 2020 8:33:10 GMT
Thank you Ann and Antjie! From my understanding, India Flint has been the protagonist of this technique and the originator of eucalyptus 'eco-printing' starting well over a decade ago. I have heard both terms used but my thinking is as follows....'eco-printing' describes the process of non chemical colours being used therefore ecological, whereas ‘botanical printing' immediately conjures up using leaves & vegetation to create the print. It is the same process, but to members of the general public not in the know about this process ‘botanical printing' is far more descriptive. I hope my thoughts help. It's always tricky with naming "Eco-print" technique of India Flint and her followers doesn't use chemical colours, it's true, but they use a lot of mordant of different kinds. Some may consider it being not that ecological as claimed. But "eco-print" is a brand name and I would like to avoid any association with it. The technique I use is not my invention (may be nobody's in particular), I've learned it from a tutorial. It uses a silk dye (manufactured) and leaves. Some leaves give out their natural pigments (sometimes very surprising colours!) and some just shape, so it's monochromatic mainly and it does restrict designs. I think I will stick with "botanical", it's a wide term and does reflect the essence of a technique. Thank you very much for your thoughts ladies!
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Post by felicity on Sept 23, 2020 17:20:47 GMT
Thank you Marilyn, it's very rewarding and less effort than felting requires
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Post by felicity on Sept 23, 2020 16:27:29 GMT
Thank you Lyn! Really enjoyed making them even with somewhat unpredictable result
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Post by felicity on Sept 23, 2020 15:30:36 GMT
I am trying a new technique which generally speaking is printing, using silk fabric, silk dyes and various leaves as stamps. Then fix it in a steam bath. Simple, but effective, in my opinion at least. I've found it as a refreshing change from felting for a while The question is: has it got a proper name, like eco-printing has? I've seen someone called it "botanical print", which looks appropriate to me but not sure if it's an established name. As a very new in "printing" I could get it wrong. I need it to refer in my Facebook post and possibly in ETSY listings if I decide to put them in a shop. Any thoughts on a subject and on a technique in general are very welcome.
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Post by felicity on Jun 23, 2020 22:14:30 GMT
Honestly, I do not think it worth such amount of money! May be for somebody who produce and sell a lot as a production line And I'm sure it can be find cheaper. This one (see the link) is 60cm x 60 cm and costs £32. The disadvantage of the box is that it's tricky to make a styled scene with it. It's too small for it even a large one. £15 was the price and it was OK for the purpose, not more than that. I try to dissuade you to spend these money
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Post by felicity on Jun 22, 2020 9:28:16 GMT
Thank you Judith! I believe a year ago (or two? The days blurred ) there was an advert on Facebook, but that box was too small and too expensive. After a bit of search I've found a proper size at reasonable price. Just Google "foldable lightbox studio". "Mini" is too small, fits just for jewellery items, I think.
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Post by felicity on Jun 21, 2020 16:47:38 GMT
Thank you Lyn! It could be made flat (which I rarely do) and its size matches the size of my items. Not sure about a scarf or a large bag. Most important for me that it has in-build light. I do not have space for a studio (would love to have one ) so it's good enough at the moment. My box is "medium" size and cost me £15.
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