No Strings Attached

Or don’t under sell yourself. Your time and talent is worth something.

Something to think about, minimum wage in the United States ranges from $5.25 in Minnesota to $8.67 in Washington with most states around $7.25 per hour. Not a whole lot of money but if it takes you 4 hours to make something and you price it at $20.00 then you aren’t even making the minimum in Minnesota and you aren’t even taking materials costs into account.

Pricing should be a simple formula time + materials cost = price. But there are so many factors that are in there. Can you figure out how long it takes you to make one of something or do you do things in sets? If you do things in sets then divide the total amount of time to make the objects by the number of objects to get the amount of time you should charge for one. Is there drying time before you can do the next step in the project?

Trying to break down exactly how long it takes you to make something is not an exact science so we tend to ballpark how long it takes to make something. I know it takes me 4 hours to make a basic puppet from cutting fabric to final product with eyes and hair.

I know that my materials cost is approximately $10 to 14 per puppet including hair and eyeballs. The fabric is ½ a yard of fleece and ½ a yard of fuzzy fleece which is about 8 dollars not on sale and about 6 on sale. Half a long feather boa is 2 dollars when on sale and about 3 when not. Ping pong balls run about 25 cents a piece. Velcro is about 20 cents a patch. Rhinestones are about 5 cents a stone when not on sale but a bag can last you a while.

So we have (4 hours X $7.25 (since I live in New York)) + $10= $39 per puppet for a basic puppet which I should round up to $40.


(For the VI: This is a picture of two puppets I call Phluzzies. The one on the left has a blue head and arms with a lighter fuzzy blue tube shaped body. The hair on top is a blue fuzzy boa. On top of the head are two ping pong balls with black Velcro circles in the middle of the ball and a single blue rhinestone in the middle of the Velcro. The puppet on the right has a yellow head and arms with a shaggy red body. The hair on top is a red fuzzy boa. On top of the head are two ping pong balls with black Velcro circles in the middle of the ball and a single red rhinestone in the middle of the Velcro.)

However I tend to sell these puppets for between 20 to 30 dollars per puppet at conventions because that is what the market will bear. So I am selling them at a bit of a loss for my time. I will not sell for less than materials.

Don’t undervalue what you do because once the price is set then trying to raise the price can be very hard to do. I found that out with the phluzzies. I didn’t take my time into account before pricing them and now people expect them to be 20 to 30 dollars depending on materials.

I am grateful for being paid a living wage for a puppet along with materials.

Yes, it is Tuesday and I am talking about the creative process, art and crafting.

But first I hope everyone who is celebrating today does so in a safe fashion. This day can get pretty crazy in some cities in the world.

On the To Do List for me this week.

Top Priority are those post cards made out of Fabric. I am going to get a bunch done on that today. I have the materials I need now just design, cut and sew.

Next is sorting out the calendar with a new added component since I need to fill out my application for the DragonCon Art Show. And you have to show current work. My photos are more set up for recording what I made rather than juried art show.

I also have a Steampunk Doll, a Rabbit, and a re-furbish on the Weird Sisters to do for various doll conferences and swaps and I need to see what the time-table is on these.

And I have this feeling that I am forgetting something in the back of my head.

Some Random Thoughts on Crafty Stuff

Not a particular topic this week. I am still getting my brain back from vacation.

But if you have something you want me to talk about, please tell me. I am still feeling my way through this.

This week Caroline has a project for school that has a crafty part. We have worked out how this is going to be done. Now I am working on how she can do it rather than me. I have more skills and practice but this needs to be her project. She needs to make a mask of a Leopard Seal that will be part of or attach to a paper plate. I figure I’ll make her a template that she will use to make her seal head.

Sometimes deconstructing how you do something so you can teach it to someone else can be very hard. You know how you do it but stop and think how you would explain to someone else how to do it. When writing up a set of instructions or a pattern, you have to think that the person trying to recreate what you did doesn’t have you right there to explain what you meant so you need to make sure that you don’t need to be there for the instructions to work.

Depending on the level of instruction, you can assume some basic knowledge. Like a dress pattern assumes that you know basic sewing skills along with basic measurements and some math. So if it is an advanced knitting pattern, you can assume that the person has the basic stitches down along with how to read the pattern. If there is some new stitch or tricky turn that is not normal, you probably explain that with more detail than the basics.

Trying to teach someone how to do what you do can be hard but it also can be very rewarding. Passing knowledge on especially for crafts that are not done as often (like tatting) is very important because it is part of our collective heritage.

I am grateful to my teachers over the years that have shared their knowledge with me so I can share it with others.

A week from Friday is Farpoint. I have a lot to do between now and then. This week I managed to get a majority of Caroline’s costume done and a part of Ariel’s

So we get into how many hours do I have left and how many of those hours can I devote to the projects and how much is everything else that need to be done.

The postcards are on the back burner for the time being.

I have a few things I have to shop for to complete the looks I am creating. Once I have those items, the costumes will be pretty much a snap.

Here is how I am looking at the next couple of days. Mondays are not great days to get things done due to all the other things I do.

Today-Make a list of missing pieces and go and get them

Tomorrow-Finish the headpiece for Caroline’s costumes and sew either snaps or Velcro to get the pieces to fit together. Finish Ariel’s tunic which is taking a little longer than I thought it would and her wig is going to be a two to three day project but it can be done in between other projects.

Thursday-Continue Wig. Start doll 1,2,3. And Ship since I have permission from one of the creators to make one.

Friday-Finish all costume pieces and clean up.

Saturday and Sunday-Wig finishing and doll making

Monday-My busy day in the real world

Tuesday-I hope to be at clothing the dolls having painted them on Sunday/Monday (and do another Crafty Tuesday with an update)

By next Wednesday I want to be basically done so I can spend the next two days getting ready for the convention.

So that is my time management plan for the next week or so.

I am grateful to be able to see my pieces of lawn again without snow on top.

Since there has been some interest in my idea for a crafty entry once a week so I thought I would give it a try.

But I would like to know what you the reader would be interested in my talking about.

I figured I would talk about current projects I am working.

I thought I might do some how to or short cuts I have learned for various things.

I thought that I would put up pictures of things I am currently working on.

I could talk about how I go about the process of building something.

I could talk about past projects.

I could do in progress pictures.

Current Projects
(or what I want to get done this week)

1. The puppet bodies for the school puppet production of the tales of Anansi.
This will be 8 bodies total and I need to see what scraps of kente cloth I have so the kids can make costumes for their puppets. I have a standard hand-puppet pattern I use with a few tweeks for smaller hands.

2. The Beginnings of the costumes for Farpoint. I have done most of my visual research. Now I need to find the right colors of cloth and make sure I have the right stuff for the accessories.

3. Do 10 cloth postcards and send them out to the postcard swap I joined. I am still doing some research as to how to make postcards out of cloth. I figure at 10 a week, I’ll be able to get this project done before Farpoint.

4. Plot out the steampunk critters I want to do next and cogitate on the one human one I need to do without a stand.

So those are my goals to have done by next Tuesday.

And again I am looking for input from y’all.

I am grateful for input.