how I'm spending my winter vacation

slowly loading images dating back to 2003 on my flickr page. these are scans of color xeroxes from kinko's, so they require A LOT of editing in photoshop. mostly erasing out dark backgrounds. but I hope the work is worth it. beyond being able to share these with everyone, it's helping me to be able to see my whole body of work. especially since ideas are brewing for the new year. yippee.

end of the year

I got the last of the holiday orders shipped out at the end of last week, and things feel a lot more chill around here. over the weekend (not the best weather for being outdoors) I started organizing my photo files and uploading shots of some older pieces to flickr. it's been quite a year, and more successful than I could have dreamed. in the spring four shops that I was selling with closed. when I brought it up to people I got a lot of well wishes, but honestly it was the best thing that could have happened. I had been selling to shops on consignment since 2001, and it was time to make the transition to wholesale.

for those of you who don't know how this works, selling on consignment means that you place your items in a shop and get paid when the items sell. it's a great way for new designers to get their work shown and for smaller shops to fill their inventory and try out new designers. through working this way I've developed great relationships with store owners and have had the opportunity to see how certain items sell, tweaking and developing my line in the process.

the downside to selling on consignment is that it's time consuming. it involves contacting the store owner every few months, arranging a time to stop by, preparing new items and an inventory sheet, and bringing along active inventory sheets. while in the shop I'll go through with the owner what has sold, get paid, decide what old items I'm pulling out, and present the new collection.

over the past few years I've filled a few wholesale orders with out of town shops. It always involved sending a digital catalogue in pdf format. This again was time consuming, since the catalogue needed to be updated each time I sent a new one out. b and I both agreed that an online ordering system would streamline the process and enable me to sell my one of kind pieces at wholesale. we talked about it for probably a year before we started working on it in earnest this fall. we decided to have the launch coincide with a site redesign and update in early november.

I should mention that with the exception of april, in which I sold during the opening month at the brooklyn flea, spring and summer were very slow. I started preparing as early as I could for fall and holiday, and I'm happy to say it all worked out as planned. the night we were in the process of launching and testing the new site, an item sold before we were even finished.

thanks to everyone for a great year. I'm super excited and full of new ideas for 2009.

oh, and happy chanukah.

my favorite things

back in may, I wrote about the great t-shirts sold by laure joliet of l.a. apartment therapy and her own blog at home at home. while reading her blog last week, I found out about her amazing holiday deal and ordered three more. three hand-made screen printed t-shirts for $18 with shipping! the deal is, it's buy one medium, get two free. the dotted t runs a little large, so i gave it to b. (he said we could form an 80's pop band) the square tees have a nice loose but slim fit. laure's offering this deal till dec. 25, so get on over to her etsy shop and show some love!

gifted

monday morning quarterback

It's been a busy couple of weeks. I did two local shows within ten days of each other, one which I co-organized. And the verdict? both were very slow. But the upshot- b programmed and purchased equipment for a live sales system, which is working perfectly.

Through the the holidays, I've filled four wholesale orders, two of which were international. The retail sales on my site are off the hook. So all in all, a great holiday season- December will be my best month ever in six years of keeping records, and 2008 will be my best year. All of this in a recession year.

The reason for such a difference between the live local events and my web-based sales? (all of the wholesale purchases were initiated through the internet as well) My guess is that it's because I've been building this business on my own for the past six years, with b's help for the past year or so. I've been targeting customers and drawing them to my site, and what I'm doing seems to be working. It's taken a lot of observation, especially in the year before I launched the site in 2005. At that time I was looking at other websites to see how they were doing it, especially ones that seemed to be selling a lot! I was drawn to clean design and easy navigation, and made it a point to use those elements in my own site.

Before planning to put up a website, I had been selling on consignment in a few stores in Los Angeles, where I lived until 2004. This is where I initially learned the basics of production, selling and marketing. I used what I knew, having the confidence from strong sales in brick and mortar shops, to build the online store.

Selling at the two shows this season, I was reliant on the whims of retail buying in general, as opposed to my own specific, targeted marketing. Sales at gifted yesterday were slow for most, with a few exceptions. A maker of raw chocolate products sold out his inventory, and was able to leave early. Our neighbors to the left were doing well with wooden toys that were in the $15 to $25 range. Looking around at the other vendors, my products seemed a little high end for the show.

so that's it. a lot of energy exerted for not a lot of sales. but a great holidays season despite that fact.

this weekend in nyc

lena corwin's lineup of holiday hand made sales.

sales on molliedash items

if my jewelry is out of your budget, or if you'd just like to grab a piece of my work at a bargain price this season, there are two opportunities.

first, everything I have at sodafine has been marked down 30 to 40 percent! there are necklaces, bracelets and key chains to choose from at this darling williamsburg boutique. the neighborhood has probably a dozen new shops that have sprung up in the past month, so it's worth hopping on the L train and getting over there to take a look.

if you can't make it to brooklyn,(too bad!) there is always the internet. I did so well with the first round of goods I sold on clothes-pin's sample sale that I've sent her some more. Look for new items by the beginning of the week today!

mildly amusing

possibly the first time a piece of my jewelry has been compared to an 80's pop song.

next up: brooklyn flea gifted

Next Sunday, December 14, I'll be selling at gifted, an indoor holiday market sponsored by the brooklyn flea and time out new york. The event is taking place in the Masonic Temple, across the street from the regular Brooklyn Flea at Bishop Laughlin High School. (haven't you always wanted to see the inside of a Masonic Temple?) Click on the above image for a larger view.

***as an extra incentive and thank you to local customers, all items will be "tax included," meaning no tax for you! and...thanks to my superstar in-house IT wizard b, I'll be accepting Visa, Mastercard, Amex, and Discover.

envirobling

I was interviewed for a piece in the Canadian Newspaper National Post. Read the article in their online edition here.

don't forget

subtEranneAn is tomorrow evening!

Please note: the address is 275-A Degraw St., right near the corner of Court St.

the lineup includes:

Ai Ai Gasa: clothing and jewelry made from repurposed umbrellas!
Bearhead Factory: jewelry inspired by relics and medals of honor
Better Than Jam: modular clothing pieces made from hand-printed fabrics
Box 185: wearable art that inspires fun, flirtation and sex appeal
Rebecca Burstein: accessories
Imme Industries: dance-inspired styles that go from the studio to the street
Bobbi Kim: cozy hand knit hats and scarves
Heidi O'Donnell
Deborah Rice Designs: hand melted organic forms with geometric motifs in matte metals
Sumie Tachibana: clothing that meticulously balances contrasting themes, such as masculinity and femininity
Umsteigen: revitalized hoodies, tanks & sweatshirts, blown up into playful works of wearable art.

For my part, I'll be selling a new item within my collection- refrigerator magnets! they're made from vintage earrings, cuff links and other parts, and come in sets of 3-4. all of my work will be "tax included," meaning it's on me! Each vendor will handle her own sales, and I will be accepting Visa/Mastercard.

come on down to cobble hill and party.

win today

Women's Health Magazine's online sweepstakes WIN TODAY offers a different prize each day for the month of December, and one grand prize at the end of the month. On December 10 the prize is a molliedash ensemble- necklace, bracelet and key chain. Click here to view the month's prizes, and be sure to enter the sweepstakes on December 10!