Clutch-Me.Com

Urgent Matter: Shop to CLOSE temporarily Oct. 26th!

I want you all to know first that the shop will close from Oct. 26th and will re-open November 17th.  This is the first time I’ve ever closed the shop but the reason is dire and I want to let you all know why.

LAST day for orders will be Oct. 25th.

Here’s why:

For those of you who’ve been with me these many years, you all have heard that “I come from a long line of great women.”  And none so great as my maternal Grandmother.  You may also know that I relocated to Viet Nam earlier this year due to my husband’s job.  My sisters, Thy and Y, have done all the operational aspects of the shops, WhileBabyNaps for fine purse frames and PurseFramesOutlet for upcycled purse frames.

Since our relocation in July, I’ve also spent this time to visit my Gram who is in very ill health and has remarkably worsened in the last 3 weeks.  She has lived a great life and we are trying to make her comfortable in her last days.  In this coming week, I have family coming from the US to visit her one final time.  Thy, who has been inspecting and shipping out your orders and doing all the convos and custom listings, will leave her own family to come here to see our Gram.  There’s been a lot of scurrying to get passports, plane ticket$, and visas.  We expect this to be the final goodbye and eventual funeral as our Gram’s condition continues to deteriorate.

I’ve been visiting her every day that I can and bringing my kids to see their Great Gram.  Here’s a pic of my oldest, 9 year old Ethan taking a little snooze next to his 98 year old Great Gram.

My friend said "It's like he's passing his young energy to her to sustain her."

Our Grandmother was the best.  She raised 6 kids and survived both my Grandfather and one child, our mother.  As is in Vietnamese tradition, she also raised all of the grandkids, including my sisters and I.  All 3 of us used to sleep with her on the same bed.   She was the one who fed us, clothed us, spanked us, hugged us, raised us, and loved us.  Since we lost our mother while we were still little, she really was our own mother for many years.  So it’s with much sadness that this amazing woman will have to leave us, but we are all comforted in knowing that she will be going to a better place.

It’s through her and stories of our paternal Grandmother as well, that we all are such strong women ourselves.   As per my previous posts, there is a reason why my business motto for WhileBabyNaps is not “The Finest Purse Frames Ever” or something to do with the products, it’s “Putting Women in Business”.  And I am sure I get that from being borne to an amazing line of women on both sides.

So in order for us to fulfill your orders in time and not over-promise, we will close the shop and our expected re-open date is November 17th.  If Thy gets back sooner then we will let you know and will re-open the shop at that time.

As far as those with Custom Orders and still unshipped orders for the nickel-free frames that I just had produced, they will be shipped out to you as soon as they come in and we expect them to come in late this week or early next week.  My other sister Y, who does the PurseFramesOutlet business is flying from FL to OH to help take care of Thy’s 2 boys and inspect and ship those outstanding orders immediately upon inspection.  All orders submitted by Oct. 25th will be shipped out to you prior to Thy’s departure.

During this time, you can still send me convos and emails.  I will work every evening to answer any questions you may have.

For those of you wanting to place an order during shop closure knowing that it will not be shipped until Nov. 17th, please email me or convo me.  We can accommodate customers who have ordered with us before since you know we will fulfill what we promise and there’s an established level of trust. 

I hope that closing the shop will allow us to focus on family at this critical time.  I also hope that the decision in closing the shop and losing out on more than half of our monthly sales shows you our commitment to fulfill only what we know we can deliver.

I do apologize if this shop closure is in any way an inconvenience to any of you.  I know – fully – that you depend on our shop for your own businesses, and this decision was not done lightly.

Please stay tuned and I will keep you in the loop on the latest production, inventory restocking, and any updates.

Thank you all,

Winn

October 24, 2011 Posted by Thy K | WhileBabyNaps General Updates | 2 Comments

Get your hands on this: exemplary craftsmanship in clutches.

I run across thousands of clutches of every shape, size, and style.  I can spot good craftsmanship like an eagle can spot a field mouse.  And as someone who teaches other women the skill to make clutches so that they can make some income, I have always had the newbies start with the larger clutches as that scale is easier for novices.  As many of you know, the smaller the scale, the more precise you have to be.  You don’t have that much room to be off on your measurement, cutting, seam allowance, or sewing.  Sometimes, you are just “all thumbs”!  🙂

Many of you have purchased my 3×1.5 purse frames to make coin purses.  This allowed you to:

*expand your product line offering

*capture potential sales by offering a lower price point in your shop

*use small bits of beloved fabric leftover from bigger clutches to make a complimentary product

And you all know full well how much of a challenge this size and scale can be to make.  This, I believe, really shows where you are in the skill development of your craft.

So can you see how thrilled I was when I ran across one of these amazing coin purses showing what I believe to be one of the best displays of craftsmanship.  In one of our many convos (I sure can talk a lot, can’t I?), I mentioned to her how much I really admired her craftsmanship.  Only after I looked at her purchase history did I realize that she had started earlier this year with my $8 PDF tutorial, some glue, and a few frames!  *beaming*

Let’s take a look at the work done by Wendy at ByMyTouch.Etsy.com:

Wendy also makes bigger clutches and you can also see her fine handwork on these as well!  🙂

What makes Wendy’s work even more impressive is her story.  Wendy does all this meticulous work all the while living with Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.  

I was even more amazed by her after being reminded of this.  (I had forgotten her bio as I have lots of customers … and everyone changes their thumbnail pics all the time!)  I was so inspired after our string of convos that I wanted to bring her work, her shop, and her story to you so that you can get that spark you may need.  We all can get in a rut, even doing things that we love.  And sometimes it takes something, or someone, to inspire us to do more, to do better, to move forward with vigor and joy.  Wendy is that person.  If you are not inspired by her, you are dead to me.  1/2 joking here … 😛

Here is our Q&A.  You will find that she is a good writer as well!  Geez- what can’t she do??  🙂

Q: What is fibromyalgia? What is CFS?

I’ve had Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome for 9 years and over time I was unable to work and had to close my Landscape Design business eventually becoming unemployable. It has been a long and often difficult journey towards wellness and I have now seen over 40 specialists which is not unusual for those of us with an ‘invisible illness’, so called because you can’t see what’s wrong just by looking at me – I probably look the picture of health!

Fibromyalgia is different for everyone. For me it has meant a base level of pain all the time, mainly in my neck and head which makes looking down at my sewing or cutting fabric very difficult some days. It causes a lot of severe migraines, light and sound sensitivity which are impossible to push through – if I try to I can end up spending (losing) 2-3 days in bed so I try to pay attention and just accept that I can’t do that today, but tomorrow might be better. During a bad ‘flare up’ where the symptoms get much worse, I will hurt all over – my face, my joints, my whole body except for my nails pretty much! During those times which can last for several weeks, it can be very hard to work and if I try I only make the symptoms worse. The trick to it is to be as productive as possible, without overdoing things to cause flare ups because then I lose so much time that overall I make less than if I went a little slower. It’s a constant juggling act and some days I’m better at it than others.

The CFS is easier to describe – I just feel exhausted. A simple example is having a shower and then drying my hair immediately is beyond me. I need to have a rest in between. So when I’m making a purse, I usually have to do it in several stages with rests in between.

Q: What is your biggest challenge?

Knowing that Fibro dictates everything I do. I am one of life’s ‘doers’. Unfortunately the fibro has meant making accommodations and adaptations continually which often goes against what I want to do.
Energy and concentration are the other biggest challenges because feeling so tired makes it hard to concentrate and I’ve learned that creativity doesn’t mix well with poor attention – mistakes happen, then frustration sets in and if I don’t feel good about what I’ve made, I will not offer it for sale. I’m detail oriented and regardless of what I am making, I want it to be the very best quality design and construction that it can be. Perfection does not exist, but I try very hard!

Q: What do you do to get around these challenges?

I try to pay attention to my symptoms and I know when to stop (I’ve had a lot of practice!). I have a very flexible routine that helps me be as productive as possible – I check my shops first thing each morning, renewing items that have expired, responding to messages etc. Inspiration usually comes the evening before so I am always excited to start making something. Depending on what it is and how I’m feeling I may simply get all the elements together, then after a rest I might cut the pieces out, another step might be to pin everything together. By this point if I’m not feeling well enough to actually start sewing I’m probably feeling frustrated so I get round this by getting everything prepared the night before so that I can get straight on with it in the morning.

It takes me longer to make anything, and as you can see, I have to break any project down into individual stages. Because the majority of my items are one-of-a-kind, I do not create a production line. I’ve done this a couple of times and without exception the frustration of seeing several purses all laid out ready to be made but not having the energy to make them, not only overwhelms me so I grind to a halt, but I’ve found that I don’t enjoy making them because the creativity isn’t there when I’m simply repeating the same designs one after the other.

I have a wonderful large oak drawing board (3’ x 5’) that I used when I was a landscape designer. I’ve laid it horizontal and it raised up to about 4’ so that I can work standing up – this is a huge help because it means I’m not bending over anything with the weight of my head pulling against very tender muscles. It also means I am constantly moving around which helps keep the muscle moving and the blood and oxygen flowing.

Q: What is the inspiration behind your shop’s name?

I think you’ll laugh at this! I had a series of surgeries in 2009 and they necessitated months of bed rest. After the first really big surgery I was on the strongest pain meds and therefore slightly loopy. I had heard about Etsy and when I visited the site, it invited me to sign in. Every name I chose was taken and after more than ½ an hour continually typing in names, I lost patience and just started typing in anything, then to my horror up popped a welcome message! I had no clue of the name I’d typed but fortunately it turned out to be one I liked and wasn’t rude!

Q: Tell me about your charitable contributions from sales of your goods.

Volunteering and donating to charity has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Like many families during this recession, my husband lost his job and we could no longer afford to sponsor a child in Mozambique which we had been doing for years or make any other donation, so I decided to try to earn the money. I had been making some cards and bags for fun as therapy to recover from my surgeries (there was very little I could do at this point, but I could stand at the sewing machine for a few minutes). By February 2010 I’d got the bug and started designing and making things in earnest with the sole aim of raising money for charity. Originally I donated the profits but that didn’t quantify an amount for my customers and the costs of running a business and all that goes with it meant that with only occasional sales, I didn’t have anything left over to donate, so this Spring I changed that to guaranteeing 10% of every bag/purse sale and $1 per card. I know that in business terms this is not wise as it means the charities get paid first regardless of the supplies, fees, business occupation taxes etc that need to be covered too, but I want my customers to know that every purchase supports a charity.

Q: Do you sell your goods elsewhere other than Etsy?

Yes. I have been lucky enough to be invited to sell my items in two local boutiques. I do occasionally get offered wholesale accounts but I am reluctant to accept because I may not be able to make anything for a few weeks if I’m going through a particularly bad flare up of the fibro symptoms or the fatigue.

Q: What else would you like your customers to know about you and/or your goods? Your creative vision? Your design aesthetics?

About me: that I refuse to let the fibro have me, so try not to focus on it more than necessary, but at the same time, I made a promise to myself to be willing to try just about anything to get well – and I’ve stuck to that!

About my goods: that every item is made with great attention to detail, original designs and unique finishing touches. The love and passion for what I am making and why I’m making it is as much a part of my products as the materials I use. I have spent countless hours since I started the shop researching and sourcing materials that are the finest quality, eco-friendly and vegan. I actively seek out companies that behave with integrity – they might be fair trade for example, or have similar ideals to me. Organic fabrics designed by smaller manufacturers are my main source in recent months as I want to support those that love our planet as much as I do and it also makes my purses unique. Mass produced anything is not for me!

I especially enjoy using an unusual and perhaps unexpected fabric choice, such as organic cotton canvas for a clutch purse, embellished with my hand embroidered buttons for example. I’m a square peg in a round hole, and very happy to be so. I guess my goods reflect that!

**I hope you are as inspired by her as I am.  Please leave your comments and be sure to visit her shop.  She makes amazing bags of all kinds!**

I will feature one shop seller per 3-4 weeks.  I hope you find this to be a great start!  If any you have your own blogs, please SHARE THIS.  You can also SHARE THIS by using any of the buttons below this post.  Let’s spread the word!

~Winn

August 24, 2011 Posted by Thy K | WhileBabyNaps General Updates | 1 Comment

Settling in our new home for 3 years!

Thanks to all who convo’d or emailed asking how I’ve been doing.  As most of you have known since January, my husband was relocated to Viet Nam and had been working there since this March.  The kids and I have finally joined him after the school year was done and I’m pleased to say … we’re finally here!

Where is here?  Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam.

Our household furnishings will arrive in 2 months so I’m blogging and working while sitting on the tile floor or on what little rental furniture we have.  But my dream of living where I can wear flip-flops year round is finally here.  I just didn’t count on the mosquitoes though!  🙂

Here are some pics.  Enjoy and as soon as I can get WiFi hooked up and my regular Mac desktop plugged into that, I can really start working again.  The sewing will be done at the kitchen table, not unlike many of you who start out making clutches!  Lastly, thanks to all who have tried the Snappy Clutch Wallets and the PurseFramesOutlet shop.  The feedback has far surpassed what I had expected and it really made working on that design for 6 months and finessing the photos and tutorial soooooo worth it!

Our home for the next 3 years.

We live 3 houses away from a playground and skateboard park. Kids have their gear and are getting to go!

We have a pool in the front yard! The kids swim twice or three times a day for about 1.5 to 2 hours each time.

My 5 year old daughter Hayley at the park.

My 2 boys at the adjacent skateboard park.

My 6 year old son Noah in deep sleep. The 11 hours time change took a week to really get used. They were sleeping by 5pm and waking up at 3am for the first week!

We’re all still adjusting.  I haven’t had much time to work since it’s summer break and I cannot get to work until they are in bed at 8pm.   I know a great many of you have young children and are also facing this same issue:  the increased familial demands as the kids are on summer break.

No worries on your shop sales during summer months as you will see activity pick up in the fall when the kids are back at school.  Remember that it’s cyclical!  Be sure to start your production of new clutches in August so that you will have new collections for customers to see.  School will start before you know it and the Fall Collections should be ready by September.

One important note for those of you who have expanded into local boutiques and into arts and crafts shows:  make sure you have your fall collection ready to show the shops and make sure you pre-register to take advantage of discounts for fall craft shows.  My best sources for color palettes are the national magazines – Vogue being the main barometer.

I’ll be in touch again with pictures of my garden.  The garden came pre-planted with the house and the variety in textures, colors, and composition is amazing.  Puts my gardening skills to shame!  🙂

Have a splendid weekend!

Winn

July 16, 2011 Posted by Thy K | WhileBabyNaps General Updates | 1 Comment