Monday, March 17, 2008

Smiling coasters and a new retail opportunity

I have created something totally new... A smiling coaster! Recently I wanted to make something for a friend of mine... something that would make her smile even when her day was rotten. And so I picked up a crochet hook and a skein each of yellow and black cotton, and created a smiley!

Thing was, her smiley turned out a little big (kinda a smiley on steroids). Now that I had calculated out the pattern stitches, I wanted something a little easier to fit on a desk... so I shrunk the smiley just a tad, and now I have a smiley, perfectly sized for a coffee mug or glass of iced tea... (this pic, by the way, is a VERY good example of why you should never take important pics with a cell phone!)

Bad pic aside, I will be adding some of these happy little circles of absorbency to my Etsy site soon (just need a day or two to make some more and take better pics), so stay tuned. Also, my mom suggested that I expand my smiley idea to make an "emotional" set of coasters... four coasters, each with a different expression. The variations may take a bit longer to figure out, but I'm working on it. I think we'll have angry, surprised, and sad to the happy smiley, but who knows? Once I'm happy with the emotional lot, I'll post their pics here, too.

And before I say goodnight, an FYI (that explains the other half of my subject line for today) --- The coasters will make their first "show" debut in June at the Veteran's Administration Hospital in Elsmere, DE. The VA Hospital has set aside a space on the second floor (outside the canteen) where selected vendors can sell their goods. I have been working with the manager for a while now, and just today got confirmation of 5 selling dates (I'm going to try to add more later). As of now, I will set up "shop" at the VA Hospital on the following dates: June 6, October 23 and 24, November 5, and December 18.

No comments: