:)

My youngest brother came and visited me today for a couple of hours, and that was awesome. I showed him the HipScraps: he was, I think, a little bit impressed, and quite a bit blown away by how much it costs to make just one HipScrap.

Honestly, Some are just more expensive to make than others. The very first two, since they shared supplies, cost over 150 dollars just to make! But I really like making them. I'm enjoying myself, coming up with new color combinations and finding better sources for my supplies...finding better supplies!

My collaboration with my friend Miss E has led me to decide to launch a separate line of non-dance hip scarves, which will be called HipWraps. They will be essentially the same as HipScraps, except they will be larger than a plus sized HipScrap and wont have the trailing tassels or the ribbon ties. They will all be created with Gypsies in mind, with jewel tones and satin edging and coins and beads, and large oversized buttons holding them on your hips. Miss E is going to get some amazing roses carved from green quartz for the buttons on her Pink Gypsy Rose HipWrap, while the burgundy one will have something different. It also has a rose theme, so I'm hoping to find something awesome in silver for that.

HipWraps won't be making their way in to the store yet, though, so keep your eyes on it for that!

I'm also going to focus more on using salvaged poms and tassels and beads and coins left over from HipScrap construction to make earrings to sell in the shop, and in some case send along with their matching HipScraps, as in the case of the Gypsy's Tuxedo.

This last several weeks of not working allowed me to get a lot done, but I may be back to work very soon, so expect things to slow down a little bit, as I get back in the groove at the office, and catch up on the bills left unpaid here...like the water bill, that comes frst since it was cut off this afternoon. Joy.

I've spent some time researching what it takes to sell stuff on Etsy, and i have realized that I probably need to edit my existing items so that they will be easier to find by people searching for something like them. Also, I saw that people who payed attention to branding seem to do well, too. So when I can, I'll have to order some mailing labels, and some stickers, and perhaps even look into some packaging options. I also want to get some care instructions labels and logo labels to sew into the inside of each piece.

Of course all of this extra stuff depends on whether the items I have already made get sold. If they don't sell, I will have to close up shop and just make HipScraps and HipWraps for myself and for friends.