Licensing Relief

Lines on the wall before 4pm. What even, Chicago?

317/365 - the turkey decoration my mom sent my sister with for me decorate with! so cute

It has almost been one year since I officially opened my Etsy shop. I never sold anything on there, which was only slightly disappointing. I never put anything else on there once I started knitting and crocheting this year because I wasn't sure about the legalities of it all. I had seen the designers specify on some patterns, but not all. For whatever reason, I only just now did a little bit of research, and was very pleased with the results.

Note: this is my understanding of it all after reading some comments, etc on Ravelry for the US. I definitely plan on doing some more research and if you know anything please let me know!

It's a matter of licensing, not copyright. By designing the pattern, the designer has the rights for the pattern itself, including the words and images. They do not have control over what I make with the pattern, however. So if they say a pattern is for personal use only, I cannot charge someone for the pattern because it's not mine. I can, however, make the item they provided the instructions to and then sell that product.

This has been the thing holding me back from using Etsy more. I was very purposeful with my business cards, I used the phrase "custom knits" so then it would come from the angle that people would find a pattern they liked then have me make it for them, therefore making it personalized and custom, not just a direct product from the pattern. I'm not sure if that even makes sense, but it does in my head so I stuck with it.

Now? I'm not sure. I know I want to sell things I make, but not necessarily at such a level that some do, especially while I'm in school. I am able to get a decent amount of knitting in, especially with classes, etc., but I don't really want the pressure to have to keep a shop fully stocked.

No matter how I go about my knitting now that I have this knowledge, I want to make it clear that I will always make it clear that it is not my pattern. Maybe I will one day make my own patterns, but I'm not seeing that happening anytime soon. Maybe a few tweaks here and there, but not from scratch.

I still have ideas for from the Maker. It is a collaboration I dream about daily, but one I'm not quite ready for. It will be a baby step thing, which is fine by me.

- rl

(p.s. this is part of my 14 goals for 2014. You can view all my goals here.)

First Business Cards

178/365

I finally had some business cards made! I really wanted them to be a combo of from the Maker and my blog, but you could say that I've temporarily put from the Maker on hold, seeing as I just don't know where to even start with it and don't feel the urge to figure it out anytime soon. So instead I made them about my blog/contact info/custom knits. And I'm happy with my decision.

I used advice from Dream A Little Bigger on where to buy, then the design was inspired by Elise's. I ordered 500 cards, and they are b&w on the front, then color on the back. Hello, saving money by not paying to have a side that was already black and white to be printed in color. I will definitely stick with that for now on. I didn't check what the price would have been to do color on both sides, but I'm sure it wouldn't have been that much more.

I'm really happy with them, considering I designed them with Photofiltre (freeee!) and then only paid $20 or so, including shipping. The only part, design-wise, that bothers me is that the bottom picture on the card is totally an uneven distance from the edge when compared to the image on top. Oh well.

- rl

(p.s. this is part of my 14 goals for 2014. You can view all my goals here.)

Inspiration

081/365

This is the collage that hangs above my desk. A few years ago, I pulled these pages from an old magazine that had design I liked, and I've kinda kept them up ever since. 

I just went looking through my first blog, which can be found here, and now I'm thinking I should make that into a photo book. I'll have to start looking for coupons...

Also, today marks four months since I started my etsy shop. (The first and only post about that was here.) It looks like today is the day my listings expire. I don't have anything else to put up. None of those items sold, but I have sold some other things. At this point, it seems best to just spend the next four or five months really working it all out and relaunching in September or so. I need to learn some new trades and find knit patterns with creators that allow me to sell the items. I still have the same vision I did when I started it, however, which is why I'm not giving up on it. 

- rl

(p.s. this is part of my 14 goals for 2014. You can view all my goals here.)

Small Business Saturday

The gist: I opened an Etsy shop. Last week, actually. I thought about posting about it then, but then I heard this Saturday was Small Business Saturday, so I decided to wait until now to say anything.

It's called from the Maker. Thinking of a name is why it took me so long to open a shop. I would have started one this summer if I had been able to think of a name. The reason behind it is explained a little bit in the shop info:

My relentless Savior is an incredible Maker. I'm a maker too, but of the things listed here instead of the mountains and skies. 

I don't really know of any other way to explain that. I hope to organize my thoughts on the name a bit more and then dedicate a full post on it eventually. I only know now that I share the things I make here on this blog, but this shop is where I will attempt to sell those things. It's been "open" for a week and I have already gotten one favorite on a hat, which was exciting to see!

So far, I only have four hats listed. One adult-size, and three baby-size. The one shown above is my favorite. I think the ones without brims are the cutest, and I can confirm that the yarn this one was made with is soft.

I guess you could say that my vision is that one day I won't be the only maker on there. A few other people would also be contributing. And it would rock. I like that idea of collaboration. For now, though, it's just me. But, hey, if you want to join me on there with something you make, let's talk about it. (:

It won't just be loomed hats. One day I'll actually learn how to knit or crochet a hat, or scarves, or maybe I'll put my weaved baskets up there, or maybe even some stuff I haven't quite thought of yet.

So there you have. Need a hat? Welllllllllllllllllll, I may know of a place...

- rl

(p.s. I hope to have some other "from the Maker" specific social media pages open before too long. Today, though, I worked and then I have a lot of my Moody application to work on before tomorrow's deadline, so the social media will have to wait.)