Sneak Peek 6

     Here is another sneak peek at the New Line; sorry I missed last week, relocation is monopolizing my time.  This one should sufficiently confuse you :).

New Line Update

     With everything that's been going on lately (coming craft sale, relocation) and the jumble that came from the demo which I was apparently seriously under prepared for, the New Line release dates are gonna need a little "tweaking".  Today was to be the fan release date, but unfortunately, sad to say but I don't even have the demo where I want it yet so I'm gonna need to sort that out first.  I was really hoping to have the New Line out for this Christmas but things don't always go the way we want them to, despite one's thoughts of having it all set up :P.  So here is the new plan..... for now....

     I'm going to keep the demo going for another month at least, then in December I will open sales and release the New Line to fans for purchase and custom orders.  Then early in the new year I should be ready to release the New Line to the rest of the world. Of course, this is very tentative.  I can only hope that the relocation goes smoothly and that once there I have an optimal environment within which to unleash my creativity upon unsuspecting materials to make up sufficient amounts of product.

     I still have several products from the New Line available for demo, so if you are interested, send me your e-mail and I'll fill you in on what's been going on.  Be sure to stop by HN&S' facebook page and *like*, or visit our Etsy shop.

Keep Crafty everyone!!

Sneak Peek 5

    So here is the last Sneak Peek before the hopeful fan release date next week! I know it's a day late, but I have a good excuse I promise!

   Unfortunately it looks like I'm gonna need to review the release dates for the New Line.  With so many things on the go, the time I had allotted to the New Line has taken quite a hit.  I'm hoping to keep the fan release date the same, but change the public release date to some time in the new year perhaps (unless by some miracle I can manage to find the time, energy and materials to pump out a large amount of quality product in a short amount of time).  I will keep you all posted with the New Line changes and the other exciting happenings going on this month and the next (including the main reason the New Line has taken such a hit : next blog post).

So Keep Crafty and Stay Tuned!

Sneak Peek 4

     Another Friday, another sneak peek! Just under 2 weeks left till the fan release date, and good thing, cause I'm running out of ideas for sneak peeks.

Demo Letters

     After a frustratingly long day of arguing with the internet I've finally managed to get the demo letters/e-mails out to those who've signed up for it! It's slightly overdue, but at least I found a good secure way to share the photos of the products and their making. (and my internet finally decided to be nice long enough for me to upload the photos).

     Unfortunately the line in general isn't progressing as quickly as I hoped it would.  At the moment the line is about 1-2 weeks behind schedule though there is much potential for it to be caught up.  Without going into too much detail before the public release date: I'm getting pretty sick of the monotony that the 2nd step provides.  It's VERY time consuming and VERY tedious.  I'm gonna be really happy when I'm done that part and get on to the much more fun steps in making more of the product.  I'm in a position now where I have a lot of the raw materials I need to create the product and so the "x" factor so to speak is me.  As long as my sewing machine and ironing board keep up as well as my motivation I should be back on track by the fan release date on October 20th 2011.  Just 19 days away before I start selling them and taking custom orders from fans.  Very exciting, though today was also a very quick awakening at how much more preparation I still need to do electronically before the release date.  The sites still need a lot of work before I can hit that "publish" button.

     All that being said, I'm still very excited about the line and hopefully this excitement will keep me full of steam as I plow through the coming week.  September went by so quickly, before we know it, it'll be November and NaNoWriMo will be upon me as well as the craft show (which I will talk about in a later post).  But for now, time to wind down after a long day of computer aggravations.

     Keep Crafty Everyone! And have a great night!

Sneak Peek 3

     Today is Friday and time for another sneak peek at the new line.  For those of you who are on the demo list, this is the last sneak peek before your demo letters!  Very exciting!!

     I've been working really hard on this line and I'm looking forward to sharing it with the world.  I'm hoping to have the new line demo welcome letter sent out tonight (midnight) or tomorrow at the latest.  Remember that the demos will be sent out on a first come first serve basis. If you aren't signed up for the demo, there's still time! Just  *like* HN&S's facebook page (link below) then add your name to the "free demo" discussion.

     Here is a quick review (with adjustments) of the new line's schedule:

September 2011
     Send out demo letters
     Ship out demos

October 2011
     Improve (based on feedback) and create more product
     Build up stock for release dates

Release dates:
     Fans ---------------> October 20th 2011
     Fort Frances* ----> November 5th 2011
     Public and Etsy --> November 7th 2011

*The new line will be available at a local craft sale Nov. 5th 2011

Sneak Peek 2

     Well it's Friday and time for another sneak peek at the new series:

     There's still several spots open for the free demo. Just visit HN&S's facebook page and leave your name in the discussion "demos" to sigh up for it.  Demo letters go out next week!

Updates

This is what HN&S has been up to this week,    
  

Crochet

    Lakers Afghan

     I've been hard at work focusing mostly on this project for the past week as it needed to be done for today.  The Fort Frances Lakers are the local Junior A hockey team.  They are part of the SIJHL and judging by the exhibition games we've recently had I think they are gonna kick some ass this year! :D.  I'm very glad I finally decided to dedicate myself to making up this blanket to donate in order to raise money for the team.  After over a year of "wanting" to do it, I finally got to it and set a date: it *MUST* be done for the first pre-season game.  Tonight is the first pre-season game and I'm finally done! If you are in the Fort Frances area, stop on by at the Ice For Kids arena to watch a good game of hockey and come see the beautiful afghan! The raffle will be going on until December, the fund-raising comity has decided to do the draw for Christmas.

     I have to say, I am INSANELY happy to be done with this afghan... I was really getting sick of working on it lol, but the satisfaction of seeing it completed and knowing it will raise money to help support our hockey team is well worth the effort.  Tomorrow I will have full post on the Lakers afghan and how it went at it's debut tonight at the arena.

Knitting

     New Slippers. 

     I haven't done much knitting this week. The past couple days I needed brief distractions from the Lakers Aghan so I started working on some slippers.  I've been 'tweaking' an old slipper pattern to make it more comfy and better fitted.  I haven't assembled them yet so I'm not sure how it'll will turn out.  I should know by this weekend and the slippers might be up on my site by the end of next week (assuming the 'tweaking' of the pattern worked).

Sewing

     New Series.

     I've not done too much sewing this week as I was more focused on my crochet project though I did do a little work on my new series and did TONS of computer work for it.  I've set release dates for the new series here, made up the free demo letters and made up the page that will be posted on the public release date.  I never realized just how much work needs to go into launching a new line!  But like the Lakers Afghan, I'm sure it'll be well worth it in the end.

     Now, for those of you who are waiting on the new series: here is a sneak peek! Every week until the public release date I'll post one random pic here in the weekly updates! They may be close ups of an actual product or just of the materials used. Hopefully they won't be too obvious.... or too confusing :) Enjoy!

New Series!

     Here is the scoop! Over the past few weeks I have been brewing up something special: a new series! And it's big one!  I'm hoping to have it up and ready for public sales by early November.

     What is this series? Well rest assured it's lovingly handmade by yours truly.  Does it have a name? It sure does but that's secret until the release date. Of course everything will be described and detailed on the official site once we reach the public release date (and on the demo letters sent out to the fans who request the demo) but in the mean time, here is a little peek at what's going on in my workshop: 

     The nature of this product requires much effort and creativity.  It is an eco-friendly product and contributes to several ethically sound practices along its creation process.  Each product is unique, different and has a story; a story that can be told.  As for the functionality of the product, it is very practical and can be used either on a daily basis or for a specific purpose. Either way, it is quite useful and durable.

So far, here is the plan:

September 2011

•   Finding and buying up a stock of materials
•   Creating products
•   Send out the free demo letter to selected fans (see below for details)
•   Ship out the free demos
•   Hopefully, receive feedback

October 2011

•  Work like mad at improving and creating more product
•  Continue working on site to be ready for release date

October 20th 2011

•   Fan Release Date!!

November 7th 2011

• Public and Etsy Release Date!

     Here is what you need to know if you'd like to be on the demo list.  First, find HN&S' facebook page (here) and show some love by *liking* the page.  Then in discussions, you'll find a thread titled: "New product demos". Join the conversation! Leave your name and e-mail and you're all set to receive info on new demos!  From there, if you like what you see and want the demo, you send me your mailing address and I send you some awesome goodness in the form of a free demo! Sounds good, yes? If you are only interested in the new series demo, just write "new series demo" next to your name/info and you will get only the new series information and demo.

     On October 20th 2011, the fan release date, the new series will be available only through the facebook page and only to those who've *liked* the page (effectively making them "a fan") and the main page (on the blog) will not be functional until the public release date on November 7th 2011.

     On November 7th 2011 the full series goes public! So exciting! On this day the main page for the series will be up, the product name is released, the new products will be up for sale on the Etsy site and anyone will be able to make custom orders of the product.

     So that's the D-L on the new series I'm cooking up.  I hope I've got your attention.  I also hope you'll join me and the other fans that have requested the free demo and be part of the .... oops, almost slipped there ... part of the "new series" family :D

Keep crafty everyone! And mark your calendars!