[NFB-Krafters-Korner] Successful Saturday

Sun May 19 03:44:18 UTC 2024

Hi! Thank you for your and everyone's vote of confidence. It helps me remain inspired and motivated to do my best!
Yes, I missed the advertisement day on the 15th, but I did post on the 1st and plan to post again on June 1st. I'm thinking i may advertise some of my pre-made. However, osting this is not intended to be an advertisement in itself, just sharing what I'mdoing with my knitting and re-charging my confidence, energy, and motivation to do more. Sometimes it's exhausting and I want to go back to just making what I want to make and only when I want to make it. But then I remember the reaction one little girl had to the stuffed animal that her father placed on her bed to find when seh came home form school...she squealed "Kitty kitty kitty" and then murmured just loud enough to be heard "My kitty." That sweet little girl eel asleep with her new stuffed animal tucked tightly in her arms. It's moments  like that that inspire me and motivate me to continue, to share joy and excitement with others, especially the little ones in our lives who find such joy and comfort in stuffed animals. I kept a recording of the little girl's reaction that her father made for me and when I feel I'm not making a difference or I'm too tired to keep. going, I play tthat and it makes. my heart soar so  that I am motivated to bring that kind of joy to another person. EAch of my stuffed animals really does being someone's little zoomaginary friend, a play thing to tke wherever they like. THe little xix-inch ones make great pocket pals, something to sneak in a school backpack to have a comfort item even in the classroom that helps the child but doesn't interrupt the teaching. Some children really need that in hard moments or times. I remember how, afte rmy father's death when I was 16, someone gave me. a beanie baby. bear This one was a very light grey with a silver undercoat. The tag read "Eveyr cloud has a silver lining." It gave me hope that my father's death meant something and spurred me to keep going in dark times. And there was a silver lining. My father's death led me to be an advocate for better mental health. treatment, better treatment of chronic illness and chornic pain (which I have the latter myself), and his memory walks with me every where I go, untarnished over the years, rememberd with the eyes of an adoring teenage daughter. The memory of his love has carried me through some hard times and that ltitle silver lining teddy bear did, too.
Ok, enough rambling about my passion. That message of. passion for spreading love and joy, though, is what I hope to accompish with my business. One thing I have pledged to that effect  is that 10% of all purchases, no matter what size, will be written in a seperate file to pruchase special yarn to be used to make stuffed animalls and other times for children who may not otherwise get such tings, primarily those in poverty, family shelters, and in the foster care system. Why should these children miss out on the joy of a comfort object through no fault of their own? I currently have $11 in that fund and the next commission will bring that to $14, which will pay for two skiens of yarn, which can make two more stuffed animals to donate if I use the luxury faux fur, or  if I get something simpler like a coton blend, I could make several more. But that is something I will decide once the funding is available, which will be quite soon!
Sharing through. giving to those less fortunate than us is a way to spread love and joy. As someone mentioned, a man from one of the charity shoe box drives was given a stuffed animal in his box and still cherishes it. Give a child something that is all theirs, that they know someone hand-made to give them, and they will cherish the treasure that it truly is!
Thank you for letting me go on about my passion. KK is truly a wwonderful place to be a part of and I hope that it stays so wonderful. The members seem to truly care about others and want to share the beauty of their crafts,s o i feel I fit right in!
~Jewel
Be good. IF you can’t be good, be good at it.

> On May 18, 2024, at 2:07 PM, Sarah via NFB-Krafters-Korner <nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi Jewel,
> 
> I love all of your plans for getting your business up and running! I'm sure
> you will be super successful. I hope your consultation with the graphics
> design person goes well and that you're able to find a photographer soon!
> 
> You may be able to sell some of your stuffed animals on KK while you are
> working on getting your shop up and running. There is a for sale day every
> couple weeks, and it looks like the next one is on Saturday, June 1st. In
> fact, I might be interested in buying an animal from you... They sound so
> cute!
> 
> Best wishes on all your crafting endeavors!
> Sarah
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NFB-Krafters-Korner <nfb-krafters-korner-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf
> Of Jewel Gaspard via NFB-Krafters-Korner
> Sent: Saturday, May 18, 2024 12:15 PM
> To: List for blind crafters and artists <nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Jewel Gaspard <nxg1719 at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [NFB-Krafters-Korner] Successful Saturday
> 
> I have been working toward starting my web shop for awhile but got stuck on
> packaging and. photography of the craft items. While I am still looking for
> a product photographer locally, I have a few leads to look into come Tuesday
> (since i"ll be at Farmers Academy all day Monday, no time for phone calls)
> and I'm hopeful that one of them will fit my needs. I have also been
> contacted by a new graphic artist out of the UK who will be sending some
> exmples of her work so I can get them described, get opinions form the
> people around me, and if I like what i learn, she will set up a consultation
> meeting to talk aobut my logo design.
> I have also made a final decision on packaging after being frustrated that
> my last piece had to be packed with basic paper and not in  a pretty
> packaging that represented quality and creativity. I'm going to be packingmy
> knitted critters in a red and white triped popcorn bag closed with a logo
> sticker (once I get the design...until then, I will use round animal face
> stickers). The main colors of my logo will be. golden yellow and dark green,
> so I'm going to order bright yellow bubble mailer envelopes that the popcorn
> bag will go inside. I'm also looking into getting a decent printer/scanner
> and will print mailing lables with aVery packs and print a proper invoice
> which I will also provide in a digital format via e-mail for customers who
> provide an e-mail. I feel this packaging will better reprsent the whimsical
> and creative nature of my business, Zoomaginary Friends.
> I also designed in my head a logo that consissts of an open pair of golden
> yellow gates like those at the enrance of old zoos and the name of my
> business inside the gates in a very slightly whimsically curvy font (thought
> not cursive!). I'm considering putting the basic outline of a monkey's face
> inside one of the Os in Zoomaginary or poking out from behind the angled
> side of the Z, but I'm concerned that on a webpage or sticker, the logo will
> be too small for that detail to be discerned and it will jsut look like a
> weird misshapen letter.
> I have begun to gather the materials for my next commission while I work on
> my dozen rose project and I'm also making a few new critters that will be
> pre-made inventory for the shop. I curently have ten knitted animals that
> can be put up for sale and then I can offer consultation for a custom, but
> at this time I am still only doing custom commissions.
> I am bound and determined to get my business off the ground and running to
> replace my SSI and be done with them. The frustration they put me through is
> not worth the $300 they give me each month and my knitting business will not
> be so much s to jeopardize my SSDI while I return to college. But I"m going
> to be stubborn y'all. I *will* have a shop up by the end of the year, even
> if it's a basic one, and I am going to start working on finding vending
> opportunities and build up inventory for a booth with the goal of vending by
> next June at the latest...I want to design Pride flag teddy bears and then
> have a bunch made for a vending opportunity in June next year for Pride
> month. I plan on keeping one for myself and making it prominently visible in
> the colors of hte asexual flag as I identify on the ace spectrum,
> specifically as aceflux.
> Ok, I'm done rambling. Just working very hard to get this off tehe ground
> and I appreciate so much the teaching opportunities that I have and will
> have with KK as it encourages me to move forward with my business and plan
> to also offer one-on-one lessons on the site, though I will make it clear
> that  KK and ACB crafter students will never have to pay for one-on-one
> sessions or classes. It's jsut something to offer to people outside our
> community who really want to leanr how to make stuffed animals. I have had a
> few people ask about my classes and I've had to say that they are only in
> the ACB and NFB for blind knitters at this time.
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