Sunday, January 20, 2008

Caring For Your Baskets

You've either purchased a new basket or, perhaps, woven one.....now, do you just sit it on the kitchen counter and forget about it? Not if you'd like to have it around for many years!

Baskets will absorb odors and grease in the air. Dry conditions will cause them to get brittle and too much humidity will also affect the reed used to weave them. Choose a place for the basket in your home where it can be displayed but where it can "thrive". Never place them close to a heat source.

Dust can be removed with a feather duster or with a natural bristle paint brush. Make this part of your regular dusting duties. You also can use your soft brush attachment on your vacuum cleaner.

Finally, be careful with others in the family! I was contacted several years ago by a gentleman who had tripped when going down his stairs and, as he said "put his size 12 shoe into his wife's prize Stairstep Basket! Please help me!" In this case, after many emails and pictures being sent to me, I was able to give him the go ahead to ship me the basket and I was able to repair it.......but, since it wasn't even a handwoven basket, but rather a cheap import, I'm sure the cost of shipping and repairs came to much more than his wife paid originally!

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Weaving Quandry

Just when I decided not to do crafts shows this year, I got an email inviting me to take part in an Arts Festival later in the Spring! I have never taken part in this one before, but after mentioning it to several friends.....I guess that I've been living in a cave! They all knew about it and loved it........so it's time to start weaving for a show!

It is close to Mother's Day so I think that I'll concentrate on possible gift ideas rather than some of my larger baskets.



Every Mother could use a Casserole Basket to carry items to the church or neighborhood Pot Luck! The solid wood base and cotton webbing handles make it really sturdy and the 9" x 13" base carries cake pans and casseroles with ease.

Or maybe Tea Bag Baskets

or

Grocery Bag Baskets would be a solution to
Mother's Day shopping.
Time to head to the Weaving Room!

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Marketing Ideas For 2008

A New Year brings new marketing stratgies! I've done some brainstorming and I came up with some new ideas. Sales of my handwoven baskets from my website (http://www.carolinaweaver.com) have been steady, but craft show sales were slow this year. I can't help but feel that attendance at these shows has been down because too many of them are allowing people to sell too many "non-craft" items. When I go to a craft show, I expect to see hand made crafts and artwork, not something with "Made in........" stickers on them. I think that expectation is mirrored by others who have just gotten tired of wasting their time at what have turned into import shows rather than handcrafted shows.

To keep sales steady, I'm considering contacting local businesses and hopefully contracting with them to provide baskets they can use in their businesses. We have several new local wineries who might be interested in my Wine Baskets for use in their gift basket line.




Another possibility is local Real Estate agents. Most agents provide a "thank you" gift for their new home buyers and what new home owner wouldn't like to walk in their new kitchen and find a basket full of goodies and information about the area waiting for them? Any of my Organization Baskets would be perfect....they could even be done with trim colors to match the new home.

Now......where are my Yellow Pages??