Friday 13 November 2015

A Portfolio of Sorts & Ordering Information

Last week my cousin asked me if I had a place where he could go to see examples of my hooking masterpieces.  When people had asked me about this before, I always sent them a link to my Ravelry projects page.  I didn't realize, however, that if you don't have a Ravelry account yourself, you can only see one of my projects.  So, this post will serve to house some pictures of work that I have created myself, as well as let you know how to order from me while my Etsy store is under construction.  Every picture here is something that I personally have hand-crafted.

I've been planning to open an Etsy store, and it is still in the works.  Let me tell you why it hasn't happened yet.  It really boils down to one thing: pictures.  I haven't always taken pictures of every order I have done.  Most of the pictures I have are taken on my cell phone, and are unprofessional.  I'm not sure if it is a requirement per Etsy's Terms of Service that your shop have pictures of only items you have made yourself (though if it isn't I think it ought to be), and I don't want to use someone else's pictures in my shop.  I can hook up 98% of things that I have seen pictures of.  Of the 2% that I say that I can't, I'm pretty sure I COULD do them, but there are techniques I haven't tried yet, and so would feel uncomfortable advertising them for sale.  Listing on Etsy costs money whether you sell the item or not, so I don't want to put up a whole bunch of unprofessional photos to sell things.  I have a friend who is a professional photographer, and we're talking about making a deal to get some professional photos of my items made.  However, this also means I now have to hook up a bunch of things just to have photos of them taken, and then make listings, hoping that I am making the things that people actually want to buy.  That is currently in the works! 

In the meantime, I will continue taking custom orders.  Now is the perfect time to order, as I have just finished the last of my orders, and there is still time to get your item in plenty of time for Christmas/ Hanukkah / Solstice / Whatever  giving!  Here is how you can do that:
1. Contact me!  Facebook messenger is probably the best and easiest way to get in touch with me, or you can email me at Thebuttonbuffalo@gmail.com.  

2.  Let me know what you want.  You can do this several ways.  If you have seen a picture of something you'd like, send it to me. If you know you want something specific (say you want a hedgehog, but you haven't seen a picture of one you want, you  just know you want one), send me a message that says something along the lines of, "I want a ______."  Sometimes people don't know exactly what they want, but they have a particular person or theme in mind. For example, you want something to give to your friend who loves Doctor Who and The Avengers, but you just don't know WHAT exactly you'd want to have made. Or perhaps it is as simple as you would like to give your mother a handmade scarf, but you don't know what kind of scarf you want.  You can send me that information as well.  I can send you all sorts of ideas and pictures to help you find the perfect handmade creation.  We can discuss style, color, size, materials, etc to make your order exactly what you want!  

3. Once we both know what it is that you want, we will discuss the cost and shipping, and length of time It will take me to hook up your creation.  After we are done with that, I will then go to my Etsy store and create a personalized listing for your item (or if you prefer to not use Etsy, you can pay me directly though Paypal).  Once you've paid for your item, I will hop, skip, and jump my way to the craft store(s), get the materials for your item(s) and get to hooking!

While I am building my collection of professional photos, please feel free to look at some of my finished items here.  I can tell you that I have never had any complaints from anyone who has ordered from me, but should you have a problem with any item I make, I'm more than happy to work with you to resolve whatever the issue may be.