Aren't they just too tweet?
While in Halifax, I stopped by my favorite antique store to see what kooky goodness I could bring home with me. The Urban Cottage never disappoints, and in addition to a handful of old metal zippers, ric-rac trim, and irish linen tape, I fell hard for this trio of "clothes birds", $8 for the set. These charming fellows who would have once perched helpfully atop someone's clothesline, now reside on my bookshelf, cheerfully waiting to be put to use.
Shopping tales aside, ACTS was again a worthwhile mission for Lamoore Designs. By the end of Day 2, I knew I had already reached production capacity for 2008*. I had a few more returning retailers than anticipated, so that meant I had to take on fewer new retailers. Lamoore Designs will kick off the spring 2008 season with 8 new retailers of the Finders Keepers line. I will add them to the SHOP page once they have their stock, but for now here's the locations of the new spots:
Shelburne, Halifax(x2), St. Margaret's Bay, the Cabot Trail, and Amherst, Nova Scotia.
Stanley Bridge, Prince Edward Island.
Carleton-sur-Mer, Quebec.
I was stoked to welcome these new retailers into the "family" of existing Finders Keepers stockists, and I was just elated to have so many previous customers return to order again...that's the best.
*For anyone curious about how I know when I've bitten off more than I can chew, here's how I do it: I have noticed that spring orders will generally triple by fall. Knowing the volume I am able to produce in a year, I will stop taking spring orders once I reach a third of my full year's production capacity...sooo...if I can only make 300 pieces in one year, I will limit orders to 100 pieces to start off the spring, anticipating that I will take orders for the remaining 200 by the end of the year. Easy peasy.
In addition to sales, ACTS was helpful to my business in an unexpected way this year. The constant advice from fellow exhibitors to "grow, expand, increase production" had my head reeling a bit and I was forced to revisit all my ideas (and ideals) about my vision for Lamoore Designs. Coming away from it all, I have a renewed dedication to the kind of company I first imagined--small(microscopic, really), flexible, manageable...committed to producing original designs that are limited in production, artist made, and fully guaranteed. While this attitude makes me a bit of an outcast in the business world, I feel good about staying small. None of my current dreams would be any closer to becoming reality if Lamoore Designs got bigger, so what would be the point, right?