I realize no one knows I make apparel, and even less know Ive been asking for measurements, but if anyone is willing to provide me real-world measurements using this:

http://www.simplicity.com/index.cfm?page=section/fittips/howmeas.htm

then I can start ensuring I am making clothes for real-world sizes. I have dress forms for all sizes but haven’t had ‘real-world’ measurements to try and base my clothes off of. I do dresses, skirts, tops, costuming, hats and so on. I just haven’t listed any in my Etsy store as I usually do them on-demand.

(I also have a more detailed measurements sheet I use for special orders, but no one online wants to fill that out as it’s VERY detailed. )

So if you’re willing, please send me your measurements at keith@mindlesspursuits.com! I promise not to share them!

Let’s jump right in by discussing why business planning is a necessary effort in planning for success (you do plan to be successful, don’t you?). The primary intent of business planning is to provide you with the focus you need to prioritize your work, develop your communications, and invest your dollars. There is much more beyond this, but this is where you will want to start. Once you have a business plan, you should be aligning all of your work activities to the plan to avoid wasting extraneous effort on items that don’t support your business goals.

Let’s start by asking the seemingly most basic and straightforward question: What do you want your business to be? In other words, what are you going to be selling? Is it a tangible product such as jewelry or will it be a service such as graphic design? Mind you, services often come with tangible end-products (i.e. Graphic Design may end up with a logo, a banner, etc). Sometimes you can confuse the two, as happens occasionally in sewing. For instance, if you pre-sew plush dolls and sell them, you are offering a product. If you are taking an order for custom apparel, you are actually offering a service, even if the end result is a tangible product. Read More

The ‘Daily Artisan Spotlight’ is a regular feature on Mindless Pursuits intended to provide insight and exposure to the tons of talented artisans working today. Please comment and give them some encouragement and check out their work! If you would like to be considered for the Spotlight, click on the ‘Free Press’ link above!

What is your shop?
Miss Karina (www.misskarinas.com)

What is your art/craft?
Fashion and costume inspired by New Orleans

Describe your style in 2 words:
Outrageous Eco-friendly

What is your favorite piece and why?
I love all my pieces to be honest. I choose pieces base on how badly I would covet them if someone else had it. But if I could only choose one piece it would be my Mardi Bras made from 100% caught Mardi Gras beads from New Orleans Carnival parades.

What is the most memorable piece of advice you’ve ever received?
Do it and stop talking about it.

What is the one piece of advice you’d give?
Don’t stifle your own success with your self esteem issues.

Choosing this week’s subject of review turned out to be more difficult than I had expected. Both shops have lots of appeal to me and I see areas for improvement in both. In the end, I decided to review Sweet Tea Company, but will also be reviewing Waterrose later this week! Having said that, let’s just jump in, shall we?

The first thing I noticed about Sweet Tea Company is the vibrancy of the shop. The banner is bright and engaging and the design elements are very pleasing and suit the shop theme. The slogan, ‘refreshing designs for cool people’ is catchy and memorable. So memorable that I could have sworn I had heard it before but some intense Googling didn’t turn anything up so it’s just THAT memorable!

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Today I thought I’d begin introducing my readers (hopefully to come) to my creative process. As with anything, the creative process starts with an idea. Oh, in some cases the idea may be more about finding motivation, such as in the popular “what can I make that might make me some cash” or the frequent “what can I make that will keep me entertained” and of course the distress call of the lonely artist: “what can I make that will impress the opposite sex?” We’re going to put those ideas behind and start at the next level of coming up with an idea, which is to begin finding ideas for projects after the motivation has been established. In my case, the creative process begins with a simple notebook. This notebook, in fact:

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