Shipping Delays: Maternity Leave!

Because of my upcoming (baby) due date, all orders received between June 15th and September 15th will most likely not be fulfilled before October 1st. I hope to get some bags out on a rolling basis towards the end of August but, seeing as how this is my first child, I'm not 100% sure how to manage a newborn + a business. Please bare with me as I enjoy this special time in my little family's life :)

As a special, "I-know-it's-no-fun-to-wait," acknowledgment, I will be sending a free gift with every order that experiences more than a 3 week wait.

Thank you all for your patience and understanding! 

Alva DoRight has launched + new Pansy Maiden Bags

No time to write much, but here are some graphics. Click through to see all new bags. And order quick cause I have a pretty long shipping delay coming up beginning June 15th: Maternity leave!

I'M SO HAPPY I WAS ABLE TO GET THESE NEW BAGS OUT! Eight months pregnant, y'all! I did it! Happy dance! Hope you love them!

Sowa Opening Day This Sunday

And we'll be there! Sharing a booth with Teepearls. Come by and see us, won't you?

I'll have many pieces of 2012 stock heavily discounted. I need to move those outta here to make room for new bags and baby. Help me help you get deals on PM bags.

I'll also have a few Alva DoRight bags with me so be sure to bring the Mr. (Alva DoRight is pretty much unisex so please do not fight your dude for an ADR bag in my tent. We promote the idea of cruelty-free for humans too, you know :) I can always make more...

We're Featured In This Month's Pregnancy & Newborn!

The diaper bag I made for Epcot Center's Vision House is featured in April's special green issue of Pregnancy & Newborn Mag! How exciting, right? Nice to see my bag on glossy, printed paper.

This is just the kind of media attention I need to acquire in order to spread my fashion-activist message but I need more time out of the studio. Which is why I *hint hint* need donations to hire those seamstresses!

Pansy Maiden's Indiegogo Campaign Is Live!

Ever since I launched Pansy Maiden four years ago, I have been hand-making every single bag that comes out of my studio with the intention of eventually hiring local Makers to take over this time-intensive task. If I have help with sewing, I will be able to work on new designs, extend marketing efforts, and generally build my brand. And with my 1st child arriving in a few months, Pansy Maiden can no longer be a one-woman show. I need some help. So, just like all the cool kids...

 ...I have launched an Indiegogo Campaign.

This project is in collaboration with Daily Grommet as part of their Top Ten Finalist product pitch prize package in which Pansy Maiden was so honored to have been included! 

I have cooked up some pretty amazing perks for donors to show how much I appreciate any support anyone can give. And if you can't give the gift of $$$, please give the gift of sharing (the link!) :)

Here's a look at just some of the prrreeeety cool perks I've got goin' on.
 

I only need an initial order of 200 bags so that I may spring-board my partnership with a local sewing shop. I hope to grow with them from there. I just need a nice starting point. As stated above, the sales from this initial inventory will provide enough gross earnings for me to reinvest in additional inventory, provide myself an actual living wage, and free up some of my time for marketing efforts. Your contribution will allow me to grow my brand into an even stronger, sustainable agent of change for the animals and our Earth by helping me to:

• Provide enriching, enjoyable jobs to my local economy that will allow at least six other women to do what they love--something I have always dreamt of doing.
• Rather than spending all my time sewing, I will have time to devote to building my activist brand. Less time sewing = more time to devote to marketing efforts, thus building and spreading my activist fashion message to a much wider, broader market.
• Help to assure a smooth launch of my new men's collection, Alva DoRight, this summer. This one launch will expand my market by nearly 50%!
• Move from a Made-to-Order model to an In-Stock/Ready-to-Ship model. My customers will no longer have to wait 2-3 weeks to receive their bags in the mail. I believe this will make people more apt to buy, thus increasing my revenues, thus making my cruelty-free brand more likely to succeed and inspire action in others.
• Assure that I will always have a stock of bags so that I may participate in more pop-up shops and conventions around the country. This will help me build my brand and name recognition significantly.  
• Allow me to have a life outside of Pansy Maiden so that I may, you know, help my husband raise our daughter.

Pansy Maiden Top 10 Finalist in Product Pitch Competition!

Pansy Maiden is one of 10 finalist competing to win Daily Grommet's big product pitch competition! 150 companies applied and it's so cool that Pansy Maiden is the only 100% vegan company in the Top 10! I am so humbled and so proud! And...

...I need your vote!

By voting today for Pansy Maiden, you can help me take my "little company that could" to a much wider audience! The company with the most votes will have an advantage going into the big pitch day, March 19th, at Fenway Park!

(In order to vote, you must be logged into Facebook.) 

You can check out my video interview here with Daily Grommet over on Boston.com's site. So exciting!

Click here for more info on this very exciting opportunity. 

Makers In Business

Liz Smith, the well-established maker behind Made In Lowell, now has a TV show! It's called Makers in Business. In each episode, Liz has a conversation with someone who makes things and sells them. The focus of the program is the intersection of commerce and creativity with an emphasis on the particular challenges creative business owners face and how they solve them. She invited me to be a guess on her program and talk about my experiences with Pansy Maiden. It was so much fun and such an honor! 

Makers in Business episode 11 from Liz Smith on Vimeo.

Retiring Some Styles

It was kind of a difficult, emotional decision but one that I had to make. In order to make room for some new styles as well as par down my collection for the upcoming wee little one arriving in July (oh, I guess I haven't mentioned it here--my husband and I are expecting a baby girl in early July!), I've had to make some cuts. As of April 1st, the following designs (in all colors) will no longer be offered in my shop. If you've had your eye on any of these styles, better jump on them in the next few weeks.

From left to right: 
Mega Pouch, Petite with Pocket, Petite with Fringe, (Petite Plain will remain for now) Pendants, Hard-Headed Woman Teeny Hobo, Coco Clutch, The Weekender, The Shake Sugaree.

In addition, once the new bags arrive, I will no longer be offering the circle cut-outs on the flaps of my Bang Messengers or my Mini Messenger, and I will not be accepting custom orders (different color requests, longer straps, shorter straps...) until at least October.  

It was extremely hard to make these decisions. All my designs are special to me and remind me of what was happening in my life at the time I was finalizing them. But I need to do what I need to do in order to get ready for and be there for the babe. The Weekender was especially hard to cut. It's one my very first designs. Seems strange but I'm actually emotionally attached to all of my bags.

I hope to have my new designs available in my online shop mid-to-late April. And even though I'm sad to let these guys go, I'm very excited to hear what you guys think of the new ones. Excited and, as always, nervous. But sometimes nerves just add to the excitement of it all. 

Happy 2nd Birthday Gather Here!

Limited Edition Notion Pouches created exclusively for Gather Here's 2nd Birthday Party.

It's hard to believe that Gather Here has been providing a space for Boston-area creatives to gather supplies, learn new crafty skills, make beautiful works of art, chat about the crafting world, make new friends, visit old friends, and just hang out in general for two whole years. I remember reading their blog before they opened and seeing pics of Virginia and Noah (owners) working with their set designing friends (V + N come from a TV/Film industry background) to fix their shop up before opening. I remember my friend Jan from Daisy Janie alerting me via twitter that there was a brand new sewing shop focusing on all-natural, eco-centeric supplies opening in my area. And I remember visiting GH about a week after they opened with my crafty friend Jared and being enamoured with all the colorful beauty all around us (I also remember being too shy to introduce myself at the time :) There was a lot of anticipation surrounding Gather Here's opening. For me, that was the first sign that this little indie crafting shop was going to thrive. 

Virginia and Noah have done an outstanding job of reaching out and bringing so many different types of area artists together; this is their secret sauce. Aspiring artists, eager-to-learn hobbyists, part-time crafters, full-time crafters, and micro-famous crafters can all be found either physically at GH or conversing with GH via Twitter or Facebook. There are many really terrific fabric, yarn, and fiber stores around Boston but Gather Here is really the only one I can think of that has established a loving community around their shop. Never was this more obvious to me than when I had the privilege of selling my bags at Gather Here's Handmade Holiday Craft Fair this past December.

Nearly everyone who walked through the door the day of Handmade Holiday was greeted by Virginia and her tireless staff as a friend. Most of the people were past and current customers who were super-duper excited about handmade and Gather Here specifically. And if there were people who came in who were new to the shop, they too were greeted as a friend. So much love! I'm still glowing when I think back about it. And now, this weekend, we celebrate this shop's 2nd birthday! Nothing terrible about these 2's!

Stop by Gather Here this coming Sunday, February 17th anytime between 12pm + 6pm and help them party like a toddler! I know I will for sure be stopping by to give my congratulatory hugs (I'm a hugger. Sorry, V.) There will be a raffle, free friendship bracelet making, 30% off fabric & yarn, and a trunk show celebrating the work of some of my favorite area-crafty-biz peeps including Margravine, maker of cruelty-free "fur" capelets (they are so cute!). The water colors of Sarah Coyne will also be on exhibit and Pansy Maiden (I've heard of them...) has created 10 limited edition notion pouches exclusively for this grand event (pictured above). 

Cannot wait to see what the next couple of years has in store for Gather Here (and what they will have "in store" for us...I've heard tales of an online store...we'll all have to wait and see...) HAPPY BIRTHDAY GATHER HERE! MUAH!

Vaute Couture's NYFW Debut

I was lucky enough to get an invite to Vaute Couture's debut at New York Fashion Week. This was such an historic event you guys! Leanne Mai-ly Hilgart is the first designer in fashion history to debut a 100% cruelty free collection at NYFW. 100% Vegan! No animals harmed!  I am so happy that I could be there to support Leanne and the beautiful work she is doing. Unbelievable event. So happy for her!

This show was a huge success and even reported on by media outlets such as Ecouterre, Getty Images, and CNN. CNN consulted several fashion forecasters who, while admiring what Leanne is doing, stated that VC has an up-hill battle in front of them. "There's a point of view from many people in the fashion industry that having real leather or fur pieces adds a kind of elevated conception," she [Jaclyn Jones, womenswear editor of style forecaster WGSN] said. "Everyone is always trying to look like their outfit costs more or have more worth or more value to it, especially during economic hardships..." 

Well, Leanne has already been walking the up-hill battle and has been walking it beautifully. If anyone can change the fashion forecast, it's Leanne. I for one will be supporting her every step of the way, any way I can. We vagan designers need to stick together! Together, we will change the weather! We are not afraid of hiking up hills. 

To see large versions of pictures, have a look at my VC NYFW flickr set.