ThePigAndThePeacock

Etsy Dallas voted best One Stop Shop in Dallas!

We are super excited that our craft collective of artists and designers, Etsy Dallas, was voted Best One Stop Shop in the Dallas Observer's 2009 Best of Dallas issue! No surprise though with the talent that makes up Etsy Dallas, and all their wonderful handcrafted goodies.

Here is the article:

Sure etsy.com—the online boutique community for crafters, jewelry designers, knitters, tailors, bookbinders, vintage sellers and collectors of everything—is a surefire way to kill an afternoon and build up a wish list, but an Etsy Dallas event is even better. Prices are great, the craftsmanship is fantastic, it feels good to support local crafters and you'll still cover everyone on any gift list you might have for the next two years. But the downside is you'll also empty your bank account with little to no effort without some preventive measures. We have a friend keep us from purchasing on the first lap through the show. We spend only cash (even if a booth takes cards). And we buy no more than we can carry on our own person. It's hard, but, well, you gotta leave something for the rest of the shoppers to look at. On the other hand, screw everyone else, retail therapy rocks! The Etsy Dallas Jingle Bash takes place November 21 at Sons of Hermann Hall. Sharp elbows stimulate the economy, people.

If you missed the Jingle Bash last year, or Spring Bash in May, be sure you make it out to our next show! The Second Annual Jingle Bash will be held at the historic Sons of Hermann Hall at 3414 Elm St. in Dallas on November 21st from 1pm-7pm. The show will feature over 50 local artists, crafters and designers, music, and a full bar. There is no cost to the public for admission or entertainment. While this show will be family-friendly, the vibe will be a fun, night-time holiday bash full of handmade love and good times. Think of it as a party - not your typical craft show!

Pretty Pretty Peacocks-Style Inspiration

Last year, we declared "Peacocks are the new Owl", and we are glad to see the trend still holding on! Everywhere we look we are still seeing peacock inspired fashion, from the runway to accessories and paper arts. Here are a few of our faves:

These "Statement" rings are hot this fall, and these rings definitely fit the bill:

Prints are a bold choice in fall fashion, the more exciting the print, the more stylish the dress. From the Prada runways to more affordable pieces, here are a few of our faves:

 

 And we have saved the best for last! Our peacock inspired Etsy faves!!

This bold peacock graphic cuff by DirtyStory is sure to catch your eye:

 This hand embroidered stylized peacock brooch by Hare and Drum will add a punch to any outfit:

 

And what co-worker wouldn't love notes left on their desk written on these beautiful peacock sticky notes by Michelle Brusegaard

Some Businesses Have Held Their Own as Economy Slows

One would think that with the current economic crisis, sales would be slow for everyone. Many businesses are seeing a rise in sales as people are tending to stay home more often such as the movie/entertainment industry, the specialty/gourmet food industry, and specialty bath and body products.

Sales of handmade bath items such as handmade soap, lotions, bath teas , and polish would be in the decline, but it appears that these items are holding own.

Due to tightening budgets, more and more people are opting to stay home in the evenings, rather than going out on the town… and what better to do at home than pamper yourself. You can still get those spa like treatments and feel like you are indulging yourself, and do it for less than $15.

A nice soak in a hot bath, with a bath tea can relax tired muscles, and ease stress, leaving one feeling completely relaxed, and ready to face the world again. Pampering yourself at home doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. You can buy many beautiful, handmade bath products on Etsy amazingly that won’t break the bank!

 

March is National Craft Month!

What better time to dust off that sewing machine you keep meaning to use than National Craft Month? National Craft Month (NCM) is a nationwide consumer awareness program designed to draw attention to crafts and the benefits derived from craft activities. As part of this nationwide NCM effort, retailers across the country offer special classes, demonstrations, sales and promotions.

For those of you new to crafting, check our your local craft store for classes and learn something new! For those of you in the Dallas area check out Make Shop and Studio. It's fantastic handmade shop where you can take classes and learn the same handicrafts you grandmother used to do, with a modern twist!

For those of you already crafting up a storm, now is a great time to learn a new craft, OR teach someone how to do your favorite craft. Here at Pig and Peacock, we are trying to learn how to make lip balms and mens shaving products (and Pig is attempting sewing-Ha!).

NCM is sponsored by HIA (Hobby Industry Association), a non-profit trade organization consisting of over 4,000 member companies engaged in the manufacturing and distribution of craft and hobby products.

Komen For The Cure Annual Donation

We have just made our 1st annual donation to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. The money donated came from the sales of our Breast Cancer Awareness Pink Ribbon Shea Butter Soap.

We want to thank Alexandra, Alice, Beau, Carolyn, Cherie, Cheryl, Courtney, Ginger, Jill, Josh, Kathryn, Lorie, Pamela, Stacey, and You Name It Designs for buying the Ribbon soap and helping this great cause.

 

Stats from the Daily Candy Dallas

We had an amazing response to being featured in the Daily Candy Dallas last Wednesday. It generated several sales and a lot of traffic to our Etsy shop. We have had a few requests to put up some results from being featured, so here goes:

 

Top level, we had 791 visits to our shop, versus our average of 140 a day. Of those 791 visits, 81.5% of them were new visitors. We had a bounce rate of 41% which meant that more shoppers stuck around versus our average of a 50% bounce rate. The majority of our traffic came directly from Daily Candy, or from email referral.

In addition to that 60% if our total visits were from Texas, and 90% of them were new visitors with a 38% bounce rate. We were very excited about this, because we are trying to gain a greater visibility in our local markets.

Also, we saw an increase in our typical weekend views, I think as a result of some people waiting to check their personal emails on Friday or Saturday, and got a secondary influx of Texas sales over the weekend.

New Product Development - Now The Fun Starts

There have been so many things we wanted to make over the holidays, but it was just too busy. Now that it's slowed down, we can get to some research and development (R & D). I love this part. Making news scents. Making new products. What's more fun that bath and body R & D. Ok, maybe food R & D is more fun, but our R & D is calorie free.

We want to expand our men's products, so our boyfriends have become the guinea pigs. Sometimes this is good for them and sometimes it just stings... We can honestly say that none of our products are tested on cute little bunnies though, just cute boyfriends.

We are on revision C of our shaving cream. Here is a summary of our "lab tests".
Comments from Rev A test:
BF - "This gives me razor burn."
PNP - "Then stop using it. Whay are you still shaving with it?"
BF - "I wanted to give you good feedback."
Rev A worked great on our legs though, so that became ours.

Comments from Rev B test:
BF - "Why's this shaving cream gritty?"
PNP - "Ignore that and tell me how it shaves."
BF - "The grit is weird during shaving."
Rev B also worked great on our legs (and yes, the grit felt weird), so that is ours too.

Comments from Rev C test:
BF - "It's a little runny, but my face feels incredibly soft after I shave."
The boyfriends kept Rev C for themselves. That's a good sign that we are getting close.

We also made a great body balm and a face cream this last week. I'm additcted to the new face cream we made. My face has been so dry with the cold weather and this cream relieved all the dryness. Just a little more work on the consistency and this will be ready to go.

You can take comfort in the fact that we try everything on ourselves, our boyfriends, and our friends before it goes into the shop. I'm off to work on more fun new products.

Our New Year's Resolutions

We survived our 1st holiday season. We thought we were prepared, but some days were still very hectic, especially the time around the shows. We learned many lessons. The first and foremost lesson is to start preparing for the holiday earlier.

It's a new year and things have settled down now so we are regrouping and organizing everything. We've made some New Year's resolutions for the business this year. Here they are in no particular order:

1. Keep better records - we are preparing for tax time and are digging for receipts, business papers (where did we put our tax ID?), deposits, etc. In 2009, we will keep everything.
2. Put everything in a database - Excel has been good for keeping track of sales and expenses in general, but we have dozens of tabs for all the different things we want to keep track of. I've created an Access database to track everything. Now we can quickly look at sales by month, by product, by customer, log our supplies, manage our inventory, and so much more.
3. Do more craft shows - we are starting to get the hang of it now. We still need to tweek our behind the scenes organization, but we know what to expect. We plan to sign up for more shows and prepare for those show well in advance.
4. Get better at promoting ourselves - In my 'day job', I'm director of marketing, so I'm almost embarrassed to admit that we really need to market ourselves more. It's so much harder to promote yourself. We feel like we're being pushy, which we hate, so we are going to work on our 'elevator story' and we are going to practice saying it until it stops feeling weird to us to talk about our business.
5. Post more frequently - we tried to post to this blog frequently, but we just got buried during the holidays. We resolve to be more active here and on other sites like Twitter, Indie Public, etc.

I'm sure we'll come up with more, but those are the biggies. Happy New Year everyone!

The Best Investment Yet

We just purchased a wax melter. I don't know what we did without it. It's the greatest invention ever! Ok, there might be a couple better, like the wheel, but as far as soap and candle making go, this is the best.

It used to take forever to microwave our wax to the melt temperature, but this thing was melting wax as we were pouring it in. Genius!

If you are thinking about getting into soap and candles, get a melter. It's well worth it.

Peacocks are the New Owl

It's true (we've decided). Owls are so last season. Peacocks are all the rage. In honor of the peacocks' current awesomeness, our current Treasury is dedicated to peacocks.