Well that well known soft drink advert is on the tv and the shops are full of decorations which means the season of giving is almost upon us. My American friends refer to this coming weekend as ‘black Friday, cyber Monday’ but even when I worked in a shop as a student I knew we’d be busy during the last weekend of November – the last pay day before Christmas.

So as a way to help out a bit during the holidays I’m offering free Worldwide shipping in my etsy shop until 4th Dec.

The last posting dates from the UK are:

International Airmail 4th Dec, UK 2nd class 18th Dec and first class 21st Dec.

To qualify for the free shipping just mention this blog in the notes to seller and I will either send you a revised invoice or refund you via paypal.

I’m adding new items all the time so please do come back and have another look or convo me if there is a specific items that you’d like.

A couple of weeks ago I was felled with a chest infection (again) made all the worse by the fact that you can’t take anything stronger than paracetamol to ease the symptoms when you are pregnant. In the end the doctor prescribed me some antibiotics – which brought on some much welcome sleep but left my brain too foggy to do any work.

So I sat and crocheted – I searched my stash for pure wool and made some little mobile sized pouches. Then I bunged them in the washing machine and anxiously waited for the results. Well out came some very strong pouches that were still big enough to hold a mobile phone and some essentials. I decorated them with buttons and added a clip and they are now in my etsy shop.

I also finished off something that I have been working on for a while. I didn’t plan it but once I started with this wool I knew that it had to be made into a bag and it took shape of its own accord. It is truly one of a kind as I wont be able to replicate the pattern or source the yarn again.

I’m working hard to fill up the shop with lots of items suitable for the festive season as gifts for yourself or others. The next couple of weeks are traditionally when most Christmas shopping is done.

So as a little incentive I’m offering free shipping from now until Friday 4th December for anyone mentioning my blog in the notes to seller at checkout in my etsy shop.

If you’re self employed in the UK and want the tax office to work out your tax you have to get your form in by the end of October. As I started my Etsy shop last year I had two businesses to work out so employed the services of an accountant to help me.

Well I’ve had a severe talking to. When I embarked on my Etsy shop I had no clue as to how to price things. I worked out how much the materials had cost me and looked at what other people were selling their items for and priced my items somewhere in between. It was only reading the forums and critiques of other shops that I realised what the correct formula was.

So for those who don’t know – though I suspect most do-  it is this:

Cost of materials + (TIME TAKEN x HOURLY RATE) = Wholesale rate x 2 = your shop price

The bit I was forgetting was to charge for my time – as I loved making the items. So often my items were sold at the wholesale or even less than the wholesale rate – no wonder I made a loss last year! I also got a lot of requests from online shops who asked what my wholesale rate expecting me to knit a child’s jumper for half of the price quoted in my shop – which, of course, wouldn’t have covered the price of the yarn!

Traditionally the wholesale price is the price offered to galleries or shops wishing to sell the work on your behalf – they then add 100% mark up on the items for sale in their shop. Doing the same for your online shop allows you to be able to offer discounts, free shipping, etc.

So I now have a snazzy spreadsheet with lots of columns covering cost of materials, hours worked, labour cost, admin costs, wholesale price, discount and actual price – it also allows me to work out how much was earned in labour and how much – if any –  was earned as profit. Which should make the whole tax thing easier next year!

This has also prompted me to double check the exchange rate and alter my prices accordingly. It would be so much easier if I could just put the £ value into my Etsy listing and the Buyer could see it or its equivalent in whatever currency they are shopping in.

As a result a lot of my prices have changed today – most up, some down and some have stayed the same. Looking at other items on Etsy I can’t believe how others make their items so cheaply – either they get their materials for free or they, like I was, aren’t factoring THEIR PRECIOUS TIME into the piece.

So from now until the end of Monday 2nd November I’m offering free shipping on all my items in my Etsy shop - just put ‘Stitching Adventures’ in the message to seller at checkout and I will refund the postage via paypal.

Back in August I attended the Bakewell County Show. Fantastic sunshine but lots of mud underfoot after several weeks of rain. I knew from previous years that although there were sheep involved there was no fibre for sale. Imagine my delight when I spied a stand from Toft Alpaca!  I’d been coveting their giant bulb bag for weeks but couldn’t quite stretch to that after all the treats my son had had during the day so I settled for one of the smaller kits. I finally made it up this week after the cold snap started – and they have been worn several times.

Beautifully soft and wonderfully warm. I think I’m in love with a new yarn …

Back in January I took part in a Ravelry swap based on new techniques – I chose felting. I only got around to trying it out a few weeks ago but it took off from there.

The brown and pink bag is made from the Althea bag pattern and wool that I was sent as part of the swap. The turquoise and purple bag is crocheted from lopi (which I wasn’t sure would felt but did beautifully) and the odd shaped object was supposed to be a felted tie – a work in progress as my husband won’t wear anything knitted (his mum used to run a yarn shop) so I tried to fool him. Unfortunately it felted to well and is now too small and too thick to be a tie – it may transform into a snake like draught excluder!

It probably hasn’t been the best time to start an online shop but I’ve learnt a lot over the last year and met some great online freinds. The best bit is that people have actually bought from my shop and loved their purchases. I’ve discovered that I enjoy picking up a piece of wool or fabric and creating something to my own design.

So to celebrate the shop now has this announcement:

****It’s our Etsyversary this week from now until 12 noon GMT on Fri 25th Sept we’re offering 10% off in the shop – just mention the etsyversary sale in the message to seller at check out and we’ll refund you via PayPal *****

and if you don’t know the address already it’s: http://RhodesAnnalsDesigns.etsy.com

Actually 3 months since my last post! Life has been pretty eventful.

Yes! We’re expecting! The cold that wouldn’t go away turned into bronchitis – something I’ve never had before which meant I left it so long to visit the doctor. Shortly after that I started to accuse friends and family of smelling strange and I had a bad back – it was my husband pointed out that those were symptoms I had when I fell pregnant with our son. Though we’d been trying for some time to extend out little family it was still a big shock as we’d given up trying.

Unfortunately concentrating on a pattern – even one of my own devising – has been virtually impossible due to morning sickness but I’m hoping that will subside soon.

The pictures aren’t a clue – we don’t want to know what flavour we’re getting until he or she arrives – I just happened to have knitted the set for my friend’s little girl who arrived in July (I won’t tell you how long it took me).

Whilst the weather here has been pretty fantastic I’ve not been feeling well. For the last month I’ve had one of those colds that don’t go away. This week I felt better and attempted the gym again at the beginning of the week but had to stop as I felt dizzy and then ended up spending most of yesterday in bed (unable to sleep because of the coughing). Basically my husband and I keep passing the cold backwards and forwards but he seems to bounce back after a couple of days while I have the long drawn out version.

I have been doing some crafting. Mainly knitting up a cardigan for my mother – she chose the pattern and the wool and I’m learning new stitches and skills – I’m almost finished with about half an arm to go so I will share photos with you once it is finished.

I’ve also felted my first jumper – well I found it at the back of my wardrobe having had a slight accident in the washing machine (in my husband’s hands) a couple of years ago. It was the first thing that I knitted when I got back into knitting in 2007. On finding the discarded garment at the bottom of the wardrobe – an now having some idea of felting – I finished the job. I’m hoping to make it into at least one bag for my etsy shop in the near future.

I’ve also discovered the delights of the drop spindle with thanks to my swap partner on Ravelry. I can’t wait to knit up the current yarn on the spindle (maybe a present for father’s day).

I’ve also missed a few shops of the week!

This week’s shop of the week is That’s Headly and you can find all about the shop here.

I love the peas in a pod jewellery.

Last week’s shop of the week was A Cagey Bee which you can read about here. I am so sorry that I missed this one as it has been a favorite shop of mine for some time.

I paticularly love Kris’ ‘Angel with one wing’.

The previous shop was Tamdoll – who you can read about here.

I love these mermaids and am inspired by the art cuffs in her shop.

I am taking part in the Etsy Twitter Team’s Sidewalk sale this week.

Visit the blog to find out about all the offers – mine is 10% off if you mention ’sidewalk’ in the message to seller.

I haven’t been able to post shops of the week for a couple of weeks but here they are:

last week’s shop of the week was South Paw Studios and you can read about the shop here.

The week before this was Bell Flower Textiles and you can read about the shop here.

Sorry to both shops for leaving it so long.