Hair clips

[Chux]

I've been trying to get ready for craft fair season and coming up with some inexpensive things that 1, don't take a huge amount of time for me to make (like hand stitching bags) and 2, that people might be willing to impulse buy for lack of a better word. That being said, I have to sell products to pay for supplies, booth space and everything else that I'm sure you already know and just wanted to get some feedback if you are willing. As always, thanks for looking. 

[DieselTech]

Nice work. They look great! I think your feathers & sunflowers will be the hot seller. Or at least my favorite.

[Chux]

5 minutes ago, DieselTech said:

Nice work. They look great! I think your feathers & sunflowers will be the hot seller. Or at least my favorite.

Thank you!! I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

[MarshalWill]

Those look good. I agree with @DieselTech that the feathers and sunflowers should be the most popular.

[Chux]

7 minutes ago, MarshalWill said:

Those look good. I agree with @DieselTech that the feathers and sunflowers should be the most popular.

Thank you. Well I guess that means I should invest in one of those "hair" blades I've seen for adding the detail to the feathers, trying to make a bunch doing each and every line one at a time would not be a very good "time management" idea 

[MarshalWill]

1 hour ago, Chux said:

Thank you. Well I guess that means I should invest in one of those "hair" blades I've seen for adding the detail to the feathers, trying to make a bunch doing each and every line one at a time would not be a very good "time management" idea 

That might do you well. It would take some practice but you'd soon find the best way to use one on feathers.

[Chux]

42 minutes ago, MarshalWill said:

That might do you well. It would take some practice but you'd soon find the best way to use one on feathers.

I don't know if you have any experience with those blades, BUT, if you do would you be willing to share? I've seen both steel and ceramic blades and don't know which would be better??

[MarshalWill]

29 minutes ago, Chux said:

I don't know if you have any experience with those blades, BUT, if you do would you be willing to share? I've seen both steel and ceramic blades and don't know which would be better??

I have one but I've never used it. I bought it one time when I thought I might have a use for it but found out I didn't. So my only experience is that it doesn't take up much drawer space. LOL

[Chux]

17 minutes ago, MarshalWill said:

I have one but I've never used it. I bought it one time when I thought I might have a use for it but found out I didn't. So my only experience is that it doesn't take up much drawer space. LOL

Lol...ummmm, wanna get rid of it??

[MarshalWill]

30 minutes ago, Chux said:

Lol...ummmm, wanna get rid of it??

I thought about that but I still might want one so I'd better hang onto it.

[Chux]

1 hour ago, MarshalWill said:

I thought about that but I still might want one so I'd better hang onto it.

I'd feel the exact same way, but hey if you ever finding yourself in need of the extra room it's taking up, shoot me a message and let me know!! lol

[MarshalWill]

5 hours ago, Chux said:

I'd feel the exact same way, but hey if you ever finding yourself in need of the extra room it's taking up, shoot me a message and let me know!! lol

I will remember that. Be sure to post some of those feathers you do once you get one.

[Laska]

These are beautiful. One tip I'd offer, if you're interested, would be to make something with a cat eyes theme. People love cats, especially if they could also pass as dragon eyes. If you have any rhinestone studs, they could be a low-cost trick to improving salability. Adding rhinestones to the corners/border, or as an accent for flowers, would make them more visible if your vendor space isn't very well lit. They'll reflect whatever light they can catch. It's a small thing, but it's worth playing with. Best of luck out there!

[Hags]

Coasters do well also. Nice work!

[Gezzer]

Very nice clips and should move well  

[Chux]

9 hours ago, Laska said:

These are beautiful. One tip I'd offer, if you're interested, would be to make something with a cat eyes theme. People love cats, especially if they could also pass as dragon eyes. If you have any rhinestone studs, they could be a low-cost trick to improving salability. Adding rhinestones to the corners/border, or as an accent for flowers, would make them more visible if your vendor space isn't very well lit. They'll reflect whatever light they can catch. It's a small thing, but it's worth playing with. Best of luck out there!

Wow I never thought about adding "bling"! Or the eyes either,  if I'm being honest, lol, thank you for the suggestions!!

9 hours ago, Hags said:

Coasters do well also. Nice work!

I've got a small batch of those as well, thank you for suggesting them, kinda makes me feel like I know what I'm doing....(not really, lol, I'm pretty much clueless)

[Chux]

2 hours ago, Gezzer said:

Very nice clips and should move well  

Thank you!

[DwightT]

Beautiful work.  You'll sell out in no time.

What is your source for the metal clips?  I have several granddaughters that would love a grandpa-made gift like that.

    /dwight

[Chux]

Thank you. If I remember correctly I got them at Hobby Lobby 

[Laska]

Another tip, if you're still considering products to offer, would be to invest in some wooden sticks as an alternative to metal clips. Hair sticks are pretty popular, and I've seen some neat combination sets that include sticks and a leather patch, usually by way of a slot carved into the leather, or by adding tiny straps to its back side. If you're any good with wood, you could carve them yourself from some smooth holly and add an authentic "100% handmade in America" tag to your products. (Little things like that encourage me to open up my wallet and support local artisans.) I don't even wear hair accessories besides my hat and bandanas, but if I come across a pretty little art piece made without imported hardware, I might buy it just to help out the seller, and use it to decorate my room.

[Chux]

13 minutes ago, Laska said:

Another tip, if you're still considering products to offer, would be to invest in some wooden sticks as an alternative to metal clips. Hair sticks are pretty popular, and I've seen some neat combination sets that include sticks and a leather patch, usually by way of a slot carved into the leather, or by adding tiny straps to its back side. If you're any good with wood, you could carve them yourself from some smooth holly and add an authentic "100% handmade in America" tag to your products. (Little things like that encourage me to open up my wallet and support local artisans.) I don't even wear hair accessories besides my hat and bandanas, but if I come across a pretty little art piece made without imported hardware, I might buy it just to help out the seller, and use it to decorate my room.

I have these as well, not particularly thrilled with the end results if I'm being 100% honest, so I wasn't really planning on posting them but reading tour comment it seemed relevant so here they are, lol. The sticks I actually did hand carve. I think they might be oak but can't say for sure. I was lighting the woodstove and did a double take at the kindling box and said hmmmmm, I wonder if...and that's where that thought lead me too. Safe to say they would be considered handmade for sure! 

[Laska]

They don't look bad at all, perhaps a bit plain, though. Adding a bit of wood stain to bring the sticks up to match the color of the leather would tie the entire product together, making it look more complete. The rose looks great, but I would suggest adding a small amount of darker dye to fill in the background, so that the edges of the artwork are clear. (It could just be due to your camera, but through the Internet, the red and green dyes seem to get muddled into the brown leather.) Another thing that might be worth trying would be to play with the shapes. The ovals are a safe bet, but what about if they were more like a four leaved clover? A shape like that could be manipulated to look like butterfly wings, or a classic, cartoony hair bow shape.  I couldn't resist making an example. Please forgive the unpolished look and massive notes; my eyes have been over worked lately so I can't commit to staring at an art file for any great length of time. (It's completely fine to use this as a template for things that you sell. Please don't share the pattern outside of the forums, or claim it as your own.)

[Chux]

10 hours ago, Laska said:

They don't look bad at all, perhaps a bit plain, though. Adding a bit of wood stain to bring the sticks up to match the color of the leather would tie the entire product together, making it look more complete. The rose looks great, but I would suggest adding a small amount of darker dye to fill in the background, so that the edges of the artwork are clear. (It could just be due to your camera, but through the Internet, the red and green dyes seem to get muddled into the brown leather.) Another thing that might be worth trying would be to play with the shapes. The ovals are a safe bet, but what about if they were more like a four leaved clover? A shape like that could be manipulated to look like butterfly wings, or a classic, cartoony hair bow shape.  I couldn't resist making an example. Please forgive the unpolished look and massive notes; my eyes have been over worked lately so I can't commit to staring at an art file for any great length of time. (It's completely fine to use this as a template for things that you sell. Please don't share the pattern outside of the forums, or claim it as your own.)

Thank you for all the great suggestions you have no idea how helpful that is!! I am even worse at "photography" than leatherworking haha, I have the ability to zoom in and out and that is the extent of my skills in that department. I've thought about the butterfly but could never picture the HOW since butterflies are so thin in the middle but seeing your example has been kind of an ah ha moment! I have zero experience with any type of computer aided art programs and do all my quote end quote patterns by hand. Then try it out with leather, sometimes it works a lot of times it dosent and I have to figure out the WHY it dosent. Not always a positive experience. Thank you for permitting me to use your template!! If I can figure out how to use it I just may. I'll probably have to screenshot it and try drawing it out and see where it takes me. 

Thank you again for all the help you've given me!

[DLawson]

I like your ideas. I have made a few for my wife and friends.

[Mablung]

7 hours ago, DLawson said:

I like your ideas. I have made a few for my wife and friends.

I like those, as well as the OP’s. My sister would like something like this (my mom not as much, but maybe).