A bittersweet goodbye

The first gallery that I began selling at, HeART the Gallery, closed its doors this week as the owner, Mike, is taking a break from running the gallery to write a book on his art. This is a great opportunity for him and I wish him the best of luck on his new journey. Mike assured me that he wants to as a gallery owner again but for the time being, he wants to focus on his book and art. Mike showed an interest in selling my artistic bags in his gallery and always complemented my skills for color pallets and designs. This closing brings up my previous bittersweet farewell to Happy Delusions, the first boutique that I sold at. Owner, Mary, wanted to pursue other adventures and has been doing great.

I am happy for both owners and couldn't be more grateful to have met them and the opportunity to sell at their amazing establishments.

On another note, I know another person pursing in writing a book that I think everyone should check out. Nathan Vass is a King County Metro bus driver and currently has a blog about his bus route adventures. He his also in the works in writing a book, inspired by his blog. If you're ever riding the 358, be sure to say hi to Nathan!

Current collections expand from inspiration and demand

My two current collections, Checker and Formal, have been doing great. A demand for different styles/sizes motivated me to make more within each collection. After taking some professional photos for catalogs and the website, I realized that each bag should be little more special. I decided to start naming bags after the people that have inspired, supported, and motivated me. More collections are still in works but here are my current collections.

Checker Collection: The Crissie and Kim.

Checker Collection: The Crissie, the first Trizanh bag. 

Checker Collection: The Kim, a smaller crossbody bag.

Formal Collection:
Upcycled ties and dress shirts make these bags truly one of a kind.

Formal Collection: The Ryo, larger bag with an adjustable strap.

Formal Collection: The Yolanda, a clutch with a cuff link closure.

Formal Collection: The Yolanda, beautiful and classy.

It's been almost half a year!

Time sure does fly by... I didn't realize that my last post was almost six months ago. I've been busy with re-bulilding and re-branding Trizanh. Making a new website with amazing photos from Rodel Studios, working on catalogs to take Trizanh into the wholesale industry and setting up a studio space to have a photo area to take pictures of my online store.

Holiday season is creeping up and custom orders are starting to come in for personalized, one of a kind handbags as gifts. I love making personal handbags because they are more special and have a story behind it. I haven't been sewing as much due to all the "admin" work but I plan to jump back on the machine in my new work space. The bags have also evolved... to higher quality production and into different styles. Excited to see what will happen after these new and big changes!

Cross body Checker bag

Up until recently, the Checker Collection only consisted of one style. I made a Checker case for my new tablet, and with my recent interest in cross body bags, I was inspired to make a cross body Checker bag. I made the first one, a prototype, to see how the design looked. I immediately fell in love and in the past month, I have created more to add to inventory. Pictures will be posted soon of the new addition to the Checker collection and I'll be dropping off new inventory to stores next week.

Two opposite sides of Washington State

I recently visited Spokane for the weekend, about five hours away from Seattle. I came across a store just outside of downtown Spokane called Glamarita. Right away I recognized the long dresses in the window made out of ties from Etsy and Pinterest. Upon walking in, I saw purses made out of ties that I saw on Etsy. I had not realized that the creator of these amazing garments were from Spokane. We met and exchanged contact information while sharing our background and experiences.

Shop owner, Ronnie Ryno, has a vast collection of amazing works that she has created. Be sure to check out her shop if you're in the area.

Purse cupcakes?!?!

One of my favorite cupcake shops in Seattle is The Yellow Leaf Cupcake Company. They make an amazing assortment of flavors and their recipe for frosting/cake is scrumptious! The owners and their baking crew welcome new ideas and finding ways to explore their creativity in flavors and designs of cupcakes. Their daily offerings are always a delight but below is a picture of a special order for a shoe fanatic.

For a special occasion, I might have to call up The Yellow Leaf and request cupcakes made into handbags! Be sure to follow the "yellow leaf road" for updates on their daily selection of cupcakes.

Stick a pin here, a pin there

One can get lost in the world of Pinterest. One click and repin leads to another and another and another; there is no end. Sometimes I find myself repinning the same thing by accident, which is fine because it means I really like that pin!

A friend is using Pinterest to find ideas of her wedding and another friends is using it to find baking ideas. Who would have a thought that a social media pinning board would catch on the way it did! For me, I like finding pins that relate to my creative side of how I make purses. So far I've found so many interesting ways to use ties and so many cool things that people have knitted. I wonder what the next phenomenon will be in the world of social media...

Addicted to fabric

Even before I began the Trizanh brand of purses, I have always been obsessed with fabric. I would find myself walking through the fabric section looking at all the different types of fabric bolts and imagine what amazing crafts and creations could be created. I usually found myself in the quilting fabric section because I think I was a quilter in my former life.

The array of color pallets from the bolts and how they are display in a rainbow of fabric is fun to look at. Since I don't quilt, I have always found a reason to buy quilting fabric to make random things. Now that I use quilting fabric/cotton prints to line the Checker collection with, I have a good reason to always look at the current inventory and the sales table.

When I opened the business account for Trizanh, I went on a shopping spree to buy all types of prints and colors but I had to stop because I needed to use up my current stock of fabric before buying more. I recently went over my stock of fabric and now it's time to go shopping again. I'm so excited to visit the local quilting/fabric stores to see what they have in stock for this crazy fabric hoarder.

Happy 2013

2012 ended on a couple of difficult notes but in time, and with strength, things start to look up again. With the first term of graduate school starting, making purses has fallen down the list. However, with the new year I plan to pick up and continue the projects I planned for Trizanh.

Building an online store, through sites like Etsy, will only help expand Trizanh to all the purse lovers out there in the world. However, producing quality photos and maintaining the online shops are a lot of work but this is something that shall be accomplish this year. Running my own online shop off Trizanh.com will be another step in the e-commerce world so for now, sites like Etsy and ArtFire will suffice.

Creating the Sew-Do-Ku Collection is an on going project and this year will be another year of experimental crafting. Just when I think I figured out one part, another part doesn't work. This collection will be worth every sweat and tear I've put into it.

Boutiques that sell handmade goods are what help professional crafters launch their brand. This year I plan to find more boutiques to give some purses a place to call home.

Thanks again for all the support and love to this crazy purse maker and be sure to check back for more adventures in the world of Trizanh!

Holiday season is upon us

Yet another year is coming to an end as the holiday season is now upon us. Shopping for the perfect gifts, parties at work or with family and friends, and plenty of eggnog to go around. Christmas is one of my favorite holidays because I love the festive decorations and music but most of all I enjoy the gathering of friends and family.

May it be Christmas or Kwanzaa or Hanukkah... or whatever wonderful celebration it is that you celebrate, happy holidays to all. Don't let the pressure of finding the most expensive or perfect gift get in the way of having fun with the ones you love.

President Obama support Small Business Saturday

In 2010, in an effort to support small businesses, American Express promoted the new shopping day as a counterpart to Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Since then, more and more publicity has helped support this day and the small businesses in every city. This year, President Obama showed his support while shopping for Christmas gifts. It's good to know that there is such a strong support for small business owners.

Read the full article: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-buys-books-promote-independent-shops-192649796--finance.html

'Tis the Holiday Season

Now that Halloween is over, the next big crafting projects are Christmas related; decorations, gifts, and paper crafts. I'll be selling at the Starbucks Holiday Bazaar the first week of December, at Starbucks headquarters. Unfortunately it's not open to the public but it is open to the 4000 employees in the building. There are other holiday shows happening soon that you can shop at for great gifts AND support local businesses!

EtsyRain hosts an annual Holiday Show at McCaw Hall: http://etsyrain.com/shows/etsyrain-2012-handmade-holiday-show

Happy shopping and happy holidays!

What did I get myself into?!

Upon graduating from college with a Bachelor's, I had every intention of going back to school for my Masters in Teaching and pursue my desire to teach high school students about expressing their feelings through creative writing. I found myself in a state employee job that I was not very happy with and my educational plans for an MIT was put on the back shelf.

I felt like I woke up one morning and decided to create Trizanh after some friends urged my creativity. I felt like I had a new passion for a viable goal for myself. I was going to start my own small business of making purses. I knew it was going to be hard but I was going to do it. My unhappiness at the full time job continued to consume me and I decided it was time to take the plunge into full entrepreneurship. I quit, got a part time job at Starbucks and focused my energy on branding my business. Almost three years later, Trizanh has grown a lot but there is still a lot of work to do and no guarantee that it will be successful enough for me to live comfortably. Also moonlighting as a wedding coordinator (Weddings with Anh), I "accidentally fell" into the idea of becoming a Project Manager. I already enjoy the job and do part of it for both Trizanh and Weddings with Anh so why not go all the way with a Master's degree to make myself more legit?

As a partner of Starbucks, I have wonderful benefits including help with tuition for school. I went for it and applied to the graduate program at City University for my Masters in Project Management. Now that school is in session, I have not given much attention to Trizanh and now I feel like I got myself into more than I can handle.

Already applying my skills to my own life, I have to divide my time between school and business, in hopes that I don't fail at one or the other... or both. Please excuse me if I seem scattered or chaotic in the months to come. Fret not for I shall continue to create one of a kind purses and Trizanh will only grow stronger as a business as I continue to apply my knowledge to building the brand.

Starbucks Farmer's Market

During August and September, in the plaza of Starbucks' head quarters, a weekly Farmer's Market hosted by the famous Seattle based coffee company provides excitement in the SoDo area. Every Friday from 11-2, vendors of all sorts come out to set up shop. Although it is not as big as the surrounding neighborhood Farmer's Markets, the second annual market hosted by Starbucks is a great way for the company to support other small businesses. Flowers, food, and crafts can all be found in front of the Siren's eye.

In addition to hosting a weekly market during the summer, Starbucks is putting on a holiday show in December. Unlike the summer market, vendors do pay a fee to participate in the holiday show but proceeds to to the CUP fund for Starbucks employees. As a partner of the company, the CUP fund is reserved for emergencies that come up for partners in a financial bind when accidents occur.

Come on down on Fridays in September to check out the Farmer's Market and more details to come about the holiday show.

Farewell, Happy Delusions

About four years ago, I was eating dinner at a neighborhood Italian restaurant. The waitress was a very nice  woman that I really liked. It came up that we were both knitters, we both lived in Renton, and we both loved Harry Potter. She introduced herself as Mary and told me that she just opened a small gift boutique around the corner and that I should come by sometime. The area was new to me so I could not locate her shop, Happy Delusions, in my mental GPS. After desserts and a signed credit card slip, we said our goodbyes and we promised each other to meet again at Happy Delusions.

A couple of months go by and I take time out to wonder around Downtown Renton to look for this shop. Sure enough, around the corner from the restaurant sat a fairly large looking store with a big sign that read Happy Delusions. I walked in expecting Mary not to remember me because I can only imagine the number of people she meets at both jobs. She greeted me as I walked up to the register and I quickly remind her of how we met and our love for Harry Potter. Mary chuckled and said that she remembered me and was glad that I came by for a visit.

We chatted about knitting and she knew that I was experimenting in making knitted bags to sell. At the time, I had only made a handful for friends and thought it would be fun to sell some. I looked around at the cute store and saw all the wonderful gifts that were crafted by local artists and businesses. Mary asked for a photo sample of my purses, now called the Checker Collection, and that we would work something out. I rushed home to make some purses and had some photos done. I sent them off to Mary and soon after she asked for me to bring some in. After making a couple more, I came in with a handful to display. She signed me up to rent a wall space to call my own and I was able to decorate it anyway I wanted.

Months go by and in between making more Checker bags, I came up with another line which is now known as the Formal Collection. After my hard work and creative energy flowing, I was happy to have a full wall of two different lines of bags that I designed and created. However, the reality of losing money every month on renting the wall space and not selling bags began to add up. One bag sold here and there but during first six months of selling at Happy Delusions, I was losing a lot of money very quickly. I decided to bite the bullet and end my time at the store but Mary, believing in me and my products took me off that contract and began a consignment contract. During this time, we also became good friends and I occasionally joined her in a knitting session outside on a sunny day.

Three years later the hobby is now a small business in hopes to become a bigger production of unique handbags. Thanks to Mary and Happy Delusions for getting this ball of yarn rollin'. Good luck with your future happy delusions,

Mt. Ties

About a month ago I decided to start shopping on eBay to buy used ties in bulk because I knew of a fellow small business owner/professional crafter that was successful in purchasing bulk ties on eBay. I found a couple of listings within my price range and found a seller that was shipping from Everett. Once I was successful with the bid and my random selection of ties were sent to me, I awaited for my first lot of ties to arrive. Upon opening the box I found a note from the seller offering more ties from their inventory. I contacted the seller and learned that they were in Monroe, about an hour away from Seattle. I found myself in Everett this previous weekend and made an appointment to swing by their place to check out the stock. I figured I could not go wrong when I heard that they have over 1000 ties.

Along a main road in Monroe is a cute lavender house that you cannot miss. The couple, Lisa and George, were very nice and welcoming as we entered their home. Lisa took out bin after bin of ties that she had collected for a quilting project which she gave up on. Each tie was bagged and coded by size and length. I spent about an hour shuffling through ties, with Ryo (my silent business partner) keeping track of how many ties I was picking out. George provided garbage bags to store my ties in for easy transportation. In the end I decided to finish off at 400 for a good number. We excused ourselves as we ran to the ATM to withdraw money since the couple did not have a means of taking credit cards. When we returned, Lisa pointed out that she forgot to show me a stack of ties she did not categorize. In 10 minutes I found 30 more that she was glad to be rid of. On a hot summer evening, we left the lavender house with three bags full of 430 ties for a bargain. Thanks to Lisa and George for helping this crazy purse maker in making more Formal bags.

Coffee with CASH

Special event on Thursday, September 13 from 9-10AM at the Ventures store in Pike Place Market. 

A set of four Formals

First off, I LOVE making custom and personal orders. I like getting to know the person and their interest of my craft. Specifically with the Formal collection, customers can provide me their own ties to make the bag more personal and special. 

A couple of months ago I was approached by a customer about making a personal order from the Formal collection. She explained to me that her father was moving into a care home and while her family was going through his belongings, she found his old ties and wanted a bag made of them.

Upon our first consultation, she explained to me that she wanted an e-reader bag for her Kindle. As we discussed and selected ties from her father's collection, it dawned on her that she wanted to make one for each of her siblings as a keepsake from their father's ties. I sent her on the task to find more ties and to pick out ones for each Kindle bag. Below are four very different Kindle bags made from one man's tie collection for his four children.

The glue that binds it all

Between making purses out of ties and knitting handbags, I've been experimenting to find the right glue for a collection that I've been trying bring to life. I am looking for an adhesive that is thin yet durable AND  I need to glue the rough side of Velcro to a vinyl sheet, THEN be able to cut numbers from it. It's a process, I know... I've been doing this for almost three years. I'm almost there, I can feel it!

Currently, glues that bonds the two mediums together are too thick and creates lumps. The thinner and spreadable glues don'tt seem to bond the two mediums together. I'll keep experimenting with glue and possibly find a different fabric than vinyl but so far that fabric seems the best out of the non-fraying fabrics I have tried.

If it's not one thing, it's another. The search continues to create my Sew-Do-Ku collection. Feel free to send any suggestions my way for adhesives or fabric that might work!

The uphill battle of a small business

As much as I enjoy turning my passion and art into a business, there are times when I hit a wall and I'm forced to walk up it. The climb to a successful business is hard, everyone knows that, but I don't think people who haven't experience know the feeling of failure and lost hope. Like a roller coaster ride, I have my highs of the business.

I enjoy bringing my creations into life and it's thrilling when others share my vision. I yearn for more feedback and custom orders. I thrive on happy customers and blush at compliments. However, when it comes down to it, none of the above bring money. In the end, a business is suppose to bring in money and I'm at a fork in the road on how to do that.

Here comes the long dive down followed by the still air of the unknown. As a struggling artist/business owner, I can't help but wonder if I will succeed and how long I can continue doing this. With the support of my family, friends, and fans I will continue to pursue my passion to create and brand Trizanh. The question looms over my head: What is success and what is failure?

Until I find my own answers, I will continue to create unique handmade bags because a purse is the best accessory a girl can have!