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!

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,

Spring is blooming

Seattle has been in a shower, on and off, for the last couple of days. Many folks are tired of it but so many don't realize what it means once the sky stops leaking: beautiful, colorful flowers and bright green trees. The sounds of birds chirping and blue skies will be all over the city and Seattle's beautiful skyline shall attract many people far and wide.

Trizanh purses have been doing well at Venures and Happy Delusions; thanks to all!

Some more exciting purse making news: I might be selling at an art gallery just outside of Pioneer Square! More to come as this develops.

Checker bags look good on Komo 4 News!

Happy Delusions was featured on Komo 4 News about shopping local and supporting small business owners. Out of all the wonderful stores that are small businesses, only three were featured and the amazing Mary, owner of Happy Delusions, had her shining moment to share her store to the great Pacific Northwest. A shot of Checker bags can be seen towards the end of the segment. Thanks to all that support small business!

http://www.komonews.com/news/consumer/KOMO-viewers-share-their-buy-local-favorites-135716743.html?tab=video&m=y&smobile=y&c=y

Happy 4th Birthday to Happy Delusions!

The first home of Trizanh is a little treasure of a store in the heart of Downtown Renton called Happy Delusions. Before I became serious about making Trizanh into an actual business, Ryo and I were having dinner at cute Italian restaurant in the area and our waitress was a fun and sweet woman named Mary. Her and I clicked immediately and she mentioned that she just opened a gift shop around the corner from where we were eating. Mary offered to look at my products and possibly sell them in her shop, which I made a mental note to follow up later.

Once I decided to turn my hobby into a business, I made a couple of Checker purses that I wanted to sell and made my way to the store. To my surprise, Mary remembered me and a beautiful friendship blossomed. Since then a lot of wonderful things have happened for our businesses and if it wasn't for my encounter with Mary, I really don't think Trizanh would be where it is today.

Here's to Happy Delusions and with many more wonderful years to come!