Sublimating the Shopping Urge

When a girl needs to shop, she's going to shop. I've accepted that about myself.

The question is, how to direct the shopping impulse toward something easy on -- or not too catastrophic to -- the credit card balance! And that's where it comes in so handy being a clothing designer.

When I need to shop, I can browse fabrics for my next Pixyworld collection. And if the urge is strong upon me, I can even request swatches.

Swatches are one of life's few free pleasures. When they arrive in the mail, it's like my birthday! I can spend hours holding up fabrics next to each other to see how they look.

And -- voila! -- I have successfully distracted myself from the desire to purchase that diamond cross ring from ice.com!

(Well, almost...)

Also posted at Pixyworld Blog.

DIY Webmastering

So, I find myself a webmaster (webmistress?? that sounds scandalous -- how about web queen?) by necessity, for my toddler girls' clothing site. Not because I love computers -- on the contrary!! But, because no other volunteers seemed to be materializing.

I've picked up a smattering of HTML along the way, thanks to some great online tutorials, including htmlcodetutorial.com. (Who writes these things, anyway??) And I've also had to enter the mysterious world of Reciprocal Linking and Top Sites Lists.

At one low point, I found myself drawn to sites like www.googlesux.com, after all the inbound links I had so carefully cultivated suddenly disappeared off of my google webmaster dashboard. But they have gradually reappeared, and when all is said and done, I figure we might as well accept our google thralldom and think about more interesting things.

So, for now, here I sit at my computer. I hope to carve out a little studio time amidst all the webmastering, one of these days....

Cluttered Studio, Cluttered Mind??

The classic retort to the aphorism "Cluttered desk, cluttered mind" is, "Well, then what about an empty desk??"

I might say the same for my design studio, the wellspring of Pixyworld children's fashion, should it ever be accused of being... shall we say, less than tidy? I had to admit to finding a large piece of unused marker paper the other day, after having made do without any (thinking I'd run out) for several days of pattern making.

But I like to class myself as "artistic" (as if that somehow explains the tendency to allow one's environment to become progressively less livable.) Or, there's the other great descriptive, "intensely focused." That's why I have to throw my scraps on the floor, rather than in the trash can. I'm just too focused to bother with mundane things like trash cans!

But I do clean up when the mess threatens to get in the way of my work. That's when I have no choice. And it's a great opportunity to rediscover wonderful things like old fabric samples, and get re-inspired by the new possibilities they open up!

At least I keep my creative clutter confined to one room. What more can my tidy husband ask? (Except to be able to see the studio floor so he can vacuum it...)

Also posted at Pixyworld Blog

Flower Power Colors

When I did my first manufacturing run for Pixyworld last year, I tried to choose colors that would appeal not just to me personally, but to a wide range of customer tastes.

For example, I had learned, through selling custom outfits on eBay, that in toddler girls' clothes, pink just sells. As an Autumn, I can't wear pink at all, so it's not a color I naturally gravitate to. (Though it looks gorgeous on my little Summery 4-year-old!)

At any rate, I had to let myself go on just one collection. For Flower Power I chose chocolate brown and violet -- really a periwinkle blue. For me, a beautiful color combination is a heady cocktail -- I was high on this one for weeks!

With Flower Power, the risk has paid off with great sales. I don't expect to hit it every time, but I sure do enjoy the ride....

Skinny Jeans: What's the Skinny?

When Pixyworld puts out our next jeans collection, what cut will make the cut?? According to MiniHipster.com, the skinny jean is here to stay. I have to say, when a company like BabyGap is selling them at full price, the prognosis does look good.

The tricky part is that right now we seem to be between trends, as evidenced by the plethora of choices available there. There's wide leg, straight, & boot cut; embroidered, whiskered, and appliqued.

Or, one could interpret it differently: perhaps we are actually entering an era of individuality when it comes to jean styles. Could it be??

Also posted at Pixyworld Blog.

Confessions of a Linkoholic

OK, so I may be just a little bit obsessed with Page Rank -- not that I use checkpagerank.net to check my google page rank, link popularity, and those of all the stores around me on every google search. I mean, just some searches -- the important ones!

Pixyworld doesn't exactly have a huge advertising budget these days. It's basically sweat-it-out, knock on zillions of e-doors, and hope somebody puts up my link somewhere.

I do have a very nice reciprocal link directory, by the way, in case you're interested.

Now, someone came up with a clever idea when they invented linkmarket.com. What better way for a starving designer to feel like she is shopping, when she's actually working?? You get a shopping cart and everything -- it almost brings a tear to the eye.

You don't have to understand... just nod and smile. I'll be OK. (Especially when I make it to a 4!!)

The Idea for Pink Jungle

The popularity of animal print fabrics in women's apparel seemed like an opportunity for Pixyworld to do something trendy and yet fun and kid-friendly for little girls. My daughters love to see character on their clothing, and while I had not considered this look fashionable before, their enthusiasm put it in a new light for me.

Putting monkeys on the lower part of the dress and the jeans legs felt like unique twist, rather than simply slapping them on the chest of a tee-shirt. Then, I searched for a tropical-looking floral to complete the themed patchwork look. Voila: Pink Jungle!!