more questions from you

Posted on 16. May, 2009 by admin.

Q: Do you ever get tired of some of the repetitive work of your job? (From Susan)
A: I only ever get a little tired when I’m working on the HUGE orders, where it’s six bouquets and 30 brooches and 30 boutonnieres and corsages and centerpieces and hairpieces and and and…..then all the colors are the same and I get a little weary.

But the truth is, my work is always different. I have so many different kinds of thread and textiles and I can print or paint the fabric or use beads or discover new shapes and play with other materials…it is never the same project twice, not even when it’s for the same customer.

Q: Do you ever find copies of your work? (From Sasha)
A: Getting your swagger jacked is just part of the business, it comes with the territory–especially in the creative fields like music, art, and fashion. I don’t think that artists can go very far in business if they can’t handle copycats maturely. I support creativity, inspiration, but also transparency in art. I think art is meant to be accessible and open, but I don’t think you can gain success unless you are a person of honesty and integrity.

My consumer loyalty–and that’s thanks to all of you guys–shows me that I have the trust of my clients and readers, something that copycats don’t earn. All of this is just part of the risk of the hustle.

Q: My question is.. Have you ever considered making bouquets / flowers from different shapes besides the traditional flower shape? E.g. square “flowers”, or animal shaped designs? (From Joan)
A: I’m experimenting with a few different shapes now. The concentric circles and squares are an obvious choices, and I’ve also done huge peony-looking flowers and some calla lily-looking flowers. I’m creating a .pdf “catalog” of sorts to kind of showcase all of the styles and choices.

Animal shapes though I haven’t thought of….that could be very cute. I have made kitty cat barrettes before, but never as a bouquet.

Q: What is your favorite part of your face? (From Sara)
A: I think I have pretty lips.

Q: What music do you listen to while you work? (From Lauren)
A: You can see my playlists on Last.fm, which is what I listen to when I’m working. I usually listen to German dance music or hip hop. I love bands like Melotron, VNV Nation, Convenant, Mind.In.A.Box, and I love Wu-Tang, Tupac, Lil Kim, and Nas. Or sometimes I listen to more poppy stuff like Lady Gaga, Pet Shop Boys, Madonna, and Britney…I usually just play my recommendations and it’s a mix of all of that.

And yes Amanda, I sing in the car! So does Professor Lasertron. Watch out if you pull up next to us at a stoplight.

Q: How tall are you and professor? (From Erin)
A: I’m 5’0 and he’s 6’6.

Q: How has your business changed your life?? I absolutely love your work and think that you must never have time for yourself! (From Jen)
A: I think I have a little less free time–I go out less with my friends, and my fun time is more scheduled. On the plus side, I have met hundreds of insanely talented artists and made great new friends who I am in awe of. There is always something exciting in my inbox when I wake up every day–a magazine opportunity, a blog writeup, or new inquiries from future clients. I seriously wake up every day and leap out of bed because I can’t wait to see what my day will bring. I have NEVER had a job where I experienced such constant excitement and possibility.

But in some ways, starting my business hasn’t changed my life. Even when I was working other jobs–including secretary, hot air balloon chaser, radio producer, record slinger, baker–I was still thinking about the art all day, I was still rushing home to get back to whatever project I had laying out on the table, I was still staying up until 4 or 5am trying to perfect the craft until what I saw in my mind came out through my hands.

All of my time is time for myself–if I didn’t like what I was doing, I would quit and find something else. I live in a very fun neighborhood full of shops and restaurants in walking distance, and when I need a break I just take a stroll, get some ice cream, peek into a few stores or sit on a bench and watch the moms pushing strollers, schoolchildren walking home, people sipping wine on an outdoor patio. That’s how I relax. But don’t get me wrong—every day is a hustle. I work every day, I answer every e-mail, I send press releases and manage my brand as consistently as possible and it is an 18-hour-per-day job.

Q: What’s your favorite dessert? What’s the worst injury you’ve ever had? (Sorry, I’m a medic, I had to ask!) What’s your favorite thing to drink? (alcoholic/non-alcoholic) If you could go back and re-name yourself, what would you choose? (From Holly)
A: My favorite dessert always changes…I love butterscotch pecan rolls, and I love Meg Duerksen’s cream puff dessert. And it’s VERY easy. The worst injury I ever had was a staple through my hand–I have never been hurt too bad. My favorite non-alcoholic drink is cherry coke, and my favorite boozy drink is Maker’s Mark. And if I could rename myself, I’d pick Alice!

Q: How many flowers have you made since you started your business? (From Robin)
A: My rough guess is about 9000.

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answering your questions

Posted on 15. May, 2009 by admin.

Wow!!! I am so blown away by the response to the Princess Lasertron Felt Flower Kit launch! Thank you so much for your interest, responses, kind words…I’m floored. And remember, you still have until tonight at midnight to enter to win a mini-kit. Five of you will win!

You guys had such good questions! So many of them would take an entire post to answer, but I want to go through some of my favorite short ones.

Q: How long does it usually take you to create a bouquet?
A: Each bouquet takes about 40 hours from start to finish. Managing about sixteen brides per month, most of whom have more than one bouquet or are outfitting their entire bridal party, takes more time than there is in a day…which is where my amazing employee Hollie comes in.

My husband also helps me by cutting out flower shapes, doing random sewing when I am in a pinch, and my mom picks up supplies for me. So they take a lot of time, but I also have a lot of help.

Q: Do you find it difficult to balance all your emails/orders/new project ideas? (from Kelly)
A: YES. I have so many ideas that just haven’t made it out of my head yet because my first responsibility is to fulfill my bridal orders, and the new projects have to come last. Sometimes it is frustrating because I feel like I have to produce produce produce as fast as I can to get my idea out before someone else does. And I admit it–It’s hard to see something really cool and original on Etsy and think, “dang, I was going to do that.”

I’ll share some of the new projects I have coming up though. Website redesign. New storefront. I’ll have the boutonniere and corsage kits of course. And a line of dresses–wait until you see the sketches!

Q: What provided you with the initial inspiration/idea to make felt flower bouquets? (from Lisa)
A: My wedding, I suppose. I started Princess Lasertron in early 2005 when I was in college. In the beginning I made brooches and barrettes out felt and buttons and paper art, but nothing flew off the shelves quite like the button crafts.

In 2007 something happened that changed my life more than I would realize—I asked my boyfriend to marry me. As we began planning our wedding, I explored lots of wonderful flower options but ultimately (and typically) decided to make my bouquet myself. Taking inspiration from the hundreds of felt flower brooches and hairpieces I had sold, I re-engineered the felt flowers to arrange them in a bouquet. I liked the flowers I was making as pins and barrettes and I visualized them clustered together as a bouquet.

Q: Is your bouquet the coolest one you’ve ever made? (from Laura)
A: Ummmm, no way.
Want to see it?
I love it, but my process is very different now and the pieces are much cleaner. Look at those messy stitches…yikes. I wouldn’t sell a piece like that today.

Q: Do you know your blood type? (from Yin)
A: A negative!!

Q: What inspires you? (from everybody)
A: I gather most of my inspiration from fashion. I love Alexander McQueen, Marc Jacobs, Tom Ford. I love me some Betsey. I read the magazines and follow designers. I believe that the bouquets and accessories I create are as much fashion as they are art, and in the future I plan to integrate garments more into the Princess Lasertron brand, focusing on simple foundations and heavy embellishment.

Q: Do you ever have any hand pain from making so many bouquets? If so, how do you cope? (from Mary B)
A: I do have pretty bad hand pain, especially in the fleshy part under my thumb. I can only sew about 8 stems at a time before I need to stop. I do wear Handeze Theraputic Gloves when I work which helps a lot. The tips of my fingers are totally torn up…I don’t like wearing thimbles because I can’t feel through them, so I just cover them with tiny square pieces of bandaids. I’ve given up on having a nice manicure.

Q: Because I have an awesome mom – as I realize you do as well…What do you do to show her how much you appreciate her? (from Sandy)
A: All of my success and happiness is because I have a wonderful mother. I can’t ever show her enough appreciation, but she never asks for any credit. My mother is an extremely creative person who opened me up to dozens of techniques and always encouraged me to try new things with different materials. To show her I appreciate her, I put my dishes in the dishwasher when I go visit.

Q: How do you and Professor Lasertron handle your different sleeping hours and schedules and things?(from Christine)
A: He works from 8-5, and I work from about 2pm to 9am. When he wakes up, we spend a little time together, and when he gets home I am awake. I just sleep while he’s at work and work while he’s asleep.

Q: What was the highlight of your day today? (from Krista)
A: Today I went up the street and got a waffle cone of homemade Heath Bar ice cream and walked down the street peeking into all of the shops. I almost got an impulse haircut. I stopped by the new restaurant my cousins are opening. I absolutely love my neighborhood and it’s just the greatest place to spend an afternoon. That was my break today.

photo by Mightymytty

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this is the big news. felt flower bouquet kits!

Posted on 13. May, 2009 by admin.

I’m so excited about this that it’s hard to know where to begin!

I’ve been working on these kits for about two months now trying to make them absolutely perfect. I’m completely satisfied and I’m so happy to finally launch these! They are a great alternative to one of my handmade bouquets for the bride on a budget, a sweet gift to keep tucked away for a crafty daughter or grandchild, or a fun project to do on a girl’s night in. The flower design can even be adapted to sew them onto a garment, or create brooches or hairpieces.

Each box contains everything you need to create a large 10” bouquet just like the ones I make–hand-cut wool felt pieces, lots of the hand-picked vintage buttons that we all love so much, detailed instructions, embroidery floss and needles, pearl-headed pins, satin ribbon, and all the other necessities I use plus a few special surprises!

The kit is so complete that all you need is a pair of scissors, you own creativity, and perhaps a few of your own vintage heirlooms or pieces of fabric. When you get the kit, you will be able to make a bouquet of flowers easily that can be bound up like a bridal bouquet or left loose to be displayed in a vase. And once you get the hang of the technique, you will be able to make dozens and dozens of them to brighten up your house or give as gifts!

Each kit will also be custom made in the colors of your choice so you can really feel happy with the beautiful product you are getting.

To order a custom felt flower kit, check one out in my etsy shop or e-mail me at meg@princesslasertron.com with information about your event and the colors you are interested in! I am setting up a new storefront now and eventually they will be listed there, but for now e-mail is the best way to place an order.

And this is the really cool news.
Ready?

I’m giving away five half-sized mini-kits to celebrate the launch of the Princess Lasertron Felt Flower Kits! The mini-kits include enough materials to make a bouquet of five flowers in black, white, and hot pink.

If you win, I just ask that you make the kit and give me some feedback about it, and I will make a post sharing your opinions and finished projects!

To enter, leave a comment here with a question for me. Or two. Or five. This giveaway is open to international readers (yay!) and I ask that you not enter more than once. The winner will be selected on Friday night at midnight (so technically Saturday morning I guess) by the random number generator. Good luck and I’m so excited!

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big omaha/girls in tech

Posted on 11. May, 2009 by admin.

The Big Omaha event on Friday went absolutely swimmingly. The intellectual capital in Omaha and the midwest is real cause for excitement, and I was impressed by how many people made the trip to Omaha from other parts of the country! I had breakfast with an design startup from St. Louis and met the developers at an application firm (female!) at the launch party. Everyone was so open talking about their projects and I must say that I’ve never been in a room of people with such a high concentration of skill and passion. So many people living the dream.

This is a video montage of some photos from Big Omaha put together by Malone & CO, the official photographer of Big Omaha. It opens up with a look at the speakers of Big Omaha, and then other people at the conference. Peep me on the left in the last shot.

Big Omaha from Mike Malone on Vimeo.

The purpose of Big Omaha was to bring together forward-thinking creatives and entrepreneurs to share their success stories, failures, and give advice and support to each other as we navigate through the world of business basically without a map. The vision that many of us have are things that haven’t been done before in a conventional business model, which Big Omaha matched with a new conference model.

Photo by Nick Stankus

Some of the speakers included Gary Vaynerchuk, owner of Wine Library TV, Jeffrey Kalmikoff, CCO of SkinnyCorp which is the parent company of Threadless, Adriana Gascoigne, founder of Girls in Tech, Jason Fried, founder of 37Signals, Micah Laaker who is in charge of the Yahoo! Open Strategy project, as well as some other very inspiring speakers like Micah Baldwin and Ben Rattray.

One thing I loved about the conference was the attention to detail in the design–everywhere I looked, I saw branding…

Photos by Malone & Co and Nick Stankus.

Another cool thing that was highlighted is Omaha’s Empty Room project, a six-month long experiment that allows artists/musicians/entrepreneurs/chefs/whoever is interesting in sharing a new idea to use an empty loft space for one month rent free.

Big Omaha provided a little Empty Room installment where we could all put up our own ideas of what we’d do if we could use the room for a month.

After Big Omaha was the Omaha Girls in Tech chapter launch and we were SO happy with the turnout! You can read more about Girls in Tech on the official website or you can just check out the super huge post I made about it last week.

We were filled to capacity at the Urban Wine Company and I think we were able to sign up over 100 new female members and dozens of male supporters.

Photos by Andy Peters

So what’s next? When we have this much momentum it’s important not to let it die. As my friend Matt said after Big Omaha, “I now understand why really successful people don’t sleep very much. It’s because they are so inspired during their waking life that there’s no need to dream about. There is so much to get done – sleep just gets in the way it.”

Look out Wednesday for for a big awesome giveaway. You will be bummed if you miss it!

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why are entrepreneurs thriving?

Posted on 06. May, 2009 by admin.

I think there is a psychological effect of the slowing ecomony that makes people more tuned into their own creativity and resourcefulness. So it’s no surprise to me that my peers who I have spoken to in the creative industries are experiencing a rise in sales, or that local entrepreneurs are collaborating with each other and seizing opportunities to start businesses and hire employees.

Over 50% of jobs are created by small businesses–not by the large corporations that have enjoyed the recent government bailouts and lack of accountability that small businesses and entrepreneurs work so hard to maintain. Entrepreneurs must often manage their financial books, marketing plans, taxes, and employee responsibilities all by themselves while still remaining innovative and productive. Yet they continue to succeed. Yet they grow.

My friend Stefanie Monge who is a local reporter believes that people have not stopped spending, they are merely making more meaningful purchases. And really, isn’t that what the craft industries and local businesses are all about? When people support innovative and forward-thinking businesses in their own communities, perhaps they see their dollar going even farther.

On the other hand, the crafting industry is not driven as much by profit as by personal satisfaction and the sharing of ideas. I think consumers are tuned into that. Some people would rather spend more money for a higher quality handmade product, especially in niche industries like weddings and specialty clothing. By buying handmade on places like Etsy or making things themselves, consumers not only get a great product, but they also achieve some self-fulfillment from the knowledge that they have either created something themselves or have supported another independent manufacturer. Consumers get pleasure from buying handmade because they can see some humanity in the product.

I believe it’s this next generation of young professionals that will be pulling us out of our economic problems. By acting locally, working together, and creating a sense of community, these creative new innovators are laying the groundwork for years of economic strength and success.

People my age have been networking throughout their entire adult lives, thanks to early tools like chat rooms and ICQ and newer applications like MySpace and Facebook. It’s this familiarity and openness that creates the conditions for industry growth and collaboration.

Just look at the anticipation and excitement building for this year’s first annual Big Omaha event, which is sold out and pulling in attendees from all over the country. The innovation and excitement in Omaha (which is also one of the only major metropolitan cities expected to experience job growth this year) is pulling national professionals like bunnies to my dandelion-filled backyard.

I am going to Big Omaha because being an artist is not only creating, it’s running a business. and as an entrepreneur, I’m excited to attend an event where I can meet other entrepreneurs and forward-thinkers who do work in creative industries. I’m so happy that Big Omaha is emphasizing business and technology and welcoming the artists, musicians, and designers, and writers– those of us who are normally in the minority at these conferences.

My job as a creative professional is just as much about designing and creating crafts as it is about business. And Big Omaha will be a great opportunity to meet other professionals and learn how to make my dream job even more fun.

So yeah. If you have a good idea, do it. Juuuust do it. Create the life you always wanted doing what you always wanted to do, and you will be fueling growth and creating jobs at the same time. Get excited!

Meanwhile, increase my personal economy by entering the giveaway for a Princess Lasertron headband at my friend Alison’s blog. You have one more day!

xo

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