Miss Jewels Verne performing in a costume by Cog & Compass/Beckon Couture

Picking out my favourite shots from the Hootchy Kootchy Best of the Best show! This one by Octane Images is top of the list so far.

 

Pretty in Pink Floral Hairpiece

Burlesque Dancer Vera Vivacious wearing her Beckon Couture hairpiece. It’s just perfect against her amazing hair!

 

Pricing is a Tricky Business

Those of you who keep an eye on my Etsy Shop may have noticed a few changes, mainly in the pricing area.

Like many artists and craftspeople, I find it very hard to price my own work. Placing a monetary value on your time and skills can be very tricky, and it’s easy to under price yourself. Which is exactly what I had been doing.

Until another craftsman asked me why I was pricing my work the same as something from a chainstore. 

I realised I had been giving my one-of-a-kind, hand crafted items the same value as something mass produced in a sweatshop. Not cool. Not cool at all.

So I sat down with a calculator and a spreadsheet and reworked my pricing. Hand crafted items take time to design and make, they take skill, good quality materials and lots of trial and error. While I don’t want to undercut myself, I still want my designs to be accessible to everyday people. You guys are my inspiration, my friends, and my customers.

As a result, my prices have risen a little. In most cases only by five or ten dollars, but it’s enough that I’m no longer paying myself $5 an hour! At the moment, you can only buy Cog & Compass designs directly from me, so I don’t have to add a markup to allow for wholesale.

Hopefully it’s also enough that people will realise they are buying a couture product – something designed and crafted with my own two hands, not stamped out by a machine. Designs that are one-offs, never to be replicated, or part of very small limited editions. My clothing and jewellery pieces are designed to last, to be worn and to be treasured.

 

 

 

Enjoy the Simple Things

Just had to share a moment of pure bliss I enjoyed the other night.

Sitting under the fairy lights outside an adorable chocolaterie in Parnell, sipping a rich, decadent chilli hot chocolate and reading Sherlock Holmes stories.

Life’s about enjoying the simple things.

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Networking, Promoting, and Business Stuff that Fries my Brain.

I’m a creative person. Give me a handful of beads, some fabric and a cup of tea and I’m as happy as a pig in mud.

Give me marketing, pricing and general business tasks and I’m considerably less enthused.

Getting yourself heard out there in the big bad business world is hard, so I’m wading through different ways of getting Cog & Compass seen. People have been recommending I put listings and ads on various sites, most of which I’ve never heard of, some of which are actually pretty cool.

These my two favourites from today!

Wanelo - a cute shopping site where you can save items to your wishlist or collections. Kinda like Pinterest for shopping.

Thingspeoplemake – a craft and tutorial sight, great for inspiration, shopping and learning new tricks.

So many of the sites I was pointed to are just lists of stores, full of random ads. I have to wonder, who actually visits these pages? How will they help my business?
I’d love to hear your thoughts and tips on promoting hand made products!

 

Fruity Bread and Butter Pudding

Winter is setting in. The mornings are crisp, the evenings dark and rainy. While I would prefer to hibernate through the colder months, I appreciate winter for one thing – the glorious comfort food!

Apple dumplings, steamed puddings, crumbles and fruit sponges. Nothing is cozier than a hot, delicious dessert in the oven, wafting the smell of Nana’s kitchen around my house. While I’m not a big fan of traditional bread and butter pudding, I tweaked this recipe to use up some stale fruit loaf and under ripe apples (and make it less milky bland).

So here you have – Jaimee’s “just winging it” fruity bread and butter pudding. The amounts can be changed to suit the dish you’re filling, don’t worry about being too exact, I just bunged it all in and the result was more than satisfactory!

Ingredients
8-10 slices of fruit loaf
Butter
450 ml of milk
2 eggs
50g white sugar
sultanas
1 apple chopped into small pieces
Ground nutmeg
Jam (I used plum jam)

Method

1. Butter both sides of the bread. Spread jam on one side of each slice and cut into triangles or fingers – whichever will fit better into your ovenproof dish.

2. Grease your dish and arrange a layer of bread in the base – jam side up.

3. Sprinkle some sultanas, apple and nutmeg on the bread. I use heaps of fruit, but you can use whatever amount you like.

4. cover with another layer of bread, sultanas, apple and nutmeg.

5. Finish with another layer of bread – jam side down this time.

6. Beat the milk, eggs and sugar together and pour over the bread layers ( a whisk will do the trick, but use an electric beater if you like).

7. Let the whole lot stand for 10-15 minutes, or while you eat dinner, then bake in a preheated oven for about 30 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius. You’ll know when it’s done as the pudding will puff up and be golden brown and no longer soggy looking.

This pudding is super delicious with ice cream or custard, or reheated for breakfast the next day Nom nom nom…