Hey, ya'll! All during the month of July, I'm going to be designing Christmas animals and characters to go along with my "Christmas in July Project". In the two years since I opened my Etsy shop, Christmas has managed come and go without me planning a single thing for it. So this year, I'm determined to make things different! I'm so excited (and thankfully super motivated), about making Christmas in July animals to get ready for the holidays this year! And it's going to pay off every year from now on too. Now that I've started selling my patterns, it's even more important to start working on Christmas projects far in advance because writing up patterns and sending them off to testers takes time. Something you know well if you sell your patterns also.
So what's my game plan? I'm so glad you asked! First, I've planned a list of animals/characters that I want to design. Then I make sketches of them. This is always so helpful for me to have a blueprint of my design sitting next to me as I crochet. Next, I pick which design I want to make first and then dig right in! Hehe, that last part is easier said than done.
Are you interested in what creatures I've got on my list? Take a peek below!
Snowman
Gingerbread man
Reindeer
Polar bear
Penguin
And I think that's pretty much all I'll be able to handle in one short month. I've made good time already, though, as I've already designed Roly the Snowman, and Spice the Gingerbread Man. And I'm SO happy with how both of them turned out!
Here's Spice! Now I'm working on his little twin sister, Sugar!
And this is Roly! (I was actually wearing this denim jacket while it was 101 degrees outside! I'll do just about anything to get a good picture.)
Now that I have them designed, when September rolls around, I can start working up a bunch of them for a Christmas shop restock.
One more thing I should mention. Instead of actually writing up the patterns and sending them off to testers this month, I'll do that in the following months leading up to Christmas. That way I can focus solely on designing my creations in July without getting bogged down or distracted with pattern writing.
So what do you think? If you don't sell patterns, July is a great time to start working on stock for your shop. It really never is too early, and believe me, you and your customers will appreciate the effort you took now to make December less stressful for both of you. Maybe you can't put a whole bunch of stock aside right now, but try putting aside one or two things every couple of weeks. I hope that in addition to getting patterns ready, I can also lay aside a few ready made items, Christmas, and non-Christmas to help with the holiday rush.
That's all for now! I'm off to crochet more festive creatures! I'm so very happy that I can be doing what I love for my job. I couldn't be happier!
P.S. I may or may not be listening to Christmas music during this project.
~Holly :)
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