Weekend Wrap Up ~ Lots Of Shots

This weekend, for the first time I had 2 photo shoots in ONE day! It was exciting and exhausting. Both models are brand new to Innov8ive Knit's modeling team and I am so pleased to have them join the group! Saturday morning before the southern sun got high in the sky, I had the pleasure of working with little miss Abigail. She is a whole 4 months old and has the most gorgeous blue eyes! I had her modeling the newborn owl hat in pink. I can't wait to get the photos up in the store. Expect to see it within the next few days.

After I got home, I squeezed in a little grocery shopping and a nap then headed across the bay to the beautiful Spanish Fort to photograph the next brand new model to the team. Kristen is a gorgeous blond haired, green eyes bombshell. Not only is she a beautiful model, she is a trooper like no other! We spent hours in the very hot hot hot southern air and even did a little stomping through some woodlands to get shots for not 1, not 2, but 3 products. She didn't complain even a smidgen. We had an absolute blast.  Kristen is also an aspiring photographer as well and is taking classes with me. Here is a quick look into the shots from the very long, hot, and oh so fun shoot.

I am so thrilled that I have an excuse to be off work to get in some much needed rest AND the time to focus on my store it is easy to forget why I have the time off in the first place. This time is set aside to celebrate the freedom of being allowed to take time off of work and the people and families who have given everything to make that possible. So while we should all enjoy this time we are so blessed to have, make sure to pay tribute and say thank you for the opportunity to be able to do so in the first place. Have a great holiday weekend and check the store periodically for new listings now that I have some great shots for them!

Weekend Wrap Up ~ Stocking up on Stock

In trying to keep up with my goals for the month I have recently added 3 more items to my stock. One of which has sold before I was able to take good photography of it. I'm very excited to be making strides towards my goal. I did a photo shoot for the 3 items yesterday. Here's the results.

All but one of these items are currently available for sale in my Etsy store. Check them out here:
Tan Ear Warmer: Click Here
Green Ear Warmer: Click Here

I'm very excited to be tackling my monthly goals and I'm so excited to be adding all of these great items to my store.

Weekend wrap-up ~ Treasury, Pinwheel hat, & bearded beanie

I just love the weekend, and hate how quickly it goes! This weekend I started the bearded beanie hat. I re-wrote the pattern to make the hat have stripes and changed it into knitting insted of crochet (I personally like the cleaner look of knitting over crochet in this case). It is coming along well and the details on the giveaway will be here before you know it!  I can't WAIT to finish it and show you guys how awesome and fun this hat is going to be! There will be 2 made so if you don't win the giveaway, you can still get one.

Today I did a photo shoot for the pinwheel hat w/ flower. This hat is just so precious, especially after adding a little bling to the flower.

I also made my first treasury this weekend. I think this is something that I am going to do on a regular basis to share special things that I come acors that I really think are great finds. These aren't knitted things in particular, just things that I find are wonderful, a bargin, or unique! I like to share my style and hopefully you find that it is great too. Maybe do a segment called "Treasury Tuesday"! Here is this week's in advance!

White as snow!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/62192799/yafah-swans-organic-bone-earrings?ref=tre-942738343-1

I am very sad to see this fab and productive weekend come to an end, but here it is once again. See ya next time, there's a very good chance this time next month the bearded beanie giveaway will just be getting started!!



Weekend wrap-up ~Endless scarf photo shoot & new packaging

Here is my final blog post on the endless Celtic cable scarf. As many of you know I have been working on this scarf for quite some time for a custom order. It is finally finished, blocked, and now I have photos to prove it! Here they are!

I'm very pleased with the final product and know my customer will be happy. On to the next adventure!


Also this week I have added 2, count em' 2 more items to my Etsy store! Along with adding those extra items, I have changed my store to provide international shipping as well. Pretty soon my hand made goodies could be traveling the globe!


Another thing I have done with Innov8ive Knits is change the way people receive their new product. I went out and got a giant tag hole puncher and some decorative card stock sheets of paper.  Each new item that leaves Innov8ive Knits will have one of these tags with hand written instructions on how to care for their new garment attached with hemp string. On top of this being helpful information for the "end user", it looks more professional and gives a special touch that reminds people that someone spent time to make it by hand.

If you notice on the right side of my blog, there is a widget that shows what is for sale in my Etsy store. It's a fun way to get a glimpse of what's going on when you don't have the time to browse the store. What a fun little widget. 

I am working on the finishing touches on another Lion Toy and after that the bearded beanie will be on my needles!!! I can not WAIT until this premieres and the first giveaway takes place. This is going to be so much fun!

Rhythm Hat Finito!

OK well I don't speak Italian but I am super excited about having the rhythm hat finished. It has been finished for a little while now and I have been in search for a little boy model for the hat to add to my profile before sending it out (across the country might I add). What's more important than making my portfolio pretty is making sure that my customers are happy. I was unable to find a little model before it needed to ship out so I improvised. I actually made this hat display before I made any hats to add to my portfolio and decided that I wanted to use real models.  -From my research, real models make the item more attractive/relateable than hanging out on it's own. -

So I took my special hat display outside my apartment in this FANTASTIC weather and took some shots of it before it made its big adventure to the other side of the country.

I think this is such a cute hat that is perfect for every day wear. Innov8ive Knits style is: unique, trendy/stylish, boutique quality knits. This hat isn't particularly unique but that's what gives it the versatility it has. Sometimes you just want something clean and classy that you can tie into a wardrobe for every day wear. I think that the color work gives that traditional style hat a little umph of unique though. It's fun without being too much.

On a side note, if you are a local customer and interested in being a model for my work yourself or your child message me for details. (use the "contact me" tab on the top of the page). All participants receive a 15% discount on future purchases and copies of all edited photos as a special thank you.

Weekend Wrap-UP ~ Busy bee! rhythm hats, polar bears, and lions, oh my!

Happy productive weekend time! I just LOVE the feeling of getting things accomplished. Although my poor fiance has been left to his own devices this week because I've been so busy, I have been tearing up my to do list and taking names! I was quite sure at times I had taken on too much this week and my head was going to explode but it didn't and I feel so relieved to be able to look back on what all Innov8ive Knits has gotten done this week:

Polar Bear photo shoot & edits. I finished up the polar bear set sometime last week and since my customer was in need of them for a shower fairly quickly I found a last minute model and did a shoot after work one afternoon. We met up in a grassy area near an abandoned church that my model's mommy recommended. I would have never thought to go there but they turned out very good. I got the chance to finally sit down and narrow down the pictures I took and edit them. Put to work some of the new things I have learned in my much valuable Photoshop class- taking out odd things in the background, adding my business name in the photos, making the pictures have brighter pictures and softened them with more light. I'm so thrilled with how they turned out. I was concearned with that after I looked at the original pictures because my settings weren't right and they turned out a little blue straight from the camera. I'm really pleased overall with them and quitr proud of them. Each time I do a shoot like this I do new edits and new angles, and they look better. You can almost see the progression in my albums. Photography is so important in a mostly web based business.

You can see the full set of pictures on my Facebook under Polar Bear hat & diaper cover set in my albums.

Also this week I finished the Lion Toy. I must admit that this project entailed a bit more than I exptected! There's about a MILLION strands of hair this bad boy needs to have individually cut and attached to his head. I have taken some pictures but haven't gotten the chance to edit them just yet because I want a couple more first. I do plan on sometime before this weekend taking him to the park and photographing him in places children would play- sitting in a swing, on a see-saw, climbing ladders, etc. I think this will bring a fun, playful element to the pictures.

AND I started the rhythm hat from last Future Friday's post. It is coming along fairly quickly and the colorwork is very cool. I love watching a project take shape, I think that is my favorite thing about knitting/crocheting is watching a shape develop from nothing. It's like magic.

On the business side I have also put together some spreadsheets to keep track of profit, what has sold, and what hasn't. And I'm preparing for doing a grand opening on Etsy. I was going to wait until I had a few more things in stock to add but what time is better than the present right?  I am planning on having it open by the end of the month! I've also created a new cleaner/professional Quote & Invoice template. On top of that I have hired a graphic designer to create my logo and we are working on the details of the design and soon it will be on EVERYTHING. I can't wait to get new business cards, make new website banners etc.

 Things are really coming together, and although it's not at the point where it pays all the bills it makes me happy and it certainly is growing. I've picked up 4 custom orders just this week! Once the Etsy store is open I hope to be selling stock and picking up more orders. Especially with Christmas on its way I need to take advantage of that and be prepared. If only I had more time to knit!