I was all prepared for what I was going to write about this morning, but plans changed when I discovered something last night (so that planned topic will just get pushed off until next time…)
As I think my readers know, I design cross stitch, canvaswork, and blackwork patterns and sell them as WorksByABC. (Yes, my initials really are ABC.) My primary venue for selling has been (and I will be continuing) my Etsy store. However, one of my goals this fall was getting my name and my work out there in the needlework/cross stitch world, particularly when it comes to selling opportunities. This meant being accepted by a distributer so that local needlework stores would be able to learn about me and start selling me. If you’ve never known or never thought about it before, many stores purchase the majority of their stock by going through distributors. This allows the store to purchase a selection of designers and pay only one shipping cost. Many designers sell to distributers because of the marketing abilities they have to reach many stores.
I was super pleased to announce last month through some other places (although, realize now that I didn’t share here on my blog) that I had been accepted by Hoffman Distributing . I believe they are the largest of the distributers of cross stitch (and other) patterns.
They received a large order of my patterns just recently and that meant that I am now on their website. Every Friday, they put out a weekly “Friday Update” listing…and I am listed on there this week! (The date is 12/6, although it should read 12/7.) What this also means is that if you go to their homepage, you get a smattering of new designs that show up. Click refresh and a new grouping shows up. Because so many of the new designs this week are WorksByABC designs, mine seem to show up every time I click.
top row on the right is Antioch 5 and 6 and Gossamer Lace in Blackwork; bottom row on left is Red and White Pincushion
top row includes two of my canvas work designs and Skeleton Mosaic; bottom row has Mosaic Quilt and Roundel Duet
top row right is Lady Evelyn’s Filet lace; bottom row has Color Thesaurus, Praise of the Needle, and another Canvaswork square
An exciting step in my designing journey! If you have an LNS that orders from Hoffman, please encourage them to order some of my patterns to stock in their store. Help me spread the word. Every designer brings something new to the table of cross stitch/needlework, and I am just excited to be joining the party in this way.
And, yes, you can still purchase patterns on my Etsy store.