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The Æthelmearc Gazette

~ Covering the Kingdom of Æthelmearc of the SCA

The Æthelmearc Gazette

Category Archives: SCA Shop Talk

SCA Shop Talk: Snoods by Moniczka

14 Monday Dec 2020

Posted by aethgazette in Arts & Sciences, SCA Shop Talk

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Delftwood, merchants

Next in our series of interviews with SCA merchants from Æthelmearc is THL Moniczka Elzbietka Poznanska from the Barony of Delftwood.

THL Moniczka

What’s the name of your shop?
Snoods by Moniczka

How long have you been in business (online or at events)?
Around 30 years.

What website do you use? What do you like/dislike about selling through that venue?
I have a Facebook page, but right now that’s it. Mostly I use it to advertise where I’ll be selling. I have gotten a few orders off the page.

What kinds of goods are you selling?
Snoods, bun covers, pony tail covers.

What are your most popular products?
Snoods.

Are you also the artisan as well as the seller?
Yes.

Do any other artisans sell through your shop?
I routinely carry leather barrettes that my husband, Henry Bogus, makes. He is on Facebook under that name, but the soap business is called Happy Pollack Soaps. I also sell veils made by Fenris McGill, also on Facebook, her business is Sun, Moon & Starflowers.

Do you offer any kinds of discounts or special offers? If so, what?
When people buy more than one item, I tend to give them a certain amount off. I also have a discount basket with items that have been on my table too long.

How has business been since the pandemic, and has the pandemic made it harder or easier to make items to sell?
Business has pretty much stopped during the pandemic. Snoods are something that need to be seen, maybe tried on.

Is there anything else you’d like prospective customers to know?
I’m still here.

Are you an SCA merchant from Æthelmearc? If you would like to be featured in a future SCA Shop Talk post, please email us at aethgazette@gmail.com.

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SCA Shop Talk: Good, Clean Soaps & Crafts

07 Monday Dec 2020

Posted by aethgazette in Arts & Sciences, SCA Shop Talk

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Delftwood, merchants

THLord Justin Lymner

Our next merchant in our SCA Shop Talk series is THLord Justin Lymner of the Barony of Delftwood.

What’s the name of your shop?
Good, clean, soaps & crafts

How long have you been in business (online or at events)?
About 15 years.

What website do you use?
Mostly word of mouth, interest when I post pictures on my Facebook page. I like in person sales … sigh

What kinds of goods are you selling?
Soaps – glycerin, cold process and liquid, lip balms, and chain mail jewelry. I started with melt and pour glycerin soaps, very easy and already soap so no need to work with lye. Since it almost transparent you can play with light!

I have branched out to cold process as I like having total control of my ingredients and as it has more working time, than glycerin, you can do interesting swirls. Liquid soap is great as I make a large batch and scent as I go. Lip balms came about as I did not like the ones available, and had the raw materials from soap making. A friend gave me some jump rings to try chain maille; I found I was good at it and I loved it!

What are your most popular products?
Lip balms, my own formula, and chain mail bracelets.

Are you also the artisan as well as the seller?
I like to think my creations are art. I do a lot of different periods of garb. I have said my persona is clothes horse.

Do you offer any kinds of discounts or special offers? If so, what?
Not usually… I try for affordable luxury. sometimes I have bartered on a case by case basis.

How has business been since the pandemic, and has the pandemic made it harder or easier to make items to sell?
It is different as no craft shows or events income, however less overhead as no entrance fees or gas. I have more time to craft. Alas, I usually do a lot of teaching in person, which of course has not been happening except for a few virtual classes. I was the glycerin soap presenter for a virtual soap making conference which drew people from across the nation!

Is there anything else you’d like prospective customers to know?
My business philosophy is that everyone deserves to be spoiled a bit. I try not to over-scent/flavor my products as this is another reason I started making my own.

 

Are you an SCA merchant from Æthelmearc? If you would like to be featured in a future SCA Shop Talk post, please email us at aethgazette@gmail.com.

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SCA Shop Talk: Merimask

03 Thursday Dec 2020

Posted by aethgazette in Arts & Sciences, SCA Shop Talk

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merchants

The next Æthelmearc merchant in our ongoing series is THLady Meredyth Maskmaker from the Barony of the Rhydderich Hael.

THL Meredith Maskmaker

What’s the name of your shop?
Merimask…it’s a combination of my SCA name “Meredith” and my speciality which is leather masks.

How long have you been in business (online or at events)?
I’ve been selling at SCA events since 1990. I was a mainstay in the Pennsic merchant bazaars until 2009. I created my first website in 1999, and switched completely to online sales in 2009.

What website do you use, and what is the web address? What do you like/dislike about selling through that venue?
My shop is at Etsy. merimask.etsy.com Etsy is a great venue for me…I’ve been there since 2007 and just recently made my 5,000th sale.

I also have a personal website at Merimask.com , which serves as a hub for all my social media accounts and my shop, and has a bio and an extensive gallery.

What kinds of goods are you selling?
Leather masks are my specialty, though I do branch out into other forms of leather art. Lately I’ve begun to make biker-style leather face masks with filter inserts, which are a lot of fun.

What are your most popular products?
I think my most popular designs are the Japanese kitsune masks. I’m also well known for my Egyptian pantheon. I’ve made Anubis and Bast masks for Katy Perry, the Metropolitan Opera, and TV series “The Librarians” and “Lucifer”.

Are you also the artisan as well as the seller?
All items are hand made by me alone.

Do you offer any kinds of discounts or special offers? If so, what?
At my Etsy shop, there is always free shipping within the United States.

How has business been since the pandemic, and has the pandemic made it harder or easier to make items to sell?
Business has actually been uncommonly brisk for me during the pandemic. There was a scary time in March and April where everything ground to a halt but it’s picked up since then. I think it’s because lots of people are doing searches for the word “mask” and my site pops onto their radar…even if the masks I specialize in are costume masks (although I am branching into decorative filtered masks which have been well received and sell out immediately).

Is there anything else you’d like prospective customers to know?
I have built my reputation on decades of making wearable art. I take pride in my designs and craftsmanship, and have thousands of five star reviews from happy clients. I do custom designs on occasion.

Are you an SCA merchant from Æthelmearc? If you would like to be featured in a future SCA Shop Talk post, please email us at aethgazette@gmail.com.

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SCA Shop Talk: Minerva’s Spindle

01 Tuesday Dec 2020

Posted by aethgazette in Arts & Sciences, SCA Shop Talk

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merchants

Next in our series about Æthelmearc merchants is Mistress Gabrielle d’Auvergne of the Barony of the Rhydderich Hael.

Mistress Gabrielle d’Auvergne

What’s the name of your shop?
Minerva’s Spindle

How long have you been in business (online or at events)?
I think I started selling at Pennsic 21, 1992. Thomas had been a weapons merchant for a couple of years, one of the first weapons merchants at Pennsic. I displayed a few items in his space. When he retired, I took over the entire space as Minerva’s Spindle. I have kept merchanting at only Ice Dragon and Pennsic, but recently opened a page on Facebook.

What website do you use?
I do not have an online presence, only on Facebook as of this year. This is not my full time work. I am a full time Storyteller, author and vocalist. This is my SCA business, although I am listed with some of my suppliers and do business mundanely out of my home.

What kinds of goods are you selling?
I sell spinning and weaving supplies, including fibers, yarns, looms, wheels and accessories associated with them. I am an Ashford and Harrisville dealer.

What are your most popular products?
Wool yarns, cotton spools of warp thread, and fibers, also drop spindles.

Are you also the artisan as well as the seller? I do not sell what I make. I do teach and am always willing to help new spinners on both the drop spindle and wheel.

Do you offer any kinds of discounts or special offers? If so, what? This business was born of my love for the SCA and my interest in the fiber arts. I have made it my goal to keep my prices affordable in an effort to support this art form. I have no control over prices from my major suppliers, such as looms and wheels, and so I offer discounts by way of shipping or tax inclusion, and occasionally, the inclusion of fiber for these larger purchases.

How has business been since the pandemic, and has the pandemic made it harder or easier to make items to sell?
We lost all of Ice Dragon and Pennsic which means the pandemic wiped out our only selling events. I have a lot of stock and so have not ordered more as I usually would for these events. As such, we have had little expense, but no sales. We had a flurry of small sales during Virtual Pennsic.

Is there anything else you’d like prospective customers to know? Minerva’s Spindle, since it began, has been considered one of the best merchants for your spinning and weaving needs. Some of our yarns are also suitable for knitting. If we don’t have what you are looking for, we will make every effort to find it. I try to keep to colors and materials appropriate to reenacting, but do have some fun items for mundane artisans as well. I put most of my inventory in photos on our Facebook page, but that doesn’t mean everything is there. Please inquire.

A little girl learning to weave at Mistress Gabrielle’s Pennsic merchant booth

Are you an SCA merchant from Æthelmearc? If you would like to be featured in a future SCA Shop Talk post, please email us at aethgazette@gmail.com.

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SCA Shop Talk: Bee and Elephant

29 Sunday Nov 2020

Posted by aethgazette in Arts & Sciences, SCA Shop Talk, Scribal

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merchants

Welcome to a new feature of the Æthelmearc Gazette: SCA Shop Talk!

With gift-giving holidays coming and the pandemic making it hard for small businesses to survive, we thought it would be great to help support our merchants by getting the word out about their shops. We’ll post interviews with SCA merchants where we ask them about their businesses and the goods they sell.

If you are an SCA merchant and would like to be featured in a future column, please write to us at aethgazette@gmail.com.

Our first merchant is Lady Nichola Beese, of the Barony-Marche of the Debatable Lands.

What’s the name of your shop?

Lady Nichola Beese

Bee & Elephant

How long have you been in business (online or at events)?

Since June of 2019.

What website do you use? What do you like/dislike about selling through that venue?

Our shop is set up through Square Up. https://bee-and-elephant.square.site/

I find the software intuitive and user-friendly, which is a major consideration. And Square makes card readers and hardware that are very useful for in-person sales. The major downside is that they don’t take Paypal, which means tracking those transactions separately.

What kinds of goods are you selling?

Handmade parchment, inks, and hide glue. Custom sewing, fabric painting, and embroidery, everything from Birka caps to ornate livery coats to shirts for ten man teams. Handmade pottery, jewelry, scribal tools and supplies, animal bones and hides, and the odd vintage piece that catches my eye. I’m currently working on establishing a partnership with a local potter for some exclusive pieces, and am very excited to have a source for handmade girdle books.

What are your most popular products?

The parchment is by far our most popular item, I think because it is a consumable item. We also have a very popular scribal pigment kit for folks wanting to experiment with making their own paints, and our first original product, the leather-cover needle book, continues to be popular.

Are you also the artisan as well as the seller?

For a number of things, yes. All the parchment, glue, and inks are my work, and so is the custom sewing and embroidery, to this point.

Do any other artisans sell through your shop?

Least Weasel Weaving provides our narrow goods, and I am working on a new pottery line with Terru Ceramics.

Do you offer any kinds of discounts or special offers? If so, what?

We offer periodic, and rather random sales, generally on our entire catalog.

How has business been since the pandemic, and has the pandemic made it harder or easier to make items to sell?

The pandemic, coupled with personal circumstances, made me really focus on parchmenting and establishing the business online the past six months or so.

I’m home more often, which is good for production, but so are the children, which is definitely not!

Is there anything else you’d like prospective customers to know?

I never thought I could be one of those people who turned a hobby into a job, but I really enjoy my work and creating things for the community to use. I love working with people on custom projects, especially the challenge of making reality match up with their dream.

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Æthelmearc Gazette

Æthelmearc Gazette

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