SO much has happened since we started making masks last December (2009).
I suppose I'll start by outlining some of the highlights of our kick off year:
- Reserved the name Oak Myth (a combination of both my and Eve's usernames, "FeatherMyth" and "OakWitch") on sites like Etsy, Gmail, Blogger, DeviantArt, and Twitter.
- First mask prototype completed December 19th
- Aurelius joins the team moments after the mask is uploaded to Facebook, as Product Photographer and co-designer.
- Realizing that the eyes are too close together and making a successful new template/pattern.
- Apollo mask sells for $75 to Diane Arms, a producer for theater company "Poison Apple." First mask sale! April 2010
- Business cards arrive May 6th.
- Crashed the Pagan Festival in Berkeley, May 8th. Sold our second mask, a remake of our first prototype for $40.
- May 10th, Launched our Etsy store full of beautifully photographed masks! Launched our Facebook fan page as well.
- First Etsy sale, May 26th.
- Aurelius moves to Oregon, June 3rd. Contemplation follows about how the business will run.
- The masks make a trip to the FaerieWorlds festival in Oregon with Ashley (still not vending officially). Total of 4 sales! The Sun & Moon pair went to a dear friend for $60, the Dragon sold to a wonderful woman we met there for $130, and our very first prototype (pictured above) went to a new friend for $25.
- September: After returning from a trip to see Aurelius in Oregon, Ashley decides to move up to the Portland area this winter. Moments later, Eve announced on Facebook that she too will be moving up to Portland as soon as possible. The team will be united again!
- September 17th our two most expensive masks sell on Etsy to the same person. The Dragon and The Forest masks. By far, the biggest sale yet ($280).
While all of us had good feelings about going into this, I don't think any of us really realized how quickly this would take off and become something we could all potentially live off of. Excluding the festivals, we haven't been putting too much energy into advertising ourselves. Everyone on Etsy just found us; they're all strangers!
It's amazing and thrilling and exciting. I love this craft and I know my partners in crime do as well :]
-Ashley
First comment, woo!
ReplyDeleteAnyways, I just want to say congratulations to you all, the masks look wicked awesome, and I am equally as impressed as you are as to how quickly things took off, I wish more things would happen that way.
Anyways, many enjoyable years of successful mask-crafting and selling!
-Andrew F.