Alexandra Tavel's guest appearances

Alexandra Tavel

Creative Yarn Entrepreneur Show

Collage Creative with Amy Small

The Shi Show

Samantha Brunson

Mary Jeanne Packer

RACHEL DENBOW

Cynthia Sanchez

Abby Glassenberg

Elise Cripe

Lindsey Campbell

Joji Locatelli

Melissa Jenkins

Shay Johnson

Maurice Green

Steven Berg

Laura Zander

Beth Whiteside

Emily Katz

OwlTail

Watch the livestream every weekday at 12pm EST on the Lion Brand Facebook Page!

Watch the livestream every weekday at 12pm EST on the Lion Brand Facebook Page!

Shi Show September 9, 2020 - Alexandra Tavel of Two of Wands

Hi there today on the show I have Alexandra Tavel, the creative force behind Two of Wands! She is a prolific knit wear designer who's designs always seem to the perfect balance of modern yet a touch of vintage too. Show notes here!

Hi there today on the show I have Alexandra Tavel, the creative force behind <a href="https://www.twoofwands.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Two of Wands</a>! She is a prolific knit wear designer who's designs always seem to the perfect balance of modern yet a touch of vintage too. Show notes <a href="https://knitcollage.com/blogs/podcast/104" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>!

Alexandra Tavel: From a Killimanjaro tarot card reading to Two of Wants

This Week’s Episode I interviewed Alexandra Tavel, a crochet and knitting maker and designer. Alexandra owns the Etsy shop, Two of Wands. We met up in person in New York City (where we both live) to talk about how she launched her shop, how it became her full time income, and what she enjoys about the platform, as well as other topics related to owning a yarn-based business. About Alexandra Tavel  Alexandra Tavel earned dual degrees in fashion design and costume construction technology from Indiana University. After graduation, she moved to New York City with plans of entering the fashion industry, but she ended up working in a nonprofit organization for 8 years. In late 2013, a series of life changes led to her launching an Etsy shop, Two of Wands, where she sells her finished knit and crocheted projects as well as instant pattern downloads. You can find Alexandra online at the Two of Wands Etsy shop, on Facebook, Instagram, Kollabora, and Ravelry. You can subscribe to her newsletter here. Additionally, Alexandra was recently profiled here as a Featured Shop on Etsy. About the Interview Alexandra talked about how she studied Etsy’s blogs and newsletters before opening the Two of Wands Etsy shop to sell finished knit and crochet items in November, 2013. Alexandra’s signature photographic style actually developed by happenstance. After Etsy launched digital downloads, Alexandra read an Etsy Quit Your Day Job post that inspired her to begin to sell her patterns in her shop as well. Alexandra’s designs started with simple design and construction so that she could easily create and finish finished items, but as she began to see her pattern sales allowing her business to scale, she is reconsidering this approach. In this very conversational interview, we covered a variety of business topics including  Selling patterns on other platforms, like Ravelry, and the target audiences available on different e-commerce platforms, Incorporating mainstream and pop culture ideas into your designs (and keywords) without infringing on the intellectual property of other businesses, Optimizing workflows, dealing with seasonality, and creating passive income streams for handmade businesses, Pricing, Providing customer service, Designing for children, and Analyzing website traffic and ordering trends, and using that information for planning.  Now, this interview was recorded several weeks ago before I interviewed Grace Dobush for Episode 28, read Grace’s article in WIRED, “How Etsy Alienated Its Crafters and Lost Its Soul,” and learned about Etsy’s announcement that it filed papers for an Initial Public Offering. If I had a time machine, I would have asked for Alexandra’s feedback on these issues. If you enjoyed this episode The Creative Yarn Entrepreneur Show is no longer broadcasting. Episodes are available as a service to the yarn community. This episode originally aired in March, 2015. Be aware that content may be outdated. If you'd like to chat with other yarn-related business owners, join the Creative Yarn Entrepreneurs Facebook group. Support Marie's work by buying one of her books, Make Money Teaching Crochet: Launch Your Business, Increase Your Side Income, Reach More Students (Amazon | Gumroad) or Design It, Promote It, Sell It: Online Marketing for Your Crochet and Knit Patterns (Amazon | Gumroad).

This Week’s Episode I interviewed Alexandra Tavel, a crochet and knitting maker and designer. Alexandra owns the Etsy shop, <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/TwoOfWandsShop" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Two of Wands</a>. We met up in person in New York City (where we both live) to talk about how she launched her shop, how it became her full time income, and what she enjoys about the platform, as well as other topics related to owning a yarn-based business. About Alexandra Tavel Alexandra Tavel earned dual degrees in fashion design and costume construction technology from Indiana University. After graduation, she moved to New York City with plans of entering the fashion industry, but she ended up working in a nonprofit organization for 8 years. In late 2013, a series of life changes led to her launching an Etsy shop, <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/TwoOfWandsShop" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Two of Wands</a>, where she sells her finished knit and crocheted projects as well as instant pattern downloads. You can find Alexandra online at the <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/TwoOfWandsShop" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Two of Wands Etsy shop</a>, on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TwoOfWands" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://instagram.com/twoofwands/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a>, <a href="https://www.kollabora.com/users/378161/alexandra-tavel" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Kollabora</a>, and <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/designers/alexandra-tavel" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Ravelry</a>. You can subscribe to her newsletter <a href="http://etsy.us8.list-manage2.com/subscribe?u=c95498fd6bea585bdc22b16e3&amp;id=3a4aa3d242" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. Additionally, Alexandra was recently profiled <a href="https://blog.etsy.com/en/2015/featured-shop-two-of-wands-shop/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">here</a> as a Featured Shop on Etsy. About the Interview Alexandra talked about how she studied Etsy’s blogs and newsletters before opening the Two of Wands Etsy shop to sell finished knit and crochet items in November, 2013. Alexandra’s signature photographic style actually developed by happenstance. After Etsy launched digital downloads, Alexandra read an <a href="https://blog.etsy.com/en/tags/quit-your-day-job/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Etsy Quit Your Day Job</a> post that inspired her to begin to sell her patterns in her shop as well. Alexandra’s designs started with simple design and construction so that she could easily create and finish finished items, but as she began to see her pattern sales allowing her business to scale, she is reconsidering this approach. In this very conversational interview, we covered a variety of business topics including <ul> <li>Selling patterns on other platforms, like Ravelry, and the target audiences available on different e-commerce platforms,</li> <li>Incorporating mainstream and pop culture ideas into your designs (and keywords) without infringing on the intellectual property of other businesses,</li> <li>Optimizing workflows, dealing with seasonality, and creating passive income streams for handmade businesses,</li> <li>Pricing,</li> <li>Providing customer service,</li> <li>Designing for children, and</li> <li>Analyzing website traffic and ordering trends, and using that information for planning.</li> </ul> Now, this interview was recorded several weeks ago before I interviewed Grace Dobush for Episode 28, read Grace’s article in WIRED, “<a href="http://www.wired.com/2015/02/etsy-not-good-for-crafters/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">How Etsy Alienated Its Crafters and Lost Its Soul</a>,” and learned about Etsy’s announcement that it <a href="https://blog.etsy.com/news/2015/etsy-has-filed-a-registration-statement-for-an-ipo/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">filed papers for an Initial Public Offering</a>. If I had a time machine, I would have asked for Alexandra’s feedback on these issues. If you enjoyed this episode The Creative Yarn Entrepreneur Show is no longer broadcasting. Episodes are available as a service to the yarn community. This episode originally aired in March, 2015. Be aware that content may be outdated. If you'd like to chat with other yarn-related business owners, join the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/CreativeYarnEntrepreneurs/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Creative Yarn Entrepreneurs Facebook</a> group. Support Marie's work by buying one of her books, Make Money Teaching Crochet: Launch Your Business, Increase Your Side Income, Reach More Students (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Make-Money-Teaching-Crochet-Business/dp/0990683419/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Amazon</a> | <a href="https://gumroad.com/l/iaaVg/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gumroad</a>) or Design It, Promote It, Sell It: Online Marketing for Your Crochet and Knit Patterns (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GTBVZ9P" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Amazon</a> | <a href="https://gumroad.com/l/designit" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gumroad</a>).

Episode 29: Selling on Etsy, Passive Income, and Using Trending Keywords with Alexandra Tavel from Two of Wands