Perfide Anyone?

What an exciting weekend it's been! Sorry I haven't posted in a while, I've been sidetracked, working on my business summary for my meeting with my SAJE advisor, and she had a lot of criticism to give me for my big presentation (my pitch of my business idea basically) in front of the selection committee on September 1st (if I get approved I'm ecstatic).  For those of you who may not know what SAJE is, it's a government run company in association with those who deal with employment insurance checks. They help people who have a business idea and would like to develop it and grow with it. They offer financial support (to pay rent and bills mainly), and for the first 3 months of the program they help you write up your business plan (a very important step in starting one's business) and a few courses. Once that's finished, it's then my business plan is again presented in front of the selection committee, and they decide whether it's good enough for me to continue on with the program. If yes, then I get 9 more months of financial support and more business courses (all free for me). So that's the whole shebang!

During the hard criticism I got from my advisor, I was asked if I knew my competition, and sheepishly I said no. After our meeting, the first thing I did was find the artsy store in Old Montreal that sells stuffed dolls. Turns out this store is full of my competition, so I wrote every name/website down. I noticed the going price for a doll in the store was about $40-120. I didn't realize why until later on that day. I got the name of the owner and her email and I was off to my next stop, Fait içi. This store was recommended to me by a couple from out of town. I stopped by, got some information for any other stores in the city, and my last stop was Perfide. http://vachemorte.com/perfide/index.html Well this turned out to be a very good choice. The owner, Julia, really likes weird things and it was perfect for me, because my monster plush are pretty weird. Well not even 24 hours later I get a reply email from the one I sent with samples, and she had chosen 6 of my monsters for consignment in her store!!!

Gregg got chosen!!

Pete got chosen!

Bort got chosen!

Chaz was chosen!

Ochu got chosen!

Zulu was chosen!

I have a few more that I've made Friday night and Saturday that I'm going to bring and see if they'll make the cut :-)

This is Willow. She's very sweet and sunburned :(

This is Harold. He's very sad, and he's only better when he has his teddy.

I think Willow and Harold will get selected for the store. If not, then they'll go up on Etsy. My plan is to make another like Harold, and a similar one to Bort. Ok, well Bort can't be recreated because he was made by an unusually shaped piece of black fake fur, but I can make more in the same style, non!? :) OUI! I'm stoked that I'll be showcased in this store!  If they sell really well after a while, the owner will buy a whole batch from me! How exciting is that?? VERY!!

For those living in Montreal, here's the address to Perfide to see my dolls (I should have them in the store by Thursday, August 18th, 2011).

PERFIDE - Boutique in Montréal, jouets, design, vêtements, livres etc...

4217 Notre Dame Ouest
Montréal, Québec

Open Tuesday - Friday 11pm - 6 pm, and Saturday - Sunday 12 pm - 5 pm.

Closest metro is Place Saint-Henri on the orange line. It's best to Google the address.

Cheers and happy work on Monday!

Me and my bunny ears in Harajuku, Tokyo, Japan