Laptop bags - keep the ideas coming

I've had a great response to my request for your input on the ideal Red Delicious laptop bag. You've given me some wonderful opinions, desires and basic information which will be invaluable as I work on this design.

Please keep your ideas coming - the details of what information I need are in my last blog post. I'll be announcing the gift certificate winner in a few weeks' time.

The laptop bag design is something I'll be working on over the next few months. As I enter my most busy period, with all the lovely tourists currently visiting my booth at Pike Place Market and the holiday shopping season just around the corner, it's hard to spend much time on product development.

What I plan to do is mull over my ideas for a while - make some sketches and figure out some of the technicalities - then I plan get down to prototyping in the quiet winter months. I'll update on the process here.

How would *you* like to carry your laptop?

I'm frequently asked about laptop bags. And while the Red Delicious collection is very deliberately meant to be versatile - the Large Messenger, for example, does great double duty as both a work bag (which can accommodate a smaller laptop) and a diaper bag - I think it's time to introduce these to my offerings.

The question is, how big should laptop bags be and what features should they include? This, dear Red Delicious fans, is where I turn to you.

I'd like to know the basics, such as just how big is *your* laptop (all three dimensions is useful). And I'd love to hear the details of what your ideal laptop bag would include:

• Just a sleeve, or a bag which can accommodate other stuff?
• Adjustable messenger strap or shoulder straps?
• Pockets inside or outside?
• What size pockets - to accommodate power strips, papers, your iPhone, sandwiches?
• Thick padding in case it's dropped from a height, making the bag wide?
• Or thin padding, to guard against light knocks and scratches, making the bag sleek?

I rarely carry a laptop myself, so your input is vital to make the best Red Delicious laptop bags there can be. Think of this as your chance to make your wishes come true.

All suggestions are welcome. I'm not above bribery either! The best laptop bag wish-list I receive will win a gift certificate for $80 to spend on the website. Tell your friends and ask them to contribute too.

If you have suggestions, please comment here or email them to info@reddeliciousseattle.com. I'll be working on this design through the summer and will update here as I go along.

And the winners are....

The Happily Handmade Giveaway ended with more than 14,000 entries, including a good quantity from Red Delicious. That makes it a very successful event for all the independent crafts businesses, like this one, which participated.

Thanks to all of you who took time to check out the Red Delicious website and enter the competition. For details of the winners check the updates at the Happily Handmade website.

We hope you come back often and shop some too! And everyone who entered through the Red Delicious site will be receiving my occasional Newsletters in their email boxes. Keep your eyes open for special offers and fun news through the summer.

New designs added to the collection

Most of my products come about as the direct result of my own life experience. That's how I started designing bags and how I continue - if I need it, stands to reason that other women do too.

I took a short vacation in January - a few welcome days of sun and sand. However the night before departing I found myself scrabbling around my apartment at 1am trying to find a clear pouch to take my toiletries through the airport security line.

Added to that was my toiletries bag being an ugly old thing from an outdoor store that was falling apart. And it was hard to identify my standard black rolling bag from all the others in the airport, and particularly in the plane's overhead bin.

So I spent some of my time on the beach brainstorming, with the help of another designer friend, the first two ideas for my new line of travel accessories: a travel toiletries case and a luggage tag.

Like the rest of my collection, I wanted these to look great and also be very practical, usable and durable.

The travel toiletries case comes with options of two or three pockets with zip closures. It opens out to be laid flat on a surface or hung from a rail or hook. One of the pockets is in clear vinyl, which can be detached for airport security screening.

The luggage tag can be easily and securely attached to any bag or suitcase and has a clear vinyl pocket to put in your name and address.

Both items are made to be robust and durable and I'm using lots of fun fabrics, like the lovely new fabric featuring Japanese Geishas pictured here, which fit with the rest of the Red Delicious collection.

I have plans to add more items to the travel accessories collection - stay tuned for these.

For now these new items will only be available at my Pike Place Market booth.

FAQ: From first idea to final new product

I'm often asked about how I came up with a design. Having just gone through the process of designing some new products and getting them ready for sale, the answer is very fresh in my mind.

It's amazing how much effort is involved in taking something from the initial idea to having an inventory ready to put on sale.

The steps include:

• Figure out the design - usually inspired by something I need to make life better
  
• Consider the materials and hardware needed
• Make a prototype
• Realize that it's way too complicated and expensive to be sold at an affordable price and completely revise the design
• Make a new prototype
• Test the product - in other words use it for a while
• Tweak the design to the final version and make patterns
• Source materials and hardware, and buy a bunch
• Decide on price points, based on materials, labor and marketability of the product
  
• Cut and make a quantity ready for for sale

This final step involves a steep learning curve. I know how to make each product, but getting it down to the fast, smooth and efficient process I'm used to with my other products takes a while. It usually involves patience, frustration, long hours, and liberal use of the seam ripper.

And a handful of each new product will not do. There has to be sufficient to create a good display - I've learned that a meager number of items do not attract buyers. That's a lot of production hours to get up to speed.

Along with all this I have to figure out how to display the products at my Pike Place Market booth. These new products are quite different to my usual bags, so this is all new. Not only does the display have to be effective, it needs to fit with everything else and be sufficiently light, portable and durable to be packed away at the end of each day.

Finally, I have to produce price signs. Pretty easy, except that this week my printer died. And that - donated by a friend - was the replacement of my previous printer which died a couple of weeks ago. My printer karma is low! Such wrinkles are common when you are running your own business.

So what are the new products I've been working on, you ask? Stay tuned - I'll post about those very soon.

Happily Handmade Giveaway 2009

It's back! The Happily Handmade Giveaway has been hugely popular with Red Delicious customers in the past and once again I'm giving you the chance to win one of 25 fantastic gift boxes filled with handmade goodies, including some with bags and accessories from Red Delicious.

All the information is on the Red Delicious Giveaway page here, and on the main website here.

The Red Delicious entry form is also my Newsletter sign-up - a great double deal if ever there was one. Did you know that just a few exclusive offers to Newsletter subscribers recently have included a 30% discount and free shipping?

Giveaway entries will be accepted from April 1st to May 13th, and don't forget to visit as many of the participants' sites as possible to maximise your chance of winning.

Newsletter: subscribe now

Do you receive the Red Delicious email Newsletter? If not, now is a great time to subscribe.

I'm preparing the next issue, and it will have the inside scoop on a couple of great deals.

I'll be including a generous discount coupon, exclusive to Newsletter readers. So you *can* treat yourself to that new Spring bag.

Plus I'll be announcing details of an amazing giveaway of all kinds of handmade goodies, including Red Delicious items, again exclusive to Newsletter subscribers.

It's easy to sign up to the Newsletter: just click on the Newsletter tab at the top of the page at the Red Delicious website and fill in the subscription form.