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"Clothes and jewelry do pair nicely. But my studio classes have prevented me from accomplishing much lately for jewelry. To be honest, I've been behind in music compositions- there just isn't enough music in my mind of late. "

"It is just as well it will be mostly performances from here on out, and I can talk to the professor about taking an Incomplete for a handful of extra weeks."

He looked down at her scarf as she mentioned it, and somehow managed to keep his feet all the while without missing a beat while he considered. "I remember it used to be that 10% was a standard profit margin for many businesses over head of stocking and manufacturing. So something that cost $1 to produce was sold for $1.10. That is a figure from the 1930s, though. Many big businesses charge a great deal more. Pizza for instance, if you figure out all the costs of materials, of staffing, of utilities ...cost around $1.50 to create for a large 8-slice. But the sale price offered to the public is $9.99. As you can see...that's a much larger than 100% profit margin. "

"I suggest doing some research of what similar hand-crafters are selling, and then seriously look at your production time and quality. Don't sell yourself short, but don't charge more than 20% of what other similar products from hand crafters are. Knitted scarves I've seen for $12 for something with just pretty yarn, $130 for fine alpaca well knit with no mistakes. Hand painted silk scarves often for $30 to $60, depending on the intricacy of the pattern. Some of that would also be where are you selling things? At a convention for anime, I wouldn't expect high price, premiere items to sell. Having one or two on hand for display of popular series will catch attention. Most teens don't spend much more than $20 on any single item. They tend not to have jobs, and want quantity of items to spread and share back at the hotel room."

"Makes sense? A lot of it, without crunching hard math, can be drawn from your own and the buying habits of friends. "

Quenton gave a nod, making a single-phoneme noise of accent. She'd latched onto the most important part of business- no market, no sales. Everything after that was making sure that things balanced effort and cost of production against a purchaser's cost-to-coolness ratio.

When she stopped, he did out of pack instinct, looking to her before blinking and backing a moment at the intensity of her expression. His tone inclined, indicating his uncertainty implicitly as to why the fact of it was enough to elicit her change of demeanor, "I.....dooooooo?"

"Its...hard with this healing, " he motioned to his face, his fingertips pushing against the split from cheek, though lips to chin. "Woodwinds. The medieval recorder and the shawm. I like to compose pieces that play with alternation between polyphony and monophony. You have an interest in music? There's a degree program at DCU in performance music. I'm getting a minor through it. "

" The Shawm is the ancestor to the Oboe. Recorders....well, you might have seen one or been required to play one in elementary music class. They used to be used for introductions to music that way. Keyboards with computer lessons and recorders are usually the ways I've seen music teachers showing students how to read treble clef maybe a year or two before they get split into Chorus and Band. Those ones are always that dark brown plastic, though. "

"I own a couple different sizes, different woods. One antique of actual ivory that was a gift from my cousin. "

"Piano is an excellent choice. It has more versatility musically- " He paused, hearing things he did listed. " I try to be a renaissance man. I'd never heard of looking at nature listed as an enviable discipline. But that was studying its texture and colour for mixed media sketches. I can't ride my bike without handlebars?"

"You aren't doing badly yourself. Music, schooling, all the disciplines of sewing and design. Just throw a language in, or two, and you're set. Though I've heard multidisciplinary learning is part of the norm at a school high powered as Crystal Academy."

Were he more crass, he could have made use of double entendre in relation to young women and 'well roundedness'. He pushed the thought aside as pointless, youthful hormone-speak. The thought of hot drinks was a really welcome diversion, "If you lead the way, I could hardly object. "

"And don't worry about the 'keeping me'. It is pleasant and worthwhile company. I don't feel up to attacking that music work just yet."