When Life is A Big Bowl of Cherries

Let me tell you....things are just rolling right along....so very smoothly right now.....everything is cool and calm.....there is a quiet sense of peace in the air. So, what the heck is going on? This is not what my life is normally like. It's usually....When life hands you lemons....

Not sure what's up, but man is it sweet. When I really think about it...I'm not sure that anything has changed though.......I think it's just the way that I am looking at life that has changed. Whatever it is...it feels oh so good! I even woke up to another etsy order. I sold my only vendor apron. Man do I have a lot to do!

I got so much stuff done yesterday that I am on top of the world. I got my little sleds listed in MyOtherShop, and I am anxious to see how they go over the next few months. I decided to offer them "naked" and personalized.



I also made a couple of brooches! I was given a ton of old jewelry and it was driving me nuts to see it just sitting here. Most of it was parts of necklaces or single earrings and some old buttons. Then my darling daughter-in-law sent over this brooch she had bought and said that I should make them. It was really cute, but I haven't seen it for a while and couldn't remember exactly how it was made. I bought some wool and just started playing around. Mine aren't nearly as awesome as I recall hers being, but it's a start. I listed them on etsy yesterday too, and the ivory one already sold to a really awesome etsy buyer. :)

I also got this little hobby horse ornament done last night. My kids use to love these on our tree. We had them in all different colors.

Now it's time to get to work. Make it a fantastic day for yourselves!! Chat with you soon.

Crossroads......help!!

I have spent a great deal of time lately thinking about what direction I want to go with my etsy shops. I started with cards and photos, dabbled in upcycled jewelry, added journals, and gift tags, started making cake stands, then wood and paper decor, then coasters and light switch plates, now aprons and soon tote bags and reusable lunch bags......

So, now what?

The cards don't really sell and I don't find them very rewarding to make. I could lower the price on them and see what happens. I charge $5.00 for them, but then by the time you add the shipping, that' a pretty pricey card. It's a nice card, but I don't think people want to pay that much for a card.

I might discontinue my cards and only carry the photos in FourDogDay. Our photos are not "fine art" prints...they aren't signed...they are just neat every day snapshots taken by untrained people that like to take pictures. We don't sell a lot of them, but I do love them.

MyOtherShop is starting to look like FourDogDay use to look, and I'm not happy with it. Too many unrelated things packed into one shop, but I am not opening another shop. I could have FourDogDay be things for the house, and MyOtherShop be things for you....but that wouldn't be until after I run out of business cards...and that will be a while. :)

I'm thinking about not making any more wood and paper stuff. Not a big seller on etsy or at the two shows I've done. It's fun to do, but it isn't "the thing" for me.

That would leave cake stands which I really enjoy. I love looking for old plates and would like to start finding more unusual things to use besides candlesticks for the base. People seem to like them and I enjoy making them.

My coasters are so darn cute, but I have sold so few. They are heavy and expensive to ship, but even at the craft shows they get looked at a lot, but they don't get bought very often. I priced them lower at the shows than in my shop and only sold a couple sets on Saturday. Any idea why that might be? Not sure what to do about them. Could I live without them....yes...but they do attract attention at the shows.

The light switch covers are a pain to make, but they are cute and people seem to like them. I don't sell many on etsy, but at the shows they also attract a lot of attention. I am thinking about expanding on those and making some double ones and some other styles. A number of people said they wanted one but they needed a double one, or a push button one. I did give them cards and told them to contact me and I can make whatever they want. Not sure if they will, but that was an indication to me that I need to expand that line.

I am really enjoying sewing and I think that is the direction I am leaning, but if I am going to continue with the aprons and add the tote bags and things I will eventually need a new machine.

I am at a crossroad right now and haven't quite decided what direction I am going to go. I know for a fact that I will be crafting forever...now I just have to decide what to craft and what not to craft.

I know it's all a matter of what I love to do, but what if I love to do a lot or what if I don't know what I love the most? Then what?

Have you ever hit that place? What did you do? I am open to any and all suggestions.....

Marketing Your Business

As most of you know, I have two shops on etsy. I opened my first shop, FourDogDay, in July of 2008, and added MyOtherShop soon after. I quickly realized that I no clue what I was doing and closed the second shop after a short time. Once I felt more comfortable with the entire etsy process, I reopened MyOtherShop. I can't believe I've been at this for almost a year already!

The growth of my shops is S-L-O-W, which I've heard is okay. I would definitely like more than one sale a week, but it is what it is. To help get my name out there, I did my first craft show last weekend. Although it wasn't a huge financial success, it was an awesome learning experience and I plan to do many more in the coming months. You can read about my first craft show experience here.

People that follow the craft shows will start to recognize me and my shop names after a while of consistent attendance and that's part of promoting. Eventually I would like to have a sign in my booth that says something like, "You can also find me and my creations at www.fourdogday.com" or something like that.

My daughter, Tresa, sent me a link this morning to a wonderful ABC News/Good Morning America article all about etsy and turning crafts into cash. It highlighted five successful shops. It was a good article. You can read it here.

Between publicizing our own shops through means like blogs, craft shows, flyers and business cards.....and articles like this one.....success is attainable for us all.

Do you have an online business? If so, feel free to share any promotional or marketing successes you have had.

What a Day!

I got up early this morning, because I had so very much I needed to get done today. I got the computer going and went into the forums on etsy. The first thread I responded to was, "Good Sunday Morning! Are You Working Today?" by BannerQueen. I replied that I was and as I started to type in everything I needed to do, I suddenly became a bit overwhelmed. How on earth would I ever get all of it done?

The next thread I responded to was, "The POWER of Positive Thinking" by Ozarkana. As I read her post, I knew without a doubt that I would get done everything I needed to get done today, and if for some reason I didn't....oh well, tomorrow is another day. The world is not going to end if I don't finish it all.

The first thing on the agenda was to go grocery shopping. We shop about 25 minutes from our house, so it's about a 2 hour task. Lo and behold, my charming husband offered to go himself so I could dig into that "to do" list! At first I told him no, that I would go with him, but the more I thought about that precious two hours.......I took him up on his offer.

I did my yoga, started the dishes, threw in some laundry, ordered some photos online and started working on my own personal Christmas cards. I chose a really neat mountain photo that my son took out in Colorado.

Next, I ran to the craft store. I always go to Joann's, but this time I had a gift card for Michael's which is down the road from Joann's on the opposite side of the street. I spent a lot of time in Michael's because I have this idea in my head of something new that I want to make so I was looking for supplies. I am also making the favors for my daughter's wedding shower, so I needed more supplies for that....and cardstock.

I finally got done there and pulled out onto the highway. My head was spinning thinking about where else I needed to go and what else I needed to do and after about 5 minutes I happened to glance at my surroundings and realized I had pulled out and gone the direction I would go had I been pulling out of Joann's. Unfortunately, I was pulling out of Michael's! I had gone in the total opposite direction! I could not believe I did that. Talk about being totally spaced out and thinking so much about other things that I don't even know where the heck I'm going! Can't wait until my husband and kids read this....I'll never hear the end of it!

Anyway, I did finally get the rest of my stuff done and arrived home, bags in hand. I made my way to my workshop and have been here ever since...except for a lunch break and an apple pie break...gotta eat that pie or I'll have to throw it away and I hate to waste food! :)

Well, once I get my blog done here, then it's back to the cards and the shower favors and a gift I am making for a special friend for Christmas! I actually ended up accomplishing everything I wanted to accomplish on my list and even more! Like I said....what a day!