Spotlight On - Janet of Caprice Creations

Welcome to the next edition of Spotlight On! It's been about eight month since we have had one and about time to start back up if you ask me. My guest today is Janet from Caprice Creations and is a fellow CafeMom'mer.

And the great thing is... she has offered to have a giveaway of her stuff!!! Details after her interview!

1. Tell us a little about yourself.....As far back as I can remember, I have been creating something. As a child I was always making cards from construction paper. As I grew older, my grandmother taught me how to do many of the crafts that I enjoy today including embroidery, cross stitch, and oil painting. My mother taught me to sew and to pursue my dreams with all my heart.

I am a wife, mother, teacher, artist, and volunteer firefighter. I am a strong supporter of Autism Awareness (my son has Asperger's syndrome) as well as MADD and the right to homeschool!

My passion is creating! I love to crochet, paint, cross stitch, embroider, stamp, and scrapbook. My daughter is quickly following in her mother's footsteps! At the age of 4 she sold her first handmade soap. I was so proud of her!

2. What made you decide to get into the crafting boutique business? I had been making items as gifts for years when my mother-in-law encouraged me to start selling at a local craft mall. From there, I tried ebay and finally found etsy!

3. What do you sell? A little bit of everything! Most of the items in my shop right now are crocheted items including dishcloths, beanies, and stuffed pumpkins. But I also make and sell hand-painted signs and hand-stamped cards.

4. Where do you sell, online and off? Currently I sell most of my items online, but I also have a space at a local craft mall.

5. How do you juggle selling your items and your personal life? I am very fortunate to have the support of my family. Most of my creative time is done in the evenings and on weekends. When I do a craft show, my mother steps up to help watch the kids if my husband is working. And selling items online or even at the craft mall is super easy - just list it (or drop it off) and it takes care of itself. In the case of an online sell, I merely have to package it, print a shipping label, and drop it in the mail!

6. What is your favorite thing to create? Wow! That really depends on my mood. Lately, I have been crocheting like crazy! But sometimes I am just in the mood to paint! Even within a certain type of craft, I can vary in what I want to make. At the beginning of this year, I was making tons of baby booties and now the idea of making one makes me want to scream! lol

7. What are your long term goals for your creations? I really have no long term goals for my creations. I hope that they are enjoyed by the people who receive them and that they last for many years. Some of my favorite items are handmade creations from my grandmothers!

8. Any advice for someone just starting out in the creating community? Don't give up hope! If you are learning a new craft, and don't "get it" right away, that's ok! Try it again at a later date! It took me 20+ years to finally "get" how to crochet! If you are just starting to sell your creations, don't expect to be a success over night. It takes a lot of hard work to get your name out there and make people understand that your creations are quality work!

Thanks for the interview Janet! Now Janet has offered to giveaway a set of 4 round crocheted coasters in any color of the winner's choice!

There are 5 ways to enter:
1. Go take a peak in her shop Caprice Creations and come back here and let us know what your favorite item is!
2. Follow this blog and leave a message. If you are already a follower, just leave a message!
3. Follow her blog! Caprice Creations Don't forget to come back here and post about it!
4. Heart her shop and come back and let me know. In your comment, please let me know what your Etsy ID is!
5. Be a fan on Facebook! Caprice Creations Don't forget to come back here and let me know what your name is on Facebook!

The giveaway will run Monday, November 1st til Sunday, November 7th @ midnight EST. I will announce the winner on the blog Monday, November 8th and contact both parties also.

Happy July Giveaway!

I am not all too sure how in the world it got to be July already, but here I sit, blogging on the first of July! 2010 has definitely had it's good and bad so far, but I am trying to keep an even keel and look on the good side of everything...

That being said: tomorrow is the twenty-seventh anniversary of my parents marriage. I was nine years old when they said their "I do"s and I am proud to say that they love each other just as much, if not more, now.

In honor of the splendid day, and also my son's 14th birthday on the 14th (I think I need to do something spectacular for him!) I want to do several giveaways, starting with some "Day of the Week" snap clips!

All you need to do to enter is to head over to my zibbet shop, then rush back here and tell me what it is in there that you love and why. There are ALL kinds of things in the shop and I am adding more and more daily to be honest. So click on the photo of the snap clips and they will take you to the shop :)

I will take entries until Sunday night @ midnight EST and post the winner Monday morning when we wake up after a long night on the river watching FIREWORKS! USA and Canada readers only this time!

200th Post ~ Things are changing around here

Okay, so I closed up my Etsy shop a few weeks ago because I felt like my shops were taking up all my "time" and I wasn't getting anything done. It was a rash, but good decision to be honest.

I was able to get my house, well the public living areas at least, cleaned up and shaped up... Didn't stay that was totally for long, but with six people (four of who are under the age of 15) how can they really? I was also able to get started on some sewing for my family. I made seven different outfits for two of my kids and even made my sister a messenger bag that I had wanted to make her for Christmas! (No photo of it though :) )

I was also able to figure out that I need to separate my shop, it has too much variety in it. I am still going to do everything that I have been, but I am going to divide everything up into four (yes crazy) shops.

Stitch'N Love Boutique is going to be for my chef hats and aprons, key fobs and totes, all of the other eclectic stuff that I do. Right now, everything is still in this shop. I am going to take the summer to get everything in their proper places, not to mention I need to order some fabric labels for the new lines!

My bowtique is named Simply Love Boutique. It will carry all my hair bows and headbands.

My girls clothing line store is Pixie Ana. Here you will be able to find all the little, and not so little, girls clothes, hats and slippers. Every girl needs a fairy dust to feel like a princess you know!

My boys clothing line is Little Man Zack. You will find all the cute little Jon-Jons, t-shirt short sets, pant sets and hats and slippers too. Maybe even a super hero cape or two?

Of course, the shops are all combined in my Zibbet shop, you can find everything divided up in the sections :)

And, wouldn't you know it, this is my 200th blog post! When I started out way back when in 2008, I never thought that I would hit the 200th mark. It took me a while to get the hang of blogging, and I have taken many sabbaticals. But, I have hit the mark and I have decided that I want to do a little giveaway for all my loyal readers. So if you have read this entry, leave me a note and let me know. I am going to give my readers til about Wednesday, I guess, to leave a message and I will select a winner and post on Thursday. I am not all to certain that a lot of people read my blog much anymore. I have been really lax in posting and haven't had a whole lot of good stuff to say anyway.....

Oh, and I guess I should say what you will win, huh? Well, I have this Carolina NFL team messenger bag that I made for someone but they backed out of buying it. It's a nice sturdy bag: made with black duck cloth, and would be a great get dirty, don't care if it goes through the mud bag!

South Carolina Etsy Street Team is Doing Another Giveaway!

The SC Etsy Street team is doing it again, giving away another great Sample box to one lucky winner this time. There are not very many entries at the moment (of this posting) so head on over and enter!

Just click on the photo of the samples in the box and enter today! Entries are being taken until next Monday, May 24th!

Patty Young is doing another Giveaway!!!

Over on The Creative Connection, she is this week's featured artist! I just LOVE her fabrics and patterns.

Head on over there with this link and read what she has to say about sewing with knits! I have bookmarked it so that I can go back and reread when I get a chance to have some peace and quiet :)

Spotlight On: Michele of Tivoli Designs

Today's Spotlight On interview is with fellow Cafemommer, Michele of Tivoli Designs!

1. Tell us a little about yourself.....
I've always been an art lover, in my early teen years i painted and sketched a lot.
Fashion is another passion of mine and my friends considered me to be a trend setter. I'm a mom to a one year old cutie and a wife to the most loving and supporting husband ever.

2. What made you decide to get into the crafting boutique business?
It's funny to say, but looking back, it has been on my mind for as long as i can remember!
I had a small business before and other business opportunities that had a creative aspect and designing involved, but i guess i was looking for an opportunity to do my own thing.
creating my fantasy designs with my own hand, selling them to people who love and appreciate the work that went it to the item...what more can i ask for?!
After i had my baby i became a SAHM, it is amazing to be home with him, but i knew that as soon as he gets a little older i'm going for it all the way. So here i am!

3. What do you sell?
I sell my hand made jewelry. My designs include crystals, antiqued brass, gold filled and more fabulous materials. I love incorporating bead weaving, There will be more of that in my new designs

4. Where do you sell, online and off?
I Currently sell online only
www.tivolidesigns.etsy.com

5. How do you juggle selling your items and your personal life?
That might just be the most challenging thing! I always seem to need to been on the computer (which my toddler hates), i noticed that when i'm home during the day i get destructed with my work, so we go out to do fun stuff, I check the important things on my phone and leave the jewelry making to the evening time.

6. What is your favorite thing to create?
I love the pieces that are challenging to make the first time. after much frustration at times and maybe even starting over, the end result is even sweeter.

7. What are your long term goals for your creations?
I'm looking to sell in local boutiques as well as online and hoping that if thing take off i would be able to add my one of a kind bags to the mix.

8. Any advice for someone just starting out in the creating community?
Learning a craft isn't the hard part but getting the creative juices to flow can slow you down sometimes. I think it's very important to find your own voice and make something you can really be proud of. I got inspired to start making jewelry by an accessory i own and love and everything evolved from there...

Other links:
http://www.facebook.com/tivolidesigns
http://twitter.com/TivoliDesigns

Michele has graciously offered to do a giveaway of a pair of Simply Pacific Opal earrings!

The Giveaway details:
There are 4 ways to enter:
1. Go take a peak in her shop and/or website and come back here and let us know what your favorite item is!
2. Follow this blog and leave a message. If you are already a follower, just leave a message!
3. Follow her blog! Don't forget to come back here and post about it!
4. Heart her shop and come back and let me know. In your comment, please let me know what your Etsy ID is!

Four chances to win, that means you need to leave a comment for each entry! Don't forget to leave a way for me to contact you if you are the winner. The winner will be drawn next Sunday, February 28 in the evening. I will contact Michelle with the winner and you will have 48 hours to get back in touch with her once she contacts you! Of course, I will also post it to the blog too :)

Peace, love and happiness!

Spotlight On Jonie of Childish Thoughts

Welcome to my next installment of Spotlight On. Today, I have the privilege of introducing Jonie from Childish Thoughts. We are teammates of the Cafemom Street Team. I have admired her work ever since I joined a few years ago.

1. Tell us a little about yourself.....
I am a mother of 2 beautiful children, but then again what mother doesnt think her children are beautiful, LOL. My son is 5 and my girl was born in Oct. I do everything for them.

2. What made you decide to get into the crafting boutique business?

I got into the business because my family was insistant on me getting a "JOB", well this was my answer to their need for me to get one. Now I am addicted and they wish they never opened their mouths.

3. What do you sell?

I make crayon rolls, crayon rolls with matching totes, car rolls, crayon aprons and few other odds and ends.

4. Where do you sell, online and off?

I wholesale with several women through out the country, I think there are five of them right now. I cosign with a woman in PA, and I sell on etsy, Hyenacart and I am in the process of trying to create a website.

5. How do you juggle selling your items and your personal life?

Very carefully, not. Really I go day by day. With an infant it has become rather difficult but I love her to death and the five year old is easy peasy, he entertains himself or helps me sew my items. He is a great help.

6. What is your favorite thing to create?

Right now my favorites are the crayon aprons. I dont know what it is about them but I just love to make them.

7. What are your long term goals for your creations?

To get them into my own brick and mortar store. Just got to get there.

8. Any advice for someone just starting out in the creating community?

What ever you do make sure you love it and enjoy it, otherwise you will get bored or irritated with it. And that is just never fun.

www.childishthoughts.etsy.com

www.childishthoughts-childishthoughts.blogspot.com

Jonie has been gracious enough to offer a giveaway! The winner will be able to pick ONE item out of the shop!

Here are the details:

There are 4 ways to enter:
1. Go take a peak in her shop and/or website and come back here and let us know what your favorite item is!
2. Follow this blog and leave a message. If you are already a follower, just leave a message!
3. Follow her blog! Don't forget to come back here and post about it!
4. Heart her shop and come back and let me know. In your comment, please let me know what your Etsy ID is!

Four chances to win, that means you need to leave a comment for each entry! Don't forget to leave a way for me to contact you if you are the winner. The winner will be drawn next Sunday, February 21 in the evening. I will contact Jonie with the winner and you will have 48 hours to get back in touch with her once she contacts you! Of course, I will also post it to the blog too :)

Peace, love and happiness!

Spotlight On: Michelle and Adam of The Crazy Elephant

Today's Spotlight On participant is a husband and wife duo! Michelle and Adam from The Crazy Elephant.

1. Tell us a little about yourself.....

Adam and I went to school for media arts and animation. Due to the high cost of school, we were not able to finish. After we got married we started Morgan Media our small animation company online. It was a great creative outlet for us but only at a hobby level. We have done advertisements for .tv and Acer laptops. When we had our son, Jayne, our animation time went down to 0 and we started creating thing just for him. it started with the burpcloths for me. I designed them based on one I got a a gift, but adjusted it to work better for me. Many people asked where I got them and I told them that I made them. Then I started to get orders from people for them. Adam started by making Jayne the cutest little knit bear hat. That was just as popular. Then, in August, a friend of ours recomended that we sell our artwork on etsy. We thought that was a great idea, but it really never took off. I thought of the success I had with the burp cloths when Jayne was a baby and decided to give it a shot on etsy. We opened The Crazy Elephant at the end of August. The shop is named after Jayne, who loves elephants and spends many hours stomping around the house (he's 2). We have been very happy with our start and are looking forward to seeing our shop grow.

2. What made you decide to get into the crafting boutique business?

We enjoy creating things and this gives us a chance to do that. At some point I would like to make this my full time job, but until then I just enjoy being able to give my customers exceptional speed and sevrive, and creating great products.

3. What do you sell?

We carry burpcloths, breast pads, wash cloths, hats, Owie Fixers (ice pack covers), and my children's books which are a mom favorite. We just recently started listing pantiliners and recucled paper embelishments as well.

In the last week we started a line for a family friend. She was diagnosed with Luekemia just before Christmas and the line benefits the Casey Bishop Luekemia Relief Fund, or as we like to call it the Crazy Casey fund. We have found amazing support for our efforts to help her and will be continuing to add new items to The Crazy Casey Fund section.

4. Where do you sell, online and off?

Our shop is thecrazyelephant.etsy.com we have not brought The Crazy Elephant to any shows yet but plan to this spring and also Arts in the Park on the 4th of July in Stewartville, MN

5. How do you juggle selling your items and your personal life?

We both work full time so it is a little difficult sometimes. Adam knits while he is on break at work. I ussually do most of my work after Jayne's bedtime.

6. What is your favorite thing to create?

I really like making the Owie Fixers because Jayne loves them so much. Adam likes the animal hats because they allow him the most creativity. And Jayne loves making the paper because he can help and it is gooshy and messy.

7. What are your long term goals for your creations?

We are still thinking of new products including a possible elephant rice pack. I also have a book writen that I need to get around to illustrating. One day I want this to be my job. I would love to be home with my son and I think our product line will grow with his needs.

8. Any advice for someone just starting out in the creating community?

There is so much advise out there to look at and you can drive yourself crazy trying to follow it all. Do what feels right for you.

Links:

www.morganmedia.us for animation

thecrazyelephant.etsy.com for our shop

morganbubble.blogspot.com for our blog

facebook.com/thecrazyelephant for facebook fans

http://twitter.com/thecrazyele for twitters'

Giveaway Information:

Win a copy of Colorsaurus!
There are 4 ways to enter:
1. Go take a peak in her shop and/or website and come back here and let us know what your favorite item is!
2. Follow this blog and leave a message. If you are already a follower, just leave a message!
3. Follow her blog! Don't forget to come back here and post about it!
4. Heart her shop and come back and let me know. In your comment, please let me know what your Etsy ID is!

Four chances to win, that means you need to leave a comment for each entry! Don't forget to leave a way for me to contact you if you are the winner. The winner will be drawn next Sunday, February 14 in the evening. I will contact Michelle with the winner and you will have 48 hours to get back in touch with her once she contacts you! Of course, I will also post it to the blog too :)

Spotlight On: Jamie of MommaOh!

Welcome to the next edition of "Spotlight On" here at Everything Stitch'N Love. I would like to introduce you to another Yahoo loopie Jamie from MommaOh! She's a great WAHM that I have gotten to know through cyberspace that does some really amazing work. She's even made it easy on me and made up the giveaway rules! I can't wait to here everyone's comments this week.

1. Tell us a little about yourself.....

I am a SAHM/WAHM of one precocious six year old daughter; who is married to a fantastic fella and has one of the sweetest cats you have ever seen (however is not allowed on in the lower level of our home where my studio/warehouse/sewing rooms are located).

2. What made you decide to get into the crafting boutique business?

My aunt is a quilter and one year she gave me a serger and the next an embroidery machine. Then my mother purchased a new sewing machine for me and it blossomed from there. I was making and embroidering items and giving them away. So friends started asking for specific items and wanting to pay for my services and Voila! I started a business in my basement.

3. What do you sell?

Personalized and monogrammed gift items. Basically anything I can get on my hoop or under my sewing/serger's foot I will stitch.

4. Where do you sell, online and off?

Locally by word of mouth, a few shows and online. I have had a lot of success on etsy, (www.mommaoh.etsy.com and am opening my own web site, www.mommaoh.com . I also have blog where I post whatever comes to mind as well as showcasing my items, www.mommaoh.wordpress.com .

5. How do you juggle selling your items and your personal life?

Hmmm, not as well as I would like too. My mother lives close by and she has helped me this year as it has been a building year for my business. My husband does all my book work and is a great support. But I haven't found the magic bullet for balance yet.

6. What is your favorite thing to create?

I love, love, love personalizing lunch bags, pillowcases, apron & chef hats, headbands, key chains....pretty much anything I can hoop I'll try at least once!

7. What are your long term goals for your creations?

Well, I am looking at working with other WAHMs who create, to broaden the lines I offer. If any of your readers have an item they specialize in and wholesale? Please email me!

8. Any advice for someone just starting out in the creating community? Tutorials are a fabulous way to start and most are free or offered at a low cost. Join a group (either virtual or local) that specializes in your art or craft and network, network, network!

I’d like to offer a couple of free items for 3 drawings…a free personalized adult apron, free personalized child’s apron and a set of 3 personalized stretch headbands.

Either leave a comment on Christie’s Blog or mine to enter for one of the 3 drawings.

Spotlight On: Rebecca of Hoffee and a Nuffin

Welcome back to the latest installment of Stitch'N Love's Spotlight On series. This week, I have the honor of introducing you to Rebecca of Hoffee and a Nuffin. Rebecca and I are teammates of Cafemom Street Team, a group of WAHM that all met through a great global social network for moms! Go check them out if you want! Cafemom

Want to check out the other moms on Etsy? Look for CAFEMOM TEAM
Want to check out other moms on Artfire? Look for CST

Now, on to the interview.......


1. Tell us a little about yourself..... Originally from Southern California, I live in Oregon and have been married for 6 years. I am a mommy of two small boys and think that's the greatest job in the world! I try to find inspiration in everyday things. In life. Sometimes it just happens and sometimes when I'm not even looking for it. I used to read. That was before the great responsibilities of having a family. My favorite is Stephen King. I also enjoy crocheting and have recently learned to knit (it's never too late to learn something new!)

2. What made you decide to get into the crafting boutique business? Crafting has been a part of me for as long as I can remember. My grandmother, Annie, has been the greatest source of encouragement and inspiration for all that I do. Crafting became a business for me when I quit my job to stay home to raise my children. That was the natural thing to do.

3. What do you sell? Sock monkeys, miniature sock monkeys, sock bunnies and other sock creatures, photo cards, polymer clay ornaments, pincushions, felt sock monkey brooches, Hee Pigeons (aka: altered magnetic clothespins,) Little Birdie Buttons, among other little treasures.

4. Where do you sell, online and off? I sell on Etsy. I have sold in the past at bazaars in the Portland area, and at my son's Elementary School, but this year my efforts will be focused on online sales.

5. How do you juggle selling your items and your personal life? It's tough! I have arranged my schedule so that I wake up at 4am, a very quiet time, to get the bulk of my work done. (It's easier to work when the house is sleeping!) After the family is awake and the day goes on, my work gets sprinkled into the gaps of quiet moments if they can be found throughout the day. School time is the time to run errands and my little one (a terrific little helper!) is proud to be in charge of post office duties.

6. What is your favorite thing to create? Sock monkeys, no doubt!

7. What are your long term goals for your creations? I don't have long term goals for my work, it's very personal to me and I'd be disappointed if it ever got out of hand. I am very passionate about what I create and hope to share this little piece of myself with others who appreciate what I do. I suppose that I can only hope to not become bored. That would be a sad day.

8. Any advice for someone just starting out in the creating community? Start with a positive attitude and NEVER, ever give up! If you're doing something that you truly love, keep doing it! It's tough to get started, and you should remember that everybody struggles in the beginning. Document your work with good photographs and experiment with a lot of different styles and lighting until you get a look that works for you. Photographs are important in displaying your work if you're selling online. Help your buyer to see and "feel" what you've created so they'd be more likely to purchase from you.
My links:
www.hoffeeandanuffin.etsy.com
www.sweetestlittlethings.etsy.com
www.hoffeeandanuffin.blogspot.com


Now want to hear the greatest news???? Rebecca has offered to giveaway a Sock Monkey Pincushion to one of my readers!!!!!!!!!!

There are 4 ways to enter:
1. Go take a peak in her shop and/or website and come back here and let us know what your favorite item is!
2. Follow this blog and leave a message. If you are already a follower, just leave a message!
3. Follow her blog! Don't forget to come back here and post about it!
4. Heart her shop and come back and let me know. In your comment, please let me know what your Etsy ID is!

Don't forget to leave a way for me to contact you if you are the winner. The winner will be drawn next Sunday, January 24th in the evening. I will contact Rebecca with the winner and you will have 48 hours to get back in touch with her once she contacts you! Of course, I will also post it to the blog too :)

Spotlight On: Wendy @ All About Ribbon

Welcome to the second edition of "Spotlight On." Today, I had the honor of getting questions answered by a ribbon guru that I met nearly eighteen months ago when I first decided to give the hair bow "thing" a try. Wendy of All About Ribbon runs one of the best Yahoo groups and is a great ribbon enabler! I know that my bank account doesn't hold nearly enough as my eyes would like and my ribbon collection is far bigger than I will ever be able to use.

1. Tell us a little about yourself.....

I seem to be described as the hippy “Martha Stewart” a lot by friends and family. I would rather make gifts and decorations for our home than buy them. I have two toddlers and a wonderfully supportive husband that tolerates the constant crafting project explosions.

2. What made you decide to get into the crafting boutique business?

When we found out we were expecting our second miracle we also found out how much daycare was. They are only 18 months apart so the reaction was something like this, “Bam! Wowzers! Really?!? Oh, DEAR!” Someone was going to have to work at home which translated to Mommy was going to have to work at home. I started looking at low cost businesses that I could hit the ground running with. After all, I only had 8 months to find something, master it, and turn a profit that we could at least use for grocery and bill money! I found hair bows and ran with it. My initial investment was about $150 in supplies.

I quickly found myself immersed in ribbon and bows and luckily orders to go with it all! However, I kept getting custom orders from my clients that wanted ribbon that just wasn’t available. The requests included Horse, Ants for watermelon bows, and Guitars. It sounded so much simpler in my head than in reality to say, “I’ll just have it made!” Luckily I was born with a tenacious spirit, more stubbornness than it should be legal to have, and the inability to take no for an answer, so now I have a ribbon company. It’s a strangely wonderfully journey, but I still look around and wonder how on earth did I get here?

3. What do you sell?

I sell mostly custom printed ribbon and other supplies for crafters with a focus on hair bow makers. I still sell bows but my focus has shifted to local customers and custom orders. In the next year I plan to re-launch a lot of my hair accessories online again. Should be another great adventure!

4. Where do you sell, online and off?

www.allaboutribbon.com

www.allaboutribbon.etsy.com

And coming soon to Ebay (allaboutribbon)

5. How do you juggle selling your items and your personal life?

You know those free moments where you sit down and relax because everything is done and you watch your favorite TV show? We don’t have those! If I am sitting, I may be watching what’s on but 99% of the time there’s ribbon in my hand. With two small children, the ribbon and bow businesses, and the day to day grind there’s not much free time. Weekends we try to focus more on doing some fun things together. We make it a rule that we laugh together everyday. A lot of my friends are people I have met that are other bow makers and crafters. It’s lovely to say “grosgrain” and have someone know what you are talking about rather than the more common blank stare.

6. What is your favorite thing to create?

Hair bows, I still love experimenting with new ideas. There’s no limit. I really enjoy picking out the new ribbon designs as well, but that’s purely for selfish reasons. It’s a kick be making a bow and think that ribbon with (fill in the blank) would really just put the bow over the top… and know you can do it!

7. What are your long term goals for your creations?

I want to continue doing new and unique prints for ribbon that isn’t available currently. I love when I open all the shipment boxes and you see something and it’s YOURS! It’s amazing. We are also planning to launch some new products in the next 1-2 years that should be really exciting. I am already excited! For all the hair accessories I make I want them to have a “home” online. I love www.Etsy.com but I also want them to have their own website.

8. Any advice for someone just starting out in the creating community?

Find something you have a passion for. Throw yourself in headfirst and learn anything you can. Evaluate where you want to go with it. Is it a hobby or are you going to make a business out of it? Refocus, and find your niche! Do you want your business to just bring in extra pocket change, or are you looking to take over the world? You know, any answer to those questions is fine. Everyone has different goals and paths to get there. When I graduated high school I wouldn’t have been caught dead saying, “I want to be a WAHM and I am going to build a RIBBON EMPIRE!” but I wouldn’t trade any of it for the world!

Now, how would YOU like to win some ribbon? I thought so! Wendy has offered to give one lucky winner a $25 gift certificate to buy ANYTHING on her site!

SOOOOO, without further ado, here is what you have to do!

There are 4 ways to enter:
1. Go take a peak in her shop and/or website and come back here and let us know what your favorite item is!
2. Follow this blog and leave a message. If you are already a follower, just leave a message!
3. Sign up for the newsletter on her site! I signed up ASAP and she is always giving her newsletter followers a heads up on sale and special things!
4. Heart her shop and come back and let me know. In your comment, please let me know what your Etsy ID is!

Don't forget to leave a way for me to contact you if you are the winner. The winner will be drawn next Sunday, January 10th in the evening. I will contact the winner and you will have 48 hours to get in touch with Wendy! Of course, I will also post it to the blog too :)

Good luck! And may the Ribbon Force be with you. I think that you are going to need it.

Spotlight on Shana of Silly Beanz on Etsy

My first Spotlight On crafter is a fellow Yahoo Group Loopie! Shana and I are on several together and both share a love of ribbon and crafts. Her hair blossoms are ~da bomb~ as we used to say back in the day. Go check her out on Etsy: www.sillbeanz.etsy.com or her personal blog: www.mysillybeanz.blogspot.com

1. Tell us a little about yourself.....

My name is Shana. I've been married for 5 1/2 years to Rich and we have 3 beautiful babies (Alyson will be 4 in Jan, Paul is 2 1/2, and Ella 15 mths) We also have 2 dogs, Bailey our almost 8 year old Rottweiler (best family pet EVER) and Bubba who we think is a Puggle that we adopted.
We are native New Yorkers who moved to Georgia so that i could be stay at home mom and so we could actually own a house (no way that was happening on Long Island for us!).
I love to bake, watch Disney Princess movies with my girls and play cars with my boy. I love crafting but right now most of it is admiration rather than creations! I hardly get a free moment to myself!

I pride myself on my work. I love making things you don't see everywhere. I am very picky about which flowers I choose to create my hair blossoms and I work hard to make sure they are as perfect as they can be when made by hand.

2. What made you decide to get into the crafting boutique business? I tried making clips for Alyson and realized how creative I could be and how my need for instant gratification could be satisfied! From there, I made them for friends and as gifts, and now I sell them.

3. What do you sell? My niche seems to be with hair flowers. I've done several bridal parties. I've also done gift baskets for birthdays.

4. Where do you sell, online and off? online at my Etsy store, Silly Beanz, off-line locally at craft fairs and through word of mouth

5. How do you juggle selling your items and your personal life? it's tough. Many times I pre-cut and heat seal my ribbon and put the flowers together and then when the kids are asleep, I'll assemble.

6. What is your favorite thing to create? hair blossoms and digital photo cards

7. What are your long term goals for your creations? to gain a larger customer base and truly make this a profit building home-based business.

8. Any advice for someone just starting out in the creating community? do what you love. I'm not very good at actual bows, so I do clips and hair flowers, and for me that is what sells.

Thanks Shana for the great Question and Answer!

In honor of Shana's Spotlight this week, she's offering a giveaway! The winner will get to pick out any one thing in her shop for FREE! There are 4 ways to enter:
1. Go take a peak in her shop and come back here and let us know what your favorite item is!
2. Follow this blog and leave a message. If you are already a follower, just leave a message!
3. Follow her blog and come back her and let me know. If you are already a follower, just leave a message!
4. Heart her shop and come back and let me know. In your comment, please let me know what your Etsy ID is!

Don't forget to leave a way for me to contact you if you are the winner. The winner will be drawn next Sunday, December 13th in the evening. I will contact the winner and you will have 48 hours to get in touch with Shana!

GOOD LUCK!

$25 Giveaway

That's right, I have gone CRAZY! I am offering a $25 certificate to ANY of my shops (Artfire or Etsy).

To enter, all you have to do is make comments to the post! Pretty simple huh? Go take a look in the shops and come back and tell me what you like, or maybe even what you would like to see in my shops. Heck, even if you tell me that everything stinks, you are entered, lol.

If you send anyone over the blog, make sure that they put your name in the comment too! You never know when I might get even CRAZIER and give away a certificate for just sending people my way!! MUUAHHHHHHHH, as my daughter would say, lol.

Giveaway will be from July 1st - July 13th. I will pick the winner on my son's 13th birthday: July 14th!!!!!!!!!

Good Luck!!!

Some New Lower Prices!

I went through my Etsy and Artfire shops and lowered a few prices. Tell me what you think. It's not really a lot of lower prices or much of lowering, because I do believe that there is value in buying a handmade outfit over a mass-produced outfit. I loved what someone said when the chipmunk wore a mommy made outfit out one time "Homemade".

I really hope that things start to pick up here soon. With my luck, I will get slammed with some sales right before we go on vacation. It's going to be mad enough around before that. The middle two get out of school the week before, then there is a dance recital, FRG meeting and then a plane trip with six kids! Oh and we are going to do a whirlwind clean up of the house so that it's all nice and clean when we return because the July 4th holiday will be around the corner by then, then drills and festivals and before we know it, school will be start in August!

Don't forget my giveaway over on Front Porch Reviews! Custom made patriotic outfit with 3 embroidery hoopings! Your choice of embroidery. It ends Sunday, May 31st and the winner will be announced Monday!

Happy Memorial Day Sale-abration

I hope that everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. The weather here is not that great at the moment but as soon as the rain quits threatening to come, my family is loading up with my parents and we are heading onto the water! There is food waiting to go in the coolers, the boat is ready and great times will be had!

In honor of this wonderful US holiday, I am having a 20% off sale in my Artfire store this weekend until Monday night. Prices are already marked down.

In my Etsy store, I am offering FREE shipping.

Remember how I said yesterday that there might be a new giveaway in the pipeline? Well, Tamra over at Front Porch Reviews and I have collaborated on a giveaway! To get the details you just need to click on the cute front porch button on the side of the blog and it will take you right to her site.
Custom Stitch'N Love Patriotic outfit! Go check out how you can enter. May 31st is the deadline!

If I don't post again, I hope that everyone who reads has a safe and fun US holiday weekend! I know that I am going to be hugging my hubby soldier a little bit tighter this weekend!

Today's Stop in the Blog Tour.......

...Thank you for stopping by Stitch'N Love on the Sew What Guild on Artfire's blog tour! Hope you have a nice look around.

Stitch'n Love was founded last year so that I could have an outlet for creativity while staying home and taking care of my youngest two children. They are often my two most used models! It has been a great outlet for me and I have found that my passion for children didn't have to stay in the classroom. I love making clothing for children to wear.

I also enjoy making baby items and things for moms and dads (they are kids too you know!) I love adding new things to all my shops and I have been asked by several people to make some laptop sleeves, lunch bags and even a DS bag! Look for those in the upcoming weeks!

In honor of the blog tour, I am holding a giveaway and sale today. Everyone that leaves a comment will be entered into a drawing for a Stitch'N Love Key fob! I have chosen a pink one here for an example.

I am also having a 20% Blog Tour sale today and anyone that purchases something will be entered TWICE! Not a bad deal really.

I will announce the winner tomorrow on the blog so come back and find out who won! I might even hold another giveaway next month before school gets out here and we start our vacation!

Sock Monkey Giveaway on The Spotted Box!

This month is my inaugural month in The Spotted Box! There is a giveaway going on for a Sock Monkey from Auntie Ann Designs on Etsy! Go check it out! Enter! If you win, come back here and let me know and I will give you a $30 shopping spree on any of my sites!!!!!!!

http://www.thespottedbox.com/blog/new-giveaway-sock-monkey-from-aunty-ann-designs/

They are GIVING AWAY a Spotted Box!!!

Have you ever heard of "The Spotted Box"????

If you haven't, please go to www.thespottedbox.com and check them out! I have been told that they are hard items to come by, but well worth it if you get one.... Well, I was approached by them last month to add some of my samples and I will be in them starting next month (April)!! Not telling what I am sending but I think they will be well worth it!

Anyway, one of the great artists in the group is giving away her box! All you have to do is make a comment on the blog and you are entered!

http://www.thespottedbox.com/blog/enter-to-win-a-march-spotted-box/

So, what are reading this for????? Go, go, go and enter for a chance to win a Spotted Box!!!