around the shop

my new obsession...

shop update: distressed wood wall hangings

I've been playing with wood and paint and power tools (and I still have all my fingers).

I made some smaller versions of this project for sale in my shop.

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I've loving playing with wood right now.  I have so many more ideas and a pile of wood in my garage!

smash book: big shop month pages

I completed a new smash book page commemorating a great January I had in the shop.  I was blessed with some great Etsy front page promotion that kept me hopping with an order almost everyday.  

I'm still struggling with scrapbooking on the printed pages provided.  On these pages I covered the printed elements in the book with black and white polka dot washi tape.

I printed some screen shots I captured of a couple Etsy front page appearances.

I snapped some photos of some of my current packaging.  My packaging has already evolved over the year my shop has been open.  I'm sure as it continues to evolve it will be interesting to see my process right now.

I'm getting a little bit of a backlog of things to "smash" into my book.  I need to dedicate a day soon to getting caught up!

shop update: new mixed media hearts

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see all hearts here

shop update: embroidery hoops

I've been making some new embroidery hoop art for the shop.  Here are some peeks...

a sweet, fuzzy flannel and felt heart

machine free stitched rose on blue herringbone

painted and stamped ampersand on stripes!

applique stars and machine free stitching

Check out all my embroidery hoop art here.

my etsy shop: new listings for valentines day

I had some days off of work over the holidays and I went into major "heart" mode.  I finally got most of my Valentine's Day goodies listed in my shop and I've even sold a few.

"love you" cement heart

red letter initial cement heart

see more cement hearts

quilted pillow with pink heart

zig zag pillow with red heart

more pillows here

red circle "love" embroidery hoop art

heart fabric "love" embroidery hoop art

more embroidery hoop art here

me: which do you like best?

Good morning lovely blog readers!  I am seeking your opinion.

I decided to embark on my first blog advertisement.  I will be advertising my shop on Elise Blaha Cripe's blog for the month of February.

I love Elise's style and posts.  Her blog is one of my guilty habits during my lunch hour (or lunch ten minutes between running to meetings) at work.

So....I need to design an ad.  I am so not a graphic designer.  Sometimes I create something and love it.  Other times I just can't seem to get it "right".  (I use GIMP free software to edit all my pictures and create graphics.)

Which is your favorite?

Number 1

Number 2

Number 3

Number 4 (I don't like this one because I think the colors are kind of depressing, but I like adding the "handmade home accessories".)

Any winners?  Or do I need to go back to the drawing board?

shop update: tales from a new shop owner

My shop has been up and running for about a month now.  I have been overwhelmed by the experience.  Overwhelmed by the work needed to run a little shop and overwhelmed by the fact that people are actually buying my stuff.  

My shop has far exceeded my expectations.  This is thrilling and scary at the same time.  I'm still adjusting my time management skills for blogging and shop running.  I love my blog so much and still want to share many tutorials with all of you.  

I thought it might be interesting to share some of the things I've learned from one month of shop running for all of you who might be thinking of starting a shop of your own.

Lesson #1 -- Luck helps.  I have been tremendously lucky to be featured in Etsy's Home and Garden section, Valentine's Holiday section, and on the front page.  I don't know quite how this happened, but I am very grateful for the traffic to my shop.

This is me on the front page, bottom row second from the right.

Here's my heart pillow on the Home and Garden page.

Here I am in the Valentine's Day section.

Lesson #2 -- Blogging for a year really helped me get my shop off on the right foot.  Obviously my blog drives some traffic to my shop which is helpful.  However, I think the bigger help is all the skills I have learned while blogging that I can transfer to shop running.  

A year spent blogging was also a year spent developing products.  When choosing what items to offer for sale I had a good feel for what items might be popular and what items might not resonate as well.  Blogging gave me a big head start in product research.  

Also I've had lots of practice taking pictures of crafts.  Pictures are so important for online sales.

Lesson #3 -- Taking pictures is still not my favorite thing to do.

Lesson #4 -- I have a wonderful and supportive husband.  I kinda knew this already, but after sending my hubby to the store for boxes or to the post office with packages I now refer to him as my VP of Distribution.  I am very blessed to have a helpful husband.

Lesson #5 -- Just do it.  I wanted to start a shop months ago but I was too worried about everything being perfect from day 1.  My shop will never be perfect.  It's an evolution.  Just start somewhere and then start working on making improvements over time.

So far my shop has been a lot more work than I expected, but I love every second of it.  I love making things for people.  I love seeing the locations that my items are being shipped to.  I even love packing boxes and printing postage.  

I still don't like taking and editing photos.

giveaway: shop grand opening giveaway and discount code

I'm not totally comfortable with the idea of self promotion.  I always thought that if I was forced to take a job in sales I would cry everyday.  But part of pushing yourself to do new things is stretching and growing and getting uncomfortable.  So here goes some shameless self promotion to celebrate the grand opening of my shop 645 workshop.

First, a giveaway...

I am going to giveaway one set of alpha magnets.  These little magnets remind me of typewriter keys.  I have a cute set on my fridge right now in "qwerty order".

Two ways to enter:

#1 - Like my shop's Facebook page by clicking the button on the right sidebar of my blog or on the right sidebar of my shop.

#2 - Pin your favorite item in my shop on Pinterest.

Leave a comment for each entry.  I will randomly draw a number on Monday, December 19th at 8 PM central time.

Second, a discount code...

Now through Monday, December 19th I am offering a 15% grand opening discount in my shop by using code GRANDOPENING at checkout.

Whew, self promotion over and I survived!  I have a really exciting craft room update to share this week, plus I made some stuff out of Ikea fabric.

A BIG Announcement: 645 workshop

I am so excited to announce that I opened a shop!  I wanted to do a year ago, but it always felt too overwhelming to get started.  I'm not sure what changed, but suddenly I just did it!  

I'm calling my shop 645 workshop in honor of June 4, 2005 which was my wedding day.  

Some things for sale also have tutorials here on my blog.  So if you don't want to make it, you can just buy it!

alpha magnets   //   shabby rose pillow
Some items are based on my drawings:


lady pillow cover  //  blog idea notebook
And some items are completely new:number tacks  //  heart magnets
I'll still be making things and sharing tutorials here, but now I also have a shop!  A shop!  I'm officially a small business owner!  
I hope you will visit, take a look, and tell your friends!  Thanks for reading and subscribing!