Thank you veterans

Big thank you to all our veterans.   We have such outstanding men and women out there representing our county and defending it.
Thank you to those who are no longer with us who served.  My husband, brother and dad.
Thanks to my family who are still here but served proudly, my husbands brother and other family members.
We do send our prayers and thoughts to you and we are so proud of all of you.
Thank you

Handmade

Just reading in the Etsy forums about a new Facebook page encouraging people to buy handmade and asking Etsy crafters to help support handmade gifts.
https://www.facebook.com/handmademonday
I think it would be great if shoppers looked at the handmade crafts that are available to them and so many are wonderful original ideas and very affordable considering the amount of hours that go into making them.
There are gift ideas for every member of your family including the pets on Etsy and Zibbet.
Yes, it is ok for you to stop by my stores on those two sites too.
I know I shall be spending some money shopping handmade this year and did last year also.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/straycatfarm
http://www.zibbet.com/straycatfarm
Have a wonderful holiday season.

Thank you

Sorry been so slow writing this but a big thank you to all of you who were there and helped me with the sudden loss of my husband due to health issues.
You made it so much easier to get through those hard times and a thank you also from his sister who lived with us.
Thanks to all of you who helped us with the big move from Michigan to be with  family.
My sister in law and I are ready to start a new life here and I have reopened my Etsy store and my Zibbet shop.
Doing crafts is a great way to keep your mind busy.
Thanks again for everyone who was there in thought, prayer and all the other wonderful things you did for us.
Thanks to our family here for being there for us now.

Craft shows

It is that time of year again.  Craft show season.
Always look forward to the shows as they are so much fun and hopefully produce extra cash for you.
Yes, it is a lot of work hauling the tent and tables and boxes from the truck over to the space and somehow you never get there at the right time to park close.
Even though we have been doing this for years, it still takes more then an hour to set up the booth and get it ready to go.
Folding towels and displaying jewelry takes time and each time we like to try one new display idea if possible.
You look forward to spending time with the vendors you have not seen all winter and the repeat customers who come back each year.
The one tip I have that you don't usually hear is take your pop or soda, in a bottle with a cap.  You will spill it sometime if you take it in a can.  If you don't accidently knock it over, a customer will.
Only took a couple of times before I quickly switched to bottled pop.
Don't overlook sheets as table cloths either as they are inexpensive and come in many colors and can be purchased in lots of sizes.  I use twin and it works fine on my tables.
Thrift shops often have sheets at a low price.
We shop thrift shops for display items too.  You never know what you may find such as picture frames to put you price signs in.
Just don't forget to have fun and enjoy hearing the compliments you get on your product and meeting new people.

New stuff

Does everyone else get excited when you put something new in your shop?    You list it and run to the stats and watch for someone to find it.   You go in several times a day and look at the views and are either excited about great views or sad that no one has found you.  
Well here are some of my new products.
Stop by our two shops
https://www.etsy.com/shop/straycatfarm
https://www.etsy.com/shop/blackberrybarn

 S

 

Spring

So ready for spring.   It seems like it just does not want to come and stay.
Spring is such a wonderful season as the trees start to leaf out and the early bulbs start to pop up out of the ground.
The lilac tree is so close to blooming and that is my favorite flower.
Ready to start working the soil and plant garden so we can finally have some tomatoes with real flavor and not the boring green house ones.
Spring brings the start of the craft show season too and those are both fun and hopefully profitable.   Really enjoy getting out and seeing the repeat customers who come each year to the show and being able to say hi.
Finally time to get the shorts out of storage and put away the heavier winter coats.
Going outside for a walk to enjoy this weather.

Etsy teams

Often wondered about Etsy teams and were they worth the time to participate.   Still don't have an answer but have enjoyed being part of the teams.
Not only do you get a little more visability for your shop but I like the way you can find new friends and find wonderful new items and shops as you participate in the teams.
I really like doing treasuries and I have found some wonderful new shops that way.  
Facebook, I am still having trouble learning but working on it.  Twitter I don't do at this time.
My blackberrybarn shop has an account with craftori which is a free place to promote and I have fun with Pinterest.
Just joined a new team this morning,
https://www.etsy.com/teams/16456/go-viral-promotions
and I think it will be a fun team to be part of.
So many things to learn about promoting your Etsy shops.

Good morning

Wondering where everyone gets their great ideas for writing on blogs.   There are so many talented blog writers out there and so many are willing to share their creative secrets with us.
We have been off wandering around looking for supplies.    I do like to buy them on Etsy and that way we all help each other but it is also fun to go to the local shops and see what treasures you can find.   It is always a good thing to help local small businesses so they can stay open and add some great variety of items that are often different then the chain stores offer.
Artists and creative people prefer to help others like them become successful also by supporting them.
Well, I guess this blog has become a support your local shop story. 

Wildhorsefarm

https://www.etsy.com/shop/WildHorseFarm











Welcome to Wildhorse farm on Etsy.
A very talented artist who fills her shop with a variety of handmade items.
You can find some jewelry she has made along with handmade breyer horse tack and saddles.  This horse tack is for horses similar to Breyer.
You can find handmade purses, each one a little different then the other one.
There are a few vintage patterns in the shop for variety.
Stop by her shop and take a peak.

Koda

This is the story of Koda.  
He is a special horse who we were lucky enough to have stay with us for a while and entertain us.
He is a beautiful light sorrel with flaxen mane and tail and with a big beautiful bald face.  He even had white eyelashes on one side of his head.  
Koda was a rescue horse who needed love and food and attention. 
We brought him to the farm and he put on weight and played and ate up all attention he could get.  He especially like us to go and pick the clover outside the fence and bring it to him.
Koda gave us many hours of enjoyment watching him but he missed having other horses in his life and at the time we only had the one.
Twice he managed to break through the fence.  One morning, early, our neighbor came over and said that Koda was standing on his front porch and he brought him back home.  He must have liked to visit the neighbors.
The second time he broke the fence down, he headed for our backdoor.
He really wanted friends so he is now a few miles away at a farm with other horses and he has a couple of girlfriends he likes to run and play with in the fields.
He is so happy to be with the other horses and is healthy.
We do miss him but he is where he should be after we brought him back to health.
Yes, we have a stronger fence now and are keeping our eyes and ears open for another rescue horse who needs food and love and attention.  Ok, we are keeping our eyes open for perhaps two rescue horses so they are not alone.
We enjoyed Koda so much we thought we would share his story with you.

Blogging

There are some really awesome blogs out there with such talented people writing them.
Perhaps there is still room for those of us who are beginners and whose talent is not writing.
The hardest part has been looking for topics to write about. 
There are some wonderful craft ideas,  receipes,  ideas and suggestions for all kinds of things around the house.
Some are just fun to read because of the story they tell.
So I am off reading blogs to inspire me to find fun topics to write about and not put the readers who happen to stop by to sleep.

Where is spring

Where is spring?   So ready for some sunny and warm weather.  
I was not prepared to see snowflakes drifting down this last week.   While it did not stick there was a light dusting on the ground for a short time.
Once you get into spring you are ready to plant garden and get ready for summer craft shows.
With the price of groceries going up all the time, I think I will plant a bigger garden this year so we can have lots of fresh vegtables that we know are healthy.
I see lots of salads in our future and I love them with lots of tomatoes.
At least we can sit down with the seed catalogs and dream.

Free shipping

Yes, I did not keep my promise to keep my blog up so I am going for second chances here.
Running a sale this week in one of my shops that all agate jewelry has free shipping.
We all need a little break on price when we can get it and with tax season here, we perhaps need even more breaks.
We are slowly building our jewelry shop and you will find several pieces of agates in our shop
Stop by our shop and see our agate necklaces.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/straycatfarm
Hope everyone has a wonderful day.

 

 

New jewelry line

Straycatfarm on Etsy has now added jewelry to our line.
For those of you who have stopped by our booth at craft shows, you know we have made and sold jewelry for several years.
The favorite part of making the jewelry is searching for stones that are different and colorful.
We enjoy going to the rock shops in our state and digging through piles of stones and rocks to find something special.
Most of our jewelry has magnetic clasps as it is so much easier for everyone to use.
We make most of the chains around the 20 to 22 inch length but we can often make the chains longer or shorter if you prefer.
Stop by our shop at take a look.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/straycatfarm

Our hanging crocheted top  towels are all moving to our other shop
http://www.etsy.com/shop/blackberrybarn

Clark Creations

Clark Creations was a vendor at a craft show I did this weekend.   I have done other shows with her in the past and not only is she a fun person to talk to and spend time with but she also makes a wonderful product.
This is how she describes her products
Welcome to Clark Creations - Natural, Vegan Skin Care "Simple Ingredients, Complex Humans" Everything is handmade by me, unless otherwise noted by product, and I take great pride in offering you customer service that goes beyond GREAT! I offer a 100% money-back guarantee. All my products are VEGAN, containing no animal by-products.I have tried her lip balm and her soap and you can easily see why she has so many return customers.
Her products are well made and very good quality.
Stop by her shop and check out her very affordable prices.

http://www.soapguildstores.com/clarkcreations/Default.aspx

Advertising

Like most of you, I am confused on the best way to advertise my shops and get the word out there that I do have a quality product at a fair price.

I don't twitter anymore as I was mostly getting bot views from that and never knew what to say.

Facebook. I do put a few things on Facebook but wondering how to get more followers to your facebook page.

Anyone want to follow me I am

https://www.facebook.com/#!/straycatfarm

Let me know and I will follow you back.

We do treasuries and they are fun and do help us meet new friends on Etsy and I do belong to two teams

We do lots of craft shows and pass out business cards.

Sales are always great at shows because people can feel the quality of our towels and search through piles for a pattern that works for them.

We sell quite a few at shows as wedding and shower gifts and the favorite is a combination of towels such as, Christmas, spring, winter, Easter, or any combination looks fun.

Always working on pictures and that is quite a challenge, which I think you will all agree.

So any stories of sucess you would like to share with us, we would love to hear.

Blogging

Wonder if I am the only one here who has a blog and forgets to blog or is so busy doing other projects that they just don't seem to have time.
What does it take to make us motivated to get in there and actually write the blog?
I can see where it is a great way to share ideas and thoughts and find out new craft ideas and where the best craft shows are.
Keeping busy with my Etsy shop
http://www.etsy.com/shop/straycatfarm
http://www.etsy.com/shop/blackberrybarn
Have a website too but it needs far more work to make a good website and I just don't have those web design skills.
It is not easy to come up with topics to blog about either. Where do you get inspiration for your blogs.
Going to try harder to take some time and blog and read others blogs as they are often not only fun to read but inspiring.

Lighthouse Craft Show

Imagine being able to do a craft show at the foot of this wonderful lighthouse at Presque Isle, Michigan.

As you stand and look up at it, it seems so tall.

You look the other way and you see you are standing on the shores of Lake Huron.

Who could ask for a more beautiful park to do a craft show in.

The other vendors have such wonderful crafts in their booths that you can't resist shopping.

As you can see from the sky, it rained and rained and rained and we went home early.

In spite of the rain we were amazed at how many customers came with their umbrella shopping and looking.

All of us local crafters would have been glad to have you stop by and climb the lighthouse and check out our booths.

In case you did not make the show you can stop by

http://www.etsy.com/shop/straycatfarm

and

http://www.etsy.com/shop/cherylnchains

We are looking forward to our next show and really hoping for a little sunshine next time.

How are the shows doing for you this year?

Farm life

I think I am really lucky to be able to live in the country. Don't have a big cattle ranch or dairy farm, just a small piece of land to grow a garden and enjoy the outdoors.
Not everyone will agree with me and some of you enjoy the city life with the restaurants and activities.
Isn't it great that we have all the different options so we can choose the one we like best.
The picture is one of my strawberry plants in blossom. Can't wait for the berries to ripen and eat. Many never get to the house as we snack right in the garden on the fresh berries.
We can pick the apples off the trees and eat the fresh tomatoes right off the plants.
It is peaceful to just take a break and walk around for a few minutes or picnic in the yard.
There is so much in the country to inspire crafters but now we need to get inside and actually make some new things.
Anyone else enjoy the country life too or are you a city person?
The most important thing is we are happy where we are.

Blackberrybarn and Christmas

I love Christmas and wish it lasted all year long. Actually I sometimes forget to take down all the trimmings and leave some up all year.

We had opened blackberrybarn to sell of all of those craft supplies you get and never use and take up room in the craft room. Thanks to all of you who purchased the items that sold, but now are store is looking kind of empty and needed to come up with something to fill it.

We already have our http://www.etsy.com/shop/straycatfarm

store where we sell our crocheted top towels and tried and tried to think up something new.

Then we realized if we want to do Christmas all year why not open a Christmas Etsy store to do it. That lets us make Christmas items all year and sell them so we did

http://www.etsy.com/shop/blackberrybarn

I know that there are lots of you that love Christmas also.

We only have a few items in there right now but stop by and watch us grow.