Hello, all. Tater awoke from her nap and wanted to share a special code with you in celebration of small businesses like ours. This code is valid from now until Monday. Please consider supporting handmade this season.



P.S. Tuesday, December 1 is the last day to order a made-to-order/custom order to have probable delivery by December 25.

Thanksgiving is one of those holidays where we think about what we have to be thankful for...or we wonder why we have one special day to give thanks when we could or should be doing it all year. I like to think of it as a chance to get together and be thankful for what and who we have, just in case, or in addition to, the days we have forgotten to be thankful or the days that we have already been thankful. Does that make sense?

I am thankful for my family, friends and my uber boyfriend. While I don't live in the same state as my parents, I am even more thankful for those who welcome me into their home(s) on the holidays.

I am also thankful for supporters of handmade goods. Although I make items because it gives me pleasure and relaxation, I also delight in others benefiting from my work. It is so meaningful to me to have others delight in and use what I make. Thank you!

What are you thankful for this year?

Hi, all! I hope that you are having an excellent time of the season. I wanted to tell you about a few important deadlines for the shop if you hope to order something in time for Christmas:

• The absolute last day to purchase a made-to-order or custom item to have probable delivery by December 25 is December 1.
• The absolute last day to purchase a ready-made item to have probable delivery by December 25 is December 15.

Hello, new followers from the Hooksett Old Home Days (or those who just stumbled upon my page)! Welcome, and thank you for your new likes, views and follows! I really appreciate it.


For those of you who were interested in a crocheted basket (pictured above) to hold your goodies, please contact me via my Etsy page and let me know what size and when you need it by. Currently, I have no ready made baskets available, so I can make your one of a kind basket to your liking.

For those who were interested purchasing a state-shaped cork board, check out my listing on Etsy here. You can choose your desired state and size on the drop down menus before adding it to your cart.

Thank you and leave me a comment here or message me on Etsy. I look forward to helping create the perfect gift this season.

The U in unSLUMP stands for updates and I plan to do a few before the fall. (The L in unSLUMP stands for logistics. if you missed this post, check out my Instagram post about it. ) Here is what I'm thinking about:

Internal Updates:
email signature
Blog links--mske sure they are all current and update to new places if not

External Updates:
Update product photos for the holiday season
Twitter and FB page updates
Defined shipping details for when is the last date to order for ready made and handmade items to receive in time for Christmas.
Decide and write about shipping upgrades and finish making shipping profiles for Etsy and Storenvy

Another thing I am thinking about doing for my shop is to sign up for the Merriweather Council's Etsy course.

Is anyone else looking to update or upgrade their shop? If so, what are you up to?

This summer I decided to participate in the Merriweather Council's unSLUMP Challenge to gear up for the holidays. The first questions are:

Some questions to guide you as we begin + things to think about as we move along:

• What went well last year? What didn't? 

• Will anything have to be cut out or slimmed back for a couple weeks? 

• Will you have help? 

• Will you need to implement any changes starting now? 

• Will you need to adjust shipping and lead times? 

• Will you offer a shipping upgrade? 

• Will you be styling your product photos for the holidays? 

• Will you be running any sales or promotions between Halloween and Christmas?

What went well last year?

Well, I sold more items in person than I ever have. In fact, I outsold how much that I sell online. I may do 1 or 2 holiday craft fairs, as that seemed to go well last year too. What didn't go so well is my online sales. I'm not so sure why so I'm trying to beef it up this year.

Will anything have to be cut out or slimmed back for a couple weeks?

Not that I can think of right now.

Will you have any help?

If I do a show, Rich will help me setup and take down. But as far as assembling items, it will be all up to me.

Will you need to implement any changes starting now?

Begin work on a new item that I would like to offer for my shop (socks). Create some NorthEast cork boards so I have some ready-made and available.

Will you need to adjust shipping and lead times?

No.

Will you offer a shipping upgrade?

I'll look into priority vs. first class.

Will you be styling your product photos for the holidays?

I wasn't planning on it but now that you mention it, it sounds like a good idea. I do have some Christmas decor that I could throw in arrange with what I'm photographing.

Will you be running any sales or promotions between Halloween and Christmas?

Yes. I will definitely do Small Business Saturday, possibly extending through Cyber Monday. I would also like to plan a small Christmas/holiday-themed item to include in any order placed between November and Christmas.

There will likely be a few more of these posts as I gear up for the holidays. With people doing Christmas in July sales, I've been getting in the mood to get my own items ready.

Hi all! Child sizes are now available in a few select scarves. The scarves available in child size are black and ivory scrollwork, geometric and blue plaid. When you go to put the item in your cart, simply select "child" and then add to cart. You can click here to see the available listings.

Hi All! This weekend, Storenvy is hosting a big ol' "just because" sale where everything in the sale is 20% off. All of the items in my shop are 20% off. Check out all of the community items for sale here. Check out mine here. 

I've been wracking my brain, trying to think of items that I can make for summer. Then it came to me...spa items!

To start, I have made this nettle and hemp spa cloth. It's a great exfoliator. Although initially rough feeling, it breaks in the more you use it. The more you use it, the softer it is. You can use it in the shower or bath, with or without soap. The natural properties of nettle and hemp are antibacterial and moth repellent. Give it a good rinse after you are done bathing and reshape it to dry.



More spa products will be available in the future! This cloth is available both at my Etsy shop and Storenvy.

One of the things that completely slipped my mind to post about before Easter was that I made some mini baskets. In the future, I hope to make more large baskets to sell, like the one I made for my boyfriend's niece for Christmas. For now, I have these gift baskets to fill with mini treasures for others.

To reach a wider audience, I uploaded some of my listings from Etsy to Storenvy. The above is a screenshot of my storefront there and below are examples of a couple listings.


I don't like one site over the other (for now), but it's fun to see my items in another format. If you purchase through my Storenvy site, let me know how the experience compares for you.

I made some more bandana scarves for the holiday bazaar the other month and I just got around to putting them on my Etsy shop. They're available in floral print, aztec, blue plaid and came. They will definitely help keep you warm in these subzero days we have been having lately.