Been Away Too Long!

I find it so hard to keep blogs updated!  Between caring for my Little D (currently 15 months old and always in to everything!), working part time at my family's flower shop, and trying to make items for my Etsy store, life has been hectic lately!

I am pleased to say that since Black Friday, I have had 4 items purchased from my shop, and one custom order.  :D  I am very excited that everything seems to be going so well, especially since I have only had my shop open for 2 weeks.  It gives me great hope for future success.  Right now my shop seems a little bare, but I have two items that are ready to be photographed, one in production, and a few sitting in the back of my head ready to come to life.  So until I have something new to show you, I'll just add a pic of my first completed hat pattern, the wool beret.

I am hoping that, in addition to updating when I list new items or have discovered some fabulous new yarn (more on that to come soon!), I will be able to make an Etsy Treasury to share with you every Sunday.  That is the only day that both my husband and I do not work, so hopefully it will mean I can sneak away for an hour or so to talk with you all!

Getting On, Going On....

Day 3 is here, and I am still feeling the euphoria of new Etsy shop-ownershipness.  I've been listing new items each day, and this weekend hopefully I will have a few more to add for the weekend browsers.  :)

I am the type of person that always wants to try new things, new patterns, new ideas.  And from the moment I decided to open this shop, I realized that this would probably be my biggest obstacle to being successful.  When someone browses your shop on Etsy, they don't want to see 80 completely unrelated items all crammed together (unless you sell supplies, perhaps!).  So at first, I was going to totally limit myself to making my stuffies (what I always call my little amigurumi animals).  But I really love making wearable crochet and knit.  There is something different about making items that a person will wear, hopefully so often and for so long that they wear it out.  It becomes a part of their days, of their lives, and I think that there is something powerful and touching about that.  

After thinking hard, and long, and going back and forth over the pro's and con's, I have decided that it is OK to sell stuffies and wearables in the same shop, as long as I don't get crazy with different wearables.  Stuffies can only be worked in season themes so many different ways before you end up with items just like everyone else.  For fall and winter, people need gloves, stoles, scarves, wraps, cowls, and all sorts of warm items that I adore making but have no use for in Arizona.  And in spring in summer, we ladies love little cardigans over our tank tops, and delicate lacework scarves and little wraps.

So, there are my plans laid out for you.  Below I'll stick in a couple of pictures of my Tiny Amigurumi's.  :)

stitchesandstuffing.etsy.com

Day 1!

Hello Blogland! 

This is (obviously) my first post, and I am very excited about it!  Today I opened up shop at Etsy, and this blog will chronicle my ups and downs trying to run a business in such a competitive market.  Here I will keep you up-to-date on my newest listings, patterns I am developing, and hopefully some tutorials on how to do what I do.  :)  For now, I will keep this short and sweet, as I need to go and photograph a few more items that I have made for sale in my shop.  Please take a look at stitchesandstuffing.etsy.com, and let me know what you think! I'll add some photos to entice you in to coming over..... ;)