Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Building Up My Store

We have been working lately at building up the store. Not only here online, but the physical store as well. I really like this little store and I hope to really grow with it. Here is the start. A 16X10 ft shed build for us by an Amish man. It is small, but there is so much potential for growth! The possibilities are so exciting to me! I love that I can grow my business right here, while homeschooling my children and involving them in the process of it. I get really excited when they have these bursts of ideas for what they think would be good for the business and then it grows with a little piece of them in it. Here is my attest picture of my store.
store pic2
The snow is providing some interesting challenges for us. I have been wanting for weeks now to get the sign in the ground, but the ground is just too frozen to get a good hole dug. But then, we got s bit of snow dropped on us, and when my husband plowed the drive he made this pile. I decided this would be the perfect way to place the sign... for the time being of course. If we ever thaw, it shall then find its permanent home in the ground.
I invite you to have a virtual look around the inside. Trying to create as much natural displays as we can. Thanks to my creatively talented husband, I have some very unique pieces. to hold my wares. Like this baker's rack that feels to me like it could go into a fairy's kitchen.
  fairyrack
Or this stump turned into a display table. We let the little shop gnome set up home in it.
    gnomehometable
In all, setting up shop is such and enjoyable experience. I feel as long as the atmosphere represents who we are, we shall always enjoy what we are doing and everyone who comes to visit will feel that as well.

Cold Snap!

What to do when you are in the midst of a cold snap? Nothing to do but hunker down and create! I have to be honest here. I don't mind at all days like this. That is, as long as I don't HAVE to go out for anything.
So then, what kinds of projects to work on while we hibernate? Well, the first thing is this dress, which I am going to call the Patchwork Princess dress. I am bad at coming up with names for the things I make. It is quite sad. I see in my mind the things I want to make, my hands create them, but that is where the creativity ends. Giving things a name and marketing them, is so not my strong suite. It is usually something like... rope basket made with twine... Yup! Conveys the message of what it is, but it just doesn't sound very fun. But, that is not the case with this dress. As I am sewing along on it this morning, I am thinking to myself, a patchwork dress fit for a princess. Hence, The Patchwork Princess. If only all of my projects inspired a name like that. And it is bright and colorful, and hopefully it encourages Spring to show it's lovely face.
dress 035(3)
I love using the peasant dress pattern in the book Little Girls, Big Style. There are so many things that you can do with that one pattern. This is going to be the skirt portion of that dress.
While I take a bit of a break from this dress to ponder what fabric I want to use for the top, I believe I will get my loom warped for my next weaving project. I can't decide if I an going to do a table runner or a set of placemats. Hopefully it will come to me by the time I get to it. There is this yarn though that I am just itching to use, an I am sure it wants to be one or the other of those things.
Well, I am off to enjoy the rest of my hibernation day. Hope you are finding something warm to keep you from going stir crazy as a shut in (if, indeed, you are a shut in. If you are somewhere warm, enjoy that!)