Home Business Challenges

The Christmas buying season is well on the way.  Fortunately, people seem to like our Scrabble jewelry and dog frames for Christmas presents, so we've been busy.  Cyber Monday was especially good for us.  That was a nice way to start the week.  We didn't offer any Cyber Monday sales because we try to keep our prices as low as we can anyway, so we don't have a lot of room to play with our prices.

We are, of course, still finding challenges to running our home business - time management and space issues, just to name two.  We find that we have to be well organized with our space constraints, which isn't a bad thing (the organization that is), but we do bump into each other once in a while and have to watch where we're walking.

Time management is always difficult.  Not spending so much time working is a great goal, but it doesn't always work out.  Actually, it rarely works out.  Even though, I wanted to work less after moving to our new home with less expenses, but it is the holiday buying season, so we have a small window of opportunity.  Business drops off about December 12 - 13, generally, so we work long and hard for these few weeks.

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Thought I'd show a few pictures of the space in one of my work areas.  The following photos shows bracelets in various stages of being completed.  I have all the beads handy.  The other supplies are in the drawers directly above the containers of beads like our elastic .

Below shows the storage for some of our bracelets.  We separate them by dogs, holidays, music, etc.  It makes it easier to find them when getting ready to ship.

Some of our biggest sellers this season have been our...

vintage art dog frames...

Border Collie Frame

scrabble bracelets

 like our Elvis Presley Bracelet

"The King" is popular this year

Elvis Presley Bracelet

as is our Jane Austen Quotes Bracelet

Perfect for book lovers!

Jane Austen Quotes Bracelet

Right now, we're just trying to make some of the bracelets as they sell.  We won't keep up with all of them and by Christmas, we will be out of many.  Then, the whole cycle will start again as we start the New Year, but next year we won't be moving to a new home, so maybe we'll be able to get even more inventory made for the next holiday season!  Oh, no, this season has not even come to a close and I'm already planning for next year.  Not exactly living in the moment...well time to stop for the evening and get a little shut-eye.

Let the Frantic Holiday Season Begin

I can tell the holidays are nearing.  The feel of emails from customers is changing.  The majority of the time, people are so kind and free with their good words.  I would say 99% of the time, but once in a while we have people who make it difficult.  I guess that is the nature of working with the public.

We have been so blessed that we have had such wonderful customers, and we have a huge customer return rate - like 65% to 70% have returned to buy again, so that pleases us.  Our feedback has always been fabulous like the following:

"SO AWESOME!! I know I will get tons of compliments on this bracelet....super fast shipping too"
"I love this bracelet so much. I love when people look at it, assuming it must be pictures of my family and then say, "Is that...the redrum kid?" And I say, "Yes, yes it is." And then suddenly it's like I have a secret side they know nothing about. Mwahahaha. Seriously, though. It's a fun bracelet I love to wear with otherwise standard outfits just to give them some punch. I get compliments on it a lot."
" Great Quality shipped very fast"
" THANK YOU for using so much imagination and creativity! This bracelet is much nicer than the photo shows. Jimmie Ellis"

However, as the holiday season approaches for some reason some people start to get prickly.  We had one customer recently who we tried to do everything right for, but in the end, she was not happy.  This is only the 2nd customer in FIVE years that has ever been grumpy and rude, and we just didn't know what to do to satisfy her.  Bummer.

Yoda, Please give us the wisdom and calm to get through this season. 

You can just sense the change in the emails.  It's really rather interesting.  If I can remain unemotional about it, I would realize that I haven't changed and our products haven't changed.  It must therefore be the people who are coming to us, which traffic certainly increases during the holidays.

This is what the customer today reminded me of...just kidding, I'm sure she was just having an "off" day.  - From The Shining

That's okay.  I'm not going to let her ruin my evening.  We are actually taking the evening off and watching the Snow Queen (kind of an early Christmas movie).  Huge artichokes were on sale today, so we're going to have them with our barbeque chicken for dinner.  We'll have popcorn during our movie.  A nice evening.

                                                                    

Well, take care until next time.  I'll breathe deep and be happy, as I hope you all are as well.

Yes, to this quote...What do you bring to the world? From Anne of Green Gables

Finding Balance - Creating Habits

Now that we have been at our new place for several months, I have found that it is very easy to slip into the same old habits that we were in at the old place. Finding balance seems to be a habit that needs forming.  The idea of a habit feels like a negative behavior.  Merriam-Webster defines habit as:

¹hab·it

noun \ˈha-bət\

: a usual way of behaving : something that a person does often in a regular and repeated way
: a strong need to use a drug, to smoke cigarettes, etc.

: a piece of clothing worn by members of a religious group

However, I do believe, for me, that a regular routine and repeated way of doing something has a calming effect on my soul. Merriam-Webster does not list routine as a synonym for habit, but other references do.  Routine sounds better than habit.

At any rate, I had hoped that with less expenses at our new place, I would have time to keep up better on household chores (dishes, laundry, cleaning, etc.).  That those tasks would not fall primarily to my HTP.  Bless his heart for doing as much as he does.  And...I am so grateful for the blessing of him coming into my life.  I want to do more, but...

I work a lot.

And I will continue working now through the holiday season, so that we will not have to work so much during the rest of the year.  We truly are a holiday season business.  We do "okay" at this handcrafted business the rest of the year, but we just get by.  I don't always want to just get by.  I want to be able to fix up the house and yard, go to a movie now and then, taking a training class with my Border Collie, so it's important to make as much as we can during the holiday season.  I'm hoping next year, since we are all moved, that I can make more inventory all year long - more than I was able to make this year, so that I can find some sense of balance.  I wonder how many people use the phrase next year?

So, back to habits...the one thing I would like to accomplish RIGHT NOW is to develop a daily routine.  I love going into the kitchen when the dishes are all done, counters are wiped and the stove is clean.  I love having clean clothes in their rightful place and not seeing mounds of laundry when walking into the laundry room.  So, I have decided that if it means I make two less bracelets a day in order to get that done, then so be it.  Of course, for the money we would earn selling those two bracelets, which would be about 10 bracelets for the week, we could hire a cleaning lady.  

Don't they know there are newer washing machines?

Hmmm...cleaning lady...maybe I'm onto something.  Big smile. 

Currently all the hours in my day are full up.  Unless I want to get fewer hours sleep, which certainly is a way of life for many in the U.S., but I know I need my sleep in order to stay well and not go totally off the deep end.  Right now, I generally sleep from about 8:30 or 9:00 pm until around 4:00 or 4:30 am.  That's an adequate amount of sleep.

Well. for now, I will make the two less bracelets a day and get the housework done.  I'll consider some outside help.  I will still try to take most of Sunday off and go outside a couple of times a day to enjoy the outdoors - even just to walk around the yard and watch the birds.  My HTP keeps reminding me that that's one of the reasons we moved here, to enjoy things more.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Until next time...I'll leave with a quote from Emily of Our Town by Thornton Wilder.  I originally found this quote in a book titled The Simple Abundance Companion  by Sarah Ban Breathnach. It was a workbook type book that went along with her great book Simple Abundance.  I read Simple Abundance at a time when I was searching for an authentic life and some direction.  I can't tell you how many notes and highlights are in that book. A great read.  Here is Emily's quote:

"I didn't realize," she confesses mournfully, "all that was going on and we never noticed...clocks ticking...and Mama's sunflowers.  And food and coffee. And new ironed dresses and hot baths...and sleeping and waking up.  Oh, earth, you're too wonderful for anybody to realize you."

Some inspirational jewelry to remind me to enjoy life

Inspirational Scrabble Bracelet

Inspirational Bracelet Made From Vintage Sheet Music

Inspirational Live Pendant

Take care!

BANNED BOOKS WEEK - Right to Read - September 22 - 28, 2013

BANNED BOOKS WEEK!!

September 22 - 28, 2013

Celebrate your "right to read" and to choose your own books.

Banned Books Bracelet

This year's Banned Books Week runs September 22 - 28, 2013.  It is a celebration of our freedom to read!!  Banned Books Week began in 1982 and each year libraries and bookstores help to create an awareness of challenged books. 

Here is the top ten list of frequently challenged books from the Office of Intellectual Freedom for 2012:

• Captain Underpants (series), by Dav Pilkey (offensive language, unsuited for age group)
• “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” by Sherman Alexie (offensive language, racism, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group)
• “Thirteen Reasons Why,” by Jay Asher (drugs/alcohol/smoking, sexually explicit, suicide, unsuited for age group)
• “Fifty Shades of Grey,” by E. L. James (offensive language, sexually explicit)
• “And Tango Makes Three,” by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell (homosexuality, unsuited for age group)
• “The Kite Runner,” by Khaled Hosseini (homosexuality, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit)
• “Looking for Alaska,” by John Green (offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group)
• Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz (unsuited for age group, violence)
• “The Glass Castle,” by Jeannette Walls (offensive language, sexually explicit)
• “Beloved,” by Toni Morrison (sexually explicit, religious viewpoint, violence)

To view and download free lists of the most challenged books, you can go to the American Library Association website.

Click here for lists of the most challenged books at ALA.

If you would like to read more about Banned Books Week...click here.

We are fortunate that we have the right to read literature of our choosing.

Celebrate the FREEDOM TO READ not everyone is so fortunate!

Banned Books Bracelet

Banned Books Bracelet

A Dog Frame From One Dog Lover to Another

Sunday…a day off…sort of.  Sunday is supposed to be my day off – to take it easy, relax, find some balance.  I do take it easier, but I have to say I long for the days when I could read most of the day or watch a movie (during the day) like Anne of Green Gables, Sarah, Plain and Tall or Mary Poppins.  However, right now, things are different.  I spend any time off working on the house.  We’re still unpacking and organizing, and that’s okay.  At this point, I would rather get the house taken care of than sit and watch a movie.  It makes me feel good when a room is “settled” and I can enter it and feel calm. 

Work has been busy as usual.  The days go quickly.  I generally start my day between 4:30 and 5:00 am and finish around 7:30 pm.  I don’t work every night, so that gives me a break.  There is always so much more to do at the end of the day, but I think I am getting caught up.  I’ve been longing to list some of our vintage items.  I have pictures ready to go for some.  It’s just a matter of having the time to sit down and list them. 

This past week I’ve worked on getting our Scrabble bracelets strung and tied, so we won’t be going crazy during the holidays.  I have also been working on our vintage art frames.  I haven’t made any for a while, so it took a couple to get back in the groove.  The first day I ruined one.  I hate that.  Our printer has been giving us fits, so that has been frustrating.  I have to say that the whole printing situation for this business has probably been the most frustrating thing to deal with.  Getting the quality pictures that I want is not always easy.  My poor HTP has had to don the hat of copier technician.  Poor guy.  He is super smart about those things thank goodness.  The other frustrating thing is consistently finding the materials we need.  I worry about losing a source for one of our key materials.  We’ve worked so hard to find what works best for us.  And the beads…well, geez…they come and go, so we try to buy in quantity whenever we can.

At any rate, that is my venting about our frustrations.  Overall, we’re moving along nicely.  I did get a dog frame or two made this week.  We’ve already sold a few.  That makes me feel good.  I couldn’t believe that some of them I hadn’t had listed online since last November…2012!  Yikes!  Like the Pointer dog frame – terrible.  I even got the horse frames and Army frame made.  So we’re on our way to getting our inventory up-to-speed.  It's great to see the frame totes filling up.  I forget how good it feels to have plenty of  inventory.  

Pointer Dog Frame

Horse Frame

Army Military Frame

Well, off to enjoy my day of leisure.  Well, kind of a day of leisure.  Between cleaning, unpacking and organizing, I am also going to map out the property!  Then, I can start planning the garden.  That will be fun!  I’ve starting using Pinterest to keep track of some of the cool things I’ve seen online.  What a fun site that is!  It gives me so many ideas for the yard. 

  

Until next time…

AND 

 

 

Moving a Home and a Handcrafted Life

It’s been a long time since I’ve written.  Soooooooooo much has happened in the last four months!  First, and foremost, we have moved.  That means that we not only had to get our house ready to sell and move, but we also had to move our business, PAWS IN TIME, since it, too, is in the house.  My, oh my, what a time.

We got a place that is about ½ the size of our old house, so we had to downsize considerably, which isn’t a bad thing, but frustrating when trying to make everything fit inside the new place.  A real bonus of the new place is that we now have about an acre to plant a garden, have a few hens, let the dogs run (in a fenced area of course). After having lived in town on a very small lot for the past six years, we are so excited!!  It’s also by the water, which is calming.  When we go for our walk in the morning, we step out on our rural road and see the bay.  Just beautiful.

However, the new place was in desperate need of renovation.  We’ve lived in an RV for several months while fixing things – starting with the majors…plumbing, plumbing and more plumbing, roof replaced, putting sheet rock in, floorboards down, cleaning and painting.  I never thought I would know so much about sheet rock - the different types, how many sheets can be fit into a Dodge Caravan (weight and measurement wise), how to use sheet rock mud and tape.  Who knew there would be so much to know?  But we’re finally in and even though there is still lots of work to be done, it’s nice to be in.  

Here's a picture of what the house looked like when we first got it.  Note the roof - truly a "green" roof with all the moss.

 

Next time, I'll include a picture of how it looks now.

Thankfully, there is a fairly good-sized sunny landing at the top of the stairs and that is now where PAWS IN TIME resides.  It has a deck off of it with a fabulous old maple tree covering the whole area. We also use a downstairs back room for drilling tiles.  I was terribly spoiled in our old place because I had room for everything.  I loved looking at all my materials - even what I wasn't currently using.  I could say to myself, “Someday I’d like to try making such and such out of that.”  Unfortunately, a lot of those creativity inducing items that I’ve been collecting will need to stay tucked away.  However, I will try to keep the boxes handy for those days when I want to do a little treasure hunting to try something different.

My work area is ready (cleaned, painted, carpet down) for all my stuff to be put out…Yeehaw!  All the materials for our Scrabble Bracelets and Scrabble Pendants are out and organized.  Due to our move, our inventory was down from over 400 items to under 200.  Yikes!  We’ve been busily making bracelets to rebuild our stock.  The holiday season is looming. This was to be the year that we got ahead and had plenty of stock for the holidays.  Hmm…guess not.  But we are going to do our best to have enough stock to at least have an acceptable season.  

We even took our personalized gift / custom bracelet listing off for a while to get caught up, but it's now back up and we've had several orders in the last few weeks where people use their own pictures on a Scrabble bracelet.  I’ve been using the tiles as fast as my htp (husband type person) can drill them.  Now, I really need to start on our vintage art dog frames…as soon as I can find the box the glue and seal are in.

Well, I better get going, but before I sign off, I thought I’d share a couple of our newer bracelets.  I did have time to create a couple of new ones. Always love that!   

Star Wars Scrabble Bracelet

We now have two STAR WARS bracelets one featuring different characters from 

Star Wars

Luke Skywalker (THE FORCE) Scrabble Bracelet

and one with just LUKE SKYWALKER.  The Luke bracelet spells: THE FORCE on the inside – fun!

We also created a couple of new artist bracelets including Van Gogh and Picasso

Picasso Scrabble Bracelet

And...

Simon & Garfunkel

Simon and Garfunkel Scrabble Bracelet

 

Walt Disney World

Walt Disney World Scrabble Bracelet

 

Soon to be released: 
Mary Poppins Bracelet

Super Heroes Bracelet
Alfred Hitchcock Bracelet
Barcelona Bracelet
Star Trek - The Next Generation Bracelet

Off I go to my sunny landing!  

Have a happy day and hopefully it won't be four months until I write again!