New Fabric

Finally, I've updated the OSD 'Build Your Own' fabric choices. I've had several requests for new fabric over the past few months, so I spent quite a bit of OSD profits from November/December buying new fabric! Really, it's ridiculous how much I bought. You can see all the new choices here. A few of them are really aimed more at the Appliques I'll be rolling out for Owl Say Home, but I definitely bought dozens of new designs intended for Travel and Portfolio Clutches.  I also added solid colors which is requested pretty frequently, especially for someone looking for a travel wallet for a guy. Remember, I can always switch out the more feminine pearl snap for a metal snap which looks pretty 'manly' on an all black travel wallet. I replaced all the fabric that was marked as 'Discontinued' or 'Out of Stock' and even added about 2 dozen additional prints!  Below is just a sampling of some of the fabric. You can see the whole sha-bang by clicking here:

 

If you'd like to order a new Travel/Portfolio Clutch visit my shop!

Heartsy

I know a few of you have been waiting for this post. I apologize for its delay. My munchkin was sick and then being the kind, sharing family we are, I got the same upper respiratory crud too. Today I'm finally feeling like a part of the living world again! That whole line about moms never getting sick is bunk!

If you haven't heard about Heartsy yet, it's time to crawl out from under your rock and check it out. It's a Groupon-like deal for Etsy shop owners. And until Groupon starts offering me $14 for $35 worth of groceries at my local grocery store, Heartsy is much, much more addictive. If you don't have an Etsy shop, but appreciate awesome deals from handmade artists, Heartsy is your dream come true! If you have an Etsy shop, arranging for a Heartsy deal may get you more money in one day than you can make in a couple weeks. At least it did for me.

While I was waiting to set the date for my Heartsy deal, I purchased two deals from other Etsy artists. Not only did I fall in love with the shops featured and just couldn't help myself, I also wanted to see how Heartsy would look to my potential customers. My deals codes were emailed to me right away and I was free to shop immediately. I made my purchases the same day I bought the deals and both times I spent over the allotted store credit. Not by much in either case, but enough to potentially cover the shipping. I haven't received my purchases yet. Considering the amount of traffic I received in one day, I'm very willing to be patient for my order!

When you apply to Heartsy, make sure you submit your best product photography. You have to have at least 30 'Yes, Definitely' votes to be considered. I know it's tempting to get all your friends to vote for you, but try getting votes without lobbying. Don't you want to know if people outside of your circle thinks your stuff is as amazing as you do? Once you get 30+ votes, someone from  Heartsy will shoot you an email with a proposed deal. You do have some room to negotiate the deal, but trust me, you really don't need to. Some deals are limited and some deals are unlimited within a certain time frame. I was concerned that I'd end up losing money on individual orders and that absolutely did not happen.

I'm not sure how Heartsy decides what deal is right for you or what day of the week will work best. It probably has something to do with how many votes you get, how established your store is and maybe even just a 'gut' feel about what you sell. My deal was $14 for $32 worth of store credit. It ran on Tuesday March 8th for 10 hours (maybe 12, not sure, it was kind of a blur!). I sold 59 deals that day. Just let me do that math for you, 59 deals times $14 is $826. Let that sink in. How many handmade artists, especially ones that completely run their business by themselves, make $826 in one day. BTW, Heartsy paid me promptly that same day via Paypal. Cha-ching!

So far, only 41 people have claimed their deals, so my next stats are really based on 41 deals not 59. Out of the 41 claimed so far, 8 of them purchased either the exact amount of the store credit or slightly less - so 16%. Meaning that 84% of the rest of the deals were over the $32 store credit. Of the 33 remaining deals claimed, 5 of them were significantly over the store credit. I considered an additional purchase of $10 or more as significant. So 12%. The balance were over the $32 store credit and ranged from cents up to $10. I considered this amount to cover the shipping/packaging costs.

On the surface, $14 for $32 (57% savings) is not a great profit margin, for me anyway. I don't have my products marked up much more than 57%. But this is definitely a case where the volume made up the difference. No other time would I sell over $1K in product much less $2K which is the approximate retail value of what I sold. Plus, I've lost count of how many of the customers told me they found my store via Heartsy and they'd be back for presents, Christmas, etc. It's essentially like I was paid to advertise my shop. when you look at that way, it's so worth whatever deal Heartsy proposes for your store.

And to be honest, I think I could have sold more. Halfway through the day, I had to take A for a Dr's appointment. I left the house just as the deal was started. By the time I got out of the appointment, I checked my emails on my phone and I was FLOORED. I couldn't believe how much had sold. While I was waiting for prescriptions to be filled, I was renewing items like crazy. Which is hard to do on a phone with a sick and cranky little boy in tow. I certainly hadn't anticipated being gone on the day the deal was offered, and I think this didn't help me. It prevented me from utilizing any social media to help further market myself. By the time I got home and settled, I set my first task as finishing to renew items and address customers who wanted custom listings and had questions. By the time I finished this, it was late into the deal and I felt like I was scrambling to try and promote the deal any further. This isn't anyone's fault, of course. Who can predict having a sick child? But if possible, I recommend staying glued to the computer for the day.

Overall, when you include all the extras that customers bought, I made over $1000 in one day. The week my shop was featured in Hong Kong's U Magazine, I made a little over $1000 in that one week. I can also clear close to this in one week during October-December, but I've never come close to making anything like this in one day. This is absolutely unreal to me!

Right now Heartsy is free. Eventually, they will start charging a fee for every deal sold. But if I make anything close to that, I'd pay a reasonable fee in a heartbeat.  Overall, everyone I dealt with was more than kind. They were easy to deal with and they were excited for me when my deals started selling. All questions/concerns were answered promptly. It was an absolutely awesome experience. The only thing I would change is the lead time for knowing the deal. We discussed the deal back and forth for a few days. I knew on Sunday that the deal would happen for sure on Tuesday. It would have been nice to have closer to a weeks notice. We happened to be in San Antonio for the weekend, so we came home a day early so I could have Monday to list as much stuff as I could that I had finished. Believe me, I'm not complaining. But it would have been nice to have more lead time. I think Heartsy will be able to better schedule as it gets more underway and more people applying to host deals.

I don't know if Heartsy has a list of 'Potential Repeat Sellers' list, but if they do, I hope I'm on it. It's such a genius idea!!

Business Tip #4 - Copyright Infringement, Part 1

Copyright Infringement runs rampant ESPECIALLY in a world where having an online-only business is fast becoming the norm. It's not only difficult to protect yourself from violators, but it's hard to even catch them in the first place! One distinction that needs to be made is the difference between Copyright Infringement and Copycats. Both are morally and ethically abhorrent, but only one is punishable by law.

Per the http://copyright.gov website, the definition of Copyright is:

a form of protection grounded in the U.S. Constitution and granted by law for original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression. Copyright covers both published and unpublished works. 

Kind of vague, isn't it? To a certain extent, that's on purpose because there needs to be room for interpretation on a case by case basis. But I felt as though I really didn't understand it so I actually called a lawyer to ask for clarification. Here's what it boils down to, anything that you authored is protected under copyright law. But the term authored makes you think this applies only to written works. Not the case! Here's the definition of authored:

1.  a person who writes a novel, poem, essay, etc.; the composer of a literary work, as distinguished from a compiler, translator, editor, or copyist.

2.  the literary production or productions of a writer: to find a passage in an author.

3. the maker of anything; creator; originator: the author of a new tax plan.

4. Computers . the writer of a software program, esp. a hypertext or multimedia application.

–verb (used with object)

5. to write; be the author of: He authored a history of the Civil War.

6. to originate; create a design for: She authored a new system for teaching chemistry.

 

So actually, it's not as vague as you might think, is it? Definition numbers 3 and 6 make it pretty clear that original forms of art are protected under copyright law. The part that gets me the most, is 'the originator' i.e. author of a new tax plan.' What is a tax plan if not an idea? So shouldn't copyright protect original ideas?

 

Well, no, unfortunately, copyright laws do not protect ideas. What is meant by 'the author of a new tax plan' is that a person thought up a brilliant idea, wrote it down and most likely, presented it. So the idea was protected by copyright because it was written down in a tangible medium of expression. It can easily be documented that so and so had this idea on this date.  So the idea is protected. The only other way to protect an idea is a Patent. Patents are in place to protect ideas more notably thought of as inventions and usually apply to new inventions or drastic improvements to old ideas. (Like a Dyson Vacuum cleaner versus your run of the mill Hoover.)

 

Bringing it down to a more personal level, is the fact that I had the brilliant idea to insert pretty paper into vinyl passport covers or coat the paper in a laminating machine and sew the pieces together protectable by Copyright Law? Um, no. I sincerely wish it was, but that doesn't make it so. Not unless I could prove that every single passport cover I sell is a mini work of art or altered art. That would be very hard to prove. It was a business idea I had. I have often wondered if I'd written down my idea and mailed it to myself (the poor man's Copyright protection) could I make a case that all others who copied me were in violation of that copyright? That's a good question that I didn't ask my lawyer. Since I didn't do that, I didn't bother to ask. 

 

I'd also like to point out, that if (and when, because it's coming loyal fans) I create my very own artwork and make it available as a passport cover, that WILL be protected under Copyright Law. Not because I had an idea to make the passport cover, but because the cover is made from my original work of art. It's a really fine line, but I hope I'm making the difference obvious (as possible, anyway).  It also probably goes without saying that my logos, pictures, and written descriptions are all protected under Copyright Law (because those are all tangible mediums of expression).

 

Copyright DOES however, protect your ideas if you have it documented as a pattern. So taking 2 already existing items (paper and vinyl) and putting them together was an idea (not protectable). But taking fabric, linen, a concept (idea) of a travel document holder and designing my own new pattern to make said Travel Wallet, is most definitely protected by Copyright Law. The pattern is my own original design and before I listed anything, I did make sure to protect myself by documenting my pattern. So, no one had permission to make my Travel Wallet unless I decide to offer the pattern for sale. And if I offer the pattern for sale, I have the right to dictate the means of use for that pattern. Meaning I can require, by law, that the pattern be used for personal use only and products cannot be sold using my pattern. 

 

Guess who one of the biggest makers of new, cool patterns is that has expressly written on her patterns they are for personal use only and items made from the pattern are not to be resold? Amy Butler.  For those of you who didn't already know that, would you have guessed that interesting tidbit? I wouldn't have. In fact, a few of the first diaper bags I sold in my first shop Tattered Tapestry were from an Amy Butler design. One day while cutting out a pattern while working at my Church's Mother's Day Out (babies were sleeping, don't worry) I just happen to read that fine print. When I got home I noticed it was on all the patterns of hers that I owned. Once I realized that, I stopped making her bags to sell. Which was frustrating considering how much I'd spent on those patterns for that express purpose - to resell!! Most fabric/paper designers have Angel Policies. Angel Polices basically mean, they allow you to use their fabric/paper to make a product and sell it. But you are not allowed to associate your product with their name. So all those Etsy listings you see that say 'Diaper Bag in Amy Butler Fabric' are technically in violation of the Angel Policy. They are using her name without permission to market their products. Like I said, fine line!!

 

Ok, so in regards to the very obvious shops on Etsy who are attempting to copy not only my ideas but also my business model, are they in Copyright Violation? No. It would be hard to make a case of it. And believe me, I have certainly contacted my lawyer about it on more than occasion. Iit's heartbreaking and aggravating to say the least. It's also unethical. 

 

A fellow Etsian told me to think of it in terms of jeans - you know, blue jeans. One of the first manufacturers I think of in regards to jeans is Levis (ok, so the first is Seven, but only because they are my favorite). Levis may have been one of the first on the scene to take tough, durable denim, 5 buttons and make those super sexy button fly jeans. It didn't take long before they were copied. And copied, and copied again. Maybe the pattern was slightly different from each copycat, but the concept, the IDEA, was/is copied repeatedly. There are jeans manufacturers that try their hardest to undercut the prices of a good pair of Levis (the Walmart brand, Rustler for example).  Do they take sales away from Levis? Of course, or the copycat wouldn't be in business.

This is the difference between Copyright Infringement and nasty ol' Copycats. One person can have a brilliant idea and then someone else comes along and thinks, "Wow, I want a little piece of that action" and goes to the trouble of finding out how you do what you do so they can do it too. The only course of action you really have is to be better than them. (Levis are better than Rustlers, in my opinion anyway). But it doesn't make it any less devastating for someone to ride the coattails of your brilliance.  And it makes it so much worse when they make a point to say they have been selling them for years at craft shows, etc. Maybe it's true, but it's not really likely is it? And what is their other course of action? To say, 'Man, OSD has such cool stuff and I'm devoid of any original thought of my own, so I think I'll do what she's doing so I can have a little piece of that pie." Also not likely.

 

It's obvious that I have a small handful of people who admire my business model so much they have decided to copy it (as best they can). The truth is, I've also been accused of being a Copycat. Unjustly so, but accused just the same. So my opinion on Copycats might surprise you. But since this post is already so long, I'll save my personal stories and opinions for part 2!

Fabric Travel Clutch Review

I'm so excited to share an independent review of an OSD Fabric Travel Clutch! I contacted The Lost Girls World several months ago about advertising on their website. The website is addicting, by the way. Tons of awesome travel articles that had me adding Places to Go and Must Sees to my Long Term 'To Do' List!

So the ladies I've worked with, The Lost Girls, could not have been any kinder or more professional. And you can't help but wonder if you'll even be given the time of day when you contact someone with such a successful website while they were in the midst of promoting their book as was the case when I first contacted them. But all were very down to earth and nice which put me at ease enough to ask if they did product reviews.

As a rule, I do not send any of my products out for review. Namely because if I receive something for free, I sort of feel obligated to give it a good review even if I'm not that crazy about it. The second reason I never send anything out for review, is because it's not reviewed at all! I'd like to say this hasn't happened to me, but it has. Earlier this year, I sent out a travel clutch for review on a popular blog and not only was it not reviewed, but I never heard from her again. As in, she continues to post on her website (popular blog, lots of followers) but does not answer my emails. If your dog eats my travel clutch, just tell me. Really, I'm pretty nice. I'll understand. JUST ANSWER MY EMAILS because I put a lot of time and effort into that little bit of chew toy and I'd like for you to acknowledge that I haven't fallen off the face of the earth! Alright, so now that that's off my chest...

So Jen from LGW, let me know that Cailin O'Neil would be reviewing my Travel Clutch. What was so exciting about Cailin reviewing my clutch is that she travels and this is, well, a Travel Clutch. What I've been searching for is an independent, field-tested review of my travel clutch. I mean, I think it's great and functional. My friends and family think it's great and functional. But what does someone who doesn't have me on their Christmas List think about it?

See for yourself by going here to read her review.

Fun fact concerning this review: Cailin's background is in Film & TV Industry. Apparently, my Travel Clutch (and Cailin of course) visited the set of Sarah Polley's new film Take This Waltz. I'm not saying that Ms. Polley or any other famous person coveted my Travel Clutch. I'm just saying it's possible. Right?

Ponytail Holders - Limited Time Only

Sometimes I can't help myself. When I was buying magnet parts for my Button Machine a few weeks ago to  make samples for The Little Black Box, I came across a new way to use my Button Machine - to make Ponytail Holders.  

So, right or wrong, most of my day is spent with my hair in a ponytail. This goes for pre-momhood too, by the way. It's just my thing. If you'd like to sign me up for What Not to Wear so I can get a free $5000 new wardrobe because I'm addicted to the ponytail, please feel free. $5K can buy some really snazzy ponytail holders and hair clips!!

I'm thinking these will just be a limited edition in my shop. They are a  really cute idea, but I only purchased about 25 or so to make. I can, of course, purchase more if they start flying off the shelf. For now, I have a few listed and as usual in my shop, you can have one made from any fabric or paper you see listed.

Business Tip #1 - Start out Debt Free

Have you ever seen an episode of Shark Tank? It's a show where budding entrepreneurs go before 4 established entrepreneurs, present their unique idea or invention and agree to give up part of the profits from said invention for monetary backing and help with marketing. One thing every contestant has in common is their confidence in their product. What gets me every time is how many of them have mortgaged their home (sometimes twice!) or racked up thousands of credit card debit or signature loans to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars on their idea.

Only to find out, it's not unique enough to market and/or they haven't thoroughly thought through their product idea or invention. It makes me sick to my stomach to know those people banked all that debt on striking it rich only to learn they won't be striking anything.

So my advice to you today, is learn from their mistakes. DO NOT rack up ANY debt to start your business. Success RARELY happens overnight. True entrepeneurs build on an idea. Over time, they refine it, learn from others, adapt to their environment or cliental and learn from their small mistakes. Most importantly, they start small. And so should you.

A man in debt is so far a slave.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Debt is the new slavery.
The effects of having business debt are no different from having personal debt. In fact, I think I could argue the side effects of business debt are more serious. Because you owe money to Discover, Capital One, Citi, Chase, or whomever, your time at work belongs to them. Your paycheck, at least partially, is theirs. Which means what? It means you don't have complete freedom.

The rich rule over the poor and the 

borrower is slave to the lender. Proverbs 22:7 (NIV)

Have you ever looked up the definition of slave? I mean, sure, we all know what it means. But sometimes looking up the textbook definition of a word, helps give us some clarity.

slave - a person who is the property of and wholly subject to another; a bond servant.

A bond servant is someone bound to work without wages. So if you owe somebody money, all the work you do until the debt is paid is theirs. Your money is not your own. You are a slave.

Debt, n. An ingenious substitute for the 

chain and whip of the slavedriver.
Ambrose Bierce

The good news is, if you're willing to abandon the "I want it now" philosophy, you can launch your business debt free.

How do I start?

1. Use what you have. 

If you're starting a business based on your hobby or interest,chances are you already have lots of supplies waiting to be put to good use. I certainly did. The amount of fabric and paper I had was ridiculous. So when I opened my first Etsy shop, Tattered Tapestry, I started it with material I already owned. It wasn't necessarily the most popular, but it was enough to get me started.

2.  Sell your junk.

a)This one is my personal favorite. It would have been more aptly titled, 'Sell your husband's junk' because that's exactly what I did. My husband says I'm a purger while I contend he's a hoarder. So we try to meet in the middle. Years ago, my husband told me if I could sell it on Ebay, I could get rid of it. That's all I needed to hear. I've been selling off and on Ebay since 1997. And if it wasn't nailed down, I listed it. I sold clothes, books, cookie jars, cake pans, car parts, movies, cds...if we hadn't used it in a year, I listed it. The more I sold, the more able I was to recognize what would be a good item to list, so I occasionally rummaged yard sales and thrift stores.  Ebay's fees have gotten way out of control so it's not as profitable there as it use to be.  But you have lot's of sites you can sell on for very low or reasonable fees. Here are just a few: Craigslist (great for large items like furniture): for handmade or vintage items - Etsy, Artfire, 1000Markets; for all else - OnlineAuction.com, Bluejay.com, and Overstock.com.

b) What do you sell? Anything you're not using or don't think you will use in the next year. Movies, CDs, Books, Old College Textbooks, Electronics (even older ones), Shoes, Clothes (especially jeans or other designer clothes), Kitchenware, Knick Knacks, Records (especially if you happen to have any old 78 RPMs), etc. A good way to see if your item will sell is to search both current and completed listings. And don't get too big for your britches. You're not going to make thousands doing this. But just as you can nickel and dime your way into debt, you can nickel and dime your way into wealth too. Just be diligent.

3. Do without.

One of my favorite quotes is from Dave Ramsey, whom I consider a living debt free guru and excellent financial advisor. He says, "Live like no one else today, so you can live like no one else tomorrow." Do you still want to be living in debt into your golden years? Who does?  So sacrifice now. Here are a few of the things we do or have done to save money:

• Take your lunch to work. If you spend $10 a day, that's $50 a week or $200 a month!!  
• Don't shop w/o a list or a purpose. Do you need black slacks for work? Look at thrift stores, or designer discount stores first before moving to big department stores - and even then, peruse the sale rack. If you do pay full price for them, only buy the pants!! Don't add on with a shirt, shoes and belt and leave the store with an outfit. 
• Cut the TV or satellite bill. Ouch, this one hurts. I put this one off for months! I kept telling my husband I needed to DVR my favorite shows!! Then he introduced me to websites where I could watch all those shows the very next day for free. Then he purchased a high powered antenna for $60 (less than half price) off Craigslist. And when I bought a laptop (all with business earned money) a few months ago, he set up our old PC next to the TV so we could easily watch anything online in our family room. Now I had no logical argument for keeping our satellite. There are lots of places to watch TV online, but I watch my favorite shows for FREE on Hulu, CastTV, Netflix (yep, we do pay the low fee for this), or on a specific station's website (like TNT).  Take that $70+ bucks a month and pocket it. You'll be glad you did.
• Use coupons. It's not my favorite thing to do, but when I ring up at the grocery store and see that I saved $10 on $100 groceries, it's so worth it. That's 10%. If you saw a $10 bill stuck in a shrub, you'd nab it right?
• Use cash. I know it's not always feasible. But if you give yourself a weekly budget for gas, groceries, etc and make yourself pay with cash, you'll be surprised at how frugal you'll become when you see the bills leave your wallet.

4.  Get a second job.

It's pretty easy to find a second part-time job. Deliver pizzas, work in retail, work in food service (really, are you too proud to flip burgers so you can realize your dream?), work in childcare, find a temp job...If you want it, you can find it. Because we live primarily only on one income, I absolutely had no extra money. Sometimes I was cutting money from the grocery budget to pay for an oil change or somebody's birthday present. So when the opportunity came to work at the Mother's Day Out program at our church, I took it. It was 2 days a week, but most weeks, I only worked 1 day. It was only about $50 a week, but it was enough to buy fabric, paper and other supplies to get me started and keep me rolling. And the best part was, I could take Aiden for free.

5.  Change your thinking.

This is, perhaps, the most import tidbit I could give you. Get out of your day to day rut. If you want to be somebody, if you want to have something that's all yours, it's all up to you. You have to be willing to make some changes.

I can't stress enough how important it is to start your business out debt free. It may take a few months longer to get it going. It will be harder and require more work from you. But in the end, it will be all yours. You will owe no one. All the profit will be just that - profit.  Now get busy.

His brow is wet with honest sweat,
He earns whate'er he can,
And looks the whole world in the face,
For he owes not any man.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The Village Blacksmith.

Next topic: Make your Business Legitimate 

Business Tips - Introduction

I've had an idea swimming in my head for a few weeks that I'm thinking about turning into blog posts. I initially was going to post an "What I learned in my First Year on Etsy" type post. I'd planned on doing this back in May to celebrate my 1 year anniversary of my Etsy Shop. But once I finished my rough draft, I realized it would be much more helpful to expound on the topics individually. And doing so may actually help someone else. At the very least, it will release the thoughts that are trapped in my brain and give my readers something else to read aside from Aiden stories (which are still my favorite).

So, what qualifies me for said tips? Well, I have a B.A. in English and a minor in Interdisciplinary Studies. My major means I wanted to be a famous novelist with million dollar book deals or fall back onto being an editor if the 'novelist' thing didn't work out. This may help explain why my blog posts are so long (and yes, I know they're long). My minor means I went to one private college and 4 community colleges before finally finishing up at TX A&M-Commerce and I had a lot of useless elective classes that TX A&M thankfully allows you to lump together into a minor. I think it's supposed to mean I'm well rounded. Which I am, my pants size says so.

I landed my first 'real' job in Jan of 2000 at AFC/Unifab Division. They have since consolidated to ACS/Unifab in MA. That was during the 2004 election (Bush/Kerry) and a strict conservative has no business moving into liberal territory any time of the year, much less election time. So I chose to be temporarily jobless. (And for my many liberal friends out there, don't freak out because I'm conservative-like it's a dirty word. No one would defend your right to be all-out-liberal like I would. So calm down.)

I started out as a Receptionist and ended up as the Production Scheduler. It was a small business, so your title didn't necessarily reflect all your job duties. Yes, I scheduled production, but I also had to keep track of time studies, know how every product was engineered & built, it's cost to make-both material and labor, margins, purchasing of materials, marketing, etc.  Basically, I had a front row seat to all the behind the scenes workings of a manufacturing company.

At the time I hated that job, but I do believe God always puts you somewhere for a purpose. I have since realized my almost 5 years there taught me invaluable lessons on how to run a business. The president of that company started it as an entrepreneur. He saw my potential and gave me responsibilities that have proved beneficial throughout my life. Most especially in starting/running my own business.

So, no, I'm not an expert. My plan is to share what works for me and what I've noticed works for others as well. I'm sure the topics will expand as I go along, but here's a preview of the first few topics:

• Starting out Debt Free (and why that's important)
• Knowing your costs - down to the penny
• Cohesiveness of Your Products
• Advertising
• Knowing when to say no
• Wholesale accounts  - Is it worth it?
• Do Social Networks (Facebook, Twitter, etc) work for everyone?
• Copyright Info - Don't worry, someone will copy your idea
• Time Management
• Not every idea you have will be a good one
• Not everyone will think you're amazing
• Why you should still have faith in yourself
• Don't forget where you came from

Business tips will start posting later this week :)

Extended Lead Times

Lately, I've been driving my family crazy with nonstop work. When you are a one woman show and your office/studio also happens to be your dining room, it's hard to separate work from, well, everything else. Which brings me to self imposed lead times.

When I first started making Travel Clutches, I had the lead time set as 3-4 business days. That was pretty rational so long as I only had a couple to make a week. As their popularity grew and business picked up, I had to change the lead time to 5-7 days. By this time, I'd stream lined my process and could do 6 or 8 in that time frame without really pushing it.

Popularity for the Travel Clutches, thankfully, continues to grow. And now I have added Portfolio clutches to the mix. I also have 2 new product patterns I'm working on and have NO intention of promising introduction dates for those items. Over the past 6 weeks, I've noticed that I'm working all the time. Mornings, nap times, late at night while everyone else sleeps and worst of all, weekends just to meet the 5-7 day lead time I have published.

I have a muted type A personality (meaning, I'm not a jerk) so I'm very goal oriented. My husband would say, overly goal oriented. If it's on my list of 'To Do's', it's getting done that day come hell or high water. I notice this is annoying in other people, so, you know, I'm working on it.

While I was freaking out over these lead times, my husband reminded me that it's my business, I can change it anytime I see fit. So, I am. I'm extending the lead time for a made to order Travel or Portfolio Clutch to 7-10 business days. I consider Monday - Friday as business days.

My husband is usually my voice of calm and reason but I tried very hard to ignore him this time around. It wasn't until I looked up the swim lesson schedule at our local YMCA that I realized I had to adopt the new policy now! I'd been promising to take A to swim lessons this summer. Summer is more than halfway over and I have only 2 more sessions available to take him. So, that's what I'm doing. Taking my baby to swim lessons.

Sometimes it helps to put things into perspective. Why did I open OSD? Yes, I had great, marketable idea , but primarily, my desire to have my own business was to help relieve the financial burden from my husband.  Tying for first place, was my desire to ensure, at all costs, I DID NOT have to go back to work and leave my child to be cared for by someone other than his parents.

I'm not knocking 2 income parents AT ALL. When my 12 weeks of maternity leave were up, I had to go back to work too. I worked until A was 7mths old. We didn't have a choice. I was very, VERY, lucky in that my mother-in-law or sister-in-law could watch A at my house during the week. I mean, really, how spoiled could I have been? But not a day went by when I did not cry and pray and beg for God to provide a way for me quit my job and stay at home with my baby. I'm not being melodramatic, I just knew God had placed that desire in my heart. Prior to getting pregnant with A, I would never have considered staying at home. I just assumed that I would go back to work. When I saw his little face the day his was born, I knew I'd never be happy anywhere but home with him.  I also knew that if God placed that desire in my heart, He'd be faithful in providing a way for me to stay at home. It's a long story, but He did provide a way. And then He provided me an idea to supplement our income. And then He blessed that idea and has continued to bless it in ways unimaginable to me when I first started this business.

I didn't mean to get on my soap box. But it really all boils down to, if God provided me a way to stay at home and nurture my family, but I have gotten caught up in the means of His providing and ignored my family, then what's the point? So I am going to take my munchkin to swim lessons, and watch TV with my husband after dinner, and play outside and help in the garden on Saturdays like I use to, and not rush everybody home from Church on Sundays so I can get orders completed. And I believe that God will continue to bless this business; this idea He gave me. I will be faithful to Him as He has been faithful to me. It's the least I can do.

Alright, soapbox time over. New lead time is 7-10 business days. It will probably be shorter. I can't help being an over achiever.


P.S. While typing this, I had the joy of watching a blond squirrel stare back at me through my dining room window while balancing on the fence. If I don't let myself think about the possibility of said squirrel getting in my attic and chewing through my electrical wires or taunting my basset hound to bark all night long, I can enjoy how cute she is.

Blog - Revamped

One of my goals this year was to expand my blog. Since we're about halfway through the year, I'd say I'm not doing so well. But, a goal is a goal, and so help me, I'm going to accomplish this goal! So I thought the best way to kick it off, was to say a big THANK YOU to Christy from Skinned Knees: and Other Childhood Misadventures  Take a second to check out her blog.  She also has an Etsy shop and I can't help but be compelled to help support a fellow SAHM.  She's actually hosting a giveaway for Owl Say in few weeks and she'd sent me a reminder email. So I hopped over to her blog and was very impressed by the banner and layout.

It just goes to show that all things happen for a reason and her email was perfect timing. Because I needed help...serious help.  See, I'd been working on my blog all week. No literally, all freakin' weak. I mean, there are only so many hours in the day I can actually work on the computer without completely ignoring my family, but I still spent an inordinate amount of time changing colors, background, layout, headers, fonts, looking for the perfect buttons (ridiculous how long I spent on this alone) and was absolutely not at all happy with my end result. I just couldn't put my finger on what I disliked, but I knew it wasn't right. So Christy offered to help.  She just couldn't have been any nicer and I'm so appreciative of her offering to help!

In just a few hours, I'd accomplished what I'd been striving for all week. She suggested I change the background to white and she made me the great Navigation bar as well as Ad buttons and a blog button. I still need to do some tweaking, but I figure I can fine tune things as I go.

So what can you expect in the next few weeks?  Actually, the next few weeks are going to be quite busy. We have fun July 4th plans, celebrating an aunt's 90th Birthday, a Superman themed 3rd birthday party (complete with a vintage Superman cake - I promise pics), the occasional movie review, redecorating a 3 yr old's bedroom, my 13th wedding anniversary, new product Giveaways with generous hosts and more!! 

My New Home

Ok, well, it's more like an new 'online' home. One of my goals for OSD this year was to create a new blog and, well, use it. I imported the posts from my old blog thetatteredtapestery.blogspot.com and deleted that blog. I had a hard enough time keeping up with that one, I certainly couldn't keep up with two!

I'm also planning on creating a Facebook fan page where I'll announce special weekend and holiday deals just for my Facebook fans. Everybody's doing it, so why shouldn't we right? And even though OSD has pretty low prices from the starting gate, I think people who love my store enough to actually sign up for my fan page and/or blog should get some pretty slammin' good deals. Especially during the holidays, don't you?

This blog may take on a few new looks. My sister-in-law (my, amazingly talented SIL, that is) is creating a new Etsy package for me. I've seen the sneak peek and I just about peed my pants with joy it's so cute!!! God has blessed that girl with some mad skills and I'm so glad she's putting them to good use! The logo above was her design, BTW. Anyway, I may change the banner and add my gadgets to the sidebars. We'll just see how it goes. That all depends on how much computer time I can get w/o interruptions from my delightful 2-1/2yr old.

One of the goals for this blog is to, hopefully, highlight some of the awesome sellers I feel are overlooked by Etsy. So, I'll be adding my favorites as time goes on. I know it's not exactly a new idea, but I wanted to contribute what I could to help others like me who have cute little shops that need all the attention they can get.

And, for anyone who is interested, I am clearing out all the large bookmarks, some small bookmarks, and a few Checkbook, Passport and Card Case patterns. I need to make room for some new designs and I hate for anything to go to waste! You can check those out here:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/owlsay?section_id=6173980