Sold, Sold!!!!!

I sold two boards last week, one was my democrat board and one is my Orange Amy Butler Board. It was a great surprise. I enjoy making them but it seems the things I like are not the best to sell. I thought my democrat and republican boards would sell a lot faster but no!!! I find a fabric I like and think it will make a cute board and sell fast but it just doesn't work like that. My dnl gives me her ideas she seems to have a better idea of what might sell.

Update!

I changed my blog Layout and added a few things, what do you think? I am not a computer geek so I have to do everything by trial and error. I am still not sure I got it right but it is a start. Cupkake helps me a lot. She has spent a lot of time on the computer and has learned a lot about setting up blogs, etc. I found a way to put my YouTube on here so I am learning.
Well Halloween is here. Happy Halloween everyone!!!

Lost my Post!

I posted yesterday and it is not here. Probably a good thing because I was griping about customers, retail, etc. Today I am over being angry and just ready to start a new day. I had posted a board that I like so it is gone also. This week is almost over and Sunday I am going to look for a new place to live, in a new town, it will be a new start. Here is my board I posted yesterday.

I Love Saturday!

I just wish I could be off today. I rarely get a Sat off but today would be nice. Working retail means that I have to work Sat but thank goodness our company closes for Sunday. We are making some changes in our store which is causing an uproar but will be fine when we are through. We are getting our own delivery truck and the warehouse guys will be doing deliveries 3 days a week. Plus working in the office and the sales floor. We are putting everyone to work selling, doing office work, warehouse, etc. It causes some difficulty, one employee thinks he should get to pick what he wants to do and he and I have had to butt heads about it. Guess who will win! Have a good Sat and enjoy the nice weather.

Good Morning!

Woke up this morning to peace and quiet. It is such a difference with the grandkids gone, I miss them. I miss the I love yous, and the goodmorning nana, gighaw. But I am also enjoying the quiet. It is getting cooler now at night. I still run the ac for my husband but I get an extra blanket for me. I really hate to see winter come. I love the fall when the weather is not as hot as it has been but it passes so fast. Then the cold chilly weather is upon us and everyday is cold. Also I am being transfered to Marshall, and I have got to start packing and finding a place to live. I think I picked the wrong time to accept a transfer, we shall see. Marshall will put me in an area close to all my kids. But Michaels, Hobby Lobby, and Hancocks will be further away so I will probably save money!

New Board, Tell Me What You Think!!!!!!

This is a jewelry display board from Cupkakeartillery and my Memory Board. We used the same fabric to coordinate the boards.

What do you think? It is Turquoise and Chocolate Fabric from the project runway line. I love it but then I am a fabric junkie I love all the fabric I work with.

Whats Cooking?

Free at last!! My son, dnl & 3 grandkids moved to their own house. I lov em but it is time. The house is so quiet but it is a nice quiet. So we had leftovers and just enjoyed the computer and tv. Also today my store inventory was super! I was so excited to have done so well! My supervisor said it was the best inventory he had from all his stores. I am so pumped. I will be posting a new board tomorrow.

Monday, Monday

It is a cool Monday, it is suppose to warm up today. I love fall, not too crazy about winter tho. I am going to make two new boards today if possible. I kept the grandkids yesterday while my son and dnl moved and didn't get too much done. I enjoy them but they are a handful. I was ready for mom and dad to come home so I could watch some tv and relax. I will post the new boards I am making as soon as I finish them.

I wanna know!

Did ya ever see the rain? It rained all the way to Shreveport. I usually don't mind the rain but I don't really like to drive in it especially when I have to drive some of the smaller roads.. People are crazy! They either drive so fast they try to run you down or they drive so slow that 55 mph would be a great speed to be at. You can't pass them because of the traffic, you just have to turn the music up and roll with the flow. There is about 30 miles of road like that that I had to drive on from ARK to Shreveport and at 7 am there are school buses, trucks, people trying to get to work and then there is "Drive Slow Joe" taking his time, he has all day, 45 mph is a good speed for him in the rain. I made it to my meeting with 5 min to spare. But had to get my blood pressure under control before I could enter the building. Therefore no crafting for me yesterday!

Meeting in Shreveport

Gotta go to Shreveport for a meeting, I would rather be crafting! Last night I made a board for Cupkakeartillery and I must say I love it. As soon as she gets pics of it, I am going to post it on my blog. She sold her first jewelry board! I think they look great with her pez earrings. We spent yesterday at Michael's and Hobby Lobby, then went home after picking up the boys from school. We watched a movie then I spent a long time on the computer. I should have been sewing! I have Halloween pants for the boys to make and a little pants and shirt for the granddaughter to make. Like I said before I have a fabric and button addiction! I shopped at Hancocks for Halloween fabric, bought several yards then went Walmart for more Halloween fabric. I make candy bags for my kids and grandkids and friends for Halloween. It has become a tradition of sorts. They expect it!

A Trip to Etsy.Com today

I spend far too much time on Etsy. com but I just can't help myself. There are so many talented crafters out there. Take Beadedartillery's earrings on the right. Or Cupkakeartillery's on the left. These and much more can be found on Etsy. Check out these and Kayskrafts and Kaysbaby on etsy.com. The crafters on etsy spend much time putting together their crafts, pricing it to sell, and their imagination is outstanding. So many things that they can think of to sell. Check them out and tell them I sent ya!

New Item Previews!

Here are a few items that you might find interesting, Beadartillery has some really nice jewelry that is not too expensive. She likes to try new things and works with different colored beads. I think you will find her etsy store to be filled with some nice things. Take a look.

Cupkakeartillery has really come up with some cute things and her jewelry displays are great!

Check it out!

Cupkakeartillery has been selling these like hotcakes. They are so cute and now she had the perfect board to keep your jewelry on. The Pez earrings come in many colors and the boards come in different sizes and fabrics. She can fix you up. The boards are made with canvas to hold several earrings and hooks can be added to hang your necklaces. She is quite talented. Check it out!

They are so cute!

Who are you voting for?

I made two boards, one is a republican board the other is a democrat board. I check the views on etsy and my republican board is ahead of the democrat board not by much but enough. It has continued to stay ahead of the democrat board since I posted them on etsy. What do you think? They haven't sold but I get plenty of views so someone is looking. I just thought that was interesting. It is kind of my own poll. Anyway here they are.

I think I am addicted!

I left to go to the grocery store and thought I would go by Michael's Craft Store, just to see what kind of sale they were having. Well, that meant I found something to buy. I can't pass Michael's by without going in to see what they have. I know what they have but there may be something I just can't live without. I can't wait to get the Sunday paper so I can check out for the Michael's coupon. It is bad. And the worst is I love to look at their buttons. I am a buttonholic! I go straight to the button isle first before I go to the rest of the store. I look through the button pkgs just to see if there is a button I might need for my boards. It is bad! My next sin is fabric! Thank goodness Walmart is giving up their fabric because I can give my grocery business to someone else. I always hit the fabric dept and get something. Now I don't have to go there unless I really need something I can't get elsewhere.

The Weekend is here!

Finally the weekend is here and I get a day off from work. We had a pretty good day at the store but it is still slow. Can't wait to get through this year so that the elections will be behind us and we can get on with life. I want to show you something from Kaysbaby.

There are several baby things that you might find of interest.

I got some new fabric for memory boards so I am going to create some new boards this weekend! Come check it out!

Savanna's Last Day!

Savanna works for me and yesterday was her last day. It was sad to see her go but it is a great for her. She is 8 1/2 mons pregnant and wants to spend her last few weeks before the baby is born to get the nursery ready. We had a baby shower for her and Rodney's wife made the cutest cake. I wish I had a pic to show you. Rodney is a salesman at my store. Savanna took it home, she cut around the edges and saved the middle for her husband to see.

Other than that it was an uneventful day.

Look at what Cupkakeartillery has made, it is so cute!

School Days!!!!

My 4 yr old grandson, Cannon, got in trouble at PreK today and his twin brother, Colt, came home and sd "Gegaw, he was a bad boy!" What is wrong with this picture? They have been staying at home, playing, enjoying childhood, then they go to school and wham! Everyday one or the other is in trouble. They just don't get the school thing. I laugh because I think this is such a new thing for them, they just don't have a clue that this is the begining of 14 yrs of school. I wonder if everyday will be like this.

What is your favorite color?

Everytime I find a fabric that I am not so sure about, if I make a board out of it, it grows on me. I make boards all the time out of fabric I really like and they don't seem to sell as well, but let me make one out of a fabric that I am not so sure about and it gets lots of attention. Take the board below, I just wasn't sure about it and I have even gotten comments about it. Orange is not one of my favorite colors but it works with this board. I am not sure if it is because it is Amy Butler fabric or if it is the color. My favorite color is green, I like teals as well. What is yours? What color would you like to see a board made of?

New Item Previews!

Tell me what you think. My dnl said Memory boards made with Amy Butler Fabric will sell!! She said Amy Butler Fabric is Hot! So I need to know what you think! I made this 16" X 20" memory board with Orange Blue Floral Fabric by Amy Butler. Would you buy it? Should I make more?

Time Out!

I finally used a fabric that I liked to make a board but I am not sure it will get the views that I had hoped. It is red fans on white fabric and I have had it a while just didn't know how I wanted to use it. Finally I took the plunge and did it. What do you think?

Goodbye Gustave!

It has been so dreary since you hit Louisana, we have had so much rain and today it is blah! We are glad to see you leave. You weren't a very nice guest. I have been working on a baby quilt for my daughter's friend's new baby girl. I backed it with fleece which I never knew could make such a nice quilt. With the weather like it is I haven't wanted to work on any new projects.
We had lots of evacuees come to Texarkana, I really feel sorry for them. At least this time was better for them than when Katrina hit. Anyway it is good to see Gustave go! Good Luck to the people of Louisana now that he is gone.

Hump Day!!!

Wednesday!! maybe it doesn't mean much to most but I am in retail and this is my day off ! I am loving it! This month has been so slow, I guess with school starting parents are just trying to get the kids settled in school. I know I went shopping this morning and it was so quiet, it was unusual. I am trying to come up with some new board ideas, I just have been too busy to put something together. Here is one I have done:

What do you think?

Happy Hump Day Everyone!

Last Day of My Vacation

Can't believe this is it. I waited all year to take a week off from work and here I am, seeing the last day pass quickly by. Ugh!

Isn't this a cute idea! Cupkakeartillery created this set of earrings. They are so cute! Check out her other jewelry!

All I need is a cold beer!

I took a week's vacation from my job and have not been able to craft so I think I just want a cold beer and just relax for the rest of my vacation. I had planned on doing quite a bit of crafting and getting several quilts made for new babies, but instead I traveled across Texas to see my mom. Since I got back I have done a little but I have had other things to do, so I am going to sit back, drink a cold beer and plan my next week's vacation.

This is my newest memory board, it is a street scene with cafes, hotels and people walking down the street. The colors are dusty rose, pinks, greens, beiges.

What do you think about....

This is a set of burp cloths I have made for a co-worker. I have been using several different collage materials to make burp cloths for that die hard fan. I think these are really cute.

I got an email that another etsyian had used these on her store site but was shutdown. She had stole my pics and description. Her store was RockADoodle.

Tell me what you think.

Its too hot!!!

Hot much longer till we get some rain and cool this town off. It is over a hundred everyday, you walk out to the car during the day and you burn. My contacts just stick to my eyes. Customers come in complaining about the heat but are grateful to come in where it is cool, even for a few minutes. We brought a massage chair in to the store to sell and I set it up by the office. Everyone that comes in has to turn it on and sit for a 20 min massage. It is something else! We laugh with them when the the airbags tighten down on the legs and massage the feet and legs. It sometimes tightens so much they can't move and they start to laugh about how they trapped. I tell we use the shaking part to collect loose change that is in their pockets. It has been fun.
Maybe I will start to sell some boards as soon as it starts to cool down.

I don't really know how to blog!!

My dnl agrees it is like writing in a diary. I am finding it a bit easier but still not comfortable. Today is my day off and I am trying to write some on my blog. Grandma Betty gave me some good pointers for my boards and I plan to use them. She sd to take pics of my boards on the wall so it would show how they look hanging. I had just started hanging them on a fence so I could take a pic and think she is right about it. I enjoy making them. My daughter went to work at a call center and took one of my boards to hang in her cubicle. I had quite sales from that.
I am enjoying my day off.

A Quick Trip to West Texas!

I got a call from my step dad that he was in the hospital and I needed to come out so I could take care of my mom. This is not an easy trip because it is clear across the state of Texas from my house to her house. I had to make arrangements at work to get a couple of days off then we packed and took off. It took 8 plus hours and that was with a heavy foot and only gas stops. Well, he was home and doing fine so after a short 2 day visit we headed back. I was surprised to see how green it was in West Texas and all those windmills. Hundreds of Wind Power Turbines.
The traffic wasn't too bad and the weather stayed pretty good. Only it was hot!

I came back hoping I had some boards sold, but no luck. It has been slow. Anybody got any ideas that could help my sales? I am willing to listen.

I want to go back to sleep!

This week has been the worst, if I could go back to bed and sleep until this week has passed, I would. My daughter had a flat on her car, we had to buy her a new tire, she lost her keys in the process, which we never found. Then we paid to have a new key made, she left my house and was driving to her house and got hit by a woman with no insurance. Totalled her car! Talk about bad luck. We spent two days looking for her keys, had to loan her a car to get home on, then wham! We are just grateful that she wasn't hurt.
Maybe next week will be better. I hope so.

Have you sold anything becuse of Myspace?

I am trying new ways to sell my stuff and was wondering if anyone has had any luck getting sells from myspace or facebook or other forms? I have watched some sellers that have a myspace account some do well some don't so I am wondering what your thoughts are.
I haven't tried myspace. If you read this please let me know what you think?

What do you think about

This Memory Board? It is called Wedgewood Temptess, it is a fabric sample that I thought was really nice but hasn't gotten much attention. What do you think?

Just finished a new Memory Board

I wanted to do a cupcake type memory board, after seaching I found a cupcake fabric that I really liked and made the memory board. See what you think!

It is chocolate background fabric with cupcakes all over it, it looks yummy!

My sales are down!

I push every way I can but things are just so slow. I wish I could figure out what people want and I could produce it. I check my etsy and ebay every day but lots of people look at my stuff but just don't seem to be interested. Maybe I need to change to something people are interested in. It is great that I don't have to live on this alone, I would starve. Any suggestions? I have checked out other possiblities, other venues but everything seems to be stale. I guess the economy is hard for everyone.
Something lighter, gas prices have stayed the same, sales at the store are about the same. People seem about the same, they complain about the economy more than they complain about anything else.

My Trip to Etsy.Com today

Etsy has a lot of different venues including a forum for etsy people to express their opinions, or to talk about subjects or crafts or their shops. Today I logged on to see if there were any new things going on and stumbled on to a subject that in a matter of minutes exploded into pages and pages of comments. I have heard about these but have never been involved in one. It was crazy! Needless to say admin came in and locked it. The subject was not for etsy, it was one person's opinion about religion, the environment, etc. Everyday I find something new on Etsy. There are a lot of crafty people on Etsy.

Ice Cream, um!!!

I love ice cream, I have bought two (not 1) but 2 ice cream makers. The first one was the type you put in the freezer for 18 hrs and make ice cream. Well that was great the first time but it only makes 1 1/2 quarts. Not enough for this family. Then it was not really that easy. So I bought a 4 quart and that was enough icecream. I keep wanting the taste of icecream like my mom made when I was growing up. I tried making her Custard ice cream but it just wasn't as good as Bluebell.
Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream!!!! Um! that is the best.
I just need to keep trying. I might get right by September.

Birthday Party!

Came home to a house full of kids and grandkids and their friends! What a party! It is the twin grandboys 4th birthday and dnl decide to have a Ben10 party. The boys got all kinds of gifts but really liked the Ben10 watches best of all. I don't know who enjoyed it more, the boys or their father.
I would like to show the things that cupkake artillery has been putting together but she closed her shop for a while. She was devoting too much time to it I guess!
I am working on a Arkansas Razorback Quilt for my daughter's boyfriend's birthday. I will try to take a pic of it when I finish and put it on my blog.

This Month Sucks

Business is down, the economy is bad, gas is up to $4.00 a gallon. My boss thinks there is money out there I just need to find the customers that have money! I keep telling him people are watching their expenses and waiting to see what is going to happen. Even my shop at Etsy has been slow! I have talked to so many people that are trying to make it with soaring prices and they talk about how difficult it is. Sunday I drove down to see my son and the gas was $3.79 a gallon, 3 hours later on my way back home gas was $3.89 - $3.91 a gallon. It is crazy! I work retail so I see how it is effecting the people that shop with us. I listen to their problems, their complaints, their hardships. I likewise don't want to spend money until I know what is going on.
It is a crazy world right now!!!

I love my job but

I love my job in the furniture business but I really like crafting. I can't wait to come home and start a new project or work out the details of a project I want to do. I just finished a fleece blanket for my son and now I am putting together a Razerback quilt for my daughter's boyfriend's birthday in July. I have the fabric but have not quite decided how I want to do it. I have drawn up the blocks several times but just not sure how I want it to go. Such a small thing to worry about. It just has to feel right, then everything runs smoothly. I was looking at Cupkakeartillery's jewelry today and she has put together some new pieces. She has been working hard. Take a look at her new stuff.

I'm crazy

I have been opening stores all over the place so I can place my crafts everywhere. What is happening is I lose track of where I have been or where I am going. It is very time consuming but I hope it will be worth it. I want to show you CupKake Artillery's new item today, she is so talented. She comes up with some really unusual ideas.

This is really cute! Check her store out on cupcakeartillery.etsy.com.

Thursday night blues

I have been on Etsy looking at other member's shops and realize how talented these people are. They range from drawings to paintings, from all type of jewelry ideas to hairbows. My crafts seem very minor to theirs. I make quilts, mainly for family and friends. I tried to sell them on Etsy without much luck.
I enjoy making my boards because I take an idea I have and I build it. Most of the time I get good results. Sometimes not so good!
Anyway it is fun to see the ideas people come up with craftwise!

Another Day

Again I am posting new boards on my Etsy Store, Kayskrafts. I built a black & white board, it looks like spots on a cow, with black ribbon and white buttons. I think it looks great! Someone else may think it looks like a jersey cow hide with ribbon on it. I like to use novel fabrics to make boards. I get fabric samples from a local manufacturing company that make unique boards. I like to put buttons that make a very personal board.
Speaking of buttons, I am always looking for buttons. I buy bags of buttons from local crafting stores, take them home and sort them. I find lots of unique buttons that I probably won't be able to us but it is fun looking for ways to use them.