Snowed in

This, my friends, is the entrance to my office and studio. And, yeah, not going to be able to get in there until we shovel. And we can't do that because we have blisters from shoveling the driveway - snow plow never showed up. Very poor form on his part.

Another Etsy Treasury

I have to say, I am really happy about all the attention we've been getting lately. Heartfelt thanks for all those that featured us.

Here is the latest Treasury.

Creative Womens' Collective and us

Not sure if I ever mentioned my involvement with Creative Women's Collective, so here is a perfect opportunity. Some time last year, I signed up via Meetup to be a member of the CWC. It seemed like a good match, since the women in the group seemed like a serious bunch, and were in a similar stage in life to me. And they were conveniently located in Glen Ridge, 5 minute drive from my house.

My hunch was very good. I met some amazing people, learned so many new things, received great feedback on my product and direction... All in all, too many benefits to count. Why do I mention this now? Well, we had a very good meeting last night, and I just thought I share.

If you are an artisan and crafter in the area, join us.

Etsy Shop and the "heart" count

If you are not an Etsy user, here's a brief explanation: when a registered Etsy user marks your shop as one of his/hers favorites, you get a heart. It's sort of a popularity contest, and the more hearts you get, more your ratings go up, more the administrators notice you, more they write about you, and more people visit your shop, which hopefully results in increased sales.

So, as you can imagine, everyone is in pursuit of hearts. Except for us. Don't want to sound ostentatious, but we were kind of busy making and trying to sell our products these last few months, which makes this a really great achievement. Etsy is not our only sales platform, so the fact that people are finding us without much effort on our part is great.

Just wanted to thank everyone who gave us a "heart". We really appreciate it.

CT, here we come!

Just got our Sales and Use Tax Permit from the State of Connecticut. Thanks!

It took the longest of all, and we had to pay for it. Oh, well...

Now, we are ready to apply for the Connecticut shows. Look for us possibly in Hartford and Guilford.

The {NewNew} Etsy Team

Very happy to report that we have been invited and have accepted a membership at The {NewNew} Etsy Team, a group of independent handmade Etsy artists, designers, makers and crafters in the Metro New York area who are devoted to fostering a creative and supportive environment among its members.

To see more about, please visit the team website.

We did it, we did it!

We actually managed to set up the tent in this weather and lived to tell. And the kids helped, believe it or not. Well, for about 30 seconds, and then they decided to hop inside the playpen and play in there. And, honestly, that was the best, because we didn't have to worry about them running down the hill and into the street.

Here are some "behind the scenes" shots I thought you might appreciate. The neighbors were really freaked out with this blue thing sitting on our front lawn.



Because it was so windy, we used bungee cords and spring clamps to hold the curtains down. The 2 extra feet of fabric I was lamenting from the day they were made actually came it really handy, as I was able to pack the snow over it to keep the curtains from flying all over the place.



I am sure none of these techniques are unfamiliar to the craft fair veterans, but this is all new to me. And the muddy curtains... Oy, more laundry.

Almost a week...

Since I embarked on a mission to take a "booth shot" of my show tent. Yesterday we tried to do it inside the studio, but the ceiling was too low. And when we opened the tent, we realized the studio is not as large as we originally thought, either.

So, we are taking the whole production outside today, when the kids go to sleep, if they go to sleep. Oh, don't get me started on that one.

It should be interesting, well, with all the snow outside. [sigh]

Etsy Shop

I just spent two and a half hours updating the listings in the Etsy Shop. Listings that I thought were near perfect. Which goes to show you that nothing is as good as you think it is. This might sound too critical at first, but I really don't believe that. It helps to keep you from getting into a lull and also catch those pesky spelling errors that MS Word can't detect. For example, some of the listings were reading "springs of lavender", where there should be "sprigs of lavender." Happy Valentine's Day to me.

So, I am now scheduling these in my calendar, and instead of 6 months between readings, I think it's going to be more like 6 weeks.

As always, suggestions are welcome.

Safe Horizon Visit

Unfortunately, because of the weather, we never made it to Safe Horizon. The visit was canceled, which was just as well, because my husband was threatening to tie me to a chair if I mentioned I was going one more time. Sweet, didn't want me driving in all that snow.

But, now, I am home, with a very LARGE box of sugar cookies. Great! There goes the New Year resolution.

Sales Tax

In an effort to make us more appealing to the producers of craft shows, we've applied for the Certificates of Authority for all the neighboring states. I am happy to report that today we got our New York certificate. So, look out New York - we are on our way! And, sorry, now you have to pay tax on your purchases...

Wordless Wednesday: Valentine's Volunteering

So, one of the other Dreamers into Doers thought of an interesting idea: why would our Safe Horizon event be a one time thing? And the rest of us said: Indeed!

To that end, some of us are meeting tomorrow at an undisclosed location to deliver the Valentine's cards, flowers, wishes, and yummies. My kids and I started with making cards, but that didn't turn out too well. So, I decided to bake.



Above is the finished dough, getting ready to be refrigerated. Had to finish it by hand, as my antiquated electric mixer nearly blew out on me. Would it too anti-feminist if I asked my husband to get me one of those Cuisinart Stand Mixers that look like a spaceship, instead of a romantic dinner and whatever gift he planned to get me?



Since I didn't have the heart-shaped cookie cutter, I used the flower one, and just cut up the final products into hearts. Very easy.



Parchment paper is the best! I line everything these days. Just made a meatloaf for dinner and wrapped it in parchment before baking. Delicious!



And the finished product. My three sweethearts tell me they are excellent! Can't wait to deliver them tomorrow.

More acceptance letters arrived today

With the provision to send them an updated photo of what the booth will look like. Between the storms and pretend storms, I really didn't have the time or the energy to set up the tent. They've been nice and said I can set up the "shop" indoors. Hooray!

Now, in an effort to comply, I've managed to get the play pen in front of the office. Outside. Didn't really have time to actually walk it up the stairs to the office. Now I hear we're getting 8 inches overnight. Hope it doesn't get snowed in, since I really don't have any energy left to carry anything. If you'd known my kids, you'd understand...

The answers are starting to come in...

And I am happy to report that we have been accepted as a vendor at the Fall 2010 Woodstock-New Paltz Art & Crafts Fair. This is THE show north of Manhattan. Very excited!

Online Magazine Feature

Very happy to report that Woolly Boo was featured in the Spring 2010 issue of Modern Handmade Child. Check out the article on Getting Ready For Baby The Eco-Friendly Way.

Finally, the whole story

With the parents gone, surgery out of the way, kids virus-free, and baby sitter back from vacation, I finally have time to tell you all about the two day event at the Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.

It all started last summer, when I first signed up to be a part of the community called Dreamers into Doers on MarthaStewart.com. I was there to look up a recipe for dinner, when I saw the banner and decided to join. While there, I virtually met so many wonderful and inspirational women from the entire U.S., and ultimately from all over the World. It was so nice knowing there are so many "sister" souls out there.

A few months ago one of my "virtual" friends, Jolene of Quite the Stir, started a discussion about maybe trying to organize ourselves and meet in New York City to watch the Martha Stewart Show as studio audience. Then Rachel of Rachel Gaffney and Lisa of Polka Dot Pound Cake suggested to give us a cooking demo. Then Terri of Enchanted Makeovers suggested to coordinate that with the makeover of the Safe Horizon residence... Soon enough, we had an event on our calendars.

The story goes that Jolene contacted the amazing Dreamers into Doers editor Alexis Tirado and asked for a group show tickets. Thinking it would only be about 5-6, Alexis said yes. And then she asked. The answer was 40. This tidbit of information caused "quite the stir" (I had to do it, Jolene:)) at MSLO, and pretty soon the meetings were abound to organize an interesting itinerary. In the end, in addition to allowing us to use Martha Stewart kitchens for the demo, we had our luncheon at one of the studios.

On Tuesday, January 19, 2010, the day started at the MSLO offices. We then walked to the kitchens for the cooking demos with Rachel and Lisa. After that, we walked to the Studio A, where everything was set up for the amazing luncheon event. Finally, the food that Rachel and Lisa made during the demo came, and it was yummy!!! I LOVE butter, and Rachel uses a lot of it. And not just any butter. The real Irish butter. Awesome! And Lisa's pound cakes... Mmmmm...

On Wednesday, they split us into two groups, to make it a bit more manageable. My group first toured the MSLO offices with Hannah Milman, executive editorial director of crafts. What a great woman! More importantly, wherever we went at MSLO offices, everyone knew who we were. We even met and chatted with Gael Towey, creative chief officer, Lucinda Scala Quinn, editorial director of food and entertaining, and Fritz Karch, editorial director of collecting, and countless other staff members. Everyone was so welcoming and gracious, that this tour turned out to be the best part of the event. Well, at least for me.

After, we went to the TV Studios for the taping of the show. I was sitting in a first row next to a stunningly beautiful blond that camera crew just adored, so you'll be seeing a lot of the left side of my face. And, yes, it will air of February 19.

Besides needing to lose at least 30 pounds, let me know what you think :)