The end of the month is almost here. It’s so sad to count down the days that the kids walk the driveway from the bus trip home. They enjoy having that time to talk about their day and always come in the door giggling about something. We are excited about not having to take the bus & living closer to school. The hour that it took to get home will be well spent snacking & having extra cuddle time. It’s all so bittersweet. I’ll miss my morning coffee with the sun shining in on me from our big windows.
In the spirit of making every day count we decided in all the insanity we’d do one last wood firing. It’ll be a long time before we get the opportunity again. Mike has thrown some great pieces. Hopefully this firing will be just as good, or better than the last. I think I’ll post some video of this one. I’ll definitely get some of us unloading it.
Until then… We’ll be having a sale in the shop! Check it out, and don’t forget to use the coupon code! (check the shop banner for the current sale). We’re trying to get rid of stock & get enough money scraped together for an electric kiln that we can use to start our business again somewhere else. We thank everyone who has supported us so far! We appreciate it more than you know.
We’ve been laying low through the holidays. We’re still house hunting. I’m not sure we’ll be making any big decisions soon. We’re looking at a rental property for now. We are trying to re-establish our credit, which shouldn’t take too long as Mike has already completely cleaned up our credit reports. HOWEVER, it doesn’t seem as if we’ll have that accomplished in time to buy a home. So, rentals here we come. Again. We’re trying to make the best of it. But as it’s probably pretty apparent with my lack of posts I’ve become a tad depressed. I’m hoping once we’re settled in wherever we’re going to be I’ll get a little energy back. Until then I’ll be trying to post some more & keep my spirits up. I have a feeling in the end things will work out the best for everyone! 2012 may not be our year for our business, but our family is going to be very well taken care of and happy!
(Sorry no pictures this time… next time I promise!)
Mike and I have always had a dream to buy a house on enough property to build little cabins and start a little artists retreat. Something with a little of everything so people could go on a vacation and work on their art or craft.
When I started selling on Etsy we lived in townhouse apartments. We had very little space. All my craft supplies lived in a small Harry Potter closet (the coolest thing about the whole place) under the stairs. It was a nightmare to try to get in and out of with supplies. I had to set up on the kitchen table & clear it off as soon as I was interrupted. It wasn’t all horrible, but it’s much nicer to have a studio with a dedicated space.
We had a miracle drop in our laps. A coworker of Mike’s was moving to Spain and was willing to rent to us our dream house. A four bedroom, three bathroom house on 7 acres of land with a pottery studio all ready on site. The owner used to be a potter but had to quit after it bothered his back too much. The plan was to build the pottery back up, pay down our debts, and buy the house. We were being very optimistic. Very.
Mike was happy to have a studio again. It had been years since he was able work on his pottery. We had a small studio back in NY. Here we have a nice big studio with two wheels, a wood kiln, a small electric kiln, and we’ve built a gas kiln. With Mike working full time, and having three girls to look after it’s been challenging to get the studio time we need to produce efficiently.
I’ve learned so much in the past two years. I’ve gotten better at photographing our work. Mike and I are getting better at working together well. We have started to branch out doing craft shows. We are finally getting a good following and some great products. We are selling at a gallery and doing very well.
Unfortunately it’s not enough to have great product. I know we still have a long long way to go. We need to polish our image, story, and get the word out there on blogs and articles.
Here comes the really depressing part… the owners are visiting this October to clean out the rest of their things to sell the house. We didn’t anticipate how much extra costs would be. We are paying a lot more for heating, paying for snow plowing to get out of our driveway in the winter, and just general upkeep. Every time we think we’re having a good month something unexpected comes up. There is no way we could ever afford it realistically. We have already cut every possible corner.
We aren’t going to give up. We are going to look for a home that’s more affordable with space to (hopefully) build up the pottery again. It will take time though. In the meantime we will continue to list what we have in stock & I’ll keep making and listing journals. Our dream is changing a bit, but we’ll never give up on it.
An extra special huge thank you to our customers who have made it possible for us to live our dream so far. We appreciate you more than you know!
Has anyone seen the Youtube video with the kids saying he’s “happy of myself”? If you haven’t here it is…
I used screw posts for the first time. Now we have pockets to put all our notes down in. We can add pages if we need. I’m thinking I might make more. What do you think? Photo albums? Is there a market for that anymore? With everything on memory cards I’m a little hesitant to delve into a new product.
After years of attempting a garden and failing I think we’ve finally got it! OK… Mike has been doing about 97% of the garden this year. Maybe that’s the key ;) And what a wonderful job he’s done at keeping the weeds down and making sure everything is watered and harvested. We have been getting lots and lots of cucumbers lately. We seriously over planted those. What to do? Make pickles!
I have made a bunch, probably enough to last my family until next season which I’m very happy about. Lucky pickles are easy to can because I am a complete newbie at canning. I used a premixed container for my dill. I think the next time around I’ll go track down the fresh dill, whether it’s in the garden or at the market.
I’m hoping our tomatoes redden up soon. I’m looking forward to round two with the canning equipment. Our kids aren’t huge fans of red sauces, but we love salsa if anyone wants to share their recipe. I would appreciate it sooo much! Is anyone else canning this year?
I think Mike and I have figured out a great way to create the Etsy pottery listings. I build the basics of the listing, and he finishes the description and tags! We seemed to get through a bunch in a little bit of time. I love the new chalkboard mugs we have!
I can say that it was much easier to list with a buddy :) I even listed some journals that I’ve had done for a long while but haven’t listed. Check out our shop and let us know what you think!
This table was sitting in the studio.
It was sad.
It was the junk table.
All our odds & ends that we didn’t have a place for ended up in a pile on the table in a dark corner. I felt sorry for it because a table with such beautiful architecture should not be hidden away! I manuvered it out of the studio & sanded. And sanded some more. And sanded again. It had a ton of nasty water marks & dings. It took quite a while, but I think every second of me melting away in the hot garage covered in dust was worth it!
I primed the legs & bottom with a primer, then sprayed it with a glossy white. The top is stained with a danish oil. The grain is gorgeous! I’m so happy that it turned out this well! I will probably be moving it in as a bedside table as soon as I get the ambition to rearrange the master bedroom. It should look gorgeous in that space.
I’d like to find a desk to re-vamp. Maybe a trip to a few antique places around here… that’s a good excuse to go antiquing right? ;)
I wanted to wait a few weeks before posting this to try it out. Scoutie Girl posted this Eco-Friendly Laundry & Dish Detergent post and I oohed & ahhed over the simplicity & eco benefits. I was pretty skeptical that a DIY detergent would be up to par with what I buy at the store. Oh, how wrong was I?!
I absolutely love this stuff! I’ll cut right to the chase, the high points…
1. I love that it is unscented. I don’t know what it is about smelling all those detergents in the store that say they smell like a rain-forest or whatever, I don’t want to smell like that. If I want to smell I’ll put on perfume or some essential oils.
2. Since we’ve moved into the farm I have become a little more conscious about what we put into our water. We are surrounded by farm land & we drink well water (filtered). When you really think about it, you become a bit more aware of what you are doing to your environment.
3. Grating soap is just darn fun! No… really! It only takes a few minutes to throw this detergent together. The soap is the best part, it curls into little cute curly q’s. Yes, I am that easily amused!
4. The ingredients are CHEAP! I mean that in the nicest way!!! Who doesn’t love to save money? Cause then we can spend it on other pretty things ;)
1 bar of plain soap (no scented, dyed or antibacterial soap!)
1 cup borax
1 cup washing soda
I use about 2 TBS per load in my HE washer, you may want to adjust your amount.
I hope you try it out & have the same luck I’ve had! Every person is different, maybe you’ll find the perfect scent to add to your soap that makes it completely heavenly for you! Have fun!!!
Do you have any neat household DIY ideas? Share with us in the comments below!!!
Happy 4th to all our wonderful troops & their families!!!
Photo Cred: William McNeill
My Uncle Randy, his wife Ginny, and the boys James & Joesph. We love you guys!
If any of you have followed my blog, you know that Jen is one of my besties… she contacted my through Etsy & asked if I’d like to meet sometime and chat Etsy stuff. After chatting online a bit we discovered that we lived literally down the road from each other! She is probably the one responsible for the upcoming posts about fixing up some old ruined pieces of furniture we’ve had hiding around here. In the two years we’ve known each other our lives have changed a little. She’s changed her Etsy shop a bit and doing well at Jenna’s Attic. Jen has gotten married & moved a bit further away, but we still remain close.
I have another friend story… these friends moved from out west all the way to Sheboygan! They are a pretty amazing family. They not only are successful Etsy sellers, they are top in their category. Before I introduce them to my readers I’d just like to say that it is amazing being around that much creative energy! I really hope it’s contagious! Kimber, Nick, Rex, and Daphne have become regular visitors at our little slice of heaven during their move. They don’t seem to mind us too much, and I have a feeling we’ll be graced with their presence hopefully for quite a while! They run Little Sapling Toys, the top sellers of toys on Etsy. It is quite a thing to meet people that have actually “done it”. You know what I mean… they are living the dream. They quit their day jobs & are making their business work while raising a family.
It kind of gives us renewed energy to work harder, and especially smarter about our business. We don’t just want to make our dreams work, we want our children to know that they can follow whatever path makes them happy and be successful… as long as they work for it.
These friends we made because of what we do. What we want to accomplish. We all have that one thing in common, the want to make our own way for ourselves. The fact that an online community can bring people together and give them hope and energy is amazing to me.
Who inspires you?
