Flowers for My Anniversary

Pretty, no? That was taken at The Great Outdoors last summer. I felt like giving myself flowers because today is my one month blog-o-versary! I participate in the Monthly Goal Meetup on the Modish Biz Tips blog, and it's time for another check-in. In fact, the Goal Meetup was the impetus to getting this blog rolling exactly one month ago! It's a really neat idea aimed at connecting small biz owners to help hold each other accountable - a really important factor for those of us working from home. It's great to see what others are doing & give each other feedback & support. So here's how I did in April:

1) launch version 2.0 of snuggleherd.com
2) increase my Etsy shop listings to 50 items
3) finally start blogging! i have the name - craftymishmash.blogspot - but no content
4) add at least 2 more stores to my list of retailers
5) finish development/production of new monkey toy
6) develop some lower-priced items such as brooches & digital prints to diversify my line
7) post new pics to my Flickr groups

Well, 3 out of 7 ain't bad, right? The new & improved snuggleherd.com is up & I hope you'll check it out. I got blogging (obviously) & it's been really fun. I've been posting at least 4 times a week. Thanks to everyone who's been reading & cheering me on! And I'm this close to finishing the development & production of my monkeys - so close that I'm going to count it as an accomplished goal. ; ) Look for them to be featured here soon! I've done some work on goal #6, but still want to do a lot more. As for the other goals, well, not so much. I'll carry those over to April, plus add a few more:

1) increase my Etsy shop listings to 50 items
2) add at least 2 more stores to my list of retailers
3) develop some lower-priced items such as brooches & digital prints to diversify my line
4) post new pics to my Flickr groups
5) update my wholesale line sheet to include baby clothing line
6) design a coupon to include with orders to encourage repeat customers
7) research displays for boutiques (a better rack for my toys, to keep them more neatly arranged and a card rack for my stationery line)

I could go on and on, but I think I'll try to stick with 7 per month. That seems doable...

If you're participating, please leave a link to your blog post about your goals in the comments below. May you all have a productive & prosperous month!

Well, I've finally done it!

Yep, finally got the lead out and started this here blog, after thinking about it for months and months. Funny enough, yesterday morning as I was thinking about what my first post should be, I came across this post on Modish Biz Tips. Modish has been one of my favorite blogs about handmade stuff for a while, and now there's even more to love! The sassy/inspiring/creative/supersmart writer behind Modish, Jena Coray, has recently started a second blog, Modish Biz Tips. It's described as, "...here to help you, the artist, crafter or designer who is working towards making a living off your own creations." Yes, please! and thank you! It's a wonderful blog which has become one of my daily morning reads over breakfast. Speaking of breakfast, indulge me while I digress and show you this cool pic I took of my cup of tea one day (not this morning; this morning i had coffee in a to-go mug while driving Patrick to his first day of new job).

I really love vintage dishes - I got that cup & saucer in a mixed box of colorful delights at an auction nearby. Loved that auction barn - must go back soon. So many treasures to be had there!

Anyway, Modish Biz Tips covers everything from getting bloggers to write about you & doing your taxes to more personal advice for your psyche like getting your self-doubt under control. So great!

The most recent post that I linked to above, which was all about setting goals for yourself was amazingly timely, as P & I have been working our patooties off lately on trying to whip The Snuggle Herd into shape! So when Jena encouraged all of her readers to make a list of at least 5 goals to accomplish this month I was totally up for it. Here's my list:

1) launch version 2.0 of snuggleherd.com
2) increase my Etsy shop listings to 50 items
3) finally start blogging! i have the name - craftymishmash.blogspot - but no content
4) add at least 2 more stores to my list of retailers
5) finish development/production of new monkey toy
6) develop some lower-priced items such as brooches & digital prints to diversify my line
7) post new pics to my Flickr groups

Yesterday P helped me cross off #1. And lookie here, I've just accomplished goal #3! awesome! now off to work on #5...