Feature Friday



Hand Embroidered Snow Flower Handkerchief

Emerald Green Trendy Woven Pattern Apron


 

Hand Embroidered Handkerchief - Purple & Peach Floral


 

Gourmet Market Tote Bag

Feature Friday

 

 



Bedding Boutique Cotton Pillowcase - Black And White Swirls

 

 

SewSuzanne Original Garden Apron

 

 

Set of 4 Luncheon Size Reusable 100% Cotton Cloth Napkins

 

 

So Cute Cinch Bag - Stripes And Flowers

Team Member Interview With Adrey of AnACreate

Tell us a little about yourself.

  Hi, I'm Audrey, and I'm the supermom of a classically-homeschooling, hobby-farming, craft-loving, large family! We live on 2 acres and have crammed every possible thing onto it! After all, our home is  our school, and we see chores and responsibility, rather like the dad in Calvin & Hobbes, as character builders. J We have dairy goats, chickens, rabbits, geese, cats, and dogs to name a few animals. We also grow much of our own food and have several large gadens and an ordhard. We have 6 children from ages 1 to 13. We love our school years with them.

How did you begin working in your craft and how did it develop into a business?

The Etsy shop(s) we operate grew out of a desire to teach our kids how to run a business.  From the large gardens we mentioned above, we sell excess produce at our local farmer’s market.  One of our daughters started making reusable shopping bags to sell at the market, and another daughter started making aprons.  One of our sons grew zucchini to make into zucchini bread and sell at the market.  We wanted each child to learn about running a business as soon as they were old enough to understand rudimentary math and economics.  An added benefit was learning more math skills as they made change at farmer’s market.  But farmer’s market only runs for 5 months of the year and so we encouraged them to look for other places to peddle their wares…and the Etsy shop(s) were born.

1974 Calendar Bag

We try to do “unit celebrations” with the curriculum we study, and a few of these have really been memorable.  For example, when we were studying Victorian times, we hosted a Victorian Tea Party.  We made authentic food for the era, everyone came in costume, and we made Victorian crafts before tea and played parlor games after tea.  I made everyone’s silhouette for them to take home with them.  (You can see these in the background.)

 

What advise would you give to other homeschool families who are also trying to run a home business?

I’m not sure what advice to give others about running a home business because our Etsy shop(s) are a twist on that.  We put pretty high priority on our kids running their Etsy shop(s) because it is one of the most concrete examples of real life training we are giving them.  They will have to make an income some day!  We give them time every day to maintain their shops and consider the time very educationally spent!



Carrot Apron



Where do you find inspiration for your pieces?

Our daughter who makes the reusable shopping bags haunts antique stores for antique tea towels which she upcycles into her bags.  With added ribbon handles, they are fantastic!  Our apron-making daughter loves to find exciting, inspirational fabrics on the internet.  She has also opened a photography Etsy shop, and her inspiration for her photographs is found in nature. 

What is your favorite item in your shop right now?

My favorite reusable shopping bag is this one: https://www.etsy.com/listing/89976782/1974-calendar-bag-repurposed-tea-towel

And my favorite apron is this one:  https://www.etsy.com/listing/90702499/potatoes-have-never-been-so-funto-wear

And my favorite photograph is this one:  https://www.etsy.com/listing/94628209/signed-zebra-musings-framed-8x10

 



Reusable Shopping Bag



Do you have specific goals for your business or for your homeschooling? Would you share some of those with us?

Our goal for our children’s Etsy shops is for them to gain real-world, practical experience in running a business.  Without getting political, I think it will be very important for children of the future to know how to make money with as much debt as our generation is leaving their generation. 

A personal goal is to start my own Etsy shop!  I would love to sell vintage item and supplies, and hand sewn items.  (After all, I was the one who taught my daughters to sew!)

This year in our homeschool, we have several new beginnings: we are starting our 4 year history cycle over again, our oldest will start high school studies, and two of our youngest start 1st grade, so our plans for the year revolve around these things. For example, this time through history, we will focus on art and architecture. Last time through we focused on music and geography and next time through we will focus on timelines and inventions. This adds new interest to repetitve material. In general though, our goal in homeschooling our children is to teach them to learn...because then they will be unstoppable! Yes, we will be working ourselves out of a job, but that will give us more time to do things like run our own Etsy shop!

Do you have any other websites that you would like to share? ie, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Shop...

I would love it if everyone reading this interview took time to check out our children’s 3 shops:

www.shutterdot.etsy.com

www.anacreate.etsy.com

www.bewitchyourself.etsy.com  (I haven’t mentioned this one yet, this shop belongs to our photography daughter who also loves to craft things from clay.  She has the neatest idea for personalizing clay figures…you should see what you would look like as a princess, witch, or mermaid!)

A Young Entrepreneur

When I approached Sarah and Jane through Etsy convo, I was pleasantly surprised to get this answer,"Thanks for the sweet note! Yes, my daughter, Sarah and I would feel honored to be featured in your blog." This mother daughter team work well together to make unique creations for each customer. You will love their work and, after the interview you will also love this young entrepreneur.

So now, here is Sarah from Sarah and Jane.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


1. Tell us a little about yourself.
My name is Sarah Howland and with the support of my Mom, I launched Sarah and Jane
last summer...at the age of 16! I am blessed to have a whole room devoted just for allowing my creative juices to run wild! When I am not sewing (which is not often) I enjoy devouring delicious books, hanging out with friends, and of course shopping for fabric. My love for reading is how the name "Sarah and Jane" came to be. One of my favorite authors is Jane Austen...hence the Jane.






2. How did you begin working in your craft and how did it develop into a business?
I first started sewing when I was very little. My first creations were extremely lopsided pillows. As I grew older, my Mom actually taught me and other young girls how to properly sew. I really enjoy sewing clothing and tote-bags, but as I scoured a blog one day I saw a free pattern for fabric covered notebooks. After much perfecting I came up with the first Sarah and Jane notebook.





3. What is one of your favorite homeschool memories thus far?

I do not just have one particular favorite memory, but several instances immediately come to mind. When I was younger, my Mom would read out-loud to my older brother and I. My imagination ran wild and I truly fell in love with literature. Who knows what reading out-loud can do?





4. What advise would you give to other homeschool families who are also trying to run a home business?
Make sure you have time! My Mom and I started our business in the summer before my junior year. Once school started my courses munched every last bit of my time. It was very hard to take time and simply sew or imagine new designs. Even now, I am restocking the store because my studies have finished.



5. Where do you find inspiration for your pieces?
Most of my inspiration comes from seeing and touching the fabric. I can just picture what the fabric could be. My Mom also gives me tons of ideas, along with magazines, Etsy, and blogs.




6. Do you have specific goals for your business or for your homeschooling? Would you share some of those with us?
I am very interested in marketing so Sarah and Jane was at first an experiment to test my skills. I could not have done it without my Mom! But, Sarah and Jane has become a way for me to express my creativity and it also gives me a glimpse of how much goes into a business. My goal is to restock the online store and perhaps put some Sarah and Jane products in local stores. You can also find Sarah and Jane on Facebook.


Posted by VeryVerdant

Team Giveaway

********This Givaway Is Now Closed!********
**Winners Will Be Announced Monday, March 20, 2011**
We are so excited to announce the official start of our first team give away! There are 9 prizes to be won which means there will be 9 winners!!!

First, here is the list of prizes followed by brief descriptions.
Prizes 1-4


#1.) Shady Side Farm 's prize is a set of three dryer balls in undyed natural ivory.
~ approximately 8 inches in circumference, and about 2.75 inches in diameter
~ Each averages 1 ounce of 100% felted virgin wool.
~ These will be shipped to you with an instruction sheet enclosed.
~ 100% Shady Side Farm wool roving -an alternative to heavily scented dryer sheets
~ reusable and versatile.
~ help to fluff your clothing and shorten drying time
~ may help reduce static cling somewhat

#2.) This prize from TheHandmaden is a hand dyed 8 point mandala 100% silk scarf. It measures 42 x 44 inches.

#3.) Simple Basic Knitted Sock Pattern from Ripsimeh. These are a very simple and easy pair of socks to knit. They fit well, look great and wear very well.
~Included in this pattern is Knitting Notes. A guide to help you with your knitting. and a guild on how to use magic loop to make these socks too.
~Difficulty: Intermediate
~Format and Delivery: The pattern is a PDF file which will be emailed to you within 48hours of payment. See my Shop Polices for more details.
~ Ripsimeh’s pattern’s are protected by copyright.


#4.) Red Star Polka Dot Card from KLowEnergetic colors and a fun star motif decorate the front of this standard-sized card.
The red star is hand-crocheted with a yellow center to liven up the polka-dot background great for any celebratory occasion. The card measures 5 1/2" X 4 1/4", comes lined with a white paper for adding your own personal message and includes a coordinating envelope for mailing.

Prizes 5-9I know! I know! There are only 4 more pictures! Prize number 7 will actually be awarded in two different sizes so there will be 9 prizes - not 8.



#5.)
From Ocean Breeze The October Splendor Series - Brass Necklace
This color combination reminds me of the Autumn colors when the tree just starts to change and there is a bit of green and some orange. This necklace is 16.5" in length. The beads are 6.5" of that length.

#6.) Beautiful handmade necklace with ribbon and beads by Gloriapatre

#7.) Two winners will recieve one of these aprons from VeryVerdant. One will be size 6. The other will be size 4. This fully lined apron would be a cute addition to any little girls wardrobe.

Preshrunk
Machine Wash
Non Chlorine Bleach Only
Tumble Dry Low or Lay Flat To Dry
Warm Iron When Needed


#8.) Custom Mother/Grandmother Necklace by Ocean Breeze Designs. Click Here for more details of this necklace.




HERE'S HOW TO ENTER TO WIN!!!

~Anyone can enter!!!
~ Simply leave a comment at the end of this post.(Please be sure to leave a way by which we may contact you.)
~You may submit 1 Entry per day until Saturday the 19th of March, 2011 at 12:00 midnight Central Standard Time.
~One winner will be chosen for each prize in the order that they appear.
~Winners will be chosen by random generator.
~After winners are selected I will contact each shop with the name and email address of the winner.
~It will be the responsibility of the shop owner to contact the winner and to send out the items to the winners themselves.



Sonja

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like...

Christmas!?! Are You serious?!? I am not sure how an annual holiday can catch me by suprise, but this one always does. It always falls on December 25 but I always find myself scurrying around on December 1st thinking, "I only have 24 days till Christmas."

So once again winter is on it's way and with it the colors and sounds of the holiday season. Whether you are celebrating Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Christmas, or Winter Solstice this holiday season, the talented Sheteam has selections to help you cross off gift items from that shopping list. Here are just a few.

How about this adorable Waldorf Inspired Toy Party Time Playset from TheEnchantedCupboard

For the cooks in the family I love this Mini Apron and Dress Form made by The Good Ole Days
Who doesn't have a young fashionista in their family? And what young girl wouldn't love to bundle up in style with a Flowered Earflap Beanie made by those Crochet Sisters over at CrochetRUs?
Finally, get a gift for yourself - a gift in which you can carry your stash of presents. This Soft Green Backpack Purse can be custom monogrammed by The Blissful stitcher.

- VeryVerdant