Handmade The Hippie Way :)

Ok so beyond heading up the D lister squad i'm also a member of the create crochet team. This month they are doing a swap, I of course excited about the idea of trading items with someone else! It just so happens that my swap partner Mamta is from India which makes it even more exciting. It just blows my mind that something I made with my two hands will be going all the way to India for someone to enjoy :) I've been trying my hand at some new methods of crochet and even trying to read patterns. Both of which i've not tried before, so I was a little nervous at first. I couldn't really figure out what to make for her, I looked at many different patterns and of course I needed to do something that would be rather easy due to my lack of skill. I decided on a purse, it's cute, practical and something that almost every woman uses. This one can be used as a clutch by tucking the short strap I attached inside the bag itself. The one thing I think that excited me the most beyond trying something new was using some eco friendly yarn. 20% of the skein is post consumer recycled bottles, appx 6 bottles were saved in this yarn! There goes my inner hippie :) Besides that it's crazy soft and I used two extremely beautiful shades of purple. When I finished the purse I was very excited to see the final product and want to share it with everyone! So good job on my first try at a crochet purse!

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So I finally got around to posting my coffee lovers gift basket and i'm really happy with the way it turned out. I've been contemplating different ways to make the basket with different items for the upcoming christmas season. I'm also really excited about the thought of getting a new sewing machine so I can really step up my towel game by making sports team related items. I'm also considering doing "grill sets" where it'll be an apron with a team patch, two matching towels and some sort of hot pad/oven mitt type combination.

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I know i'm a little late on changing this, i'm also hugely behind on blogging lately. It's been really hard for me to sit down and get things done lately :-/ Ok so anyways this weeks featured Etsian is L M Turned Art. I really like their stuff, and the coolest thing about their items is that alot of it is made out of local woods :) It's a husband and wife team which I think is great, He makes the items and she runs the shop. I've had the opportunity to look through the shop a few times and really enjoy the natural materials, colors and beautiful pieces that they have. I particularly like this piece and want to eventually buy one to keep some of my jewelry in, Covered Bowl. Check out their shop if you really enjoy natural woods and beautiful wood colors :)

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So i've been reading other very well known blogs and there's one thing they all have in common, they provide good information and good resources. I feel that at this point that's one thing my blog is lacking. I need to start posting how-to's, links, and giving more information beyond just talking about what i'm doing on a regular basis. I also need to keep up with doing a daily blog instead of just doing it when I remember. That's where my dailies spreadsheet comes in. I finally sat down and organized what I need to do on a daily basis and set it up in a checklist type format. Today is the first day that i've put it to use and so far I think it's really helping. I do need to work on items for the shop today like my crochet edged washcloths, I think those are going to be really great :) I'm going to sit down and research some stuff tonight after my kids go to bed and hopefully will have some good info for the blog tomorrow. I'm also going to try to work on a video possibly showing how to do something...who knows.

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So after reading through the discussion on the message board I realize I need to set up a more organized way of tracking my activity on a daily basis. I know that some things get more attention than others and even some get left in the dust and forgotten. So today my first goal is to build a spreadsheet that I can use as a checklist for my day to day activities. I realize that I have alot to do and need to manage my time in a more finite way. I think that it would help me alot if I had a more established outline. Besides, what's wrong with a little organization? LOL First i'll write it down to make sure that I include everything that needs to be done, revise and then finalize. I may forget things...that's how I roll LOL but i'm sure everything will end up together in one space. Today is a busy day, I need to go to the grocery store too at some point today to pick up a few things, I also need to mail out my weekend orders. Ack. On a very positive note I received positive feedback on my 3rd sale today :) Hopefully #4 will be soon and 5 and 6 will come once the package i'm mailing today is received, should only be a couple of days since it's going to Tucson AZ :) I'm still a tad frustrated with the person that bought my first two sets, still no feedback from her :-/ that's rank. Anyways, off to do what needs to be done! I should have my washcloth flower pots posted by tomorrow!

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So I made my 5th and 6th sales to a high school friend of mine! She loved my stuff and said she was very impressed. She also mentioned that she will be purchasing some items for her mom, whom I also know very well. So i'm super happy that both of them will be enjoying a few of my wares :)

I'm currently working on my washcloth flower pots, so far i'm pretty happy with the way they're looking and am hoping to complete the process in the next couple of days.

I also am featuring another D Lister as my Etsian of the Week, this weeks member is Fiberpuppy her stuff is crazy awesome and very unique! I really heart her cat hats and scarves LOL

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So after today and yesterday i'm feeling a renewed sense of spirit with my shop. I made two sales, which was great. One was a custom order and the same woman purchased a towel set that i'd already posted in my shop! I'm currently working on a towel set for a high school friend of mine, she may buy multiples :) So i'm fairly excited about that too! Things are starting to look up. My shop views are doing pretty well, i'm about to give up on these picture frames. I'm just going to leave them up for now until I can get some more towels and other things stocked into the shop. I don't want to drastically drop my stock because i'm just frustrated with them. I'll probably just end up pulling them if I don't sell them by christmas and give them as gifts LOL. Overall i'm feeling good about the progress that has been made.

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So on wednesday I receive a message out of nowhere asking me if i'm able to fill a custom order. Of course i'm not going to decline! So I ask a few further questions to make sure that I correctly fill this woman's request and make her the happiest I can. Happy customers mean return business :) I receive the final correspondence thursday and happily truck it down to the store to find what I need. I find the most perfect towel in the world, yarn that matches perfectly in the color that she wants and the most awesome buttons. What she had requested was a Rooster towel set with autumn/fall type colors with a sage colored yarn. The buttons I found at JoAnn fabrics couldn't have matched better, they were cute little roosters that matched the rooster on the towel almost to a T. What kind of luck is that? My husband even said that these are my best ones yet. I'm really excited for the person to see them I hope she gets as excited about them as I am. Sorry about the crappy photos I took these with my phone...but will have the clean clear shots in the shop posting tomorrow.

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So i've picked up some really cute skeleton towels for halloween, they're almost identical but one set is black and one is orange. They're super freakin cute and i'm going to call them "Dia De Los Skeletons" :) I love them! I'm also going to start doing some fall/autumn/thanksgiving related items...too excited. This is my favorite time of year! I can't wait for Christmas!!! Here's a picture of one of the towels and the oven mitt. Excuse poor pic quality seeing as though I had to just take it real quick with my camera phone.

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I'm really curious about this site, I submitted my shop page, and a few individual items, let's see what it does. I came up with an idea to collect everyone's individual URL's to give thumbs up and try to drive traffic...hopefully that will help :)

My Stumbleupon

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SO I decided to Feature a fellow D Lister in my blog on a weekly basis. This week i've chosen thatDESIGNshop. Her gift bags are fab and I really love them! I'm a bit of a gift bag junkie, I don't believe in wrapping paper and hers are crazy unique! I'll be changing my featured person on Mondays so keep an eye out for your shop to be featured!

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So after the series of events that happened yesterday (read previous posts) i'm happy to say that so far so good with the message board, we just need to get everyone there. A few have found it and we've posted some great questions and resources and i'm very excited about the things to come. I submitted to Etsy the team request with 112 names on the list...holy cow. I was so proud :) I learned some new things today thanks to my fellow D Listers, call me greatful! Anything new that can potentially help is awesome. I also posted my "Berry Sweet" Towel set today and started on what i'm going to call my "Dia De Los Skeleton" towel set #1 in black for my halloween items. I bought two sets, one orange and one black and both are extremely cute and i'm excited to get them finished and in the shop. I decided to do the black towels with orange yarn and the orange towels with black yarn FUN!

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I started a group/team message board. Check it out and post your questions and feedback :)

D Listers Message Board

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So after reading through the threads and convos I had i've compiled a final list of names totaling up to 111 including soulstone and myself. HOLY COW BATMAN! I couldn't believe the overwhelming response of people reaching out to us for help. I left and went grocery shopping around 6 west coast time and got back on the computer at around midnight to check out to see what happened while I was gone and wow. That's all I can really say is WOW! I added approximately 70 names to the list at that point! I want to thank everyone for their interest in the group and I will be posting news as to what will be coming up. As soon as I get an email from Etsy stating that the group is official I will start organizing our first group chat and Q&A session. I will also be opening a team blog and message board so that those of you that are unable to make team chats will be able to participate in Q&A. I'm also considering a mailing list to keep everyone informed of chats, promotions, treasuries etc. If you have interest in anything of that nature let me know. Thanks to everyone!!!!!

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Ok so with the really great response that we've gotten to be a part of the "D List" team i'll be adding the names that I get from the thread of convo's and submit my finished request to Etsy tomorrow morning. I really appreciate that there are others out there just like us and I know this will be great and help out alot of people to gain the exposure that they need to make sales!

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So today i'm sitting here participating in forums and out of the blue I come across this post called "Etsy "D" List Blog, for those of us still not selling." So curiosity strikes and I open this thread. To my surprise I find a super nice chick that's in the same boat as I am and she's promoting her "D" list blog. I read through her posts and realize that i'm able to relate to her in many ways. So I start posting away and by the end of this posting session i've made a great Etsy friend and we're going to start a team compiled of fellow Etsians in our same situation. Not to mention i'm going to be taking on the endeavor of starting a Treasury for those same folks to help us all promote and grow. How amazing is this? I'm seriously excited about things to come and i'm feeling really focused and jazzed about this whole idea. So cheers to "A Few of My Favorite Things" Treasury and the band of misfit Etsy sellers we're grouping together as a team! Oh and here's the URL to that wonderful thread that moved me so much!

http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6291125&page=1

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So after much consideration and trial and error I decided to change my avatar and banner for the shop. I feel that it looks much better and the forum also provided some much needed support for both. Where it's at now is probably where it will stay seeing as though i'm creatively out of gas when it comes to those things LOL. I will probably be looking for some ways to work with the shop today as far as getting the word out there. I learned that providing helpful links in my blog would be a positive thing and will probably gather together a list of links that have helped me out in my etsy endeavor :)

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Ok so since i've had children i've always had an issue with losing baby socks in the wash. It frustrates me because I know that when I put a whole pair in and only get one sock back, it makes me curious as to where it went. Sock limbo? hanging out with the other lost clothing items? Well they have those zipper bags that you can throw in the wash to keep things like baby socks and unmentionables together, but i've decided that i'm going to crochet something much cooler. LOL Well...I have an idea lets see if I can execute it :) I'm also thinking of devising something to hold all those shopping bags in my kitchen. I know they sell dispensers for them...but again I want something much more personal :) On another note I was sitting with my youngest daughter Daisy this morning and she just turned 7 months. Well she recently started doing this "kissy" thing lol it's the cutest thing and it looks and sounds like she's making kisses. Guess I'll share a video

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So I just posted a "wine basket" towel set tonight that comes with a potholder. It's super cool and i'm pretty proud of it. I'm also doing a clearance sale on my photo frames and moving in another direction with my shop. Hopefully it'll be a positive change in direction :)

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So as i'm sitting here this evening just listening to my favorite local radio station and doing my crazy amount of social networking, I tweet one of my favorite 97.5 KVEG Jocks and she was cool enough to shout out my shop on the air. Amazingly cool, even if I don't see one sale from it i'm happy with the fact that the name of my shop was said over live radio! Let's see what happens!

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Purchsed some new towels yesterday, some came with pot holders as sets! I'm excited to dissect and reconstruct these towels and get them up in the shop! I think they'll be fun and will look great once they're completed. Currently working on a chili pepper towel set :) Spicy!

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I added a widget to my blog page for everyone to become a fan of my facebook page. Hope y'all do it :) Also i'm working on some things today and hopefully will have some pics taken and some new listings on Etsy. The project to come is another set of my crochet towels in the "Sweet Shop" pattern :) Hope you enjoy! Have a wonderful day!! Don't forget to follow me on twitter!

http://twitter.com/HippieChkBoutiq

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So I made my first Etsy sale, how exciting :) Actually it was two items to the same buyer but never the less it's my first sale! I'm working on new projects today to add into the shop, i'm down to about 7 items but feel there's always room for more. I'm also working on more advertising and networking through Twitter and Facebook, hopefully i'll gain more ground today. Off to make some tweets, hope you all have a fabulous day.

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I've opened a Twitter account today. Become a Follower! I should be posting new items soon so keep an eye out!

http://twitter.com/HippieChkBoutiq

Have a great day!

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So over the last 6 months i've been working at perfecting my craft and have finally decided to open an Etsy shop after countless members of my family and friends have told me I need to sell my stuff. I'm looking forward to things to come, this is exciting and new and I can't wait to see what the future holds.

As i've said many times, i'm not one of those "one project 10 different ways" kind of people. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I pride myself on versatility and a unique talent to do many different things. So as I start my shop I will have different things, yes there will be things "done 10 different ways" but at the same time there will be a mixture of things.

I pretty much make anything I love, and really it can be anything. I don't necessarily hold myself to one thing, at times I find myself in the craft store looking at different items and wondering how I can put them together. That is what I love, grabbing some things of a shelf with a general plan in my head, taking them home, and making something beautiful.

So for now, i've opened my shop, listed some items, started my blog, and now it's time to move forward the best way I can. If you have a chance please visit my shop and see what I have to offer!

http://www.hippiechickboutique.etsy.com

Namaste!

Christy
The Hippie Chick

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