Featured!!!

YAY!!! I have been featured in a treasury! It's so pretty and perfect for the Harvest Season! I am featured alognside other members of the Eclectic Artisans Street Team! Please check it out and comment if you get a chance!!!

Sold and Relisted!

Sold and Re-listed! Some sweet treats without the calories!!! Stop on in and check out the goodies! Don't miss out this time around!!

Help us Vote!!

Today kicks off the first voting day of the Eclectic Artisans First Ever Facebook Challenge!
Please head over to our ALBUM and choose your favorite! Type the word *vote* under the one you choose! Only vote once!! Thanks!

Now it's time to take care of your shops! Peek into your older stuff and pop them front and center into your Featured Items! Change them up and make them pop!!!
Have a great week everyone!!! Remember that in order to have a truly great day, we must be positive and believe that it really will be great! Only we can allow the negative to eat away at us!

What a Weekend!

This was a wonderful weekend for a craft show! I just learned one lesson: Say no to Church shows! hahah! I've learned this lesson before of course, but I had to try out my theory again! haha! I met loooads of Etsy peeps though and had a wonderful time! This was while we were setting up! If you get a chance, check out my husbands shop, full of his AWESOME goodies for your little ones! http://brickmaster3.etsy.com/.

I have just learned that MichellesCharmWorld was featured in a fun blog this weekend! My fun and pink popsicle necklace was featured! How fun and how cute! I love this blog!


If anyone purchases this necklace today with the code: BLOGPOP, you can select ANY OTHER item in my shop 12.00 and under for FREE!!! Enjoy and stop in please!!!

A big thank you to MilkAndCookeez and all her pretty, soapy goodness in shop for featuring me on her blog today! I really appreciate it!! Stop on into her shop and check her out!

The Halloween Season!

Wow! Thursday Already?! Or shall I say Fall Already? October Already is upon us?! I just can't get over how fast 2009 is moving! We're talking Halloween costumes over here in the Sottile House and it got me thinking on a theme for the Eclectic Artisans Blog Ring. Today we're talking about Halloween and how we have prepared our shop for the season! Me? I love Halloween Costumes (Still dress up!) Love giving and eating Candy!! I love taking the kids to Fall Festivals, Trick or Treating Parties and the like! I love it all! I can't wait until the kiddies get a bit older and we can start having our very own Halloween Parties with our friends and theirs!! What fun! So needless to say, Halloween (shh Christmas too!!) has already descended upon my shop! I've been busy making up new designs to revamp last years pieces! Take a look here and then hop on over to our TEAM BLOG and see who else has joined the ring!!!

Shout It Out!

Hello readers! I apologize for being super late today! It's been one hectic weekend that has just rolled right into a crazy Monday. Don't forget to take a minute to revamp your shop by changing up your featured items! Grab something from the back and change it up a bit! Add something, take something away, make is NEW!

I've been lucky enough to be featured in many blogs as of late and really appreciate it! It's too sweet for words! I love that people appreciate and love my pieces! I just wanted to thank my latest feature-er! (made up word I know!!) PinkPatrice has the moset fabulous and unique card designs I have ever seen! Stop in and take a look at all the magical cuteness that can happen with paper!!

Surrounded!!

With school in full swing, I realize what exactly my mother meant when she said 'tuition may be expensive, but it's all the extras that kill me!' Everytime Book Fair, Cheerleading, Field Trips, Summer Abroad Trips and the like came up, I would hear this line! Of course be it 8 or 18 I just rolled my eyes and held my hand out. Now it's come full circle! haha! I am at day 3 of Pre-K and I am surrounded by order forms and slips for just about everything! Registration time is starting up for Fall activities and it's nuts! But how can I say no to a little girl that draws pictures of me everyday? How can I say no to the little boy that runs and hugs me when he gets out of class? Yup, I have 2 times the expenses at one time! I have 2 kids in school for the very first time this year.

Gymnastics has just started up as well and they are having a blast, but can someone tell me that these prices are not INSANE?! A class of 5 kids jumping around on mats was just ridiculous! haha! Okay, they do more than that and are making friends and socializing, but I still think I had a small shock when the total was mentioned! She was kind enough to tell me that even included a 10% discount for paying it all up front! hahaha! *shaking head* It's what they wanted though right? Football sign ups were this week and both kids want to do that too!

While in school we got the Scholastic Book forms and how can you say NO to books?! Reading is awesome! While I think the 14 they wanted was just crazy, we settled on 7! hahah! That's not too bad and like I said it's learning!! Then there was the School cookbook forms, you have to get that, it supports the school! Then School Magazine and that was too cute to pass up on too.....Hmm...maybe this mom needs to learn to say No early before I start saying:

Hmm...well they NEED a car and she NEEDS that Designer Handbag and he NEEDS those really crazily priced gym shoes....maybe just maybe I will learn soon! Oh wait....then there is Dad who always says yes if mom says no....and then there is Grandpa and the list goes on and on! What lucky kids!

Fall Goals!

Autumn begins officially on September 22, it has me thinking a lot of what I need to get rolling on in shop and for the shop. It's time to start setting some goals and working hard to achieve them. I would like to work on my production. I mentioned it before, when I spoke about what was holding me back. I'm thinking I need to have a minimum number of pieces to list new each and every day. The lack of new items really creates a lack of sales. At least in my shop it does, I have had a tanking week this week including the week. I can't believe how much it's slowed down. I also need to work on Blogging more. I seem to just be throwing together blog posts at the last minute lately. I'm hoping once I can get in the swing of things with the kids and school and their after school classes, it will be easier! Another big thing I need to keep an eye on is my shipping receipts. Lately I've just been throwing them in a bin and at the end of the month stapling them all together and then putting them in an envelope. That's not exactly easy to sort through when someone is asking about their delivery confirmation number from the beginning of the month and there are over 50 receipts and 50 Delivery Confirmation slips in there! I'm going back to stapling them togeth daily and THEN moving them to an envelope which I will keep in chronological order by day. If you would like to see what other goals my fellow Eclectic Artisans Members have set for themselves, please take a look, starting with AweShop.

And They Are Off.....

Today starts a long road of learning and education for my children. My little ones are off to Pre-K for their first full day without the parents. (we have had several meet the teacher days, Teachers at our house, Open House, See the classroom days) I am so darn nervous and sad at the same time. I can't help but hope that this begins the love for learning that I had. I can only pray that this road is filled with joy for them. I know it's only Preschool, but a love of learning is started early. It's best to get them on the right track at a young age. As my husband and I lay in bed last night we talked about remembering the day they were born, remembering them walking for the first time, talking, you know all the things parents flash back on when a big moment is about to happen. I found myself speechless for a bit as I just let those memories take me over. Where did the past 4 years go? As a stay at home parent, I strive to enrich their everyday lives and only hope that they enjoyed it as much as I did. It's going to be hard for me to let go today (In about 2 hours), but I know it's for the best. I have tears welling up now just thinking about and I know husband will shed a few of his own. Why do all the happy moments in life seem to be the ones that make us shed the most tears? Will I be able to take good photos or will I be too busy gripping my kids? Will we be the only parents there in tears and taking a dozen photos ? What if no one cries and it's just another day? So much thought and worry put into one little day! haha! If the start of Preschool has me in knots, I cano only imagine what College will do to me! Off my 2 oldest go into the world and all I can do is watch from the distance...

Tuesdays Treasures!

Hello Readers!! Todays Blog Post is all about Cute New Stuff! Check out the following 2 stores this week and see what other goodies are inside!! First I bring you to Amy May, click inside and you will find yourself transported to an era of Romance and Elegance! I share with you these Fabulous Rose Bobby Pins by Amy May. At 6.00 I don't know why you have not picked them up yet! Perfect for updating your hair in a minute! Next, take a visit over to MichellesCharmWorld! Inside you will find a charmingly colorful selection of goodies that will easily take you back to your childhood! This piece is a penny candy jar full of candy! Penny anyone??

Monday Refresh!

It's Monday once again! The good thing is that alot of us have taken or received the day off! Let's work on our shops. Take a few minutes to change up your featured items and add at least 2 new items today! That is your challenge readers! If you don't have the supplies to make up 2 new items, take 2 dusty items from the waaaay back of your shop and revamp them somehow!!!

Sundays Sales!

Hi readers! Just a quick drop in to let you know if you come into my shop now, I have an awesome BOGO sale going on! Buy one item from my Buy One Get One Free Section and you can pick another from that section for FREE!!! Come check it out and enjoy! Don't forget that I have a raffle going on for a 30.00 gift certificate to my shop!! Lots of new things! Come check them out!!

I think I can...I think I can.....

Found Searching EART TEAM on Etsy

Today, the Eart Team and I are discussing what is the one thing we struggle with most as Small Business Owners. There are several that find me tearing my hair out, but the main one seems to be production. I sell the most when I list the most new items. We're talking new items, not just renewing or refreshing old ones. I don't know why that is, as I am 90% selling to new customers. Yesterday I spent a grand total of 4.00 in listing and renewing. That may seem to be a lot, but in the end, but the time I woke up this morning I had sold 12 items and a custom request for 2 more. It feels great, but it has me struggling to create more. When I force it, my items come out sub par and not as creative as I would like. When I let me creativity lead the way, I can only churn out 3 pieces at most a day. I have scheduled times to work and when I am not working, I have a notebook in my diaper bag, purse and car that let me write out or sketch ideas as they come. I can only hope that with time, I can keep production up to where it needs to be. I noticed as Summer neared and we were out daily on activities, playing outside or just errands, that my productivity DROPPED and sales slowed. Hopefully that will be enough incentive for me!

If you would like to see what the other Members or the Eart Team Struggle with while owning a Small Business, please drop by AweShops Blog and follow the blog ring we have going on!

Check out what's new in shop!

Love.....

Today is my anniversary. In 5 years we have had 3 children and an amazing amount of memories. We are done having babies, but now the adventure contines as we raise these adorable little ones into wonderful adults. I can only dream they too can find a love like the one I found. I can only hope that they too will meet someone that truly makes them feel as though walking on clouds is a reality. Many will pish-posh that 5 years is nothing, come see them in 10. Yes, it is barely any time at all, as it still feels as though I was walking down the aisle just yesterday. I found my Prince Charming and we are working on our Happily Ever After. So to my husband, I want to thank you for the past 10 years we have spent together as a couple and the past 5 we have spent as man and wife. You are an amazing man with a heart as big as the world. I admire you for your kindness, your patience and your ease of nature. I love you for the way you keep us safe and loved. You make me feel as though anything really is possible. I love you my dear, today, tomorrow and always.