Giveaway!

Want an adorable, handcrafted owl made by yours truly??

• Just skip on over to my sister's blog Keep it Simple, and enter for this great giveaway to promote my new etsy shop, HandcraftedJoy. 

ETSY shop!

Announcing the Grand Opening of my own Etsy shop!!

I finally did it! You've been hearing me muse about it for months and months, but with the school year finally at a close and life finally at a slower pace, I have picked up my crocheting again, and also opened up shop!

Want to know where you can find such wonderful items such as these?

Just go to http://www.etsy.com/shop/HandcraftedJoy (and please ignore my hideous banner! if someone has expertise in this, and wants to help me out, please do!!) and spread the word!!

I specialize in making things for baby, but can also do custom orders- you think it up, I'll make it!

original designs!

In the midst of working on my teddy bear pattern, I decided to have my hand at making a tiny little owl.

Here is the result:

Not too bad for a first attempt? I think so! He's so cute and just about 3-4" tall. I posted a picture of him on facebook and immediately got a request from a friend of a friend to purchase him! 

So this was my official first sale of my own amigurumi. I mailed him off this morning, and I can't wait to hear what she thinks of him when he arrives!  It gets me even more excited to finally get my etsy shop up and  running. (I've only been talking about it for months now!) Just had to share :) 

Handmade Joy

What do you think? Does that sound like an online store you'd buy from?

I got a LOT of great feedback from my friends and family and came up with this as a possible name for my store. I can just picture it on a tag in some cute font with a cute heart or some other decal next to it. :)

Branding

I am very seriously considering opening up a shop on etsy.com to sell my crocheted goods, but am having a hard time conceptualizing what I will call myself and how to make a brand for myself that symbolizes who I am and what I care about in my crocheting. I want to stand out and be known for high quality stuff made with lots of care, and am thinking about purchasing actual tags with my shop name/brand name and logo on it for my items to be more distinct. The only thing is...I am stuck. I don't know what to call my shop/brand. My brain juices could flow for days on crocheting projects to do, but how to start a successful online business? That is where the juices stop flowing.

I am sending this blog post out as a cry for help to all who know me and my work to please help me brainstorm on how to brand myself and my product. Ideas? .... Anyone? ....