Etsy

Well, I finally got around to posting on my Etsy page.
Business is slow but finding time when you are a home/mom based business is hard to do sometimes.
There always seems to be something to do and no time to do it.
At this time I don't have embroidered items on Etsy.
Instead I chose to post some of the NEW stock I have left over from custom embroidery jobs
that I did and over ordered.
These blanks are perfect for embellishment.
They will make great gifts for birthdays or Christmas.
Since it is Thursday and I usually post on Thankful Thursday let me say now that I am
so thankful to have known the women of SuperWAHMz for so many year. You are awesome.
I am Blessed for sure to have you in my life.

I'm Back....I Think

Haven't posted here in eons....kept meaning too, but life got in the way.

Had a super busy holiday season.  Man oh man, it was scary.  Mostly because I got the majority of my porders the LAST day I was taking them for Christmas delivery.  Up until then, I was comfortably 2 weeks behind.  Then, on December 1st I recieved 23 new orders....that is a new record for me and my website.

I think I am finally getting caught up again.....it's been a long few weeks.  I feel like I am working ALL the time.  And I am getting tired of it.  Hopefully I am getting to where I am caught up and can take my weekends off again.  I miss the down time.....

This week has been one of those weeks.  I ordered some new piggy bank molds...they came on monday.  The boxes are huge and heavy.  This time, the boxes looked like they had been broken open and smashed.  So I took some pictures.  Then we opened them.

It looked like the boxes had been broken open, the contents droped in the mud, rolled in the dirt and then just tossed back in the box.  I took more pictures.

I emailed the guy I get the molds from and told him it looked like ups had a problem with the shipment.  For as dirty and disgusting as the molds were, they actually survived the ordeal intact.  But would require a good bit of cleaning up.

He wrote back and apologized, but HE had packed them that way.  He was out of styrofoam peanuts, and that was all he had.  The peanuts looked like they had been dug up out of the ground.  Really.  *sigh*

So I haven't written back yet.  I don't know what to say.  I am flabbergasted that he would send anything like that.  Yes, the molds are fine, but it took me over an hour to clean them up and get them ready for use.

My hands are tied....he has my master molds and I cannot get new molds anywhere else : (   I'm not really mad.....disappointed I guess.  We've done business together for years now and I can't believe he sent my stuff like that.  He could have at least let me know what was coming.  Or asked if I minded waiting for packing materials to come in.  I was in NO HURRY.

I don't know.....I am tired.  Tired of dealing with my business for now.  I think I need a vacation.  Or at least SOMETHING to look forward to......

Merry Christmas

This has been an interesting year. I suspect that 2010 will be more of the same however I hold a positive attitude and will pray for peace of the soul and the strength to carry on no matter how things go.
I value you all so much. You have enriched my life and always make me smile. I miss our chatter and hope that we will find more time for each other next year.
Nick and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year.
God Bless us one and all and God please continue to bless the United States.
Be well :) Diane

Email Marketing - Text vs. Images

I receive Email Insider, an e-newsletter on email marketing. I found this article interesting and useful. Some of the articles aren't applicable to small and wahm businesses. But this one discusses the use of text vs images in newsletters. The other interesting point is including in the Subject Line the "bottom line" or discount code so potential customers don't even have to read the newsletter to get the point.

With the amount of email folks will be getting the competition for sales this holiday, I plan on using this advice in promos for Comfy Cozy Glow in the Dark pillowcases.

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=115770&lfe=1

Chad White is the Research Director at Smith-Harmon, an agency focused exclusively on providing email marketing strategy and creative services. Visit his blog at http://www.retailemailblog.com/

Merry Christmas!

To all the superwahmz out there, have a great Christmas. May your choice to work from home be the greatest gift you've given yourself! I know it is mine. Even though my business doesn't thrive as I would like it to, Comfy Cozy is doing just fine. Lots of children and grown ups are enjoying some magic with my pillowcases - all over the country. That makes me proud. But the choice to be a wahm, means that I can be home w/ my husband every minute that he is here and take my kids to the bus stop and pick them up at school. I haven't missed very many moments in their lives and am thankful for that gift. The gift of not having to rush home for my sons viola concert or not having to worry about what the boss says when I have a sick little boy are beautiful things. I could do without the gift of hearing every argument and listening to every fight my 2 boys have though LOL!

Merry Christmas! We'll be welcoming the birth of Jesus with warm hearts and lots of love. May you enjoy a peaceful few days and stay away from your computer - at least on Christmas Day!!

Snow. Business. Facebook.

I'm 3 weeks or so behind on posting.  This will be fast and furious - yeah right, from me that's kind of comical:)

Snow.  It snowed here in Southeastern PA last night.  Wasn't supposed to start til this morning.  A lovely surprise for 2 little boys and a puppy.  The dog had no idea what to do w/the stuff but the boys were ready for school faster than lightning so they could go play before school.  I love snow - as long as I can go play in it, don't have to drive in it and have a nice cozy fire to warm up to after being in it.  Feel sorry for those of you in the south that don't get it ever, or often.  Then again, some of you feel sorry for those of us that have to wear heavy coats and gloves for 5 months!

Business.  Sales of magical glow in the dark pillowcases are starting to pick up but not as much as I'd like.  Run, don't walk to your address book and send this link of our 50% off Sale to everyone you know.  Then ask them to forward it to everyone they forward every email they ever get too!  I'm looking for orders folks, so don't be shy.  They can post it on every blog they visit - maybe I should offer a commission??  One Free Pillowcase for every 6 orders referred to by someone!  Comfy Cozy glow in the dark pillowcases - what kid wouldn't love one under the Christmas Tree or for Hanukkah?  Plus there is that fun "Eat Chocolate Drink Wine Sleep Naked" design that I'm sure you could find a friend or 2 that would get a huge kick out of it!

Facebook.  I sign up.  I have a facebook page.  I'm not sure why lol!  I've spent way to much time on it.  Found some folks from high school and even have a few "friends" to speak of.  In addition to my SuperWahm friends, my facebook friends include a girl I cheered with at Charleston Catholic High School, my high school boyfriend (who is now a grandfather!) and another high school friend that is living in Bogata, Columbia and is a reporter for the NY Times and NPR.  I can't seem to figure out an easy way to find folks from the University of  Tennessee, but like I said, I've spent way too much time on it.  January would be a better time for this project.  I'm vowing to not look for anyone else until then.  

That's that.  Now, go send that link to your friends about the Comfy Cozy 50% off Sale!!!

Yikes, It's Monday Again!

I really don't know where time is going. These weeks are flying by, and soon I will be smack dab in the middle of the Christmas Rush. I have no idea what to expect this year.

Generally, summer is a slow time of year for me. But not this year. It's been quite busy. Only once did I think I would catch up. And then that quickly passed. It's good to be busy, but it makes me worry about the fall. If I am this busy now, what will fall bring?

September is usually a very slow month for me. Kids are going back to school and Christmas shopping hasn't quite begun. I am secretly hoping it does slow down. I am. That would give me some time to collect myself and prepare for the Christmas Rush.

I number all my piggy banks and Cookies for Santa Plates. I used to do it just for my own enjoyment. You know, I could say I sold over 500 piggy banks and 150 Santa Plates last year. I start over at the first of the new year.

Now those numbers help me plan for the rush. And I can work ahead, getting some stock on the shelf that just needs personalized and fired. I can predict pretty close to what I am going to sell.

But being busy this summer hasn't let me get that stock as far long as I would like. And that means the fall has the potential to be really stressful. But I do have a 12yo who can paint and a 19yo who may come home from school on weekends, and maybe I can get her to paint too. We'll see.

Anyone out there have any good ways to prepare for the Christmas Rush and make it less stressful? Besides chocolate and caffeine? I wanna know!

Thankful Thursday

THE best thing I have to be thankful for this week is that my dil does not have cancer. How could I possibly hope for anymore. Well, I could but for now I will just be so thankful that that new was good news.
A long time ago I was watching Oprah and she was doing the Thankful Journal. I started a TJ at a time when my son was in the 1st Gulf War...... well, he wasn't actually IN the war but he was in the area at that time. Anyway, some days its was really hard to find things to be thankful for but if I remember right, Oprah said we should be able to find at least 3 things to be thankful for. There were days that just waking up in the morning was one of my 3 things. LOLOLOL How sad huh. My son was gone, my business was growing, I had a teenager. What more can I say.
Now I wake up every morning just so darn thankful for life. Life is good. Even when it is blazing HOT here in AZ, I don't have any work and I STILL need to loose weight. I really think life is what we make of it. As the old saying goes, when life gives you lemons, make lemon-aide. :)
I am taking this HOT weather, lack of work time to clean my garage. I have boxes and boxes of inventory. I am really making a dent out there and now find that I have a lot of items I can use for the holidays so..... keep an eye on D's Stitcheree for all things Holidays. Of course I will still do custom orders. If last year was any indication I will have to have a cut off date for custom orders so if that is something you are thinking about and would like to chat about, drop me a line.

WAHM Works!

I've decided on a new title for Wednesdays - "WAHM Works!". Seems appropriate for me since it's a day when I'm REALLY working with very few interruptions. Not that I don't "work" everyday, but those of you with kids kwim!

Today I am bogged down by web site problems - ugh! Well, it's a good and bad thing. My site was moved over the weekend to a new server and that always causes my email to get whacked out and for some reason the site gets goofed up in the move. It's a behind the scenes thing that I know nothing about and leave up to my web designer/hosters, Sherri & Kathie over at MerchantMoms.com. They do a great job, but glitches happen in the computer world and now we just have to get them straightened back out again. The good part is that in the end, it will be better for comfycozy.com and the sale of my personalized pillowcases!

I'm going to bounce back to Lynn's dessert post now. I love dessert! A week ago I signed up for Martha Stewarts "cookie of the day" email! OMG! YUM is all there is to it. OK, so I haven't made any of them yet, but today I go shopping for ingredients for what appears to be just the yummiest cookies. We're talking easy to make, not some ridiculous fancy shmancy dessert.
I also did it to keep me focused on what is important - my kids and husband who love cookies.
Sometimes with all the "to do" lists in the summer, for some reason baking gets lost in the shuffle. Partly because it's hot and who wants the oven on. But it is a good excuse to turn the AC on!

Going back to "work" now. It's time to look at my list. Which I'm not making public because it's not been formalized yet! A few weeks ago I mentioned my Keepsake Calendars but never got back around to focusing on promoting them. A little more background on them...I created them out of desperation when my oldest son turned 13 months old. I NEVER filled out his baby book - who has time? But I was loyal to his Winnie the Pooh sticker calendar. So, I started printing out blank calendar pages to write in all the "stuff" he was doing.
The "Toddler Year Photo/Sticker Keepsake Calendar" was born! Since you can't find a "start at any month" calendar for anything other than "Baby's First Year", I knew other moms MUST be looking for the something like this and decided to add it to the Comfy Cozy line of products.

To make them more personal, instead of just putting some cute design on each monthly page, there is a "picture frame" so you can put a REAL TIME photo of your child PLUS there are lists of "favorites" for each month: Instead of creating a calendar for next year at a print shop using old pictures, our calendars let you capture the changes and adventures of your child as they happen. How great is that! Now we have a whole line that goes from Baby's First year up to 16 years old. As kids enter preschool, they can help pick out the pictures and practice their writing by filling in the "favorites" sections. There are also stickers (what kid doesn't like stickers??) with age-appropriate activities and holidays to add to the calendars.

I love looking back and seeing the "little things" that our boys did, because after all, it's the little things in life that count most.

Well, better get to making that list and then getting this WAHM to WORK!

Remember, it's still Christmas in July at comfycozy.com. 20% off all orders in July!!

Thankful Thursdays

I will start today off with the fact that I am so Thankful for the good health of my business associates and friends.
Now, business wise I would have to say that today I am also Thankful for a new customer who is so excited about my work that she is spreading the word. She is putting me in touch with 3 potential new customers. What was that old saying, you tell a friend and they tell a friend and they tell a friend etc. :)
I will be starting on the holidays now. Here at D's Stitcheree Custom Embroidery is alway in demand around Christmas. Because Custom Embroidery requires a longer time than stock embroidery it is good to start early.
I also do a lot of Corporate Embroidery this time of year. I have a feeling I will go from not being busy at all to being very busy. That is OK. Bring it on. :)
I think I will have a Christmas in July Sale for stock designs so watch D's Stitcheree and Etsy for that announcement.

Thankful Thursday

on Friday.
oops. I guess I am loosing a day here and there :) I have so much going on right now. I am still fighting this summer cold. Just about nothing worse than a summer cold.
I am trying to go through overstock of apparel. My business took a different turn when we moved to Arizona and I will not be using all these tees now so might as well sell them.
I am working on Christmas ideas. These are my first 2 projects. I will embroider them on kids sweatshirts and personalization will be FREE. I would love to do a Christmas in July sale so we will see how that goes.
Today though, as always, I would love to tell you all that I am sooooo Thankful to live in this great country of ours. I feel so blessed to have been born here. AND also as always, I am so thankful for your friendships. In business and personal areas of my life I cherish you all.













In honor of my love for our country I have come up with this little decorative hand towel.
I use mine as decoration only on my kitchen stove. I have given it as gifts and some use the towel others choose to use it as a decoration. Either way I think it is a lovely addition to your kitchen or bathroom.

Talk About It Tueday!

Since we are celebrating Christmas in July at Korff Ceramic Originals, I will talk about my Personalized Cookies for Santa Plates. Ho Ho Ho! Christmas is only 177 days away!

I have been painting these cookie plates for a long time. Since before I started the website and working at home, so that's over 10 years now. The first design was the snowman....just a simple snowman with a hat and scarf. He was quite popular until....

until someone asked if I could paint a Santa face. And so I designed a Santa face plate and that has been the BIG seller every fall.

After Santa came the reindeer. I like reindeer, so it was just a natural progression for me to paint a Reindeer cookie plate.

And then came the Gingerbreadman, the Penguin (thanks to Happy Feet) and finally the Santa bear plate.

All the plates can be personalized with your choice of phrase (Cookies for Santa, etc.) and names. So far I have been able to fit 6 names along the bottom of a plate (I can write small if I have too : ) Matching mugs are also available, so Santa can have his cookies and milk in style. Personalized Cookies for Santa plates are $28.00ea, matching mugs are $20.00, or you can buy the set for $40.00. Take advantage of our Christmas in July Sale (aka Save My Sanity Sale) order now and save 20% : )

Talk about it Tuesday

It's Tuesday! I'm going to have to "talk about" my monday! It was miserable - ok, just unproductive. I accomplished so little that I threw in the towel at 3. If I would have done all the "personal" things instead of Comfy Cozy things, I would have been better off. I told you summer was tricky around here.

Based on how things can get a little out of control, last night I slept on my "be" pillowcase! A calming, relaxing, find your inner peace design that is perfect for SuperWAHMZ, stressed out moms, anxious teenagers and college students. The Glow in the Dark image lets you read a few more serene thoughts after you turn out the lights and fall asleep with positive thoughts!
I'm starting over today and doing a little bit better:
pillowcases are personalized
orders are processed
taxes finally signed and mailed (just got from acct last night)
bills paid
laundry away and sheets in wash
post to SW blog

Commenting on Lynn's Christmas is Coming post, I received my first order for one of our "Christmas" pillowcases! They make great Personalized gifts for Christmas Eve when kids just can't wait to open a present and gets them into bed! The Glow in the Dark image of "Dear Santa" reads like a list of all the fun things kids want under the tree. "Believe in Christmas" lights up the night with a shining Star and Santa's reindeer flying through the sky.

And, they aren't just for December. We use ours during the year to remember the wonder and love we share at Christmas. The pillowcases are perfect for hot summer nights and having a Christmas in July party - only 5 months til Christmas!!

Lastly, no Lynn I didn't find my Eighth day - still looking!