How Do You Feel About Advertising?

Starbuck, my baby, hiding among stuff in our guest room.

OK everyone, this is a feedback post, I REALLY need some feedback here. PLEASE leave me a comment with your opinion about this.

How do you feel about a blog that allows people to advertise on their site? Regina and I are considering offering this option here on the Crafty Girls Workshop blog. It wouldn't be a high cost thing, and we'd make sure that we only allow people to advertise who sell/make items that are relevant to what our readers want and, of course, don't compete with what we sell. That's part of the reason I need your feedback. It might seem a little over the top to ask people to pay for us to add their button to our blog, especially since we already sell fabric and kits and patterns but I want to offer people the option. Perhaps you're a reader of this blog and you LOVE to sew but have NO idea how to make cute jewlery, why not let us provide an image that links to a webstore of someone who sells pretty jewlery? Do you see where I'm going with this? So, hit me, tell me what you think, yeah or nay about advertising and IF you are someone who would be INTERESTED in advertising on here, please let me know as well. Of course, it would be sort of a let down if we went to all this trouble and no one wanted to advertise with us. Believe me, it's going to be VERY inexpensive to start, probably $5 a month! Most of our advertising budget goes to purchasing ad space on various blogs and we've paid anywhere from $10 to $85 a month for those ads, so I believe that $5 a month is VERY reasonable. I'll also do my best to help drive more traffic here so you get maximum exposure.

One more point: By asking for help with sponsoring our blog by purchasing some ad space, it will help us generate a little bit of money to be able to pay for ad space on other blogs. This will help us keep our prices on fabric, patterns and kits low and fair. We aren't doing this because we're greedy, but we do need to keep our ads on other sites running and hopefully we can do that and help promote some great crafty people in the process!

PLEASE leave me a comment with your opinion, no matter what it is. If you don't want your opinion to be public you can send me an e-mail anna@craftygirlsworkshop.com

BONUS: I will do a DRAWING from the responses (so make sure you leave me your e-mail) to win a CHARM pack of fabric! Drawing will be on Sunday March 7th. Thanks!!

Happy Stitches to You,

Anna

Friday Follow Yippee!

I'm really starting to look forward to Fridays now because of Friday follow! Here is some information about it from One 2 Try's blog:

Here's how You can join the celebration:

--Link up your blog name and URL using the McLinking (on One 2 Try's page) Only need to add one blog to be see on all the blog hops.

--Follow the Friday Follow hostesses listed in the first 3 slots

--Follow as many blogs as you'd like

--Take a moment to comment on the blogs telling them you're from Friday Follow

--Follow back when you get a new follower through Friday Follow

The Blog Hop is the same at each of the three host blogs so you do not have to add your blog at each site. Just one - but you can follow each blog. Follow a few or follow them all.

The list is new each week. The links do not carry over. Please link up each week for new participants to find your blogs. The list is only open to add your blog lines on Fridays. It will be visible all week to visit the blogs listed.

Phew, that's a lot of info! But you should certainly check out One 2 Try, Hearts Make Families, and Midday Escapades because they are the lovely ladies who host this fabulous event every week! I can't believe it, it is barely even 8:45 am Central time and they already have 391 links!! Wow, can't wait to add mine!

Happy Stitches and welcome new followers!

Anna

We were featured!

I can't believe it, but someone chose some of our fabric to show in a treasury on Etsy! That's totally cool. Well, I can't figure out how to get it to show up here, but you can see the treasury if you click the underlined words.

Thanks Crazy Daisy Designs!

Happy Stitches,
Anna

Yes, she DOES sew

And yes, she IS obsessed with red and aqua! Look at these adorable pincushion cuffs I made today! I made one for myself and decided they were sew easy that I'd make another one for Regina at the same time! I used the Lil Plane Jane Aqua and Red and White Dot from Michael Miller. They were SUPER DUPER easy to make and so fun and fast! I dug around in some buttons I inherited from my grandmother and found a really cool white pearly one and one that had a little flower crocheted in the center. Can you see it in this picture?

The neatest trick I learned while making these was to add an old cut up credit card behind the pincushion part, on the wrist band to protect my arm from stray pins! Neat idea! Thanks KeykaLou Patterns for this great tutorial! It feels so good to have actually fininshed something from start to finish today. Yesterday I managed to get most of a quilt top finished too. I just need to grab some more fabric to finish the outside border, backing and binding, of course. I call it the Love U Charm Quilt because I used 1 Love U Charm pack and 1 yard of Bella Solid Mint for the sashing.

I think this will be a great blanket for a little boy (or girl), the fabrics are so fun and cute! I can't wait to go to Regina's tomorrow to get the rest of the fabric. That's the update for now. We have some yardage of Martinique coming in soon and Make Life from Sweetwater, which is going to be super adorable for those of you who enjoy scrapbooking.

Happy Stitches to You!

Anna

I am SEW proud to be able to link this up to i made it! Blog party Thursday over at Everything Etsy!

Also linking to V.O.T.W.

And while I'm at it, a jump on next week:

Can you tell I just discovered the LINKY LOVE of link parties??

Nicey Jane Fabric

I was poking around on my computer last night, saving some pictures from my camera and I came across some pictures I'd taken back in October at Quilt Market in Houston. The picture above is Heather Bailey's booth, of all the beautiful Nicey Jane fabrics. Aren't they just luscious? We loved the vintage-y look and feel of them at the time but were rather overwhelmed by all the fabrics that we were seeing. We have now opened an account with Free Spirit and guess what!? Nicey Jane was at the top of the list of fabrics to purchase. Here are the fabrics we purchased from this line.

Click the image to go to the page on our webstore and purchase anywhere from 1/4 to multiple yards! I can't wait to dig in and sew up some samples with this fabric!

Happy Stitches to You!

Anna

P.S. If you check our webstore, you might find a pleasant surprise, all our fabrics have mysteriously GONE DOWN in price! This is NOT a temporary sale either, this is a PERMANENT price change. Better get that yardage fast before it's all gone!

Our Webstore: Cool Feature

I just figured out how to add a really cool feature to our webstore! Can you see what is circled in the example above? (For a closer look, click the picture to go straight to the webstore.) It's cutting options! How does it work? Let's say you want to make a Quilter's Quarters twirly skirt, which calls for 4 fat quarters. Well, it's soo easy to get exactly what you need without a lot of back and forth complicated chat. Just find the four fabrics you like and choose the radio button next to Fat Quarter $2.75. Then, in the Qty box just below the buttons, enter how many you'd like and click Order. Usually for FQs you'll just want one at a time. Do that for the four fabrics you like and then check out (don't forget to purchase the pattern and any additional yardage). The shopping cart program will automatically calculate the price and tell us you want Fat Quarters! Isn't that awesome?! You can do the same thing for 1/2 yard or 1 yard cuts! That is the beauty of our webstore, a pleasant shopping experience (we hope). OK, yes, I'll admit, I'm a computer geek and figuring out how to do something like adding the option to choose cutting choices seems like a cool feature. I have to admit though, that the Shoppe Pro webstore system makes things really easy (and I don't get any extra credit for saying that either). I hope you all have a wonderful week and find time to sew or quilt! I'll be back soon with more "cool" features.

Happy Stitches to You,
Anna

Love for Haiti Quilt Auction UPDATE

The highest bidder was Anita K. but she didn't leave an e-mail contact and it doesn't look like she has a blog. Anita K. if you're out there, please e-mail me anna@craftygirlsworkshop.com so we can work out the shipping/payment arrangements for the quilt! If we don't hear from you by March 1st, we'll need to withdraw your bid. Thanks for all the interest in the quilt everyone!!

Happy Stitches to You,
Anna

Friday Follow Again!

I just totally LOVE Friday Follow! I love meeting new bloggy friends! Please say hi and check out my blog. If you'd like to know more about Friday Follow visit the One2Try by clicking the picture above to find out all the details.

Happy Stitches,
Anna

Cute Skirt SAMPLE Just Listed

This cute skirt, size 3T is now available on our Etsy shop for sale! Isn't it adorable!!? This is our shop sample for picture purposes and is the ONLY ONE! Regina used the Quilter's Quarters skirt pattern (which we have available in sizes 1-3 yrs or 4-6 yrs) and the Meadowsweet line of fabrics. The patterns and the fabrics are listed on our webstore if you'd like to purchase the supplies to make this cute skirt for your little one. Just think how fun it would be to ring in spring with a cute twirly skirt! I just figured out how to add the option to choose a fat quarter on each fabric listed, so you can browse the fabrics and pick out the coordinates you need and then just add the FQ option to your cart. This skirt uses just 4 FQs so for about the cost of one yard of fabric, you'll be able to make an adorable skirt! You might notice that the price of a fat quarter is a little more than just a 1/4 yard cut of fabric. There is a reason for that. First of all, it requires us to cut a 1/2 yard from the bolt and then cut that fabric in half, so we end up with a "stray" fat quarter. Also, these are not coming pre cut from the manufacturer so we've had to had a tiny bit in for the time it takes to cut the fabric. A typical fat quarter is 18"x22" and you'll probably have some pieces left over for future small projects. Maybe even enough to make coordinating hair bows or applique a top! I hope you have fun shopping and let me know what you think of this cute skirt.

Happy Stitches to You,
Anna
P.S. I got to go "shopping" in our inventory tonight to pick out some fabrics and patterns to make for shop samples too! There is some sewing in my future!

I'm linking this up at Kim's I Made It blog party (for Regina who isn't Tech Savvy) over at Everything Etsy.

Sew Talented Sunday - Regina

I don't know if this is going to become a regular theme for a Sunday post or not, but I would really like to share how incredibly lucky I am work with one of my best friends as my business partner for Crafty Girls Workshop. It also happens that she's my mother in law and she's the one who took the time to show me how to make pillowcases and curtains for my new home after I first was married. That's how I fell in love with sewing. Regina is also a super duper talented sewista. Look at this adorable outfit she made!

Reversible Pleated Top by Sew Sensible and Bloomers from Britches and Bloomers

She made them to show off the adorable fabric we got in from the Blush collection and how the fabrics could be combined to make such a cute outfit! Unfortunately the patterns are out of stock right but but we've reordered them and they should be arriving soon! Guess what? The top is reversible! Here's the other side:

Sew cute! And, since we don't have any little girls in the family who wear size 3T yet, we're just going to have to list this outfit for sale on our Etsy store so that someone else can benefit from the adorable-y cuteness of it all. Regina has also made the amazing Bundle Up Baby Quilt. It is so beautiful and soft and she said it was really quite fun to make. Remember, we're auctioning the the quilt she made to raise money for Doctors without Borders toward the relief effort in Haiti. Here's the quilt again:

If you'd still like to bid on this quilt it's super easy:

1. Click here to visit the blog post about the auction.
2. Leave a comment on the post with the amount you'd like to bid.
3. Bidding will close tonight at midnight.
4. So far the only bid is for $75, but I think we can make it a little higher, right?

Regina really is my inspiration today and always and she's worked so hard and makes so many beautiful things! When we first started Crafty Girls Workshop in March of 2009 (I can't believe it's almost been a year!) we were intent on making items to sell, but I was working full time and never had time to sew anything. So she would sew aprons and pillows and make adorable blankets. She was sewing like crazy! In that first couple of months before we decided to list fabric in our shop, we only sold a couple of the aprons she made. But when we eventually listed fabric the sales really shot up! And where did we get that fabric? From Regina's stash of course! All I did was get the items listed on the site. Now we've got brand new fabrics, fresh from the bolts and it's all stored at Regina's house. That's why we call her the shipping and receiving department. OK, I digress. Regina's also made a cute skirt with the Quilter's Quarters pattern and I'll have pictures of that very soon. Now I'd like to hear from any of you out there who might read this. Who inspires you to sew or taught you to sew? I'd love to meet our readers!

Happy Valentine's Day and Happy Stitches to You,

Anna

It's A-LIVE!

Crafty Girls Workshop Webstore is Now Open for Business!!

Here it is, all in it's shiny newness. This has been a work in progress for several weeks and I'm so proud to say that our new website is now up and running! (Click the picture to visit the shop!)The address is:

http://craftygirlsworkshop.com

I hope you'll add us to your favorites, bookmarks, list of shops to visit and come by often! Our Etsy store is still alive and well, but we will be phasing out listing everything in both shops (can you imagine? That's twice the work!) We want to focus the Etsy shop on a place to sell our shop samples. One of the best things about this new web store is that we can provide you, our customers, with the opportunity to purchase multiple yards (more than 5 at a time) without having to do a lot of back and forth communication. Don't get us wrong though, we LOVE to communicate, and there is a way to contact us through the website. But we know that sometimes with time zone differences, it can be difficult to wait for a response from us about setting up a custom listing with a certain yardage amount. Now you can easily just choose whatever amount you'd like and just add it to your cart! You can even purchase as little as 1/2 yard cut, just use .5 in the quantity box. I really hope that you might have some time this weekend to visit our new store and see all that we have to offer. We appreciate any feedback you want to send us, whether it's through the Contact link on the shop, adding a comment to this post, or sending me an e-mail, I can't wait to hear from you!

Happy Shopping!
Anna

New Valentine's Day Poll

I thought it would be fun to create a new poll just in time for Valentine's day. It's over there in the right hand sidebar. I've heard so many commercials this year claiming that "today's woman" wants her guy to get her a new cell phone or a new computer. Haha, I'd prefer chocolate, personally. I work with technology all day long and don't need my "guy" to buy me anything electronic. In fact, I think he doesn't really "believe" in V-day on principal that he doesn't need a special day to buy chocolate and flowers to show he loves me. But it would be nice anyway... So for fun, please answer the poll to the right if you want to.

Happy Stitches to You,
Anna
P.S. The Love for Haiti Quilt Auction is still going on, the bid is at $75 but I'd love to see it go higher.

Friday Follow

Last week I found this nifty group of ladies who host something called Friday Follow. I added my blog to their list and amazingly over the course of the week had lots of new people visiting this blog! It was really fun to be "found" by so many people. So this week I'm really going to participate. I'm adding the button and spreading the word. Hopefully some will come by and bid on that quilt!

Happy Blog Hopping,
Anna

Love for Haiti, a Quilt Auction

Anita K. If you are out there, please e-mail me anna@craftygirlsworkshop.com You had the highest bid for the Haiti Quilt! Thanks!

The Crafty Girls were, of course, very touched by the tragedy in Haiti. We both reacted in our own ways. I, being the techy-girl that I am reached out to people through this blog and by commenting on other blogs and found out about Craft Hope for Haiti. Then, after talking to Regina we decided to donate a tote bag to the Craft Hope for Haiti shop and amazingly, it sold within one day! Regina, being the wonderful, sweet person that she is, decided to make a quilt so that we could try auctioning it off here on our blog, and send all the money to Doctors Without Borders. She made the sweetest, softest, cutest quilt and if I had a baby girl, I'd snatch it up before she could blink. Or at least make her make another one for me. As it turns out, she used a pattern we have in our shop and fabrics we have in our shop!! Here is a picture of the quilt:




Isn't this quilt just adorable? Regina used the Bundle Up Baby Girl quilt pattern from Cotton Way and she told me over and over how incredibly easy this pattern was! She said it was her first time doing the quilt-as-you-go method and it's very clever. The best part about this quilt, besides the soft, feminine colors of the Mill House Inn fabrics, is that it has raw edges which fray when washed so it comes out even softer and cuddly-er.

Here you can see the detail of the fraying, how cute!

This is the back, not only is the fabric very cute, but the quilting is great!

Regina and I would like to offer this 41" x 42" baby quilt up for auction, here on our blog. I've never hosted an auction on a blog before but I've seen it done around blogland. I think the way it will work is this: I'd like to start the bidding at $75 (USD). If you'd like to bid $75, please leave a comment. Each person who'd like to bid higher to bid on this quilt, please leave another comment. You should be able to see a progression of the bidding going up throughout the comments (or that's our hope at least). And if you REALLY can't live without this quilt, please feel free to bid again. Remember that the money will be donated to Doctors Without Borders toward the relief effort in Haiti. The bidding will remain open until Valentine's Day, February 14th at 12:00noon CST. At that point, I'll close bidding/comments and notify the highest bidder. We'll send you a Pay Pal invoice and then pass the money (minus shipping costs) on to DWB. If you are unable to bid, please just pass on the word about this auction and help us spread the Love for Haiti around the blogosphere and twitterland and facebookworld. I've even created a little badge you can add to your posts or even to your sidebar to help spread the word! Here it is, just copy and paste the code below the image into an HTML gadget on your sidebar and you should be able to share the Love for Haiti.

<a href=" http://blog.craftygirlsworkshop.com" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Love for Haiti button" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4024/4331056649_35ca615ffd_m.jpg" /></a>

Thanks so much, and I'm sure that the Doctors without Borders and people in Haiti thank you as well!
Happy Bidding,

Anna and Regina
The Crafty Girls