Gearing back up

Getting back the mindset and vision to be able to share some of what I love to do with others! 

Since it's time for graduations I am practicing my card-making skills to have some templates to make sets for my little shop! Here's a peek:

One basic and the other a little more fun! Trying to come up with cute options to diversify and bring a broader price range to the shop. 

So, just a quick update and behind the scenes look to give you a glimpse of what's happening. Gearing back up to have that grand re-opening that was postponed!! :)

Postponed

     Since I last wrote, things have changed somewhat. My projected relaunch coincided with my grandmother passing away. And since both of my grandmothers have been such an inspiration to my store and taught me so much of the creative elements that I use with my little Etsy shop, it has been a challenge to get back into planning the relaunch. My projected date was early April, but sadly I had to be back home for a funeral and such things so everything has been postponed and dates moved back a great deal. Sometimes life just intervenes and gets in the way of our plans.

     As of now I don't have a projected date, but am still planning on having a grand re-opening. I'll definitely be posting more in the future as things get closer.

Thanks all!

Tentative Grand Re-Opening!!!

To those who have been reading and anticipating....
YES! Finally planning a Grand Re-Opening of Creative Medley! Official date to be announced as I have a few more things to iron out, but planning to re-open in April. I am quite excited! And finally decided after much debate that having the store open and available is preferable to having a lot in stock. Therefore plans were adjusted accordingly and things are moving forward.

Having fun brainstorming items to add and goals to meet!

Enjoying seeing my funky, fun Swizzle Swirl earrings come together, in quite an array of colors might I add!

Loving feedback and encouragement from friends and acquaintances alike!

Starting to purchase more supplies for my creations from other Etsy sellers!! Which is OH so fun and reminds me of the little Etsy community I am a part of!

Liking the progress that has been made to organize my craft area and the places to store my Creative Medley stock itself!

Looking forward to re-opening!!!!!!!!

Creative Medley is all about being creative and sharing that creativity with others that they could enjoy it or gift it to someone they care for. And that means you! My readers, my friends and acquaintances, each person who scans or looks at or favorites an item. And THAT is why I am excited about re-opening. My audience, the ones with whom I want to share my creations with! To pass along or enjoy, that is the goal.

Now that I've posted those tidbits, I will be getting back to rearranging, organizing, and creating more items for Creative Medley!

Yarn, Stamps, and Earrings Oh My!

        Still working out some kinks before the Grand Re-Opening! Finding a balance of price that is fair to me and the value of my handmade items but is also fair to the buyer is not always an easy task. But enough of the boring number crunching. I'm so excited to be re-opening soon! I've been encouraged so much at my workplace lately. Over the past month I have had many, many compliments on some of my earring designs from friends and random passers through alike. Along with encouragement from another friend that my cards and stationary are quite sellable.

       All of this has encouraged me to re-open soon, and to put more emphasis on some of the smaller, charming items in my shop. Although I love knitting, it does take a great deal of time. So the lovely scarves and dish cloths will be put on hold as I undertake stocking up on the items those around me have complimented and commented on. Expect to see larger quantities of my fun and funky Swizzle Swirl Earrings and some other cute and simple earrings as well. I will be designing more cards and stationary to stamp because I just love the idea of rekindling the lost art of letter writing. Or at least sending fun hand made notes, birthday, and seasonal cards to close friends!

        As soon as I stock up on those items I will be designing some aprons to sew and sell! Some will be based on antique patterns, my own designs, designs from my great (great?) grandmother, and maybe even some movie inspirations. You will have to wait and see!


        I'm trying to brainstorm ideas of how to display my earrings that would be cute and different. I do not wish to use a live model or myself to photograph them because I feel there are some sanitary issues there that I do not want to deal with. I want you to be able to pick out and purchase the perfect compliment to your outfit and not worry about them having been previously worn. So...any cute ideas?! I currently photograph them on the edge of a teacup to just give an idea of size and because they hang there nicely, but other fun suggestions would be welcome!

Coming Soon!

First things first.
Seeing as I use sterling silver posts for all of my handmade earrings, they are now tarnished. This means I will be purchasing a polishing cloth and sprucing up those already created very shortly.
Already completed is a new journal of ideas, inspirations, necessities and lists specifically for Creative Medley. Purchased for protective storage are some great new containers that now only lack labels and handcrafted items to place in stock.









And finally, coming soon are place cards for entertaining and other fun get togethers, stationary and cards, and cute post it note holders!

And again...

I will reiterate my last blog post, not done yet, still crazily trying to balance life with a new job and having friends move nearby (yay!). I am planning on re-opening soon, and as yet have still not worked out the pricing for providing a donation to a good cause yet. Pricing that out will be tricky as I don't want to overcharge but still need to meet my goals as well. You know, all the less fun and exciting parts of having a shop.

However, here is your sneak peek at what will be coming soon!!!
Plan for:
*handmade cards
*place cards for formal (or just fun!) entertaining
*more earrings and jewelry
*and possibly more scarves and knitted items

So that is your sneak peek on what will be coming soon! Give me another week or so to make some of these new items available for you, and the CreativeMedley will be up and running again!

Not Done Yet

So, although it may appear that my Etsy shop has closed down it has NOT! This has just been such a busy time in my life right now that it is on hold and in the 'vacation' mode for a little while longer. Mostly life has just gotten crazier and I've been in and out of town and would not have been able to efficiently place orders. And I would hate for anyone to feel neglected or not get their handmade items! So it has been in a holding pattern for awhile and as things are finally settling down I have a new job. So, in the midst of life and living and new chaos, I am going to try and reopen soon. The plan is to first do some revamping, which I think will be exciting!

I will still be producing, making, and creating my own products but I am hoping to offer more options and have more items in stock and to also make more clear other colors available for products. I am also intending on changing some of the pricing so that I can send some of my earnings on to a better cause! This is where things get fun and more personal. I want to provide a product that is cute and handmade and either a great personal purchase or that perfect gift for someone else. Along with that product I want to make ends meet with cost of supplies to make my cute handmade crafts, but to also have a small profit AND send some money to those who need it more. This involves more calculations and planning on my end and thus the delay in re-opening my shop.

The end goal will be to make my customers happy with their purchase, provide a little extra income for my small family, and make both myself and customers excited that some of the cold hard cash will be going to a great cause! A lot of thought will be going into where the extra funds end up. I'm hoping to have different themes that make sense. For example, if you buy a scarf a donation will be made to clothe children who don't have means for buying clothing or coats. Or if stationary, cards, or bookmarks are purchased a donation to funding education in illiterate countries would be made. And so on.

If you want to check out where I am planning to make these donations, a link can be found here: https://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/Giving/gift_catalog/
To avoid scams I wanted to send the donations to a place I trusted and knew where the money was going and that it would actually be used for what it claimed. Samaritans Purse is a longstanding and trustworthy organization, and since my husband actually worked for the company and I know others who do as well, I know for a fact that the money will go where it says it will. They also offer options for smaller donations that would be feasible for my little shop to meet.

So to those following the Creative Medley shop, please know that things are still happening Behind the Scenes! Amidst being in and out of the state for multiple weddings and family things I have still been thinking and putting effort into the shop even as it sits dormant and 'on vacation'. Some very cute cards, scarves, and jewelry will be seen again soon! I just have to plan and coordinate some other details before it opens back up. So be thinking of what you'd like to see, leave comments on things you'd like to have available for Christmas gifts, birthday gifts, or things you yourself want!!

Oh, and here is a pic of the little aprons I made for the bride's bachelorette party:

Eight aprons were made, and they were so much fun! I am currently trying to find a pattern that I could sell that would not infringe on any copyright issues. Or come up with my own pattern that would still look cute! So that is your sneak peek and information on what is to come!!!!

Please stop by the shop to see if it's reopened...likely mid or end of October!