Out of town...ich bin dann mal weg

Looks like somebody doesn't want me to go ;-)

Kater Sammy will, daß ich bleibe ;-)

Taking a break...Ich lege mal eine (Blog)Pause ein

Thank you to Shelby for putting together this charming treasury.



as its title suggests, it is time to slow down! Dear readers and friends ~ I'm taking some time off from blogging. I need to regroup and reenergize! Till then,take care, everybody. xoxo
Meine Lieben...es ist Zeit einfach mal die Seele baumeln zu lassen und deshalb lege ich eine kurze Blogpause ein! Bis bald mal wieder xoxo

Time to reflect...Zeit zum Nachdenken

Today is a public holiday over here, and on slow days like these I tend to reflect on which direction my small business is going or rather which direction I want it to go. I'm at a crossroads. There are signs that point to rapid expansion ~ a lovely lady who owns this adorable boutique in the picture below contacted me about carrying my entire line ~ BUT there are also clear signs that this increased activity is not conducive to my health (yeah, I'm still having issues, but I don't mention it much because I want to keep my blog a happy place). Plus I opened another online shop (more on that in future). So today will be spent on the couch, reflecting, getting back in touch with my soul and hopefully coming to a decision that will reflect my true path.

Feiertage machen mich immer nachdenklich. Draussen wie drinnen ist alles still. Da es schon wieder regnet werde ich den heutigen Tag auf unserem Sofa verbringen, nachdenken wie es mit meinem Mikrounternehmen weitergeht ~ ich wurde neulich von einer sehr netten Boutique Besitzerin auf meine gesamte Kollektion angesprochen (siehe Bild oben). Hübsch, nicht wahr? Jammerschade, dass ich als Ein-Frau-Betrieb solch einen Großauftrag nicht annehmen kann. Tja, und deshalb werde ich mich heute darauf besinnen, was und wieviel ich persönlich erreichen möchte und ob eine schlagartige Expansion mich tatsächlich glücklich macht.

thanks for stopping by today. Have a lovely day!
wünsche allen einen erholsamen Feiertag!
 

Working on a romper/Prototyp Kurz-Overall

Rompers or one-piece-suits seem to be all the rage for summer this year! I feel ambivalent about this particular style. On one hand I get that I need to cater to customers wishes to some extent, on the other I'm not sure this style is as comfortable as everyone makes it out to be! And that is really my priority when I'm creating my pieces. The feedback I hear most often about my clothing is "wow, this is so comfortable", and that is music to my ears. Anyway, I'm hoping to perfect my romper pattern to make it not only feminine, but comfy to wear too! The armholes need adjustment and I will add a self-belt to complete the look.

Prototype/Prototyp

Der Kurz-Overall ist allem Anschein nach der Trendartikel des Sommers! So ganz überzeugt mich dieser Schnitt aber nicht ~ trotzdem arbeite ich seit einiger Zeit an einem Modell für meine Homewear Linie, da ich mich ansatzweise an die Kundenwünsche anpassen muß! Nach wie vor hat für mich hoher Tragekomfort Prioriät, deshalb hat meine Version des Kurzoveralls keinen zentralen Reißverschluß (oder eine Knopfleiste), sondern eine elastische Taille sowie ein legeres Oberteil in Wickeloptik, welches beim Tragen geschoppt wird (wie ein Blouson). Eventl. füge ich vorne zwei Brustabnäher hinzu und mindere die Armausschnitte. Ein Stoffgürtel vollendet dann das Outfit. Mal sehen ob ich es bis zum Sommer hinbekomme :)

till then,
bis bald mal wieder,

After the rainstorm/nach dem Regensturm...

...my lovely Peonies didn't survive (this is last year's photo)
meine schönen Pfingstrosen haben es leider nicht überlebt (Foto vom letzten Jahr)

the perennials and rambler roses partly survived.
Die Stauden und Kletterrosen haben es halbwegs überstanden.

Luckily the hydrangeas made it!
Die Hortensien sind zum Glück alle heil geblieben!

wishing everybody a wonderful (and hopefully sunny) weekend!
wünsche allen ein schönes, und hoffentlich sonniges Wochenende!

Rosy Dreams is a favourite/mein Pyjama Set "Rosy Dreams"

Hi everybody!
just wanted to share two lovely Etsy treasuries that both feature my Rosy Dreams PJ Set, which is my personal favourite item too!

Hallo ihr Lieben!
mein Rosy Dreams Pyjama Set erfreut sich immer größerer Beliebtheit! Nachfolgend zwei schöne Etsy Collagen: Die einzelnen Bildchen sind "anklickbar" und führen direkt zum Produkt im jeweiligen Shop.Wer Etsy noch nicht kennt ~ es ist so ähnlich wie die deutsche Verkaufsplattform Dawanda, nur viel größer, mit internationalen Verkäufern und mehr Angebot. Habt ihr schon mein Pyjama entdeckt?

This cheery pink one was curated by jewelry artist Christina

and this dreamy romantic one by knitting specialist Nancy

Thank you so much, ladies! Vielen lieben Dank!

Shabby Chic Ruffle Shorts/ Sommer Shorts mit Rüschen

For the benefit of my German readers I will be blogging bi-lingually as of today.

My blog buddy Nancy let me know through Facebook that my new ruffle shorts were featured on Paper*Cakes Finds. I probably would have missed it! Wow, what an honour. As far as I know Chelsea's blog is read by a lot of people...and hopefully some of these people will click through to my Etsy shop?! I love waking up to great news like this :)

Tolle Nachricht ~ Meine neuen gerüschten Shorts sind auf dem populären Blog Paper*Cakes Finds vorgestellt worden. Dieser Blog hat eine riesige Leserschaft und mit etwas Glück klicken einige dieser Leser auf meinen Etsy Shop :) Dort sind noch weitere Shorts, mit oder ohne Rüschen, in verschiedenen Farben und Designs zu finden. An dieser Stelle herzlichen Dank an Chelsea, die den o.g. Blog betreibt.

Have a lovely day!
Habt einen schönen Tag!

Getting the word out

Ever since I opened my shop end of last year I've been thinking a lot about where to advertise, for how much and when. Especially now that my tax consultant has put the pressure on and in no uncertain terms told me I absolutely must increase my sales.
I've advertised twice on the craft cult site. Each time traffic to my shop increased dramatically and resulted in shop hearts, item hearts and a sale on each occasion. I went for the carousel ad at the top of the site as opposed to the sidebar, because it's far too crowded on there, and I feel only a few people will actually take the time to scroll down to see all the ads and click on them. Most visitors are probably Etsy shop owners who check out their stats and/or treasuries. But the eye is drawn to the moving ads at the top anyway.

I've joined Total Art Soul. Members have the opportunity to upload  photos of their items to the gallery. TAS jury selects members to be featured on their blog. TAS is very active on twitter and frequently tweets about members' products. Another good way of getting the word out plus it doesn't cost me a thing!

I'm currently drafting my story for the Art Saves series on a site called Crescendoh by Jenny Doh. Featured stories get linked to the respective shops. Jenny is associated with the "big guns" in the crafting business: Heather Bailey, Amy Tangerine, Serena Thompson etc. Getting picked for the feature will bring lots and lots of views and hopefully sales. Fingers crossed.

I started sending out my newsletter to my lovely subscribers. Most are already familiar with my shop, but I'm hoping it will get passed along to friends and acquaintances ;-)
What else do I do? I pass out business cards at every opportunity. I've created flyers and I've asked overseas friends to print out and distribute them. What else do I need to do? Increase my facebook fan page activity!
Another thing I'm considering is offering bag-making classes at the local educational center. I stand a good chance of getting into their program for next year, which means more local people will get to know me and my products.

I've also started interacting more with German blogs. Something I neglected when I started blogging in 2008. Doesn't hurt to exchange links. And last, but not least, I might run a teeny ad in a quarterly magazine called Romance ~ it's a local magazine filled with romantic interiors, clothing, decoration, vintage, shabby chic...I think my sleepwear would fit in well :)

Love Gingham!

Gingham or "Vichy" as we say over here reminds me of summer, picnics, country cottages and Johanna Spyri's Heidi.
Crafty sisters Anne and Susan created this fun treasury and included my gingham and lace summer shorts! Check out their shop AnneArchy. They offer an adorable selection of Blythe doll clothes! 

Have a great day!

What do you mean...?

...I'm not allowed on top of the new sideboard? Purrrsonally I think I look very decorative up here!

Shop news and a walk in the park

Hi there!

I might not have been posting much, but I have been listing ready-to-ship summer shorts in my shop and drafting new designs.
Romper anyone? More on this in a future post.
Oh, and just a quick reminder ~ free shipping on summer shorts (till June 26th) offered to all newsletter subscribers!

Yesterday (public holiday) was a gorgeous day with clear skies, bright sunshine with just a hint of a breeze, so we went for a nice walk in the park round the smallish castle at the edge of our little town. Since it's breeding season of the swans, we were sure to avoid walking too close to the water's edge. The beer garden adjacent to the castle was packed, but we found a quiet café further along in one of the cobble-stone alleys. It really is nice to have a day off in the middle of the week :)

Hope you're all doing great. Happy Friday!