It is time...

...to retire this blog of 14 years and simultaneously close my fabric shop. What a journey it has been! I still remember how excited and nervous I was posting that very first blog post where I showed one of my handmade bags. In the following years I connected with a bunch of wonderful crafty people across the globe. This led to amazing collaborations, which in turn led to me becoming a DIY blogger in an official capacity. I was invited to blogger events and had the opportunity to review sponsored products. Several of my DIY ideas have been featured in online as well as physical magazines. It was tremendous fun and I am thankful for all the people who I have crossed paths with both virtually and in person through this blog. 

This blog has gone through several re-incarnations, most recently tying in with my website. Needless to say it was one of the hardest decisions to close my fabric shop. There are several reasons, but mainly the pandemic and subsequent supply chain issues and staff shortages everywhere really put a dent in my sales figures. The final nail in the coffin is the ongoing and devastating war in Ukraine. Of course we are all affected by this, but more so in Europe. People are saving up, buying non perishable food items and sadly putting their crafty indulgence on the back burner. Don't get me wrong, I fully understand people's restraint, but from a financial point of view and after doing weeks of market research it simply doesn't make sense to keep the shop up and running. It's a hard fact, but I have to be realistic about it. I actually made this tough decision at the end of summer, and since then I have made peace with it. I have also closed my FB and Twitter accounts.

While I have already taken down my website, my secondary shop on Etsy will remain open until the last day of 2022. I carry a few special fabric designs that are hard to get anywhere else, so here's your last chance to grab some. I'm proud to say, that Etsy has given me the "Star Seller" badge with 100% in all three categories (customer communication, shipping and rating). So, I'm going out on a high note, so to speak!

Back to this blog. While I won't be posting any updates, I will keep the blog up as a reference for anyone out there who has just come across it recently, but will probably mute the comment section. In the tutorial category you will find free sewing tutorials for beginners and intermediate sewists. I also have a travel and recipe section for those who feel inclined to check those out. And listed below are my most popular blog posts and my personal favorites:

DIY Coin purse

Lotti, the little chick

Scrappy pin cushion

Frida Kahlo costume

Advent calendar

What's next you may ask? Well, the next weeks I will most probably be busy wrapping up the business. Yup, even closing down the shop involves the typical German bureaucracy which has been a bit of a struggle! Actually not having to deal with that in the near future is quite a relief.

Frankly, this past year has been especially rough for me personally - with me being hospitalized (and still recovering) and my beloved Sumi crossing the rainbow bridge in September. I miss her so much.  Honestly, I can't wait for this year to be over. 

Thank You

I would like to close this post by thanking all of you that have read my posts, left a kind comment (or multiple!) and linked or even promoted my blog over the years. It's been a truly amazing journey and I was and still am proud to be part of this blogging community. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

If you would like to keep in touch please follow me on Insta (thanks to those who are already following) or you can always drop me a line via email: duni.buesken(at)gmx.de

Until we meet again ~

Much Love,