Blog and Shop of the Month 8

This month I'm going to do something a little bit different.  I'm going to share a few of my favorite blogs and shops that I've discovered last month and then tell you which ones get the coveted free ad space.

Blogs:

Entrepeneur.com:  This is a pretty cool blog for small business owners, such as myself, to learn how to run their business better.  Some of the posts go way over my head, but there are a lot of really helpful ones too.

Design Your Own (lovely) Blog:  This one is all about how to make your blog pretty and unique and personalized.  There are a lot of great tutorials and free resources.

Love from Ginger:  This lady makes some cool stuff and shares a free stock photo every single Friday, which is something I can really get on board with, since a lot of my blog posts are photo-less but I haven't wanted to use a stock photo that looks like a stock photo, and I can't always photograph something for the post.

Lolaloop:  Life. Books. Geekery.  What more could you really want?  Humor.  It's got that too.

My Life as a Teacup:  I'll try not to gush but I completely in love with this blog and it is my Blog of the Month.  For starters, there's the design.  It's the prettiest blog design ever, in my opinion.  Kristin is all about books, nerdiness, being cozy, and wearing super cute outfits.  Plus she writes posts about awesome words, which I love so much!

Shops:

Cosmic American:  This shop has the most amazing dreamcatchers!  They also sell artwork and jewelry.

Nastalgame:  This shop sells the coolest acrylic jewelry based on stuff from video games like The Legend of Zelda, Pac Man, Starcraft, and Portal.  I bought a necklace from them and I love it.  I want so many more things from this shop.  Some of the jewelry, including the necklace that I bought, is even double sided!

Furrow and Feather:  My Shop of the Month, Furrow and Feather, sells shadowbox art.  The designs are made by cutting white vinyl and placing it on glass in a shadowbox frame, and they're quite lovely.

Trend Jumping in Indie Business

Unless your business is all about selling the latest trendy pieces, it's probably not in your best interest to jump on every trend that comes around.  It's fine to try them here and there if you are still trying to figure out what your brand is all about, but I think the most important thing when establishing a brand is to strive to create something lasting.  Add your own touch to every piece you create and don't worry about being like everyone else.  Because having your products stand out and be unique is way better than selling a version of what everyone else is.  That's how you create your niche.

It should be obvious that I am not saying that your business should never change.  Your business should definitely change as you do.  But too much change happening all of the time can drive customers away.

For example, I run a jewelry business.  My pieces are all very unique and in a range of styles.  They all reflect my personal taste.  I have never jumped on the statement necklace trend, the ombre trend, or the neon trend.  Despite the fact that those things were all the rage and couldn't stay on shelves, I stayed true to myself and I stayed true to my brand.  Why?  I guess it's because of my motivation for making jewelry.  I make jewelry because I love to be creative and make things that I am proud of.  If I was just in it for the money, I wouldn't mind jumping on trends.  Because let's be honest, I have made under 50 sales in the two years I've had my shop, and some people have made 50+ sales in their first month.  That's not a lot of money and it's definitely not enough for me to quit my day job.  But I make jewelry because I love it and I take pride in it.  I'm not really sure where I'm going with this.  I guess I'm just trying to say that if you're trying to make a quick buck, go ahead and jump on every single trend that comes your way, but if you make things with passion and pride, forge your own path and you'll create something that lasts.

What I did this Weekend

I went back home for four days to see my family.  It was fun.  We went to a car show (I saw a Delorean!), went to Multnomah Falls, had a picnic, and played Apples to Apples.  I also learned how to do an oil change, and changed the oil in G's car all by myself!  (Pictures coming soon.)  Plus I ate lots of delicious gluten-free food and had a great time seeing my family.  It had been too long; I hadn't seen them since February!

Now I've been employed making jewelry for a whole year.  You may remember that I was hired last year on Labor Day.  Things have changed a lot at work.  I am the only employee now and since I missed nearly two whole weeks of work when I had the flu, we are completely swamped with orders now!  It's a good problem to have.  Last year around Christmas (normally the busiest time of the year), we had so few orders that everyone got laid off except me.  I still do wish that my boss would hire another employee though, because I feel so bad when I'm sick because she's the only one making jewelry then.  I am trying not to feel so bad though because it was my boss' decision not to hire anyone else.

Window Shopping: Tee Shirts

I don't need any more tee shirts, and I certainly don't need to spend any more money.  So all of my shopping lately is of the window variety.  I have found a bunch of really cool shirts that I wouldn't mind having, so I wanted to share them.

for everyone who puts stuff on the internet; also it's in the store for an awesome webcomic so double win

Link has a lot  in his inventory.  This is what it would look like if he was carrying it all without a magical storage system.

This one's pretty adorable.

He's a Stormtroopa.  Get it?  This one is out of stock, but that's okay when you're window shopping.