What's Happening Pinky?!

It's been quite awhile since I announced my blogging hiatus.  I've been keeping extremely busy, but I have had a few experiences that I want to share - and an awesome upcoming sale to promote!

The photo makes it look cluttered, but it looked fab in person!

Before I get to the sale, I wanted to share some photos from the Philomath Frolic Holiday Craft Show that I participated in last weekend.  This was my second year at this show, and I was super excited to make changes based on the lessons I learned last year.  I have re-designed my packaging, re-designed my display to be able to accommodate all my wine charms, and printed some fab new business cards. 

I definitely enjoy vending at this show because it's down where I grew up, and I get to spend the two days hanging out with my mom at the booth.  Unfortunately, most vendors experienced a drop in sales compared to last year, and I was no exception.  The traffic was pretty good, I received a ton of compliments on my work, but folks were holding tight to their wallets.  It was still a successful show, but this economy is hitting us hard.  I'm not sure if I'll do this show again next year; I suppose I'll have to see where everything is at next fall when applications come out! 

New packaging and wine charm display

In the meantime, I am OH SO EXCITED about the holiday shopping season.  Black Friday is a huge tradition in my family.  The core players are always my mom and I, and we're usually joined by one of my aunts, and occasionally one of my cousins.  We are lean, mean, deal-seeking machines.  Have you heard that a lot of stores are opening at midnight on Friday?  Yes, stores like Target and Kohls are hoping to drag you out of your turkey and pumpkin pie coma and into their stores at midnight.  At first, I was pretty excited about this.  I'd rather stay up late than go to bed and get up super early.  Buuuuuuut.....not all stores are opening at midnight, so this creates a major scheduling challenge.  We want to hit some midnight stores, but other stores we frequent (shout out to Fred Meyer's annual Sock Sale!) don't open until 5am.  We'll either have to decide to skip the midnight openings and hope for the best in the morning, or we'll hit the midnight stores, take a nap and hit the 5am and 6am stores, and then be going on very, very little sleep all day Friday.  Hmm. 

On that note, I wanted to remind everybody about Cyber Monday and the giant movement nationwide to shop small businesses this holiday season.  While I'll admit, I do shop the big box stores, I also have a list going on Etsy for other items I'm planning to gift.  I generally hit the big box stores for the generic holiday stuff (socks, flannel sheets, husband's specific University of Arizona apparel that makes it's way on his list every year), but I love shopping Etsy for the personal gifts. I also love knowing that I'm helping a small business owner.  I found *the perfect* gift for my aunt this year, and I cannot wait to see her start crying when she opens it! Where did I find it?  I found it on Etsy.  You see where I'm going with this, right? 

  All these items will be a part of the PDXEtsy sale!

To help get your Etsy-shopping gears turning, I want to share this huge news:  the PDX Etsy team is sponsoring a major Cyber Monday Sale.  Over 80 artisans in the Portland area (including me, yay!) will be offering hot deals and freebies when you enter the code PDXETSY2011 at checkout.   The wonderfully awesome Becky from Little Daisy Chains has put together the list of participating shops and the deals they will be offering, so make sure to check it out by clicking here! 

Now, while the PDXEtsy sale is officially going down on Cyber Monday (November 28, the Monday after Thanksgiving), I also want to show some love to my Black Friday shoppers, and to those supporting Small Business Saturday.  So.......for my loyal blog readers, Facebook fans, and Twitter followers, I'm going to be offering free shipping starting Thanksgiving Day all the way through the end of Cyber Monday!  That's right, you can get free shipping on all in-stock orders when you enter PDXETSY2011 - woooo hooo!!

I want to wish everybody a wonderful Thanksgiving - I have so much to be thankful for this year! 

<3 Mishelle

PDXEtsy Sale: list of participating shops: http://littledaisychains.blogspot.com/2011/11/pdxetsy-cyber-monday-sale-november-28th.html

PinkyCrafts: Free Shipping November 24 - 28 using code PDXETSY2011: http://www.pinkycrafts.etsy.com

PinkyCrafts is officially one!

Coconut birthday cupcake! YUM! 

Approximately one year ago, I had just moved across the country in search of something to make me happy.  I had found where I wanted to be geographically, but it was time to decide what I wanted to do to fill my time.  I had just experienced a messy break up - with my previous career.  I knew I didn't want to go back to it, but I didn't really know where else I could go.......after weeks of daily job-hunting, I knew I had to do something immediately to keep myself from dying of boredom.  I had a good friend who was selling on Etsy, and I thought that maybe I could list a few of my scrapbooks and scrapbook pages online.  When I asked her for advice, she made it clear: "It's hard work! Don't expect this to pay your bills!".  I thought, "Well, how hard can it be?  I like my products, I'm sure there is at least one person out there in the world who will like it too!".  All I wanted was to sell a few things, make a little spending money, and keep myself busy while I planned my next career move. 

I created a few new things, took some photos, and sat back to await my first customers.  It didn't take me long to realize there was a LOT more to selling online than I realized!  I had no idea how much competition there was just in my market.  I realized my photos weren't up to par. I realized I needed to get established so buyers would trust shopping with me. I realized I'd have to work extra hard at getting noticed by search engines.  I realized I had no idea what I was doing.

It became a goal of mine to be successful at this thing I originally thought was so easy.  I read every article about Etsy selling that I could get my hands on, I networked with other sellers, I joined the Etsy D-Listers Team. I learned everything I could about SEO.  I advertised on every free website I could find.  I started learning about my target market. I learned when my site received the most traffic, and where they were coming from.  I blogged.  I tweeted.  I Facebooked.  I held a sale and sponsored a giveaway. I studied keywords. I re-wrote my listings and re-tagged my items more times than I can count.  I attended Virtual Labs on Etsy, I took and re-took all my photos in every lighting condition imaginable (ok, I did this many, many times!).  I constantly worked on new products.  I basically threw my entire heart, soul, and all of my waking hours into my shop. 

4.10.10:  First Etsy Sale!  What a HORRID photo! EEK!!!

After a few months, I realized that I had put far too much effort into my little business to just keep it just a little business. I wanted to make it big; I wanted this to be my main thing.  I was having a great time learning about this new project!  I was feeling fulfilled, I had made a few sales, and I wanted more.  With the support of my husband, I decided to make it happen.  I was working harder and more hours doing this than I had been at my previous career, but I was happy - something I hadn't felt in a very, very long time.  There were, and still are, people in my life that don't understand what I'm doing or understand just how much effort goes into PinkyCrafts.  This is a real thing, I am a small business owner!

I had also realized that working from home was a little lonely. My husband found a job shortly after I opened my shop, so he was gone all day.  Its great to wake up and work in your PJs, but I could go days without needing to leave the house, and most of my conversations were between myself and my bunny!  I decided to take on a part-time job, and started working at a local pet hospital.  Originally, it was only a couple days per week, and easily fit into my life.  In recent months, I have struggled to balance that job and my business, but it's something I'm trying to address.  Part of PinkyCrafts is having a personal shopping experience, and I want to remain available to my customers!

In August, a friend of mine suggested I create a line of drink glass tags that party-goers could write their names on. Once I introduced my first two styles, my sales started skyrocketing, and I started creating all kinds of party accessories. Everything fit right into my shop philosophy: helping my customers celebrate the good times in life.

My party accessories put PinkyCrafts on the map!

Fast forward to today, and I've just celebrated my very first Etsy anniversary.  I made my goal of having 100 sales in the first year - something I am insanely proud of.  I've sold to over half of the states in the US, as well as several other countries.  I sold at two different holiday gift shows. I was featured on the Etsy Front Page in March, and I've received the most generous compliments on my work from my amazing customers. 

Several friends have asked me how to start selling online, and I see so many new sellers post for help with how to increase sales.  I always tell them the same thing:  it's so much more work than you think, but its worth it.  You get out of it exactly what you put into it. You need to be fully committed to what it is you're selling, and be ready to throw yourself into building this business.  You've got to check your fears at the door.  If you are, and if you do, and if you can, you've got a good shot! 

My goals for the next year: beat my first year sales number, in both number of sales and dollars made.  I also want to start approaching local boutiques about wholesale contracts.  I want to finally reach 100 item listings!   Most of all, I want to keep having fun and keep being my own boss.  This really is the very best job I've ever had. 

Cheers to my second year!!!

Yay! My First Etsy Front Page Feature!



As seen on the Etsy Front Page, March 7, 2011!

I was down visiting my mom for a few days, and absently checked my email one afternoon.  As soon as I saw that I had an email from Statsy Featurator, I started yelling "OH MY GOD!" - I had finally made the Etsy Front Page! I had missed seeing it there myself by a mere hour, but thankfully, I was able to get the screenshot from CraftCult. 
For those of you who don't know - the Etsy Front Page is (currently) the collection of 12 items on http://www.etsy.com/ that every visitor to the site sees. It's usually a cohesive group of items with the same theme, color, hot trend, etc.  The Front Page collections are pulled from member-curated treasuries, which any Etsy user can create. Right now, there are 475,000 active treasuries on Etsy.  The folks that run Etsy, called the Etsy Admin, will select one particularly beautiful treasury to put on their front page, and the collection changes every hour.  The chance that a treasury you create, or a treasury that you are featured in, will actually make the Front Page is very, very small (except in the case a few, ok a lot, of Etsy Admin's favorite sellers.  These folks can hit the Front Page several times a day.  It's not fair.  But I won't go there, because for rest of us sellers, its an unexpected honor!).  Thus, if you are lucky enough to be featured, its a huge deal.  It's usually a screaming, jumping up and down, and texting your other Etsy friends kind of occasion - at least it was with me! 

Screen Shot! Courtesy of http://www.craftcult.com/

The funny thing?  I wasn't even going to list the St. Patrick's Day coasters that were featured.  They were one of those items that you initially create in your head, and when you actually make the item, it just wasn't what you had pictured.  I wasn't happy with them, but decided to photograph them anyway.  When they ended up photographing well, I decided to list them - and I've very glad I did! 

For those wondering what kind of exposure you really get being on the Front Page for just one hour - my item views for the featured coasters went up 2500% over the previous day's views.  Yes, you read that right - twenty five hundred percent.  I had a record -setting day for shop visitors - the most I've had in the entire (almost) year that I've been open.   Did the item sell?  No, but it did receive several hearts, as did my shop in general, which can definitely translate into sales later on. 

I hope this is the first of many Front Page features!

More Adventures in Business Owning

I would have assumed that this holiday season would be less stressful for me than years past.  After all, I only work outside the home at a part-time job (as opposed to full-time), and I'm back living in my home state.  Unfortunately, I am MORE stressed this year than in years past - which is how I managed to go three weeks between blog posts.  Between shopping, working, improving the shop, getting ready to wholesale, craft shows, and prepping for the arrival of my in-laws - I'm surprised I've found free time at all!  Are the rest of you feeling like you're pulled in too many directions this holiday season?  *takes deep breath*

I did want to report back on my 2nd craft show from last weekend.  I took everything I learned at the first show into consideration, and made several changes to my display's appearance.  I think it actually went quite well, and I've got a few new tweaks planned for next time.

My main goal was to get shoppers to realize that PinkyCrafts is more than scrapbooking. 



Loving the new banner!

First, I changed my banner (thanks to Vistaprint's wonderful email deals) to say "Party Accessories & Scrapbooking", as opposed to "Scrapbooking & Party Supplies", and added my tagline.  I love how it turned out!  I wasn't able to put my banner on the wall behind my booth, where it would get seen the most, but I think it still made an impact on shoppers. 

I also learned something that may have been obvious to others: always bring table cloths!  My first show provided them, and I didn't even think about bringing my own to this one until the last minute.  I grabbed what I could find, but I would have liked to use something prettier!

I think it turned out perfect.

Second, I revamped my drink glass tag display.  I added rustic-looking crates to the middle of the display to hold each glass, attached only one style tag to each glass (to avoid confusion - although it still existed, more later)!, and added tinsel and a battery-powered votive candle to draw the eye to the display.  I also made new signs for each item - and I made the sign for the drink glass tags the largest one.  I hoped this would make it very easy for folks to tell what I was selling.


My mom - the best booth helper ever!

 I also worked to organize my display into three separate sections, with the scrapbook section first, followed by the party accessories and drink tags, and finishing up with the framed pages section.  Shoppers will naturally glance at a table from right to left, so I wanted to give their eyes something non-scrapbooking to see right after they noticed the scrapbooks, so they realized I was more than just that before they walked away.

So with all the changes, what was the verdict?  It worked.  I didn't hear one shopper say "Oh scrapbooking.....I have all the stuff to do that" and walk away like the first show.  People actually stopped and looked. The drink glass tags display was very eye-catching, and several folks commented on how beautiful they thought it was.  I didn't do too badly in sales, but I could have done better.  I took a custom order and seriously discussed some large scrapbook orders with a few others. 



Creative business card display!

 Its worth noting that (come to find out), the local newspaper had printed the wrong times for the second day of the show.  It printed that the show ran 5:00-8:30pm on Friday and Saturday; the show actually ran from 5:00-8:30 on Friday and 9:00-4:00 on Saturday. Traffic was slow on Saturday, but the signs out front still drew some folks in, and the school's parents already knew the real hours. I had several folks tell me they stopped by Saturday evening, only to find the show closed.  BUMMER!  This makes it hard to judge my true success, but I still felt I did well.

Now that I fixed my first problem of showing shoppers that I was more than just scrapbooks, I came up with some new tweaks to try next time to solve a new problem - folks were still a little confused with my drink glass tags.  I had some customers ask if I was selling the wine glasses (despite the "Drink Glass Tags" sign right in front of them).  Others were confused because the tag packs weren't on the table - as they would have really cluttered it - and they didn't understand that the samples indicated which styles they could purchase in larger sets (again, despite the sign in front of them!).  On the second day, my mom suggested that I put some of the packs on the table, so it was clear what would actually be purchased.  I think this helped, as folks would rather be presented with the facts, rather than read them on the sign I posted.  Next time, I'm going to use large binder clips, and clip the tag packs down the side of the crate display.  This way folks can see what they're purchasing, and hopefully it will make more sense. 

All in all, it was another success.  I'm moving towards Crafter Utopia, and I'm hoping these latest tweaks will help get me there! 

Here's wishing everybody a very happy holiday season - may you take the time to enjoy the most wonderful time of the year with friends and family.  See you all in 2011! 

Hoppy Holidays from Pancakes the Bunny!

Final Announcement!!! Black Friday Sale begins tomorrow!

Drum roll please...brrrrr brrrrrrr brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr: the final announcement about the Black Friday Sale at http://www.pinkycrafts.etsy.com/ is about to begin!  What could it be?  Just about everything in the shop is already on sale!  Well, get ready for one more category:

**********All cupcake toppers and other party accessories (excluding drink glass tags) will be 15% off************

Ok, let's recap. 
- Drink Glass Tags/Wine Charms will be $5
- Scrapbooks and Scrapbook pages will be 15% off
- Cupcake toppers and all other party accessories will be 15% off

The sale is limited to in-stock items only; custom orders are not eligible for sale prices. It starts tomorrow (Thanksgiving), and runs through the end of Cyber Monday.  Five whole days of the lowest prices of the year, just because Black Friday is a huge personal tradition of mine, and I'm thrilled to be able to participate as a seller this year, instead of just a buyer.

My Facebook fans will have an exclusive offer that will make this sale even sweeter; its not too late to get in on the action -head on over to www.facebook.com/pinkycrafts and click "Like".

To find other participating Etsy shops, go to http://www.etsy.com/, and type "black friday etsy" into the search box. 

Have a FANTASTIC thanksgiving, and happy celebrating!

Juicy Sales Gossip PART 2!

I Do Premade Scrapbook Page 

As promised, here is the next announcement regarding the Black Friday Weekend Sale at PinkyCrafts (in case you missed it, yesterday I announced that all in-stock drink glass tags and wine glass charms will be $5):

**********All in-stock premade scrapbooks and premade scrapbook pages will be marked down by 15%***********

If you have somebody on your list that you're having trouble buying for, this may be your answer.  Scrapbook pages look so elegant and special when they're framed - I'll bet you didn't realize you could do that!  Frames are under $10, and can be found on sale for less at most major craft stores (Jo Ann, Michaels, etc).  Add your photos, insert into frame, and you're done.  You can even swap it out regularly, making it a gift-giving traditon each year.  

Ho Ho Ho Mini Paper Album 



Premade scrapbook albums - either full-size or the economical mini versions - are gifts that can be passed down to generations.  Every single time I've given one as a gift, their jaw drops, and I usually see tears.  These gifts are so thoughtful and personalized!

Just a reminder, the sale starts on Thanksgiving, and runs all the way through Cyber Monday.  To find other participating shops, just search "black friday etsy" or "cyber monday etsy" at http://www.etsy.com/, or check out SassyBelle's Spotlight to find a list of DTeam shops that are participating.  This list will be updated as new sales are announced! 

The third and final announcement about the PinkyCrafts sale will be announced tomorrow (and its a good one!).  Stay tuned!

Pssssst.......juicy sales gossip! Pass it on!



Black Friday Sale!  All in-stock drink tags will be $5!

Although it may look like there has been little activity over at PinkyCrafts (as evidenced by my lack of posting!), that is definitely not the case. I've been working on a little surprise for my customers: a Black Friday sale!  I'll be taking part in this fun holiday tradition, along with several other members of the Etsy community, including my friends on the DTeam.

Ok, technically, it's a 5 day sale - but that's just even better news for you. It begins Thanksgiving Day, and runs until the end of Cyber Monday.  I'll be releasing tiny bits of information about the sale up until Thanksgiving, and maybe even posting extra special VIP coupons throughout the sale.  The only way you'll find out the details of this fabulous sale is to stay tuned to this blog or my Facebook fan site (http://www.facebook.com/pinkycrafts).

Now, without further ado, here is the first announcement about the sale:

*************All in-stock drink glass tags and wine glass charms will be $5*****************

Like all juicy news - make sure to pass this information on!  More details tomorrow!

Its almost HERE!

New for the show! School-themed items!

The time has finally come!  I will be a vendor at the Philomath Frolic Holiday Craft Fair this weekend - and I'm so excited!  There will be 75+ vendors, plus some great food booths - and free admission!  We'll also be collecting donations for the local food bank. I've been building stock and making preparations for two and a half months now, and I cannot wait to see the fruits of my labor!  I'm one of the only (if not *the* only) vendors coming from the Portland area, so I'm excited to meet a new group of customers.  Since I grew up in the Willamette Valley, where the fair is held,  I still feel connected to the area - plus with my mom still living down there, it will give me a chance to hang out with her for the weekend!

If you'll be in the area, please stop by and say hello!  I'll be debuting several new drink glass tag designs and a new line of novelty coasters.  I'll be fully stocked with Oregon State University and Oregon State University-themed drink glass tags and coasters - everything new will be listed in my shop after the fair is over!  I'll have several show specials going, and if I sell out of the item you want, I'll create it and ship it free!

Hope to see lots of folks there!

Its The Great Pumpkin!

My first craft show is in three short weeks, so what should I be doing on a Saturday off from work?  Working on bulking up my inventory?  Nope. Going to the Pumpkin Patch, that's what!    The hubby and I decided to visit Roloff Farms, which you may have seen on TLC's "Little People, Big World".  They open their farm to the public during pumpkin season, and they're surprisingly located just seven miles from our house.  It blows my mind that they're so close, yet we're definitely in the city, and they're out in the peaceful countryside! 

Yay!  We're here!

I was born in Oregon, and lived there for 23 years before moving to Arizona, yet I had never visited this particular pumpkin patch.  I didn't become a fan of the show until I was living in Arizona. When we moved back and settled so close to them, I started counting down the days until we could go visit.  We got there 15 minutes after they had opened, and still had to wait in a 20-minute traffic line to get in!  It was neat to see how many other people were excited to spend the day there.  When we made it inside the farm, we immediately met Matt Roloff, who was so happy and kind. 

Matt thanked us for coming out to see them.

 We took one of their wagon tours around the property - seeing their stunning customized home, Molly's castle, and met Matt's parents in the old western town that Matt built out of recycled barn wood from all over the Northwest.   We saw all the kids except for Molly, who was at a volleyball tournament. Jeremy and Zach were driving two of the many tractors pulling the wagon tours, and Jacob was hosting a soccer-kicking contest in the patch.  They were all smiling and friendly, taking pictures with fans. Our wagon was driven by one of the twins' best friends.

This house is AMAZING!  Its customized for their height.

We also met Amy, who was incredibly nice and gracious.  She chatted with us for awhile and took a photo with us.  I love the Roloffs because they're such incredible ambassadors of the local area, even though they never set out to be in that role.  I told Amy that I'm so proud to live in the same community as such a wonderfully giving family, and thanked her for having such a positive presence in the community.  I even laughed and told her its nice to have a great reality family that's drama-free; she laughed and said their only drama is normal family stuff and thanked me for saying that. 

Posing with Amy - she was so cool!

We wandered through the many attractions - there's a petting zoo, an area with exotic rescued animals, and a fun house with all sorts of scenes with dressed up pumpkins.  Then it was time to find our pumpkins!!  We decided to just pick one larger one, and we'd both agree on the carving design.....until I found the section on the farm with the wee little pumpkins, and I just had to take a little five-pounder home.

We had such a fantastic day at Roloff Farms.  The weather was amazing!  Matt and Amy even took time out to raise awareness about the Kyron Horman investigation (in case you haven't heard, Kyron disappeared from his school in NW Portland back in June and hasn't been found).  Matt wore a shirt with Kyron's information on it, and they had a booth set up with Kyron's picture and resources for parents. Matt and Amy were interviewed by a local news station, and we even saw Kaine Horman (Kyron's father) at the farm.

These signs lined the road to the farm, and I loved them.

After picking our pumpkins, we left the farm with some fun souvenirs and huge smiles on our faces. I took home an adorable Roloff pumpkin shirt that I couldn't resist.  All in all, it was a very affordable day - they could easily take advantage of their fame and charge for all the photos and autographs or charge a huge fee for the tractor tour.  But they don't, which just speaks to how down-to-earth they are. Whether you're a fan of their show or not, you should definitely make a visit to Roloff Farms during pumpkin season.  But get there early, as traffic backs up for miles on the two-lane country road!  Thank you Roloff family for welcoming everybody into your farm for such a special day!

My days as a 20-something are numbered!

I celebrated my 29th birthday this past weekend!  Even though my shop is all about celebrating, I haven't always been a fan of celebrating my own birthday.  I always prefer celebrating somebody else's birthday, giving somebody else a big party or event.  However, this was my last birthday being a 20-something, and I wanted to make it count!  I took the weekend off from crafting and this crazy craft show preparation to relax and have a good time.

About a month ago, I learned that the Official Twilight Tour was coming to town, and I immediately called my mom to see if she'd like to go with me.  I'm a a huge fan of the books and the movies, and I'm proud of it!  We went down there on the last day of the convention, the day before my birthday, and I took so many pictures, I felt like a crazed fan...oh yeah, because I am.  

Geeking it out on stage before the convention started



We saw Chaske Spencer (Sam from the Wolf Pack), Daniel Cudmore (Demitri of the Volturi), and Charlie Bewley (Felix from the Volutri).  Each star answered pre-submitted audience questions, and Charlie answered one of mine!  I asked how how he felt about the Twilight franchise before he was cast in it (he was annoyed at all the hype).  

Charlie answering MY QUESTION!

 There were vendors selling Twi-merchandise, an auction where my mom won a giant 6'x4' Official Convention Banner featuring Bella Swan for mere pennies, and panels from the Official Twilight Facebook Page, a set tour from Malicious Mandy, and a presentation on how Twilight is helping school kids find their love of reading with Novel Novice Twilight.



This is the only one of its kind in the WORLD - and its mine! Epic!



It was so much fun and my mom went above and beyond in her spoiling of her favorite birthday girl! It was the first birthday of mine that we've spent together since 2003, before I moved to Arizona, so it was definitely a special day for us. 

Gotta love it!

My actual birthday was the next day, October 4, and my husband surprised me with a trip to the zoo.  After stopping by Starbucks for my free birthday Pumpkin Spice Latte, we spent a beautiful day - and by beautiful I mean it was cloudy and a bit chilly - strolling through all the exhibits and habitats.  My favorites are always the zebras!  Of course, I left my camera's memory card in my computer at home, and only had my cell phone camera....fail.  When we got home, I had more surprises in store - a new book by my favorite author and the "I Love Cupcakes" shirt I've had my eye on at my favorite local cupcake shop.  He also spoiled me with delicious cupcakes!  



Striking a Top Model pose in my awesome new shirt from Bliss Bakery

Today marks the beginning of the end of my 20s, a year that I know will be fantastic and full of achievements. I definitely want to continue to grow my shop and my brand, but I also want to get back to running and making strides towards my goal weight.  I took a short break while my treadmill was in storage, but I can't wait to start back up again and add to those 50 pounds I lost.  It makes indulging in cupcakes a little more difficult, but there will always be room for cupcakes in my life! 

I feel very blessed to have such an amazing family who showed me such an amazing birthday weekend!  I feel relaxed and ready to get back to official PinkyCrafts business! 



Color My World

Salmon Pink & Amaranth Pink

Have you ever wondered exactly what color red your shirt is?  Thought about how many different shades of pink there are?  If you have, you'll love to take a peek at this website I discovered today, where you can look at every shade of color.  I came across it while trying to find a resource to help tag the items in my shop by color, other than using boring old "red" "orange" and "brown".  I can now say my items are very colorfully tagged!

PinkyCrafts Hits the Road!

Low tide at Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach!

Oh how I love having days off with my husband!  While at our old jobs in Arizona, we never had the chance to get out of town for the day, or even spend an entire day together, because we worked completely opposite schedules.  Well, no more!  Today we headed out of the Portland heat wave for a day at Cannon Beach, an adorable little town on the Oregon Coast that's only about an hour away. (Side note: I don't think I'll ever live anywhere that is more than 2 hours from the beach ever again!). 

I decided to break out my new PinkyCrafts Tshirt that I ordered from VistaPrint to wear for the day.  I only paid shipping for it, which totaled a little over $3 - an excellent deal for advertisement! I have my website printed on the front and the back, and its super cute.  As we walked down the main street in town looking for a good salt water taffy store, I noticed quite a few folks reading my shirt.  I also took a very long walk down the beach, showcasing my shirt, while my husband passed out in a sugar coma on our picnic blanket. Whether anybody will actually go to my website remains to be seen, but I feel so positive when I'm able to combine advertisement with a non-business activity!

Striking a Top Model pose in the sand with my PinkyCrafts shirt!

If you haven't signed up for VistaPrint's emails, I highly recommend you do, even if you aren't in business.  They send insane deals for free Tshirts, mugs, business cards, return address labels, banners, fliers -  I've already cashed in my fair share of killer steals. Just beware - they send emails almost every single day. I'm even signed up with two different email addresses, and sometimes I get different deals sent to each one.  My Tshirt is pretty comfy, and the quality is excellent.  One of my good friends has already asked me to order her one, and I know my mom is itching to steal mine at the first chance she gets!  I'll have to order one for her too, and spread the PinkyCrafts love around the country.

The husband and I in front of Haystack Rock (post sugar-coma!)

Return of the Cupcake!

About two years ago, my best friend got married in Maui, and opted for an amazing selection of cupcakes over the traditional wedding cake. I thought this was genius (as I helped myself to one of every flavor!) and marveled at the flavor choices she was able to offer. I've since noticed an increase in these types of "cakes" in wedding magazines.

As I relaxed in front of the TV this past week, I saw a commercial for a new show on TLC about a budding cupcake shop. According to the voice-over, people wait over an hour in line for these cupcakes - during the East Coast winter.

At Portland Saturday Market, one of the busiest booths is for Ja Das Desserts with their rows and rows of handmade cupcakes. (By the way, the coconut and red velvet cupcakes are to die for!)

Ladies and gentlemen, the cupcake is back. Once a staple for bake sales and bring-handmade-treats-to-school occasions, the cupcake has infiltrated every party and snack craving known to man. The appeal isn't hard to understand - you get your very own fully-decorated little dessert with the perfect amount of frosting and/or filling and cake. If you're in the mood for lots of dessert, you simply grab another cupcake. Unlike traditional cakes, cupcakes don't get cut and subsequently dry out and there is no fighting over extra frosting.

I know I'm a fan - vanilla, coconut, champagne, filled or unfilled, I love them ALL! I have a confession to make: I don't only make handmade cupcake toppers for my shop because I love the creative process. I make them because I get to go buy cupcakes in order to photograph the finished product for the Etsy listing - and I get to write it off as a business expense! The cupcake I bought for my Mickey and Minnie Mouse toppers (as pictured) has been my favorite so far.

What about you? Do you have a favorite cupcake story? What's your flavor of choice - or are you in love with all cupcakes?

Attention Crafters!

I'm looking for other craft bloggers to network with - trade badges, blog about each other's shops, retweet each other's deals on Twitter, etc. We need to stick together! If you're interested in any type of networking, please send me an email at mishelle.mccall@gmail.com.