My First Military Holiday

As stated a few days ago, my holidays are over. Boy, am I relieved. As I sit and reflect on this past season I've become more aware of the impact being in the military had on the business. Initially I thought it was going to be a miracle to sell even one scarf out of Alabama. What actually happened is completely different.

My husband and I have a combined average age of 30. We have been in the Army exactly one year now. It's definitely a bit old to be starting this style of life, but we're always up for an adventure. My husband is going to fly helicopters. In order to do that one must first complete training at Ft. Rucker in Alabama. Everyone thought we were crazy. Most specifically, they thought I was crazy. "What are you going to do down there?", everyone asked.

I'd had Florida Scarf for three years already, and had moved three times previously. I thought running the business from (practically) the middle of nowhere would be an interesting challenge. What I found was that it was no challenge at all. At best, the challenge was keeping shipping cost effective.

Being a part of any military is being a part of the most supportive community on the planet. I made more army-friends with Florida Scarf than anything else. Some of these "new friends" live near post, but many of them are supporters from around the globe. My experience this season has shown me that not only active duty members, but their spouses, and distant family as well, do what they can to be supportive.

It isn't easy for spouses of active duty members to find jobs, or be creative, or work toward personal goals. One's life really has to revolve around the soldier. Because of this, when a spouse can be creative and/or work out of the house the community really gets behind it. Customers that have bought my scarves have been my best marketers. I'm excited for it to continue.

I want to thank everyone for welcoming me to not only Ft. Rucker, but to the Army as well. I look forward to more of 'Florida Scarf, Chapter 2:The Amry'. I hope the experience brings new adventures, friendships, materials, and tools.

http://www.floridascarf.com/

Busy Making Friends

I would like to start by saying I can't believe it's Friday. Again. Already? Wow, time flies when you're busy making new friends. Mind you, all of these "new friends" I've never met face-to-face and probably never will. This is the power of social media. When one starts a small crafting business they must be equally as crafty about advertising and promotion. And in the past couple of months I feel like there has been a boom in networking and blogging and tweeting...etc. in order to successfully market. I'm sure it's been like this for a while and I'm just late. It is amazing to me how many people there are, out there, that are just like me. They are great artists trying to make a living and help others do the same thing.

Recently I have joined two new Etsy Teams. Members of the teams work together to try and promote each other. I'm using this morning to shout them out.

                                      
                                         The first is a team with a simple concept: promotion.
This team is worldwide so there is a lot of diversity in who you meet and what they make. Here is an example of one of my favorites.

 dominicanlounge.etsy.com.

 They have larimar and dominican amber, all very reasonably priced. The color in this particular piece is gorgeous.

The next team I recently became a member of is the HomeFront Street Team. This team is a bit more exclusive. It is still worldwide, but you must be the spouse of a uniformed serviceman. I think this group is great because there are so many military families trying to make it work.

I just joined this team last night and I've had five welcome notes and emails. These girls know the real meaning of support. I'm really excited to be a part of this community. I hope I actually meet another member that lives at Ft. Rucker. Then we could have craft parties. Anyway, here is a member I'd like to promote:

                                                       smokeymountainscents.etsy.com

This is definitely soap I'd accidentally eat, even in the shower, especially if I'd accidentally taken my coffe in there with me too. Supporting these crafters is especially important. They have very interesting circumstances they work under.

In addition to the Teams, I've also been working on scoring a "buddy" on Etsy. This is just an individual you work with. The goal here is to give/recieve support and encouragement on marketing and productivity through the holidays. Here she is.

                                                                 sofisticata.etsy.com

This is Hir. She makes elegant adornments and accessories. Sometimes it just isn't enough to put on your Manolo's. You have to make them even more chic. I've really been having "a thing" for peacock feathers lately too. Anyway, Hir is fabulous and her fashion is fabulous. check her out.

                                        Last, but not least, me. Here's what I've been up to lately.
This is a new scarf. It has great print and texture combos. The color palette gives it a lot of richness too. The sweater material is Italian New Wool, so it's really warm. The backing is a fun Giraffe print velboa. There is an accent of vintage tiki trim, my favorite part. You can't not love retro tiki.

That's all for now. Have a great weekend!