Cheryl's Garden

Ok, here’s the deal. I’m new to soaping and that coupled with my enthusiasm for trying new things may have gotten me in over my head here. It’s ok because life is all about learning. Now on to the pictures of what went wrong.

My first batch of soap seemed to go so well with the assemblage but when it came to cutting it things got a little crumbly. The first layer filmed too much to adhear to the second layer and really showed off in a painful way when it cracked.

On to batch two. It was also a test to try out something I read on a blog somewhere about pushing the top layer around to make it look like whip cream. I mastered that Ok but the assembly overall it wasn’t as smooth going with all the ingredients I added that seemed to firm the soap faster. It did look good once it was set up and I did manage to make some little travel soaps that are now available in my store out of the left over soap. However, cutting the soap here again was a problem. I was using a large kitchen knife since it’s what I have at the moment but it was cracking the layers apart. I decided to test out cutting really large bars and that worked out much better for this batch. The vanilla orange combination I’m really loving along with the monster size bars that will last forever. Eventually, they will also be available in my store.

The last two weeks I’ve really focused on the look of my stores and I’m happy to say it is coming along well. New inventory has been slowly trickling into my store so be sure to check it out.

Tonight I was very excited to have a package in the mail with Agar Agar powder for making jelly soaps and citric acid for making bath bombs. Of course I had to try out at least one tonight so I reviewed my stash of recipes and found I was missing an ingredient for the bath bombs so jelly soaps it was.

The process has to be carried out really quickly because the Agar Agar firms up extremely fast so I didn’t really get any “in progress” photos but here are a few (ahem) from the two batches I made tonight.

The green soap just isn’t jelly enough for what I’d like and the second one has even more Agar Agar so likely it won’t be what I want but testing will have to come later after I get some sleep. My typing errors have-sky rocketed in the last 30min so I will say goodnight before something really weird shows up here.

Wow, I’ve never had someone beat me over the head with advice quite like this before.

A lot of my free time lately has been spent researching how to conduct a small business and specially how to take my crafts to full-time status in a Smart way. Since 2 of my 3 stores are part of Etsy I get a lot of emails on how to do this from Etsy. Their guest bloggers direct me to other reviews and advice on furthering this goal, it’s a never ending chain. Today I was smacked with the idea (see above link) that maybe I am doing things right by trial and error. Things on my stores, specifically MasonCJ, are starting to feel “right”. Based on blogger advice this seems like a good start (there is always someone with advice you want to hear). Hubby has told me on many occasions that it takes 4-6 solid years of blogging to become a professional blogger (from what he’s viewed in the computer world) and I tend to believe him. My store probably isn’t much different and will take time. I have time.

Still, I would love to see a few more sales because that is soooo exciting when it happens.

Now for some practical advice that I’ve collected over the last six months. This is all my research findings and no one has paid me to list any of the following.

Tips for creating an online store

A Few Online Store Options
-etsy.com (handmade online mall)
-artfire.com (handmade online mall)
-shopify.com (your individual store can be attached to blog etc.)
-vistaprint.com (handmade online mall)
-amazon.com (online mall)
-create your own

Marketing
-post on other people’s sites and leave your blog address
-FB page’s do some work (must have a FB account to make pages, can also purchase ads)
-how-to’s on http://utube.com
-Moo business cards http://us.moo.com/en/
-Big Crumbs for deals & coupons works with Etsy and a few other online stores http://www.bigcrumbs.com

A Few Tools
-http://gmail.com (google email)
-google analytics (google traffic tracker)
-google reader (google internet reading tool)
-google docs (google documents similar to Microsoft Word & Excel, Adobe Reader, file storage)
-delicious.com (bookmark links found on the internet, can be used on any computer connected to the internet)
-personal blog (create your own blog from scratch or use http://www.blogger.com)
-read other blogs to get ideas
-work with other sellers, family, friends to create a collaboration store (example Etsy Teams)
-spreadsheet to track sales, shipments, time, etc. (see google docs)
-free banner creator http://insupport.com/create_a_banner/banner_for_a_buck.php
-scheduling program ($$$-$$$$ or $15-60 per month for 3 users) http://www.planplusonline.com/
-document management system with basic calendar and other features (scales well and free) http://www.alfresco.com/
-lots of Etsy sellers will sell you designer labels. You can also create your own by purchasing Avery labels and using their template. To get things lined up it is best to put images in the Header/Footer section and format the image so it isn’t aligning to a specific place. Copy and paste as needed.It’s also important to know if you need water resistant labels, matte finish or ink jet/lazor labels.

Getting Started
-Start with a clear business plan. This may include taking a year or two to find out what works for you but you need a plan so write it down. It is surprising how much clearer you vision of the future will be.
-Start a journal with what works and what doesn’t. Memory fades and your favorite iteams may not be the most polular sales. It’s time to let go of those, try new things, keep doing what works.
-Set a goal. 20 sales in a month, or 150 sales in a year. Setting dollar amounts is also a good idea.
-Sit down and think about the look you want. It may help to look at other online stores to get a feel for what works for others. It’s important to have consistant pictures, noticable/consistant labeling, store policies with shipping information and disclaimers.

I may or maynot update this list over time but I’m happy to share it with the “interweb” and even the “all-google”.

I’ve been meaning to post all last week but that didn’t happen. Didn’t get enough sleep or something because nothing got done except a bit more progress on my scarf.

When I mean nothing I really mean nothing, no house work, nothing. This week started off really well with the hubby switching me over to Wordpress which has me ecstatic! wow, even my own chat window. Our main blog over on masongarden.com has had a chat window forever but the old site just didn’t have much AT ALL! Ok, so enough about the update.

Ok, so maybe just one sneak preview but that’s ALL I’m going to say!

The promised yummy/test baking project is a little on hold till tomorrow. There just isn’t enough time in my day to finish up everything I want to do

and the things I have to do before hubby goes crazy with the down stair in an upheaval

because it looks like this

On to happy notes. Last week I had this lovely sock yarn show up in the mail from joining a Sock of the Month knitting club, if you’re interested you’ll have to check it out yourself because it’s a secret

MasonCJ is also getting some new inventory. These glass Ball jars I’ve turned into oil lamps.

Random other projects that are sitting around

This is my first crocheted scarf that I never finished. It’s a shell pattern in a lime green mercerized cotton. Might be Patrons but not sure.

Here is another shell scarf. The photo is terrible. The color is really a forest green more like this picture

Well, that isn’t really a good image either but closer.

I’m off to get some sleep so I’ll leave you with a kitty picture