Check it out!

Check out this blog I just found!   She has a contest right now to win FREE advertising space for a handmade business!  I hope I win!

Toy Blankies are Here!

Yes, it is true.  My newest product, toy blankies are up for sale in my shop!  Here are some photos of the blue and pink owls.

I also wanted to take this opportunity to show off my new fall pumpkin hats too!

New Mustache Hat!

Announcing...

 

I am so excited about this new hat!  Just in time for the fall and winter.  They are a fun and funky alternative to a traditional ski mask and just plain funny!

 

New Product!

****ATTENTION****

I have a new product.  :)


I feel like I haven't had one in FOREVER!

Introducing, toy blankies.  I only have a photo of one, to match the blue owl hat that I make.  I will soon have photos of one that is Winnie the Pooh inspired and a sock monkey one to match the sock monkey hats I make. 

 

Leave a comment and let me know what you think! 

Giveaway!

My friend Laura at Along For the Ride is having a giveaway of one of my hats!  Check out her blog and enter to win!


Here is how you enter:

Follow Brittany's blog

Tweet about it

Blog about it

FB about it

(one comment for each)

 

Giveaway ends one week from today!

Don't Bother Me, I'm Pinning!

I am obsessed with Pinterest. 

I discovered it a couple of months ago and it has changed my life.  Not really but it is a lot of fun.  What Pinterest is, is a waaaay better more awesome way of bookmarking things online.  When I am looking through Etsy or my favorite blogs, I can just 'pin' different things to my themed boards and then I have them all together on my pinterest account.  People can 'follow' your boards and you can search the website for similar pins to your own.  

The above is an example of what the boards look like.  What a great way to share ideas with friends!     

I feel like lately, this has been my attitude more often than not. 

I am trying to be careful though, I don't want Pinterest to turn into a true obsession or just somewhere to store everything that I covet.  I have found myself sort of lusting after things that I see on Pinterest.  I want my pinterest account to be inspirational and part of my 'creative outlet'.  

Do you guys use Pinterest? I would love to know what you think about it!

Moving Soon!

So I am moving soon.  Again. 

I haven’t lived in the same place for more than 9 months since 2004.  In a lot of ways, I love living as a nomad.  In other ways, I hate it.  I am moving later this month with two wonderful women and hopefully I will be in this house for at least a year. Since I haven’t moved yet, I thought I would share with you some of my ideas and inspirations for my new house.

I will start in the living room


I love this living room.  The front room in the house I am moving into is mustard colored, which I love and it could never look like this room but a girl can still dream, can’t she?




I am painting my bedroom yellow and would love to make myself a quilt and just have a serene, quiet, soft bedroom.  BUT I won’t be able to do that since I will also have my home office and craft room in there.


Speaking of, here is my dream home office.  I love the soft pink and sharp edges.  It is so clean and organized.  

My real home office will have this

A CHALKBOARD CALENDAR!  It won’t be that big but it will be just as awesome!


Our kitchen won’t look anything like this but I just love vintage kitchens!


And for my biggest dream, the craft room.  I someday want to have a huge mix of all these rooms

In a couple of weeks I will have pictures of what my house really looks like but until then, dream with me.

New Shop Home!

Brittany's Buttons online shop can now be found on Big Cartel! I am no longer taking orders through my Facebook page because of people not picking up their orders and getting back checks.  Big Cartel takes paypal, doesn't make you create an account and charges me WAY less than Etsy does.  I still have an Etsy shop but I prefer to use Big Cartel.  I should have a lot more listings up in the next few days.  Until then, here are some examples of my products!

With Heart Handmade Market

I am happy to report that the very first With Heart Handmade Market was a success!  I only sold five hats but I got a lot of business cards out and have had some nibbles since.  There were 16 vendors there all together and everyone sold something.  Here are some pictures of the market.

Signs that my friend Lori and I made

Me, Brooke, Laura and Leanna unloading the tables

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lori and Leanna blocking off the road

Setting up my table

 A huge thank you to everyone who came out and supported our first With Heart.  We are hoping to have our next one in the fall.  A special thanks to our volunteers, Lori, Laura and Bizzie and to my mom!

Gearin' Up!

As most of you know, I moved to Columbia, MO about six months ago.  It has been great being down here in such an artsy town.  Two women I met at church and I are going to be holding a handmade market called With Heart.  Here is our website www.withheartcolubmia.org.  It is being held June 25th from 9am-Noon at 9th and Elm in front of Shakespeares in downtown Columbia.  

I have been working really hard getting some inventory built up for the Handmade Market on June 25th. This is my first craft show with my business, Brittany’s Buttons and I could not be more excited!  It is just a little over two weeks away! EIK!
Here are some photos of my progress


I hope you guys are as excited as I am to shop local on June 25th! And I hope you crafters are working hard!

New Shop Location!

I have a new shop location!  I am still on Etsy at www.brittanysbuttons.etsy.com but I am now also on Big Cartel!  My new site is www.brittanysbuttons.bigcartel.com.

The reason for starting this new shop is simple.  Money.  Since my etsy shop has [thankfully] become such a success, I have had TONS of Etsy fees.  Sometimes over $100 a month.  With Big Cartel I have one monthly bill of $10.  No more.  No less.  Hopefully people will buy enough to cover my $10!

My Crafting Testimony

I originally posted this on the blog for With Heart Handmade Market of which I am a co-founder.  I thought it would be something nice to share with you guys too!

Hello crafters and craft lovers! This is Brittany from the With Heart Team. I have been pretty MIA lately and this is my first blog post. I wanted to sort of give my crafting ‘testimony’ for all of you struggling crafters out there.

People have described me as an “Etsy Success Story” which is very humbling for me. I have my absolute dream job right now but it took me a long time to get to this place and it is still a struggle for me. Since graduating from college in 2009 with a Bachelors of Religious Studies degree, I still haven’t been able to find a full time job. For the first 18 months after graduating I worked part time in a bakery and as a waitress in my Aunt and Uncle’s seasonal lakeside restaurant in my home town. Early last fall, I found myself without a job completely. I moved back in with my parents and crocheted all day, mostly just to pass the time. I had started an Etsy store two years previous and had a total of 71 sales. It had been my dream to be able to make money in a crafting business for many many years and so averaging less than one sale per month was pretty soul crushing.

I started making hats for babies and children and had quite a few piled up in my bedroom. One evening I decided on a whim to add them to my Etsy store. When I finished adding the 10 or so listing, my mother and I went out to dinner, by the time we got back I had made three sales. I had finally after two years found my Etsy niche. This was in early September, by January 1st I had over 500 sales.

There was a HUGE learning curve for me in this business. I got in way over my head, refusing to close my shop temporarily to catch up on orders when I was 50 or more behind, I almost became addicted to making sales. Customers were having to wait up to 6 weeks for me to have their hats finished. After a lot of negative feedback and humiliating e-mails from mad customers I learned my lesson. The customer comes first! Sounds pretty simple, right? It was a pretty humbling experience. Here I was, finally being ‘successful’ in what I love and I was blowing it. It took a lot of financial struggle, tears and sore wrists to figure out a good balance between work and play and being a good business woman and being a bad business woman. I am definitely still learning and I will soon be entering into my second holiday season, hopefully with some inventory!

My advice to current crafters who want to make it into a business is to never, ever give up! And don’t be afraid to play around a little bit before you find your place on Etsy or whatever venue you decide to use to sell. You might have some sleepless nights and have to make sacrifices, but it is worth it!

With All My Heart,
Brittany

If there are any readers out there who are fellow crafty businesswomen (or men!) don't be afraid to share your tips of the trade!

Valentines Day Special!

Right now you can get 10% off your entire purchase at my Etsy store.  This will go on until Valentines Day. 
Enter coupon code VALENTINE2011 during checkout to get your discount. 

Introducing Leo the Friendly Lion

I would like to introduce you to my new hat, Leo the Friendly Lion.  He is now available in my Etsy store.  www.brittanysbuttons.etsy.com

 

Two New Hats!

I have two new hats!  The lion isn't available on my facebook or Etsy site yet but it will be once I get a good picture of it:)

Here is another picture I thought I would share of my couch after an average days work.

Keep checking in regularly.  You are always going to be the first ones to know if I have new products and have the first chance to purchase.  If you have any ideas put them in my comments, if I use them you will get a discount!

New Year, New Pics

Thanks to my friend Jessica at YourSparkleBox Photography, I have new photos of my teddy bear hat to share!

Aren't they adorable!?  She takes amazing pictures and also has her own Etsy shop.  http://www.yoursparklebox.etsy.com/  I high recommend this shop.  She has amazingly adorable handmade headbands, dresses and pettitutus for little girls.  Here are some of my favorites:

Makes me wish I had a little girl to dress!