6/13/2018

Well it has been a adventurous year in the shop, we now have trademark licensing for US Air Force, US Marines and US Navy. Sale are on track seeing as the Navy is a new addition, we are still struggling to get out items found on Etsy especially with their new changes.

The web site has been updated with the newest craft fairs to date, these can be found under the craft fairs 2018 tab.

We are trying to make new items as time allows but with upcoming Craft Fairs on the list and guaranteed sales for some of the items I make through that avenue not a lot of new items are being posted in the Etsy Shops. I try as new items are created to add them to my Instagram feed, if you are not already following me follow this link: https://www.instagram.com/gabbysquilts/
and check out to see what is new, all items can be available to purchase just by emailing me if it is a item that I don't clearly mark as being put in one of the Etsy shops, if it is marked as a new Etsy item you can just check my profile for the Etsy link and follow that to make your purchase.

I am in love with this new shop I found on Etsy, I just love her items and I am sure quite a few people have already found her as well, her patterns for baby, kids and adult sweaters are very well written and easy to follow, can't wait to try out some more of her patterns, I have to finish the one I have started first thou, LOL, so because it isn't finished we can't post any pictures yet.

This has been completed just recently and will be relisted in the handmade shop as soon as time allows:

Well we have to sign off for today, I have to check orders and return emails. I will be back as soon as time allows, til then have a good start to summer and remember the sunscreen :)

7/10/2017

Finished the second quarter USO donation tally and sent the check out in todays mail.

Aprils total- $18.30
Mays total- $9.50
and June- $14.20

Total check amount $42.00

Sales were down for Military as well as for everything else in the shop, Etsy has been ramming through some very massive changes to how the customers put items into their carts to how they view our items, which now show our competitors items when a person is viewing our item that they might have followed back from a link or social media site.

A lot of shops have closed down and moved off site, but there are always new ones opening so I don't think etsy is going to go anywhere anytime soon. In order to bump sales I have even found it necessary myself to move off site. I still have both shops on Etsy with items in both but have found it necessary to "spread" the wealth to other sites to see if we can bump up sales.

My primary web site which has the links to each of the separate selling shops that I operate:
www.GabbysQuilts.com

Etsy custom military shop with sewing and craft supplies:
www.GabbysQuiltsNSupply.etsy.com

Etsy handmade shop with military baby , crochet and lanyards:
www.GabbysQuilts.etsy.com

Ebay with precut cotton fabrics for quilting sewing and craft uses:
https://www.ebay.com/sch/gabbysquilts518/m.html

Artyah with my husbands handmade wood items and the rest of my handmade items that I make as time allows:
https://www.artyah.com/seller/gabbysquilts

We are also getting ready for Craft Fair season and listings for the local sites we are vending can be found on my web site under the tab craft fairs 2017, my husband will be bringing his new wood items to display as well. Hoping for a good season this year as we have added a few new venues that we haven't participated in before so we shall see.

I'll leave you with this cute pattern I found for those of you into sewing :)

http://www.handmadiya.com/2015/09/zipper-wallet-diy-tutorial.html

Til next time have a good summer and I will be back soon with any new updates.

Quarterly Donation total and shop news

The total tally for USO donation has been tallied and check is in the mail. We came in a respectable total of $53.00. Sales are down considerably from last year, not sure if all the changes that Etsy continues to make, in what they assure us is a more streamline approach, is having a impact or if it is the economy ? All I can continue to do is assure my Military customers that the tally is being kept and the donations are being made, USO is even giving away free items with the donations which I have decline and put the whole amount into helping our soldiers :)

For shop news, as I have made reference to above Etsy is making some very large changes to the site, if anyone has any issues making purchases or getting your messages about your custom orders to me, by all means email me @ gabbysquilts@yahoo.com, if they go missing on Etsy :( I can find them in that location. It seem trivial but I have gotten messages from customers that with all the changes their messages when sent bounce back to them.

New fabric, notions and patterns are still being loaded into the shop, but you will notice the largest change in the site when shopping for those items, it has been rumored that Etsy direcst you to Etsy Studio unless you directly type in the shop you are looking for. I have checked out their new site, in which we have been told that we supply sellers will have our items on there only sometime in the future, and I have to say good luck in finding anything, as of my last check search wasn't working and you had to go back to the main site to find the items you were looking for. Why they would have a site available where search doesn't work is beyond me, but this is Etsy we are talking about after all.

New for my military customers are luggage tags, still working on the prototypes but have a light weight one worked out and the supplies are coming in for the heavy duty one in the coming weeks.
Here is a picture of the light weight one:

The biggest difference between the two will be the weight of the tag, this one will have the option of having the name embroidered on both sides and is 2 strips of material sewn together with the luggage clip at one end and a metal band clip at the other.
The heavy weight on will only have the option of having the name on one side and the material will be sewn to a heavy weight cotton webbing with the luggage clip at one end and the metal band on the other.
I am thinking the lighter one would be good for carry on baggage, tote bag, or back packs. The heavy weight one would definitely be strong enough to go onto the actual check on luggage totes and military tactical bags and back packs. My son was actually home for a visit as I was working out the prototype and was impressed with the lightweight one so far, and of course left with the instructions that when the prototype of the heavyweight one was worked out I had to send it to him for his approval, LOL :)

Well that is it for now, I'll be back soon with any new updates and or pointers on how to navigate the new changes on Etsy, thats if I can figure them out before they make any more changes :)

Have a nice Memorial day, and remember this is Military Appreciation month so remember to thank them for serving.

First Quarter Shop News

January and February donation tallys have been done, yes you read that right, both months, this is how far behind I am falling as I try and juggle the two Etsy shops and a part time job :)

January total was $11.50
February was $29.10

Numbers are lower then last year but still respectable given the economy.

New inventory is arriving to be loaded into the etsy shops and the craft fairs have begun for the year so we are making items for them as well. The ones that have sent confirmation have been loaded to the web site under the tab labeled Craft Fairs 2017, www.GabbysQuilts.com, we have a bunch of new ones coming up but no confirmation on them yet so they have not been listed, yet :)

Eagerly awaiting spring and some warm weather so that we can start turning the garden and got a phone call from my son the other day that he is attempting to come home for a visit soon so that is something we are very much looking forward to, it has been another 18 month separation other then the trip we took to the airport when he came home from the last deployment and between lack of sleep and jet lag the poor kid slept the whole visit :)

I will leave you with some pictures of some of the new patterns coming to the shop soon and will hopefully be back next month with the first quarter donation total to be sent to the USO.

Delayed Shop News

Why do I always seem to be running behind when it comes to posting updates ? Let me tell you one reason, a outside job that takes me away from my business !!
On to the updates, donation was made to the USO for the first quarter of the year, yep I know, we are already into the second quarter, see, told you I was seriously running behind, but it was made when it was suppose to be just forgot to update the tally on my blog.

New fabrics and patterns have been loaded into the web site; http://www.GabbysQuilts.com and we are currently moving some of my handmade items into there as well, having a bit of a issue trying to find a way to separate the handmade from the supply items in case people only want to see one or the other, it is definitely a work in progress and sooner then later we will get it figured out so that it is a smoother transition so anybody visiting I ask for your patience as we get it figured out.
Craft show applications are being sent in and some have sent confirmation for attendance, as they arrive I will be sure to update the web site, the listing location and times can be found under the tab craft fairs, hope to see some local customers visiting and getting to finally meet you.
I apologize for this being so short but I have to get some more items moved onto the web site before having to do everything else on the to do list today.
Thank you very much for your time and patience and I will hopefully be back again soon;)

In the meantime anyone looking for some really cute baby photo props and they can crochet, be sure to check out this web site, she has a bunch listed with tutorials and pictures:
crochet baby photo props

"Leap" Month completed

Well February has ended, where is this year going?, and it was a leap year, by some standards it went well by others not soo much.....

New fabric from Elizabeth's studio has arrived and is loaded into the shop for purchase, there were some really cute novelty prints, mind you I placed the order back in July of last year so it was a bit of a surprise to see what we were getting, for those interested in wildlife and farm animal prints hurry to the shop and get them while they are HOT. There were also a really nice autumn leaves and sunflower blocks print as well, I expect as the year progresses and people start their fall and holiday sewing projects they should sell well.

Military donation amount has been tallied and once this month is over and tallied as well we will be making another check out to the USO, speaking of which, I got a news letter along with the tax documents from them stating that with the amount contributed last year, from everyone not just my shop, that they were able to construct 3 new USO centers on the bases in the "sandbox" for our military on FOB to de stress and relaxed with games, internet access, and phones in which to keep in touch with those keeping the home fires burning. The total amount this month was $34.85 and with last months amount of $55.80 we might be headed for another bumper year, wonder what they can built this year with the donations :)

Now onto a more personal and the bad news part, as most of you know we suffered a considerable loss to my business in June of last year when the plumbing pipe supplying the bathroom sink burst and took my handmade quilts and a considerable amount of other handmade items and store supplies with it, well we fast forward to today when we had to bring all the documentation to the tax adviser to do the tax returns for this year, it always a bit shocking dealing with the insurance companies for things like this and then the adviser tally's the total loss and you go into shock realizing that not even a 1/3 of the loss was covered. Lesson in this, buy additional insurance and overstate what you have so that is is covered. We are moving on but it definitely took its toll in the depleted stock that I have available in the shop and most of it can't be replaced, like the quilts :(

Well off to complete the rest of the paperwork and submit our sales tax payment, hope everyone has a good March and we will be popping in and out throughout the month, til then.

I did it !!!

I have slowly started getting back into crochet and knitting, well I found this pattern on the internet for a basic crocheted dishcloth, which was fine and dandy, and I went a made a few. My problem was that even though I was using some really cute cotton yarns they were just well rather hum drum, I was looking for something that would pop, a repeated search on the internet was NOT bringing up anything that I thought had some POP to it, so after much undoing and repeated doing over I finally came up with something, I think, a little different then just regular crocheted dish clothes. It took some doing in finding the right number of rows necessary to do the scallop edge correctly, and the hardest part was getting the number of scallops to work out evenly all the way around the edges. I am sure it isn't the biggest accomplishment in the world but given it has been 25 years since I have crocheted or knitted anything, quilting kind of butt it's head in, I am pretty proud of my accomplishment. Now a experienced crocheter can probably look at these and redo them in a heart beat but I am hoping that I can continue on and come up with some other different variations on these, and they are a really good project to do in front of the TV at night when the work day is over with, like that is ever a possibility when you own your own business :)

I have also just placed a restock order with the supplier for Wash a day Clothepin bag pattern from Darlene Zimmerman and the Look Who's Sleeping in my Bed baby quilt pattern by Susie C Shore designs, which will be reloaded into my supply shop, they are scheduled to arrive sometime next week and those on the waiting list will get their notification that they have arrived for purchase as soon as I verify them in the shipping box. I also have a few new items that the supplier loaded onto the web site since the last time I checked, but I won't say yet til I make sure that they are actually going to send them to me. I will update on here when they do arrive :)
Well off to get ready for a new work day, hope everyone has a good day and you can bet I will be making some more of these for the upcoming craft fairs this season, they just might be a good seller :) Til next time