Perils of Online Selling

I sold a headband yesterday and promised my buyer that I would send it first thing this morning and I kept that promise. Keeping it was a bit of an adventure however.

You see we live in a very small town that has no home mail delivery and Jim has to drive a mountain pass to get to work. He has to use his 4 wheel drive truck to get there and home safely. He also said that he needed an ATV with a blade on the front of it to clear the snow we get here. That leaves me in the winter with our old rear wheel drive sedan and that is where my adventure begins today.

I went out to the garage and pressed the button on the wall to open the door after packing the order to get in the car to go to the Post Office and found the ATV parked snugly right next to the driver side door of the car. I decided to get in on the passenger side. Going over to that side I found bicycles and a lawn mower right by the passenger doors. I had to move the bikes and lawn mower so I could get in the car and scoot across to the driver's side. I started the car, backed out of the garage over piles of snow left behind from plowing the driveway with the coveted ATV by someone who is mostly right in thinking I never go anywhere anyway and looked up at the visor to find the garage door gadget was not there.

Leaving the car running in the driveway I went back into the garage, hit the button on the wall to close the door and left the garage by the small door on the side to step out onto unshoveled sidewalk. Not shoveled because no one comes here, we use the garage usually and the snow plow blade is too big to do the sidewalk so why would Jim bother clearing it anyway? My broken toe (a story for another day) and I limped around the garage in the snow to get back to the car. Driving slowly and carefully on barely plowed and icy streets I made it to the Post Office. Hallelujah I found no line at the Post Office thanks to living in a very small town.

Coming back home on those same streets I had to reverse the process. I pulled into the driveway, went around the garage in the snow, pressed the button on the wall to open the door and pulled in. The bright spot was that with the bikes and lawn mower already moved getting out of the car was not as big a pain as getting in.

I got there and back safely, the order is on the was so now as Phil of Duck Dynasty says, "Everyone should be happy, happy, happy."

Blogger is being a stinker about pictures for some reason right now. Add another event to today's adventure!I will show you all the headband when I edit later. Who knows I may show you the old car and coveted ATV too.

Interview that lead to today's posts

I know Nick Graham is a big time designer and soon an online seller. His reach is so much more than the average handmade artisan will ever have. What struck me most about his interview is his comparisons between brick and mortar selling versus selling online.

"You have to create the story."

That is something so many artisans and vintage sellers do on sites like Zibbet. Even the supply sellers are part of this in providing goods that allow you to tell your story. To me with the upcoming holidays the gifts given that have stories are the best kind. I encourage you to shop where you can find the stories. More on these ideas at the Group2020 blog.

Over the weekend

It was mildly, probably for some and wildly for me, exciting here this weekend.

• I went over the 1000 mark for followers on twitter. Never thought that would happen. If you are interested I am @cozyatoz.
• I listed some dishcloths and sold some on the same day in my re-energized Zibbet shop.

• I finished up the crocheting on a donation afghan. This will be the third year I have given one to the hospital in Jackson for the first baby of the new year. It was done in a pattern called Catherine's Wheel or more currently known now as a Wooleater. As usual for me the ends need woven in on it but I have lots of time for that.

• One Saturday night we went out to dinner at Teton Thai with some friends. Good food and good company.
• We had our first pretty good snow storm over the weekend. The first snows are always lovely. You will hear me grumbling about March I am sure.

Till next time,

Group2020 Blog: Cardstock Equine

Group2020 Blog: Cardstock Equine: I am the horse crazy little girl that grew into her passion, as opposed to growing out of a phase.   My cards are made to be special...

I am a huge fan of the horse photo cards in this shop. Check out this post and the shop and let me know what you think.

Group2020 Blog: Back Alley Designs

Group2020 Blog: Back Alley Designs: Where bad is beautiful! When I first began creating jewelry, I was looking for vintage design filigree and had my first glimpse of a...

My first introduction post as a member of Group2020.

Four Zibbet Finds for Her or Me, because I like them all too

Wandering through Zibbet this afternoon I was taking a look at what is available in some of my favorite categories and trying to think ahead to the holidays. I found some amazing stuff and I will share four of them with you. One of them is vintage, one in stained glass, one in pottery and of course I had to look at yarn and found a some great handmade gifts for her along with my vintage find.

If you are in the mood to leave a comment I would love to know what you think of my finds. If you wish feel free to leave links in your comment to your own Zibbet finds.

I found this vintage woven purse in the shop OmAgainVintage.

Love, love, love this stained glass work.

This piece is titled Self Indulgence.

The shop is WildwindsStainedGlass.

My love of pottery is a bit of a family joke but that doesn't stop me from seeking out new finds like this Creamy Lace Stoneware Plate.

Find even more lovelies at KilnGoddess.

Beautifully dyed, handspun merino, for yarnies need I say more?

Katie's Cottage Dollhouse where I found this yarn in specializes in Waldorf dolls and you should take the time to see them.

Til next time........

Simpler and Cleaned Up

Well I did it and I don't know that it makes a difference to anyone but me. Years ago I used to do paid posts. One of the places I posted for gave you links to work in and make fit in your regular writing. The problem was so many of them were for quack diet pill places and that always bugged me but I took the $5 per post and kept writing.

I have cleaned up the blog of those posts and anything else that does not fit or make sense anymore. I have also imported all the posts from my Cozy Stitches blog and will be deleting it. It just makes no sense to me to have two blogs. Silly idea in the first place. Anyway all done and life is made one step simpler. Go me!

Till next time.

I should have

I should have ridden the carousel on our family trip earlier this month. Who doesn't love carousels? The art on the animals is always so impressive.

Instead I got talked into things like the ride called Disko and a roller coaster with two loops and a couple corkscrews. I didn't get sick but I felt the effects from those rides for quite awhile.

We all had a good time though. Some of us lasted for a few hours and others rode all the rides several times until nearly midnight.

Entertainment

We have had a Netflix subscription for awhile now. Maybe a year or more but I have lost track and it doesn't really matter. Jim doesn't use it much but I do. We have different tastes like most couples. I like a story and he is more into reality or rather what pretends to be reality on television.

Netflix lets me have my stories. At first I queued a lot of shows and movies that I thought I would enjoy. For tv shows I used to watch one episode and then move on to another show and watch an episode kind of like if you were watching regular television. Lately I have changed to a marathon style of watching as many episodes as I have time for in one sitting. So far I have seen all of Bones and Mad Men that is until new seasons comes out. I still have a huge queue of things I might like waiting for me. Did you know that the queue limit on Netflix is 500 titles? I learned that.

So today I want to know if you have a Netflix or Hulu account are you a marathon watcher or more scattered?

Well Hello There.....

Dear blog and whatever readers happen to come by,

No apologies for not posting much, just didn't. Moving forward now.

I have been knitting all summer and have lots of scarves done, well I have ends to weave in but the knitting is done. Most of them are the infinity type which have been a lot of fun to knit. Hopefully most of them will find new homes this fall. My work is all going to be listed in my shop here. I will start posting pictures later when I have them online. If you prefer facebook to blogs you can see my page here.

If you are still with me say hello in the comments and thanks for reading this far.

Have to leave you with a picture.

I spent a very nice day here in very pleasant company recently. We splurged on a poolside cabana with refrigerator, tv, drinks and snacks and loved every minute of it. Do you know where this is?

Barlee Creations

I grew up around dogs and various small animals. Dogs are my passion and I can't imagine life without a canine companion. I house is not a home without a dog.

So many people feel this way. The quote above comes from the shop Barlee Creations which is a wonderful place to explore if you are a dog lover. I love the idea of the matching jewelry for mom and furbaby. One of my favorites in the shop right now reminds me of spring.

Lovely don't you think so?

For more information you can also check out the blog-

Homework My Dog Didn't Eat

hard......

This is hard but I am determined to go through this blog and add labels and get rid of paid posts that just don't fit me. Need more coffee......

Wow

I was able to send boxes to three different places this week. The fact that my creations are appreciated always thrills me. My white hand towels are sold out. Thank you!

Experimenting

Just trying creating a post with my phone. I definitely prefer a real keyboard for typing. That is one reason I don't text much either.

More of my favorite cottons

We were away from home for a bit but are back now. I did not take any knitting with me on the trip because I did not want to lose my needles to zealous TSA employees.

I have spent the day working on my Etsy shop and am proud to say I have all of 6 active listings. I took pictures, edited them and then wrote up the listings. That process always takes me longer than I think it will. I used the camera until the light just got too dim. It has been cloudy and snowy all day.

My first socks so far......

I started these with a figure 8 cast on. I tried to do a Judy's Magic cast on but had a hard time with changing those instructions for my left handed self.

At first I got through the toe increases doing one sock and realized how much knitting is in just one sock I knew I would suffer from SSS. That is second sock symdrome. So I cast on a second sock and kept on going.

The thinness of the yarn is giving my bifocaled eyes some trouble but the first of next month I have an eye exam and a new prescription will help me with that problem I am sure.

These are for me and are just a basic toe up ribbed sock. For these I plan to try a short row heel. Nothing fancy and just a lovely shade of green.

I want to knit socks!

One of the things I want to do this year is knit socks.

Knowing my personality I figure that the two at a time technique would be perfect for me. I also know that I am not fond of complicated finishing so working the socks toe up would be great.

Perfectly matched socks, done at the same time. I'll post, probably, I should, I procrastinate,but I mean well pictures if I get any pairs of socks knit and wearable done.

I actually have the yarn for 7 pair already bought and waiting for me to get started.

I do have a couple of these books myself to help me understand the process.

New Year Day 2

2013 is under way and I am happy about that and hope who ever may be reading is too.

In big news we had some company for New Year's Eve and the days before and after. Cindy and Kevon came to visit with the kids. As usual we found time to do one of our favorite things while they were here. That is animal watching in and around Jackson, Wyoming. We managed to see bison, moose, elk and big horn sheep. I am showing off one of my favorite animal pictures of the day here.

Isn't he handsome?