The biggest step has been taken, now what?

Well, over the weekend, I bought my domain name! And then found a hosting site and began building my own online shop. WHEW!

Never thought I would take that step, but I did and now I have a whole new world of things to think about and plan for and to be honest, it is daunting, but with all the help and assistance and praise I've been getting from my family and friends, I know I can do this! 

Of course I am still worried that this may not be as successful as I hope, I know the statistics about new businesses. But you never know until you try, so here I am, trying. What's the worst that could happen? Yeah, nevermind, don't answer that! LOL

But the best thing for me right now is seeing my hit stats go up every day! I keep telling myself that the more traffic I drive to the site, the better people will get to know my talent and then the business will take off, so that's what I am doing these days. It's a modest start, but as of last night, I'd had almost 300 hits, which isn't bad, considering I only launched it Friday afternoon!  

So, I am keeping my chin up and reading about marketing (my friend Tom swears by "Guerrilla Marketing") and figuring out new ways to get the ball rolling!

Last, but not least, to all those who've asked for specially customised things, you guys rock! Keep telling all your friends about me, please!

Meanwhile, here's the link to the shop, feel free to leave comments, any feedback will be greatly appreciated! 

The World of Uglee Little Things

xoxox

Michele

Big things are happening here in the land of Uglee Little Things!

There's been so much going on here the last few days! I've tried my hand at making dog sweaters, with my pooch Eddie as the model for the prototype. As you can see, he is absolutely thrilled with his sweater. Actually, he just flopped over and stared at me sideways, then found a way to pull it off by dragging his back along the underside of the coffee table. Back to the drawing board, need to make it fit better!

And in other news, I was talking with Danny about where I'm going in life and what my passion is and how the fibromyalgia affects my other job and he looked at me and said, very simply "You make some of the nicest things I've ever seen, the colours can be strange, but you are so good at all this design and crochet stuff. You should follow your passion."

So, after some serious thought about whether or not I have the fortitude and desire to make this work (I decided I do, by the way), last night I bought the ugleelittlethings.com domain. He's been helping me work on it this morning, since I am not the most computer literate person on the planet. I will be honest, I am nervous, worried about failing, wondering if people will come to the shop . . . all sorts of things. I've not really sold anything out of the ArtFire shop, but people have looked through and contacted me about making custom pieces based on what they have seen, so it's not as though nothing has moved out of the house.

I just have so many concerns and worried and all the rest that goes along with starting a business! But, with some help from my friends, I will give it a serious try and just promote myself and my work to death!

xoxox

Myscza

Spring is here! In case you didn't know it!

Well, as we all know, spring is finally breaking in many places around the country. Here in the foothills, we've had some particularly gorgeous days! Although today was awfully windy, it was still warm and sunny, and that's what I like, warm, sunny weather!

The holidays were surreal. We had to cancel our Thanksgiving plans to volunteer at the church when Mom was rushed to the hospital. She had to have emergency surgery but she is beyond fine now. So, that left Thanksgiving dinner in the hands of me and my sister! OH NO! It turned out to be awesome though! Danny made his famous stuffing, Roddy made the trifle, and we all had a decent time, although we missed Mom, and Dad, very much!

Christmas was better! I made Mom what I like to call a "Box of Love." Her being rushed to the hospital made me realise just how much she means to me, and to keep my hands busy, I started making hearts. In all colours, shapes & sizes and designs. I even figured out how to make a Dutch Heart, which turned out beautifully. Then I put them all into a very happy little hat box and presented it to her. It now sits on the hearth in their living room, for all to see. Next time I am over there, I should remember to take my camera so I can sneak a few shots to post here!

And now it's warming up. And this makes me very happy! The only bad news I have is that I've finally reached a diagnosis for all the pain I've been feeling all these years. I have Fibromyalgia. Yes, it's painful, and yes that hit me like a ton of bricks. But, I have started treatment, and although I am in the middle of a flare-up, I can deal with knowing that people now understand that it's not all in my head and that there is a course that can be followed to help me have more better days than crying days!

 And through all this amazing chaos, I have two babies to crochet for. Our godson, Christian, Jr will be here in June and our good friends Jill & PJ have their first little one coming in August! I'm already working on Junior's first blanket, and I am looking for a super special pattern and yarn for Jill & PJ's first born. I am a firm believer that all new babies, and some grown ones (like Danny) deserve to have handmade blankies and bears to comfort them.

 And now it's time for a special picture before dinner. This is my friend Sarah's daughter, Trinity, wearing her very own custom ordered pink pom-pom Uglee Elf Hat! Her mom says she LOVES it! And that, my friends, is just one of many, many little happies in my life!

 xoxox

 Myscza