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

And the holidays are here!

 

 

This is the Monday before Thanksgiving, 2010 and my family is gearing up for the holidays. Lots to do, and it will seem as though there won’t be enough time to get it all done, but somehow we will manage and everything, though maybe not perfect, will be great!

Yesterday we hosted a cookout here at the house, and thanks to global warming, we had a gorgeous day to hang out in the backyard, eat, watch the dogs chase squirrels (before my sister and I started sneaking them bites of hotdog and steak LOL) and just relax. I think Mom really needed a day like that, to be honest.

On Thanksgiving morning, we are planning on helping the church with their meal deliveries. Mom, my sister and, if she shows up, my little brother’s girlfriend, and I are planning on packing the delivery boxes and serving on the line while Danny, Roddy, Jay and Pop deliver the meals. I’ve always thought it important to remember those less fortunate than ourselves, especially during the holidays, and doing this as a family is an amazing thing for me. I’ve had a really blessed year and I feel as though I should pay that forward in some way.

My own biological family disowned me many years ago and while that did hurt very badly for a very long time, I had managed to move on from that and now I’ve realized I am surrounded by more people who love and care about me than I have ever had in my life and that is simply the most amazing things I’ve ever experienced and I am very grateful for that. So, the people I will be calling Mom, Pop, sisters, brothers, they are all people who have adopted me and made me feel like family in the most sincere way possible. I love every single one of them with every inch of my heart and wouldn’t trade any of them for all the gold and power in the world.

For the first time in many years, I have family during the holidays and I cannot even begin to tell you how that makes me feel.

I will keep you posted throughout, just so you know I am doing ok! Meanwhile, here is a pic of something I created at some point! This is my beautiful daughter Beth with our dog Eddie-bugz. She’s wearing an Uglee Elf Hat in cherry chocolate chip and a slightly snarky grin.

Myscza

Flickr Tags: Crochet,hats,crafting,handmade,meaningful

Holidays and wedding planning . . .

 

 

All sorts of things have been going on in my house lately! I’m trying to get geared up for the holidays and some awesome crafting, but between work and wedding planning, it’s kind of hard to make time to sit down with my yarn and hooks and just veg in front of the TV as much as I would like to!

Wedding decorations were a bust the day after Halloween, literally EVERYTHING even remotely Halloween related disappeared overnight and now it’s everything Christmas. I was a little bummed about that to be honest, but I like looking at the holiday decorations and colours and sparkly things.

And that puts me in the mood to make hats and scarves and mittens and convertible mittens and neck warmers and all sorts of stuff. I am also contemplating breaking into some new crafting areas, maybe more felting, candle making, soap making, things like that!

The sale on my Artfire site is now over and I would like to thank everyone who came to the shop to see what I have. I really appreciate it! I also found out I’ve been hotlisted on there, as well as included in a bright, cheerful collection by another shop owner and that really made my day!

Even though the sale is over, I still have a lot of things there that are ready to find new homes with people who will love their unique funkiness! Surely you can find something that you love. And, if, on the off chance you don’t, feel free to message me with a custom order! Just be sure to do it soon so I have a chance to make it perfect for you and get it to you before Christmas!

Love & Light!

Myscza

Took a little trip . . .

Well, we went to New Jersey for a friend’s wedding reception this past weekend. A great time was had by all, to say the very least.

I didn’t get any crafting done at all, which makes me feel a little bad, but there was so much going on and so many family members to visit and see. In all honesty, I need to recuperate from the break.

I also started meditating again last night. It was a practice I used to do quite frequently and somehow in the craziness of life I’d gotten away from it and am now paying the price. So, I’m going to be back at it and get myself re-centered and back together. YAY!

Welcome to my little corner of the world!

 

 

Hi there everyone! I’m Myscza and I want to welcome you to my tangle of yarn!

Here’s where I will muse about the stuff I have in my HUGE basket of stuff, as well as random thoughts that come to me while I’m sitting on the couch, hook in hand. Or glass of wine, whichever LOL

Hope you will enjoy this blog and that you’ll leave me plenty of funny comments!

Kisses!

Myscza