A Month of Ups and Downs...and Downs and Ups!

At the beginning of this month, our little town was facing something big...the local mine, which had been booming and prospering to unprecedented proportions, was caving in to the growing economy crisis. Layoffs were announced, over 1500, which was about 1/3 of our town (give or take). As Feb. 2nd got closer, there were even rumors that disgruntled people were going to start trouble to the extent that the National Guard would be called in. Fortunately it didn't come to that, but a mass exodus has begun. So sad to see truckloads of people hoping to find opportunity elsewhere. Many of our friends have been affected too. Some have gone to other towns within the state, some to Colorado, and some to New Mexico. My husband thought that his department, which deals in Vibration Technology and Preventative Maintenance, wouldn't be affected, but unfortunately it was shut down, and he was laid off too.

We, like several others, have decided to stay in the area if at all possible, so we had planned to use his layoff as an opportunity to take care of things around the house that had been put off. Things were shaping up pretty good, and he was planning on Auxiliary Pioneering, as we call setting aside extra time in the month to share Bible truth with our neighbors, for the first time. Then the phone rang...apparently knocking out the department hadn't been such a good idea after all. His boss wants him back on Monday. Go figure! We are thankful he has a job, especially as hard as they are to find right now. But I have to admit a teeeeensy bit of sadness that "the old grind" has to take up so much of his time again already! We were getting used to having him around! OK, I'm just a little weird. So, a bittersweet sigh of relief here in our house!

In my employment news, in spite of Tweeting profusely, Free Shipping has not brought the droves of people to my store that I thought it would, and I think I am going to have to branch out to keep my business up. Potpourri just isn't a necessity in these uncertain times! I have made a couple of trades, which I think is great! Like the old days, when you could pay the doctor with a chicken or two! Imagine trying to do that now, lol! Anyhoo....I have started making Bath Salts, and will soon begin creating Sugar Scrubs and the like. So, you heard it here first, my new studio at Artfire (http://paradisepotpourri.artfire.com/) will soon feature many new botanical Bath Salts, Scrubs, and fizzies!

Megzy and I are also stocking up our eBay store, and getting ready to part with some former treasures. People still need clothes, right? So, we will keep listing and hopefully help our families by doing something that just may be helping others in a small way too! http://stores.ebay.com/paradisepotpourriglobalbizarre?refid=store

It's My Etsy-Versary!!

Wow! It's being a great first year since joining Etsy! I truly believe that having a special place to sell handcrafted items is the way for an artisan to go...I know that potpourri isn't something in high demand like, say, soap :) but I have made at least one sale every month since opening my Etsy store, and I have only made 2 total sales of potpourri in my ebay store in the same time period! Of course, I haven't really tried hard on eBay, since other items of a non-handcrafted nature seem to do very well there. It's our place to recycle clothing items! But I digress....I'd just like to say Thank You to Etsy for getting the ball rolling for us little crafters everywhere!

Of course I wouldn't still be in business if it weren't for my customers, soooooo......In honor of my First Etsy-Versary, I am offering FREE SHIPPING throughout February on all orders...even the somewhat heavy and bulky Luxury Size Bath Tea! In addition, mention this blog to me in an Etsy Convo or on Twitter and I will give you an additional 5% off your order! I may get brave and have a blog contest but I've never done that before, so if you have any tips or suggestions, please share them! :)

http://paradisepotpourri.etsy.com/

New Items at our eBay Store!!

Finally! In our excitement and enthusiasm over our crafty success with our various Etsy stores, Megan and I have both sadly neglected our original endeavor on eBay, Paradise Potpourri Global Bizarre! This store features mostly good quality used clothing for the whole family. In our troubled economy, people are looking for their favorite brands at lower prices. One of the best ways to do this is to find them Gently Used! Our inventory is very low now, but on its way back up, so add us to your eBay favorites, and maybe you will see something just your style pop up soon! http://stores.ebay.com/paradisepotpourriglobalbizarre?refid=store We accept most reasonable offers, too, so be sure to check it out!

Back to Work...I Promise!

Whew! The kids go back to school this week...except one, I haven't received his materials yet for homeschooling, so probably next week for him. Anyway, no more running around means a bit more time at home, so I finally got to work on a couple more potpourris! I started with Mango, so voila! Mango Madness! I also made a new batch of Lemongrass, one of my all time best sellers. My supplier no longer carries some of the ingredients, so I improvised! I will be posting new items over the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned!

Discoveries!

Well, I was wrong about selling my very last Mocha Java sachet...I went to my workshop to start the new batch, and discovered 2 more large ones and 3 small ones! One of them even had a keychain charm on it, so I will be photographing that one and listing it ASAP! I still started the new batch, because I'm really excited about adding the red color to it. I know there are alot of fans of the "just brown" batch too though, so now I can have something for everyone! Feel free to leave me a comment with your personal opinion here if you want :)

And The Winner Is....

You!!
July 31st is my "official" 6 month Etsy anniversary! I also just made my 20th sale on Etsy, by selling my very last Mocha Java sachet...but never fear! Another customer suggested that I create Mocha Java using a dark red color mixed in. Since some of the ingredients I used in my last batch are unavailable right now, I have decided to substitute some of them with some dark red rose petals, and perhaps another dark red flower, and call it Mocha Java Rouge! I also received an exciting Alchemy request...another first! But I will save that to blog about when the order is done :)
ANYHOO...To celebrate, I am having Free Shipping on anything in my store through August 15th, which is the actual 6 month anniversary of my store opening! This sale will include any alchemy requests...so convo me!
Finally, I am going to create the winning scents from my Party Potpourri Poll...Margarita, Mango, and the runner up, Cold Relief Bath Tea!

Welcome to my Etsy Potpourri Blog!

Hi! Thanks for visiting my little corner of cyberspace ;) I started this blog to tell everyone about my Etsy store, Paradise Potpourri. You can check it out by clicking here - http://paradisepotpourri.etsy.com I create scents to bring cheer and delight to any room in your home, your office, or even your car! I also have a plethora of other ideas, so I will post here regularly for the latest!

Please take a moment to vote in my poll, and if you have something you'd like to see in my shop, or a comment to share, feel free to drop me a line here!