Farming in the shade

As an etsy shop owner, we get a lot of requests for custom items. A 5 x 7 foot rug. Black socks in size 9 with pink toes. A needle-felted nativity scene. Many etsy shop owners are happy to work on custom orders, but we find it difficult to get our regular work done, much less taking on special orders. The farming must always come first. So most of the time we decline custom orders, kindly. It is better to say no up front than to disappoint. But this weekend, a mom from California found our etsy shop, likely searching for Suffolk wool. Her daughter wanted to do a science project on factors that affect pilling in wool. She wanted to knit swatches of different breed wool yarn, and then abrade them to see which wool held up better. She wanted to include Suffolk, but was having trouble finding single-ply 100% yarn. Who can resist the story of a 10-year old knitter who wants to feature wool in her science project? That's like three of my seven favorite things in the whole world, a...

I haven't woven in weeks, keeping busy with other things more pressing. Soon it will be too cold in my workshop to spend time out there. I keep telling myself that there are seasons to life... The following rugs will be among those available for purchase at the Kerstmarkt. It's unfortunate that the busiest time on Etsy is also the time we have all our items at and our energies focused on the market. What this means for the local buyer is that you will have opportunities to buy things at our booth that will never even be seen on Etsy. This one is made from various plaid flannel shirts. And this one from solid and plaid flannel sheets. This is an assortment of cotton dress shirts. And the final one is flannel also--both sheets and shirts. Weaving is my therapy, and I'll be glad to get back to it. Not sure when, but I know the looms will be waiting for me when I'm ready.

One of my favorite craft advocates (who is herself the owner of a small "handmade" business) wrote a quick piece late last night that has provided me with a little pep talk this morning as I struggle with shipping labels and packing tape. You can read her blog post here . And if you are still looking for a good gift for a crafty person in your life, I highly recommend her Craftsanity Magazines and her peg looms . Now, back to the grindstone...

Rag rugs were a traditional way to use up bits of worn out clothing. I've been weaving rugs for around 15 years, and use mostly bits of worn out clothing or unwanted material. Doing my part in an effort to keep the landfills from overflowing. I make a lot of rag rugs from blue jeans. They're incredibly durable, and who doesn't like blue jeans, in any form? Every so often, I find some colored denim and can weave a jean rug that isn't blue. Just listed this one in the etsy shop :

Etsy does a feature on its blog every so often focusing on a certain decorating style. They show photos of someone's house, and then pick out items for sale from random etsy sellers that match the style of the house. Today, one of my rugs was featured on the etsy blog (scroll down, down, down--it's on the right). I'm honored!

...and everything in its place. Recently, inspired by our clutter, I made a collection of items for sale on Etsy. It's just a fun way to promote other people's work. You can actually click on the photos and go see more information about the item pictured. Enjoy! And yes, I did put a bunch of stuff back in its place here at Shady Side Farm. 'A place for everything...' by ShadySideFarm And everything in its place. ...

Recently I heard that if every Michigan household would spend $10 on Michigan food each week, an additional $37 million would be infused into our struggling economy. It's no secret that Michigan's economy is in trouble. Just this morning I read the long list of cuts that are proposed by our new governor, and trembled. No one will be unaffected by this, it seems. The one that worries me the most is the farmland preservation tax credit. We will see if we can afford to pay the property taxes on our land if that one passes. But I digress, and bring my worries into this post, which was going to be about shopping locally. When you buy items from a Michigan retailer, you are helping. When you buy Michigan-made or grown products from a Michigan retailer, it's even better! I recently visited a nearby shop in a formerly- (and perhaps still)-dying mall. Tree Huggers is owned by a couple who is passionate about the environment. They realize that part of environmental stewardship is th...

Recently I entered and won a group of prizes from some SHEteam Etsy shops. SHEteam stands for Schooling at Home Etsians, and is a group of etsy sellers who offer support, advice, and companionship to each other as they sell their handiwork on Etsy. All of the members of the SHEteam have homeschooling in common. In an effort to help promote their shops, I will be featuring some SHEteamers on my blog over the next few weeks. Next in line is Melissa from ElegantRoseBoutique . Melissa sent me some yummy Vanilla Coffee whipped Body Butter--just what my thirsty skin has been needing! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1) Tell me about yourself, your family and what your craft is. We live in the country on just over 6 acres overlooking a beautiful private lake. We have enjoyed raising all kinds of animals and showing our children God's beauty. 2) How long have you been crafting? How did you get started? Quite some time ago I purchased homemade soap from someone that was going o...

Recently, I entered and won a group of prizes from some SHEteam Etsy shops. SHEteam stands for Schooling at Home Etsians, and is a group of etsy sellers who offer support, advice, and companionship to each other as they sell their handiwork on Etsy. All of the members of the SHEteam have homeschooling in common. In an effort to help promote their shops, I will be featuring some SHEteamers on my blog over the next few weeks. Next in line is Liz from Hands' Delight. Liz sent me two cozies--used for keeping your hands cool around a coffee cup or keeping the contents of your drinking glass cool. They are the most vibrant shade of cobalt blue--one of my most favorite colors. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1) Tell me about yourself, your family and what your craft is. I'm a wife, mother to 6, and work part time as an activi ties assistant at a retirement home. My craft of choice is crocheting. 2) How long have you been crafting? I've been crocheting for about 15 ye...

Recently, I entered and won a group of prizes from some SHEteam Etsy shops. SHEteam stands for Schooling at Home Etsians, and is a group of etsy sellers who offer support, advice, and companionship to each other as they sell their handiwork on Etsy. All of the members of the SHEteam have homeschooling in common. In an effort to help promote their shops, I will be featuring some SHEteamers on my blog over the next few weeks. First up is Kim from Sewciopath's Shoppe. Kim sent me one of her love & support cuffs. I'm thinking about who I can give it to--seems I know all too many folks dealing with big life-altering things like cancer. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tell me about yourself, your family and what your craft is. My name is Kim. I am a full-time wife and mom, 2 girls. I also homeschool the older daughter, and I will start teaching the younger one kindergarten this fall. And in all my spare time (HA!) I try to make a few things to sell. I mostly sew and k...

From the end of our daughter's pencil: Available (along with other drawings) in her etsy shop .

It's always fun to find that someone completely unknown to us appreciates our work. Just this morning, I sent a "No, thank you" note to a wholesaler in Brooklyn who wanted to introduce our line of socks to Japan. Who knows if it's legitimate; so much of on-line communication is not. At any rate, if you click on the button above, you'll be taken to a blog called The Creative Jar. This blogger features fun things found on etsy. Nice thing to wake up to on a Friday...