Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Something Sad

I found out a couple months ago that Amber and her family might move to Idaho in pursuit of a better job. Even though I knew this might be coming I went on and acted as if it wasn't. Well, last week AMber told me it was official and she was moving in a few weeks! Ah! I was so sad.

...Sad for so many reasons. Firstly, she's an amazing, creative friend and I will miss her around. Amber introduced me to the Etsy world and her work inspires me to be creative! I will always be thankful for that. Secondly, I will miss her kiddies so much! Kids grow so quickly. Their personalities take interesting turns as well as their growth and appearance! Ahh... Lastly, I am feeling a little lost without her for a business partner. There's less spunk in the fabrics... the fabrics are sad too! Instead of travelling they are confined to my room!

I will continue from here selling fabrics all alone! It's not the end of the world... Amber is just around the corner (across many states) and I know she will be around for advice but it's not the same. We'll see what happens from here...

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Kasey and Me

Kasey and I have been working at the same hamburger restaurant for nearly six years! That's a lot of burgers. We've gotten to be close as time has gone by and I like to call her my kids FAIRY GODMOTHER. She is THE best! Through all this time at the restaurant we knew there was something bigger out there. We needed more creativity than we were getting taking orders and delivering food.
Kasey is about to graduate college! She is a hard worker and juggles a lot. She has 2 puppies that she may as well have had in the womb! She treats them so well and loves them with all her heart. She has an awesome boyfriend and I secretly {or not so secretly} want them to get married! And my little Leila needs to be a flower girl! She is unwaveringly caring and giving. And my whole family just loves her! She make the cutest tags and sells twine at her own Etsy shop.

I am a crazy mother of two! Leila{4} and Shane{2}. I've been married for six years and have also worked at said hamburger restaurant two years prior to meeting Kasey! I also teach dance class. I hail from Boise, Idaho but have lived here in SoCal for about eight years. I moved out here to go to a dance performing arts center. I have a variety of things in my shop but, mostly I sell bakers twine in my shop. I want to have more time to make more for it!

We both craved a change in our job/lives. After trips to the fabric district in LA and both having our own Etsy shops, we decided fabric was a great way to go. We love the process of picking out the fabric and pairing up different sets. It's really a fun gig for us! Let me tell you how tempting and inspiring it is to have so much beautiful fabric around too! I may need more hours in my day to sew!


And while we are both plugging away with life, school. family and of course HAMBURGERS we hope we can turn this passion into something extra special. We so appreciate all the wonderful feedback and sweet people we have met so far. It's so fun to see what people have made and look at shops when people order. Etsy really is the place to be!


Welcome to our journey! We hope it's a great one!




Monday, April 20, 2009

In a Rut ...

We haven't had any sales in three whole days!! What is going on here? Can anyone give us suggestions on how to get out of this rut?!

Anyways... When things are bad ... this is what I say to myself, or sing actually! It helps me get a move on what needs to be accomplished.

Come on MyFabFabrics! Keep your head up... Don't be a Mr. Grumpy Gills!

-Kasey

Friday, April 17, 2009

New Blog Friends

So tonight I wandered into the Etsy chat rooms! I usually try to do that once or twice a day!I met some of the most FAB-ulous people tonight! First I met jleighdesignz. I went to her blog and I thought it was awesome! Right now she's featuring BlueNostalgia who creates the most FAB jewelry ever! Check out what she has to say here.I usually do not buy jewelry very often... I always lose it, misplace it, or break it. BlueNostalgia's designs are wonderful and I wish I could own everything and wear a new necklace everyday! Maybe I will win the giveaway!! I'm crossing my fingers! Here are some of my favorite items from her shop!


Just to Have the Courage bracelet
Here Comes the Bride Necklace
Try Again Tomorrow Necklace

I also fell in love with the titles of her items! Ahh.. I wish I could be a jewelry designers!

I also met HappyCloudMoments and viewed her blog with the video of her cute doggy and the CJ7. We bonded over our love for dogs! Take a look at mine here!

Anyways, I love the Etsy community!

-Kasey

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Santa Clarita Business

Hello all!

Do you live in Santa Clarita and want to buy fabric?! Send us a convo on Etsy or send us a comment on our blog and we can drop off fabric right to your doorstep! We can also accept payment in person as well if you do not feel comfortable making transactions online with a credit card. In person we can accept cash or checks. I think this is a fun idea! Spread the word around Santa Clarita pleeeeease!

-Kasey

A Wonderful Day

*whew*

Yesterday was a wonderful fabric day for us! Total we received 8 orders! We passed our 100 order mark!! This means we reached our goal for the week and are both thoroughly pleased!! Our 100th sale was Kristin (please check out her beautiful shop as well!) and she received a free fat quarter of fabric!

Yesterday was also Amber's birthday! Yay! Happy birthday to her and I'm glad to hear she had an awesome day. I bought her present from Etsy, but it hasn't arrived yet. As soon as she opens it I will post a picture of it too!

We started receiving some customer appreciation photos and here is a a picture of Aimee's damask burp cloths and dish towels! They turned out so cute! Thanks so much for sharing what you've created!


We are planning a giveaway soon! Stay alert for that fun! I just wanted to thank everyone for their support and for embracing myfabfabrics into your crafting world! We're so thrilled!

-Kasey (<--- the first time I signed my name)

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Inspired!

With all this fabric around I can't help but think of all the projects I could start! Something for my little kids....or something pretty for me. I make and sell hair accessories and our fabric is bright and beautiful and perfect for me!

You could recover a chair with this fabric we have in shop.

Check out this tutorial from Sandi Henderson that you could apply to a shirt, skirt, or purse to make your own butterfly or flower. I think it would look awesome in this fabric or this fabric.


Make anything out of this fabric, it is my absolute FAVORITE! Think about a kids apron, a pillow, a purse. I love, love, love this one. Time for me to buy some too!
What can you make? If you've purchased our fabric we'd love to feature your items on our blog! Whether you sell them, give them or enjoy them yourself. We'd love to see what you can do!
And remember....
::: you are FAB :::
XO:::Amber

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Almost at 100!

I'm happy to announce Amber and I just had our 90th sale! My goal is to reach 100 sales by next Saturday! Will it happen?! We will be posting new fat quarter sets all week so be sure to check it out!

http://www.myfabfabrics.etsy.com

Friday, April 10, 2009

Pikchas!!

Amber and I live about 10 miles away from each other. The fabrics have two homes. Sometimes they're with me and sometimes they're with her. We usually exchange fabrics at work. (We're both servers at Islands Restaurants.) Right now I have all the fabrics and supplies. Here are a couple of pictures so you can see what my working station is like! Below is my desk with the rotary mat, ruler, cutter, scale, and various packaging materials.
We have been including Baker's Twine as a free gift!! There are so many uses for this crafty product. Amber and I both sell the twine on our individual Etsy shops as well. I stole the idea from her... *shrug* She rocks, what can i say?
Our fabric started off in a giant Tupperware container...
... but has now graduated to this giant kitchen cabinet thing that I bought from IKEA!

And it just dawned on my that I never included a link to the Esty shop... or did I? uHm.. probably not... PLEASE check us out at HERE!!!! ;) Thanks so much!

WELCOME!

myFabFabrics opened shop about 8 weeks ago! The first post is a copy of the April newsletter I sent out to my friends and family yesterday. I want to make the newsletter a monthly event.

*whew*

Starting a business is not easy! Here's a brief introduction to the business, the partnership, and me!

My name is Kasey. I'm a 22 year old college student, waitress, math tutor, and puppy lover! My partner is Amber. We'll both post from time to time and sign our name so you know whose voice you're reading.

Amber had the vision of opening a fabric shop on Etsy! She lead the way, and I followed. In the beginning I was lost; however, I have grown to LOVE and APPRECIATE fabrics of all kinds. But not just fabric! Being a part of the Etsy community has reminded and inspired the craftiness in me!!

I find the trickiest part in owning a business and selling a product is PROMOTING! I've read quite a few blogs that gave me some good ideas about how to promote specifically on Etsy! I read Wings of Love and another person that I can't find to give credit to... sOrry!! The title of the blog was "77 Ways to Increase Sales". Well, that blog was cool and talked about Google Analytics which was awesome so thanks! I've been making my way into the Etsy chat rooms and trying to create and respond on the Etsy forums. My next stop is to search for local crafting or sewing groups and persuade them to buy some fabrics. I mean, I drive a Scion xB... we could have a mobile fabric shop...

Overall, I'm enjoying the business. It's hard! We find our biggest competitor to have over 700 bolts of fabric. Do you really want to know their name? okay, okay... their Etsy username is FabricSupplies. We're envious of them and strive to be like them!

More to come soon! Thanks for stopping by!

April Newsletter

April 2009
Hello All!

Let me tell you, it’s been a very interesting month with the FABRICS! We are still learning and working out the kinks. Sales have been up and down. Getting the fabric shipped to us quickly is a struggle; however, other than that the business has been fun! Within the last 7 weeks we’ve had about 90 sales.

I have heard many wonderful comments about the fabric! Thanks so much for passing the word on about our shop. It’s a HUGE deal to us! We can’t thank you enough!

Amber and I proudly have about 34 bolts of fabric in our inventory! (That’s really exciting considering we started with 12!) We now carry fabrics from 8 different designers. In June we are expecting Jason Yenter’s Floragraphix line. Our next endeavor will hopefully be in ORGANIC fabric. I’ve been looking at Harmony Arts fabric so stay tuned for that! We’d love your feedback as well! Take a look at the links and tell us what fabrics you’d like to see in our shop.

We are offering a free fat quarter of fabric for our 100th sale (your choice of fabric)! Soon we hope to have a fun giveaway so be ready for that as well. I wanted to take the time to update everyone on FABFABRICS. Hopefully, we will start a blog soon so you can check in with us whenever you want. Don’t worry! I will send the link out when that’s up and running! I know you can’t wait ;)

Thanks,
Kasey
Fab Fabrics
http://www.myfabfabrics.etsy.com


P.S. Oh, and as before… I’d LOVE for you to forward this newsletter to any and everyone!!