INVENTORY CLOSEOUT - Fabric Covered Buttons

What once was hot, now is not. :(

After much contemplation, and a huge lack of sales, I've decided to discontinue the entire section of fabric covered buttons I have listed in my ArtFire shop. There is currently 55 different fabrics available of buttons that are ready to be used.


I will also be setting up listings this weekend of pre-cut fabric circles that are perfect for making your own buttons, so be sure to look for those too.

And for those of you that entered into my "Guess the Pattern" post that I recently had, don't worry, I'm still busily stitching away on that piece to finish it up. I sat it aside for a few days to get done a custom order with a quick deadline. I have everyone's entries and will be announcing the pattern and winner(s) in the next few days.

Happy Friday!!

P.S. This closeout is NOT an April Fool's Day joke.

Guess the Pattern and WIN!!

So I've been teasing my readers for months now on this new pattern I've been working on. I took this picture last weekend and have made significant progress on it since then. I'm hoping to have it completely finished and listed in my shop in the next 7-10 days. Yay!!

Here's how you win...

If you are able to guess what the pattern is I will provide you with a coupon code for $5.00 OFF any $10.00+ purchase from my ArtFire shop. You can buy whatever you'd like; patterns, magnets, craft supplies, whatever. :)

There's no limit to the number of people that can win. I'll provide a coupon code to each person that guesses correctly and you can enter up until my next post when I announce the winner(s) and show the finished product.



Sorry Emma and Leah ~ you lovely ladies aren't eligible to win since you both already know what the pattern is.

Happy Stitching!

St. Patrick's Day Sale

30% OFF GREEN ITEMS in my Artfire shop today and tomorrow only in celebration of St. Patrick's Day. If there is the color green in the item (or grouping of items) then it qualifies for the discount.

Just use coupon code GREEN30 at checkout and the discount will be automatically applied to your order.

And remember, you can always find all my current coupon codes for both my Artfire and Etsy shops in the discussions tab of my Facebook fan page.

Buttons, Buttons, Who's Got the Buttons?

I haven't been doing very well this year with one of my few resolutions...releasing one new pattern per month. However, I HAVE been busy.

This picture is a sampling of some of the buttons I've been stitching lately. Some of them are still available in my ArtFire shop and some have found new homes. These are all 1-1/8" buttons. They can be used with the wire shanks left on the back to be sewn onto a project or I sell them for other uses...I can glue magnets to the back, attach them to hairpins, or just about anything else you can think of. I can also stitch them on many different colors of linen fabric.

If there's something you're looking for and you don't see it in my shop, just drop me a line and I can create a custom listing just for you.


Happy Stitching!
:)

P.S. Don't forget, for the entire month of March 2011 all of my FABRIC COVERED BUTTONS (excludes hand stitched buttons) are on sale in my ArtFire shop when you use coupon code BUTTONS20 at checkout.

Newsletter Update and Coupon Codes

My intention was to start a monthly newsletter in January, but so far time has not been on my side.

One of the sections I plan on having in the newsletter will be a monthly coupon code for great savings. In the meantime I've decided to start a topic on my discussion tab on my Facebook page that will give all of you a continual and current listing of coupon codes that are available in my ArtFire store. This way you can easily find them without having to scroll through weeks or months worth of Facebook postings.

Here's a link for the tab...
http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=130090270346128&topic=335


And for those of you that don't use Facebook, here are all of the current coupon codes...

BUTTONS20
20% off all fabric covered buttons (excludes hand-stitched buttons) thru 3/31/2011

FREE SHIPPING
Free shipping on your order for the next 4 customers

SUPER 50
50% off your entire order for just ONE lucky customer

Coupon codes will need to be typed exactly as shown above to get them to work. I would suggest copying & pasting them just to be safe.

Happy Shopping!!

Stitching, Stitching, Stitching...

I've been busily stitching and trying to keep up with my Crazy January Challenge 2011 along with custom orders and an occasional new item for my ArtFire shop here and there.

So far I'm 2 for 2 with starting a new WIP on the first of each month. This is the piece I started on February 1st. It will be titled "A Sunset Stroll". Unfortunately I don't want to show the pattern that I'm stitching it from because it will be a gift for someone that may possibly see my blog posts. I didn't get as much done on it as I would have liked, but if you keep reading, you'll see I've made progress on quite a few other items. I'm stitching this on what I'm calling a "butter yellow" linen. The fabric was part of a linen destash given to me, so I'm not sure of the exact name of it.

I showed you this piece in my WIP post last month. Needless to say, it's done completed as I had hoped, however I have made some progress on it and love the way it's coming along. Since this will be the next pattern released in my shop, I'm still keeping it a bit of a secret as to what it is. I had a guess last month of ocean waves, but that's not it.
This next piece isn't a WIP, but is a custom order I just finished last week. It's a photo of a brown bear that has been stitched into a 3" x 3" magnet. This is currently a reserved listing, but I can always stitch up another if someone is interested in it.

And last but not least, I just finished this piece today, and just in time for National Flag Day in Canada, which is February 15th. It IS for sale in my ArtFire shop.
Hopefully by the time I do my next WIP post next month I'll have my blue mousepad / secret pattern finished along with more goodies that will be for sale in my ArtFire shop. Until then...Happy Stitching! :)

Work In Progress Wednesday - 1/12/2011

OK, I know today is technically Thursday, but I had all intentions of doing this post last night until I got home and had to spend 90+ minutes shoveling out my driveway (even though I had already done it in the morning before work) and then was too tired & cold to do anything but veg-out in a hot tub and then in my recliner with an afghan.

Today I have 3 different pieces I'm going to share with you.

The first is "Winter Freeze" and this is the first piece I've started as part of my Crazy January Challenge 2011. Once it's finished it will be one of the patterns that I release for sale in both my ArtFire and Etsy shops. It may not look like much, but I did get about 5% of it finished during the 1 week I stitched on it. The stitched area once finished will be 8" x 12". I tried to get the colors as accurate as possible. I'm stitching the piece on Charles Craft Polar Ice Aida cloth. I've had it for awhile and have been waiting for just the right pattern to use it with.

The second piece I'm going to share with you I'm going to leave as a little more of a mystery and not show you what the finished piece will look like. I'm currently stitching this as a mousepad that will be for sale and I will also release the pattern to go with it. I'm hoping to have it completed and listed within the next 30 days.

The third piece isn't a WIP, but it is a completed custom item. I'm so happy with the way this giraffe magnet turned out that I just needed to share it with everyone. This is a reserved item, but if it's something you'd like to buy, just drop me a line through my blog or ArtFire shop and I can do a custom listing and then get stitching one just for you. :)

I hope you've enjoyed looking at my WIPs and I promise to be a better blogger in 2011 and keep you posted on the patterns I'm working on, etc.

Happy Stitching!

Crazy January Challenge 2011

So I've decided to participate in the Crazy January Challenge 2011 that I found on another stitcher's blog. With the fact I'm no longer just stitching for myself and need to keep up with orders & new patterns in my shop, I'm going to tweak the way I do the challenge a little bit.

The original challenge calls for you to pick 15 different cross stitch patterns/kits and start one of those each day for the first 15 days of January. You will then have 15 different WIPs (work in progress) to stitch and to try and get them ALL completed by the end of 2011.
This is the way I'm going to do the challenge...

• I will pick 12 different pieces.

• I'll start one piece on the 1st of each month and work on that piece consistently for a minimum of the first week.
  
• After that 1st week I will go back to orders or the next pattern that is closest to being finished and released for purchase in my shop.
  
• Sometime between the 8th & 15th of the month I'll post a pic of the progress I've made on each one of my challenge pieces (unfortunately with it being winter it is dark when I leave for work & dark when I get home so I generally have to wait for weekends to take pics during the daylight).

This is the list of the projects I'll be stitching and who the designer is:

1. Winter Freeze by Stitchnmomma
2. Celtic Cross by Stitchnmomma
3. Steps of Santorini by Stitchnmomma
4. Sunset Stroll by Stitchnmomma
   
5. Ironwork Gate by Barbara & Cheryl
   
6. The Red Cart by Stitchnmomma
7. Birch Allee by Stitchnmomma
8. Crashing Wave by Stitchnmomma
9. South Battery View by Barbara & Cheryl
10. Friends are Flowers by Stitchnmomma
11. The Great Wilderness Afghan by Miranda's Needle
12. The Long Road Home by Stitchnmomma

You may have noticed that most of the designs are my own. I figured I could kill two birds with one stone and participate in the challenge as well as work on some of the new patterns I'd like to release.

I'm looking forward to the challenge and hope you all enjoy the pictures I'll be sharing along the way.

Happy New Year to all of you!!
:)

ENTER TO WIN....

With the ever changing and expanding world of social networking, I'm finding it hard to keep up with all the various forms, so based upon popular demand I've decided to start a monthly newsletter.

If you'd like to receive this newsletter, simply email me your first & last name and your email address to Stitchnmomma@hotmail.com Your email address will be kept private and I'll never sell or share my list.

In addition to having a new newsletter to announce my new patterns, categories, share works in progress, etc. I thought I'd have a NAME THE NEWSLETTER CONTEST. The winner will receive a gift certificate to my ArtFire shop. If you'd like to enter, just post a comment here or on my Facebook fan page with your newsletter name. Make sure I know how to get in touch with you in case you're the winner. The winner will be announced in the first premier issue the first week in January.

Can't wait to see the names you all come up with and good luck to everyone!

Looking forward

New LOWER Pricing!!!

As I'm spending more time focusing on my Stitchnmomma shop(s) I'm finding new pros & cons of different websites.

Today I'm excited to announce I will have LOWER PRICING at my ArtFire shop than my Etsy shop. Why you may ask am I doing this? Because unlike Etsy, ArtFire doesn't charge their sellers any fees so I'm passing this savings along to you!!

Stop by and check out my ArtFire shop as I'm adding new items every few days that will make great Christmas gifts and stocking stuffers.

Etsy vs. ArtFire - A Buyer's Opinion????

We all have our personal preferences when it comes to where we shop. I'm looking for the opinion of buyers out there. Do you have preference between Etsy and ArtFire?

I have accounts on both sites, and I feel there are pros and cons to both of them:

Etsy - I've had my Stitchnmomma account for about 18 months now and have had the privilege of 135 sales to date. Granted many of them have been custom or reserved listings, but they are sales none the less.

ArtFire - I've also had my account about 18 months and am still waiting for my first sale. I do have some items listed on ArtFire that aren't available on Etsy.



Etsy - the buyer must have an Etsy account to be able to purchase

ArtFire - as long as you have a PayPal account or a credit card, you can buy whatever you want without having to set up an account with them.


Etsy - is becoming over-saturated in many categories and the choices can be overwhelming

ArtFire - is the new up & coming site for Handmade items with a smaller selection but crafters that are just as dedicated.


I could go on & on with pros & cons from the SELLER'S point of view, but I won't get on my soap box.

If you have an opinion as a BUYER please share, I'd love to hear it.
:)