Spring Has Definitely Arrived!!!!

Ok, perhaps not for you Northern Hemisphere folk but for us Aussies (and of course everyone else in the Southern Hemisphere) the season of growth is upon us! I know you're probably thinking "well yeah Kylie, the beginning of Spring was actually about 8 weeks ago" but in my part of the world it has been nothing but rain, cold, then a bit of sunshine, then a bit of heat, then rain, then cold etc, you get my drift.

I took a walk in my garden today and realised that I actually need to do a bit more than walk in it. It's due for a weeding and a pruning and perhaps the adding of summer veges to our vegetable patch. But I did get some great images to share with you. Hope you like them, they will be my bit of inspiration for some new designs to come...

This is our first ripe strawberry...yep...now eaten!

Portulacas growing beautifully...thankyou to Ginny from GinPins who reminded me of the name!

These are our flourishing tomato plants...I just wish they didn't take so darn long to fruit! Not long now though.

If anyone can tell me what this gorgeous flower is, I'd be eternally grateful. It's only just popped up in our garden next to some bromeliads but it's just gorgeous!

Some Marketing Tips...

The Senses
I recently went to a marketing seminar and listened to some really interesting speakers talk about how to attract buyers...and lots of them! Here's a good tip and I will follow this up with a few more over the next few days.

The more senses you involve the more successful you will become. See - Hear - Feel. I was thinking about this one last night and think it is an excellent tip! I mean, look at all those Etsy soap sellers and think about how they brand themselves. The reason they are selling is because their photos and descriptions involve the senses. Most of the soap I come across looks good enough to eat (Taste). The descriptions mention different scents (Smell) and the photos are often just plain gorgeous (Sight). I am going to be considering how I can work the aspect of the senses into my listings.

Have a System
Edward Demming said "94% of failure happens because of the lack of a system" So it's important to have a system with your shop. In fact at the moment, I am following the system of listing an item a day. But if you develop a system with how you organise your day then you are more likely to succeed! I don't believe I have an effective system yet. My day job gets in the way too much (but this is no excuse!). So I'm gonna work on how I can improve the system I am working with.

Venturing into Blog Land

I thought it was about time I got my act together and joined the many bloggers out there. Although the first thought that enters my head is that I'm going to have nothing interesting to blog about, I know this is just ridiculous and that my life is filled to the brim with strange and wonderful happenings waiting to be shared with the rest of the world (wait...this is MY life we're talking about isn't it? Not Amy Winehouse or Harry Potter's?).

My blog will be a mixture of personal happenings and also the celebration of all things handmade, with appearances of my favourite artists and crafters from Etsy.com and Madeit.com.au.

To start my blog adventure I may as well tell you about a fabulous event that I was able to be a part of last weekend (18th-19th of Oct). The Akoostik Festival was a wonderful event held in one of my favourite towns, Wingham, in the Manning Valley, NSW, Aust. Lots of great music, lots of great markets and delicious vegetarian food...or so I was told...you see, I didn't actually get to experience the whole Akoostik festival because of a work-related seminar I had to attend, so my dear husband and dear friend (who could also sell ice to the eskimos) stepped in for me and attended. They took some photos too, which was much appreciated.