Creativity

If you've read my little introduction to my family at the top of the page you know that when Rhett was born I dealt with severe postpartum depression. 

Thankfully with a lot of faith, medical help, prayer, support and understanding I've come a long way since then. 

I am so beyond grateful for that, and even though I hope to never experience it again or wish it on anyone, I am honestly grateful for going through it and the blessings it brought into our lives. 

Still, I struggle some days with overwhelming anxiety.

So restoring furniture has become kind of  therapeutic for me. 

I mean lets face it...going to work on a piece with a power sander is a great way to release a little stress. :)

The past few days have been difficult and it's been awhile since I had to deal with the big A (anxiety).

Blah.

Below is a short clip I LOVE, of part of a speech given by one of the leaders from my church and regardless of your religious background I think it is true for all of us.

It motivates me on the days when anxiety seems to want to take over.

It's about creativity. 

The creativity we all have and the creativity that makes our sphere of influence better.

And I want to thank you for all the creative work you do that I see on your blogs and in your lives! 

It is incredibly inspirational. :)

Enjoy and I hope it gets your week off to a great start!

{ If the video doesn't work here's a link to the video on Youtube. }

Great references for how to price

A few days ago I posted about some of my questions concerning pricing.

From your lovely responses I could tell I wasn't the only one with questions.

This is kind of a blurry subject. 

I had some of you email me some great posts from other blogs that really answered some of my questions.

Thank you! 

I also found some of my own.

I've compiled a list of the links as seen below and I really hope that this helps you!!

Freshly Picked: Why you Should Raise Your Prices

The Art of Pricing: Three Helpful Pricing Exercises

Behind the Price Tag: Handmade Pricing

Shop Talk: How to Price Handmade Goods

How to price your craft


And don't forget to enter the Ryobi Sander Giveaway!!

What I've learned/questions about pricing

The other day we took a trip to visit a local furniture store. We might be furniture nerds. We love looking around, testing couches (and chairs), analyzing their staging. Does anyone else do this? This was our first visit to such an establishment since we jumped into this little furniture business of ours, so I was really excited to look at everything with a new perspective.

And I was kind of shocked. 

I was shocked at the prices they were charging...even for sale items. Most were at least double, closer to triple what I list pieces at. 

I understand completely that this store is so very different from what so many of us do. It is part of a chain, it has investors, a reputation and loyal customers. But I still had a hard time keeping my jaw from dropping as we perused each item and vignette.

When we got home we talked about our pricing "strategy". OK we really don't have one. We really just go with our gut instinct. And I'm wondering if we are going about this all wrong. So I was wondering if any of you had some advice. 

This is what I've learned so far. 

• I want to create beautiful furniture that people can afford. Everyone deserves a beautiful home
• What you can charge depends on the venue you are selling it in. 
• I don't like to pay more that $30ish dollars for a piece to work on. 
• Sometimes a piece will produce a large profit and sometimes it won't. 
• 
  

OK now I need advice. 

These are some of my questions and if you have any answers, experiences, advice, anything I would really appreciate it. 

• How do you price your labor/time invested in a piece?
• If someone asks you to lower the price...what do you do? 
• What venues do you use to sell finished pieces?
• How long do you leave a piece up for sale before you lower the price?
• How do you price your finished pieces? Do you have a "formula"? 

Thank you so much for your advice! I really, truly appreciate it. 

A soon to be GIVEAWAY and just for laughs

Happy Saturday everyone! 

I love Saturdays.

They are great project days. 

And...guys....we're only 7 followers away from 100.

That's awesome!

When we get to 100 we're going to do another giveaway.

If you look to the right I've got a little survey to find out what you would like the giveaway to be.

Do you want something like a power tool....say an electric sander (gift receipt included)?

Do you want a gift card to go out to the movies a few times?

Do you want to go get pampered and get your hair or nails done?

Please take the survey and let me know!

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Now just for your laughing enjoyment.

So when my husband and I were compiling ideas for a new masthead for el blog-o he had the idea of using a picture of me as part of it.

Bah! 

I'm really not a fan of pictures of just me, so this wasn't in my comfort zone.

But I decided to humor him and give it a try. 

These are some of the outtakes. 

I'm not cut out to be a model. 

I'll stick to making furniture look good. :)

Inspiration

This holiday weekend we got to hop on a jet plane and head to sunny sunny (and humid) Florida! Did I mention it was humid? Sheesh. So different than dry Utah. But it was a fantastic weekend. Rhett got to see the ocean for the first time. At first he...well he hated it. We spent over an hour getting all of our beach gear together, getting sunscreened up, unloading the car etc all for about 10 minutes at the actual beach. But we kept going for walks in the evening and at the end he really warmed up to it.

                           

But the best part of the weekend was when Rhett got to meet my grandmother, Grandma Dot. She has dementia so sometimes she prefers to stay in her own world, but when she saw Rhett she just lit up. She wanted him to sit on her lap, hold his hand, she smiled and laughed when he toddled around. I am so grateful for those moments of clarity.



Grandma Dot is an amazing woman. She was a nurse in WWII and received a Medal of Honor  for her service. She was on Jeopardy, lived through the depression, and had literally hundreds of songs and poems memorized.

 

This is her on her wedding day. Isn't she spectacular?

Jake and I owe so much to her for helping us as we started married life. She gave us so much of her beautiful furniture when we got married because she was entering a retirement home. I am so grateful for these pieces for mulitple reasons. One, we got to start married life with real chairs and a table and furniture that made our apartment feel like a home, not a dorm. Two, her taste and style has influenced me to redo furniture and has helped me find my style. Here are two pieces that we have from her. 

{ A half round }

 

{ A chest of drawers }

I love these pieces. They inspire me. I love the warm swirls in the wood of the half round and the hand detail in the drawers. I love the natural distressing and the stories it hints at. 

I think these pieces are priceless. Not monetarily, but for what they mean to us. These type of pieces are so important.

So I want to ask you if you have pieces or items like this (not just furniture) and if you would let me do a post featuring them and their stories. If you are interested leave a comment below or email me for more information.

Thanks all!