Dot's Diner

Well, now, I collect aprons but they're sweet little vintage aprons that someone's grandma wore.  If your MeeMaw wore these aprons, then you must have had one smokin' hot grandmama!  I picked just a few of her scrumdiddliumptious aprons to display, but you will definitely want to check out Dot's Diner and add some of these to your cart or to your favorites at the very least.

OMWow! These aprons couldn’t be any cuter if they had to be! Which one is your top seller?

Aw, thanks, lol! My top sellers are my car hop polka dot, and car hop cupcake aprons. I think people like it that they have a lot of black in them. Black works really well in my shop for some reason. I also make this style extra sweet with eyelet lace and hot pink ric rac. It makes me smile. I make a lot of pink stuff, I like pink.

Do you think most women are wearing these in the kitchen? Or the bedroom? Lol

I started this shop with the intent of selling costume-like aprons to pinup girls and burlesque performers. I am pretty well connected in the burlesque community, so I just used that base of friends to start my Facebook page. So, a lot of my aprons get worn on stage, and stripped off! Lately, a lot of young women who are starting their own cupcake bakeries are finding me, and ordering their "uniforms". I am so envious of these young ladies; I mean really, a cupcake shop!? Also, a lot of my customers wear them for sexy photo shoots, or pinup style photo shoots. I love it! I don’t cook, so when people ask me if they are good for the kitchen, I’m like, huh? Oh yeah-I guess so! Lol!

(Click here to see the full frontal of the Alice Apron.)

Have you had any great Etsy finds to add to your vintage kitchenware collection?

Well, actually, what I buy a ton of on Etsy is vintage fabric, and artwork. There are so many wonderful photographers and artists on here I can’t resist. I have no idea where to hang it all, so I just place it around my work space and stare it all. I use the vintage fabric in my aprons from time to time. My favorite thing to find and buy is vintage pillow panels. I use them to make aprons and my customers eat them up.

What did you do with all of those clothes you made for you dolls? It’s hard to throw stuff like that away.

Well, I don’t know, most of it I gave to my nieces years ago. I wish I still had a lot of those things.

How many different styles are you currently offering?

I usually have about 20 styles in my shop, it seems like I can’t get my inventory over that number. I have a day job, it is my curse. ( I work in engineering, doing CAD drafitng and circuit board design, I know, zzzzzz).

Any thing else that you would like to add?

Well, I am just having like a ton of fun, and trying not to be too obsessed with Etsy. Ha ha

The group photo is a burlesque troupe I was in when I owned my pole-dance studio, it was the most fun I ever had. I made all the costumes we are wearing- the troupe was for any age, one lady was like almost 60, adorable, we caused quite a scandal.

Follow Dot's Diner around the virtual town as she continues to create scandals!

FB www.facebook.com/dotsdiner
Twitter twitter.com/#!/dotsdiner
Blog www.dotsdineraprons.com/
Other www.dotsdinerama.com/

Note:  The pettislips are not included, but I would like to recommend Swank Underpinnings for a custom order for your apron.  Her feature can be found here.

Shop Memento

I'm just going to let you know up front that this is going to be a very image-heavy article.  Lots of goodies here from Shop Memento!  Not just of her beautiful products but of a work area that each and every one of us should be envious of.  She's not working out of her bedroom, like so many of us (there are others of "us" out there, right?).  A full-blown studio awaits her everyday with everything she needs to create her monogrammed masterpieces, which run the gammet from aprons, chef's hat, market totes, spa wraps, towels, lingerie bags, wine bags, lunch totes, toddler dresses, and luggage bags.

I love the fact that she even makes aprons for Daddy.  Our daddy around here loves to cook and is very much-loved.  We never want to leave Daddy out of the baking fun, especially the cleaning up part, lol.

You have such a great line of what I would call form and function products! Do you have some more ideas in the works or are you going to stick with what you have?

I started my business 3 years ago. In the beginning I embroidered a little of everything. I realized after 6-9 months that I needed to narrow my focus. I had so much excess inventory and no rhyme or reason to it. I discovered that lots of people make & sell personalized baby items. I felt I needed away to offer something different but I didn’t know what that was yet. My very first Mommy & Me apron set was "born" from a customer asking if I could find or make a matching Mother & Daughter apron for a baby shower gift. (Terri, the owner of Shop Memento, and her daughter, Liberty, at left.)  That was what started what is now my biggest seller and what I am most known for. I do have a few other regular items that tend to be more popular during bridal and bridesmaids season. I do have lots of new ideas and I try to set time aside for the creation of new designs and ideas. The hard part with new creations is the time to design them, pick the fabrics and test stitch them and then take photos and write new product descriptions. As a Momprenuer that has built a successful & busy business my time is spent at this point on customer service and production of the orders. The busier I am the less new items!

Did you make a large investment in your embroidery equipment right off the bat or was this a purchase that you waited to make?

I am very detailed person and thorough. I researched for almost a full year on all the types of embroidery machines and looking at other monogramming and personalized gifts companies. I could spend $2,500 for a home machine or $6,500 for a commercial entry level machine. Most people I talked to said if you spend the money on the home embroidery machine and you decide you love it and want to grow and expand you business you will end up needing the commercial machine. This would mean spending $9,000 in the long run. So I took the plunge and bought the commercial machine. My first 2 years of business I was okay with 1 machine. But I now have 3! I named the first 2 Freedom & Enterprise. #3 I bought out of necessity as I had over 1,000 items to embroider in 10 days before the shipping deadline for Christmas! Poor #3 never got a name and has now become #3.I had felt good about my business until I had to buy 2 machines. Cash flow is the hard part in the beginning when your business grows and you need additional equipment to manage the growth.

Have you ever worked hard on a product that ended up not catching on?

Yes I had a big dud! Or at least it felt that way. I love candles and I thought why not do monogrammed candles? The candles had to be in glass jars to put the monogram on them. I researched and tried various candle companies. I wanted to find someone in the US that was a self employed start up type not a huge candle company. I ordered samples and found a great match. I started selling and promoting the candles in October of last year and they barely sold. I thought they would be great for people that you don’t know what to get for, teacher gifts, hostess gifts. But I think I was the only one. It was disappointing but I learned that I should stick to what I do well with. I do sell more than just aprons.

I have bridal lingerie bags and velour spa wraps. Both of these items I believe I do well with because I offer designs and fonts that are different than just a monogram or name on an item. There are lots that sell bridal items just like baby but I researched to find the best quality spa wraps that would really feel like you just stepped out of a spa and not your shower! I now stick to the target markets and niches that I have discovered work for me. 

Are you able to put a finger on how much of your business is referral/word of mouth?

When I started I honestly had no idea my business would grow the way that it has. My business has doubled every year. The biggest reason for this has been referral. I have heard so many times from a new customer that they received one of my items as a gift and the love it they want to order it for their friends and family. It warms my heart when I hear feedback like this. I have shed a few tears from customer emails too. I had a mother of a bride order an apron with a cupcake for her daughter that was in medical school but her dream was to open a bakery. The bride cried at her shower when she saw the cupcake apron with her name on it. I also have had moms tell me their little girls have squealed with excitement that they have an apron that matches mommy for when they bake together.

On your blog, you stated that you had made some of your personalized spa towels for Oprah and Gayle. Did anything ever come of this? (Kudos for trying!)

It was an opportunity to send in products made by Mom’s for Oprah's Favorite Things show and for O Magazine upcoming holiday articles. I thought it was a great way to showcase 2 popular products, the spa wrap and market tote. I never did see or hear if either items made it on the show or the magazine. I am pretty sure they didn’t and I never heard anything from Oprah or Gayle. But it was fun making them. I googled their favorite colors and Oprah’s was green. I had never done the two greens on a black market tote and now that color combo is very popular. I call them the Oprah greens since that is where they started from. To be honest when I sent the items in it was April or May of last year and I got really busy that May and it hasn’t slowed down yet. I was kind glad I didn’t have the Oprah effect hit my world. I think I would of gone off the deep end with sleepless nights, my children & husband would have never seen me not to mention the additional grey hair & wine that would be needed! I have sent some of my items to various celebrities for new baby gifts and of the 5 or 6 I received a thank you card from only 1. Trista Sutter who is married to Ryan Sutter and has two beautiful children Max & Blakesley. She is such a sweet and kind lady and from the little I have learned about her she is a wonderful woman.

I can think of so many ways to use that market tote.  One thing I hate is when I go to the store and there are no more market totes left.  Argghh!  So frustrating.  And when I just need to pick up some fabric and the market tote that I do get is dirty.  If I had my own market tote, I would know it was perfectly clean, just like my house.  (Where's the sarcastic emoticon?)  These are also great for all of the tailgating parties and picnics or just for keeping in your car for organizing any of the millions of different things you keep in your car.  We live 30 minutes from town in any direction, so it's always like a roadtrip every time we go somewhere.   Also, it is farmer's market time!  Grab your handmade tote (thanks for supporting the handmade community!) and go support your local farmers.  You really can taste the difference!

I'm going to bring this to a close with pictures of her studio.  The bright colors are great for stirring creativity.  Be inspired, ladies (and gentlemen--don't want to leave out the daddies!)

A quick ending note--Shop Memento keeps her store stocked with over 400 items, which guarantees her a spot in the top search results.  As of this article, she has over 1,200 sales.

Find Shop Memento at the following online locations:

http://www.shopmemento.com/

http://www.shopmemento.etsy.com/

http://www.shopmemento.blogspot.com/

www.facebook.com/shopmemento  

  

Hmmm, maybe I should send her a cord cover? :)

Piper Bella Boutique

Recently, a lady in my community gave me some wonderful knitted dishrags.  After using them I thought, "Wow!  These are wondeful!  What could be better than these?"  After sorting through Piper Bella Boutique, I think I found something better!

Piper Bella Boutique sells these fabulous, stylish, colorful, and machine-washable dish scrubbies.  They come in all sorts of colors and in packs of three.

By your shop announcement, I glean that you weren’t expecting your scrubbies to take off quite the way they have. So far this month, you’ve sold roughly 40 scrubbies (3 in a pack). Are you stocked up or just making the orders as the come in?

I totally wasn't expecting for the scrubbies to sell much, I kind of decided to sell them as an afterthought and because I thought they were cool, but I certainly didn't really expect anyone else to think so! I really wish I was stocked up on them and that was my original plan, but it takes every moment of my spare time (when I'm not at work or taking care of the kids!) just to keep up with the orders!

I know a little bit about dish-warshing (haha, that’s how some people say it in the South). There were 5 girls in the house growing up, and my dad refused to get a dishwasher as long as he had so many girls! (I never thought I would say this but, "Thank you, Dad!") I did a search on the other dish scrubbies out there and, to me, your dish scrubbies do have the best design. Did you figure this out on your own?

I wish I could take credit for the amazing pattern, but I'm NOT a designer! I find most of my patterns, including this one, on a fantastic website called www.Ravelry.com  ! If you work with yarn - you need to sign up for it, it's totally free and has tons of free patterns! Some day I would love to try designing my own patterns, but I was born a baker and if you don't follow the recipe when you're baking and put in baking powder instead of baking soda, nothing turns out!

Over at Piper Bella Boutique, she also makes barrettes that are just as colorful!  Cute, polka-dotted ones!

How do you treat the ribbon to prevent fraying?

This truly isn't a big secret - I got the info off of YouTube! You just hold the ribbon ends really close to an open flame and the ends will melt! Sometimes I accidentally light them on fire and have an "oh no!" moment, but my house is still standing!

What do you use for the non-slip grip?

That is just some ingenious little strips of rubberized foam with super sticky backing that I put on the clip and it holds like a dream!! I could put these clips on a combover! (which my 11 month old daughter seems to have at the moment! :)

I noticed that one of the treasuries that you created is "Autism Speaks Through Art". What part has autism played in your own life?

I have been fortunate that I actually haven't had any personal experience with autism, but I am truly inspired by people with what the world would call "disabilities". I think the world would be a better place if we could look at it through the eyes of innocence like they do!

Any additional information you would like for me to include on the interview?

I have a true passion for crafting in almost any form! Every time I see a new craft I want to try it! I currently know how to knit, crochet, paper craft, poetry, make basic jewelry and of course hair clips, but I am constantly discovering new crafts that I want to try! On my to do list are needle felting, paper quilling, calligraphy, polymer clay work, papercutting, origami, drawing (I'm currently working on this and am not very good!), and sewing...just to name some of them!

As determined as she seems to be, I know that she will conquer them all!  Let's just hope she has a long, long life!

Links to Piper Bella Boutique:

Shop:  http://www.assortedmiscellany.etsy.com/

Blog: www.onlineshopspotlight.blogspot.com  If you are an Etsian and follow her blog, one item from your shop will eventually be featured on the My Favorite Things page!!)

Facebook: www.facebook.com/PiperBellaBoutique

Twitter: @PiperBellaBoutique

Cubits

A little profile snippit: Cubit's is your online source of high quality organic, rare and heirloom seeds. We believe that everyone can grow their own delicious organic produce. We have a special interest in urban gardening and local food.

Sadly, my vegetable intake is limited to the corn in tortilla chips, but after reviewing this outstanding shop, I am going to get me a topsy-turvy and grow some tomatoes. I wonder what kind of salsa her purple tomatoes would make? I’m sure if it’s on a chip, I’ll like it. Oh, and there are real carrots in carrot cake. It’s all about balance, people!

There is so much wonderful information here that I’m just going to let the rest of this article write itself.

Watching your video on  youtube, I couldn’t help but notice your camera. What model is it and how much did you pay for it? (Your pictures are terrific, by the way.)

My husband Ryan and I met in film class. We both have art degrees from The Ontario College of Art and Design. Before selling seeds, I sold art. That said, we tend to have a nice camera and equipment.

I shoot with a Nikon D300S. It cost us about 2000 bucks. Although I don’t think you need a pricey camera to sell on Etsy, I do think you need to have stellar product photography. The little cliché of "write a description like there is no photo and use photos that don’t need a description" comes to mind every time I post a new listing. Really, no matter what you are selling on Etsy, you are sort of selling images first.

In the video I think I was using the Nikon 18-200mmVR DX, which is a zoom lens and good for the farmer’s market. Lately I’ve been using a prime 35mm DX, which does some nice close-ups, both for veggies and babies.

Being a stay-at-home mom myself, I sometimes finding myself giving my business my attention when I should really be preparing dinner or holding my diva. Have you gotten yourself on a schedule or do you find that the same thing happens in your business/home?

Working at home with a toddler certainly has its challenges, especially right now during our busy spring season. There are simply not enough hours in the day. Although its far from a perfect system, I do have a rough schedule of my Cubit’s jobs, that I try to follow, although if Rebecca decides its time to paint or have a dance party that tend to trump most things. I have certain days for certain things, for example making treasuries, blog posts, or going to the post office. I’d love to ship everything the next day, but it’s just not realistic.

Then I have a list of morning tasks: answering convos, commenting on treasuries, printing yesterday’s orders, updating social media. Afternoon nap time is filled with what ever is most pressing (new listings and the light is best for shooting photos), and the evenings with what ever tasks are best with two people (picking and packing orders, packing seeds, printing and designing).

I also keep huge lists and lots of notes, all posted on the wall so everyone can see what’s going on.

Truly beautiful produce! Was a love for homegrown produce instilled in you as a child or did you have to break free from an unhealthy diet?

Growing up we always ate well. As children, my brothers and I certainly had our fair share of pickiness but we ate a varied diet of home cooked whole foods. We also grew veggies and herbs, not to the scale I do now, but there was always a tomato or two and an herb garden.

With my own little family we do things much the same.   The best statements I can think of to describe our family’s eating habits are "Good nutrition means eating a well-balanced and varied diet of foods in as close to their natural state as possible." Which is one of La Leche League’s basic philosophies and also that "kids who grow carrots eat carrots". It is as simple as that. A satisfying relationship with our food begins with knowing the origins of our food and a general understanding of the world around us.

Do you have a favorite salad mix that you put together out of your rare, heirloom produce?

We have a gorgeous blend of greens for salads. It’s a combination of Freckles lettuce, Black seeded Simpson, Red salad bowl, and Astro arugula. I like to just throw it in a terra cotta pot and leave it on the sunny patio table all season. If you plant a few times a few days or weeks apart, you’ll have lettuce all summer. If you eat it all, just start again.

Have you tried the topsy-turvy grower for your tomatoes or other viney produce, since you work from a small section of property?

I have not tried the topsy-turvy but have friends who have had great success with it. I used to grow hanging baskets of strawberries, and now that I think of it, I should do that this year. I do a combination of planting both directly in the garden and into containers, including a giant cast iron bathtub that is currently full of kale but also is great for growing carrots and potatoes. (This is some kale in the tub.)

This year we are hoping to grow radishes and lettuces in eves through along the side of the house. Check it out here.

Last year we tore up the front lawn and replaced it with veggies. What’s grass for anyway?

And if you took notice, topsyturvy.com is running a two-fer!  Have an experience this year and grow your own tomatoes!  From Cubits, of course.

Check out Wood Elements (featured yesterday) gardening supplies while you're at.  This has the potential of a winning combo for Mother's Day.

Wood Elements

 As for me and my house, we weren’t allowed to use certain words growing up. But in Jackie’s house, you’ll hear wonderful, Mary-Poppins-esque words like "spurtle" and "dibble".

These are both items that Jackie makes out of wood for the kitchen and for the garden, respectively.

When I think of wood-working, I think of little old men carving horses on their front porch. Not only is Jackie not a little old man, he ain’t carving horses either. Does his work even include carving? Let’s hear it from the horse’s mouth.

I noticed that you were a "featured seller" back in August of ’09. Did you see a huge increase in any of your shop’s aspects as a result of that article (sales, views, added as favorites)?

Yes! There was a definite bump in sales. For that month, our orders tripled over our typical sales per month. That bump carried us into the Holiday Season and I’m certain is still responsible for an increase in the number of people who view our shop and "favorite’d" us.

It also piqued my interest that you have started an Etsy shop with your grown children. In this day and age where so many families are divided, it is so refreshing to see a family united. What would you attribute the success of your family to?

We are a family divided—geographically. We are in Tennessee, and the kids are in Louisiana. In our household, it’s always been "acceptable" to create. As the kids were growing up, we were always making art together, collaborating on the same sheet of drawing paper, so it was natural and it was encouraged. And permission to be creative was not required.

We actually introduced Etsy to our children, and it took a while to convince them to get involved. We are still in the "exploratory" phase of figuring everything out. We may come up with some wood turned item that will be available exclusively to the family store (The Johnson General Store | www.etsy.com/shop/workagencies)

With all of this dibble and spurtle making, do you still have time to do the other things that you love? And what are some of those things?

Not much! We both have full time jobs, and Sally is pursuing her master’s degree at this time and will be finished soon. Things that we like to do, when we have time: Sally likes to knit, sew, and garden. Jackie likes to draw and paint, listen to music, and occasionally we will sit down together and watch a movie, most of the time at home.

Is there any cutting/carving involved in wood-turning or is it just simply allowing the grinding wheel to do all of the work?

In wood turning, the grinding wheel only comes into play for sharpening tools. In woodturning, unlike most woodwork, the tool remains relatively stationary while the wood spins at a high rate of speed on the lathe. Most of my woodturning is done at 3200 rpm’s (rotations per minute). That translates to 53 revolutions per second (I do not recommend that lathe speed to everyone!) Carving off the lathe is done by some wood turners in addition to other decorative embellishments such as wood burning and painting. I have done some carving but not on a regular basis.

Did you have immediate success with your Etsy shop?

We made our first sale 18 days after we opened our Etsy store. That first sale, we later discovered, was because one of our items, a maple wooden biscuit cutter, was featured in a blog at "the kitchn." Click here to read the article.

Of course we were very excited, and that sale only served to encourage us, as did the sales that followed. So we consider it a success. We are very honored by the fact that nearly 900 people have taken our products into their homes all across the US and several foreign countries.

 

Paper Pot Maker for Planting

What an encouraging read! Personally, I love the fact that it was the older generation that had to encourage the younger generation into online selling. That is a feat in and of itself!

One thing (but there are several!) I think we can all learn from Jackie’s successful shop is to find a few things that you do and do them well. You don’t have to be a variety show to earn top sales numbers, as showcased in Jackie’s shop.

Click here to go order your own dibble, spurtle, rolling pin, or one of the many other beautiful wood-turned creations that Wood Elements offers.

Apropos Roasters

What good is a coffee mug without some coffee to put in it? I actually found these two shops (see yesterday's article) on the same day when I searched for "coffee" on Etsy. That search alone inspired such a wonderful treasury!

It may surprise some of you to know that not only did I not grow up in a coffee-loving home, but I am relatively new to this addiction. And I will stand and say, while drinking my coffee from a mason jar, that I do have a "coffeine" addiction. My husband always drank this stuff called chicory coffee. It’s made from tree bark. (He’s from Louisiana. They do lots of weird things there.) Just smelling of it made me need to go to the bathroom. (Hey, everyone keeps telling me they love my transparent honesty!) I swore I would never drink coffee!  Classic example of never say never!

But I was so tired all of the time. It didn’t matter how healthy I ate, how much I exercised, or how much sleep I got. My husband says I was just born tired. Then one day he made me this most delightful concoction of freshly ground coffee in our new grinder and shaken with goat’s milk and sweetened with sugar. OMWow! I’ve been hooked ever since. We also use a percolator, which really brings out the fullness of the bean. I drink two mason jar-size servings in the morning and one in the late afternoon. Some of you may have noticed the time on my posts.

Yeah, yeah, it’s not about me today. However, it did make for a great segway into my interview with Apropos Roasters.

(Her responses are in blue.)

Of course we don’t want to give away all of your trade secrets (a.k.a. spill the beans), but where do you get your beans?

I buy coffee from pretty much everywhere and anywhere that I believe carries quality beans and is a transparent company (meaning they tell me everything about the coffee and send documents for organic and fairtrade certification). There are lots of distributors out there, big and small, and I like to go to trade shows like Coffee Fest to meet them and get an idea of their product. I meet the people that deal directly with the growers. They are usually very passionate and have a lot of knowledge. Someday, hopefully, I will be able to go along with them and meet the farmers as well.

Was it difficult breaking into the coffee delivery business?

Yes! I'm still working on it, truth be told. Coffee, over the last few years, has changed a lot, and I have tried to change with it. You have to stay on your toes and try not to get too bogged down by the cult-like following that springs up like wildfire around things like food, wine, etc. People are very loyal to their brands and are quick to snub a new product. I joke about being part of the coffee mafia around here! I wish roasters were more supportive of each other but right now it's simply a highly competitive field. I like to keep things simple. I want extremely good coffee to be accessible to people that stick to Folgers, because it's too overwhelming to change. I love that I go from showing a hesitant customer how to use a grinder to hearing them tell me that they like the natural nutty, sweetness in the Fair Trade Mexican when it's lightly roasted. And who doesn't like coming home to the smell of fresh coffee? It's slow-going but very rewarding.

How much of the chocolate and caramels that you make do you eat?

Luckily, I don't have a big sweet tooth, because I love making sweets. On the other hand I have to hide it from my business partner, my boyfriend, and especially my father who called in a panic once when he ran out of the mocha sea salt caramels I'd given him as a Christmas gift.

Is the other "rather small girl" your sister?

The other "rather small girl" is one of my best friends who currently is studying creative writing in Chicago. When I re-did my business plans (for the millionth time) after a few small disasters and one large one, she offered her assistance as a taste-tester. That quickly turned into a partnership. I talk to her multiple times a week, bouncing ideas off of her and sending her new things to taste and when she comes to Richmond we go out to find new accounts. Our plan is to one day open a coffee shop with an office above it where she can write. We also want to start a band called "Pattern on Pattern" but neither of us knows how to play an instrument yet :-)

Okay, more about me for a second. I taught myself to play the piano within the last two years. Go to my other blog and read the article, "Let Me Introduce You to Myselves" which is me doing an interview with myself. You can hear me play (and sing if you listen real closely) and learn a little bit more about me. It’s the coffee, people! It makes me do strange things!  And I like it, haha!

 

And I’ve been saving the toughest question for last: How does your coffee compare to Fourbucks, I mean, Starbucks?

The hardest part about the "Starbucks" word is that they've trained people to like very dark *ahem, burnt* coffee. I get a lot of people asking for "you know...a really, really dark roast, like Starbucks!" and I oblige but then always send them a sample of something lighter as well. There is nothing wrong with a bold roast but you can have a bold coffee without roasting the bejesus out of it. (Am I supposed to capitalize "Jesus" in that word?)You actually get MORE flavor with a lighter roast, and I've learned that when people ask for "strong" I can give them a medium roasted coffee with a high acidity and they will love it. Starbucks created a language and a standard of taste in the coffee world that you have to learn to speak; there's no getting around it. I think of it as a challenge that I have come to enjoy. Besides, without Starbucks, I wouldn't have the great business market that I do. They created the "fast-food" of coffee, opening the doors for the "four-star" coffee boutiques and shops.

I have learned from my mistakes, and so I am not going to go make coffee right now at 10 p.m. even though I really, really, really want some after looking at all of this wonderful goodness. But I can go eat some Blue Bell Happy Tracks. It just makes me fat, not hyper.

Click here to learn more about her coffee, I mean, her shop.  She's got other coffee-oriented goodies in there!

A Piece By Denise

I know that there are other coffee-connoisseurs out there that will relate to what I’m about to say. I look forward to going to bed, so I can wake up in the morning and have my coffee.



Blue Dunk Mug



Being a person that has very little money, I am very, extremely overly-cautious about how I spend it. So when I say that I am going to be spending money on one of these mugs, just know, my friend, that this must be a great mug indeed! The good thing about these coffee mugs is that they are great even without any coffee!

The theme of my shop is form and function, and it doesn’t get any better than these mugs and bowls. Not only is the concept so fun, but the color selection and the overall usefulness of them make for a must-have item. It’s a splurge that I won’t have to feel guilty about!

If you don’t like to buy things for yourself, this is one gift that definitely will not be regifted!



Soup Bowl



Not only do I love coffee, I also personally keep Blue Bell in business.  Check out her ice cream/soup bowl collection.

Being a writer, I always enjoy a good read. Not only is Denise a gifted potter, she is good at putting her experiences in virtual ink, also. Go get your boring coffee mug and enjoy this fun read!

(Denise’s responses are in blue.)

First let me say thank you for taking an interest in what I do, I love what I do! And thank you for asking to interview me :o)

Sometimes we are so blessed to have an "Aha!" moment, an "Oh my WOW! This is going to rock!" moment. Were you so excited when you came up with the "pocket" idea?

I wish I could take full credit for the pocket soup bowl idea, but I can't. I did put my own spin on another potter’s bowl that I saw at a craft fair. I changed the bowl and the pocket and made it my own, I simply expanding on an idea that was already out there. I do like to give credit when credit is due. I wish I knew his name, I would tell you.

Was your family supportive when you made the jump to self-employed?

My family was very skeptical when I made the jump into being self-employed. I previously worked in a job that I truly hated. I had moments during my lunch hour that I would call my husband while sitting in my car in various parking lots near my job and I would cry, well, more like sob. I was more miserable than I had ever been. I was good at what I did, and I brought home a nice paycheck. When I handed my boss my resignation, she refused it and gave me a raise. I stuck it out for a few more weeks and finally I gave up and called it quits. I couldn't take it anymore. I've been at this now for 3 years. I sell mostly online, but I do an occasional craft show, and I have my items in a local gift shop.

Do you have a dedicated outdoor area/shop where you do your work?

Not only do I have my online business, I also have two children that I homeschool. I’m about to give up on the idea of ever having a clean house. What are some challenges that you face working from home?

Oh gosh... it is a challenge indeed! All of my friends of course know I work from home, which means I am interrupted regularly by phone calls. My dad, who is retired and lives 12 hours away in Maryland is the best/worst. He calls me at the worst possible times; it never fails. I answer the phone after I usually let out a groan and then I hear his voice and he typically says, "I'm just calling because I need some sunshine" (that's what he's always called me, then I turn to goo and let him hold me hostage for a while lol. I can't help it; I'm a daddy's girl. So avoiding the phone, cleaning house, cooking dinner, staying up with laundry and getting my work done is very much a challenge. Luckily, my kids are both older (21 and almost 19) so my mommy-time isn't what it used to be, unless they run out of gas or lock their keys in the car, and they need me to save them.

What is the next goal your are trying to achieve? (It doesn’t have to be business-oriented.)

My next goal would be world peace, LOL ok I couldn't resist that. Where to begin! I have lots of goals.  Mostly like everyone else it's to become more organized. I did reach one goal this year already; I bought a new larger kiln, yay me! My main goal every year is to double my sales every year which means doubling or tripling my work output.

I think that's a good goal for all of us!  Maybe all of the insight from these interviews will help us all achieve our goals.

Check out Denise's shop here.

I'm sure she would love to do some custom work for you or personalize a mug or three!



Yes! I sure do, I have a studio in my basement, I call it my girl cave and I threaten regularly that I'm going to hang a sign on the door that says "No yucky boys allowed" LOL! (I live with my husband and 2 sons).