The Sewing Mom

Isn’t this tote bag so cute! My sister Grace made it. She’s so good at adding trim and decoration like the ric-rac and button on the pocket. I love the fabric combination she used on this, makes me think spring and warmer weather! It has a nice outside pocket and a top zipper closure. There are a number of useful pockets inside too.

I’ve been thinking about this of late and though I’d share my thoughts. You see, I’ve sort of been monitoring how we use our computers in our home. Obviously, I use mine for blogging and earning some side income, not to mention to showcase my sewing projects, but I also use a computer as my primary tool for working from home for my part time job. My husband uses his computer for work, but also for downloading music and uploading movies. My daughter uses the computer for staying in touch with all of her friends via IM and email, but also, she utilizes the computer a lot for school, whether it’s homework or research projects, I’m not sure what we would do without the computers.

I have to think that one of the biggest benefits of the internet is being able to take advantage of search tools. I know my daughter has had to research some rather obscure items and being able to type a word or two into a search box and come up with instant answers and images for homework problems has been a huge time saver. Imagine if we had to run to the library any time she needed something. I think we’d be setting up camp there instead of spending our time in the comfort of our home!

I remember one English assignment where she had about 100 words that she had to determine what part of speech they were. Many of them we could figure out, but some words can be used in more than one way and so it was tricky. Being able to do a search on a word to learn if it’s a noun, adjective or verb saved my daughter so much time. Yes, we could have sat and looked those words up in the dictionary, but her assignment may not have been completed on time.

I do wish I had taken the time to search Allergy Control Using AAfter.com Web Search before moving to Dallas. You see, I didn’t realize until after we moved here that Dallas is one of the worst areas in the country for allergy sufferers and I have had so many problems since moving here. I have constant headaches from April-October and I now live on allergy medications. Knowing ahead of time what I was getting myself into may have allowed me to take precautions before arriving.

So, my point is, I’m not sure what we would do without our computers and the information highway we have at our fingertips. We do have friends that do not have internet access in their home and I often wonder how their daughter’s get the information they need for their homework assignments. Maybe they camp out at the library?

Over the last year or so, I’ve been working hard to develop my own personal business. If you’ve been following my blog, you’ve seen many of the end products I’ve created from embroidered fleece blankets and small purses, to large tote bags. I enjoy what I do and I love creating things with fabric. All of this started of course because I have an addiction to buying fabric and I needed a way to use what I buy!

So, I buy fabric. I then tend to bring that fabric home, lay it out and decided what I want to make out of it. In other words, I wait for inspiration to strike! Then the fun begins and I turn a flat piece of fabric into something usable and useful and hope that others find what I make as enjoyable as I think it is.

Once I have a finished product, I will either showcase it here, place it in my Etsy shop (which I haven’t done for a while now) or sell it at a craft show. I’ve even had a few special order items which I always love doing. It’s important for me to create something that is made not just with love, but with quality. I want my products to stand up over time and I want the person buying my products to be happy.

When I sell one of my items, I attempt to wrap it in pretty packaging (although I’m not the best at gift wrapping), I include my business card so the buyer can contact me if they need to, and I always include a thank you note, personalized to the buyer. Now, I’ve ordered my business cards and return address labels from vistaprint.com and I’m currently considering ordering from their selection of custom stamps. I can order a stamp with the words “Thank You” and use that to then take a blank note card, stamp it, and then write my personal message. I used to always make my own cards, but since we moved 2 years ago, I haven’t been able to find my stamps and ink pads. This custom stamp would be self inking and I like that idea, it’s convenient and I know I would use it. Using the stamp would make my note cards look professional while still allowing me to do the personal touch.

If you sell hand made items, how do you thank your buyers?

First, let me start this post by stating right up front, I fully understand the need for those who run Entrecard to earn revenue to help pay for servers, hosting, etc. I also believe that there is room for the paid advertising  on EC, but the system as it’s currently operating, is not working (unless you’re paying to run an ad) and needs some healthy revamping. I support EC and it has been a completely free service (not counting the time I put into it on a daily basis) and has helped increase my traffic, helped me find new blogs that I love, and helped others find me.

That being said, I am very disappointed and frustrated at the new system. Many EC bloggers just like myself, spend hours per day investing time dropping their card on other blogs. I do know I could reduce the time simply by dropping and running, but I enjoy the blogs that I drop my card on and have a tendency to stop and read and many times comment on posts. With all of this, I drop 300 EC per day normally, and, prior to the introduction of the paid ads, I received between 300-400 drops back on my site each day. The paid ads have changed all of that.

You see, now, even though I have an ad, paid by EC credits, in the queue, an ad paid with $ will supersede that ad. In fact, yesterday, my unscientific experiment of refreshing my screen, resulted in my seeing the EC ad less than 17% of the time versus seeing the paid ads.  Mind you, I can’t even tell you what paid ad might possibly appear on my widget because the paid ads do not appear in my dashboard.  I don’t believe this is fair to the person who has spent the time dropping cards and earning credits to pay for advertising with EC credits and then lose a significant amount of impressions for their ad in my widget. EC promised that we would still receive a minimum of 50% impressions, that is not the case. Many have stopped purchasing ads with EC credits and many more have stopped dropping all together.

For these reasons, and perhaps because I think I need a break from EC, I am going to participate in the Entrecard Strike on April 10.

To show the importance of droppers for the entrecard system.
To show we’re no second rate entrecarders.
To show we want to have complete control over our own site.
To get equal respect for EC and money paid advertisers.
To prevent the decay of the system.

Again, I am not against EC accepting paid advertising, but I do believe there has got to be a better way. I am not interested in cashing in my credits for cash, although I know there are those members who are interested and that is fine. I would accept a widget with 2 spaces (vs. the one we currently use), allowing for both types of ads to run simultaneously.

I encourage participation and you can get your own graphic here .

Please note, while I won’t be dropping cards on April 10, I WILL still be visiting sites!

Have you ever wanted to change the company you use for your television or internet services with? I’ve considered myself many times. Do you know how hard it is to compare packages and check “bundles” to see if they meet your needs?

Well, Charter Communications has designed a user friendly website that allows customers to build a bundle of services that meets their individual needs. WOW! What a novel idea, a company that actually allows customers to save money while allowing them to get the services they need! To make Charter even more enticing, Charter is holding a sweepstakes for not just new customers, but current customers as well. Any one who orders and completes installation of cable, high speed or telephone online at Charter.com throughout the month of April is automatically entered to win a 22” flat screen HDTV and there is a winner every day. In addition to the daily prize, there is also a Grand Prize Package that includes a 52” LCD flat screen HDTV, a Home Theater System, and one year of free Charter Digital Cable® service with HD programming.

I have to tell you, I am looking at all sorts of way to save money in our house hold budget and television and internet service is one way I do believe we can save and still have good quality service. Winning a prize in the sweepstakes would be icing on the cake!