The Gaitlinburg trip that wasn't

Be very careful what you wish for. It has been so long since I had seen an accumulation of snow that the 6 hours to Asheville wasn't really all that bad (I wasn't driving) So many wrecks on the interstate, cars stopped for hours at a time. Young men pushing cars out of snowbanks. Driving down the one lane of 3 that is open and enjoying the snowmen people built while they were waiting for the wrecks to clear. Finally in Asheville, the road to Gaitlinburg has a mudslide so no going that way. Stop at various hotels, no room at the inn, no stables either. I step out of the car to play in the snow and my feet immediately got out and I am laying flat on my back. Decide to make a snow angel since I am down there anyway.... We continue back home. A 4.5 hour trip has turned into a 12 hour adventure. Has anyone seen it lightening while it is snowing? It is blue. A ball of lightening shot down the highway towards us, it's center was teal and outside was blue....twilight zone.... So we missed the lights a Gaitlinburg but I think I had more fun dealing with the snow. It ended up 15" in Asheville. No wonder by 12" boots didn't stay warm
There have been several nice sales on wool this month so I got a good supply of Merino. The New Zealand Merino is not nearly as soft as the US Merino. Will be interesting to see how each of them felt.

This weekend's fun

We are taking a weekend trip to Pigeon Forge (yuck) and Gaitlinburg (yea) Tn. It is supposed to snow and I never get to see snow so I am excited and packing like I am going to the North Pole. We are riding the trolley in Gaitlinburg to see the lights. This is the 3rd year I have done it so I guess I will know all the jokes from the ticket taker but it will still be fun. Pigeon Forge seems to be all shopping malls and bad buffets. Phil and his mom will want to hit every one. Hopefully Phil has no stomach problems. Maybe there will be a cool yarn or roving store. The Tn Artisan Guild is in Gaitlinburg and they have already asked me to join when/if I move to Tn. That was a nice little ego boost.
From the way things have not been selling in my shop this season, I need all the ego boosts I can get. Anyone else selling anything? I did pretty good at the show last week even if I did have to stay home with Phil. Next year I will be back and able to push my product and tell more about the felting process and maybe do some demos.
Life is good and I am catching up with things finally. Such a good feeling. I still have some more house decorating to do but it won't take too long. Then I can sit back, drink sparkling hot cider and relax!
Hope you are all doing well, have your shopping done and are just waiting for the man in the red suit.

It's getting closer

As Christmas is coming, well I am not making much progress. Usually by this time each year, I have the house fully decorated. This year we just barely got the tree up. I may still be hanging ornaments in January at this rate.

Just decided to add free shipping to 1/2 of my shop so if you have been considering one of my felted scarves, they are free shipping. I added some glass Christmas balls that I put red, white, green wool and gold sparkes inside. They are pretty on my little metal tree.

I have the last show of the season this weekend. It is a house show that is not going to be inside as I thought but outside on her porches. I am on the back porch with one other artist so I hope we still get lots of traffic. The high will be 42 degrees and it is supposed to be raining so I wonder how well my felt will do with the humidity. I will probably have to re-shape everything.

Hope you are all doing wonderfully!

Black Friday, CyberMonday and help getting more sales

I have been advertizing more than usual for the upcoming holiday season. While my views and hearts are increasing nicely, I am not selling very much. This doesn't really disappoint me because I have come a long way from where I was this time last year and I expect next year to be even better. It takes a long time to build up a following and I want to thank all of you who follow me here. It means a lot to know someone is listening and maybe even learning from some of my adventures.
In Etsy forum today, there is a great post about getting seen by more people. Most of it is stuff I know but not stuff that I do on a regular basis and I should. Here is the blog http://www.wonderthinking.com/2009/12/secret-to-etsy-sales-part-2/
Is everyone still working on things for Christmas? I still am and trying to list several times a week. I have my last show of the season on Dec 12 and 13 so after that is done and the house has been decorated, I am taking a couple of months off to do stuff that I want to do. I have signed up for a small odd doll clay sculpture class and I am really looking forward to it.
Well back to work and everyone have a great day/week.