31 Dec 2011

Nice Day Designs; A Year in Review



January
I lost my part-time job in the first few day in January, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise as I started feeling human for the first time in years, now that I had free time again. With all this extra time I was able to make new products, like my now very popular Shrinky Dink earrings.


February
February was kind of a quiet month, I concentrated on getting more items listed in my etsy shop, taking new photos and I invested in this home photography studio. I got a good hike in sales for my facebook Valentine 'I like You' badge, as it was featured on lots of blogs and treasuries.


March
In March I took a long hard look at the results of all my extra work on my etsy shops, and came to the conclusion that it won't make me a millionaire anytime soon but \i#ll stick with it anyhow. I also gave my first ever lecture, which was terrifying but a lot of fun.


April 
In April I started my Hotty but Notty series(which I may take back up in the new year when I think of new candidates). It was also when I went for an allergy test and discovered that I'm allergic to the world. This let to a complete lifestyle overhaul, which in turn let me to losing about 2 stone(happy days!). I also had fun making stickers for card making with this sticker paper I got in the 2euro store.


May
In May I got a four page feature in national magazine Prudence, and in the process I made my house look very pretty. I also set up and ran a pop up shop in Bourkes with some of the other crafty ladies from Etsy Ireland-a mammoth task but a great experience.


June
June seemed to be taken up with my birthday and Johns brother getting married, I posted what I thought was a filler blog post about weddings, but it turned out to be be one of my most popular posts ever. I also sorted out a catalog of designs that people could order hen party badges from, which out to be a tidy little earner for me over the Summer.

July
July was a busy month as I was preparing to go to the RDS horse show. I wrote a review on the Mooncup which has been a really popular post, although I'm sure a few people were a little squeamish about it.


August
I started off the month with this Angry Rant which struck a cord with a lot of other crafters. My friend Emmet had a great Mad Men themed 30th birthday party, for which we got all dolled up.


September
After a long time talking about it I brought out a range of As Gaeilge handmade cards, which have proved to be great sellers. Another thing I had put on the long finger for ages was sorting out this website. I did a major overhaul and changed my address to .org too. It's been a few moths since I implemented these but I've noticed a huge jump in my traffic, this is also probably due to my increased regularity of posting too.

October
In October I began my dangerous Pinterest addiction, there is no going back now! I think this led me to start posting tutorials on my blog, I did a shrinky dink brooch how-to,thank you notes, a guide to photoshop brushes,and a make your own stamp, I also started my 'What I'm Wearing' posts, which are really growing in popularity.


November
I started out the month with an in depth look at how I made my Klingon Halloween costume...a must read for any Star Trek nerds. It was a busy month spent making xmas stock for my stall, there just weren't enough hours in the day.

December
Busy Season went into overdrive, thankfully we had great weather and I wasn't frozen to death at my stall. One year on I expanded my Shrinky Dink jewellery line to necklaces and brooches, and the were very popular stocking fillers in the last weeks of December

Thanks to everyone for reading my ramblings all year, I blog because I love it, but it's nice to know that someone is listening too! Here's hoping that next year will be just as packed with activity.

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3 comments:

  1. Happy New Year Ruth! Hope you are enjoying your well deserved break x See you in 2012!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I always enjoy reading your blog Ruth - you share great info as a handmade business owner as well as covering lots of general interest topics. all the best for 2012 :) Chris

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hazel-thanks I've been a complete couch potato it's great!!
    Thanks a million Chris!

    ReplyDelete

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