A Big Ole Brain Dump (for anyone who cares to read it!)

We love the Indiana State Fair (and elephant ears)
almost as much as we love crocheting!

When Andrea and I started this thing called MotherDaughter Creations nearly 3 1/2 years ago, we didn't really have a plan. Well, ok, we sort of had a plan: let's make cute baby things, sell them on Etsy, make some serious extra cash (college bills!), and give 10 percent of our proceeds to HOPE61. We did make baby things--some incredibly cute, some just so-so--and we sold some on Etsy, but as for the serious extra cash, well, let's just say college bills are still rolling in, even though we no longer have any college students in the family! We even dabbled in a little pattern designing. But, the most important part was the fact that it was a team effort and we enjoyed coming up with new ideas, trying different patterns out, and finding amazing pattern designers online, in addition to giving to HOPE61. 


But in the last several months, we've let things dwindle down in the Etsy shop (it's still open, just no new products recently), and we've been completely quiet on Facebook. I've been working hard to finish a personal project (can't tell what it is in case the person it's for happens to read this!), and we've been working like crazy in recent weeks, gearing up for a couple of craft fairs we're doing this fall. Basically, I think we may have gone through some crochet burnout. Crazy, I know. 

Made this fun apple basket in a crochet
challenge sponsored by The Crochet Crowd.
The challenge is closed now, but be sure
to check them out ... they're
always doing something fun!

So. During these past few months, we've talked off and on about what to do with MDC. If you crochet or knit for fun, if you sell your creations, if you design patterns, if you create beautiful handspun yarn, if you just try to stay current with the online community of knitters and crocheters, then you know what we know ... the premium that we all pay is time! And I have been trying to work through just how do I want to spend my extra time. Andrea and I both work full-time jobs, so MDC is a second job for both of us, but we don't want it to be a burden; we want it to continue to be fun!

And here's what we envision. We would love to expand MotherDaughter Creations to become more of a community rather than just an Etsy shop and a Facebook page and a couple of patterns on Ravelry and Craftsy. Yes, we'll keep those things going ... might even get motivated to add something new once in a while! But mostly, we love all of the sharing that we've seen lately: free patterns, give-aways, encouraging words. Rather than spinning our wheels trying to come up with new ideas, we want to promote others and encourage others, and possibly even get off-topic here on the blog sometimes, sharing whatever might be tumbling around in our minds. We want to share ideas and opportunities and projects. We want to not feel the pressure of trying to run a business, rather, we just want to be encouragers.

I know, I know. Facebook and blogs in all corners of cyberspace have filled up with just such communities. And maybe we've hit a saturation point. But maybe we haven't. Maybe someone needs an encouraging word today, needs to show off their first crochet project, needs to ask a question about what directions in a pattern mean. And maybe, just maybe, this is the first time they've come across the opportunity to ask or to share. 

Another basket for the crochet
challenge. We do love the Colts
around our house!

Okay, this has now become one of those blog posts that I often look at and say, "Uh, toooo long! No time to read it!" But if you've stayed with me this far, I have a fun little announcement to kick off this new community. (Btw, we may talk about a slight name change. Maybe.) We have a grand whopping total of three crochet patterns on Ravelry and Craftsy. One is a freebie, and two are for sale. You, dear reader, are lucky enough to be the first to learn we are slashing the prices on the two "for sale" patterns. And by slashing, I mean offering them for free from here on out. They aren't doing anyone any good if they aren't being used! We'll do something fun (though probably not free!) in the Etsy shop, but that will have to wait, because right now, I'm getting ready to head to Haiti for a week, and Andrea has a big move coming, along with a week at a conference.

Please feel free to share your thoughts here or on our Facebook post. And watch for lots of fun things coming on the FB page; we'll be sharing, sharing, sharing!

Celebration, anyone??

On Tuesday, August 28, a member of the MotherDaughter household will celebrate a birthday...a rather significant birthday, in fact! And what's a birthday without a celebration and presents? We're so thankful for all of our friends and fans, and I, the soon-to-be birthday girl (Lori), am so very blessed in my life with a wonderful family, great friends, a day-time job I enjoy, and a little on-the-side business that allows a bit of creativity to emerge...so let's celebrate!

First, we're giving you an opportunity for some great deals in our Etsy shop. We'll mark many of our OOAK items 25% off beginning Monday evening, and that sale will last through Labor Day, the following Monday. 

Second, on Tuesday only (well, we're going to actually make it Monday evening through Wednesday morning jut to hit all the time zones), with any purchase from our Etsy shop, we'll include a FREE cotton beanie! Yes...a free beanie, because it's my birthday and I want to! You can pick whether it's for a boy, for a girl or Christmasy, and you can pick any size from newborn up to 12 months. Beyond that, we get to do the choosing! :)

Third, we regularly give a percentage of our sales to HOPE61, a ministry of One Mission Society, that  is dedicated to promoting awareness of human trafficking and bringing relief to those affected by it. During the birthday celebration (Monday evening through Wednesday morning), for any purchase that you make, up to $50, we'll give a flat $5 to HOPE61. For sales over $50, we'll give 15% of the purchase price rather than our normal 10%. 

Please plan to join us for the celebration...great deals will abound and lots of giving will be happening!

Welcome to our new MotherDaughter Creations blog! It's hard to believe that Andrea and I are coming up on the 1-year anniversary of being in business. When we began MDC, we opened our Etsy shop and started our Facebook page. We didn't really know where we wanted to go from there, other than we love to create and wanted to share those creations! We also made the decision to support HOPE61, a ministry of One Mission Society with a percentage of our profits.

Now, one year later, we have loved every minute of it, but we're always thinking about new things can we try, what do our friends and fans want to see, how can we better serve our customers. The first thing we've decided to do is this blog. We are doing it for several reasons: 

1. We want to share a variety of things...other creators; awesome photographers; amazing yarn vendors; and various ideas, tips, and websites that we've run across over the past year, just to name a few.
2. We are planning a give away to celebrate our 1-year anniversary, and we want to do our best to honor Facebook rules. We felt like the best way to do that is to use the blog to run the give away (and any future ones!). 
3. Honestly, as hard as it may be for some people to believe, not everyone is on Facebook. :) Hopefully, with the blog, we can reach some folks who haven't found us yet simply because they're not Facebook-ites.

What else can you expect from MDC in the days to come? In conjunction with our anniversary and the give away, we are also going to have a huge summer clearance sale! We have quite a few items that we've made as samples or were just playing around with and we need them gone so we have room for more new things!

We're also going to venture into the area of selling patterns. Our creations vary...some are made from patterns that we've purchased (love them all and will share those sellers with you later!), but we've also done some original designs. We've been asked about selling them, and this seems like the time to do it. We'll be looking for testers! ;)

Last thing, for now, is that we're planning (also to celebrate our anniversary!) to add a new section to our Etsy shop: Upcycled! That will definitely be a work in progress.

The anniversary celebration begins on July 8 and will last that entire week. Watch for more information, coming soon to Facebook and this very blog!