Gone to the Dogs: January 2014

Friday, January 31, 2014

Welcome to Gone to the Dogs!
Welcome to Gone to the Dogs! We offer crocheted toys in the shape of stars and ticks. The star dog toys have tennis balls inside and for the ticks you can add a rattle, bell, or squeaker to the toy or it can be done with just stuffing. Keep coming back every day because our shop is constantly changing what is available based on what I crochet. You can also come visit us at the Downtown Dalton Saturday Market or in Calhoun at the Thursday Market by Piggly Wiggly during the summer season.

My goal for Christmas 2014 is to compile a photo book
for both my daughters. I hope you enjoy the
walk down memory lane Rebekah & Abigail!

Today's featured Etsy shop... Happy Squid Muffin

My name is Alicia and my Etsy shop is Happy Squid Muffin.

When did you start your Etsy shop?

November 16th, 2010

What is the story behind your business name?

I knew I wanted something quirky, that would stand out and make people smile. I searched different names on Etsy to see what was available and played around with some words I liked. HappySquidMuffin had just the right sound to it, and I'm glad I stuck with it!

What do you sell?

Cute crocheted animal plushies and finger puppets, and polymer clay charms and figurines.

How did you get into your craft?

My best friend inspired me to begin working with polymer clay, and I loved it! She was on Etsy, and convinced me to try to sell my work here as well. Originally my shop was mostly clay charms and figurines, but then I started to include crocheted plushies and now that's my main focus. My grandma taught me how to crochet when I was 12.

Anything else you would like to share?

I just love the amazing opportunity of Etsy - it has turned my insatiable desire to create things into a great small business. I hope someday it will become my full-time job.

Click here to visit

Happy Squid Muffin!

Thursday, January 30, 2014

My goal for Christmas 2014 is to compile a photo book
for both my daughters. I hope you enjoy the
walk down memory lane Rebekah & Abigail!

Today's featured Etsy shop... Katy Rose Photography

My name is Katy and my Etsy shop is Katy Rose Photography.

When did you start your Etsy shop?
I started my Etsy shop in December 2008 when I first began my business journey. It took a while for me to get things set as I was working full-time, going to school full-time and was trying to figure out how to start a business! It wasn't until this year that I got really serious and finally made the move to transition into photography full-time.

What is the story behind your business name?
My business name is my first & middle name :) My dad used to always introduce me to people using both, although I usually just go by Katy! When I was deciding on a business name, I figured I should just keep it simple.

What do you sell?
I sell fine art photography prints of nature and landscapes mostly, but I also have greeting cards and the occasional charcoal drawing.

How did you get into your craft?
I've always had a passion for all things artistic.. But I discovered my love for photography after changing majors twice in college. I started on my third major (graphic design), took my first photography class and never looked back! My niche didn't come about until I photographed my first family.. Then newborn.. Then birth.. After that I knew that was what I needed to focus on. My Etsy shop is more of a branch off of my main business (which is portrait photography specializing in maternity, birth, newborn and family portraiture.) I find beauty everywhere and just want to share it with the world!

Anything else you would like to share?
Simply that I hope you enjoy my Etsy shop! Also check out my website at www.katyrosephotography.com and remember that I DO travel for portrait photography! :)

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

My goal for Christmas 2014 is to compile a photo book
for both my daughters. I hope you enjoy the
walk down memory lane Rebekah & Abigail!

Today's featured Etsy shops... Amanda Doster and Cedar Tree Collection

My name is Amanda and I am the proud owner of two Etsy shops. I started my first shop, Amanda Doster, in October 2012, which features my original wool art. I enjoy creating both sculpted figures and "paintings" made by needling wisps of colored wool onto a background. All of my work is created by needle felting, a technique involving stabbing the wool repeatedly with a barbed needle until it is felted into the desired shape. It is very time consuming, but I have never had a more enjoyable creative pursuit!

My second shop, the Cedar Tree Collection, which was started earlier this year, has been up to this point a "catch-all" for my other crafts. The name was chosen in part by a piece of artwork that I created of a cedar tree overlooking a canyon. For me the cedar tree is a symbol of tradition, rooted in the distant past, but still growing today. Many of the items I had intended to bring to this shop were rooted in rich creative traditions (either personal, family traditions or traditional art-forms).

This summer, I will be releasing my first needle felting tutorials and kits in The Cedar Tree Collection. I am very excited to share my love for fiber art with people around the world!

You can find me both on Etsy and Facebook:
www.etsy.com/shop/AmandaDoster
www.facebook.com/AmandaDosterArt
www.etsy.com/shop/cedartreecollection
www.facebook.com/TheCedarTreeCollection

Click here to visit

Amanda Doster

and

Cedar Tree Collection!

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

My goal for Christmas 2014 is to compile a photo book
for both my daughters. I hope you enjoy the
walk down memory lane Rebekah & Abigail!

Today's featured Etsy shop... Kit's Art

My name is Lauren and my Etsy shop is Kit's Art

When did you start your Etsy shop?

Sept 2, 2013

What is the story behind your business name?

I like cats and I have had the nickname kitty before so Kit is short for Kitty and I like art and doing artwork so I came up with Kitsart.

What do you sell?

Digital paintings, mini hats, ears (fox and cat so far), and hair clips. I've been trying to decide if I should put prints of my regular paintings I don't know if u want to add that or not.

How did you get into your craft?

Well the digital paintings I learned how to do them at school. As for the hats I made one for myself and I had some people say if I ever sold them they might buy one. The ears I had a friend say I should try making them since I am good at making things and she thought they would sell well. Then the hair clips I had left over material so I decided hair clips would be a good thing to make with the extra material.

Anything else you would like to share?
I'm a crazy cat lady and I like my animals and always had a lot growing up. Most of my animals have been shelter animals or rescue animals I have had a few that were not though. I have fun doing paintings of my pets I also do animations and pets are good for stories for that. Right now I have 2 dogs, 3 cats, a hedgehog, and some fish.

Monday, January 27, 2014

My goal for Christmas 2014 is to compile a photo book
for both my daughters. I hope you enjoy the
walk down memory lane Rebekah & Abigail!

Today's featured Etsy shop... Klik Klak Blocks

We are a young family with two lovely kids from Latvia (Europe). Our eldest son Valters is 3,5 years old, but our baby girl Paula is just 5 months old. I have a Master degree in Engineering. Our family business is making handmade natural wooden toy building blocks for children. We started to think about producing wooden blocks when our child Valters was about 2 years old. We wanted him to have the best quality toy blocks made from natural wood, organic, non-toxic and completely safe.

Watching him playing with the blocks, we understood that it's worth trying to make the same joy to other children. So we founded a small company, bought all the equipment necessary for making the blocks and started making them. We started offering several sizes and shapes of the blocks, but our customers loved them so much that they often asked if it was possible to make blocks with letters and numbers. So we started doing that as well. All the blocks are made of the highest quality of pine, absolutely natural. They are treated with natural linseed oil. Why pine? We make our blocks of pine not only because of its great look and texture, but because of its great qualities. Pine energetically is a „giving" kind of wood. You can make sure of it yourself - take the toy block of pine in your hands, you will feel the warmth while holding it. Pine also increases immunity and gives positive energy. It takes all the stress away.

Our wooden toy building blocks are made just the way we had ones in our own childhood - big enough for playing, smooth for the little fingers and with no sharp edges. And completely natural. They even have a name - Klik Klak Blocks. The name of the blocks was given after hearing the sound of the blocks while our son was playing with them - it's something like this - klik klak klik klak.

We sometimes receive questions, asking why wooden blocks are better than plastic ones and why they are so good for children. And we always answer - the main difference between plastic and wooden blocks is: the wooden ones are ALIVE! They really are! They give you the positive energy of wood while playing with them. You could never get one from plastic toys.

About the place we live
We live in Latvia. Where’s Latvia? It is one of European Union countries. It’s a small country – just a little bit more than 2 000 000 inhabitants. So our main value is people! Each and every! We have amazing talents living in Latvia – we are proud of our first Olympic Champion in BMX Maris Strombergs, we are proud of our Maestro Raimonds Pauls who creates great compositions, we are proud of our most popular band BrainStorm, of so many great people who have done big things to make our small country known worldwide. Latvia is also a very green country – with lots of woods, parks, green territories. We love that!

Our capital city Riga is a well known city worldwide – one of the destinations that is quite popular among European and American people while going on trips. Our family lives in Valmiera, which is 8th largest city in Latvia, about 100 km away from Riga.

How we started selling online
It happened about a year ago when we started making our Klik Klak wooden toy blocks and made an e-shop in Latvia. People loved our wooden blocks and they suggested us to think about selling internationally. So that our blocks are available for everyone not only for people living in Latvia. We started making our online shops on Etsy and ArtFire. It’s just the very beginning now and we are extremely happy about every sale we get. It’s such a special moment for us! Our values are personal attitude and high quality.

Our online selling experience and some tips
We are newcomers of online selling, no huge experience yet, but still there is one thing we can advise. Love what you do and make it as much personal as possible. We love sharing personal stories and many customers have wrote us that they love it. For example, one of our products, 50 Christmas wooden blocks is much more popular than others. And you know why? Because there’s a very personal story behind it and we shared it online:

Our eldest son Valters is 3,5 years old and he LOVES playing with the building blocks made by his Dad. Every day after coming home from preschool educational institution we hear different kind of sounds while he is playing with the blocks - he imagines them to be cars, trains, bikes, he builds houses, castles, towers and he imagines them to be telephones, TVs etc. Valters has a very special friend in his preschool educational institution - a cute girl called Jenny. One evening we asked Valters about his wishes on Christmas presents. He answered that he would like to receive new books from Santa Claus. Then we asked - "And what about your girlfriend Jenny? What would she want to receive on Christmas?" He answered: "I will give her a part of my wooden blocks". We asked: "Why?" And he seriously answered: "Then we both will be able to build a bridge to each other's house...".
This is a true story and it really is special. At the beginning we thought maybe it’s worth keeping it just for us, not making it public, but you know - sharing these kind of special stories help to stay them alive forever!

More about us...
www.KlikKlakBlocks.com/en
www.etsy.com/shop/KlikKlakBlocks
www.facebook.com/klik.klak.blocks
www.twitter.com/boon_wood
Liga & Guntis
Klik Klak Blocks

Click here to visit

Klik Klak Blocks!

Sunday, January 26, 2014

My goal for Christmas 2014 is to compile a photo book
for both my daughters. I hope you enjoy the
walk down memory lane Rebekah & Abigail!

Today's featured Etsy shop... Marie and Antoinette Bridal

My name is Nina and my Etsy shop is Marie and Antoinette Bridal.

When did you start your Etsy shop?

We started our shop nearly two years ago.

What is the story behind your business name?

The name Marie and Antoinette came from my middle name and my daughters middle name because we started the shop together. It was also a play on Marie Antoinette. Marie has been a name passed down from women in our family for generations so it just all tied together. Now that my daughter is pursuing other interests its just me but my sister, who loves making jewelry will be working with me soon.

What do you sell?

We sell handmade custom bridal accessories such as headpieces, bridal sashes, fabric bouquets, wedding card boxes, and jewelry.

How did you get into your craft?

I got into this because I just love weddings. I'm a "Say yes to the dress" and David Tutera addict. Being a designer was always a dream of mine since I was a kid but I chose accounting instead. That designing urge in me never went away. I've always made things over the years but never got the idea to do it as a business until my daughter put the idea into my head. Now I love what I do and I am honored to know that something I made was a part of someones special day.

Click here to visit

Marie and Antoinette Bridal!

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Etsy Store Revamp

I redid my Etsy shop photos with the help of my husband. I crocheted a backdrop last week and Andrew shot the photos using those earlier this week. However yesterday's photo shoot was the most fun! We recruited my service dog Sydney to act as our furry model in the photos. It took us 12 hours to do the shoot with many starts and stops but finally with Andrew's sister help we got it done. Oh and we also had the help of a cat.