Closing Store for Winter

For various reasons I am going to temporarily close the online store. The weather is turning colder and it is not easy to make soap and lotions when your fingers are numb LOL. There is no way to completely heat that gigantic lr/kitchen area without spending a fortune. Plus a few health problems have slowed me down lately so I am looking for something where I can sit while my leg finishes healing.

I plan to spend the winter snuggled in while working on my knitting, crocheting and sewing.I hope to have some new items to sell next spring but have to admit that I desperately need clothes and want to finish some decorating so I may spend most of the time on myself.

If winter breaks early like it did last year, I may be back in March or April but right now I do not plan to return until May.

Have a Happy and Blessed New Year and a warm and cozy winter. May God bless you with good health and provide all you need.

Hugs and Thanks,
Linda B:)

Latest Updates

I have removed all yardsale items from the estore except books and craft supplies. I have tons of craft supplies that I will be listing soon and they will stay under that category heading. I also have tons of books and movies that I would like to get rid of. Because of the volume I may open a seperate book store on ecrater specifically for them. I will link it here if I do.

Thanks for all the recent orders. I am almost out of soap, the body butter is all gone, the large size MSM cream is sold out and I am completely out of the Creme de Menthe lip balms. I was not happy with the brand of CdM flavoring because it seems to weaken too fast and took 4 times as much as usual. I am hunting for an alternative since that flavor has been such a hit. I-- made cocoa butter massage melts flavored with it but sold the entire batch before I could even list them. It has been very hot here but as soon as things cool down I will be making more soaps and creams.

I am hoping to have the knitting machine up and running soon. I have several adorable baby sleeper patterns that I am dying to try out plus I have been working on a gorgeous angel towel. Sadly all the needles were rusted and it is taking longer than planned to clean all this up while keeping up with everything else.

Dropping Clothes and Most Yard Sale Items

Over the next few weeks I will be removing all yard sale items from my eStore except for books, movies and crafting supplies. I am dropping all secondhand clothes and personal items like handbags, shoes, jewelry etc.

I want to concentrate on my crafting items which will include handmade knitted clothing and jewelry. I think it is too confusing to include yard sale type items along with my crafts. In the future I will either save up enough to go to town and yard sale for a weekend or I will pass them on to some friends who yard sale regularly.

More Delays in Getting Back to Crafting

If you check out my main blog I give all the details but I have managed to fall 3 times in the past week. At first I was bruised slightly, then black and blue and in bed for a few days. Now I have ruptured/torn my achilles tendon and can barely walk much less get out of bed. At my age surgery is not advised but I am supposed to keep it immobile as much as possible. Sadly it probably means I won't get the rest of my garden in and I will not get any new batches of soap made for at least 2 or 3 weeks.

I received an order this week for the creme de menthe lip balm and realized that was the last of it plus almost all the soaps and creams are sold out so I definitely need to get back to work soon.

Thanks for your patience,
Linda B:)

New Blog about Crafts

I have added yet another blog to my list.

http://villagecraftingroom.blogspot.com/

This one is about crafts along with instructions or links to instructions. Crafty people are welcome to make their own items and those that have other talents can order them if I decide to make them :)

I enjoy making a variety of items and will finally be able to get back to crafting in a few weeks. School is finally out and I am trying to get the yard and garden under control. Once they are squared away I can craft as much as my aching shoulders and fingers will allow.

More Goodies Coming Soon

I have been working almost nonstop with the end of school in sight. The teachers are trying to use up their personal days and when not working, I have been devoting time to gettig my garden started and the yard cleaned up.

However, I have been getting a few supplies together and hope to have some new lip balms, lotion sticks, soaps and other goodies available by the end of June.

I am also working on a couple of miniature sets for the dollhouse bathroom. It will have a robe and matching slippers. Plus I am working on bath mats, towels and matching shower curtains.

I have found some very cute knitting patterns for baby sleepers and can't wait to get to work on them. I drug out the knitting machine but everything was rusted so I have been working to get it cleaned up and ready to use. It is one of those little manual goodies that Carol Duval did the commercials for back in the 90's. It still takes a few days to do a project but won't be as hard on these cramping fingers. I also have some new patterns for my cotton washcloths to experiment with.

Store is Back Up

I tried to do some yard sales and a festival but everything was rained out so I have given up on spring selling and put the store back online :)

Thanks for looking,
Linda :)

Staying Closed a Little Longer

I spent the week trying to clear up some of the mess in the yard and I have been too tired to work on the estore. Right now we are hoping to sell tomorrow but not sure about the weather again. I will post as soon as I put the store back online.

Thanks for looking,
Linda B:)

Still Here

Sorry I haven't been keeping up. I came down with the nasty flu in Jan and kept repeating and repeating. I am closing off the shop until Mon Apr 7 because I am headed to a craft festival. Also I have been doing some offline sales recently and need to do an inventory to make sure how much I have left in stock.

I also hope to get some more items listed next week. I am finally prying a few writing books out of my hands and a few other goodies so be sure to check back soon.

Thanks
Linda :)

Store Closing Fri & Sat Jan 11 & 12

It is a little dreary and cool but I am heading out to yard sale. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and cool so I will try to catch some of the tourists heading to Gatlinburg with my crafts. Be back by Sunday.

Slow Day

Well, it was a slow day, didn't even make $15 but the weather was gorgeous and the few people that stopped were so nice. I really enjoyed talking with them. I met a man who makes furniture and gave him the eCrater info so he can set up a store there. I also met a very nice single mother with two small girls and had a great chat with her. There were a few stragglers coming out of Gatlinburg but none of them stopped. Most of the day was sunny with a light breeze and I had a gorgeous view of the mountains.

As soon as I returned home, I deleted the items that sold and placed the store back online. Today's forecast is for high winds and rain later on in the day so I am staying tucked in and will try to get some soap made. I have orders for flavored cocoa butter massage bars to fill before Friday so I will get them done today or tomorrow. I am hoping to have enough left over so I can put them on the website for Valentines.

Thanks for looking,
Linda :)

Closing for One Day Only

Well, Ma Nature took back one of the days. Tomorrow is now scheduled to be high winds and afternoon to evening rain so I am only closing for today. I have a couple more boxes to pack and will head out in another hour to sit up at the Cosby crossroads until near dark. I just placed the store on hold. You can go in and look around but will not be able to order until I return and reopen this evening.

Closing the eStore for 2 days

Mother Nature is giving us a gift of 70+ temps for the next few days. I am closing the eStore Mon morning and heading to the crossroads to set up and yard sale for 2 days. I will reactivate the store Tues evening or early Wed morning.

Linda :)

Why another blog?

This is my place to let you know about my online sales. New items and lead you to the places where I sell.

I love crafts and make a variety of them including soap and bath products, salves and balms, towel crafts, miniatures, clay figures and more. I post these on my eStore on eCrater:
http://villagecraftsmith.ecrater.com/

Since I have been sick and out of work, I also receive a lot of clothes and yard sale items from friends and my church. I mostly sell them by the road on the way to Gatlinburg. However, since the weather has been so bad I have been posting some of them under my yard sale section on the same site as my crafts:
http://villagecraftsmith.ecrater.com/

My main loves my entire life has been crafts, books, and movies. At nearly 60 I have realized it is time to thin out what is left of my collection. Even after a few hurricanes, losses to others, and dozens of moves, my collection is extensive. I am praying for another 20 years but even I can't read fast enough to cover them all and many I have already read really need to go:) At this stage of the game, I am definitely not doing any re-reading LOL. Anyway some of these books can be found on the site above and the newer ones are listed on half.com:
http://shops.half.ebay.com/villagecraftsmith_W0QQmZbooks

Sometimes I also post a few items on Ebay. You can check that out on my Ebay About Me page at:
http://members.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=villagecraftsmith

If you would like to know more about me, check out my eCrater store "about" section and the About Me section on Ebay listed above. I also have another blog called Village Ramblings about my life in the mountains living with a cat and 3 dogs.

Linda :)