LAST DAY OF WORK!!!!!!!!

I am so very excited for my last day of work!  I keep singing songs in my head like Aritha's  "freedom!" and I keep smiling to myself.  I am looking forward to this afternoon when my friends and I are going out for HAPPY Hour at Meade Street Station in The Highlands to celebrate!  It's like something that I never thought would happen, finally coming into fruition. 
Plus, I was accepted to The Highlands Farmers Market this summer in a once per month slot which is not as often as I would like to be there, but it's a start.  Here is the info.  PLEASE put the dates on your calender and come out and support me! 

Highlands Farmers Market; 1500 block of Boulder Street in Denver
June 19th
July 16th
August 13th
September 10th
October 1st

Now that I have been accepted to the market I am sewing like mad to stock up my inventory and make sure I have enough for the summer season.  But I am a little nervous too; I have not had great luck selling locally, and am remembering the disasterous time I shared a tent
at the Wild West Days in Littleton.  I am praying this experience will be lots better.  I hope that my unique style and one of a kind items really impress the buyers at the market, but you never know what people are interested in buying.  I am just hopeful that my stuff does impress :)
Anyone interested in happy hour this evening should meet us at Meade Street around 5pm to celebrate! 

LAST DAY OF WORK!!!!!!!!

I am so very excited for my last day of work!  I keep singing songs in my head like Aritha's  "freedom!" and I keep smiling to myself.  I am looking forward to this afternoon when my friends and I are going out for HAPPY Hour at Meade Street Station in The Highlands to celebrate!  It's like something that I never thought would happen, finally coming into fruition. 
Plus, I was accepted to The Highlands Farmers Market this summer in a once per month slot which is not as often as I would like to be there, but it's a start.  Here is the info.  PLEASE put the dates on your calender and come out and support me! 

Highlands Farmers Market; 1500 block of Boulder Street in Denver
June 19th
July 16th
August 13th
September 10th
October 1st

Now that I have been accepted to the market I am sewing like mad to stock up my inventory and make sure I have enough for the summer season.  But I am a little nervous too; I have not had great luck selling locally, and am remembering the disasterous time I shared a tent
at the Wild West Days in Littleton.  I am praying this experience will be lots better.  I hope that my unique style and one of a kind items really impress the buyers at the market, but you never know what people are interested in buying.  I am just hopeful that my stuff does impress :)
Anyone interested in happy hour this evening should meet us at Meade Street around 5pm to celebrate! 

A New Direction for Hip-Threads

I have been thinking a lot about hip-threads.com lately, and what sort of direction I want to take the website in. While I love making patchwork clothing, it doesn't sell as well as it used to and its time to make a change. (don't worry, I am not stopping patchwork forever, and will always take custom orders).
My friend Laura gave me a good piece of advise about a month ago that I have been thinking about constantly. "You have to find your niche" and then another piece of advise from my father given years ago, "make a decision and stick with it". Taking those together, my new mantra is; "Find your niche and stick with it". So what does that mean? I love to blog about hiking, sew patchwork, make cute accessories, knit, recycle vintage clothing, making soap, candles, etc, etc, how do I tie all that together and create my niche; and what do I eliminate in the process?
While I don't have my answer completely yet, I finally figured out the direction I'd like to go in! I'd really like to create a line of clothing and accessories for the outdoorsy girl made from organic or eco-friendly materials, and tie that together with my hiking blog.

One dream that I have always had is to write a book, and lately my mind wanders to writing a hiking book. The angle of the book I am still not sure, hiking in Colorado, hiking the Front Range, hiking Colorado 14ers, outdoor hiking/camping in Colorado, a womans guide to hiking/camping, hiking peaks in Colorado, or hiking with your dog in Colorado? Lots of ideas, no "niche" there yet.
Another idea to tie into my blog, is to write pamphlets for hikes which have little or no information on them, and sell them on my blog for $1-2. It would include a printable map with photos or directions, plus camping in the area around the hike, etc. Another idea from my brilliant and very successful entrepreneur friend Laura.
While I have been pondering all of these ideas lately, I stumbled across the TV show called Sharks a couple of nights ago. Entrepreneurs pitch their idea to zillionaires and they decide if they want to invest in the company or not. The investors said a couple of things that really made sense. 1. You can't put all of your time into an idea without knowing if people will buy it, you have to test the market first. 2. You can't have your hands in too many pots, first start with one thing that does well, then branch out to other similar things.
Duh! Seems obvious, right? But maybe I haven't considered these things like I should have. Maybe my idea of outdoorsy girl eco-clothes isn't a winner? I guess I should test the market first, and find out if people would buy an eco-friendly line of hiking and outdoorsy gear, and accessories. I'd love to hear some feedback from all of *you*.
I also consider selling all of these cute accessories you see at Farmers Markets in Denver this summer, but since I haven't sold very many online yet, maybe this is a dud idea, I don't know? But I am excited to take the chance on it, and give it a shot.
Any comments, suggestions, ideas, are *much* appreciated.

A New Direction for Hip-Threads

I have been thinking a lot about hip-threads.com lately, and what sort of direction I want to take the website in. While I love making patchwork clothing, it doesn't sell as well as it used to and its time to make a change. (don't worry, I am not stopping patchwork forever, and will always take custom orders).
My friend Laura gave me a good piece of advise about a month ago that I have been thinking about constantly. "You have to find your niche" and then another piece of advise from my father given years ago, "make a decision and stick with it". Taking those together, my new mantra is; "Find your niche and stick with it". So what does that mean? I love to blog about hiking, sew patchwork, make cute accessories, knit, recycle vintage clothing, making soap, candles, etc, etc, how do I tie all that together and create my niche; and what do I eliminate in the process?
While I don't have my answer completely yet, I finally figured out the direction I'd like to go in! I'd really like to create a line of clothing and accessories for the outdoorsy girl made from organic or eco-friendly materials, and tie that together with my hiking blog.

One dream that I have always had is to write a book, and lately my mind wanders to writing a hiking book. The angle of the book I am still not sure, hiking in Colorado, hiking the Front Range, hiking Colorado 14ers, outdoor hiking/camping in Colorado, a womans guide to hiking/camping, hiking peaks in Colorado, or hiking with your dog in Colorado? Lots of ideas, no "niche" there yet.
Another idea to tie into my blog, is to write pamphlets for hikes which have little or no information on them, and sell them on my blog for $1-2. It would include a printable map with photos or directions, plus camping in the area around the hike, etc. Another idea from my brilliant and very successful entrepreneur friend Laura.
While I have been pondering all of these ideas lately, I stumbled across the TV show called Sharks a couple of nights ago. Entrepreneurs pitch their idea to zillionaires and they decide if they want to invest in the company or not. The investors said a couple of things that really made sense. 1. You can't put all of your time into an idea without knowing if people will buy it, you have to test the market first. 2. You can't have your hands in too many pots, first start with one thing that does well, then branch out to other similar things.
Duh! Seems obvious, right? But maybe I haven't considered these things like I should have. Maybe my idea of outdoorsy girl eco-clothes isn't a winner? I guess I should test the market first, and find out if people would buy an eco-friendly line of hiking and outdoorsy gear, and accessories. I'd love to hear some feedback from all of *you*.
I also consider selling all of these cute accessories you see at Farmers Markets in Denver this summer, but since I haven't sold very many online yet, maybe this is a dud idea, I don't know? But I am excited to take the chance on it, and give it a shot.
Any comments, suggestions, ideas, are *much* appreciated.