Price increase. Bummer.

Before I get into details, I'll cut to the chase. I am going to have to raise prices on some of my items, including animal hats :(

It's the one thing I don't like to do, so if you are willing to read past that first sentence and stick around, yay! Now, I'll explain. I've been thinking about this for a while now. I haven't been looking forward to it, so I've been avoiding it. But, the reality is, it's a must. Prices for materials have gone up some, and ultimately, if I keep my prices how they are right now, I'd have to shut down. So $20.00 for an animal hat is just no longer realistic, unfortunately.

I won't go into the drivel of how hard it is to maintain an Etsy shop, because if you have one, you know. It's work. It takes time to set up listings, take photographs (or pay someone to take them for you) the list goes on of the never ending task of maintaining your shop. Plus there's the fee's...etc. So, naturally, all that needs to be factored into the price of hats, and I hadn't been doing that before.

This will be the new pricing, and this will be effective February 1st 2012. This pricing is for animal hats only (including owls), and this will also include a new Sock Monkey hat that will come out next year!

Newborn (12"-14.5") $25.00
3-6 months (14"-17") $26.00
6-12 months (17"-19") $27.00
1t-3t (18"-20") $27.00
3t-5t (19"-20.5") $28.00
Child (over 5t) (20.5-22") $30.00
Adult (21.5" - 22.5") $35.00
Adult XL (23-24") $38.00

You'll find these prices are still competitive over other sellers. I figured it best to break the pricing down for different sizes, because they take different amounts of time and materials. So that's something positive, I think. And You'll notice some new sizes. After feedback from customers during the sale, I realized the sizing that came in my pattern doesn't necessarily work for everyone. So, I have been messing with new sizing to give you even more options when you order.

Not sure what size you need? Don't worry about age so much as head measurement. Measure your child's head just like they do at the doctors office, and find the size that works. I hope you'll find that more helpful when ordering!!

Now, I know I had some fans asking about hats and I had told them the old price of $20.00. So here's what I'm going to do. I will be creating custom listings for hats. I'm not quite sure how many yet, maybe 10 maybe 20. Depends on how much time I think I'll have before the end of January. I will release those listing at the $20.00 price, and once they are gone, that's it! I think that's fair for everyone. First come, first served. If they don't all sell before February 1st, then the price will still go up. What I'm getting at here is, when you see the listings, don't hesitate!

Oh, and I should probably point out, that I will NOT be able to send any new orders out in time for Christmas. When I release the custom listings, you will go in line behind the orders I already have open. If you would like to pay a rush charge to get something guaranteed by Christmas, please convo me FIRST. The rush fee is going to be $10.00 PER HAT.

Keep in mind, I work a full time job, so that it why my shop turn around differs from shops who's owners crochet full time.

Anyways, I hope that's understandable, and I hope you will still stick around to shop with me. I have some fun new items to add to the shop next year, and I'm looking forward to clearing my schedule so I can make them! You can check out the items I have ready to ship if you need something for a newborn for Christmas, too!

Take care everyone, and happy Holidays!! Enjoy your turkey day tomorrow :)

Deal of the week! 2/25-3/3

I have decided to enlist a deal of the week. Every week I will have a new deal. Maybe free shipping, maybe 15% off, or maybe a spotlight product at a discounted price! I guess it will all depend on what mood I am in :) The deal will begin on a Friday, and run to the following Thursday night. You may want to follow the blog because I will be posting deals for early preview here. Blog followers get the Thursday morning sneak peak!

The deal of the week beginning tomorrow 2/25 and ending Thursday 3/3:

Any owl hat (including custom colors) for 50% off! NO SHIPPING! That's right, you can buy owl hats this week for a flat rate of $10.00!

The limit will be 3(per person/household/address). Orders for more that 3 hats will have to pay shipping (shipping price will depend on how many hats you order. I will ship the cheapest way available)

*****This offer is NOT valid with any other coupon, discount, or code. Any purchases that violate these terms will be cancelled and refunded*****

The prices will not be effective until tomorrow, but here's a link to Clover's Garden so you can think about what you want! Convo me about available custom colors.

Here's some pics of custom colors I have done in the past to get your creative wheels turning!

Helpful tips for review bloggers, and pages looking for sponsorhsip

My business email has been flooded recently with sponsorship and product review requests. My business page wall has been flooded as well. I thought it might be helpful for those of you who run these types of pages, to get some tips and advice for how to go about doing this. I have worked with companies like Biokleen, Ergo, Rockin' Green and Ella's Kitchen before, so I am not new to the review world. As a business owner, I am not new to the sponsorship world either!

Requesting to do a product review
Product reviews are a great way to spread the word for fairly cheap. But the cost of giving things away start to add up. Especially when choosing to offer a "giveaway" item with each review item. You will find that every business has their own plan for this type of marketing.

If you are willing to buy the review item, some companies will kick in a "free" item for giveaway. Larger companies are more likely to sponsor the entire review/giveaway. Personally, I don't mind sending the free item. But I ask that you pay shipping costs so I don't go broke. For the giveaway, it just depends on how my business is going at the time and how much I can afford. Many businesses operate that way too. Be flexible.

DON'T post on a business page wall asking to review their item. Business should be done via emails. Most businesses have their contact info readily available. Some even have emails just for review/marketing. So check that out before shooting off an email to the wrong address. Chances are, you won't get anywhere.

DO send an email telling the owner about yourself and your blog. Tell us what the focus of your blog is. Cloth diapers? Earth friendly products? Why would my product fit into your blog? How many followers do you have? What other businesses have you worked with? And don't forget to provide a link to your blog AND facebook page so we can check it out. Sometimes including stats is helpful too!

Requesting sponsorship for an event on your facebook page.
Again, DON'T post on the wall of a business page asking for sponsorship of your event. This comes off as spam, or as if you are just trying to get other fans to your page. Most of the time, these posts are hidden or marked as spam. And if it happens too frequently, you may be removed from a page.

DO send an email to the business owner. Tell them about your page and the event you are holding. How many fans do you have? Why would I be interested? And again, how does my product fit into your business page? If your page is a jewlery business, my hats probably aren't going to help you much.

DO be flexible on prizes, and take into account your own page size. There has been a sudden influx lately of people requesting prize sponsorship where the value MUST be $20.00 or more. AND I MUST offer free shipping. AND I MUST ship within 7 days. Be realistic with these expectations. Commanding a prize like this works for a page who has over 10,000 fans, but not as well for the page with 1,000 fans. Why? It's simple. After participating in a 10,000 fan event, I gained roughly 15% of that 10,000. That's 1,500 fans. Then lost some and have steadily maintained a 1,000-1,250 increase. That's about 10%. That's a typical rule of thumb that I follow. If your page has 1,000 fans, I am probably only going to gain and keep 80-100 of those fans. On a good day.

That said, it is not likely that I am willing to shell out a $20.00 prize AND pay the shipping AND put all of my paying customers on the back burner to ship the freebie.

I have turned down several events lately, simply because their prize restrictions are just too much to ask of a small business like myself. Be flexible. If a person offers a coupon code for 50% off in their store, that is an excellent prize for a fan page with 1,000 followers. I have yet to experience a disappointed person with a 50% off code. And not one of my codes has ever gone unused. Take that into account.

DO be authentic in your email. I received 4 emails in a 1 hour time period the other day from 4 different email addresses that all read EXACTLY the same. Word for word. I denied them all, because I honestly thought it may have been the same person looking for 4 different prizes. I feared it was either spam, or a person looking to get and keep something for free. If you have seen someone else's email that you think is really cool and works for you, make it your own. Change it, or else you are likely to get denied and you are likely to have your email clicked as spam. You might not even reach that person again!

Posting your event/deals/giveaways/offers etc. on other business pages
In general, it is bad form to do this without so much as taking the time to introduce yourself to the page owner. Some pages don't feel comfortable with this. It draws traffic away from our business pages, and away from the main goal: to sell OUR product. Again, some other pages are ok with it, but you should always ask them first. It's not hard to build a relationship with page owners. Sometimes swapping shout-out for shout-outs is a quick way to get some traffic! An email with who you are/what your advertising is the best way to go.

There are some pages though, who are dedicated to announcing your deals and sales for you! Again, EMAIL THEM FIRST! If the page owner doesn't know you, you might be removed. I am working on compiling a list of pages who would LOVE to work with you!


Best of luck!
-Bekki

Lets Crochet together!

I have decided to host a crochet along! If anyone is interested that is :) I have a big desire to complete something large, but I get side tracked with other things and never seem to get anywhere. I find, if I can't start and complete a project in a matter of a few days, I never get around to getting it done. But I really REALLY want to make an afghan for my couch!! I've wanted to for a long time now. I bought an instruction booklet about 10 years ago, and haven't even started on it. Yikes!

So that's where the crochet along comes in! I figured if I had a way to be held somewhat accountable for it, I'd actually finish it. I have this book:

63 Easy to Crochet Pattern Stitches

I love it. It is written for beginners, but it is perfect for any skill level. It has 63 different stitch squares, so it's a great book to learn something new from! The booklet explains gauge and how to obtain it. It explains how to block a finished square, how join the finished squares together, and so much more. It also explains how to complete every stitch in detail and includes pictures. It's really a great book if you are looking to learn to crochet, or just to improve your stitchin' skills.

Of course, you can choose a different book, or just do your own thing! That book is just an idea for those of you who may not even know where to begin. But I'm thinking for this crochet along, lets all do a blanket of some sort. That way we can all have a big finished piece to show off :)

My idea is to check in once a week to see where we are all at. We can begin maybe next week. That should give everyone enough time to check in, get ideas together, and gather materials. Comment here if you are joining up! If you have a blog, leave a link so we can all follow each other. If, not I will make an album on the Clover's Garden fan page you can upload your progress photo's there.

If you have questions on how to complete a stitch, or are stuck on a pattern, you can email me at cloversgarden@yahoo.com, leave it on the FB page, or comment on the check in blog post for that week to see if someone can help. I think this will be a fun way to complete a big project!

Happy hookin'!

Let me introduce myself......

My name is Bekki, and I am the momma behind Clover's Garden. I have a pseudo hubby (we aren't married yet, but someday) and an absolutely adorable little girl (see header pictures) Clover. She is my inspiration for all the things I create in the shop. I was searching for an ear flap hat for miss Clover and I just couldn't find anything I liked. Everything was plain and boring......so I decided to just do it myself. I have always loved to crochet, but hadn't picked up a hook in years. I came across Inner Hooker's shop on Etsy purely by accident. I don't even think I was searching for patterns at all. But, there they were. So I bought a couple, and set them aside. About a week later, I got a wild hair and set out to make one of the hat patterns. I finished it faster than I thought I would, and I was really happy with it. It was the Raccoon ear flap hat. I just loved it, and so did Clover. She didn't mind having in on her head, and boy did she look stinkin' cute! Hubs uploaded a picture to his facebook of her wearing the hat and next thing you know......I had several messages in my inbox requesting hats. So I got to work. And then I had more orders, and more. I was even getting asked about them when we were out and about! Before I knew it, I had a little business growing that I hadn't even planned on, named or thought about. I needed to keep track of it all, and I wanted to make myself easy to find on the internet.......low and behold the Etsy shop opened, and Clover's Garden began to grow. Christmas was a blur of scarfs, hats and more. The more hats I make, the faster and better I get! I love every minute of my crochet time, and I enjoy that I can make things for little ones to keep them happy, and warm. And I love that my Clover inspired it all to happen.

I also work a full time job as a graphic artist, designing boring stuff like car battery labels and produce labels that you probably never look at much when you are shopping. It's safe to say that if you live in the US or Canada, you probably have something that I have had my hands in either in your house, or in your car! And now, possibly on your little one's head :)

I always strive to bring you the same quality that I look for when shopping for my own little one. If I can find a way to improve, I do it. If I can find a better material to offer, I'll switch. I examine each item carefully before sending it out to you to make sure I feel 100% good about sending it to you! I would rather email you and say that your hat had to be re-done because something wasn't right, then send you something I didn't feel good about. That's how I operate here. If you aren't happy, then neither am I! You can trust the quality that comes withe the Clover's Garden tag.

I am also always open to custom orders! Just because it isn't listed in my shop, doesn't mean I can't do it. There are HUNDREDS of color combinations available, and I could never make them all and guess which one would make people happy. If you have special colors in mind, just send me an email and I can make a custom listing for you! My goal is to make you and your little one happy.

I think that's about it for info on me and the shop. Looking forward to making something up for your little one's!

-Bekki

Welcome!

I just wanted to post a little something to welcome anyone that comes along here! I have some things I will be posting in the very near future. I'll be trying to answer some frequently asked questions here in hopes of saving all of us some time. I will also be using this as a place to announce new shop happenings and any policy changes that might affect all of you shoppers! Keep an eye out for eventual giveaways too! It's much easier to host them on a blog than it is to host them on Facebook. While I get things going here in blogland, here's a link to the shop so you can browse!

Thanks for checking in!


Clover's Garden on Etsy


-Bekki
Big Momma in charge at Clover's Garden