New store!

I forgot to mention that we are in a new store!!!!! The store is formerly the Gathering Basket in Galeton, PA. It is now called Hearts Desire, and we are pleased to be in the store again! Please visit us there if you are in the area! Don't forget that we are also in Earth Wood and Stone up at the Arnot Mall as well!

Finally! Some nice weather!

What a beautiful day we had yesterday! Thanks to those of you who visited us at the show in Bloomsburg! It was great to see so many people out to the craft show in a time when we are all worried about our economy!

We have added a new addition to our family.......a new horse of course! My daughter went on a trip last month and found a lovely Level 2 Thoroughbred eventer down in VA. We went down a couple of weeks ago to pick him up, in a snow storm! His name is Devon and we are very excited to have him here! Cait is looking forward to getting back into training and hopes to start him back up in Level 1 events. He has been off the ciruit for about a year and she has taken a couple of years off from regular showing so it will be exciting to get back at it!

Our new church building in Troy, Victory church is coming along nicely! Hopefully the new building will be ready later this spring. Later on I will include some pics of that. For now, have a great day and see you at the shows!

Can't wait for spring!

It's a dreary rainy day here in the north country. Thankfully it isn't snowing! February has been long this year and very cold. We haven't done many shows yet but we are gearing up for show season coming in March.

Just a reminder that we will be at the following locations:

March 7 AVTS Bloomsburg Spring Show Bloomsburg, PA

March 13-15 Craftsmens' Classic Richmond, VA

March 21 Spring Show Binghamton University Binghamton, NY

March 28-29 Central NY State Maplefest Marathon, NY


Hope to see you there!

New stores!

Hi everyone!

A new update to our list of capecod crafter locations! If you've never been to a Capecod Crafters shop, it is one of those little boutiques where you rent space to sell your art or crafts. Yes, there is loads of buysell there, so if you're against that, don't bother. I have been selling my work in those shops for about 8 years now, and find that I compete just fine there.

For the shoppers, we're now located in the Shrewsbury, Massachussets store and the Lancaster, PA store also. These shops are located in Outlet centers if you are looking for locations or you can click on the link and go right to Capecods website and get directions.

We've added those little personalized Career blocks of ours to the Gettysburg store and also the Lancaster store. They'll personalize them right at the store for you. They're not on the website because there are just so many of them. And also I should let you know that we are also located in the other Capecod crafter stores in North Conway, NH and Kittery, ME!



I will be reopening our space at the former Gathering Basket store in Galeton, PA! The new shop owners have invited us and we are looking forward to going back. The long construction work on Route 6 had closed the original store for quite a while.

Oh and one last thing! We've added some new shows to our Show listings at our website, so please check it out at http://www.lauriesherrell.com/!

These pics are some of the new designs I've added to the site!

God bless and have a great day!

Working on the show schedule

Hi everyone,

I am busily working on my show schedule for this next year. It's tough deciding where to go! I want to be loyal to my regular shows but need to find new venues as well. The economy has definitely slowed down, but when the going gets tough, well, you know. If any of you have any great show suggestions for me, up and down the east coast, please, by all means, let me know!

I did purchase a new printer this year......yay! I am slow to catch on to new things though.... ahhhhh! So I am trying to learn a new system and I am definitely not a techie. This is a new larger format printer, so I can reproduce my larger designs without sending them out. I do offer the originals for sale as well but obviously, with this economy, we have to have prints available.

Also just a note to say that I really enjoyed all the nice comments that people send on the the etsy cottage style blog. Thanks so much! It is a pleasure meeting you all! Well it's back to the desk to organize my life!

A coffee break

Sorry I have been away for a bit, very busy like the rest of you!!! LOL I am thankful to be done at the mall this last holiday season! So here I am on a coffee break and thought I would finally up date. A bit of good news on that is that Earth Wood and Stone, another shop that I have done business with in the past, will continue to remain on at the mall permanently. What's good about that, you ask? Brian Genello will now be carrying all my favorite designs in his new mall location!!!! YAY! That means that we will not be doing the mall store again next year. I know we will not have all the opportunity to meet great customers and repeat customers and I will really miss that! However, most of you know that I enjoy the art and designing part and this will give me more time in the studio. Maybe I can get on more of those requests!!! It is very difficult to run a temporary store and complete works of art and signs at the same time and remain focused. So we are very excited about this opportunity! So please go in and support Earth, Wood and Stone and I am again, available for some of those special designs you were asking for!

I am also busy getting ready for the show season this year. I know we are worried about the economy but I am still very positive. I pray for God to help me make good choices and for those good choices to choose me! I have sent a small list of the shows in which we know we will be at this year, to my webmaster. We will be adding other listings as they accept our applications.

If you have any suggestions for shows in your area, let us know!

Well, I have some horses who are waiting for dinner, so I better get going! Pics are Rocky, Sweet Pea, Twister, Tatoo, Tazer, Angel and Dreamer.

Laurie

Happy New Year Everyone!

I hope all of you are having a wonderful start to your new year. It is exciting to feel like we are starting on a fresh slate, trying new ideas for our work or just putting the past year behind us!

Our website did pretty well this Christmas so that was great. It has taken some time for it to get going. I am always looking for tips and ideas from other craftsmen and artists on what I can do to make that better.

We are trying to schedule our shows for the next year also. Some I need to get rid of and try some new ones. It seems like the smaller local ones, with lower costs, are starting to become more appealing. The big arenas charge so much of an entry fee to the customer, that they just don't want to pay it.

I am also more interesting in doing wholesale. We have few stores that we are providing our artwork for and that is very exciting. I am not yet ready to do the big wholesale shows though, and like to go out and meet the store owner myself. Also that way I am able to pick and choose where it goes.

We did our usual New Years Bash at the ski slope on New Years Eve. My kids ski and snowboard, and my daughter is an instructor at one of the local slopes. We had taken my daughter to this event for several years, but only started skiing ourselves over the last 2 years. It is so much fun and I enjoy it, even though I am usually flat on the ground several times during the evening! LOL So my kids thought I should learn to snowboard. Now that is quite different from the usual skiing but I did try it, with lots of help, and I am thinking this might work for me!

Thanks so much for the nice comments from all of you! I am new to blogging and I enjoy feed back and advice from everyone! Now that the mall is almost done, we are there til the 10th, I will be able to get more involved here!

Happy New Year!

Here at the mall store in Elmira!

Well I am back at the mall again! We are here til January 10th. I know that sounds strange to stay that long and not pull out after New Years, but that's when the gift cards come in! Our the gift money. I have found over the past few years that people don't really shop until Thanksgiving but do shop after the holidays so it is a more profitable time. SO for those of you who do the malls at the holidays, just a thought to help boost your sales at Christmas!

Now enough of the retail stuff!!!!

So what is Christmas really about? It's about a gift! The greatest gift of all, and it's free!

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosover believes in Him, should not perish but have everlasting life! MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Getting ready for one more show!

Getting ready for the last show of the season! We will be at the Country Folk Art show in Edison, NJ this weekend, December 5-7. We are in our usual location, right inside the door. Click on the link and go to the show website to get your coupon for a dollar off your admission to the show!

I will have a few new items as well as some of the other favorites! Hope to see you there!

It's Black Friday!

I'm sitting at the mall, and yes, it is a busy day! For those of you who are out shopping today, God Bless you! We are having our special sale today here at the mall, a Buy one item, get a second at half off! That is of equal or lesser value! So come on out this weekend and take advantage!