Is Social Media for My Business?

Is Social Media for My Business? That is the topic for Thursday's "Doing Business" radio show on WERU (Blue Hill 89.9FM). The show is hosted by Jane Haskell and I am one of the guests representing micro-enterprises. The show airs 10am-11am EST and will be archived online. I will provide a link when it available.

If you have ideas about using social media in business, feel free to post your comments here.

Cheers!--Janyce

Madder Root on Etsy Finds

Woot! Woot! Madder Root is featured in today's Etsy finds! Look for our Poppy Tea towel printed in buttercup. Too exciting for words!

Cheers!--Janyce

Bloomin' Cones!

For some reason, I was fixated on these cones yesterday. I think because they looked so round and cute on the trees. Lots of texture, too, between the sprills and the cones themselves.

Cheers!--Janyce

Easy Way to Help the Bangor Area Children's Choir

Since it's spring cleaning time, here's how you can find room in your garage and help the Bangor Area Children's Choir at the same time: take your returnable bottles and cans to Larry Barron's Bangor Redemption & Beverage Center at 490 Broadway in Bangor. Just tell the staff to credit the BACC account. No need to count; just bag and drop your returnables. Simple as that!

Cheers! Janyce

Etsy Front Page!

Woot! Woot! One of our Madder Root scarves made the front page this morning! So exciting!

Cheers!--Janyce

New Ventures Entrepreneurship Training

Women, Work & Community will offer the New Ventures Entrepreneurship 60 hour Training Program at University College in Bangor, Maine. The training will be held every Tuesday from April 27 to July 13 from 9:30 to 3:00. An application, orientation and interview are required.

An in-depth coverage of topics such as: your customer, competition, marketing, record keeping, taxes, legal aspects, financing, and operations will result in a written business plan. Class size is limited to 15.

Applications are due Friday April 16th and the orientation will be held on Tuesday April 20th from 9:30 to 11:30 at Bangor Hall, University College in Bangor.

For an application or more information, call 262-7843, or email searles@maine.edu For additional information on other programs, visit the web site at www.womenworkandcommunity.org.

I highly recommend this training. It will help you get a good solid foundation under your business idea or help you strengthen your current enterprise if you have never done a business plan.

Cheers!--Janyce

Purples Blues and Greens

Nice to see some color after the dull browns and greys of a snowless winter.

Cheers!--Janyce

Sage Advice Treasury

I curated this Etsy treasury called "Sage Advice." The treasury features handmade, organic, and/or recycled items found on the site. For those of you new to treasuries, they are member-curated galleries that change every 2 or three days. Clicking on the items and commenting in the space provided helps give the treasury--and its featured sellers--visibility within the site. The treasury will expire Friday, March 26 at 2:09am.

Cheers!--Janyce

Falling Leaves Tea Towel

Christina and I are continuing to develop and print new designs. Here, we paired artichokes with our new falling leaves tea towel for product shots. Later in the day, we cooked the artichokes on the grill (along with other vegetables) for a yummy treat!

You may find out more about our scarves and tea towels at Madder Root.

Cheers!--Janyce

Too Much Thread

Can you ever have too much thread? Well, I wouldn't have thought so, but...yes! I bought a bunch...I mean a BUNCH...of thread for a project and ended up having a lot left over. So, I've started putting some in my Etsy shop for a discount. These are unused spools of thread marked below what I paid for them. I'd rather see them go to good homes and projects than to have them go to waste.

All the thread is Mettler/Metrosene silk-finished cotton thread. Some are in 547 yard (500m) spools, some in 164 yard (150m) spools. I've used miles of this thread for quilts, clothes and other projects and love it! The large spools are on sale for $2.50 (Retail $5.88) and the small spools are $1.25 (Retail $2.35). Quantities will vary.

The color numbers I have in stock at the time of this blog post are listed below.

Large spools: 884 (Linen), 915 (Lavender), 554 (Aqua), 502 (Pale Yellow), 525 (Tan), 594 (Orange), 673 (Purple), 712 (Brown), 803 (Pink), 623 (Dolphin)

Small spools: 553 (Dark Jade Green), 646 (Pink Coral), 789 (Wedgewood Blue), 684 (Dark Wedgewood), 769 (Blossom Pink), 575 (Light Lilac), 835 (Bright Geranium), 574 (Violet), 649 (Pink), 528 (Brown)

This is a "destash," so once the spools are gone, they're gone! I won't be repeating this offer.

Cheers!--Janyce
Sojourn Quilts
"A Resting Place Along Life's Journey"

Spring is on its way!

I saw this stone sun peeking at me from behind the snow melt. Spring is on its way, I'm sure of it!

Cheers!--Janyce

Madder Root

I am happy to announce the opening (a very soft opening) of Madder Root on Etsy.

Madder Root was born out of a passion for fabric, art, lively conversation, cups of tea and walks with the dog with my friend Christina. I feel fortunate to share in this creative endeavor with her. Every day is an adventure in fun!

We see creating and doing business in Maine as more than just a job. It is a lifestyle. We will be bringing to you hand printed tea towels, scarves and fat quarters made from organic fabrics, threads and printed with water based, solvent free inks.

We are inspired by our state's ocean, forest and mountain vistas and we strive to protect the environment around us with every business choice we make. From our material to our packaging we are working hard to find environmentally friendly supplies without sacrificing quality.

We are still building our website and will have more for you to see as the next days and weeks unfold. For now, you can reach us at http://www.madderroot.etsy.com. I hope you will stop by and say hello. Please do let me know what you think!

Cheers!--Janyce