My Mom: my help (+ Mother's Day Savings!)

My helper is here. That is...my Mom came for a visit! It's so nice to have her help take care of all the things I don't do while I'm working on Poplar Head.

She snapped a few shots of me down at the warehouse...

...taking pictures for a custom order request...


...discussing frames with Tim...




Mom has been such a help--not just around the house, but with shipping, researching and organizing. Plus, she cooks our dinners. :) The world would be a better place if every girl had a mom like mine. (And with Mother's Day right around the corner...I will not even apologize for getting mushy.)

Our sales have picked up over the last couple weeks, which means I've been working hard at keeping the shop stocked. The problem with keeping it stocked is never that we don't have anything to sell...it's that I can't photograph and sort and list things fast enough!

I love taking pictures of the cool things Tim makes. It's my chance to try to capture the little details that I love. Here's a bit of what I did do this week...

This type of candle holder has drawn a lot of interest. It's one of my favorites that Tim makes...
Pecan Table Top 5 Votive Candle Holder - $39 on Etsy


He also has done some pillar candle holders that I think are simple and attractive...
Pecan 3 Pillar Candle Holder - $22 on Etsy


And Tim's coat racks have really sold well. We love coat racks at our house. We've got 3 and I would really love to have at least 2 more. Here's a new one for this week...
Small Coat Rack with 2 Brushed Silver Double Hooks - $26 on Etsy


In honor of Mother's Day, here's some chances to save:

The Highlands Antique Mall is having a...

Mother's Day Sale on May 5th from 9:00 am - 8:00 pm

They will even have hors d'oeuvres starting at 4:00. I think a lot of the vendors will be out there...but not us! That's our 10 year anniversary and we will be at the beach! Anyway, everything in the store will be 20-50% off. Everything in our booth will be 20% off. Check it out!

Also, from now until Mother's Day, stop by our Etsy store and save 10% with our ILOVEMYMOM coupon! (If you are local and can stop by to pick up your purchase, I will refund your shipping 100%. Please just drop me a note in the instructions box of your order, and let me know you that you want to do a pick up.)

Happy hunting!

My Learning Curve

Getting on Etsy.com felt like climbing a mountain. A wild mountain--perhaps one that I imagined would take an hour to climb, but part way through began to wish I'd brought my camping gear.

But, it was worth it.

We have had a couple of sales, and I just got an email notifying me that my first box has arrived at its destination.

We've also had lots of inquiries about custom work. That's exciting, too.

Now that I'm at the top of Mt. Etsy, I'm beginning to look around and wonder what next? Here I am. I have seen a measure of success. However, not just any measurement of success will do. We want to do business! So, where, from the top of Mt. Etsy, can I go?

My friends tell me: Facebook.

Facebook, here we come.

I keep wondering if other people make these little business decisions, and take action with as much effort as I seem to use. Well, this is me, and I am what I am, and I trust that my Father knows what he is doing with me.

Enough of my musings.

Here's a dilemma. We have these great frames...


...and I can't figure out a way to ship them! They are so big! Well, I can ship them, but it just remains to be seen if anyone is willing to pay a hundred dollars just for shipping.

BUT! Anyone that wants to can stop by, and pick one up!!



They are so beautiful.

Framed Message Boards--30" Wide x 45" High: $150

We have 3 finishes of Bone Cork Boards...

Solid (pictured above)

Distressed:


Glazed:


We also have a set of "Antiqued" frames, also for $150.

Cork:


Chalkboard:


and White Board:


For bargain shoppers, we have 2 boards with slight flaws, that I marked down to $100!

Contact us if you are interested!
P.S. Mother's Day is May 8th!

Humble Origins

Lots of good things have humble origins.

Many of Tim's pieces are made from dumpster-bound wood. He rescues it, cleans it up, trims it, and before you know it, Voilà. A beautiful new piece!

But, back to those humble origins...they happen.

Last week, following a lead a friend gave him, Tim "harvested" some new materials. Er, old materials. A retired gentleman living out in the country was tearing down an out building, and was planning on burning all the wood.



Tim was very glad to rescue this beautiful wood.

It may not look beautiful yet, but it will. I think he already has a plan in mind for each piece.


Yesterday, he went out and finished loading all he wanted...


It was late enough when he was done, he just went ahead a brought it home. I was glad to get to take some pictures.


When I look at that pile of wood, I admit, all I see is a mess. No way could you pay me to load all that up, or clean it up.



But when Tim looks at it, he sees the character in each board. I love that he can look at a piece of wood, and he sees how thick it is--which tells him is it's really old, or just sort of old. He sees the texture of the cuts, and can imagine what tools were used on it.



Some of the wood he gathered is really old. He gets really excited about that. He sees kitchen tables, bulletin board frames, mirrors, and I don't know what else. He's having so much fun.

I went down and visited the "shop" this week, and was impressed with the idea that not only do our products have humble origins...so does Poplar Head.



I caught Tim painting outside. I know he dreams of having an indoor paint booth...vented, temperature controlled, equipped with a monster air compressor with nozzle hook-ups all over the place.

But he patiently uses what he's got for now.


He's working on some new frames...


They're going to be beautiful!