Celebration!

I've been feeling pretty reflective lately and am counting my lucky stars!  This time last year I was in a bit of a rough spot.  2012 started off looking dismal.  Winter is usually a slow season for me after Christmas and I hold my breath until spring when  my craft shows start up again.  But as luck would have it last year I didn't have any money, with high rent and bills to pay.  Not a good combination.  Several things had contributed to this unfortunate mess and it was pretty yucky.  Long story short I decided that I would do as much as I could to get my Etsy shop rolling.  I studied other shops, educated myself about SEO (search engine optimization), scrambled my brain with trying to take good pics, and re-writing the descriptions for my listings many times, not to mention promoting and just plain hoping to hell that it would work.  I feel very fortunate to be able to say that it did.  Now I'm about to hit 400 sales on Etsy and I'm having a CELEBRATION!!!!  You in?  Who's bringing the Baby Duck?  <3

I'm having a GIVEAWAY, which will actually be hosted by a different blog.  I will post more details soon.  I will be giving away this skull bag:

Also to celebrate, the person who purchases the 400th item will receive FREE SHIPPING (refunded via Paypal after the purchase).  It's a small gesture, but I'm hoping that it will make someone's day nonetheless.  <3

In other news, it's DAMN cold here near Montreal, Quebec, Canada.  I take all my bag pics outside and the expression 'suffering for your art' comes to mind when I'm out there in a wind chill of -24C.  That's cold.  Actually now that I think of it, I do have something a LOT more exciting to mention than the weather.  Are you ready?  Read on...

I'm gearing up to open a NEW Etsy shop.  If one shop is AWESOME, does that mean that two shops would be AWESOMER?  Twice as awesome for sure!  The new shop is going to be called Train Wreck Clothing... I see a train theme here.  lol  It will offer clothing and accessories that I make using recycled materials only.  I will be launching it this month sometime and of course I will announce it here.  I'm really excited about it because I LOVE recycled products.  That's enough for now.... just enough to whet your whistle.  I'm such a tease!  ;)

Signing off!

Renee <3
www.thehobotrain.com (Etsy shop)  

Changes.

Wow, within the 1 week I'm helping my mom move and my sister move.  Last weekend my sis moved into her new house near Montreal.  This week I'm on Vancouver Island helping my mom pack up.  She moves to Montreal next week and will stay with my sis for a while.  It'll be great to have all 3 of us in the same area.  Seeing as I am away from the workshop and unable to ship any sold items during this time, I thought I'd have a promotion for all of you lovelies who are jonesing for a sweet spring hobo bag.  Use the coupon code SPRING2012 in my Etsy shop (www.thehobotrain.etsy.com) and get 15% off your purchase until April 3rd.  All items will ship April 3rd (give or take a day).  I have been working hard on posting new bags and there are some beauties up in the shop right now. 

Back to the moving.... So, my mom had a gift certificate for Rawthentic Eatery in Qualicum Beach, which she used for today's lunch.  I had the raw chili with flat bread -- delish!  They even serve it warmed.  Dave had the bruschetta pizza, which he said was very good.  The portion wasn't very big, however.  My mom had the sandwich.  I didn't get feedback from her, but I've had their sandwiches before and they're great.  So, if you're in Qualicum Beach at any point, grab yourself a healthy raw lunch at the Rawthentic Eatery.  http://www.rawthenticeatery.com/

All for now.  Hope you are all having a hobolicious day!

Renee
www.thehobotrain.etsy.com

Great Handmade Blog

Hey everyone!  I'm involved in a great giveaway that I mentioned over a week ago.  It is being hosted by Jolynn's Hobby Shop and I'm giving away one of my skull and roses hobo bags.  The giveaway is still on and ends of Friday -- so, get your buns over there and enter to win.  Here's the link:  http://jolynnshobbyshop.blogspot.com/2012/02/giveaway-friday-win-handbag-from.html

Well in promoting my giveaway, I stumbled upon an awesome blog:  http://www.handmadeables.com .  This site has also posted the giveaway -- THANKS handmadeables!  This blog has great gift ideas and focuses only on handmade stuff.  One more point for handmade. 

In other news, I'm still on my cauliflower kick.  Ate 3 whole cauliflowers last week.  Well, and they were on sale for $1.67 at the restaurant supply store so that may explain why I bought so many.  lol  I've been making my own salad dressing (garlic, oil, vinegar, spices) that I just can't seem to get tired of.... *tooting horn* 

Goodnight,

Renee &hearts;

Wanna win some handmade swag?

Hey my little hobo bunnies!  I'm participating in my first blog giveaway.... Here's the scoop...

Okay everyone, the giveaway has started. There are 3 prizes to be won -- one of my delicious skull bags and 2 lovely items from other Etsy sellers. Follow this link to Jolynn's Hobby Shop.... http://jolynnshobbyshop.blogspot.com/  There you will find the rules on how to participate. The contest runs until March 2nd, so you have time to get as many entries as possible. Please share this link with all your friends who would LOVE to win some handmade swag. THANKS! (Any questions, just comment below).

I'm really excited about this giveaway and really want to get as many people involved as possible.  So PLEASE pass the word along.... Have a hobolicious day!

Renee

Popping in for another quickie... lol

Hey peeps!  Don't really know if anyone is reading this, although it would be great some folks were entertained by my ramblings from time to time.  Just had to pop back in because the thoughts I expressed in my last post were haunting me.  I couldn't quite explain things the way I wanted to.  Words... how they frustrate me sometimes and do their exact job at other times.  The idea of customizing your life means to me -- taking the stuff that's on the inside (dreams, values, desires, interests, ideas, passions, curiosities, etc) and realizing it on the outside.  It is a gift to be able to do that and it is a gift those around you if you do it.   *feeling better now*  Later friends! 

Oh ya... if you're out there in cyberspace lurking, I'd love for you to leave a comment or follow my blog.  Feedback is inspiring.

Dropping by...

Just dropping by to say hello.  &hearts;  Been working hard on my Etsy shop... http://www.thehobotrain.etsy.com

Trying to revamp the pics of my bags.... so far pretty successful.  Although they now look pretty sterile.  Gotta throw in some personality in there somewhere.  Otherwise, I'm super happy with how bright they look considering I have to take them indoors for now, and thrilled that the fabrics look true to life.  Yay!  I've been hanging out in the Forums on the Etsy site and have met some AWESOME people there... hardworking crafters looking to make a life for themselves that is different from the mainstream.  So inspiring.  Yah, let's go there....  I love the idea of customizing your life.  Why do people have to live a certain way?  I suspect that most people, given the chance, would live differently than they currently are living.  And as I type this, I realize that many people in my society do have the opportunity to live differently, but don't.  That opportunity exists mainly in the first world and it is a shame to see it lost.  Most of the rest of the world don't have much of a choice, since their daily grind focuses on survival and getting the basics covered.  In my part of the world, the basics are taken for granted and there is a never-ending hole of insatiable desire that is constantly being stuffed and filled but never satisfied.  Kind of brutish I would say, non?  Greed is the creed.  Anyway, that's a whole other blog posting.  lol  Back to the idea of customization... Most people around me have the means to customize their lives, at least in part.  Hell, I'm trying to do that and I make less money than almost everyone I know and currently struggle to make ends meet.  Why is it fucking cool to customize your life?  Well, I think that it can really make people happy to have control over their lives and to carve themselves a life that satisfies their desires.  A deep sense of satisfaction can result.  &hearts;  Waxing philosophical now... lol  I'll leave you with that before I start speaking in tongues.  hahaha!  Later peeps!  Don't forget to check out my new swag.... and feel free to give me some feedback! 

http://www.thehobotrain.etsy.com
http://www.twitter.com/thehobotrain

Just a few thoughts...

Signing in for a quickie!  lol  Today I'm working on some upcycled clothing designs in the workshop.  I hope to have them in production for this year's spring/summer season.  I also want to move my little business to a point where I only use recycled materials... that would be awesome!  Oh yeah, I guess I should give a bit of background here... Reader's Digest version?  Ok, here goes...

In 2006 I moved from Quebec to BC with my sugardaddy (aka. boyfriend).  For the previous 4 years I had been a barmaiden (or bartendress) and needed a break from that scene.  When we got to Vancouver Island I took the first job I could get... in the housekeeping department at Pacific Trails (?) Resort in Parksville.  As it so happened, it was the end of June and the weather was fucking insanely amazing!  I also had a really bad cold.  (Be patient with me... it's all gonna come together...).  My boss was a control freak (but a really nice gal otherwise) and perfectionist, too.  We had also bought tickets for the Vancouver Island Musicfest, which started on a Friday and ran through Sunday.  I had already asked for the Sat and Sun off but I would probably have to work on the Friday and miss half a day of the festival... oh no!  Anyway, all these different events and forces created an alchemic mixing pot the resulting climax of which was me quitting my job (a first!), basking in the sun, feeling much better, and enjoying the entirety of the Festival (more on that another time) at which I bought a large reversible bag to carry my shit in.

The Bag.  It was a nice bag, kind a thin cheap fabric, but I really liked the general shape/size/funkiness/reversability, etc.  My mom even gave me money to buy her a bag at the festival. Mine was brown and yellow.  Hers was turquoise and pink -- perhaps not her first choice for colours, but they didn't have much left by the time I bought hers.  My mom said something like "hey, these would be easy to make".  So, we made up our own version of the bag and the beast was born... Hobo's Designs!

Okay okay, so maybe this wasn't so much the Reader's Digest version, but it was compelling and a real page-turner nonetheless, non?  lol  So I became my own boss and bag lady.  I've managed to eke out a living making bags, but I'm the first to admit that I stink at valuing my time and charging appropriately and quite often end up working for nothing.  People can change.  hahaha!  I'm getting better, partly because of an informed self-respect for the work that I do and partly by the necessity in order to continue working for myself.  My clothing line will really be the test of what I've learned in this department.  I'll keep ya posted...

To get a better idea of what I do, check out my Facebook and Etsy...

http://www.facebook.com/thehobotrain
http://www.thehobotrain.etsy.com
Twitter:  @thehobotrain

I don't have a whole lot of product out there, but that's a gonna change over the next few weeks or so. 

Okay, so not much on raw food today.  I will be dehydrating apples for the first time this week.  I'm still maintaining a majority level of rawness, eating lots of salads.  Last week I made 3 different dehydrated cracker recipes and they are almost all gone!  I won't say too much more about the raw because I want to do a proper blog entry introducing my raw plans.  Coming soon!

All for now... hope you are all having wonderful days!!!

Renee