Gas Prices Put the Crunch on My Cleaning Business~Worried~

Afternoon everyone...I hope that this day finds you enjoying some Sunshine in your life!

The Picture above is my Good Friend Rich's house on Kelley's Island I have been cleaning this house now for 9 years even before Rich bought it. In fact this is the second house cleaning job I had on the Island. Monday night Jason called and ask if I was available to clean it Sunday and I said yea sure... I need the money..
Today I am sitting at my desk looking at my cleaning schedule and finding that I may be forced to make some major changes in both my schedule and my charges per house. My primitive Creations is my hobby turned business and it does very well for istself providing me a nice income for 6 months out of the year with clear signs of doing well year round. It has grown years for about 5 years but it isn't enough to substain my debits year round yet. Which is much of the reason why I still clean houses on the Island the other six month out of the year. Of course the perks of cleaning are my Boating and all my dear Boater and Island Friends.

Why you ask am I sharing all of this... I guess I am sorta thinking out loud and venting my worries.

Funny how one simple thing like the price of gas can change peoples lives in such a dramatic way. We all drive and fill up our gas tanks it is just the American way it is as much a part of our lives as eating dinner every night.
That is until we find that it now cost double to fill up the gas tank.
That one simple change makes the difference in everything in our lives. We may or may not notice it right away and even think we can adjust to the added expense by cutting back someplace else wo it all averages out.
Sadly it doesn't work like that... because the sky rocketing gas prices affect every aspect of our lives.
Let me paint a picture for you that affects just me one day out of my life. I will start by saying that at this particular time money is more then tight this is tax time and slow time for Ebay so money is not really avaiable for me especially the added expense of filling up a 20 gallon gas tank.
Remember I told Jason I would Clean Cozy Corner Sunday.. was tickeled I would make about $50 after gas and food and $50 bucks extra sounded pretty good to me.
then I went to the gas station and gas prices had gone from $3.69 a gallon to $4.30 a gallon.
So to fill up a 20 gallon gas tank it cost me close to $83 dollars.
I make $100 to clean that house and well you do the math... I would have made $17.00 that is of course if i don't eat anything while I am there.
I had to call Jason last night and tell him I simply could not justify driving 200 miles round trip, take the ferry across to make make $17 dollars.. could he find anyone else to clean Sunday. Imust have appologized 2 times for not being able to clean. This is my business and if I can't make my jobs then I will lose them.
Thank God it is Early Season and it was no problem finding someone who would clean for me...That will not be the case during full season...and worst of all I really don't like others cleaning my regulars they just do the job I would do and when I do return its like I have to do double time cleaning the areas they just forget to clean..

when I hung up I sat here wondering how much the gas prices are going to have on our summer rentals and will people be able to come to the Islands. How many will be forced to cancel there vacations because that one simple thing... rising cost of gas will affect there lives and where they must cut corners to make up the added expense.
With soring gas prices, we have soring Food prices to cover the cost of gas to grow them, process them and finally deliver them, then to keep them fresh in the stores.. Every one of those things are affected by the soring gas prices and it will afect every aspect of each and everyones lives...
Boaters will not be able to afford gas for there boats. Fishermen who rent our rentals will not be able to afford gas to go fishing for 7 days they are on the Island & they can't afford the added cost of eating out on the Island because gas prices forced the resurants to raise prices.... so they canel.
Then to top all of that off we have so many people who have lost jobs so those people might canel.
To go even a step further past working on the Island my EBay business suffers because the money customers spent on my Decor now goes in the gas tank and to pay for the added expenes of gas prices soring and forcing prices up on everything in our lives...

Not such a good picture I paint... and it has me really worried what my future holds for my two businesses..

Do I raise my cleaning cost? Is it practical? Will it force my customers to hire someone else? Possibly possibly not but do I take that chance by raising my charges to meet my needs? I don't know but I do know it is somthing I must think hard about and make a decesion soon.

Of course as I sit and ponder the cost of running the cleaning business I to must consider the cost of running the My Primitive Creations Ebay Business.. All of the same things affect that business as well. Raising prices on my gatherings suddenly puts many buyers out of my price range... Yet everything that makes up My creations from buying supplies to create them and ship them has risen x 2, Ebay fees have risen droping my profits to near nothing in just the pat 6 months all affected by added expenses of gas and job losses..

Wow...all that written down is even more scary then when it is just in my head and I really don't know just how to balance it all out without making things worse...Each day I pray that God will give me the right solutions to my situations. He has seen me threw many things I know he will see me threw this as well but in the mean time the bills keep coming. the sxpenes keep adding up and I'm not sure where I will stand form one day to the next.

I know that all of the same things affect each of you somehow too... what do you do when the crunch hits you.. would love to hear..

For now I am going to go outside and enjoy the sunshine and finish my flowerbeds...since the sun is shinning.
I'm going to try not to think about all of this while I soak up the sun and watch my flowerbeds come to life ..
Maybe after clearing my head a while I will see things in a different light.... so until we meet again have a wonderful day...
Hopefully your day is filled with warm Sunshine and happy moments!!

Blessings
Tonya

~PIF From Michelle~Simple Goods Show~Rain~Flood Ditch~Special Order

Oh mom those look so good are they for me?? They smell good Can I play with them?
NO get down right now!!
HUH maybe while mom is in there writing a 20 page blog I can come back and steal one to play with... Shhhhhh don't tell!!


A fine afternooon to all my dear prim friends... I sure hope you are being blessed with Sunshine in your day!!
For the first time in over a week we have actually had the sun peek threw for about an hour now.... but I can see the wind blowing in the rain clouds as I sit here writting this..but let me tell you just how good it felt to see sunshine... As I'm sure you can guess we have been flooding here again... I litterly had to dig mor drain ditches to get my van out yesterday...The water was all the way up to the tire rims.
so out I went with my boots on and my shovel in hand and started digging some drain distches... Then let it drain away from the trailer drive ...backed the van up to the higher ground and let it sit a couple more hours till most of the deep water was drained down to the road... Now I say most of the water because we still have a good 3 to 6" of standing water covering the yard and barnyard.
What a muddy muddy mess everywhere. Much of my mulch is not where it is supposed to be but Thank God my 8" deep ditch around the trailer did its job very well.

This right next to my door step--you can see how high it was from the mulch. My van was parked right next to here yesterday morning. Not only was the ditch full, overflowing but there was a good 8 more inches of water across the drive where the van was sitting.
Look at my Hens & Chics they are loving all this rain there have doubled in size in the last week.

See all the mulch in the grass...gona have to rake that all back into the trench...but that little drain off trench worked perfectly...Look at these Hens and Chics they are all poppedout of the mulch and look real good event he new ones I planted last week from Carmen's garden...

I love this picture the Chicken was in my little drain off getting some wormy Lunch..but she kinda sunk in all the mud...LOL...She tried to get the ones in the water but it is still too deep but you can see the wormy's laying in the end of the ditch...



You can see there is still water laying here where the drain off ends.


And its supposed to rain for the next 5 days with a little Sunshine here and there...Wehn you walk in the yard your feet sink down in the mud.. So boots are still needed..

Now on to the Fun stuff.. You remember the PIF back a while I received my last gift on Friday last week and let me tell ya... I am loving them so much... Talk about fitting right into the decor.

That's my favorite Dish towel and she created me Sunflower Bowl Fillers that just match perfectly!!

Along with with some tiny red Flowers so cute!!

This darling Sunflower Matt that I love.....!!

This adorable Sunflower Ornie that Tasha and Mama think is theres...NOT!

The best part of all is that I absolutely love them all and they match My Prim Kitty so perfectly you would have thought Michelle and Gina worked on these together..so I sat my Bowl of SunFlowers on my Penny matt beside my Kitty Cat....and I hung my Sunflower Ornie around my Kitty's belly......I just love them together... Behind them is a Vase filled with Sunflowers so it all goes perfectly together...!!

Thank you so much Michelle...You have no idea how I truely truely Love everything...just Brightened up my day and my corner...Carmen conned me out of one of my Sunflowers..hehe...She loved her goodies too!

Tasha absolutely loves the sunflowers in the bowl..and they both want to steal my Sunflower ornie...!! Imagine that!!

Saturday I went with Carmen to the Simple Good Show,.....My first real Primitive Show and I was just in awe is all I can say so so many cool things to look at that it was impossible to actually take it all in.

But I erally enjoyed it and was glad Carmen ask me to come along. THANKS CARMEN!!

I got some really great ideas and met some really cool people... One of the crafters I met are going to teach each other some of our tricks which will enhance both our goods... I can't wait to hook up with her and Share ideas.

I'm going to also teach her how to sell on Ebay she has some awesome things.... simple but really cool and I think she will do well selling on there!!

She does sell on Picturetrail. Her name is Amy and you can find her at:

Pine Grove Primitives   www.picturetrail.com/pinegroveprimitives

I haven't been in the Shop until last night for over a week so I am totally ready to make my way out  there tonight and sink my hands into creating...

last night I created a Special order for a customer. she wanted an Americana necessary Room Gathering..

I don't really do alot of Americana so it was fun to put one together for her I think she will be very pleased with it...

I think that's about it for now so until we meet again may your day be filled with Sunshine and happy moments!!

Blessings

Tonya

Easter Greetings from My house to Your House!!

Easter Greetings my Prim Friends!
The lord gave his only begotten son so that our Sins might be forgiven.
Easter Sunday we Celebrate that Christ has Risen as Our Lords promise of ever lasting Life in Heaven.

As we pass threw this day going to Church, preparing our feast, spending time with our families, sharing a meal, hunting Easter eggs with our kids and grand kids, visiting, sharing memories of days gone by and storing away new memories...... take a moment to give an added special Thanks to our Lord God for giving us such a wonderful promise of Ever lasting life with him in Heaven.

We are Blessed For there is no Greater gift!! 

May your day be filled with Love, Peace and Happiness.

Easter Blessings are sent from my house to your house!!

Tonya

Condo Cleaning Today~boring compared to My 1800's House!

http://www.ilovelakeerie.com/index.php?option=com_ezrealty&Itemid=26&task=detail&id=69

Good Evening one and all.... I hope you had a great Wednesday!!
I'm afriad you will be disappointed ....my adventures today weren't real exciting.. the money was good but when the house you're cleaning is just a condo there is something less motovating if that makes any sense.

I clean 5 Condo's total on the island...Luckily they're all different.. I would go nuts cleaning the same design over and over..hehe..One of them belongs to a personal owner and is not a rental so I can't share there home with you...
Today I cleaned the one above in the Picture 9A.. and I also cleaned the personally owned condo...

I am feelin the after affects of sitting on my bum creating gatherings for My Primitive Creations after cleaning three hosues so far...Yep this chic is out of shape...
Someone said I must be really strong to be able to clean all those houses...
Well in April I am like a noodle and feel as if I am gona fall over workin like that but by July I have built all my muscles back up and gotten rid of 10 pounds and feel pretty healthy...
Beleive it or not that's 1/2 the reason I still do this.. I'm over the hill and it is hard to stay in shape especially sitting in a shop creating primitive gatherings 6 months out of the year full time day and night...I love a good challange and I have said for 3 years I'm not going back then I gain 10-15 pounds and start feeling like a blob and a weakling ..then the calls start coming in asking if I'm coming back we need to schedule and I say yep I need to get this body back in shape...and I end up cleaning houses again...
Not to mention the money is better then great.. I am lucky/blessed.... I'm good at what I do and I'm fast by the time season really kicks in and all the rentals are filled weekly. Anyone who knows me knows I'm the only one who can turn my houses over fast so they are willing to pay for it... Thank God for giving me the strength to keep up..how many more years I don't know....... but I figure at least until my house up here sells Once my house sells I won't have all the bills that come with owning a house and I can live in my Trailer at my brothers, create full time...and be a happy content Old lady...hehe!!

Tomorrow I'm cleaning another 1800's restored house... One of my favs to clean...so I will be pumped and ready to go in the morning...but for now it is time to put this tired lady to bed...my fur babies are already crashed one on each side of me.. they are so darned cute...

Good night my dear friends..may your day be filled with bright sunshine and happy moments!!

Blessings
Tonya 


 

Early 1800's House Restored was my first Spring Cleaning today

Wow...I kinda thought that my adventures to Kelley's Island to work and Play would be kinda boring and certainly off the beaten path of My Primitive Creations and all that we share in our lives. I was so tickled when I got back to my little home away from home to find tha all of you found my adventures to be fun and exciting... Many of you asking for up dates on my life on my little Island.

For those of you who may not have been a follower or seem my post some time ago about my adventurous life let me give you all a little refesher.
As you all know I own My Primitive Creations by Tonya. I create and sell my cretions year round.
I also own a cleaning business on Kelley's Island. How did i get started cleaning houses on my little Island you ask...Well after Carmen was raised on out on her own and all my foster kids were gone I decided I had spent 25 years taking care of over 121kids it was time to take care of me.

You know do the things I loved doing. So I moved into the little house I bought in Port Clinton Ohio which is right on the shores of Lake Erie.  One thing I loved was being out on the water running my boat with the wind in my face and the sun on my back... I also loved going to kelley's Island with all my boater friends, going dancing, hanging out on the docks visiting with people meeting new boaters.
I had retired foster care and if i wanted to run my boat and go to the Island I needed a job that would pay ofr it all.
Thus I started my old cleaning business back up only it was on Kelley's Island Only. At first it was jsut a couple of houses enough to pay for my weekends on the Island..but within 2 years I had over 23 houses I was cleaning. some weekly some bi-weekly. So there was no time to go home which suited me just fine I loved staying on my boat, I loved the Island and for the first time in my life I was at peace with myself..

Basically I am on the Island living either in my Camper or on my boat 5 days a week after the 1st holiday weekend. I clean houses from April till November. Which if you think about it ...it's perfect timing with the best selling season of My Primitive Creations.

Someone ask me where I keep my camper. I'm a true bartering person... if you do for me I will do for you so I traded cleaning for a place to park my camper with an older gentleman. My camper is parked in his yard year round..we are going to move it this spring and put it in the wooded area behind his garage which I am really excited about because there are deer that come right up to the camper and wild bunny's running around everywhere back there.
Someone else ask me to share pictures of my camper...when I do you all will get a real hoot out of it. It is an old 1987 Chevy Camper Van..Uglier then sin on the outside but the inside was in great shape. Its small on the inside but it has everything a Kitchen with fridge, a queen sz sofa bed, front seats turn to create a chair, and a bathroom. It also has a top bunk bed that i turned into the area for my Kitty's. they have two cat beds, litter box, food bowls & toys up there. Lucky Blue my Blue jay has her big cage up there as well.

Normally I only stay in the camper when the boat is not in the water when I am here but last year I stayed in the camper all summer because my boat needed repaired. My hope is the repairs will be done soon and the boat will be in the water by the first Holiday weekend.
So there you have my story and I'm stickin to it!!

Today I did my first Spring Cleaning. This house was built in the Early 1800's. built from wood on the island. it had gotten totally run down & finally someone decided it was worth restoring. It is beautiful ..they kept as much of the old as they could ..sadly much of it was to far gone to restore.

Here is the link to the house if you would like to see the inside of it.

http://www.kelleysislandchamber.com/members/sandybeachhouse.htm

Check it out it is worth the peek...

If you would like to check out my island here is the link to Kelley's Island Ohio

http://www.kelleysisland.com/

Thanks for visiting and sharing your excitement in my adventures... I will keep you posted and share more about my little Island as the summer gets going....Until then may you all enjoy my tales of adventure...

Have a wonderful week!!

Easter Blessing to one and all

Hugs

Tonya

Safe trip North & Safely tucked in My Camper for the night!!

A big hello to all y Prim friends from Kelley's Island Ohio...
I had to get up way to early this morning to make my trip North but it all went smoothly. I was really glad I had packed everything Sunday but my food and critters...
I planned my start with with my yearly visit to the Women's doctor's visit. So our first stop was my house to drop off the critters so they could eat and romp around while I visited the Dr's office...After my appointment I headed back to the house... the ferry still only runs 4 times a day so I had to catch the last ferry at 6:00.
I had a little time at the house so I cleaned all the fallen tree limbs up and put them in the burn barrel out back...
Then I loaded up all the critters again and we were off to the Ferry... got there a few minutes early so visited with the Ticket lady..shes a friend so we had a nice visit..she was glad to see I was back and all the critters were with me...
The ferry ride was rough today ..really windy and still cold up here...
I wasn't sure what condition my camper was going to b in or if any little critters had invaded it over winter...but much to my surprise ......I had left it super clean and very little exidence that any critters had made there way in so it didn't take me long to unload the van, put everything away, set up the critter food and water bowls & the litter box for the Kitty's...and we were moved in and ready to settle in for the week...
I have to tell ya it felt really good to know I didn't really have to do anything tonight but sit ack and relax.. and that is exactly what I have done...
It's a little chilly in the camper so my Kittys have cuddled up close to me which keeps me warm too.. Puddles is at my feet and Lucky Blue is asleep on her perch....I've been reading blogs and editing pictures so I can list Tomorrow morning or tomorrow night..we'll see how it goes...

Of course I start cleaning my first house tomorrow... It is a nice change to get out of the shop and come up here so I'm actually excited to get into cleaning...

The picture of the boats is at my dock. My boat is the first one with the Blue camper top... It doesn't normally look lke that anymore as my Kitty's now come with me so it always has the camper walls up as well and looks like the blue blob...LOL...compared to all the boats with no tops at all on them...
This is what she looks like with the complete camper top up..

  
Not to worry I will still be here all summer just in a new location 4 to 5 days a week... always have my computer with me...

i hope you had a wonderful Monday..mine was good!! Now it's time to call it a day...

Warm Blessings are sent your way!!

Tonya

Tomorrow is Big Change to Summer Life schedule Day & Newest Sneak PeeK~

Wow what a day... I'm exhausted just from getting everything packed up and ready to go in the morning. The killer is going to be going to bed early and getting up early and on the road by 9:30-10:00. Everything is packed in the van but my food. 2-Sweepers, 1 wood Floor steamer, 1-rug scrubber, cleaning supplies, paper towels, rags, clothes, Kitty and doggie supplies and toys, DVD player and DVD's, Craft supplies to keep my evenings relaxing, the Lap Top computer so I can still talk to all of you and keep up with my Ebay, the new Camera, a heater, Dinning Canopy and a cooler ready to fill in the morning....I think I remembered everything I hope...lol... knowing me I forgot something important...

Here is a link to all the rentals I clean on the Island if you want to see some nice homes check it out. My favorite is Above the Rest built into the side of the hill. Who knows you may decide to vacation on my island sometime!!

http://www.kelleysislandrentals.org/

I finally got the mulch on my flowerbeds this morning and even planted some Corn Flower seeds... the Flower beds look real nice and I forgot to take a picture...

I'm pretty happy with the new Camera... Personally I don't think it takes as good of pictures as the Kodak but then again I may not have it all set up correctly ..so time will tell... its kinda funny you would think you would just buy a new camera and take pictures but now days with all this digital stuff settings on a camera are sometimes so complicated...not to mention it is a bit hard for me to read all those itty bitty letters and symbols on the screen... I may have to take it over to Carmen's and let her set it up for me she can see things I can't..I get so frustrated when my dry eyes are really messed up and I can't see worth a darn..

I did make it out to the shop last night to retake some pictures with the new Camera and finished up two more gatherings... so will have some to list while I am off on the Island Cleaning this week... Maybe when everyone gets there taxes done and refunds start coming in business will pick up again... I'm counting on it ...

I guess that I best share the new gathering with you and get myself to bed...Early morning is going to come before I know it and I'm no good waking up in early morning only good when working into the wee hours of the morning... LOL...hardest part of that summer schedule is its one of those Early to rise jobs and I'm a night person...

So without further ado here are the newest Creations... Enjoy!!
                      ~Prim Rack~Basket~Bonnet~Dress~Gathering~

~Prim Rolling Pin Bowl~Pantry Gathering~

~Prim Apothecary Jar~Vintage Tin Pantry Gathering~

~Prim Rooster Pantry Gathering~

~Prim~Apothecary Spice Jar~Herb~Pantry Gathering~

 
Have a wonderful Monday!!

Blessings
Tonya

The Worst thing that could happen to an Internet Seller happened to me Thursday Night!

Hello to all my dear Prim Friends... I hope that you are enjoying your weekend and if your lucky it is nice and sunny where you are...It sure isn't sunny here in good Old Ohio...gurrrrrrrrrr
Once again we are haiving windy rainy storms. Knocked out the Electric last night and has been miserable all day...so much for putting mulch on the flowerbeds today... I was so tickled I was out in the back field gathering up rocks to out around my Shop Herb garden and I found 4 bags of mulch stacked behind the barn. The bags were torn and sun rotted but the mulch was find so I scooped it up into my wagon and toted it up to the shop with plans to spread it today... Not happening, at least not today...

This is the weekend before I change to Summer mode of thinking so I have been packing everything that needs to go to the Island with me come Monday morning. I went to the grocery store, picked up all my needed supplies for next week...
The boat of course is not in the water yet so I will be staying in my camper until they get the boat repairs finished and get the boat in the water.. probably around the middle to end of May before the Holiday weekend...
Thank god I have a camper on the island it is to darned cold to stay on the boat yet... I told the fur babies we would be going to the island next week but I think they weren't paying attention to a word I said so it will be a big surprise and transition for them as well... It means mom cleaned there carriers because they will have to go in the carrier for the long drive North on Monday morning...It means there play area will shrink to camper size but they will adjust pretty quickly to the weekly traveling back and forth in no time...
Its a big job packing all the things I will need for the season but I've almost got it done....which means I will have time to work a little in the shop tonight and hopefully finish up a few gatherings to list while I am out of town...

Speaking of listing my items on Ebay.... there's a couple of really horrible things that can put a damper on a persons Selling on the internet but I think there is one that is especially the worst of the worst and will shut you down in a heartbeat till the problem is resolved. Can you guess what it is??

Well it is when you have just finished 5 gatherings and you're ready to take all the pictures and your Camera dies on you... I don't mean dead batteries I mean dies~stops working.  I got the camera out, pushed the power button and it came on and then it froze. It wouldn't power on or off, the lens wouldn't move in and out....basically it just stopped working ... Battery has a full charge but nothing, no on or off..dead..

So all the new gatherings I finished up have just sat there wiating on me to figure out what to do...being that I am on the broke side, needing to pay bills, pay taxes and buy my supplies for my Cleaning job I was stuck with no Camera so no new listings.....I tried to use my Cell phone Camera but it takes lousy Pictures so that didn't work.

Then I remembered all the bags filled with pop cans sitting outside waiting for me to take them in so I emptied out the van, put down plastic and loaded all those bags in the van, taking them to the recycle place... To my surprise #1 I had lots of cans, #2 the price for alum is up, so I made $40 off my cans. Then one of my clients I clean for down here called and said they needed there house cleaned so off I went to clean.
I had created some things for her and she paid me $20 for them so I had $60 for a camera. The cleaning money is bill money....

So while I was out buying all my supplies for a week on the Island I went Camera shopping..

Yeehaa I hit the jackpot I found a $150.00 camera on sale for $80...which was way cheaper then anything else I looked at...... It's a Samsung SL600. It is charging  as I sit here and should be charged by the time I finish up and I can go out and take pictures of the gatherings I finished up Thursday night...and hopefully the ones I get finished tonight. the best part is I only had to use $20 some dollars of my bill money to get a decent camera...


Meet my packing Helpers Skyler the oldest and Serinity the baby in the box!!
I took these pictures with my Cell Phone so you can see why that won't work for My Beautiful Gatherings

I don't know if you can see what Skyler is writing or not but she is Putting Fragile Glass on all the packages for me... she thinks she is so cool helping and especially writting her letters...

Thanks for stopping by... Have a great weekend!!

Blessings from my house to yours
Tonya

This weeks Sneak Peek~Take a Look & Questions About Selling Blogs

~Prim Laundry Room Gathering~

Welcome to my Sneak peek for this week... I'm trying to get as many gathering done or ready to do before my cleaning season starts next week...plus I've made soap, and candles trying to get my supply built up and of course finish up taxes... Seems everything starts or ends this week end. So I've been really busy the past 10 days... I do see light at the end of the tunnel Thank Goodness...

So without further delay let me present all the new Goodies I finished so far this week.
~Prim Rake Gathering~

~Prim Shelf Antique Oil Lamp Gathering~

~Prim Soap & Towel Necessary Room Gathering~

~Prim Spoon/Utensil Keep~

~Prim Tray~Antique Pitcher~Necessary Room Gathering~ 

~Prim Tray~Pitcher~Necessary Room Gathering~ 

~Tin Punch Candle Sconce Lamp~

~Prim necessary Room Shelf Gathering~

~Prim Shelf~Canister~Crow~Kitchen Gathering~

And there you have it all my handy work for the week!! Enjoy the eye Candy...and if you feel the urge to come shop My Primitive Creations by Tonya come on over were open 24 hours a day!!

Now for my questions...
What is the difference in a regular Blog and a selling Blog?
How many of you have a selling Blog out there?
How well do you do selling from the selling Blog?
Do selling Blogs show up in search as a selling Blog?

Thinking of doing a selling Blog if it worth the while..got so many irons in the pot now not sure I have time for one more things but maybe if its worth it then I will give it a shot...

Time to finish up my taxes..and then its out to the shop...

Have a wonderful day!!

Blessings
Tonya

A Surprise from Angie @ Just a Little Raggedy~Love it!!

Saturday the post lady surprised me with another package.. This month has been like Christmas and my birthday all rolled up in one in April... I get so excited!! Angie created me the cutest runner and I just love it.
As you can see it fit perfectly on my office window ledge so I get to see it every day.
Miss Tasha Loves it too!!

She made the most adorable little Ragady Doll head Bowl Filler ..oops Tasha and mama thought you sent that along just for them. They snatched it up immediately upon my sitting it on my desk. I had to stick pin it to the desk and I'm sure that won't last to long as anything 3" round and under they consider there's for the stealing...So they said to tell you Thanks for the new toy...Wink!!

Angie also included a little monthly planner that I very much needed to keep track of my cleaning days and a cute package of note paper .

there was teh sweetest card .. I loved the picture on the front.. angie loves close by and she included her # along with an invite to come create with her any time... I just might have to do that.

If you haven't met Angie stop on over and say HI....You can find her at  Just A Lil Raggedy...

Thank you for the bottom of my heart Angie >> I love the runner and so do the Fur babies... it fits perfectly!!

Hugs

Tonya

I love getting my hands in the dirt~Check it out!!

Happy Sunny Sunday all my prim friends... i do hope that you all are enjoying the sunshine wherever you may be...I think I've mentioned this before but if you missed it heres a reminder...
 "SUNSHINE CHANGES MY WHOLE PERSONALITY"
We have had two days of sunshine here in good old Ohio... don't worry it will end to night with showers but at least it is waiting till tonight...
I have been waiting patiently to be able to sink my hands in the dirt in my flower beds and I finally got to yesterday and then finished up this morning...some places were still a little wet which made moving sod a little difficult when I dug up chunks that were big... But decided this was good since I will be cleaning houses soon and having to lift that big old sweeper all the time....
If you all remember I told you that it flooded under my trailer so I gave it much thought while I"ve been waiting for everything to dry out....

I decided the best thing to do was to put trenches around all the flower beds so the water running off the trailer would run down into a rock filled trench into the large trenches around the flower beds and away from the trailer. Also any water coming toward the trailer would run into the trenchs and away from the trailer...
See the rocks... I made a trench and filled it with all of the rocks that I found while digging the trenchs so it is probably 8" of rock. teh trailer has a down spout that runs water off the roof just above that rock drain.

See the bare dirt and then the nice grass. Well with all the flooding it make a total mud mess from where I had dug trenches to drain the water away from the trailer. I took the grass I dug up around the flowerbeds to make the trenches I dug yesterday and filled in the area as much as I could with the good grass I dug up. That rain coming will give it a nice drink tonight and it should take root within a few days because it was still pretty wet in tht area...I'm going to plant grass seed in the dirt area later today and getit covered with some starw so it can get a nice start after the rain..

See the little trench coming off the center of the front bed that is where all the water draining into the trenches around the trailer will over flow and drain it away from the under the trailer..
Do you see my two pine trees? Aren't they just beautiful?  Hehe they are my thrift store special two for $6.00 at the 75% off Christmas sale in Feb. I figured I can't have a real tree but what the heck I can have a fake one... Still need to get the lights off them...They spice up the look real nice and move easily so I can get undert he trailer...
If you look real close you dan see my outside Kitty sitting under the tounge of the trailer ..She was my helper all day long...

This is the back side of the trailer and the trench extends all the way back and goes around the back. Not totally done yet... working on that later today...

See the rocks on the corner another rock trench to drain water into the main trench...

All I have to do now is palnt my flower seeds and cover everything with mulch this week.

And watch it all grow!!

Here's a picture of my Chicken buddies Mr Rooster is over in the field so he didn't get to show off for ya...

It's been a good day today a very good Day and this lady is very happy with the results of her labors...

Break is over and they are yellin to come to dinner so I'm out of here for now...

Have a Great Sunday!!

Hugs

Tonya

Tea Staining your Fabric~~ Simple and Easy Method

I've gotten many questions about how I stain my Fabric for all my gatherings. So thought I would give you my quick and easy cost affective way of staining.

Buy cheap tea bags put 10 at a time in your drip coffee pot no filter

The Slow drip from the Coffee maker gets more of the color out of your tea bags.

 

Place your fabric in a tote: Use size Tote that will let items lay within 4 inches of the bottom...once the tea has soaked into the Fabric. Do not pack fabric down or over fill your tote your stain will not be very dark.

Don't push Fabric down till after you have covered them with tea. let them be fluffy like so when you pour tea over them it drains down threw the fabric.

Pour first pot of tea over fabric evenly as you can

 

Spread the first tea bags out in bottom of drip bowl so they are flat

Now add 10 more Tea bags over the ones already in the drip bowl. 

 

Brew another pot

Again Pour over fabric evenly as you can

Fill a 2 quart Glass Bowl 3 quarters full of hot water set aside.

Take the first 10 Tea bags out of the drip bowl 

Place them in the bowl of hot water so you get every last drop of color out of them set aside

 

Repeat spreading the second 10 bags flat on bottom of drip bowl and add 10 more new bags

Brew another Pot of Tea.

 

Repeat this as many pots as you need till you have covered your fabric.

Pour the bowl of tea that has been steeping from all the old bags over your fabric.

Now if need bee you can push the fabric down so it is all covered nicely. you may even want to take the bottom fabric and pull it to the top.

Then let the tote sit over night.

 

The next day pour your tea off the fabric and let it drain.

I usually put it all in the sink and let it drain.

I do not wring my fabric out I think that takes away from the deep and darker stain for some reason.

 

I hang my fabric on the line to dry or you can hang it on a rack dryer

When I use the rack dryer I put an old towel or an old sheet that I can use for hand towels in the bottom of the tub.

I sit the rack dryer on the towel or sheet and then hang my fabric on it letting it drip onto the old towel or sheet.

When they are nearly dry you can throw them in the dryer to set the stain.

 

 You can also use this same method with Wood Spoons. No need to save old bags for woodware.

Generally it only take two pots no added water from used bags to do a baking pan full of wooden ware items. 

I lay my wood item in a dish drainer to drain and dry it usually takes 24 hours for them to dry threw.

 

I hope this was helpful for everyone...

Have a great evening...

 

Blessings

Tonya

Tonya's Sneak Peek at all the New Gatherings

Hi again...seems I just can't stop posting Goodies for all to see..
I didn't realize it really when I was creating this week but I created a lot of Big Gatherings. Mostly Stoneware Gatherings.. I love all of them and can't really pick a fav...Guess I'll leave that up to all you..

Before I post all the new gatherings. If you missed my post about My New page in my blog I wanted to mention it once again. Many of my customers send me pictures of there gatherings displayed in there homes.
I thought it would be a fun way to say Thank you and let everyone know how honored I am to have my gatherings in there homes. Also to share with others how people display there gatherings once they receive them. I do a lot of special orders for customers that no one sees so it will be nice to share those as well.

If any of you have purchased from me over the years please send me pictures to display in my Special Past Creations Page.

If anyone would like a Special Creation created for them feel free to contact me anytime...

~Now on with the show~
~Americana Keeping Rack Gathering~


~Prim Stomeware Crock Cansisters & Spice Jar Gathering~


~Prim Stoneware Crock Canister Pantry Crow Gathering~


~Prim Stoneware Pantry Gathering~


~Prim Stoneware Lemon Aid Tray Gathering~

~Prim Necessary Room Gathering~

~Prim Abraham Lincoln Picture~Candle Lamp Book Gathering~

Enjoy the Eye Candy... have a great Evening.. I'm off to create more goodies... The shop is calling!!

Blessings

Tonya