Photographer Shoutout - Shady Lane Studios

I say it all the time; "one of my favorite parts of what I do is seeing my hats in professional photos"! It's probably because whenever I try to do my own pictures for my shop, I fail miserably! It just makes it all the sweeter when these photographers make my creations look Soooo much better!

This weeks' shout-out goes to Shady Lane Studios. Located in Idaho, Lauren "Lala" Harms captures some of the sweetest poses. Her attention to detail and high level of quality are a testament of how much she loves her job! Her photos are scrumptious!

I call this one "bum-alicious"!

Stop by her Facebook page and show her some love!

No More Hide n Seek

I currently have four places that people can find Stella B Designs... Etsy, Facebook, Blogger and then **Big Cartel. Big Cartel is a new venue that I'm trying out that seems to be a bit easier and more streamlined - not to mention a bit easier on my pocket book on a monthly basis.

All of that being said... in an effort to make things easier on you, your friends, family, America, Haiti... basically, anyone... to find me, I purchased a domain name! Now, instead of trying to remember "stellabs.etsy" or "stellabdesigns.bigcartel" or facebook/whatever, you can now type "www.stellabdesigns.com" directly into a search engine or url bar and get to my products! For now it's linked to Big Cartel so I can hopefully get a little more traffic there.

I welcome any feedback on your preference of venues!

**DISCOUNT CODE FOR BIG CARTEL: Enter "PROMO10" during checkout for 10% off your total purchase. Please let me know how you like the new venue!

New Listings

**Warning**

The listings you are about to see may be dangerous to your birth control resolve!
If you are not or do not want to be pregnant, you may not want to look at these... consider yourself warned!!! I will not be held responsible for any babies or pregnancies resulting from the viewing of these photos!!

Brace yourself!

Lookit this lil tadpole...

I KNOW! I told you! I can hear the collective 'awwww's'.

And then there's this lil critter!

So precious that I can hardly stand it!

Special thanks for these ovary-twitching pictures go out to Photography by Danielle Anderson! I am loving her work!!

(Clicking HERE will not get you pregnant, but it will take you to the listings!)

Sweet & Sassy... Hardcore & Punk?

Sweet & Sassy... that's how we roll!

It may be a lil corny, but that's pretty much my motto! We love sweet but we also dig the sassy! I was just saying yesterday that I LOVE custom orders and requests for new-to-me designs!
These "Punk/Dragon" beanies are definitely right up my alley when it comes to the "sassy" part of my tastes. However, I think they're a bit more "hardcore & punk" than "sweet & sassy"! I'm sure they look a bit more punk on their new boy owners but Emma LOVED it and didn't want to take it off for hours! Looks like I may have to make a Miss Punk Dragon one for the ladies!

The NEW Punk Dragon Earflap Beanies COMING SOON!
(Shortly after the shop is re-opened)
Stay tuned!!!

Getting to Know Stella B

First blog entry of 2011!! I had a wonderful Christmas and New Year season! As I get older, the more and more I absolutely love this time of year for the *giving* aspect of Christmas! My Hubs was so frustrated that I couldn't come up with a good wish list for him to look over! I was simply *MORE* excited to get their gifts and looking forward to seeing all of them on Christmas morning! It was so worth it!

Shortly after Christmas and right before New Year's Day, I went in for surgery to have my gallbladder removed. It was to be done laproscopically and I was sooo sure that I was going to be up and around in a day or two. (I'm laughing at myself as I type that). I was not anticipating the recovery to be more difficult that my experiences of childbirth recovery! Each day I'm feeling a little less pain, but am still feeling just enough discomfort to keep me on the pain meds every 6 hours or so.

I have been able to do a couple of small crochet projects, but they've been tiring, so I don't feel quite ready to open up the shop to new orders just yet. I am anxious to get on with it! I've discovered that I like doing my crochet projects more than I thought I did! I miss creating something from a little ball of yarn!

So, since I have a lot of new followers and I've been so absent AND because I often suffer from Bloggers Block, I'm going to start out with a a few Question/Answers about me! I would love to see your question/answer blog posts so feel free to leave your links in the comment sections!

WHO ARE YOU?
*Brooke

WHAT IS YOUR SHOP NAME:
*Stella B Designs

WHO IS STELLA B?
It's me! My first name is Stella, but my parents always called me Brooke, although my sister always calls me Stella B!

WHAT TYPE OF ITEMS TO YOU CREATE?
*My main focus is on crochet beanies for all ages. I try and create items that are uniquely mine, but it's getting harder and harder to come up with completely original items. I love getting custom orders and have also created scarfs, mittens, headbands and even a frog!

WHERE CAN PEOPLE FIND STELLA B DESIGNS?
*Although I work from home, I do not have a "storefront" venue. It it a completely virtual-run shop. My main shop is through Etsy. My profile name on there is "stellabs". I also have a business page on Facebook! (Just click on the bolded links). Email: stellabdesigns@yahoo.com
WHAT'S YOUR DAY JOB?
*My main source of income is watching kids in my home. Stella B Designs came into play a few years later and it is something that I really enjoy doing, but I'm still a Mommy & Wife first and Daycare Provider second. I might like to make Stella B Designs second, but have not come up with a plan to switch things around yet.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PART OF YOUR ONLINE BUSINESS?
*Making people happy! I love, love, love knowing that I've created something that people get so much enjoyment out of! I also LOVE seeing my creations used as professional photography props!!! Another thing I really love is taking someone's vision and turning it into a reality - in the form of clothing accessories! lol

WHAT IS YOUR *LEAST* FAVORITE PART OF YOUR ONLINE BUSINESS?
*Um, my current peeve is the ups and downs of the postal system. I normally don't have too many problems, but this season I had a group of trouble packages that drove me crazy! I also have a hard time when the life gets so busy that I can't get my items completed as fast as I want! I would have to say my very least favorite is getting crappy feedback from very non-communicative customers! haha

WHAT ARE YOUR BUSINESS GOALS FOR 2011?
*I hope to continue with my strong success while creating some new items and getting more use from the fabulous photographers I have lined up!