Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Waving goodbye to chilly February and Hello to windy March!

Snowflake: Did this month fly by or what! I hope you have been using one of the weekly planners from our member Jeanpatchbymk to keep up with this fast moving year of 2012!

Being organized is the key to success in any busy homemakers life. Not to mention in any busy crafters and artists life too. Let's check in with our roaming reporter and see who is in the spotlight this week.

Sunshine: Wow! Where did February go is right! Things are really moving fast and with excitment in the co-op this year. Each week we have a new featured members shop to share with you. And, this week we are happy to introduce one of our talented artists.

Let's give a warm farm girl welcome to: Essence of the South! Woohoo!!!!

Here is an interview I conducted with Becky. I hope you will stop by the craft show this week and buy some of her goodies and see what else we have to offer from other Etsy team members.


1. How did you come to open your Etsy shop?


My friend April told me all about her store. Then one of my sons opened his store and then I wanted to open one for myself. My work has been slowing down and my husband is disabled and needed to do something for income. And now the rest is history!
In fact I have recently opened a second store to feature my raw, organic honey products. I am a honeybee keeper, and have been for several years. My other store is Hillsidebees.

2. What do you enjoy best about your work?


I love to paint and be creative. I love creation. It has a calming effect on me and I want to put my love into the things that I create. I am enjoying it more and more!
I want to get better and better. I know that will take time.

3. Where can folks find you online?

My shop is essenceofthesouth.etsy.com, hillsidebees.etsy.com.

4. Can you share a DIY craft project with our members?
Crochet Pot holders project! Level of experience:Beginners and up....

A craft project I can think of is when I crochet. A fun project is to make my own cotton pot holders using cotton yarn and do single and double crochet in a square pattern the size that I want. Then make another one the same size and put together so that it is thick. Using multi-colored yarn makes it look great and gives it depth.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Art Is In The Air........Or is that something burning on the stove again.......!!!

Snowflake: We are celebrating a week of Artists and their artwork with our Sunshine Farm Girl Etsy team. Let's check in with our roaming reporter and see who is in the Spotlight.

Sunshine: Woohoo! We are so glad everyone could join us for another round of great farm girl products this week. We are featuring one of our younger artists this week. Let's welcome Kayla from Reflections of Kayla! Congrats!

I enjoying seeing the members of our team taking advantage of the free advertising I offer on my blog and website each week with the simple task of buying from fellow team members in our weekly online craft show, better know on Etsy as BNS or Buy and Stay.

You can show your support to Kayla by picking up one of her many beautiful pieces of artwork in her shop this week in our Reflections of Kayla Etsy Treasury. I asked Kayla a few questions about herself and her art that I thought our members might like to know.

1. How long have your been doing your artwork?

I started drawing when I was 5 years old and it just kept growing from there. My Mom made sure I had plenty of training and supplies on hand to develop my skills as an artist.


2. What gives you your motivation?

Probably, like most artists it comes from the things that I see and that are of interest to me. Drawing for me is motivated by my moods. When the day is slow and quiet that is when I curl up on my bed and look for things to draw. It can come from books or from magazines and sometimes pictures I've seen on the web.

3. Where can our members find you online?

Right here on the Sunshine Farm Girl Co-op! Click on the Sunshine market tab on the home page and that will take you to see my shop. I hope you will visit me this week and if you do let me know you read about me here and I'll give you a special gift with your purchase.

Thank you for sharing part of your life with us Kayla.

We Need Your Support:Don't forget friends that our membership kit gives you specials each month from our vendors. You'll find the information on how to purchase yours under the 'Join' section on the home page.
Supporting the co-op makes it possible for us to continue to bring you great deals and fun happenings each month.


Snowflake: There you have it folks, just head on over to our website by clicking the link to the top right of our blog page. Thanks Kayla for offering our members a special gift with each purchase this week! That is a great reminder about the membership kits too Sunshine.
Remember, to check the calender of events page each week for the link to the craft show!
Tune in next week to find out who will be our next spotlight member.

Same co-op time! Same co-op blog! 

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Co-op News Week of February 13th!

Snowflake: Brrrr!!!! Is all I can say for here in the North country with temps dropping below zero!!! I hear they are having a heat wave where Sunshine lives with temps last night in the 30's!!!
Are you ready for what we have in store for you this week? Let's check-in with our roaming reporter Sunshine and see what's up her sleeve!


Sunshine: Brrr! is right for us sunny Floridians, these past few days have been like taking us out of the sauna and putting us in the freezer! Yikes! In the meantime, let me share with you the exciting news for this week at the co-op. As you know each week I feature a different artist's shop in a treasury on Etsy. This week we are happy to feature our very own Snowflake!!! Yay!!!
Let's start off with an interview I conducted with Joanna of Country Cents aka Snowflake!



1: How long have you been working from home?
I have always done some work from home. . . for as long as I can remember. After injuring my back, I started working full time from home in September of 2003.
2: Where do you get your motivation from?
It is a deep passion that is the true driving force of my personal motivation. The love of creating and designing  having a project come together and seeing the finished results continuously adds to the motivation factor.

3: What one tip would you give other work from home women to be successful?
The best tip for anyone who wishes to work from home is “never stop learning”. No matter what your business is, there are always new techniques, tools and so forth. Make it a habit to learn a new technique as often as possible. You may think you will never need it, however, knowledge is such a valuable tool and should not be under-estimated. There have been many times a technique I learned years ago, has come in handy on a current project. There are books and DVD’s available to study, work shops, online courses, live
demonstrations and more. Just never stop learning.
4: Where can folks find your shop online?
That’s easy: http://www.sunshinefarmgirlcoop.com/CountryCents.html

Visit our Spotlight treasury this week and shop with Country Cents and more of our great shops. Look on the Calendar of Events page at the top of this page!


Snowflake: This is such a great honor to be in the Spotlight this week! Thanks so much!
I know you have more great news to share with us Sunshine.

Sunshine:  Yes indeed, I do! We now have the fun new addition to the co-op called: 'Sunshine Inspired!'
Check out all the wonderful and encouraging information on this new page of the co-op! Fun free downloads and so much more. Click on the button that says: Our Daily Inspiration on the right side of the page for your daily inspiration and to submit questions you'd like answered from the Bible!

Snowflake: I sure hope the rest of our members are as excited as I am about this new feature and all the wonderful events you schedule for us each week.

Sunshine: We'd love to hear from our members. Just post a comment here and tell us what you like best about the co-op and our blog!

Snowflake: That is a great idea Sunshine. And, don't forget you can invite your friends to join you here too!

Check in next week. Same co-op time! Same co-op blog!

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Fun Happenings!

Snowflake: I'm here today with our roaming reporter, Sunshine and she has the latest fun happenings at the co-op this week. Get yourself settled in your comfortable chair and read all about it!

Sunshine: These are definitely fun happenings for our co-op members this week Snowflake! I've interviewed one of our members: Laura from Bible Games! Here's is what she had to say:

1. What motivated you to make 'Bible Games'?

Motivation: Our family has always loved playing games. There were times when my son would be bored or resist doing certain things (like chores or homework) and then we would make it into a game of some sort and he would suddenly enthusiastically participate. So, I started making little board games for our family to play, and one of the areas I concentrated on was making Bible games. These became a way to review things we had learned in our study of the Bible, and make it fun and interesting for our son. Other families saw the games I was making and wanted them for their families. At first I was making board games, but the cost of making these was high, and I wanted to make games that everyone would be able to afford. We have always lived on a tight budget and I knew there were so many games that I would love to have, but could never afford.....so I came up with the idea of making PRINTABLE games that would allow me to keep everything between $5 and $10, often just the cost of a quick coffee break for the family. And with having printable games, you would never have to worry about losing cards or pieces....you could just print more off! My desire is for the games to help families have fun reviewing and learning about the Bible and to draw them closer together. It will provide them all with many good memories to look back on in the future.

2. What is your favorite game in your shop?

My favorite game in the shop is Pioneer Spirit. I guess because it was my first printable game. I had wanted to come up with something that my son could play over the phone with his friends who live far away. I love it because it is so versatile and you can take it anywhere, we love to play it while we travel. Although I must admit, we have several new games currently being designed and I think one of the new releases will be my new favorite. I don't want to spill the beans.....so stay tuned!

3. Where can folks find you online?

You can find us online at FunBibleGames.com and at our etsy shop Biblegames
As well we will have authorized agents who are retailing our games coming later in the year. These will be listed clearly on our website.

Sunshine: Thanks for sharing with us Laura. I hope you are all enjoying getting to know our co-op shop owners through my blog reports.

Snowflake: That sure was a fun happening. Thanks for sharing that with all of us. What else do you have for us Sunshine?

Sunshine: Glad you asked Snowflake, because in addition to sharing that great news with you there is more. You will now find a new page on the website called: Sunshine Inspirations!

It will be filled with Bible based word search puzzles for you to download for free!!! Yay! I make the puzzles myself so they are one-of-a-kind inspirations! Look for the first one coming this week.

Snowflake: Woohoo!!! That is just one more of the great perks you'll receive for being one of our members. We hope you will tell all your friends about us so they can join the co-op and take part in the fun happenings here on our website.

Tune in next week for more exciting news! Same co-op time! Same co-op blog!

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Breaking News Bulletin!!!!

Snowflake: This just came in from our roaming reporter Sunshine. It seems that there is a buzz this month sweeping across the country. Let's check in with our roaming reporter and see what she has found out.

Sunshine: I hope you all are having a great start to 2012! I have been keeping my ear to the wind and have some exciting news to share with all our members. Did you know that February is National Pie Month?

Snowflake: Wow! I didn't know that Sunshine. That sounds like fun. What do you have in mind for us this month in honor of Pie Month?

Sunshine: I'm so glad you asked Snowflake! How about we have a fun "Recipe Swap" with pie recipes!!! Mary Jane picked February 17th as Random Act of Kindness Day! So why don't we combine the two and do a really fun swap!

Snowflake: You have me on the edge of my seat. Tell us more....!!

Sunshine: It sounds like fun to me too and I just know you all will enjoy doing this swap. Send in your recipes to me sunshinefarmgirlcoop@gmail.com we'll make up a special page just for the swap for all to come and see the recipes everyone sent in and make as many as you like during February and post on the blog telling us which was your favorite.

Snowflake: Wahoo! That is super easy to do. I'll have to go through my recipes and send you one in two shakes of a cow's tail! hehe!!

Sunshine: I have several ready to post. The swap starts today and the last day to send recipes for posting is February 15th in time for us to make them and post the results before the end of the month. And, for all you Mary Jane's Farm members be on the lookout for double the fun in the swap section. I'll post a fun swap to go along with this one that will be fun and easy to do!

Snowflake: Keep your ear to the wind Sunshine and bring us more great news and fun activities for next week! Stay tuned to this blog folks! Same co-op time! Same co-op blog!