Customer Service

I want to share a great customer service story with you.  Many times when I shop there is a huge lack of customer service even down right rude associates and every now and again there is a shining light that surprises me.  

I ordered two shirts from Lands End Canvas about 4 weeks ago on line.  I even went out on the internet and googled for a coupon code, which I found for $10 off a $50 purchase and FREE shipping. My order totaled just over $45 with my discount.   It arrived and the shirts were just want I wanted, I washed them right away and wore both the first week.

THEN..............

This came in the mail 

REALLY a thank you note - and not just a thank you note but HANDWRITTEN for an internet order that I bought sale merchandise and used a coupon code for to further reduce what I spent.  I could not believe it, I was so impressed, I'm still impressed, so impressed that I saved the note for this post.  Not to mention the card was made of kraft paper and just fun!

Here's what Ms. Judy wrote!!!

Have you had a GREAT customer service experience?  

Please share your story so we can shop at those stores too!!

PS: Since the note I've ordered two more shirts, one for me and one for my daughter!!

Home Renovation Link Up

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Home renovation can be so rewarding and a bit frustrating at times. This week's link up is dedicated to all those projects you're currently in the process of, just finished up or even some great home renovations from the past. Our very own Chrissy has been getting her home renovation on lately. Chrissy is one motivated lady and tackling quite the project with some wallpaper removing...

I'm 100% positive that we are all going to be in awe over the "after" shots once Chrissy is finished. So let's link up those renovation projects and let Chrissy know she isn't alone! 

Insta-Friday

Since cell phones started having cameras in them, it has revolutionized what we take pictures of. Today we will snap pictures of our lunch, our pets, our kids making silly faces, what we are wearing or sneaky pictures of people to send to our friends when we think those people aren't looking. Cell phones have given a whole new meaning to the word, "snapshot". If you have an iPhone and aren't aware of the free Instagram app I suggest you stop reading go download it and then come back to finish reading. Instagram is a super fun app that allows you to share your photos with friends, family, followers, through social media and allows you to add fun filters to your photos to make them appear much cooler than they really are. I didn't download Instagram until a few months ago but since I downloaded I am hooked and look for things to take pictures of just so I can post them on Instagram. Through Instagram I can share my photos with my Instagram followers or chose to send my Instagram photos to Twitter, Facebook and even e-mail them. Since Instagram has grown the blog Life Rearranged started a weekly link up on Fridays for bloggers to share posts of all their Instagram photos. It is a fun post to write up and even more fun to hop around to the other blogs and check out their Instagram photos. So what are you waiting for? Download that Instagram app! Here are a few of my Instagram photos...

Twitter Link Up Party

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Twitter is a fantastic social networking tool and the ways in which you can use Twitter are endless. Twitter is a great way to market yourself, market your blog, market your shop, or market whatever else you might need marketed. You can also use Twitter for research purposes or just to find out what's going on in the world. My personal favorite use for Twitter is using it to make connections with people. The amount of people that I've gotten to know through Twitter is hard to even begin to explain and that is why I've fallen in love with Twitter. Today let's all link up our Twitter accounts and make some new friends. Happy Tweeting Friends :) 

Growing Your Passion

Happy Thursday friends!

I like a lot of things but I am passionate about a handful. I find that as I keep challenging myself with my passion areas, my love for it grows even more. Take sewing for example. I adore sewing. When I challenge myself to learn a new skill or try a tutorial that may look particularly difficult, I may be scared at first, but the results are so worth it. Even if I mess up, I still learned something along the way and my excitement for sewing grows tenfold.

What are you passionate about it? How do you make your passion grow?

Pumpkins Link Up

Who doesn't love Fall? That's what we want to know. One of the most recognizable images with Fall is the pumpkin and that's why today were dedicating a whole link up party to pumpkins! Show us how you get crafty with pumpkins, how you cook with pumpkins, how you make pumpkins, how you decorate with pumpkins, we just want to see how you get creative with pumpkins! Link up and make sure you stop by a few other link ups to share the pumpkin love.  

Decorating with Globes

I have reacently found a new love - Globes. 

The good old fashioned, schoolhouse globe.

I have seen globes used in decorating in a couple places in the blog world and Lindsey with The Pleated Poppy is my favorite. Look how fun with all the globes on the cabinet!!

Here is the direct link to Lindsey's post

I also transformed a Globe in this post

Here is what I made

I also created an Etsy Treasury with some globes I found.

Here is the treasury link

Do you have anything in your house as a running theme - or maybe a color?

Guest Post: Angie @ Gathered & Sown

Were so excited to have Angie of Gathered and Sown here today to talk to us all about how she manages working her business from home. It is quite the balancing act but Angie has it down and she is going to share some great tips with us. Enjoy...

Now that we've gotten back into the swing of another school year, I am looking forward to FINALLY getting back into a regular work schedule . Work schedule??  Many ask why I have one when I work from home. Don't I sit around all day eating bon-bons and watching soap operas??? (ok, I do, but don't tell anyone!)

I think my "friends" in Salem would agree with my bon-Bon choice. He-he!
[ source]

Finding the motivation to work for yourself can be difficult at times, but here are a  few things that work for me:

Work hard, but also remember your REAL job, your family.

Most people think that since I work from home, I have a lot of "free" time.  I have had to learn to tell people that I am working. I have set myself regular work hours, and I try to schedule appointments, and even fun things around my work schedule. In that schedule, I allow myself one hour in the morning, after my daughters are off to school to get my house in order. (I hate coming up after working all day to a crazy, messy house!) I usually work until my kids get home. I also try really hard to adhere to "off" hours. When my whole family is home, I limit my computer time, my sewing time, even my phone time. I try to be as available to my family as I can. This allows me a balance of being Gathered and Sown by day, Mom and wife by night.

This doesn't become...

...this, without a little discipline.

Acknowledge that your business is your JOB

When you work from home, it is very easy to get sidetracked. I get those tempting "wanna go shopping" or "come on, you can work later calls" from well meaning friends. I also tend to get recognized as "that girl who is always home" who gets frequent calls  babysit/drive carpool/volunteer at EVERYTHING.  You have to learn to tell people that you are working. Then they naturally begin to realize that you are not sitting around eating bon bons and watching soaps all day long :)  

I have learned that while I want to be everywhere for everyone, if I don't work, the work doesn't get done.  Which brings me to point two...

Set your schedule

[source: http://jengrantmorris.blogspot.com]

I love what I do but I don't want to have my business be my entire life! I know when my standing commitments are, so I made myself a work schedule that is consistent from week to week. I know that I work best when I am home alone, so weekday mornings, when Ryan is at work, and the girls are at school, I WORK, WORK, WORK!  I am terribly unproductive on weekends, so I count those as my days off. If I so happen to feel like getting some work done while the family is busy, it turns out to be bonus time, which is always low pressure and relaxing.

Divide your time wisely

Over the last 4 months or so, I have realized the huge potential of marketing my business online. What I didn't expect was the insane amount of HOURS I would have to spend in front of my computer. That could be a problem, since my whole business is based on the bags that I create! I have learned to schedule a period of time to do my computer work. When that time is up, I have to turn it off until another scheduled time. That means I have to exercise an insane amount of self control. It is so tempting to just "check" my email or my blog stats... what I intend to be a minute will ALWAYS turn into 15 or 20. I've also started a list things I want to look up. That way, I can factor the web surfing in my computer time, and not allow it to take over my production time.

Here is the computer where I am sitting right now,
typing this post.
 I wish I were in the picture, so it could be like one of those
super cool infinity mirrors :D

Remember to LOVE what you do

When you are your own boss, if you don't feel passionate about what you are doing, it will be evident in your work. So let yourself have some fun! Take a few hours off to make a cool craft for your work space. Have a good friend over to chat while you  while you work. Take an afternoon to check out the competition and get inspired. Whatever it takes to keep you sharp, focused and in love with your job.  After all, isn't that what makes us "self employed geniuses " go to work each and every day?

[source: work is not a job via ashappyaskings]

Thank you Angie! If you would like to guest post on Scatter Girls please e-mail us at scattergirls@gmail.com.

Blog Designer Recommendations

Your blog design is the first thing that readers see when they come to visit. Even before they begin reading your awesome posts, their eyes are feasting on the graphic design of your online home. We thought it would be fun to showcase some of the blog designers that we have worked with and/or love their work. We know you will just love these ladies!

Wattlebird-Annie is just starting out with blog design but my does she do a fun and creative job on her blog designs. Here are a couple of my favorite's by Annie.

Melanie's Mark

Giggles Glitz & Glam

B's Blog Boutique-Of course we love Bailey. She created our Scatter Girl's blog and Connect. Engage. #SetUpShop's blog. Bailey is so easy to work with, prompt, and really knows her stuff. Here are a couple of my favorite's by Bailey.

Mine for the Making

Growing Sweet Pea

Life Made Lovely-fresh, fun designs are Heather's specialty. I am a huge fan of her sweet landing pages, blog design, logo design, and all the personality behind her work. Here are a couple of my favorite's by Heather.

Apearantly Sew

Pink Lemonade

Yellow Heart Art-Leonora is super talented. She designs great logo's that are a cut above the rest. She will work with you to create a shop design, business card design and layout, buttons, big cartel or etsy banners and buttons, or a custom art print. Here are a couple of my favorite's by Leonora. 

Elephant's Trunk

And I just love this custom print by Leonora.

These lovelies are amazingly talented. Consider checking them out for your next blog makeover!

Craft Booths

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It's that time of year where much of the handmade community is preparing for craft fairs. This week's link up is dedicated to vendor booths. We want to see how you decorate your booths for craft fairs. Let's provide inspiration to others and gain a little inspiration for ourselves. 

Blog Tip - Scrolling buttons in your sidebar

I have a nifty tip and HTML code for you to have scrolling buttons in your sidebar.  I know I love so many shops and I want to promote them, but space is limited on my blog.  So, I found a nifty way to keep the buttons, but in a smaller space.

Scrolling buttons

If you go to my blog Hoot Designs under "Fun Finds" and "Creative Connections" my buttons scroll.

Here's what you do:

Add this scroll code to your HTML box there you want the buttons to scroll

<center><div class="textwidget"><marquee direction="up" width="200" onmouseover="this.stop()" scrollamount="4" onmouseout="this.start()" height="400" align="center"> <center>

*the highlighted number 4 is the speed and you can change this number as you wish*
*the 200 and 400 number in the code are the height and width of the column and how much space it will fill in the sidebar*

Then under the code add the button codes you want to scroll under the code above, like this:

<center><div class="textwidget"><marquee direction="up" width="200" onmouseover="this.stop()" scrollamount="4" onmouseout="this.start()" height="400" align="center"> <center>

<center><a href="http://thehouseofsmiths.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r28/casonshelley/HOSbuttonmodern.jpg" /></a></center>

<center><a href="http://iammorethanjust.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v714/mycreations/Blog/Iamreader.jpg" /><br/></a><br/><center>

Add the center code like this <center> before and after your button codes so everything lines up all pretty.  Some buttons have this already before and after, if not, add it. 

Now your all set for scrolling buttons on your blog.