With Special Care

Sunday EJ and I delivered the Big Foot, Yeti, and unicorn to my most frequent local customer. She has really kept me busy with orders. I think she has ordered about seven of my creatures, and all the baby items on my site were originally made for her soon-to-be-born grandbaby. As we handed over the latest order, she asked for a Torch Lake Monster, a bib/bonnet/booties set, and six dolls for her grandchildren.

This customer really keeps me happily busy. And she is an amazing motivator and supporter. I wasn’t planning to make baby items, but when I delivered the first couple orders to her, she asked if I made blankets. I said no because they take too long to make, and use too much material, and cost a lot of money to buy. But she asked, “Will you make me a baby blanket?” I thought, well, why not? A baby blanket is small. And then she said, “Will you make me baby outfits….? And that is how I started making baby items. I actually really enjoy it. Now this woman is asking me to make dolls. We’ve searched the Internet for patterns she liked. They will eventually make it into my store.

I have other friends who have sent me patterns to make for them, or bought me books of patterns because they wanted me to make some of the items for them, or from customers who have asked me to make special requests for them. They have stirred up my creativity in ways I’ve never imagined.

Anyway…The customer told me that the woman who used to do all her crocheting for her died a few years ago. She’s been searching for six years for someone to make crochet items for her but she didn’t like their work. However, she said, she loves my work. I felt humbled and thankful.

I have a label I include with each order that says “This Item was Handmade with Special Care Just for You.” Sometimes my local customers tell me who they are giving the items to, and as I make each item, I think of its recipient–a precious baby, a small child, an old uncle–and I make the item with them in mind.

So, after we delivered the items on Sunday, EJ drove me around to the various craft stores trying to find the color I needed for the dolls. EJ is my amazing hero support: He encourages me in my endeavors and willingly takes me where I need to go without a word of complaint. Not only that, but on the weekends he does most of the cooking so I can keep crocheting. He is amazing.

None of the three craft stores we stopped at had the right color yarn so when we got home, I just ordered yarn off the Internet. While I wait for the yarn to arrive, I will be working on the Torch Lake Monster and bib set.

I took time today to work on my store. I already know how to set up a WordPress blog, but setting up the business part of it had me stymied so I called the Bluehost/Wordpress support for help. They had included help setting up the site as part of their services. I was on the phone with the support guy for about two hours this afternoon as he helped me install various plug-ins and iron out bugs. I never could have done it without him. He was very patient and helpful. Toward the end, he put items in my store shopping cart to make sure everything was working right. He said, “Do you make all these things yourself? Your items are amazing!” He told me that he was bookmarking my site because he thought his wife and children would love my items. I thought that was funny. And very encouraging.

I still have things to do and tweak at my store, but it is now active. You can take a look at it if you would like. It’s at tericstreasures.com

We’ve lived in Northern Michigan for almost four years now, and I think that three of those years I’ve received a jury summons. I think I must get summoned so often because there is such a low population in our county. Although that doesn’t explain why EJ has NEVER gotten a summons. I think that in all my life, I have gotten eight or nine or maybe even ten summons, although I’ve never had to serve, while EJ has only ever gotten one. ONE in his entire life!

So, any I got my Jury summons last summer and a month or so ago, I was mailed my group number and told that my day to serve was on March 19 and I was to call the courthouse the evening before–that’s tonight–to see if I had to serve. I was sort of dreading it because, even though it’s a privilige and a right, I’m have so much to do! About 5:30 p.m., I braced myself as I called the Jury phone number. The recording said that the case had been settled so I would not have to go in tomorrow. Woo! I danced around, feeling like I did when I was a kid and school had been canceled because of a snowstorm.

Tomorrow I will crochet. And maybe tweak my sites a bit.