This would be a test post to see if Sonja has managed to work with someone like me who can be slightly challanged...to see if we can get the blog to post automatically to facebook and twitter.  So here goes.

DIY - Do It Yourself

This has become quite a thing.  Everyone in this economy is trying DIY projects.  Are you one of them?  Do you wish we had more items in our store that you could purchase to do your own DIY projects?  Do you need supplies for the crafts/projects that you are willing to tackle yourself.  If so, please leave a comment below on some of the things you are looking for.  

We (Silkweeds )have to make sure it would be worth it to turn valuable real estate over to a DIY emporium.  That is a slight exaggeration because we cannot turn the whole store into that but hey, I like to think big and the word emporium makes that statement.  We also cannot compete with the big box stores, so we are hoping what you need is the hard to finds... the we would love to haves...  not the what everyone else is carrying and why can't you carry them for less like the big box does.  We have answered that question a hundred times and I know that you are all smart enough to understand it, that they buy in such big quantities that their pricing is SO VERY different then what is offered to us as small business owners, and who truly wants to mimic a big box anyway.  

As a business owner, and I think I can speak for a few of us, we like creativity.  The building of displays, and the sense of style that you can show off, and lets face it the big box just doesn't have that going on.  So let's have a bit of fun and come up with really different and unique things that you can't seem to come up with for your do it yourself projects.  Here are a few pictures of some of the DIY things we like to do around here.  Furniture is my thing... it is what I LOVE to do, or should I say Re-do!

I would love to carry one of the big lines of Chalk Paint ( Annie Sloan or CeCe Caldwell), but the buy in for those companies is more than I make in a month this time of year.  So those dreams will have to wait.  We will consider a smaller line at some point but for now I am happy making my own.   You can find recipes online to make your own too.  You learn to tweak those recipes to your own liking.  What I do like about the above names are they are environmentally friendly.  What I make still uses components of latex paint.  

For the love of Rust!

I love rusty stars, bells, pins....heck I love anything rusty that I can pin, glue, attach in some way to something else.  Rusty wire seems to accent so many of our items.  Rusty tin roofs on birdhouses, rusty wings on an angel, rusty metal boxes, all great things to let your imagination spark.  

I suppose I need to go back to work, I need to get a few of my OWN projects to the finished product and out on the floor for sale.  

Maine Made Artists @ Silkweeds

Do you know what tomorrow is?  It is FRIDAY and this Friday Silkweeds will have a few of the artisans here that create some of the wonderful things we carry.  We will have Sonja from Lally Broch Farm, Tammi from Blueberry Bay Beads and Carla from Studio Three 14.  Now this is an impromptu meeting of the minds...  We laugh, and giggle some, we network a little and we bounce around a few ideas for each of our businesses.  In truth, we all could probably do without the "Friday" meeting, but Friday has become such a HUGE part of our world that when it falls apart, and it sometimes does, we all miss it.

Being in business isn't all fun and games, more than not it is a lot of HARD WORK, DETERMINATION, MORAL ETHIC, mixed with a sense of style and just a smidgen of luck.  I am fortunate to do business with these ladies - with whom I am lucky enough to call my friends also.  We all care about each other as well as our businesses.  So if you are in our neck of the woods tomorrow afternoon stop by and see some of these amazing women, because what they do and who they are is truly AMAZING.

Blueberry Bay Beads

Lally Broch Farm

Studio Three 14

So have you seen our new incentives program?  We have three options for in store buying as a way to say Thank you to our loyal customers.

The first card has monetary stars of up to $300.00 and and each time you visit and make a purchase we will punch out the stars up to the closest amount of your purchase and once it is full we will give you a $30.00 gift card that you can use on your next purchase.  Full cards will go into a drawing at the end of the year for goods from Silkweeds.

Our second card is a monthly rewards card.  You shop at Regular Prices the first month you are in and as long as you shop every month after that you will receive 20% off your regular priced purchases.  If you miss a month, you will have to make a regular price purchase to activate your card again but if you shop every month you could get 20% off for the entire year.  

Our last option for you is a VIP card, this card costs $100.00 but after you purchase it you can get 30% off your entire regular priced purchases for the whole of 2014.  You will need to buy a new card every year but for 30% off....WOW! 

Plus we will send out little notes of specials for VIP's Only.  

The choices are yours, you can choose which savings experience you would like to have.  Just let us know at checkout and we will get you started on your road to savings at Silkweeds.  

We try hard to make Silkweeds the store that you want to shop in all the time, for gifts for the family, for staple items for your own home, for that special steak sauce or pretzel dip, right down to the jewelry you are going to wear out tonight.  Not to mention if you get a 30% off VIP card you can come do all your Christmas shopping with us.  

Have a great day

Lisa @ Silkweeds

Handmade Bunnies
Only $69.99 each

Silkweeds Facebook Page  ( live link to the left of this post)

If you haven't checked out our facebook page you really should.  Last week I posted pictures everyday of new products that we have gotten in.  Worried you can't find those products in your website shopping?  Don't be.  You can email me at silkweeds@roadrunner.com or contact me through Facebook or call the shop and we can chat about the things you are interested in.  Then, I can invoice you through paypal and make sure we get things out to you in a hurry.  We also have a page called

Silkweeds Daily Deals  (live link to the left of this post)

Our Daily Deals are DEEP discounts on items that we may only have one or two of in stock.  They sell on a "first come, first serve" basis, so don't hesitate to long or what you want could be long gone.

Blueberry Bay Beads
Hand-crafted glass, lamp work beads on cord, $10 each. 

New Arrival! Only $299.99

If you haven't looked around the pages on our website in the last two weeks you should.  WE ARE OPEN for business.  More items and products will be added all the time but we are up and running and so very happy to have these new shopping options available for our customers.   We are so glad you are visiting and keeping track of us.  Keep a watch out for some tips and tricks for priming up your favorite things.   We will be sharing some of those with you over the next few weeks and we are looking forward to spring as much as the rest of you.

Prim Blessings
Lisa @ Silkweeds