As much of the east coast is blanketed in white blizzard drifts, even though it is late in the month, it seems an appropriate time to post about January! And whether the thought of snow-days already fills you with images of steaming mugs of hot tea while watching the snowflakes flitter past the windows, or whether your mind first goes to thoughts of cold toes, this post is for you: a post about the things to enjoy in January. This is part of the Present-Month Project, focusing on the joys of each month as it comes. Overall, January is new … Read more

We just hit the first day of Spring – and we just had another snowfall. They say March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb, but that transition is not always a straight smooth line. March keeps you on your toes, looking for those signs of Spring just around the corner. And then when you see those first green shoots sprouting up through the ground? Pure joy. Spring, the beautiful secret you get to re-discover every year in March. It was actually March that first inspired this entire Present-Month series. Last March, after a brutal winter, there … Read more

Well, we’re preparing for the big move! And I don’t mean our move to Boston, although we are leaving for that TOMORROW! (WOOHOO!) But actually, in the context of blogging, I’m talking about how to move from Blogger to WordPress. This series is now in week 8 and we’ve been making great progress working on Lori’s blog redesign (and hopefully you’ve been making progress on your blog too!) as we’ve been going through this series. The goal was to use Lori’s blog, In My Kitchen, In My Life as a demonstration on how to create a new fully branded look, … Read more

So let’s say you are selling crochet doilies. Should you be marketing to young urban men? Um, let’s go with NO. A hugely important part of running a successful creative business is understanding your target market. So, we’re going to talk about who your target market is and how to find them, as well as doing a shop critique of one reader’s shop! But before we get into figuring out all of that … why is it so important to know your target market? In the questions you asked me in the opening post, a lot of people asked “how … Read more

So let’s say you are selling crochet doilies. Should you be marketing to young urban men? Um, let’s go with NO. A hugely important part of running a successful creative business is understanding your target market. So, we’re going to talk about who your target market is and how to find them, as well as doing a shop critique of one reader’s shop! But before we get into figuring out all of that … why is it so important to know your target market? In the questions you asked me in the opening post, a lot of people asked “how … Read more

I’ve been making some changes to The Flourishing Abode, to make it easier for you to use, and to help keep it running! I’m pretty excited about some of these changes, and so I wanted to share them with you. There’s a ton of great stuff I want to tell you about ranging from free classic vintage clothes, to a DIY gallery, to a exclusive deal for my readers, to milkweed kisses. Um, I guess you’ll have to read on to understand that last one. ‣‣‣ First (and this is just a small change, but might make it easier to … Read more

So let’s say you are selling crochet doilies. Should you be marketing to young urban men? Um, let’s go with NO. A hugely important part of running a successful creative business is understanding your target market. So, we’re going to talk about who your target market is and how to find them, as well as doing a shop critique of one reader’s shop! But before we get into figuring out all of that … why is it so important to know your target market? In the questions you asked me in the opening post, a lot of people asked “how … Read more

It’s week 3 of the hack challenge! And I must admit, it was a close call this week to get a project done. But, ta da, here it is! I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to get any project finished for this week’s post done while we are out of town … I had a back up plan in mind, but I’m glad I didn’t have to use it because I wasn’t terribly thrilled about. Fortunately, my sister in law up here in New England was having a craft night at her house this week, and I realized … Read more

I never would have thought of today’s hack-a-week project without my husband, Tim. He currently works in the auto glass industry, and brought home this lovely piece of dark glass. It was his idea to turn it into a tray! Handles were posing somewhat of a problem, though, and so I suggested feet instead. And voilà, here is today’s project! Now, you might be thinking, “Great, I don’t work at an auto glass place. How on earth am I supposed to get my hands on something like that?” Well, here’s the deal. Apparently on certain kinds of trucks with divided … Read more

Here we go! Thanks to all of you who voted for what would be the next challenge – and this week it begins: The “Hack” Challenge, where each week we come up with a new DIY project, upcycling an item from it’s original purpose into something new, usually some kind of home decor or furniture type project. And so onto week 1… Solar Powered DIY Paper Lamps! Generally when I come up with an idea for something I would like to turn into a lamp or use in lighting, I run into the same problem: it is not an object … Read more