Merchant Monday Circle Featuring Kim of The Barn Hollow

Hope you all had a great weekend! It's Merchant Monday and I am featuring Kim. Kim is the owner of the Etsy Store The Barn Hollow. Kim lives in Ohio. She has done several local craft shows, listed in Country Folk Art Magazine and in Country Sampler. Kim even had one of her patterns featured in Country Woman Magazine in 1998, even made the cover!! When she lived in Tennessee she found an ad in the local paper looking for consignment vendors for a craft shop in Gatlinburg. Kim drove up to meet the owner and was hooked!! Providing creations to his store for almost five years. Kim says it was wonderful.
Please read on to find out more about Kim.

1) Your first name and Name of your business *and how you got your name*

My name is Kim and my business name is The Barn Hollow. I love old barns, the treasures they hold
and the history behind their doors. When I found the graphics I currently use for my blog and website
the name just seemed to fit perfectly.


2)How long have you been in business

I have been creating for 30+ years. in the late 80's and early 90's, my business name was The Country
Cottage. After taking a few years to step away, I restarted my business as The Barn Hollow in 2011.

3)Who or what inspires you

I am inspired by anything and everything. I seem to get most of my ideas for new designs after going
"antiquing". There are so many different shapes, colors, textures and fabrics that you can't help but be inspired.
I never leave the house without a sketch book. We make several trips to Tennessee to see our grandchildren and
for some reason I come up with some of my best ideas while tooling down the interstate.
I also design quilt blocks, and get so many of my ideas for those in nature. Last summer I
put in my first garden in almost 20 years and designed a set of six blocks all based on my garden.

4)What is your creative style, primitive, country, folkart

My creative style is a combination of primitive, country and folk art. I love them all and try to
create items that will appeal to all of my customers. I am however, creating more primitives lately, I just
love the simplicity of their design.


5)What medium do you use in creating, clay, fabric, altered art, wood etc.
explain here if you would like to about your business and what you make and sell

I create the majority of my items using fabric. All of my items are hand made by me. I am a
perfectionist and take extreme pride in everything I make. We all work so hard to make a living
and hope for that little extra to buy ourselves that something special. I strive to make sure that
my customers' hard earned money is well placed when they purchase something from me and that they
are please with their "something special".

6)What are your links (list your etsy shop, eBay, web site, blogs etc.)

My Etsy shop: www.etsy.com/shop/thebarnhollow
Website: www.thebarnhollow.com
Blog: thebarnhollow.blogspot.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/The-Barn-Hollow/332819286761276?sk=wall

Merchant Monday Circle Featuring Kris of Maple Street Shoppe

Good Monday Afternoon to you all. Hope you all had a great weekend! Today I have another great artist of the PAFA Etsy team. Kris. Please read on to find out more about Kris.

Your first name and Name of your business *and how you got your name*
Kris Lavoie ~ Maple Street Shoppe
The buisness got it's name right from our adress :)
My husband and I and our six kids moved to the little town of East Brookfield, MA as our family expanded past the limits of our 3 bd ranch. I fell In love with a 1778 colonial that used to be the an Inn years and years ago. I have always loved antiques and my husband was a new glass and brass kind of fella, but it didn't take him long before he caught the "antique " bug. He works on the house and barns and I make everything look old again. When the children are grown we hope to make a B&B and shoppe right here on Maple Street.

2)How long have you been in business
I have been creating for myself and family for years but just recently began to sell my items to others.

3)Who or what inspires you
EVERYTHING inspires me. I make my family nuts. Every time we are out i am saying ooohh I could make thatt look like __________ or hoey do you think you could make me a___________., wouldn't that look nice? ( having a hubby who is a talented caprenter is the greatest!

4)What is your creative style, primitive, country, folkart
All of the above

5)What medium do you use in creating, clay, fabric, altered art, wood etc. explain here if you would like to about your business and what you make and sell
I make candles and sprays as I love my house to smell pretty, but my favorite is repainting, grunging , stenciling, and making new items look old or making old beat up items into something neat and interesting.

6)What are your links (list your etsy shop, eBay, web site, blogs etc.)
http://www.etsy.com/shop/MapleStreetShoppe
http://maplestreetfriends.blogspot.com/
http://www.maplestreetshoppe.com
https://www.facebook.com/sharer#!/pages/Maple-Street-Friends/205537319478814
I hope you have enjoyed learning a little more about Kris.

I also want to remind everyone tomorrow starts the PAFA Etsy Team Spring Forward Celebrations!

Also if you haven't yet sign up for the biggest giveaway PAFA Team has had yet. Signing up to win one of the great prizes our team has put together.

Recieved An Award

I had a great surprised, I was honored with The Versatile Blogger" By Brenda of The Rusty Thimble.

My very first award. I am so blessed to have so many great Blogger friends and a part of the Etsy Team PAFA. Thanks again Brenda!
So with this reward I had the privilege to pick out ten other bloggers to pass the award on to. There are so many great blogs out there, that I so enjoy reading, so picking ten was not easy.

1) Sweet Peas Primitives
2) Shabby Olde Potting Shed
3) Kim of Prims By Kim
4) Teaberry Cottage
5) Tina of Tattered Sisters
6) Jody of Sweet Bear Whims
7) Carol of Buttermilk Creek Farm
8) Maureen of Sweet Meadow Farms
9) Kim of Old Road Primitives
10) Karen of Sew Many Ways

With this reward I was to list 7 random things about myself that you may or may not know about me. So here is my 7.

1) I come from a family of 9, I have three sisters and five brothers
2) I love flea markets, thift sales, antique and yard sales.
3) I love to cook and try new recipes all the time.
4) I love to garden, especially flowers.
5) I am addicted to the Bacholer and Bacholerette shows.
6) I love to decorate our home.
7) I have Fibromyalgia

Thanks again Brenda. I hope you will visit the other bloggers I have listed. Like I said there are so many great ones I enjoy reading it was hard to pick.
Donna

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentines Day Everyone! Hope you are able to spend the day with the one you love!

Primitive and Folk Artists Etsy team are having another Giveaway
Please do take the time to visit these members
all of their links are beside their donations
There are 33 Prizes!! And there will be 33 Different Winners!
Go check out the prizes and how you can be one of the lucky winners!

Merchant Monday Circle Featuring Laura of Cave Creek Primitives

Good Monday morning to you. Here in my little corner of the world it suppose to snow! I am so over winter already! Lol. I am so looking forward to Spring! Don't forget tomorrow starts the PAFA Giveaway, last time I checked we had 30 team members donating prizes. I will post more tomorrow about how to sign up. Read on to find out more about Laura, one of our PAFA team members.

I want you to meet Laura from Cave Creek Primitives. I just love her primitive and folk art items she offers in her Etsy shop! As a child her parents owned a fabric remnant shop. She has sewn practically all her life. Whatever she is working on, quality and workmanship are her utmost importance. She says she appreciates her customers and I want them to be totally satisfied with their purchase.

You r first name and Name of your business *and how you got your name*

Laura. Cave Creek Primitives. I named it after the area in Kentucky where we live. There's a real Cave Creek, not far from our home in the Daniel Boone National Forest. There are also lots of caves around here. It seemed to fit nicely.

2)How long have you been in business

I've been sewing and crafting most of my life, but I seriously started making primitives about six years ago, I think. I didn't open an Etsy shop until 2010, and then it was Cave Creek Studio. I changed it later when I decided to focus on just primitives and folk art.

3)Who or what inspires you

I receive inspiration from so many things - Nature, my own dogs and cats, other artists, and living in this area. I also have a pretty weird imagination - sometimes new ideas just pop into my head from nowhere.

4)What is your creative style, primitive, country, folkart

Probably a mixture - I seem to be developing my own style as I go. I rarely plan ahead or use patterns - more often I just get an idea, then figure out how to put it on paper and make a pattern I can use. I never know where a design is going until I work on it - then it sort of creates itself and I just follow along.

There have been several designs that I've completed that I still don't have patterns for. I'm working now at making patterns that I can release at some point.

5)What medium do you use in creating, clay, fabric, altered art, wood etc.

Muslin fabric - by the bolt. I have another shop, LauraOh Designs, and I save all of the fabric scraps from that to use for stuffing. I rag-stuff all of my primitives. I also use cheap cotton sheets for stuffing. I make my primitive stain, and I also sometimes use paints and other finishes. I use a lot of vintage buttons too - I have thousands of them all over the place in tins and jars.


explain here if you would like to about your business and what you make and sell

I have my own studio building, and I absolutely love what I do. I am so thankful that I can do this full-time too. My husband is a musician, with his own studio too, so we each work at home and we are truly blessed. I give away a lot of my work to friends and neighbors. I am most happy when something I've created makes someone else smile.

6)What are your links (list your etsy shop, eBay, web site, blogs etc.)

http://www.etsy.com/shop/cavecreekprimitives
http://cavecreekprimitives.blogspot.com
http://cavecreekprimitives.com
http://www.etsy.com/shop/lauraohdesigns

Hope you have enjoyed getting to know Laura a little bit more.
Donna

Merchant Monday Circle Featuring Carol The Firecracker Kid

Good Monday Morning to you all. Hope you all had a great weekend. Today I am featuring Carol, The Firecracker Kid. Her and her husband do some wonderful woodwork. I have a want list a mile long. :) I am sure after taking a look at her Etsy store you will to!

1) Name of your business *and how you got your name*
Hi ya folks! My name is Carol and I'm the Firecracker Kid, born on the fourth of July! Married to my soul mate, Tim, we produced two wonderful children. We Love the Lord, our family, which includes our kitty kats, and our home built by Tim, of 33 years and counting. We've been wood crafting for over 25 years now and take great pride in our creations. With us you'll find our one of a kind wood crafts, plus reproduction dough bowl keeps and more primitive, country, and cottage wood crafts all handmade in our woodshop by our hands for your home. You can be assured great attention is given to quality and detail.

2)How long have you been in business
We've been on Etsy since March 30, 2008, which is where we've done our best and have decided to stay.

3)Who or what inspires you
I get my inspiration from my mind when the good Lord grants me good days. So I should say, "He" gives me inspiration. Plus the need to pay the mortgage is inspiration enough in itself.

4)What is your creative style, primitive, country, folkart
All of the above. Tim and I can do it all.

5)What medium do you use in creating, clay, fabric, altered art, wood etc.
explain here if you would like to about your business and what you make and sell
We use wood, wood, and more wood. I also dabble in fabrics and altered art when the mood strikes me.

6)What are your links (list your etsy shop, eBay, web site, blogs etc.)
http://www.firecrackerkid.etsy.com
http://firecrackerkid.blogspot.com
http://fpwoodcrafts.blogspot.com
http://woodshopshanty.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1817572815&ref=tn_tnmn
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Firecrackerkid-Primitives/106316589410283

Winner of January Giveaway

Sorry for not getting to this sooner. I have been dealing with a migraine for 3 days now and it just won't go away. UGH!! I want to THANK YOU all who became followers and new friends. I appreciate all the great comments! I enjoyed reading your blogs, so many great ones. Ok so what you all have been waiting for the name of the winners. So for the a set of Primitive Valentine Heart Ornies

Drum roll please....The Winner is Amy from Bumble Bee Lane.
http://bumblebeelanecottage.blogspot.com/
So Congratulations Amy! Please send over your address to ctrysidecottage@yahoo.com and I will get those out to you.

Also have another winner for hitting 50 FOLLWERS, that prize goes out to Rose of Baskets by Rose
http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1462790083017291488
Rose please send me your address via email to ctrysidecottage@yahoo.com and I will get that out to you. As soon as I am feeling better I will get a picture of what I am sending to Rose.

Please watch for the February Giveaway! Thanks!
Donna