Grand Opening

So finally, on December 11 2007, I opened my shop at http://jenhintz.etsy.com, selling my handmade knit and crochet items. It took nine days before I made my first sale.
Then it took about 3 hours after than for me to make my second sale.
Then I made two more sales the next day.
Then two sales and a trade with another merchant the next day.

So in the space of a few days, I went from "gee, I hope I sell one or two things before the end of the year" to "sweet merciful crap, I'm gonna run out of inventory"! Someone posted a thread in the Etsy forum recently asking people if they were apprehensive about success. Apprehensive? Nah. Stunned with occasional maniacal laughter and waves of sheer panic? Absolutely, approximately every six minutes.

I can't complain, though. It's been a few years since I was able to work a regular job, so I've had no income and have had to depend on my parents for everything in the meantime... and with my medical bills, that's no small thing. This week of sales isn't enough to support me completely, but it's a huge improvement, and every little bit helps. I can't thank my customers and the other Etsians enough for giving me the chance to do what I love and actually make a buck at it here and there.

But to make those bucks, I need inventory! I've been trying to get things made, but this panic has got me starting a project, thinking about another one I could probably get whipped up and posted quick, and then once I'm working on that, having another idea. So I wound up with about three dozen balls of yarn and projects in various stages of progress heaped on the couch, and getting exactly nowhere. I finally got a few things finished today, and hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to get them photographed and listed for sale, and then knock out a few more projects. Being able to keep enough inventory on hand was one of my worries when I was getting ready to start selling on Etsy, and in a way I wasn't worried enough. But I'm pretty sure things are calming down a bit now with the holiday madness being over, and things will settle into a steady pace now. I ought to be able to keep up just fine as long as I don't panic. Maybe I should knit some pillows shaped like Valium...

Home Cooking for Cats

The following is a recipe for home-cooked cat food. After the recent rash of pet food recalls and my own cats' health concerns, my vet and I came up with this recipe. Never begin feeding your pet any home-cooked diet without consulting with a vet who is familiar both with your pets' particular needs and with veterinary nutrition.

"Turkey Stew for Cats"
16-20 oz ground turkey
1.5 cups frozen peas-and-carrots blend
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
approximately 10 vitamin tablets**

Crumble turkey in a saucepan and add water to almost cover it. Simmer until turkey is fully cooked. Add the vitamin tablets and stir for a minute until mostly dissolved. Add vegetables and simmer 5 minutes. Stir in oats and let simmer until liquid is reduced by two-thirds. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Puree in blender (or with wand-style blender) until well-combined and paste-like in texture, but not too smooth (cats seem not to like that). Just get all the bigger chunks broken up. Store in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator up to five days. Can also be frozen if it will not be used in 5 days; placing dollops of it in mini-muffin papers is a great way to make individual servings which can be stored in a sealed plastic bag in the freezer and defrosted as needed.

**Regarding vitamin tablets: I use Pet Gold brand Vita Tabs, and since one batch of this recipe lasts my two cats five days, I use ten tablets (one tablet per cat per day). These vitamin tablets are essential since the other ingredients do not supply taurine, a nutrient cats absolutely must have to maintain eye and heart health - lack of taurine can be fatal. Talk with a knowledgeable vet about which vitamin supplement is right for your cats and what amount you should use. No home-cooked diet should be started without the consultation of a vet who is knowledgeable about feline nutrition and your cats' particular needs.

Welcome

Please excuse the current lack of content; I'm creating a larger online presence for myself in preparation for opening an online store on etsy.com. I'll add more shortly. In the meantime, please check out the Etsy.com site. It's a great site for anyone who wants to buy or sell handmade or vintage goods. My store isn't up yet, but there's tons of others to browse.