But the contest isn’t quite over. This week, the 9 finalists from April, May and June will be judged by Seventh Generation co-founder, Jeffrey Hollender, for a chance to win the grand prize of an additional $25,000 small business grant. The judging criteria are simply to find the business that is “most loved by its customers, vendors, employees, or local community.” I have taken a look at the other finalists, and I think it’s going to be a tough call to make. In the spirit of looking to the future of Anodyne Design, whether I were to win the grand prize or not, I have given some thought to how I might best use $25,000.

In addition to my original plan focused on developing the online side of Anodyne Design, I would also start developing an online indie boutique that would provide a home for small, local businesses engaged in environmentally responsible design. As a maker myself, I am always searching for the most eco-friendly materials, and I particularly like to create items that are designed to be re-used, to last, and to replace something disposable. As a shopper, I am looking for the same sort of items, and I don’t think I am alone. This venture would require a new web presence, branding, and advertising.

An extra $25,000 would also make it possible for Anodyne Design to participate in larger in-person events, such as the Renegade Craft Fair and Strange Folk Festival, which require entry fees, travel, and a significant investment in time. One of the joys of being a small business is in being able to interact one-on-one with individuals who share my love of handmade, and I would love to be able to pursue that beyond the bounds of my small town.

I would also be able to invest in some new equipment that would help me to be more efficient and to create items that so far have just been waiting in the “someday” pile. In particular, I would be adding a new serger and a die cutting machine to my arsenal of tools. I will also be able to continue using top-of-the-line environmentally responsible materials. And perhaps most importantly, $25,000 would definitely make it possible for me to expand the space dedicated to my business, which for the moment is only one-half of a small office I share with my husband. I can just imagine how much more productive and creative I could be if I had a little more space.

So this is my plan of action, whether I jump into the fast lane with the grand prize grant, or whether I take it slowly. Either way, it’s going to be awesome. What do you think? Did I miss something, should I being paying more attention to one part of this than another? Like I wrote in my last post, Anodyne Design isn’t much without you, so your input is really important to me as I grow. Let me know what you think!

Last month, I signed up to participate in Intuit’s Love a Local Business contest. Small, local businesses sign up and then their fans leave comments about the business. Each comment counts as a vote, and at the end of the month, 3 comments are selected and the businesses win a small business grant. Amazingly, and thanks to your kind and generous comments, Anodyne Design was one of the June winners! Thank you to everyone who left a little love for Anodyne Design, and to Intuit for having such a cool program!

I have been thinking hard about how to best use the grant to grow Anodyne Design, and I have a few ideas. But I would also really love to hear from you about how you would like to see Anodyne Design grow and improve, because it if weren’t for all the wonderful people who support me with their love, nice words, and occasional purchases, there would be no point to Anodyne Design. So I’ll share my plan with you, and I’d love it if you would share your ideas in a comment.

In the past month, I have been thinking about the best direction for Anodyne Design. I have been wanting to focus more on developing the business online. In particular, I have been working behind the scenes to create an online shop. I think the small business grant will provide the perfect resource for improving the online end of business. In particular, I am planning to use the grant to:

• Invest in a higher quality camera to improve product photos
• Invest in a proper lightbox (and lights), also to improve my product photography
• Hire a web designer to help me with my online shopping cart
• Develop a comprehensive online marketing/advertising campaign

All of this will help me to launch a lovely new online shop that should provide the best possible shopping experience, and also help me to help spread the word of Anodyne Design and handmade accessories in general.

I am also planning on using the grant to engage in a few less-exciting, but important tasks, including repaying a small business loan and hiring someone to help me make sure all my taxes are nice and orderly. And finally, this grant should help me to start working with more environmentally friendly (and sometimes more costly) materials, such as organic cotton. I always try to make the environmentally responsible choice for Anodyne Design when I can, and a little more capital is going to make that a little easier to do.

So that’s my plan… what do you think– is it a good one? Would you do something different? What do you want to see from Anodyne Design? Please let me know!

Anodyne Design at First Friday in Galesburg, IL

This morning was not quite so nice, weather-wise. But a little rain is no reason to miss the first farmers’ market of the season, so we braved the weather and set up downtown. It was clear the rain kept quite a few people away, but I think that just speaks more to the awesomeness of those who did come out. It was nice to see some familiar faces and to make some new friends.

One of my favorite things to do at a farmers’ market or other event is to people watch. It’s endlessly interesting to see the variety of people in this world. (And to see their pets. There were definitely some cute dogs out at the market today.) Some of my favorite observations from this weekend:

Stilts at First Friday in Galesburg, IL

- watching an older woman dance un-self-consciously to the First Friday band, while everyone else just stood around. It was absolutely refreshing to see someone so much enjoying herself regardless of what anyone else was doing or thinking.

- witnessing a Walk of Shame. The parking lot for the farmers’ market has signs clearly stating that no one is allowed to park in it overnight on Fridays, because we need it for the market early Saturday morning. Not everyone always follows the signs though, and sometimes we have to work around the cars. There was one such car right next to my space today. About halfway through the market, we watched a young woman enter the lot in some fabulous heels that were clearly too fancy for a rainy morning of produce shopping. She quickly walked straight to the car next to us, and drove out of the lot with her hand over her face. But she did have awesome shoes.

- watching a man on stilts gently hold his companion’s (who was not on stilts) hand. And then watching that man on stilts be “stalked” by a gaggle of little boys, who would scream and run with delight whenever he turned and saw them.

- I also met a man with a laugh just like Amadeus today. It was marvelous.

Tomorrow, I plan on checking out the Junction City Art Fair. Some artists who are there that I love: Joan Furilla (fine silver jewelry), Razorberries (quirky watercolor illustrations), and metalME (more pretty jewelry!). And perhaps best of all, it should be sunny, or at least not raining. Hooray!

P.S. Help Anodyne Design grow a little, by nominating it to win a small business grant on Love a Local Business. All you need to do is click the link and leave a comment describing why you love Anodyne Design. If love is too much commitment for you, I’d happily settle for “like a lot.” I love being a small, local (and online) business (although you don’t have to be local to vote!), and it will be easier for me to keep doing that, and doing it well, with a little love from you. Thanks. :)

On top of the warm fuzzies I get from seeing an action shot, it has recently occurred to me that some of these shots might be useful to other potential buyers, too. For example, I have a friend who thinks the Little Hootie Owls are cute, but can’t seem to imagine what they are for. So it would probably be extra-helpful for people like her to see some of the owls being used by actual people. Another local friend recently told me that the owls are much cuter in person, and that they are smaller than she realized based on my product photos. Again, action shots could help a lot in this sort of situation.

And so, may I present to you a few customer-taken Little Hootie Owl action shots. This is what these little guys do in the wild:

Little Hootie Owls "nesting" in an orchid

Little Hootie Owl as a small hat

I keep an album on Anodyne Design’s facebook page just for action shots. If you have something from Anodyne Design, I’d love it if you would share a picture! In fact, I love action shots so much, I think I may be announcing an Anodyne Design Action Shot contest soon. Stay tuned for that. Until then, I would love to hear your thoughts on action shots. Do you love them and save them like I do? Never thought of them? Have a better use for them that just keeping them for warm fuzzy feelings? Let me know!

Another year finished, and before I rush headlong into 2010, I thought it might be nice to look back on 2009.Above is a mosaic of some of the photos I took last year, mostly of the projects I was working on. 2009 was the year of my first craft shows and farmer’s market. I really enjoyed doing them and I learned a lot about the process for the future. Through the shows and markets, I met some wonderful people and made a few new friends. Anodyne Design items also appeared in several local shops, S’more Couture and Re-, which was very exciting for me.

I also started to expand my repertoire, creating new wallets and bags, as well as covered journals, magnets, envelopes, and gift tags. Oh, and Hootie Owls! I’ve made so many Little Hootie Owls this year, and I expect there will be more to come. I just love those little guys.

I have continued to work on incorporating repurposed materials in my work, ranging from thrifted fabrics to security envelopes, with great results. It’s been very satisfying to turn something old into something loveable and new, and I plan to continue in the new year.

Most importantly, thank you to everyone who has read, lurked, and commented on this blog throughout the year. It makes my day to know that you are out there. Thank you also to everyone who stopped to chat (and maybe buy!) at one of the craft shows or farmer’s markets I attended this year, and to everyone who bought from me on Etsy. I love making things for you, and I hope you love them, too!

I have a few new ideas brewing for Anodyne Design in 2010, so hang around and I’ll keep you posted!

re- has an amazing variety of sustainable products in stock, ranging from organic children’s items to re-purposed glass bottles, and reclaimed wood from wine barrels turned into platters and a lazy susan (which I oh-so-desperately want!). I picked up a special housewarming gift for my brother when I was there, and I know he’s going to love it. re- also offers a variety of classes geared towards creating something new out of something old, like old sweaters into pretty brooches and old tin cans into jewelry.  Definitely stop by and check out this unique shop if you’re in town!

Here’s a peek at some of the Anodyne Design wristlets and wallets you’ll find at re-:

Eco Wristlet made from recycled linens and sweater.

Card Wallets made from recycled material.

There’s more, so you’ll have to stop by to check them out!

P.S. There’s still time to take advantage of 25% off your total order at my Etsy shop if you get me up to 100 sales (I’m currently at 98). See the details here.

Doubts will never completely go away. They’re part of being human. So don’t wait for them to disappear before you embrace your dreams; keep believing in them and visualizing them. You’ll be surprised at what you will accomplish. It takes courage to step out of the crowd and create a business out of an idea. Working on a full-time job and a business will take every ounce of belief that you have in your dream – and the reward will be beyond what you could’ve imagined. – Dealing with Doubts

Image borrowed from Daily Worth

Do you know about Daily Worth? Discovered via Modish Biz Tips, Daily Worth is a “free daily personal finance email for women,” delivering “practical tips, empowering ideas and the occasional kick in the pants,” like the snippet above!

Daily Worth keeps the emails short and sweet, which is important if you are already crunched for time or just don’t like to read through lengthy emails (both true for me). Despite their brevity, each email contains clear value, be it through information or inspiration. Personally, I have found the information about financial planning and cash vs. accrual accounting very helpful. (Every year when doing my taxes I’ve puzzled over cash vs. accrual, but no more!) My favorite emails are the ones that address the more emotional part of running your own business, such as Dealing with Doubts and Stop Apologizing.

If you haven’t already signed up, I highly encourage it! And while you’re over there, check out who else subscribes to Daily Worth. If you are already subscribed, what do you love about Daily Worth?

Second, Anodyne Design will be appearing at the Peoria RiverFront Market every Saturday for the season, June 6th (this weekend!) to September 26th. Be sure to stop by and say hello! SciFi Man and I went to the RiverFront Market almost every week last summer to buy most of our produce. Local veggies (and pasta, and cheese, and, and, and…) are so fresh and tasty. This is definitely a Market you’ll want to visit regularly throughout the summer.

I better get back to sewing so I can be ready for this weekend!

I am particularly interested in keeping tabs on what other people have to say about Anodyne Design. To that end, I’m a huge fan of Google Alerts. If you haven’t checked out this free tool from Google, you should start today. It’s a very simple and efficient way to keep track of any search terms or phrases you are interested in. Instead of searching for “Anodyne Design” on Google when I think about it (which is something I may forget about for a month), I tell Google that I’m interested in “Anodyne Design,” and it will send me an email when something new with my search term appears on the scene.

Google Alerts are customizable, so that you can tell Google how frequently you prefer to receive alert emails, and what types of searches you would like it to conduct for you (for example, a search of only blogs or a comprehensive search of all the data available to Google.) There is no limit to the number of alerts you can set up, so I have Google set to alert me when something new about “Anodyne Design” appears on the radar, and also when something about “Anodyne Designs” (a frequent misnomer used for my business) appears, among other things.

If you want to use Google Alerts to help you monitor information about your business, I recommend you set up several alerts for your business name, your own name, your business URL, and if you have a website or blog, the name (if different) and URL for those. That should allow you to cast a pretty wide, thorough net through Google’s treasure trove of information. You may be surprised by what you find. Google Alerts have informed me when my recently listed items on Etsy have been added to the Google search results, when another blog has linked to my blog, and I have created a new profile on a site like Blog Catalog.

• Don’t forget to enter in the giveaway for an Anodyne Design card wallet if you haven’t already. I’m really excited about giving this away, and I’d love to give it to you.  If you’re lucky. The entry period ends at 9:00 p.m. tonight central standard time, so hop to!
• Be sure to check out the blog tomorrow to find out which two lucky entrants won the giveaway!
• Anodyne Design has joined up with Project Wonderful to offer advertising on this blog. For advertisers, it’s a very affordable way to advertise, AND you get to have a say in where your ads appear (unlike Google Adwords). Want to advertise on Anodyne Design for cheap? Just click here.