New Year, New Website

At the beginning of each new year (decade?), I look back on the past year at what I accomplished or didn't accomplish, and think about what I might do in the coming year to improve and grow my business.  Dunroamin Farm Design was born about 10 years ago.  At the time I was making jewelry and hooking rugs.  I did a couple of local craft fairs each year with my friend, sharing a table and enjoying one another's company.  As my eyesight has gotten worse, I transitioned from jewelry making to creating felted wool accessories.  For a couple of years I had an Etsy shop, but that never really did anything, so I let it go.  Five years ago, I was accepted as a member of a cooperative gallery and gift shop near my home.  The beginning was rough.  I was barely selling enough to cover my monthly rent, but within a couple of years I learned to diversify my offerings and found the "sweet spot" for pricing in this market.  My biggest sellers at Sawmill River Arts Gallery are my small-scale framed 2-dimensional needle felted landscapes, which have captivated customers from all over the country and even the world.  I know that some of these have made their way as gifts to China and Afghanistan!  I continue to introduce new images and reproduce the perennially popular ones.  Even the repeat images are unique and individually felted by hand.

Last year I felt I was ready to grow my business with small group workshops, and for that, I rented two different studio spaces over the course of 2019.  The workshops didn't pan out but I did make use of the time at the studio and had my most productive year ever.  I let my lease(s) go but feel that that was a positive experience that I may one day attempt again.  I'm back in my small home studio in the basement which challenges me in many ways (lack of storage, temperature, light, to name a few), but I have to admit it's nice to be able to throw in a load of laundry or take the dog out on a whim, and I'm not taking up precious time commuting.

This year I look forward to teaching more wet felting classes at Wool-ology and continuing to increase my involvement at the gorgeous DVAA Gallery and Gift Shop.  I feel that I have a lot to offer at this point in my career and want to give back.  I feel fortunate to have had the opportunities that have come my way.

One thing I did not expect to do in 2020 was to create a brand new website, but here it is!  Earlier this month I got my first quarterly bill from my previous web host (that I had been with for many years) and was shocked that the price had increased by 50% for no apparent reason.  I was not upgrading or getting any additional services, so I frantically started looking around at other website companies.  I transferred my domain to Weebly and was up and running in a couple of hours!  I'm feeling really good about the switch and would love to hear any feedback about the website in the comments.
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