[autumn} shop update.

our shop is constantly evolving. it's a roller coaster of emotions, and as much as i try to not let the highs get too high and the lows get too low, they inevitably get the best of me and leave in a puddle of tears some days. this handmade business thing is not for the faint of heart. it's just not. 

don't get me wrong, i never thought it would be easy. i never did. and the first year we were in business, it took off beyond my wildest dreams. only God can take it where you didn't even know you wanted it to go! i got to experience wonderful things like making dear friends via social media, i had weirs {a local to-die-for country store} contact me about wholesale and we're still enjoying a blossoming partnership that i am forever grateful for. i've been blessed to sponsor craft weekend {which i still love} and even had the privilege to go. it was amazing.

all of it was amazing. 

but in the midst of all of the good, there is hard. just like in any business. there are those VERY rare customers that you can't make happy - and it kills me when that happens. there are people who steal - ideas, merchandise, words + so on - and that is just NOT nice. and if i don't watch myself, i end up focusing my thoughts on the negative. on all of these little tiny negatives instead of the vastness of the wonderful blessing my business has been.

and so in this season of thanksgiving - i am choosing to take my thoughts captive - each + every one - and i will be focusing on all of the wonderful aspects of being a handmade business owner. because there ARE so very many - and they greatly outweigh the yucky stuff. a wonderful friend of mine who has her own kind of business told me she felt the Lord speak to her that she is to be grateful for EACH and EVERY sale. each customer. each product sold. each sweet and kind email. each positive comment. each 'like'. 

and that is the best advice i've been given in a long time. and it's changed how i look at my business. and i hope it changes how you look at it too. i hope you know that you are loved and prayed over with every order you place with little branches. i hope you know that we are grateful for new business and blessed three fold by return business. i hope you can feel the love that was put into each and every product that we make and that you are blessed and it fills your day with love, life and encouragement.

"the words I have spoken to you - they are full of the Spirit and of life" {john 6:63b} 

that is our hope.... that the words you find within little branches will be full of the Spirit and of life, just as Jesus's words always were. 

blessings today.

shop preview.

hey y'all!

i meant to throw this out there yesterday but the day just got away from me! but here's the big news::

the shop will open this wednesday at 9 AM cst!!!

get ready - it's going to be loads of fun!!!

be sure to check out our instagram account for an amazing giveaway!!! 

here's a little preview of what will be in the shop come tomorrow morning!

rise up giveaway + my thoughts on mean girls

happy monday, sweet readers! i hope you found yourself waking up well rested & ready for a wonderful week! i woke up extra energized after spending the weekend with our youth group worshipping Jesus. i hope you are finding yourself extra blessed this morining!

speaking of blessed, i am overwhelmed & humbled at the amount of YOU who entered the rise up giveaway. i am blown away by the reception that this collection has been receiving. YOU are sweet treasures in my book & i cannot believe that i get to do what i do and share my God-given gifts with you. 

so, without further ado - the winner is laura butler! congratulations, laura! your happies will be in the mail this week!!

also, for those of you wanting to order, the rise up collection has officially launched. click over to etsy to order! thank you again for your kindness. i so appreciate each sweet word & thought. y'all are amazing!

so, like i mentioned earlier, we spent the weekend with the youth group at a retreat our church does called freedom. {it's basically disciple now or D-now}. the hubbs & i grew up going to this retreat so we are more than happy to volunteer our time to help out with it going forward. you could never do these kinds of retreats without volunteers, right? 

our friends hosted a house of 9th grade girls & i helped with food and driving. it was such a blessing to be a part. each of our girls came in a pair, except one. but on sunday when i was driving them to the service, they were each exchanging phone numbers and "kick" addresses. {what is a kick?!?}

it warmed my heart. 

but as we spent some time there this weekend it was incredibly interesting to observe the social rules of high school again. yes, i think a LOT of it has changed - for instance - cell phones + social media were nonexistent when i was in high school - but a lot of it hasn't changed. 

there's still the popular crowd. the loners. the mean kids. the bullies. the awkward ones. the spiritual ones. the leaders. 

and it was interesting talking to our girls about mean girls. julie & i definitely saw some mean girls this weekend. pushing through the crowd like they owned the place & like they were better than everyone else. we could see them sizing everyone up & talking about the outcasts. making the outcasts. 

it was just plain mean. and it's different seeing it from the outside looking in. 

why did we ever give those mean people 'status'? why did they have power in our high schools? because we gave it to them? there's no other explanation, right? if we had just all chosen not to give them attention then it would have gone away, right? they would have become powerless. but in that moment - in high school - it doesn't feel like we have the power to change it. 

but as moms, we do. 

i realized this weekend that i only have a short time to change my daughter's outlook. listening to our girls talk about their moms & the influence they have on their lives - good AND bad - was a complete eye opener for me. i realized that it's my job to not only teach c how to include others, but that it's my job to model that for her. 

i've been the victim to mean girls. i would venture to say that we all have at one time or another. even at thirty years old it doesn't change. there are still those who don't include others. who are a part of a "click" and refuse to invite others in. there are still girls who talk behind another's back, who pass judgement and gossip and hate. it's awful and it hurts to the bone. still. 

but i also realized this weekened, that i'm probably in the 'mean girl' category more often than i'd like to be. even if it's not in the form of pushing myself to the front of the line or demanding attention - being loud and dramatic. but i do have ugly thoughts. and sometimes {more than i'd like to admit} gossip & share things that are none of my business. and, just being honest here, i speak unkind words more than i'd like to admit.

ugh.... i'm wretched. and i'm completely broken over it this morning. 

because i realized this weekend that a lot of those unkind words & ugly thoughts come from a deep place of hurt. i'm thirty years old {give or take a year or two, right?} and my feelings still get hurt by other girls women.  and instead of just saying, "you know what? i'm hurting", i lash out in the form of gossip, resentment & anger. it's completely unholy & i'm thankful for a God who extends grace and forgiveness to my ugliest parts.

but the worst part is that i'm modeling this for my daughter. 

i want to change that. i want to show her what it's like to befriend the lonely. i want to show her what it looks like to speak words of life & love. how to include everyone - and the balance that comes with including everyone and having best friends - because there is a balance. you can't have deep & meaningful relationships with twenty five people, you just can't. but you can be kind and thoughtful.  that is my desire for her tender heart. 

so let me challenge you this week to look for that lonely person. to look for the one who might shrink back. i would bet that they're hurting and YOU could change that. i'm not saying you need to become their bestie. but you CAN be Jesus to them, kind & caring & thoughtful. i fail at this daily, but after my high school flash back this week, i will be working harder at it & hope maybe you will too. 

blessings today. 

xoxo. 

little branches. {update + FAQs}

hey y'all. 

i hope you all had a lovely weekend. i spent some time out in the "country" and i came back feeling relaxed + refreshed + ready to work. 

that's the goal, right? 

rest. 

so i wanted to update y'all on the goings on with little branches, my little handmade shop. we are introducing some changes {that i think will be ALL good} but i wanted to clarify several things right here. it'll be easier & more time efficient than answering individual questions. 

so here we go. 

frequently asked questions. 

why did you switch to etsy? 

well. there are many reasons for the switch but there are two that are very important to me. 

first - etsy is very user friendly. as much i loved having my own site, i also had glitches with it & it wasn't the easiest to maintain the listings.

second - and probably MOST importantly - it allows me to have coupon codes. for YOU! and i love that. i had been sending swag up to craft weekend & was never able to really participate in the 'deal' part of it and that made me sad! i love getting coupon codes when i order things and i wanted to be able to provide that for you. so - we made the switch. 

do you take custom orders? 

this one is a tough one for me. but at this time, i am not accepting any custom orders. as much as i absolutely adore making special things for each & every one of you, i've decided that at this time, what is best for my family comes before what is best for my business. we worked extremely hard on creating just the right pieces for our custom orders and as such, the time it took began preventing us from moving ahead and creating new items for lines that we want to keep in stock. we pray about each design that we bring forth and hope that it blesses each of you in a unique way, even if it's not 'custom'.

can you do custom colors? 

i do have the ability to do custom colors, but a lot of our items are already mostly made by the time the order is placed. please feel free to email us to see if we can accommodate you, but as i stated in the previous question, more often than not we will only offer the stock colors. we work hard at putting combinations together that we love & hope you love as well. i hope you can find something that is already to your liking, but please feel free to ask. just please understand if we are unable to accommodate your request at the time. 

do you offer wholesale pricing? 

yes! we love our wholesale clients! if you are interested in wholesale pricing, please email us at becky@shoplittlebranches.com for a pricelist and items available. minimums do apply. 

i saw a university item of yours on pinterest. are they available? 

we are so sad, but the university items are no longer available. the cost of licensing for the schools was just too much to make sense for our business so at this time we have decided to no longer produce the items. we are still proud of our schools though! {sic 'em!}

 

what about items in your previous lines? will you produce those again? 

we often get requests for items that were in lines we have made seasonally. as much as we'd love to keep everything in stock all the time, we just do not have the space to keep up with that & i think my husband would honestly kill me. so we've found that it works best to rotate things in out, along with new things. our goal is to have several different collections in production throughout the year, rotating old stuff & new stuff with best sellers. for example, the picture above is from our spring 2013 line. we are currently offering all of the minis in our etsy shop but do not plan to produce the other items again at this time. it's an effort to be able to grow and evolve our shop & produce new items for you! we're trying to keep it fresh & fun in here! so please, let us know what YOU would like to see return for another rotation, but in the mean time please enjoy our new lines!  

do you participate in any craft fairs? 

yes! last year was our first year to be seen at the jj pearce pacesetters bazaar in richardson. we also did two trunk shows at bradbury lane. if you are interested in seeing little branches as your local craft fair or a local trunk show, please contact us at info@shoplittlebranches.com and give us some details! we love to travel and would love to meet y'all in person!! 

whew. 

that was a tad long winded, but i hope it was useful information for you! please don't hesitate to leave to ask any other questions! we are so grateful for each of you - and you're all special to us! 

be blessed today! 

 

shop preview.

hey y'all! 

we had an amazing show this past weekend. it was our very first craft fair and it was so. much. fun. 

and it was a lot of work. but more fun than work. and so much fun to meet some of YOU that were so kind & generous to come by and say hi. it's so fun to begin to put faces with names. i LOVE that part. 

 

 

i can't believe that there are people out there {some of you precious ones too!} that do craft shows every weekend. i am beat. seriously. not only the set up and the take down, but the preparation getting ready - and then working it all weekend. 

we are just now coming "to". 

but i am oh so grateful. 

and NOW we get to celebrate our one year anniversary! can you believe we've been open for a full year? i am beyond blessed by this shop. by the gift that the Lord has allowed me to share with you. 

i am humbled and am forever indebted to each of our loyal & wonderful customers over the last year. for taking a chance on our new product and for loving it & coming back for more. 

i cannot begin to express our gratitude.

but as a start - we will be having a HUGE sale in the shop on friday!

 

we'll have these christmas cards in sets of 8, 25 and 100. available with personalization! woot!

 and some mini bunting. 

i heart mini bunting.

someone stopped by our booth on saturday afternoon and bought it all. 

i loved her. a girl after my own heart.

 and a peace sign or two.

what do y'all think of the "hey y'all"!? 

i kind of love it. i might not sell it. 

this is some wood i brought back from craft weekend. eek! i think it would look GREAT above a doorway.

 12 x 12 christmas squares with glitter. can't get better than that.

one of my faves. these are going to be limited to the reclaimed wood we find. 

last year merry & bright was a BESTSELLER. this year we added joyful & triumphant. it may end up decorating my house too. 

large reminders of thankfulness available in a variety of colors. 

can't wait until friday! remember there will be SALE prices available on FRIDAY only!! you'll be sad you missed it if you don't tune in. 

thank you for being such encouraging and supportive customers. we love each of you. 

what is on your christmas list from little branches?

shop update.

hi friends!!!!!

so..... i wanted to give y'all a little shop update. 

{did you know i have a shop? i sometimes forget too. especially since we haven't had an update since MAY!!!!!}

i've been on hiatus for the summer. we moved and i went to africa. and my oldest is going to be a sweet kinderbaby NEXT week. 

so we took some time out.

but last night we had such a fun sale over on instagram with my university collection.

you guys rocked it. especially you baylor fans! my sweet baylor fans. {okay - and the aggies did alright for themselves too i guess.....}

thank you thank you thank you.

unfortunately right now i am NOT planning on stocking any of the university stuff in the shop. boo! i know. but we are getting ready for some exciting stuff coming up in the next few months so i just can't promise any of them right now! i'm hoping that will change, and if it does i'll let you know.

but for now - it's onto.... 

FALL!!!!!

yay fall. i love it, y'all. {hahahah!}

it's one of my most favorite times of the year. actually every season - except winter - is probably my favorite. i don't like winter. but it's all good because i live in texas and winter arrives for about two weeks in short two or three day spurts throughout january, february and then sometimes march & april. maybe even may. rarely, but maybe. so i've got it all worked out here. 

i'd take my hot summer of your cold winter, jaime, any day. ANY day. 

anyways..... i digress.

fall stuff is coming. i cannot wait. it took me a while to find my groove, but i have and i'm so excited to share it all with you. 

here's a little sneak peek of the minis from the new autumn collection.

we will stock the shop and open it on tuesday september 3. we will have 12 of EVERY item for you to order. we'll have giveaways and all sorts of fun things that week too. you'll like it. i promise.

but once they're gone.... they're going to be gone. 

because we're having a show again at bradbury lane in richardson! wooohoo. 

we are so excited they asked us back. and there will be lots of fall stuff there. and... maybe christmas stuff will make it's debut there too??? hint hint!!!

get excited y'all. 

it's going to be fun.

thank you for your sweet words about my shop. 

i'm so thankful for each of you. you bless me daily.