Turning the coaster into an Afghan square

I posted the pattern for a 12-petal coaster a few days and I was going to make another for the Knit-A-Square project today. Unfortunately, my browser refused to worked, so I was not able to search for another pattern to make. Yeah... I have an obsession of making a different pattern every time. ;p

So I decide to turn the coaster into an 8" Afghan Square. The pattern is posted below.

12 Petals Coaster Pattern - with business updates

Wow! It's been five years since I posted. How did time just fly by?! A lot has happened in between and I am not going to bore you with that. I can only say God has been good! Let's stay focused.

Business update - We have moved back to Singapore! Our Facebook page is still active to serve both the Singapore and US customers. The website is for the US customers and the Carousell site is for the Singapore customers.

I have been actively working on the Knit-A-Square project with the church aunties who bought yarn in bulk on Tao Bao at only 60 cents each. If you are a crocheter or knitter, and have some free time and loose yarn on hand, do consider supporting the project!

I have been asked so many times about when I started doing yarn craft when I was seen working on the squares outside. After saying I started at 11 yr old so many times, I decided that more kids should get a chance to learn the craft! Let me tell you my experience though. I made my mum take me to a yarn shop, chose a project for a black and white top, paid more than $100 and sat down to learn. Although I preserved and finished the project, the teacher measured the top so wide and so short I never ever got to wear the top. :_( I believed I spent no longer than 3 hrs in the shop but I did have to pop by a few times to fix some mistakes.

Therefore, I am offering 1 to 1 knitting/ crochet classes to kids and teenagers at $20/hr, allowing them to learn at their own pace with a very simple project, like a coaster or pouch. Instead of paying for all the material and realizing your child is not interested, I will supply all the material needed to get started. There is not even a need to commit to another lesson unless your child enjoys it. If your child wants to pursue a bigger project, you can buy the material at that time and I'll be happy to teach at the same rate. Spread the word and contact me if you are interested!

With the Knit A Square project, I try to make a different pattern for every square, in a bid to learn more techniques and patterns. I finally attempt to write one myself today. I started with making the coaster before writing it down. I used a lot of double crochet 2 together because I love that stitch : )

Enjoy the pattern for now!

Business on the Go! (Read till the end for a bonus!)

Wow! Look at that! Another 5 months have flown by and we totally skipped winter! One snow-day picture to prove we had snow at all.

We already had our first little bloom last weekend after the "overwintering" and definitely our first success at "gardening" without a garden.

For those who read my last blog and prayed for our Costa Rica trip, thank you thank you thank you! We were definitely more ministered to than we ministered to the Costa Ricans. 

What I really wanted to talk about today is taking your shop anywhere you want. Have you ever had customer who decided they cannot make the purchase because they do not have enough cash or their checks on them? How about answering "Yes I do" the next time they ask "Do you accept credit?"

I was intrigued by the idea of accepting credit cards on the go when I first saw the card readers being sold in the Apple store for $20. My husband had offered to get it but that was way more than what I would like to pay for something I may not use in a very long time (or at all) and still have to pay fees on.

All that changed when I chanced upon the idea of "Free app + Free card reader". I was adamant that there must be a catch somewhere, so I looked very closely and would like to share what I found here. I started my search on one of the Top Ten Reviews article reviewing "Mobile Credit Card Processing". So you can go there for the full suite of offerings, prices and features. I am just going to focus on Square and Intuit Gopayment and on features that matters to me as a sole proprietor of my little craft business that relies on face to face sale much more than online sale. For obvious reasons, I chose those two because there is no merchant account fee and gateway fee involved for pay-as-you-go options. Truth be told, the transaction fees are overall lower than Etsy and Paypal fees that you don't even think about anymore.

Let's talk about the similarities first. As I have mentioned, the apps and card readers are both free. Square is still limited to the the Apple mobile devices and Andriod while Gopayment claims to work on any phone with internet access. The card readers are sent to you once you sign up and request for the dongle and both companies work out fine for me. Both card readers fit into the audio jack and Gopayment suggest that volume be turned up for optimal performance but Square did not say that. In any case, I have tried swiping 5 different cards that I own and both are able to read all the cards well and quick. Square reader feels a little more fragile than Gopayment reader though, but I have read reviews where the Gopayment does not fit because of the phone case.

Now for the differences, it is a catch 22 situation. While both apps allow you to key in or take a picture of the item you are selling, Gopayment app allows you to set up your inventory in advance so that you can charge it right away. However, it does not allow cash as a payment option, thus losing its usability as an inventory tracking app. Square, on the other hand, allows cash payment but not inventory setup. Here's what I figured I would do: Use Quick Sale (not updated anymore) or Ring it up (just got it, not tried it yet) to track all inventory and all payment record and use the invoice number generated as the "Item description" when you charge the card using either of the credit card processing app. So you don't have set up inventory in one place and be frustrated about not being to keep track of the sale.

Another issue deals with security and privacy. Square requires your SS number and bank account information for fund transfers. So you need to use your official name associated with your SS number in order to set up successfully. I had some trouble but all I had to do was email Square and they deleted my account, so that I can set it up again. Gopayment do away with the need for bank information by issuing you with a debit card. Funds gets banked in on a separate account. I really do not mind either one as long as I receive the payment eventually. That I will have to wait till I try them out. 

I am unbiased with the user interface but I have seen reviews where people do not like to have to log in to Gopayment every single time the phone locks itself (even if it is running in the background). While it provides security, I am not sure how you would lose any money even if somebody picks up your device and manages to get into the app without logging in...

Now, how about a bonus for trying out Gopayment? This was the reason I signed up for it (after I got Square). Ebates.com offers $10 cash back for users who sign up with Gopayment! If you would allow me to refer you to Ebates, click HERE and both you and I will get $5 for the referral and you can go on to sign up for $10 cash back with Gopayment. Note that you will still get $5 for signing up without my referral. Just saying it will be very kind of you let me refer you. I have received checks from them, so I know it works : )

Hope you feel empowered by the knowledge that you can now choose to accept credit cards on the go! Till next time!

Our first Fund Raising

In our (Asian) culture, we were taught to be self-sufficient. Asking for money was not honorable. It is in fact, disgraceful. Well, here's the truth. We are not splitting hair over money and we are certainly not expecting to be paid for the ministry work that we do. No, that's the last thing on our mind. But having said that, ministry work cannot be done without costs involved. Travel expenses like transportation, accommodation and food are necessities and real cost and they can often work out to be a pretty decent amount. This is true for all those out there on the mission field, trusting God to provide these for them.

The question is then, do we set our money for daily expenses aside and spend it on one mission trip? Or, can we request for fellow believers to partner with us and contribute financially to the work we do, continue to survive and do many more trips that make a difference in the lives of others? An old chinese saying goes "有钱出钱，有力出力"，literally meaning "give financially OR physically as you are able". I guess it is true in many cases, especially in disaster relief, where most of us cannot be physically present but can most certainly help financially.

Those who know us personally, would know that we are thrifty with what we have, and we do not hesitate to work for a little more. That explains my little jewelry business, that has recently spun into bakery sale and soon to debut, needlecraft sale too. I consider all business sales as part of the financial blessings to us from God through each of my customers, whether they are believers in Christ or not.

Thus for our first mission trip to Costa Rica, we are raising funds for the first time. This trip is part of the travel class on the Book of Acts with Asbury Theological Seminary. The students will be imparting what they have learn in the class to the pastors there. Yes, you are right, I am not a student, but my husband is. Spouse are encouraged to participate as mission trips serves for spiritual growth for the couple too. We are also exploring our calling together, to serve in a different culture, and possibly providing multilingual ministry. Thus, we are glad for this opportunity.

Your prayers for us are greatly coveted. If God so impress upon your heart to give a free-will donation, it is most certainly welcomed. Gross earnings from my business till the end of this year will also contribute to this trip, so your patronage will be greatly appreciated too. Speaking of that, I made two sales yesterday right after we committed to putting the earnings to this trip. I have not had a sale since Independence Day craft fair, so I know this is God's go-ahead for our fund raiser.

Thank you for reading and keeping us in prayers. God bless you.

Feeling so bumped!

If you have read my post on Etsy or ArtFire?, I am back with the struggle a month later now. ArtFire has recently announced a change in suspending all Basic account and charge all sellers $9.95 a month. I have stopped using the word Pro seller, since you can only be a seller if you pay that fee. Not cool at all...

I have reopened my Etsy shop but since the listing expires once every four months, I am on the hunt for free sites to sell. Instead of trying to promote my Etsy store here, I am going to try to list some of these sites that I have found and hopefully explore them. If you have a site to recommend to those of us who cannot afford to run our own server, do leave a comment!

webs.com - Create your own free website and be able to sell up to 5 items at a time. This is what I use as my own website since the free URL is short enough and just right for the entourage of angels. No fees except Paypal and Google checkout fees as applicable. Good for the speciality of your shop that you would not want to incur listing fee with.

eCrater - Free to list and sell and you are only responsible for the fees to Paypal and/or Google checkout when you make a sale. Low traffic but I have managed to make a sale before. Low maintenance since the listing does not expire.

Handmade Craft Show - Pay to advertise for a minimum of $9 with 5 weeks exposure in the "aisle" with least traffic. It looks like you can use your Etsy mini in the craft show directly.

Zibbet - Free account with 50 items limit. Etsy and ArtFire importer included in the free account. I decided to set one up right away! The importers made migrating a breeze. It is awesome even just using it as an additional store. I will be able to use it to display items that I sold without worrying about the listing fees. Each listing is active for 180 days. Premium account ($9.95/mth or $69/yr) required to make coupons and use some other features. Very much like ArtFire Basic but I simply love the user interface.

madeitmyself - Feels like a pretty quiet market but it is free to list and sell. I don't like the idea of having to say how much it cost in retail and how much my listing cost though, because the item I made myself are not available in retail... Anyway, it cost $0.49 to feature the item, which I have not yet figure out what that means. My new listing was put on the front page and I was on the most active shop list. Anyway, you can definitely get away with selling without paying fees at all.

Three Sisters Marketplace - Free to list and free to sell, but you need to be juried and approved to sell. Sellers apparently have high quality items. Worth trying if you are confident of your products.

Storenvy - Compulsory use of Paypal for payment method, not a bad idea I guess. Much as we believe most people have Paypal account nowadays, we may potentially lose customers who don't. You are allowed to make coupon codes and each store comes with a Facebook app store. This is probably my favorite thing about the shop.

Silkfair - Different price tier to meet different selling needs. You can get the free account but there is still a transaction fee of 3% no matter which account you choose. Coupon function not available yet. I did not bother to set up an account.

ShopHandmade - You can choose to list for free with ad sponsorship or pay the 25 cents yourself. You can also choose how much commission to shophandmade.com. Therefore, you can totally get away with paying nothing to sell. I tried one product but I felt the user interface can be improved.

Concluding my online shop shopping experience, I liked Zibbet the best as it was totally painless to do migration, from both Etsy and ArtFire at that! You have the option to upgrade too, if 50 items limit or ability to create coupon is important to you. I would definitely take some time to set up my Three Sisters Marketplace as it seems to be a market of a different level. Storenvy might the only other shop I would maintain, based on its traffic and tools available. With all these options out there, I really do not think I would want to continue selling with ArtFire... If you have other great shop sites to recommend to those of us who are not able to run our own shopping sever, please throw your suggestions this way!