Clutch-Me.Com

New URL for the blog.

I’ve gotten a new domain to try to make it short and sweet for my blog.  Now, it will be known as clutch-me.com.  Not to worry, if you type in the previous URL, it will redirect you to this domain, so it will not impact you negatively. One of the other reasons this one done was so that in the future, I can start running ads on the sidebars of my blog due to the increase in traffic volume.  I spend a lot of time on the blog and I love it, but I would like to monetize it and have ads directly related to the content that I am writing about.  This had occurred to me as I was reading other blogs and noticed relevant ads that I was interested in and clicked on.  So I hope the ads will be of benefit to you as well.

I will also update the Sellers page.  If you are an existing Seller and want a new screen snapshot of your shop, please rearrange your shop and convo me.  I’ll take a snapshot and update it for you.

If you would like to be listed as a Seller, convo me and let me know.  My promotions and marketing centers around the Sellers’ inventory of clutches made using my fine purse frames.  I usually pick a theme and go “shopping”.  🙂  I then promote the clutches on Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook.  All hyperlinks lead back to main shop page of the respective Etsy shop.  I have found that doing in tandem on all social platforms greatly increases the number of redirects to my Sellers’ shops.  More eyeballs means more potential sales.  All this is free to clutch handbag makers who use my fine frames and honor my trademarks.  If you are successful, then I will be successful.  Simple as that.  🙂

Lastly, most of you have followed me and my family regarding my grandma’s health.   I hadn’t mentioned it in a while because the grave illness had past, life happens, and the next thing you know it’s already March.  Thank you keeping her in your thoughts and asking about her.  I really believe that prayers and positive thinking pulled her through.  We have been very blessed and she is in relatively good health for her old age.  She can sit up to eat meals now and her keen mind is back.  I still visit her once or twice a week and I bring the kids twice a month to visit her – their Great Gram.  (It’s a bumpy hour-long trip and the carsickness has gotten worse for them!  Roads are so bad here.)  What I am most heartened about is how my kids mention her when they see something they think she would like.  The relationship has deepened between my kids and their Great Gram and I am grateful for it.

Spanning the ages: 5, 98, 9, and 7.

With my winter clutch kits, I had been bringing the fabric and fusible fleece to trace the templates and cut while I’m visiting with her.  Hey, you’ve got to grab time when you can!  Her mattress is on the floor so I just plop right on the tile and cut.  She rolls on her side and helps me by holding down the edges of the fabric so that the oscillating fan doesn’t blow it up!  🙂  I finally brought a finished clutch for her to see and she was very happy.  She says I got skills!  🙂  I keep her involved on what’s going on so that she feels included, alive, and sharp.

I had also been busy painting her walls.  They hadn’t been painted in over 7+ years.

This is the "after" shot of the same walls as shown in the previous photo. I chose a light green called pistachio to usher in spring and brighten up the room that has only one light.

Here in Vietnam, there is no such thing as a Home Depot or Ace Hardware.  It is either your profession (painter, carpenter, etc…) or you hire them.  So imagine the looks and comments I got when I went to get the painting supplies.  (I had left all my brushes, rollers, extenders, etc… in storage in New Jersey.  I had started an interior painting business in late 2010 in New Jersey – two weeks before finding we are moving to Viet Nam.)  So the condescension was palpable “look, little lady …”  LOL.

Sample of my work. I used a 20-ft. metal ladder to paint up high! Don't look down!

She was very happy after my cousins and I finished.  She said it was like she got a new house.  It’s amazing what a fresh coat of paint will do to your moods.

So thank you for your very warm and kind wishes for my grandmother.  If I’m not working on the business, I’m usually sitting on my grandma’s mattress talking to her.  I don’t know how many days she has left (none of us know how many days we have left ourselves) so I don’t take anything for granted.  If anything, my spending time with her only affirms what blessings I have in my life and how I want to spend that time.

Blessings to you and yours!
~Winn

March 14, 2012 Posted by Thy K | WhileBabyNaps General Updates | ads on blog, clutch, clutch making, fashion, health, new domain, painting, patterns, sewing, url | Leave a comment