Sugar Bunny Boulevard

Contemplating and Spiffing

Hellow (where did that come from?) Dear Readers. 

I only have a moment because I have procrastinated about posting this all morning.  And I've been knitting. And drinking some tea.  And reading (and commenting on!) some blogs.  Visiting my Bloglines list has been like going back to your home town after being away for ten years.  Things change.  People move.  And pass away.  And some are still there.  Some are divorced, some are still happily chugging along in the same place as they've always been as if you were never gone.  Its a strange experience.

 
Tazo tea, Earl Grey.  Monkey Socks in a very unobnoxious orangey color.  They've been on the needles a long time - apparently since September 2008 which is when I printed the pattern.  They'll be for me for a change.  Oh I have so many undocumented FOs.

Right this moment Lila Pearl has gotten a box of whole wheat penne pasta from the pantry and is asking me, "Mommy, have you ever painted with these?"  As if she doesn't recognize it as a food product.  ha

Soooo, as I was saying.  I've been pondering the appearance of my blog.  So I did some quick and dirty spiffing a while ago.  Needed a fresh look.  Not totally satisfied with it but its something new.  I want to be able to adjust the left sidebar to be narrower but this is a cookie cutter template from Typepad so you get what they give you.  Beggers can't be choosers, so to speak.

And I have been contemplating the fund raising.  I have had so many good suggestions (which I didn't actually ask for but am appreciating OH SO MUCH!) and I need to keep from getting overwhelmed by options and just take Action.  Pattern writing, while brilliant, takes more time than we really have.  I will have a PayPal button up very shortly.  And will be suggesting a few options for raffle objects.  One that I'm considering is my original Entrelac Scarf (yes, the one in the pattern photos).  Does anyone think that's weird, like uh, "we don't want your thing that you've been using for the past four years?"  So many people have admired it.  It was the first thing that came to my mind.

The second raffle object that came to mind was to knit a wee darling toy lamb like this one that I made for a little friend of mine who broke her elbow (!) and had sugery.  More than a few people asked if I would knit them one but balked at the price I would ask.  I'd much rather have a knitalong for it at the new shop.  :)

Another idea was to have a garage sale!  Cool!!  The next three weekends of my life, however, will involve driving to Oklahoma and swapping kids who are on spring break the week before during or after.  This Saturday is the start of that.

So, yes - I'm planning and organizing all of this in my head.  Dreading the stash dive I'm about to make and really thinking I don't have much that I am willing to part with.  Some of it truly is irreplaceable and most of it was gifted to me.  So that's a tough idea.  I'm more into the raffles.  And into dyeing new stuff.  Oh, yes, and another great idea was to offer special perks to donors at a certain level.  Coupons, discounts, pre-opening shopping party.  Ideas.... Ideas!!!  I like 'em. 

Be well and take care of every little thing.  I'll see ya right back here.  :)   XOXOXOXOX
  

Dusting

Hello Dear Ones.  :)

I'm here dusting off the blog.  I have read people say that so many times on their long neglected blogs over the past 5+ years since I have been blogging.  Yes, it was five years of blogging for SugarBunny back in January, if you can even believe it.

So I'm here.  Dusting.  Because, as everyone always does, I intend to begin blogging on a regular basis again.  Promises, promises.  Yes yes.  Well, I have a plan, oh readers.  I have a plan. 

And a purpose.

And I may just be starting over from scratch again with blog readers.  Maybe yes, maybe no.  Blog stats will tell, I believe.  Things have changed around here at typepad too.  Looks and feels different.  The blog needs some spiffing.

And without yapping you into a zombie stare, I'll explain my purpose.

I'm opening a yarn shop y'all.  And some people who follow me on Facebook already know that.  Some don't.  I've been kind of hushy about it because I've been working on it a really long time and not really sure it was actually going to Happen.  Kind of like when you're trying to get pregnant and don't want people bugging you about it all the time so you don't tell anyone.  When we were trying to conceive our first baby it happened right away so I didn't have to keep any secrets for long.

You might say I'm having fertility issues with the yarn shop. Or maybe its just been a very very very long gestational period.  And I'm ready to talk about it.  The concept was dormant for a very long time.  Years.  Some time during 2008 I was feeling the Yarn Shop Internal Clock begin ticking when I saw a space for rent on Main Street that was next door to a coffee shop and I just thought it would be a really great location for a yarn shop.  Thankfully someone rented the place and turned it into a cute little bakery, which sent the internal yarn shop clock back into hibernation.

During September 2009 that space became vacant.  Apparently the bakery didn't thrive.  When I drove past and saw a sign in the window I didn't think twice - I phoned the realtor that second to find out the details and scheduled an appointment to visit the space.  I took my friend Sue on the tour of this space and when we walked back to the car we both were thinking "No Way."  Then Sue said, "Hey, how about I show you another space on South Main Street that is vacant?"  This town isn't that big and I couldn't imagine what space it could be.

We drove to South Main and saw the location - it was one that I had thought, many MANY times, would be a Heavenly location for a yarn shop (yes, I've lived here 4 1/2 yrs and the perfect yarn shop location has always been on my mind).  This is at 201 S. Main Street in El Dorado.  In its past it was a Montgomery Ward department store, then a home interior store, then a church (as far as I know).  So I found the perfect space!  Yay!  That was back in September 2009!!!!!  And by the Grace of God, its still available.  Bad economy?  Divine grace?  Whatever the reason, its still there for me.  Waiting for me to sign a lease.  Keep your fingers crossed about this space.  Its sooooo perfect.

 
201 S Main, El Dorado, KS - Approx 3000 sq feet for yarn, pattern books, magazines, needles and notions, several tables for sitting and chatting, spinning supplies, enclosed classroom, coffee center (wet bar) at the back, and in the future, fabric for quilting and sewing and a cutting table.

So I immediately started figuring out What To Do.  HOW do you start a business?  Well, unless you're flush with cash, you must have a well developed Business Plan.  Lots of resources on the internet for developing your business plan.  And with encouragement and direction from local business owners and others with an interest in developing Main Street in El Dorado, I was quickly in touch with people who could point in the right direction with how to start a new business.  I had an advisor who was giving me great advice on how to proceed with my business plan, what to include, etc etc.  I applied for financing with Main Street El Dorado and South Central Kansas Economic Development District (SCKEDD).  I also visited two banks and applied with two other microloan programs.  Whew.  And then started waiting.  And waiting.  And waiting.  Picture a clock with the hands twirling around.  Picture a calendar with the pages being blown and tearing off on their own and flying away out of sight.  Yes.  That kind of Waiting.  In the mean time I drove past the shop every day.  Sometimes several times.

Big display windows (fun! lots of work!) There are actually big doors with paned glass that seperate the display windows from the showroom floor area.

Last fall I was approved for loans with El Dorado Main Street and SCKEDD.  But I was still lacking $15,000.  Whew.  No problem, right?  Well, there was a problem.  $15,000 is a lot of money when you're out of collateral.  SCKEDD is using everything we've got for collateral.  Home equity and vehicle that we just paid off.  Opening inventory (yarn!), furniture and fixtures for the business.

Original vintage tiles in Both entryways.  I'm really nutty about these tiles.

Finally we were turned down by banks and every available microloan lender that wasn't already giving us money.  So the only thing left, as far as I could tell, was to reduce the start-up costs for the business.  So I slashed numbers.  And sent it back to SCKEDD.  And resubmitted to Main Street.

 
Future home of Sugar Bunny Boulevard (Yarn Fiber and Fabric).  Spacious. Ready, but for a wee bit of paint.  Remodel in the future if I like it and choose to buy the space.  Two bathrooms, enclosed classroom over there at the far left just out of camera range, childrens play space just past that (you can see the half wall there), and a nice big room in the back for storage and possible dyeing workshops.

When the results came back and we pledged our own tax refund, and loan committees had re-evaluated my information, we were still $3000 short.  That's it.  In the grand scheme of life, $3000 is small.  Nothing!  Except when you don't have it.

So that's what stands between me (Us) and the yarn shop.  Two times in my life I've been told "Laura, I know you can do it."  The first time was my attorney back in 1998 when I had to come up with money to pay him before he would file a motion regarding custody.  He knew I could do it, and I did.  This time it was by my business advisor who is very excited for this business to take off and be successful.  She has confidence in me.  I know I can do it.

Where will I get $3000?  It's time to get inventive.  I thought I was inventive as I wrote up my business plan and went to meetings selling everybody in town on how great this yarn shop idea is.  But now I'm having to pull out all the stops and find $3000.  Is it in my couch cushions?  In my yarn stash?  In my crazy brain full of ideas?  Yes, we believe it is.  When the only thing standing between me and opening the shop is $3000, I can find it.

Now to figure out where.