New year, new direction

As I reflect on 2014, I realize what a massively marvelous year it was for my business. I started the year with 502 sales & what I thought was a lofty goal to hit 600 total orders by the end of the year. I ended up almost doubling that goal! Lu & Ed, my monster making business, hit 700 total orders with two weeks left in the year! Here is a run down of some of the other exceptionally wonderful tidbits from 2014:

I won an logo & branding package from Oh My Handmade! & Lu & Ed was rebranded. Isn't my new logo so cute?! 

I made & sold a total of over 350 monsters. And went through over 10,000 yards of white thread in the process, guys.

I was voted one of the Top Three Indie Crafters in Kansas City. 

I had some super duper fantastic opportunities come my way (that I can't wait to share with you guys!).

I struck up my first wholesale partnership with Greener Life Market in Lees Summit, MO. 

I hired my first employee.

And this summer, I paid for a down payment on a new car with monster money. 

And then I realized I have so much more to offer you guys. 

You see, I had been operating Daft as a separate business entity, something totally separate from Lu & Ed. I had been writing generic business advice, trying to be all-encompassing & trying to please everyone. Trying to make some one size fits all content for all you amazing makers out there. And the more I've thought on it over the past several weeks, I realized you guys deserve better. You guys deserve the rawness & honesty about this industry that I have been aching to share somewhere. I should be using this space to weclcome you guys with open arms into my studio, chatting with you like I would a friend over coffee & sharing all my knowledge with you. I want to provide you all with the tools you need to thrive & live a positive life as an indie business owner while also collecting & sharing experiences to help inspire, motivate & encourage. I want to fill this space up to the brim with goodness & maker magic!

So as I embrace the winter slowdown & wrap up 2014, I am also preparing to step into 2015 with a new direction for this cozy little space on the web that I am oh-so-excited about & hope you are too! Things are going to get more personal over here, guys. There is going to be more juicy content about the things that matter to indie makers, more insightful marketing analysis & case studies, more transparency about the indie industry & most of all, more inspiration, encouragement and tools to help you marvelous makers succeed!

But first, let's just kick back & enjoy the holidays, huh? In observation of the holiday, there will be no new #happyhandmade this week, but the collection from week ninety-three is up until the 31st so be sure to get your items linked up!

Happy holidays to you & yours!

Your friendly monster maker, Cody