A Kiddely Divey

The Death of Google Reader

2013-12-29T10:49:00.001-06:00

Since the main reader I was using has passed on... I've been on the hunt for something I actually like to replace it. I've seen quite a few folks using Bloglovin, so I'm gonna give it a shot. First step is to "claim" my blog. This is just an attempt to do that. Wish me luck.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Update: I think it worked. :) Check out my new button over in the right-side bar.

Welcome Back

2013-12-01T19:47:00.000-06:00

Did you miss me?

I do suppose that disappearing just after you begin such an elaborate undertaking as a blog, is really bad form. My apologies! I keep telling myself not to fret over it too much since I don't really have many followers yet, and it's surely must be better to get over the hiccups early on. Regardless, I don't think I know a single soul that likes to hear excuses... but... Want to hear about all of the cool things I've been busy doing while I was not keeping up with my blog like I ought to have? *sheepish grin*

Oh great! Glad to hear it! And by the way... Welcome back!

The first thing that was taking up enormous amounts of my time is that we moved. We didn't go very far, only about 8 miles from the old house, but it still meant packing everything we own into boxes and schlepping it over to the new place. This was my first experience using a moving company. What a nice treat that was! We still took load after load over to the new house in our own truck. Breakables that we were concerned about, precious things we didn't really want anyone else to touch, and lots of cleaning supplies, of course, all went over with us in the many trips we made before the movers were scheduled. We saved all of the furniture for the movers, as well as a million or so boxes of books. Lucky guys! Haha.

So, I've been spending the past few months getting settled in. With the kiddo being off at college, we opted for a smaller house, and while we are loving the lower utility bills... it was a real challenge to find a spot for everything. I think I finally have it pretty well sorted. Pretty well. Well enough that I've stepped away from obsessing about it anyway. I can locate and get to all of my things, and most of his too. (Honestly, the garage may take a while.) Nonetheless, we love the new place, and are feeling at home here finally.

I use Dreamweaver to build my
websites. It's an incredible tool!

The other thing that had me playing hookie from blog-land was wearing my other hat as a graphic designer. Did you know I had another job? andreasgraphics.com has been operating for several years now. I started out designing business cards and creating original logo art for small businesses and organizations, but over time it's grown into so much more. My most recent project had me creating a website for a local mortgage company. It was a lot more work than I had originally expected it to be, but it was actually a lot of fun too. I even learned some things in the process that should help me in the future, which is always a good thing. But it did keep me busy. Very busy.

Completing that project got me to looking at my own website, which for andreasgraphics, hadn't been updated in ages. What about A Kiddely Divey?... Nope. Didn't even have one. So, OCD having kicked into high gear, I got to work resolving both of those problems. Want to see?

Visit AKD's new website!

Visit my other home at andreasgraphics.com

Funny thing is... after I finished, I went and grabbed the softest, silkiest yarn I could find and began crocheting a blanket. It's like my brain and fingers were begging for a break from all the hex codes and pixel dimensions.
--- "Ehem... Excuse me."
The little nagging voice in my head kept calling me.
"Have you forgotten about the blog you're supposed to be writing?"

Back to work! But this is it for this week.
I have some things I've learned that I'm looking forward to sharing, but they will have to wait for another post. This was my goal... to "get it done". Explain to my invisible audience what I've been doing in these months that have lapsed.

I'll be seeing you again soon. Promise. :)
With respect - @ndrea

Please Mr. Postman

2013-02-02T12:42:00.000-06:00

It has taken me a while to get this post together to share with you. It's not so much that the world of shipping has set me behind schedule, but more that my schedule wasn't aware I had intended to post sooner. lol.

So, I'm not certain that anyone out there doesn't already know this stuff... but I didn't. Having never tried to ship anything from home, I had no idea what would be involved. This is what I learned.
Keep in mind there are other options out there... UPS, FedEx and even DHL, I think? I didn't even go into researching my options with them. I knew there was a way to use the United States Postal Service (USPS) to ship from home, and personally liking the way my packages are received from USPS more than some of the others was enough. I hopped into my digital pickup truck and set out on my fact-finding mission.

I started by making an account on the USPS website. (Register on the USPS website.) Then I began digging into all of the FAQ pages and charts. I had a few things I really wanted to know before I bothered with spending much time on the idea of shipping from home.
How much is it going to cost me? Can I really do everything from home and my computer? Will I need some sort of postage scale? --- Okay, I admit it... I made my first stop at the pricing charts.

After looking at all of the options (this is the best chart I found), I determined that First Class Mail or Priority Mail would have to be the right choice for me. Express Mail, and most of the others are wonderful services I'm sure, but they would cost me more in shipping than I foresee any of my merchandise even costing. The short story is that a 13 oz. package would cost $3.77 with First Class Mail, and $5.15 with Priority Mail. But the short story doesn't really give you the whole picture.

With First Class Mail: You need to provide your own box, tape, etc. You also will need to sort out your own system for weighing your package and dealing with postage stamps and such. The only other option is to buy one of their special postage meters, since they don't offer a way to print postage online. You are limited to 13 oz., anything over that will not qualify for the First Class rates. If you want tracking, or delivery confirmation, it will cost you an extra 90¢. So, I'm not sure how much those plastic bags, boxes, and packing tape would cost, but with delivery confirmation added- you have 48¢ left for those things before the price becomes the same for the two services. Factor in your time and trouble for purchasing those materials, weighing everything, and licking 6 or 7 stamps... I started looking more closely at the Priority Mail option.

The first thing I noticed with Priority Mail was that I wouldn't have to ever even visit the post office. Postage can be printed online, and they will deliver everything you need direct to your door. There's some pretty neat stuff I keep wanting to add in here, but I'll try to stay with our 13 oz. package, and mention the rest afterward.

Our 13 oz. package... the box (with cool tape strips attached) and the delivery confirmation label came right to my door, for FREE. I can print the postage ($5.15) from their website (on plain old copy paper) and tape it to the box. I can even get back on their website and schedule a pickup by my mail carrier. I can leave my packages on my porch or ask that they come to the door to pick up from me directly. Tracking is included, and a confirmation number is given to you when they pick it up. Wow... How easy is this?

I had found my solution. Check out all the supplies I had my mailman bring to my house. Yep... overkill. But the boxes have a minimum amount you can order, so I went with the smallest quantity I could get... ten. I got a little of each of the things I thought I would use. Small and medium flat-rate boxes, delivery confirmation labels, Tyvek envelopes (no-tear, woven fiber, paper-like), and some normal address labels.

---Update: USPS has switched from delivery confirmation labels on Priority Mail, to offering the more complete tracking labels. With delivery confirmation you had almost all of the benefits, but with tracking... you (or your customer) can check on your shipment's progress along each step of the way. (I've already ordered new ones. lol)---

Not all packages are this super-cheap rate, I found, but you have some options there too. The SMALL flat-rate box they provide ships online at $5.15, but the medium box is $11.30. Wow! I was a little upset to find the cheapest way I could ship a standard 8"x10" picture frame would be over eleven dollars, no matter how easy it would be. I clicked back over to their price calculator and found another option. If you want to provide your own box (Yes, I know, now we are having to go to the box store. lol) the price drops like crazy! $5.84 online, to ship your own box, up to 70 lbs! They will send you the labels (for free) that make your carton into a Priority Mail package. Hmm... $5.84 from $11.30... I think I can find a box and tape somewhere for less than the $5.46 difference. They do stipulate some dimensions. "The maximum size is 108 inches or less in combined length plus girth (distance around the thickest part)" - http://postcalc.usps.com

I think the small flat-rate box will handle most of my needs. I tried to show you how big it is but I'm not sure my phone makes for a good size comparison. They say it measures 8-5/8" x 5-3/8" x 1-5/8".
In the meantime, I'll be keeping my eye out for inexpensive cartons that are a little bigger than this. But my plan is to use the Tyvek envelopes for anything that wont fit in the small box.

Let me tell you a little about these magic envelopes made with DuPont's Tyvek. The USPS labels them as durable and water-resistant. Basically, it's breathable but water wont seep into it and you can cut it easily with scissors, but ripping it is a chore. The pictures don't show it as clearly as I would have liked, but surely you've come across this material before. Please don't tell the Postal folks that I wasted one of their cool envelopes just to take destruction-resistance photos. Okay? Thanks!

So... the really cool part is... They are free! Just like all the rest, right? Nope!
The rest of the "free" cartons and envelopes the USPS offers are FLAT-RATE containers Meaning, you have to pay the prescribed fee to ship them. ($5.15 or $11.30 for small and medium boxes, remember?) Not the Tyvek envelopes. They would ship with the rate that your own, non-standard (empty VCR box) container would ship for, i.e. $5.84 online. Since they obviously will hold more than the small flat rate box, I would consider that quite a deal! They won't offer the rigid protection of a cardboard box for something like the 8"x10" frame I mentioned, but I bet I can fit a lot of crochet work into one.

Looking ahead... I managed to get the shop open over on Etsy! Did you see my awesome little graphics over there in the sidebar now? I'd love it if you would come visit me there, or maybe pop over to my facebook?
I'll be working on my next post in my free time, I think I'd like to share how the whole shop-launching process went for me.

Hope to see you back here soon. :)
With respect- @ndrea

Freedom Box

2013-01-17T12:08:00.003-06:00

It's getting closer and closer to the day my daughter will be heading off to college. Her dad and I will be worried about her, of course, but I ought to admit... we are also pretty excited about being empty-nesters!

One thing I plan on doing is creating a Freedom Box for her.
Surely, things would vary greatly depending on the particular child's situation (college, first apartment, marriage, military), but the point is to have something collected for them that will be a help, and maybe even remind them how much they are loved.

I don't have the actual container yet, as I'm waiting to find out particulars regarding the college dorm she'll be heading off to. I'm thinking possibly a clothes hamper or a small footlocker. I do have quite a list of things to include accumulating, though.

I was thinking a prepaid long distance phone card. (Cellphone + Toilet = Bad Day, and no way to call home.) But, the more I think about how little you see payphones anymore, I've started thinking it might be better to include one of those cheapo, prepaid, ready-to-go cellphones.

I've made a cookbook full of our family's favorite (and everyday) recipes. It's really just a 3-ring binder and page protectors, but it works perfectly. I even managed to type up a page or two of all the kitchen tips you learn over time (e.g. how to make a substitute for buttermilk). I will be printing out a copy for her.

On the cooking note... Most dorms don't allow much, if any, in-room cooking. However, I seem to remember a whole lot of coffeepot/hotplate/single-burner meals being made. (This past Christmas we bought her two wonderful books- 101 Things To Do With Ramen Noodles and The 99 Cent Only Store Cookbook. What fun!) So... I intend to include some scaled down basics. I've found a cute little shot glass with all of the teaspoon and tablespoon measures on it. I don't want to encourage drinking, but it should be much easier to keep track of and wash than a regular set of spoons. I was also thinking of adding in a single, small CorningWare dish with the lid. Perfect for going from a microwave or burner to the fridge, and no cellophane needed.

Yes we are still thinking with our stomachs! Lol. Why not add in a few $10 gift cards to local food joints? When the pockets are empty, and the cafeteria food is just too horrible to stand another day...

A brand-spanking new diary. A must, for such an important step in life.

A plug in Scentsy. (With her ~~Oatmeal Cookie Maple something or other~~ favorite scent.) Everyone knows that roommates can sometimes stink, but sometimes... it's quite literally!

A small toolkit. I've seen nice ones that you can buy, but I think I might go for gathering one together myself. Those kits seem to always include some useless things, and not enough needed things. I'm figuring on a really little toolbox with a good multi-tool (i.e. Leatherman) and supplies like tacks, duct tape and batteries. One of those rechargeable flashlights, that comes on when the power goes out, will probably find its way in there. I will most likely include a small sewing kit in there somewhere as well.

Thank you cards and pre-stamped envelopes. I've done my best to encourage her to always send a little note of thanks when family or friends send her something. I would expect she may get several care packages and the like. At least I will know she has the tools...lol.

A CD of "Mom-songs". Ha! Just typing this made me laugh. I don't know about your family, but our routine includes some loud music when my daughter and I are cleaning the house. She politely calls me eclectic... but over time, she has learned to sing right along with some pretty old (and odd) tunes. She can catch a piece of one in a shop, or on the car radio, and says it almost makes her smell the Pine Sol. Lol. I figure it might be a nice feeling for her to be able to keep those songs. (And yes, she does sing Mairzy Doats with me. *huge grin*)

The last thing I have on my list is a First Aid kit. Mom worries sometimes, enough said.

I'm sure I've missed plenty... "Did I leave the iron on?"
If you have great ideas, please share them with us!

So back at work, All of my lovely Priority Mail shipping supplies have finally shown up. I'll share all of the information I learned from Jane at the Post Office and they're website with you next time in Please Mr. Postman.

With respect - @ndrea

Blogs About Blogging

2013-01-16T13:13:00.001-06:00

Do you ever have one of those days...

I just found a whole gaggle of blog posts that focus on tips, hints, advice, etc regarding blogging. So... you know I had to dive right in and start seeing what stuff I was missing. Half of a pack of Post-it notes later I took a breath and looked up at the 40 or so open tabs. I just clicked the big red X in the corner and freed myself from the whole mess for a few, much needed, minutes of no data input. I went and stood on the back porch in the freezing cold (there's still a tad bit of yesterday's snow on the ground), and watched my chickens scurry over hoping I had brought something out for them.

I don't know if I will ever understand all of this. I'm not entirely sure I even want to. I almost would bet I don't need to... right? Isn't it enough to just post real things. Things that matter to me, and may help someone else, or incite a laugh, or motivate a change, or spur a thought...

The number of people that "follow" my blog isn't important to me really at all, but... I don't like the idea that I may be digitally "talking to myself" for quite a while.
Hmmm... a blogging mentor... I bet you can't find that in the yellow pages. Lol.

Today... I learned about "scraping" from a lady named Susan on a wonderful blog called Between Naps On The Porch. I was so happy to read that my truncated posts are safer from this form of plagiarism, since I love the shortened format on my front page. Thanks to that same post, I will also be trying to sort out what Google Analytics is, and how, and why, and...

-- Protocol... I wonder if I should tell her I posted about her blog? Is it good form to do so, or maybe with 13-thousand-something readers, that type of message would just be a nuisance? --

I've about finished my Freedom Box post, that I had said would be next. Sorry for the deviation. Lol. Hope you will stick with me... I still have tons to learn.

With respect - @ndrea

I'm not certain if this is what's known as "linking up" or not... but I want to be sure and give some credit where it's due... and this is really a fine place to spend far too long reading about all sorts of creative and beautiful things. Thank you, Susan.

Square vs. PayPal Here

2013-01-14T09:22:00.002-06:00

Both services are available
on the iPhone and Android.
Should we look at the benefits
of a square versus a triangle?

Howdy! I'm looking forward to talking with you about some really cool stuff I found out while looking at my options for accepting card payments in person. Square and fairly new PayPal Here are the only two that kept me reading longer than a minute. There are other options, but for a small business, I can't see any benefit in choosing them, so I'm just going to stick to these two. I've seen quite a few folks pitting Square vs. PPH as a veritable tie with no big differences. They aren't equals in my opinion, at all.

Let me start by saying it was super-tempting to whip up a fancy chart, but there are already plenty out there, I'm sure. Lol. I should also note... there are probably things that I won't mention here. Maybe some differences that could affect you or your business, but didn't hold any notable importance for me. Feel free to mention them in the comments if you would like to share.

For me, PPH was the clear "winner". The short of that being... its a tad cheaper, it allows me to take checks and Paypal payments. I was also sold on the instant funds availability with their debit card. I've listed the bulk of what I learned below. Have a look, and see what you decide. :)

Okay. I always look at price first. If that's an unreasonable amount, or beyond my budget, it puts a quick end to what could be a time consuming bit of research.

PRICE =
They just about tie. Both have a free start-up. Both will send you the little card reader for free. Square charges 2.75% and PPH charges 2.7% on each swiped transaction. Manually entered transactions they both charge 3.5% + $0.15.
Hmm... half of a percent. If you make a $45 sale, the difference is a whopping two cents. ($1.2375 with Square and $1.215 with PPH.) That's 50 cents for every $1,000 in sales. Negligible.

I got to looking at this a little closer after seeing people mentioning that with 2.75% their totals were always being rounded up, therefore were paying a penny more with Square for each transaction. I had thought that might be a real issue. If you make 100 transactions a day, that's a dollar extra, right? Well, a hundred transactions at a penny each is definitely a dollar, but the .05% difference doesn't equate to always being rounded up. A $5 sale, they both get rounded up. It's 14 cents either way.

Hmm... Where's the price break then? What number keeps your fee from being rounded up? At the 2.7% rate, that number is a cool $4.99! You would only be charged 13 cents for that transaction. (Of course, you made a penny less on the sale too.) For the 2.75% rate, $4.90 cents is the magic sales total to avoid the penny being rounded up to 14 cents. So yep, there is a real difference in that respect. If a Square user and a PPH user both make 250 sales, and attempt to pay the exact same fees (13 cents per transaction), the PPH user can charge $4.99, while the Square user can only charge $4.90. Thus, the PPH user makes $22.50 more. Mind you, it becomes a rather moot point when you figure in taxes. >.<

WAIT TIME / FUNDS AVAILABILITY=
Square deposits your money right into your bank account. Their website states it takes 1-2 days, but most folks say its deposited the very next morning. It's never the same day.
PPH on the other hand deposits your money immediately into your PayPal account. If you choose to transfer it to your bank, they state that process takes 3 days. BUT... If you have a PayPal debit card, your funds are available instantly from any ATM or POS location!
(When your funds become available, after deposit, is purely up to your bank, not Square or PayPal.)

SUPPORT =
Square has an online help center. The best I can sort out, that is all they offer. PPH, on the other hand, has a help center for email assistance as well as a phone number where you could potentially speak to a live person. PPH also has an extensive community-driven support area.

THEY BOTH =
Square and PPH both allow you to handle taxes, discounts and tips. They both allow you to enter an itemized inventory if you like. Receipts are easy to text, email or print with both services, also.

ONLY PAYPAL HERE =
Only the PPH service lets you accept a customer's personal check, and the processing for that is even free.
Something that really was nice for me was knowing that with PPH, I could also accept Paypal payments. Being able to accept payment for a purchase in person, the same way you would online, could really come in handy I think. I think a majority of folks have a Paypal account these days.

I WISH I KNEW =
Some things I just couldn't find out enough information about. So after digging around a dozen forums and both of the service's websites... I only know this-
With PPH you can accept (and record) cash payments. This is actually a big deal considering that it meshes so seamlessly with Paypal's invoicing system. Don't lose track of buyers just because they paid with cash.
I would assume that Square offers the ability to give a refund, but they don't say anywhere that they do. PPH lets you give a complete or partial refund very simply.
And of no real use to me at this point, but awesome all the same, PPH allows you to set up multiple users. So if you have a friend helping you, they can accept payments on their device as well, and still have it set to all flow into your account. Sweet! There's no mention, I can find, of that sort for Square.
[If you know more details about these last few things, I would love to hear them! Please leave a comment.
Hey, maybe I could find a Square user to compare notes with? That would be wonderful!]

I sure hope this helps someone with sorting it all out. Doing the research (and actually checking it all for accuracy) took a little while, but it was important to me. I'm sure it must be for others too.

With respect - @ndrea

UP NEXT:
Giving your child a Freedom Box.

How I came to be here.

2013-01-11T23:39:00.000-06:00

Let me tell you... I have this vision.
It keeps growing here and there, spewing out a bit on the sides like foam on the top of a cold glass of soda. I'm doing my best to slurp it up into a manageable mental picture, and the more it settles down and takes shape... the more I'm getting comfortable with it (and starting to really dig it).

I'm pretty happy regardless.
This is a picture of Jack and I.
He's a great husband and I rely on him
quite a bit to keep me grounded in reality.

My name is Andrea, by the way, and it's quite a pleasure to meet you. I'm just getting started here, but I hope you'll come back often to visit.

I'm here because I love to make things, create things. I want to make useful things. Things that look good, feel good, and work well. I got to thinking, as a housewife, if I could make some extra pocket-money doing that... well, I'd be a pretty happy lady.

So my journey was underway. I was off to find a way I could be creative and maybe help to balance our budget while I was at it. Like most things, I began with learning all I could about my options.

That's when I found Etsy. Ooooh.

But, I've never done anything like this before. Not a craft fair, nor a public blog. I would be a complete greenhorn. Good thing I've never been afraid of trying new things, and boy am I excited!

I plan to use this blog as a journal of sorts. Maybe someday it will grow into a place where I will be posting lovely tutorials about such interesting things... but for now...
I'll be trying my best to:

keep track of what I'm learning along the way (who knows, maybe that could even help someone?)
make some new friends that are into crafting/design/crochet/preparedness/handmade/building/growing/cooking... yeah, you get the idea.
find good blogs to follow, ones I truly enjoy and that I can learn from.
share some of the things I'm doing or thinking that might help or motivate someone else.

I guess I should mention how I got here. Shortly after discovering Etsy... yep, I found Pinterest. (I may need a recovery program if anyone knows of a good one.) What a wonderful site that is, so many brilliant ideas. You have to be there a while before you realize its also heavily laced with half-truths and a lot of things there need to be taken with the proverbial grain of salt. It was also quite ~~daunting~~ interesting to see so many of my own crafty ideas on there. Who knew... I wasn't nearly as gifted or unique as I had thought I was. >.<

But... yes... My name is Andrea, and I'm a Pin-aholic.

Following the links back to their original sources, and being a general surfer type (web, that is), I started finding all these incredible blogs! My oh my, there's people that have already been at this business for years! I don't understand a lot of it, but I'm learning. Link parties... that one is still a mystery to me.

I also found pretty quickly that Etsy sellers use their blogs as not only a way to network, but also to pass along information to their followers about the new things coming out in their shops. How clever!

So... I've spent the better part of the last couple months setting up an Etsy storefront, and with any luck I'll be opening it in the next week or so. I'd like to have a few more items to list, so when I can pry myself away from Pinterest, I've been working on those projects too. And now I've started working out the kinks with how to manage a blog as well. (Thanks for your concern... I'm sure my eyes will stop bleeding as soon as I stop reading all these help files and FAQ pages. Lol.)

I guess that's about it for a first post. If you're here reading this... I'd love it if you ~~liked~~ ~~pinnned~~ ~~tweeted~~ ~~tumbled~~ ~~followed~~ ~~shared~~ JOINED me in this journey I'm on. :)

With respect - @ndrea

UP NEXT:

What I've learned about Square Vs. PayPal Here.