Wednesday Words

via Heart and Willow Prints

Making Nocino

Last July, my friend Kate of Snowflake Kitchen, put a call out to us locals about her abundance of green walnuts from the tree on her property. She had plans to make Nocino and thought we may want to give it a try. Yes, please! I was in her neighborhood when she wasn’t home, so I felt like a bit of thief as I foraged a bag of the green nuts, but homemade booze is worth the possible embarrassment of her neighbors calling the police.

Nocino! 🌰 🌿

A photo posted by Kate (@snowflakekitchen) on Jul 28, 2015 at 8:41am PDT

I used David Lebovitz’s recipe, minus the cloves, and shook my jars once a day for about three months. It looks like witches’ brew at first, very green and possible toxic, but then changes to a rich brown, deep green.

I strained the liquid from the jars and it has the consistency of a light syrup and smells nutty and warm. I sampled a small glass and it’s definitely potent. I like Mr. Lebovitz’s idea of a topping for ice cream… that will definitely be in my future.

There is something about creating an enjoyable drink or food from items you gather from your yard, a friend’s yard, local farmers, or the woods (if you’re daring and safe) that feels inevitable and right. I’ll have a part two of the walnut saga as I attempt to make black walnut bitters from the same nuts that have completely ripened. My goal is to make something like this. It’s good to have goals…

Cyn Thomas is the illustrator, designer and pattern maker of RiverDog Prints. Her paper goods and gifts are guided by earth, animals, function, food and cocktails. You can also find Cyn canning in her kitchen, walking her dog, being outnumbered by her boys and husband or reading herself to sleep.
Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | woof@riverdogprints.com

Martin Luther King Day 2016

Our family listens to his speech every year.  This year, I found a different and interesting way to do this and wanted to share it.  Experience the speech here:  http://freedomsring.stanford.edu/

It's Love Local Market Weekend!

artwork by member Woodward Paper Co.

The new year means a new year of markets!  We are kicking off the year in fashion with our monthly collaborative market at Get Baked in Windsor- our 13th!  Owner and NC member Emily Woodward is fantastic enough to open her space to our members and friends.  Stop by this weekend from 10-3 each day and say hello to our fantastic members:

Hockman Photography

The BURNT Shop

RiverDog Prints

Treefort Naturals

Nutmeg Naturals

Solstice Handcrafted

Milo and Molly

Heart Stone Gallery

Persimmon Pearl

Evelyn Pelati

Cottage Wicks

Sprinkles of Color

BBA Bracelets

Whole Harmony

Purring Pottery

Ken Frets Comics

For more information, check out the event on Facebook.

Work Life Balance: Hiring Help for Shows and Events

Hiring help can be tough to tackle when you don't have any experience having someone else work for you. Denise from The Burnt Shop shares her advice and experience for the process with shows and events for our series on work/life balance.

"In August of 2015, I found that I had committed the huge error of double booking myself on a key holiday weekend in October. I knew I couldn't cancel one event for the other. I set my sights on finding and training a suitable person to run one smaller booth locally. I took on the more prestigious full weekend event which was an hour away. I asked a girl who I knew I could trust who also has an incredible eye for detail and great work ethic. She comes from the restaurant industry.

Here are the key tips...find someone who has done CATERING. Find someone who needs money! Find someone who loves your work. Catering is so similar to running a booth. They both require precise planning, timing, packing, set up, execution, customer service, diligent care of the product and careful but speedy breakdown.

I had her accompany me to three events: the first was just set up, the second was the whole thing start to finish, the third was just breakdown. This way the training hours were relatively short and easy to schedule. For training, I paid her in product and gave her MORE than she thought was fair. Some pieces were seconds and she thought that was awesome. I packaged first quality things so she could give them as gifts. 

For the actual event, I helped pack her car the night before and paid her well in cash plus product of her choice. After all, she's hauling my entire show and managing my whole deal for me...that's worth a lot more than minimum wage. You want your person to feel that they are getting the better end of the deal. Chances are that the only times you'll need them is in desperation, so you want them to drop what they're doing for you; pay them well- it's so worth it in the end. 

By seeing each phase of your set up and explaining everything along the way, they will learn it faster and remember the key points. I have laminated checklists for small and large setups. She had her own card reader with my spare tablet. She had her own apron and cash bank and I gave her extra money to cover her travel to and from, as well as lunch. She had lots of photos on her phone of my set up. Make sure you pay for the entire time she's in service to you... not just the hours of the market. I ended up with only a small profit that day for her event but she took multiple custom orders. I got excellent feedback from the organizers and she blasted it on her Facebook and Instagram pages. My own event was hugely profitable.

I did not disappoint any organizers and I learned what it takes to run concurrent booths. I repeated this whole process with another older woman with the same excellent results. I now have two backup people I can count on when times get busy or I screw up my calendar again.

An added bonus is that I now have enough display pieces to have a small set up at all times in my home for drop in customers. I hope my tips help. Please contact me if you need more guidance. I ran a very successful department at Whole Foods Market where we had unprecedented growth year after year. I use many of the same techniques I employed there in my business now.

Happy New Year everyone!

Denise O'Reilly, owner of The BURNT Shop in Glastonbury, Ct. is creating usable art in the form of hand etched glass culinary bottles and woodburned housewares. She believes wholeheartedly that everything we use on a daily basis should be just as beautiful as it is functional. She sources the highest quality glass and wood pieces and adds her unique freehand designs using centuries old techniques. These pieces are transformed into heirloom quality works of art which she hopes will be passed down in families to future generations. She has a passion for all things green, reusing and repurposing 100% of incoming packaging. She encourages customers to bring her their existing pieces for her added touch...thus reducing that urge to purchase more "stuff" but rather making your own treasured items that much more special.
Website | Facebook | Instagram

Nutmeg Collective Instagram: Cottage Wicks

We have some great photos in our #nutmegcollective Instagram feed. 

On a regular basis, we'll feature some of our favorite photos here!

Sunday experiments

A photo posted by CottageWicks 🌙✨ (@cottagewicks) on Jan 10, 2016 at 1:25pm PST

Book Recommendations for the Entrepreneur

In the market for some good business reads?
We asked our members what books impacted their business and here are their recommendations:

Austin Kleon

Cyn from River Dog Prints:

Steal Like an Artist

by Austin Kleon

.....

Jessica from Treefort Naturals:

Everything I Know About Business I Learned from the Grateful Dead: 
The Ten Most Innovative Lessons from a Long, Strange Trip

by Barry Barnes

155 Words You Need to Know: Practical Wisdom For Creative Entrepreneurs

by Lela Barker

.....

Kristen from Milo and Molly:

#girlboss

by Sophia Amoruso

The Handmade Marketplace

by Kari Chapin

Grow Your Handmade Business

by Kari Chapin

Lean in: Women, Work and the Will to Lead

by Sheryl Sandberg

Kari Chapin

Matthew from Mystic Knotwork:

Get Slightly Famous: Become a Celebrity in Your Field and Attract More Business with Less Effort

by Steven Van Yoder

.....

Kelly from Our Secret Treehouse:

Market Yourself 

by Tara Swiger

Tara Swiger

Lindsey from fallenpeach:

The Money Book for Freelancers, Part-Timers, and the Self Employed: 

The Only Personal Finance System for People with Not-So-Regular Jobs

by Joseph D'Agnese, Denise Kiernan

The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future 

by Chris Guillebeau

.....

Want to grab some of these books for yourself? Check out our list of some of Connecticut's local bookstores!

Written by Alonda Baird-Juhasz, owner of Designer Dwellings, who believes in adding color to life. An avid DIYer, sparkle-loving, all things fabulous addict, her shop features bright and fun home decor accessories and gifts. When not in the shop you can find her interior decorating or visual styling events and photo shoots.