Friday Feature No. 25 -- Featuring The Sweet Unfolding

Welcome to Friday! I hope that everyone is doing well. Our thoughts and prayers are with those who are dealing with the hurricanes right now, especially Hurricane Ike.

Congratulations to Huguette, who was our winner of the necklace from Lula Boutique. Congratulations to the three winners of the FREE month long ad spots: Laura C, who generously gave it to her friend who owns Naptime Cards; Aimee W., who generously gave her spot to her mother-in-law who owns My Bright Pouchette; and Kelly, who owns Pia Tilly's Boutique. Thank you for ALL of your comments!

Today, we are featuring Sarah, from The Sweet Unfolding. Sarah has an Etsy shop, but also has her own website, www.thesweetunfolding.com.

Sarah has a shop full of wonderful goodies that any lady would love to have, from Luxe Vanilla Bath Caviar, to Pistachio Damask Letterpress Notecards, to paper banners for every special occasion.

Let's hear a little more about Sarah and The Sweet Unfolding.

TDB: How did The Sweet Unfolding get its start?
Sarah: I’ve always wanted to work for myself, and I had been mulling over different ideas for several years. When I was planning my wedding a couple of years ago I kept seeing the same products over and over on different wedding web stores. I wanted something unique, so I decided to make almost everything for our wedding—from invitations to favors to the guest book and even the flower arrangements. It was so much fun that I put together a small collection of handmade favors, cards, gifts, and other items to sell on Etsy. In June of this year I officially launched www.thesweetunfolding.com to showcase my designs as well as the work of other designers and offer some unique choices for weddings, parties, and gifts.

TDB: Where else do you sell your products besides Etsy?
Sarah: I also sell my products at www.thesweetunfolding.com. I’m still kind of new to creating my own items for sale, so I’m investigating where else to sell them. I’ve been getting wholesale requests recently, which is exciting, so I’m looking forward to my products being carried in others’ stores as well.

TDB: What is your favorite thing about your business?
Sarah: I love the creative process, especially developing a collection of items. I had so much fun developing the fragrances and products and packaging for The Sweet Unfolding’s signature line of bath salts and other bath products. I enjoyed it so much that I’ve been working on a couple of new lines that I plan to introduce soon.
TDB: What is the best piece of advice you've been given (business or personal)?
Sarah: A good friend and business owner told me that to be successful I need to be true to myself and let what’s important to me shine through in my business. That’s been the basis for a lot of the business decisions I’ve made, especially concerning the socially conscious aspect of our products and our business practices. I want to make sure that The Sweet Unfolding is doing everything as fairly and as positively as possible to make things better for everyone involved.

TDB: What does a typical day look like for you?
Sarah: I usually get going around 8 a.m., although it depends on how late I stayed up working the night before. I have a terrible habit of staying up too late because I’m enjoying my work so much I don’t want to stop. When I worked for other companies it was always easy to stop at the end of the day, but working for myself is so much fun that I have to remind myself often to step away. It always surprises me how much I work each day, and how much I love it. Since I don’t have children yet I still have the luxury of having most of my time to myself, and I do make sure to stop and spend time with my husband each evening so that my work doesn’t become a higher priority than my family.

First thing in the morning I respond to any emails or inquiries that I received the night before. Afterward I typically pack and ship any orders that have been placed. The rest of the workday I divide my time between making products and the administrative side of the business. I try to spend an hour on marketing and an hour on bookkeeping each day, although I’m still developing the discipline for that. In the evenings I spend time with my husband, Mike, usually hanging out at home or grabbing dinner in our neighborhood. We live in Chicago’s Greektown neighborhood, so we take advantage of all the great food. I usually wind up the day by working on projects while we watch TV together.

TDB: Please share 3 random facts about you (yes, you can divulge little secrets if you like!)
Sarah:

- I am a huge fan of the band Indigo Girls, and if I could give up my responsibilities and be a groupie for a year I totally would.
- I adore sugary kids’ cereals. If I would allow myself, I would eat nothing but Cocoa Krispies all day, everyday.
- I love the television show Law and Order so much that I named my car after Assistant District Attorney Jack McCoy.

TDB: What are your goals for your business for the next year?
Sarah: I am planning to expand my designs with another line of bath products. I’d also like to work on invitation design, focusing on eco-friendly products. At www.thesweetunfolding.com we are hoping to add more consignment opportunities for independent designers to showcase great designs perfect for unique weddings and events.

Thank you Sarah, for sharing a little glimpse of your life with us.

********************************************************

Our giveaway today is for this wonderful set of bath and body products from The Sweet Unfolding. You will be able to choose from either the "Petal" fragrance, or the "Flutter" fragrance.

To enter, please check out Sarah's shop or website and then come back here and comment about your favorite item, or a fragrance that you would like to see. One comment per person please.

You MAY earn extra an extra entry by blogging about this giveaway, or by adding us to your blogroll. We also have a button on the right hand side of the blog, that you can pick up and put on your blog. Please leave a separate comment for your extra entry.

PLEASE make sure you have a valid email in your comment or on your blog profile. You do not have to have a Blogger account, as long as you leave an email. If you don't, your comment will be deleted, and you will not be eligible to win.

Deadline to enter is Thursday, September 18th at Midnight PST.

This giveaway is open worldwide.

Have a great weekend and don't forget to enter to win the custom made "Bridget" dress from "Bridget & Co.". Scroll down to find out how.

Angie