Lambs + Big News! with Reflections

I'll share the Big News first. After a month and more of working tirelessly, I have a new website! Ohhhhh - I have been dying to share it with you all. It went live this weekend. Hop on over and check it out here. 

I hope you like it, find it somewhat informational, and also easy to navigate. I have known for a while that I needed to do something about my website. This is the 3rd iteration of kristinnicholas.com - the 1st was in 2002, the 2nd was in 2013 and now the 3rd is in 2019. Boy have things changed. 

1. My first website was mostly an info only site built by my friend Lori Gayle. It had a couple of patterns for sale via something called Payloadz. This was before Ravelry came along. The first site lasted a very long time -- eleven years! - I am amazed to reflect on that for sure. 

2. My second website was built by my friend Mary Hager. She did it just before my Craftsy class launched in something called Cold Fusion. The purpose of the site was informational and also commerce driven. I would be able to sell the Crewel Embroidery Supplies for my Craftsy (now Bluprint) class on-line. That site was built just before everything went mobile and it was very serviceable but I couldn't easily change things myself. That site lasted six years. 

3. This third website was built by ME! on a platform call Big Cartel. I interviewed 3 different shopping platforms - Shopify, Squarespace and Big Cartel. I went with Big Cartel because it seemed to be artist friendly. Also, when I sent them questions, they answered sometimes within an hour. There were several themes to chose from and I chose one that I thought was easily navigable. They also have a sliding fee scale so that if my number of products changes, the monthly fee can be adjusted. 

So that is my big news. Check out the new site here and if you have any comments or critiques, I am glad to hear them. The website has categories and you can search by "newest" and "most popular" items. At the bottom of the left hand column, I have added several pages that are informational. 

Now - on to the lambs....... They are still coming - maybe not as fast as a couple weeks ago but still being born. We had snow and ice this week so it is a bit treacherous at the barns now. These photos were taken when the last batch of snow had melted. I'm not sure if you have noticed but many of the lambs still have tails. The Farmer decided to only "tail" the females. We have many Muslim customers and they will only purchase male lambs. Last year we discovered that they prefer lambs with tails. Always learning. 

Just born that morning outside in the sun.

This little lamb has the craziest ears - they curl backward. Never seen anything like it. She is very vocal too.

Nice set of twins with a very attentive mother.

Outside on top of ye olde manure pile. 

This little guy was loving the sun. 

Mama and one of the older lambs on top of ye olde manure pile.

I hope you all are having a nice weekend. Maybe you have the day off tomorrow. Lucky you! I have some more news to share tomorrow so pop on back then.