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At The Picket Fence with Vanessa Hunt

Where Ideas for your Home Meet Inspiration for your Heart

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October 7, 2012

Sutton Place Designs~In the Spotlight!



We are so thrilled to be featuring Ann from Sutton Place Designs and the blog
  On Sutton Place today! 


Not only is Ann incredibly creative and talented, she has also become a dear friend to us here at the Fence. She has a passion for her designs and we know you will enjoy learning a little bit more about the Talent Behind the Shop!


Be Grateful Pillow Cover
Fall Thanksgiving Decorative Pillow Cover

 What led to your decision to start your own small business?

I started my blog first and through that was introduced to the world of Etsy. At the same time I was looking for a way to work from home. I needed time to help my parents and after 17 years working full time I was ready to have a more flexible schedule. I knew sewing was the answer and Etsy was the perfect platform. Together they provided the opportunity I needed to be able to open my own online shop. 


Flax Linen Tea Towel

Tea Towel Flax Linen with The Help You is kind You is smart You is important
From where do you draw inspiration for your products?
Many of my products are designed in my head when I’m sewing. I try very hard to come up with original collections that haven’t been done before. Even if I am using a popular fabric, such as a grain sack, I try to make my designs look different from anyone else’s. My best source for inspiration is Pinterest and Etsy itself. When I’m contemplating something new I search Etsy to see what’s out there so I can make sure and put my own spin on things. 

Christmas Stocking from the Linen Flax Collection with Vintage Lace Cuff


Christmas Stocking from The Linen Collection Flax with vintage lace cuff lined 17 in. long







What do you feel has been your greatest accomplishment as a small business owner? 

My greatest accomplishment (so far!) was when I took a giant leap of faith and quit my day job to become a full time Etsy shop owner and blogger. Talk about scary! At the beginning I considered my Etsy shop part-time. I worked both jobs (my day job and my Etsy) for 9 months.  At that point I knew I couldn’t continue with such a busy schedule and had to choose one or the other. Leaving my job was hard but I am 100% sure I made the right choice.

Flax Linen Table Runner with Ruffle
Flax Tan Beige Linen Table Runner 20 x 74 with ruffle

What is one of the challenges you face as a small business owner?
My biggest challenge, hands down, is being in business by myself. I sometimes wish I had a partner who could offer support and advice. Someone to share the successes as well as the failures. Many times I introduce a new collection in my shop and hold my breath that someone out there will like it enough to buy it. I think being on my own tends to make me more conservative about taking chances. It’s much easier to jump off that cliff if you’re holding hands with someone!

Blue Toile Lavender Sachets (Set of 2)
Lavender Sachets Set of 2 Blue Toile



What advice would you give to someone interested in starting their own business?
Do your homework before you open. Have your business plan in place, your marketing strategy mapped out and your brand designed and printed. Decide on a work schedule and try your best to stick to it. Working long days can burn you out much quicker than you think. Save some money. There will be good months and believe me there will be lean months.  I opened my shop on a whim and I’ve been back-pedaling ever since. It’s taken me a full year to feel like I have things under control. The early months would have been less frustrating had I taken the time to plan things out. 

Vintage French Grain Sack Tote Bag

Vintage French Grain Sack Tote Bag Burgundy Red Stripes


We Gather Together Pillow Cover
Fall Thanksgiving Decorative Pillow Cover


Thank you so much Ann for sharing with us your journey as a Small Business owner.
It is an absolute honor to get to show off your talent and hard work!

We hope you will pay Ann a visit at



to see more of her incredible items…and do a little shopping too of course!
Thanks for joining us for this Sponsor Spotlight today at the Fence,

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Next Post: Thrift Store Door Decor For Fall »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Shelia says

    October 6, 2012 at 2:09 PM

    Oh, Ann’s work is so beautiful, isn’t it? So nice of you to feature her work! Hope you have a lovely weekend.
    Be a couple of sweeties,
    Shelia 😉

    Reply
  2. Sandy says

    October 6, 2012 at 4:19 PM

    Ann puts her whole heart and soul in decorating her lovely home and at producing beautiful products.
    I love reading her blog and purchasing from her Etsy shop.
    Thanks Heather and Vanessa for introducing Sutton Place Designs to your readers.

    Reply
  3. ℳartina @ Northern Nesting says

    October 6, 2012 at 5:42 PM

    Hey girls, I couldn’t agree with you more! Ann does amazing work! I own quite a few of her pillow covers, I just bought another one from her a few weeks ago and it just came. I love it!

    Reply
  4. Ann from On Sutton Place says

    October 6, 2012 at 7:07 PM

    Well…thanks doesn’t seem like enough but thank you for everything. Your friendship and support, your faith in me and your generosity. I’m not sure where my business or my blog would be if I hadn’t met the two of you. You are simply the best. ~Ann

    Reply
  5. Elizabeth (Blue Clear Sky) says

    October 6, 2012 at 8:11 PM

    Love both Ann’s creations and her blog. Thanks for featuring her, it was lovely seeing the photos and I especially like her tips to starting a new business, something I am trying to do.

    Reply
  6. It's All Connected says

    October 7, 2012 at 2:04 AM

    She does such a lovely job and I’m glad Etsy has been successful for her! ~ Maureen

    Reply
  7. Suzy says

    October 7, 2012 at 3:17 AM

    I am such a fan of Ann – both personally and of her gorgeous creations! Thank you for featuring her. And thank you, Ann, for your genuine answers and great advice.

    Reply
  8. Shirley@Housepitality Designs says

    October 8, 2012 at 12:29 PM

    I just received my pillow form from Ann (We Gather Together)….I must say it is more beautiful that expected!…
    Ann, you are a real talent!!…May you have continued success in all your endeavors..

    Reply
  9. Dawn says

    October 8, 2012 at 2:18 PM

    Love that Be Grateful pillow! Ann’s work is so beautiful.

    Reply
  10. EuroAmerican Home says

    October 8, 2012 at 3:14 PM

    Thanks for showing us Ann’s designs. They are crisp and elegant. I bookmarked her shop for when I move the the US.

    Reply

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I've been watching our cherry trees bloom for 12 y I've been watching our cherry trees bloom for 12 years now and every year I ohhhh and ahhhh over the blossoms like it's the first time I've ever seen them. I gush and I take photos (that look exactly like the ones I took the year before and the year before that) and I make my family come outside and look at them with me which you know they just LOVE to do. 😉 I think that is one of the main reasons why I love spring so much. On the one hand, it's predictable and yet, on the other hand, it still feels like such a surprise after the long months of barren branches.

And yesterday, as I was staring at the gorgeous blossoms for the umpteenth time, I couldn't help but think that I hope this is how I feel when our lives return to some semblance of normalcy.

I hope that the predictable feels special and that the typical feels anything but. I hope that I ohhh and ahhh over the simple things I've realized I've taken for granted. And, most of all, I hope that feeling doesn't go away for a very, very long time! 💗
Are you living with great expectation friends? Bec Are you living with great expectation friends? Because He is risen!

Happy Easter from my home to yours!
Lemon bars all ready for tomorrow! It’s going to Lemon bars all ready for tomorrow! It’s going to be a different kind of Easter for sure but some things don’t change. Have you been baking and getting ready for tomorrow? What’s one thing on your menu that you have to have every year?
If this is Good Friday, why doesn’t it feel so “good”? It all seems backward doesn’t it?

What could be good about the unspeakable pain he suffered? What could be good about the shame and betrayal?

Easter Sunday is so joyful, bright and cheery. Shouldn’t that be the day we call “good”? It just feels so much better!

But, I don’t know how to rejoice over His resurrection, unless I have felt the pain of His death. I have realized that in life the sweetest victories are the ones which were realized after a pain-filled journey.

And, so it is with Good Friday. I know there will be victory over death, but I can’t skip ahead in the story.

Jesus knew what was coming. He knew what he would experience. And he knew why he would go through it. He did it for me. He did it for you.

Do you know that? Have you felt it down in the very core of your soul? 
Sometimes it makes me squirm a bit. Why would anyone do that for me?

Well, because, I can’t do it for myself!

There is nothing I can do to earn that kind of love and mercy.

That is why it is called GRACE.

His grace is freely given. We don’t have to pay for it. He paid the price for us already.

Do you remember that movie from years ago called “Ransom”? A couple’s young son was kidnapped and the parents went to hell and back trying to find him and pay the “ransom” demanded by the kidnappers.

Well, Jesus is our “ransom”. (1 Timothy 2:6) His life was the payment.

Why is it called “Good Friday”? Because that wasn’t the end of the story….
.
…It was just the beginning!
Raise your hand if there’s a table in your house Raise your hand if there’s a table in your house that’s become the landing zone for ALL THE THINGS! 🙋🏻‍♀️🤪 I’ve never been more thankful for our rarely used dining room table as it’s become command central for school books and laptops and games.

Where are things collecting in your house right now?
“Sighing, tears, frustration, anger.” Every si “Sighing, tears, frustration, anger.” Every single one of these emotions has made their way through our home in recent days and, my guess is, they have in your home too.

I SO needed this reminder today from the new book ‘Adore’ by @sarahagertywrites.

Adoration isn’t just sitting at His feet gazing longingly with stars in my eyes. It’s bringing my fears and my sorrows and gray roots in my hair that desperately needs to be colored and my messy house and all of the things that threaten to send me over the edge right now and laying them down before Him, soaking up His word and His presence so that when I stand back up, I am changed for having spent the time adoring the ONE who is... Healer, comforter, peace-giver, deliverer, redeemer.

What do you need to bring to Him today? I’ll share mine in the comments and I’d love to hear from you too!
I’ve always loved evenings, but since this whole I’ve always loved evenings, but since this whole lockdown thing began, I’ve come to appreciate this time of day even more.

It feels the most...normal. Daytime is strange and foreign right now. My husband has taken over our home office, I’m suddenly taking over the responsibility of managing my kids’ distance learning and let me just say that teaching 7th grade algebra to my daughter is hugely ironic since I struggled with math all the way through school. I’m trying to do my own work but it feels utterly futile with the constant interruptions which take precedence right now. In the daytime, I’m constantly reminded of how upside down life feels.

But, in the evening, I cook dinner like I’ve always done and we gather around the table like we’ve always done and we laugh and tell stories and then clean up and play games or go on a walk or watch a show. And that feels SO gloriously normal.

So now I love evenings even more than I ever did before and I’m so grateful for this little chunk of time where the rhythms we established years ago are helping to sustain us now when so much of life feels outside of our control.

What feels ‘normal’ to you right now? Whatever it is, keep doing it. 🌿
When I was in college I would frequently call home When I was in college I would frequently call home and pour my heart out to my mom, sharing with her all that was happening in my life in that completely unfiltered way that you can talk with the person who potty trained you. These phone calls usually took place at night and my mom would patiently listen as I vented frustrations about professors, roommates, boyfriends and the food in the cafeteria. And, inevitably, they would end with my mom saying, “Everything seems worse when you’re tired. Try not to overthink things or make any major decisions tonight, especially when you are feeling emotional.” Dear friends, may I pass along this advice to you today?

If you don’t absolutely HAVE to make a decision right now, I want to encourage you to wait until life gets back to normal. If you are finding yourself over-analyzing relationships and family dynamics, I want to encourage you to remember that everything seems more dramatic when looked at under a microscope. And, let’s face it, being homebound with our loved ones non-stop makes us all feel like lab rats in an experiment.

If you are tempted to quit a job, start a business, start homeschooling permanently, stop homeschooling permanently, move to a new city, buy a farm, quit pursuing your dream, join a commune or make any other major life decision just…wait. Because, if it is in fact the right decision, it will be made even clearer once our lives return to their ‘regularly scheduled programming’. Instead, in this strange season, let’s all just take a deep, collective breath and let it out slowly, releasing the anxiety that threatens to overtake us. Let’s help each other maintain some perspective and not slip into a posture of over-thinking every little thing in our lives. Let’s remember that the enemy of our souls would love nothing more than to use this time when things feel dark to manipulate us into thinking that aspects of our lives are worse than they actually are.

My prayer for you in these days is that you will have the clarity to know what is true and that you will be filled with peace even while we live in this season of so many unknowns.
Raise your hand if you’re doing more baking thes Raise your hand if you’re doing more baking these days! 🙋🏻‍♀️ I’m trying to avoid gaining the #corona15 but my daughter and I LOVE baking together and it does help to pass the time plus it counts as a science lesson right?

If you’re able to find flour in the stores (for the love people please stop overbuying!) and you’re doing more baking at your house too you need to add this apricot bread to your list of new recipes to try!

Normally I’d point you to my blog for the directions but I’m going to do you a solid and leave the full recipe in the comments.

What have you baked so far during this time of social distancing? I’d love some new ideas!
There are a LOT of people out walking in our neigh There are a LOT of people out walking in our neighborhood right now (but still social distancing!) and she decided that she wanted to bring them some joy and put a smile on their face when they pass by our house. Also, the square with ‘say no to coronavirus’ is priceless. 😂 I just love her so much!
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