Laptops, websites, blog posts and social media .....oh my!

OK - I am the first to admit that I was one highly organized person; That is, when I worked for other people. Now, it is a daily, if not hourly struggle to balance being a stay at home wife and mom to  6 (yep that's correct) 6 fur babies of the canine variety. 

So......as I re-entered this crazy world of self employment, I knew the basics of what I would need to do. I needed a domain, then a host and of course a website and shopping cart. I organized myself and checked each of these off my list. See I can be organized.  I was convinced that this would just be a breeze... wrong! I had forgotten that someone had to create the website and shopping cart and with my limited budget, that person would have to be me....no problem. I did it once before in 1993. Little did I realize how much the world of internet business had changed......

Oh, and did I mention I also am the creator of the products I sell? Yep I would have to really become organized!! 

As the process got underway in 2012, I began to realize how little I really did know about the new internet world so I began reading, asking questions, calling my host company, and just trying to figure out the meaning of life. Oh and 

 then there was a Facebook "fan" page and of course a blog.

In the end, I had to scrap the product line and here I am starting all over.

What went wrong along the way? A couple of things really, but they all point to one thing when all is said and done; I underestimated the amount of time and energy it would take for one person to launch a business on their own and the amount of - yep... here it comes...... organization.

I am still not where I want to be yet, but I have a better understanding of what needs to be done and with my improved organization, I am confident I will succeed. 

Really??? A business named after a painted bird?

Hi there.....
I am Judith Rittenhouse and as you might have guessed, I am the wacky person with such a company. It is called The Painted Rooster Handcrafts & Collectibles.
I will share more about the store in future posts, but today I wanted to just let you know the reason behind the name, tell you a little about me and of course, I want to get to know all of you too :)
In 1993, I owned a farm & nursery and enjoyed all aspects of country living. I grew up in Southern California and had moved to the Pacific Northwest. I had craved a country life, and once the opportunity appeared I literally jumped at it.
As many country dwellers do, I used ceramic and painted roosters in my decor in this new life. I also had lots of the "real deal" roosters, chickens, horses ......everything nearly. My favorite real rooster was Spike and he was quite something. He was beautiful, sweet, loved to play with the dogs - yep - they all got along well I suppose because they all were babies together. He even took naps cuddling his dogs. 
Well, as life would have it, in 2003 my life turned upside down and I had to leave my country life and return to the city and that also required a re-entry back to corporate life. Isn't it interesting how life does throw us curve balls or bats or whatever? Has that happened to you? Well in 2011, I was happily "secure" in my position as the administrator in the medical field when I started having lots and lots of assorted pain back and neck pain. Multiple tests later and finally the diagnosis - advanced R.A. and a couple of others as well. So...... I was suddenly forced to make the decision to retire early.
Like many others I decided that I still needed to be productive, so I decided to take my love of all things vintage, my joy of creating beautiful things and my business sense and open an on-line only store where I could sell these up cycled, re purposed, handcrafted pieces along with vintage treasures. 
When it was time to name this business, I wanted to pay homage to my past in the country and I happened to be looking at one of my vintage ceramic roosters in my kitchen - and voila The Painted Rooster began to be born. 
As we go forward, I will be sharing recipes, gardening tips & tricks, DIY crafts and of course my vintage finds, ideas on recycling and re purposing and I hope to have many of my dear friends that are bloggers as guests. In other words, I want to inspire you, learn from you and have a great time together. 
I will try and post every weekday in this beginning so I do hope you will check back often.
Thank you for stopping in. Have a wonderful weekend.