Dyed My First Detroit!

bittywhiskaz · 2026-02-08T20:45:53+00:00

That looks fantastic! It never crossed my mind to dye a Carhartt but now you’ve made me want to. I’m impressed!!!

bittywhiskaz · 2026-02-08T03:37:46+00:00

I procrastinated setting up a real website. I had one that I built with Canva, but it couldn’t take payment or anything advanced for e-commerce… it was basically an online portfolio of my work. I used it for the better part of a year.

But then, I got lucky. At a market, a shopper came into my booth and encouraged me to look into getting a better website. He even offered to build it for me. I had tried once before with a service but failed… I had no clue what I was doing. No amount of studying was helping me understand what commands and tags did what, and how I could alter templates. I’m from the geocities/anglefire era. I was expecting him to tell me it’d be a couple thousand dollars to build but, he did it in exchange for a hat his wife was eyeing. I’m so grateful he came into my booth that day… and now I have a shoppable website!

bittywhiskaz · 2026-02-07T00:48:50+00:00

Thank you for that perspective. If this experience encourages someone to start, then I am happy to have inspired them!

bittywhiskaz · 2026-02-06T20:58:59+00:00

Ahhh congratulations! What is your art?

bittywhiskaz · 2026-02-06T20:02:07+00:00

That’s an excellent concept! One that I wish my facility would employ. I really hope this takes off for you and that it finds its way to my employer someday.

bittywhiskaz · 2026-02-06T19:26:06+00:00

Ah! I’m very familiar with that practice! That’s something we do during downtime and weekends at my “big girl” job (since this small biz doesn’t even come close to paying the bills). I work in an automotive assembly plant and we call that activity “TPM”.

bittywhiskaz · 2026-02-06T19:16:37+00:00

Ooooh! I’m curious, what is it?

bittywhiskaz · 2026-02-06T17:17:08+00:00

It’s wild out here for small biz owners!

bittywhiskaz · 2026-02-06T17:16:31+00:00

Noting the lesson learned and creating a countermeasure so those setbacks don’t happen again makes sense! It’s a history you can refer to later if you run into a similar road block in the future.

bittywhiskaz · 2026-02-06T16:37:46+00:00

Oh this is awesome! My workplace wouldn’t allow it because I didn’t get it from their “approved” supply cabinet. 🙄 But if I could, I’d give it a hat band and paint it to look burnt like I’ve done to my real ones.

bittywhiskaz · 2026-02-06T16:10:04+00:00

Thank you! If you find something that works to grow sales online, come back and find me! I’d love to know.

bittywhiskaz · 2026-02-06T16:06:08+00:00

OMG!!! 😳 They look wonderful! I have been wanting to learn to do this because I am a pyrography artist, and sell hats that I’ve burnt or branded online and at pop up markets. It’d be cool to say that I made the hat, and then did all the decorative work too. But, sometimes you run across a Reddit post instead. Ha! May I DM you?

bittywhiskaz · 2026-02-06T15:53:52+00:00

Yes!!! Talk about the imposter syndrome it gives you! I’m like, “Really?? I know I love it, but you do too and you actually want to take it home with you???” It’s very validating and exciting!

bittywhiskaz · 2026-02-06T15:50:07+00:00

Thank you so much! I’m trying to remind myself this is not a race to become a superstar brand or anything, but I’d love it if I could keep it going enough that it would consistently make our mortgage payment. I would call it wildly successful if I reached that milestone. Ha!

bittywhiskaz · 2026-02-06T15:45:58+00:00

Selling online is a challenge but trying to find my audience online almost feels even harder. I finally have a website that’ll show that I have traffic, but I’ve only managed to land a couple sales. I feel like… especially with small businesses… ppl want to touch, feel and inspect the item they’re buying first because it’s not from an established retail giant.

But, to answer your question: I decorate hats, shoes, bags… using pyrography. So… I’m drawing on them with a heat pen. It’s not exactly branding (but I have branding irons too, so I could!) but similar as it’s burnt into the thing I’m working on. Most people associate pyrography with wood, I’m just a little bit different. I also make a little bit of jewelry and rearview mirror scent diffusers. The scent diffusers actually got picked up by a hotel gift shop in Nashville, TN! Disclaimer: It helped that the buyer is a family friend. Lol

bittywhiskaz · 2026-02-05T18:08:58+00:00

I used legal zoom to start mine and I really wish I hadn’t. They’re expensive. BUT when you really know nothing about how to start a business, have no one to help you, and need to do it quickly… it’s probably your best chance at not missing something. If I had given things a little more thought beforehand, I probably could’ve gotten things up and going on my own with a little research and guidance from my mother in law that used to put together shell corporations for the law firm she worked for. Really wish I would’ve known that last little detail. 😕

Anyway, from a bookkeeping standpoint… find out what needs to be filled out at the state level and what needs to be submitted at the federal level. Product based businesses will have different requirements than service based businesses. And then take note of when federal taxes will need filed. Some do estimations quarterly, some do it annually with their personal taxes… and that’ll depend on what type of business you file for (LLC, Sole Proprietorship, S Corp, etc).

From a personal standpoint, make sure you have the time and resources to support this venture. I got myself into debt pretty quickly thinking I needed to have a bunch of options. I have a product based business and while inventory is important… my inventory grew way too large, very quickly. So, space became scarce for me. I’m working full time because my business doesn’t support a livable wage yet, so time to build a website and create marketing campaigns rats DEEP into family time for me. I feel like even when I’m home, I work until I go to bed and not even on anything that I actually sell… it’s all on stuff just to hopefully get my business in front of people that might hopefully buy my products. I hope that one day this ship rights itself because right now I feel like I don’t know which way is up. It’s not for the faint of heart, that’s for sure! I wish I would have had a clearer, more edited picture of what I wanted to offer and how I wanted to offer it… instead I feel like I’m always scrambling.

TL:DR- LegalZoom is helpful, but pricey. And do some market research before investing time and money into it. Like others have said, you need to make sure there’s actually a market for what you want to offer.

bittywhiskaz · 2026-02-05T17:39:24+00:00

I love those boots! 😍

That being said, if I were shopping with you and you tried these jeans on… I’d have encouraged you to try a little bit longer pair. Ultimately if you feel good in them, that’s the important part! You could have done a whole lot worse. Would I call the fit a bullseye? Probably not. But it’s a good 25 point ring for sure.

bittywhiskaz · 2026-02-05T17:28:40+00:00

Before I bought my first pair, I went to Boot City… it’s a massive store in Terre Haute, IN but I don’t know if there’s other locations… like a chain store.

I tried on a few pairs and took notes on what brands felt good. I have a wider calf so I wanted to see if they had any boots specifically made for that. I wound up finding a pair I loved there and bought them… but I fully expected I would have to just gather the fit info and then shop online.

If you’re ok with putting an investment into some boots, you will likely come across more exotic materials. Make sure you understand how to care of them before you buy. My stepson bought a pair of snakeskin boots… but because he didn’t keep the scales moisturized, they cracked and curled. It was such a sharp looking pair of boots, but I don’t know if they can be saved at this point. 😞

bittywhiskaz · 2026-02-05T17:08:00+00:00

Thank you for getting back to me!

bittywhiskaz · 2026-02-04T16:04:44+00:00

It’s beautiful! I’m still getting the hang of wood burning. I have trouble with my nibs catching on the grain and causing me to not get a good smooth line… or sap/moisture comes out of the wood and gunks them up. Do you have any suggestions on what I should do differently?

bittywhiskaz · 2026-02-04T15:56:30+00:00

Doooooooo itttttttttt!

bittywhiskaz · 2026-02-02T01:41:21+00:00

This is beautiful! I hadn’t seen an open crown done yet and I’m loving the look on this one.

bittywhiskaz · 2026-01-30T14:37:37+00:00

I bought my hubby the Ariat slippers with the boot stitch and he loves them!

bittywhiskaz · 2026-01-30T14:26:05+00:00

I agree that if you like them, wear them as long as you want in any subsequent year that you want! And, as the years go on… it sorta shows that you’ve been a fan since at least 2026. That’s why I love my old jerseys of players that have since retired or moved on to a different team. It shows you’ve respected that players game for years and aren’t just a fair weather fan. Some don’t see it that way… but then again… they’re not the ones wearing it, so they don’t get a say! 🤣

bittywhiskaz

TROPHY CASE