The Branding of Miss Eff's..............

When I started my business nine seasons ago, I knew I wanted the farm to have a unique and creative look to it. I wanted people to come to the farm ... pick some flowers, pour themselves a glass of lemonade, eat some homemade cookies and relax. I was smart enough to realize how very different we are from other farms and businesses. But I have to admit ........ I didn't have the marketing savvy  to call it "branding".

 Fortunately for us, my interior design background and Honey's creativity has helped us limp along.  All the colors used on the farm are from a palette that we will (eventually???) use on the house.  Classic-L farmhouses .. like other Victorian houses .... give us the opportunity to use lots of shades of colors.  So the five color palette on the house can change a bit on the Summer Kitchen, the barn quilts and the out-buildings and still coordinate.

Sometimes it is silly ideas that make Miss Eff's special ......

But from parties in the corn-zebo .................... (Seriously .... why doesn't spellcheck understand that corn-zebo is a real word??)

to a bed in the garden .............

to the chickens I choose to raise ..............

to the egg cartons I order .................

I have made conscious decisions about the farm.  Sometimes, I might not have known it .... but they all had to fit our so-called marketing plan.  Victoria magazine meets Hobby Farm magazine.  Tasha Tudor meets Mary Jane Butters.  Designing Women meets Little House on the Prairie.  (Or maybe that should be Green Acres!)  

Whatever it is ..... it had to "fit"!  I could never copy another farm or business style.  I can't stray from our look, our feel and what is right for us. I may be inspired by your farm or business.  I may see an idea that would work well on the farm. But I always make it our own ... in our own way.   A swoooopy roof wouldn't fit every farm (and after the trials and tribulations that Honey has gone through .... you would be crazy to try it!!!) 

So it is with delight and pleasure and out-and-out happiness ... I get to introduce you to the soon-to-be tags in the Summer Kitchen.  Inspired by a 1930's packet of canning labels that I purchased decades ago ... for $1 ... Brad Ellis from the Orange Guy has done an awesome job of getting me exactly what I want!!!!

So ..... after I get dimensions etc to her ... my friend Jen will be creating the sign for the Summer Kitchen.  Look through Jen's delightful blog and see the beautiful vintage look signs she creates.  And to make this extra special for me ... it will hang on a curlicue sign bracket that held my father's veterinarian sign.  Before that ... my great-grandfather's doctor's office sign hung from this bracket.

Old, hand-made, creative, whimsical .......... its all part of the story of Miss Effie's.