Digging Deeper with America’s Favorite Miniature Garden Center, TwoGreenThumbs.com, Part 2
This was an Instagram challenge this past March called #MarchMeettheMaker and I found it was a great way to tell you more about what we do here at America’s favorite – and first – Miniature Garden Center.
There was a list to follow of what to post each day for 31 days. We’ve divided it up into three blogs, this is the second, (here is the first, Part 1,) so you too can find out more about us. We’re the little company that could and did. Here is our story, through Instagram photos.
Day 11 :: Post Run :: We’ve been shipping the miniature plants, parts & pieces for gardening in miniature since 2002/3 when we started selling on eBay before we opened our online store in 2004. We have the BEST live plant shipping methods – or so our customers tell us! We’ve shipped accessories and miniature art pieces throughout the world, just recently to Germany, New Zealand, india, France & Malaysia. We’ve shipped our miniature trees & plants to every state of the Union save for Hawaii. Miniature Gardeners are everywhere.
Day 12 :: Very First Sale :: December, 2001, Fremont Sunday Market, Seattle, Washington. We brought our ideas to the market to test and sold over half of the miniature gardens. One woman bought three. A great start but boy was the weather miserable that day! Two Green Thumbs actually started as a garden art business before the gardening in miniature idea took over. The FSM was a very touristy market, we built a very wide-spread mailing list of people from all over the States – back when that really meant snail mail.
Day 13 :: Feedback – A lot of our feedback is on the excellent quality miniature plants that we carry and our unusual miniature garden accessories but the best feedback is on our shipping. We have the best shipping methods in the industry, hands down. I would bet my husband on it! <~ He does all the packing for us! ???? After I taught him my techniques, he added his own level of OCD-ness to it. We now get this kind of unsolicited feedback all the time.
Day 14 :: Creative Friends – All my friends are creative in some way or another. (Actually, I believe that everybody is creative.) My friends are like me, entrepreneurs, artists and gardeners who like to be a bit silly at times.
Day 15 :: Inspiration :: Mother Nature is my main inspiration, followed by contemporary art and craft. For me, a walk through the woods is just as inspiring as going to a favorite art gallery, antique or bookstore, or a craft market. Inspiration is everywhere.
Day 16 :: Time to Relax – My full-size garden is in the front of the house, it’s gradually becoming my sanctuary and my place to relax. The business, nursery and studio is in the back. 🙂
Day 17 :: Photography – I learned commercial photography on the job by being a photographer’s assistant for years, back in the analog days. Did some cover shots, a ton of catalogue work, my best day was a kitten shoot with my ol’ friend Doug. I’m still improving my miniature photography every day. And I’ve always bootstrapped my shoots too – why don’t I get a proper setup for my DIYs, I’m not sure…. Maybe one day I’ll take a lesson and get a proper mini photo studio. Loll!
Day 19 :: Helper – I thought of showing you a photo of Steve for this one, a partner more than a helper per se. But I’d rather show you the unexpected things he does that make me laugh, like filling the tiny birdbath with birdseed just after I planted the garden. You should hear the way he talks to our customers on the phone: compassionate, practical and funny. He is the best plant packer in the industry – hands down. I’d put money on it but I think I’ve said that before. Our damaged-plant complaints have gone down to less than 1%.
Day 20 :: Sketchbook – This is really getting a bit embarrassing. What do I sketch? Small plants and flowers and garden vignettes. Lol!
ICYMI, here is Part 1. Stay tuned for Part 3 coming next week. Leave any comments or questions below.
We no longer consistently post on Instagram. Unfortunately “the game” finally got to us and we decided to focus our attention to growing and nurturing the hobby and helping our customers. You can see our Instagram feed here.
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