Hi :)

I've had the whole day to myself today, thanks to my lovely mother taking Jake for the day! I don't even have to worry about picking him up, since Jay's on day shift and is going to pick him up on his way home!

I dropped 15 orders off at the post office, and now have time to gear up for the next insane amount of sewing. I don't know what's going on this month, I've had a record number of large sales, so I'm pretty excited.

I think it's time that Jake goes into daycare once a week, and we have a friend who has her ece, so I think if we can work out the details, that might work out! Exciting!!

I had a little time to draw up a digital version of my dream girl nursery! Have a look!!


I have all the fabric... it is getting made whether or not we have a girl! LOL

It's Market Day!

Wow, it's beautiful outside, it's hot and absolutely the best weather we could ask for on this fundraising market day!

I have everything ready, all set up in my kitchen waiting to be piled into the van! I even splurged and bought some fabric to make a table cloth for my main display table. It's white satin with white and teal tulle around the outside. Jake walked by it and did a double take saying "Dats NIIIIIIIICE, niiiiiice, oooooh". :D So cute.

I have three toddler bedding sets that I'm looking to part with (take up too much space), so they're going to be clearance priced. I have a bunch of blankets, leg warmers, crib sheets, a couple pairs of Little Shoes, and the dresses! Still have to figure out how to lay everything out, but my lovely mother-in-law gave me a mini bolt of tulle which I think I'll use to hang the dresses up front, and some of the blankets along the sides. I'm also so lucky to have someone lending me a couple extra 6ft tables, so I will have space to lay it all out properly without being too crowded.

I'm going to bring my camera with me this time, so you can see what the booth looks like all put together!

The only thing left is to decide what to wear so that I don't melt in the heat!!

Market Weekend!

I am really excited about my weekend! Jason's not working, and I have two back to back markets :) Tomorrow is the Heart of Ladner Night Market fundraiser for the new Hospice in town. It runs from 4-9pm in the Harbourside complex of downtown Ladner.

Sunday is my regular stint at the Steveston Farmer and Artisan Market at 3rd and Moncton, from 10am til 4pm.

I am quite stoked about the new little girl dresses I'm going to put to market! They're super cute. I have 8, although one sold this afternoon, so down to 7 for the two days. I have the material cut out for another 6, but it's midnight, and I want to sleep tonight. Besides, I have markets until the end of October, I'm sure there's plenty of time left to sell them, and they layer well for fall!

See how cute they are?




Also pretty pleased with how a couple of my bedding sets have turned out, and how they look in the nurseries! This first set was awesome, her color choices were black, white and yellow. We did a crib skirt with this funky hummingbird print, three fitted sheets (black dots, yellow minky and I think a white minky), a blanket, and some changing pad covers. I LOVE the furniture selection, and the choice of colors. Might not work in our small space, but it sure works here!


This one is one that was just delivered today, in time for her shower on Sunday. I LOVE IT. I loved every second of making the set, the colors are so vibrant, and I was amazed at how everything coordinated so well in the finished nursery. She knew exactly what she wanted, and this baby is super lucky to have such a nice room!

Sewing

I do a lot of sewing...a LOT.

It pretty much takes up 99% of my free time (that is, time I don't have maternal obligations!) and as much as it frustrates me at times, when I don't have enough room, or I can't find my scissors for the 54321847th time in a row, it really is a fantastic way for me to spend my time.

I love creating these pieces. You take fabric, sew it in a few places, and POOF, it's something awesome. I love that process.

The other day I bought a TON of different fabrics, just for fun. I'm going to make a bunch of blankets to (hopefully) sell at the markets, along with minky sheets and changing pad covers. I think I'm going to stock a bunch of those things, they seem pretty popular, and make good gifts! I am going to attempt to bring my prop crib to set up an example of what can be custom ordered...

Ah, so many things to plan!

Hey, at least it gives me something to do :)

Still up at midnight

The hubby was cleared to go back to work, and as such, started back on Saturday night. I can easily admit that I'm glad he went back on the 2-12am shift, because for the majority of the day I'm too busy with Jakob to give Jay a second thought. BUT, when Jake's down for the night, and I'm left to my own devices, well, I start to worry.

Ugh, I know that I am completely powerless in preventing him from getting hurt, and I just have to trust that he has the training and everything to be safe, but it's so hard!

I made fourteen pairs of baby shoes tonight, in an attempt to occupy myself. It worked for a bit, but then I started getting too tired to focus.

I really should sleep, he'll be home in an hour.

"Quit Your Day Job"

For as long as I've been on Etsy, they've been running a blog feature called "Quit Your Day Job". When I started selling my goods, I would read the articles, and laugh, and say "There's no way I'll ever be able to do that".

Well, the other day I gave my notice. I only have five more shifts that may or may not involve me getting my butt kicked. I REALLY like the people I work with, so much, but we don't work together regularly, and when it comes down to it, my safety is worth more than what I was making on an hourly basis. LPO's take a lot of shit for what they're paid. Sigh, I hope I can keep up the contacts I've made there, I met some fantastic people. It got to be too much, with Jay getting set to go back to work this week, my parents moving away and constant sewing... The plan now is to devote myself completely to SusieCues and my boys! And hopefully have enough time for friends and fun, and less stress with time management.

I made my 60th sale today. Pretty excited about that! 55 sales since January 5th, which is pretty good for a relatively new seller. The best part is that the majority have come in the last couple months, and have been substantial, "I can live off this" type of sales. Good times.

I had a lunch date with my dad the other day (have to get them in while I can!) and we talked all about setting up a legitimate company, getting a bookkeeper, and all sorts of business stuff. My dad is really smart. I'm glad that he's willing to share his hard earned knowledge with me, even if he thinks I'm crazy for going full bore with this plan.

I don't know what we'll do if sales slow down, or if people all of a sudden decide not to buy from me anymore, but we'll deal with that when we get to it.

With my new availability, I was able to sign up for almost all the dates at the Steveston Farmers and Artisans Summer Market! I have nine dates lined up there, where I'll have the easy-to-sell things, like crib sheets and changing pad covers available, and lots of examples of what I can do for custom work. It would be delightful being able to fill local orders! I even bought myself a 10x10 tent!

Crazy. Life is crazy!

But life is also great.

Lists

My "To-Do" list is two pages long. Writing a blog entry isn't on that list, and there's probably good reason. We had a cleaning lady come the other day, which was fantastic, but honestly, you can't tell she was here. How do people with toddlers keep their houses in order??

The hubby's grandpa is in the process of designing and building me a new sewing centre for the kitchen. I am beyond excited about it, seeing as I'll finally have a place to stash all my fabrics, and tools, and everything that comes with running a small-time custom bedding and accessories company.

I've had a LOT of interest this week in my custom sets. By a lot, I mean about half a dozen people are sending me legitimate inquiries on a daily basis. Pretty cool, so I'll just have to see how that plays out.

Having just returned to work, I have no intentions of quitting my day job. I LOVE getting out of the house, it totally gives me my sanity back. I thought I would appreciate the four days I have off right now, but I sort of wish they were broken up by one day of work. Ah, well... I shouldn't complain. Jakob is really good about going to bed before 8pm, and staying asleep, so I get most of my online work done in the evenings. I try to sew around nap times, and have decided that it is okay to leave a project half way through, to get chores done, and return to it when my obligatory duties are finished.

I've been meaning to re-shoot all the photos on my Etsy site, but haven't found time. Did manage to get a few decent shots of Little Man, modeling legwarmers and little shoes, though. Don't know where he gets his photogenic genes. Definitely not from me.




Isn't he cute?

I ordered packaging for my legwarmers and shoes a while back, and got it in the mail, which was fantastic. Dropped a bunch of pairs of legwarmers at Buttercups today, and they seemed to appreciate the more professional appearance.


I really wish it were easier to edit listings in Etsy! I want to replace all the pictures on the legwarmer listings, but it's so much work, and time flies WAY too quickly.

Okay, off to get something useful done.
Goodnight :)