I am a homeschooling mom, crafting mom, & loving wife. This is the start of a new adventure. This blog will keep you posted on my journey to starting my own business with what I love to do most. Create! I am going to see where this takes me. The experts always say to do what you love most and you will be successful. Let's see if I can prove them right. Welcome to my world of crochet.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Lost & Found

There was a huge gap since the last time I posted on my blog. Life has been busy. I changed website providers and my email is different. My laptop computer crashed, which caused me to lose a vast amount of information. It is amazing how dependent we get on the storage of passwords, phone numbers, and addresses in machines. You guessed it. I couldn't find my own blog!

Things are starting to look up now though. I started a part-time job. This will help a little with bills in our house, as well as support my yarn addiction. I am hoping that my crochet business takes off soon. It will be a good Christmas if it does. Santa may even bring me a new laptop!!

My webstore is finally showing progress and should be running within the next two weeks. Thank you Nadine! Not sure what I would have done without her. She is so sweet, she volunteered to set it up for me for nothing. Little does she know, but her little girl will always have a winter hat as long as I know where the family lives.

Other than all of that I am just itching to start on some new designs. I have a few done up for Halloween. I have others planned for Thanksgiving, a few more for Halloween, and several for Christmas. I will be in a crochet frenzy for the next few weeks to get my designs out there. So.......  on that note I am signing off and picking up my crochet hook and yarn. Who knows what will spill out of my hands. ;)

Monday, June 6, 2011

Settling in!

I can't believe it's been almost a full month since my last post. My life has been full, to say the least. I am still working on getting the web store up and running. Wish I knew more of the IT stuff. My friend that is helping with it has had an overload in her life for the past month. I know she will come through for me. I just need to practice patience more. ;)

We were going to move at the end of July. Welllllll! That was escalated in hyper-drive. We moved just before the Holiday weekend. That means I completely packed our household while cleaning the new house, cleaning the old house, fixing some of the smaller repairs in both, and helping my hubby strongarm our items in the move. It's all done, and so am I. I have warned said dear hubby that the only way I will move again is if it's to my own apartment! We will eventually buy the house we moved to, I absolutely love it, along with the woman that owns it. She is truely a diamond and I am blessed to have gotten to know her. I hope for many more years to call her friend.

I have kept myself busy getting settled in the new house. But I have managed to plug away at the hat designs. Five orders were mailed out this week. And after talking to one of the photographers I have four new hats. One that she asked if I could make turned out wonderful. Just check out the dinosaur. It looks so happy, and like it wants to start talking to you. Can't wait until it circulates and I get feed-back on it.

Going to sign off and start work on another project. I have done bead work in the past and am going to blend it with some headbands. Hope it's liked.

Monday, May 9, 2011

A Challenge

I just discovered that I will be moving at the end of the month. So in this month I have; a daughter finishing college, my other daughter visiting with us so she can attend the graduation and party, homeschooling my son still, assisting the owner of the house we are moving to in packing and selling her possessions, and packing my house. These are all while still trying to start this business, attract customers by designing original items, and build up my inventory by crocheting each night. Who says there are no Wonder Women in existence?

My posts here will be further apart, and shorter, lol. Something has to give. I will be sure to come in here when something new happens.

Just like the new ties I designed last night. I don't like to be influenced by other products. I try not to look at something someone else has made while I make mine. This way I am not copying what is out there. Not to say it never happens. I have an item right now that I won't make anymore of. I just saw it on Etsy, the exact same look. I might have seen it some time back and liked it so well that it stuck. The one thing I don't want is to steal from someone. I will copy a concept, but the design will be mine. Other than universal items, like the sock monkeys. There is just one way to do them and have them stay true to character.

This is still an adventure for me, that I continue to enjoy. I hope that feeling never goes away!

Thursday, May 5, 2011

First Order

Heading out to the post office this morning. I am mailing my first order. This feels a little bittersweet, lol. I have a new design that I photographed, but made the decision not to post the pictures. I am going to wait for the photos to come back from the photographer. It's sort of like having a baby, but not getting to announce it yet. I am excited with the look and actually can't wait to see it on an infant. Hahahha, I better stop talking about it before I describe it in full.

I am still under the weather. Woke up this morning with a sore throat again, but I think it's more because of all the coughing. No blisters this time, just the redness. So after the post office run I am going to tuck in and doctor up. I have the grandchildren coming this weekend for a full week visit. I want to be able to play with them.

I have been emailing with Stacey at @Crafty Chicks Photography Props. She has been helping me as I figure out how to operate this business. This is something I appreciate so much. Her shop is actually a partnership with another lady and they are both military wives. They have some absolutely adorable items, and are working on new original items with theme designs right now. Definately worth checking out!

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Serious Gap In Posts

Sorry for the gap since the last post. We have had a family emergency and then I caught a flu bug. When something like that happens it takes all you have just to maintain a normal day. I have managed to keep posting on my FaceBook page; and of course to check for orders. It is still a slow start.

I received my first order for a hat and am thrilled. The photographer seems so nice and is going to send a photo back when she uses the hat. For being the first person to order from me online I made something special and am including it in the package. I hope she likes it. I might even get two photos; one of her using each item.

I am having a lot of fun thinking of what to crochet. I have the basic hat bases to use and just make adjustments for them to fit what I have in mind. This past week I have been working on a few new designs for newborns. They are probably out there already made by someone, but I don't use a pattern and what I have just happens. It is what I make up as I go along to make the item resemble my idea. I hope that made sense!

I don't want to post pictures of them yet. I have a photographer lined up to use them so the first photos on here, as well as FaceBook and Etsy will be professional posing. As soon as the photos arrive I will burn up my wires posting them everywhere I can. Hahahahhah!

Monday, April 18, 2011

Just Thoughts

There's been a little gap between posts. My hubby kidnapped me for the weekend and we stayed with friends on the river. Very frustrating for me because I had no advance notice, but I now know I needed the break. I will have to admit that every now and then he knows me better than I do.

I checked on my FaceBook page when I came back and my fan numbers had jumped from 39 on Saturday morning to 148 a few moments ago. That is due to the contest that I am participating in. It is building the numbers, but I have only had a handful of comments out of all the people jumping in. Not the best result from this so far. Maybe it will be different when the photos change.

I am plugging away at this; and it may seem like there is nothing happening because I have nothing new to report. That's because a lot of it now is repetitive until something happens. I have high hopes that I will have professional photographs soon. There are two photographers that I am talking to. Keep me in your prayers everyone. With the good lord behind me pushing I know this will be successful. Maybe there will be something new happening tomorrow.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Web Page Friendship

I worked with Kim today on the design for my Web store. This lady knows her stuff. I am so grateful to her for all she is doing. Over all, I love the look, it is better than what I thought. I thought it was going to take a lot longer to pick out the background and to set up what we needed. She had some really good ideas, almost like she was inside my mind. I think there were times she thought I was just agreeing because I didn't want to go against her ideas. HA! She needs to get to know me better. Any of my friends reading this could tell her I am way more outspoken than that.

She is going to fine tune it over the next couple of days and add in the photos I have so far. The next step is better photos (which she is going to do as well). She really signed on for a lot and I can't thank her enough for the help.

The photos that she takes for me will be professional. That is what she does for a living. You should check out her website. http://www.impressions-photo.com/

I need to do the writing for what will go in the web store so I am going to get off of here for now. Further updates are coming! :D