Back to Normal

Well, I became "free" from the day job mid January...However....I am JUST now getting back to normal as a series of things happened...one child got sick, I got strep throat TWICE, the school called me to sub various times, and so on. PHEW. I had a few days of slovenly days of watching the ENTIRE three seasons of Downton Abbey and crochet, which was lovely and fulfilled my need for laziness. Then came the kids off school for a week for Mardi Gras....AHHHH! So tomorrow I'm starting over...again on my WAHM life!

I've joined a gym and am enjoying working out and watching the scale go slowly down! My goal is to run for 30 minutes straight, and I'm enjoying working on that goal. I ran for 3 minutes straight twice today! WOO HOO!

New items are being listed at Badge Reels and Seaux Comfy including fun new mylar reels and some super cute new ruffle scarves perfect for cool spring nights! The girls and I are writing again over at Real Housewives Of Nola and we have some new faces! Come meet them and stay up to date with our shenanigans!

The great team members over at Handmade Louisiana are making some beautiful items for spring and summer! Be sure to check out a list of our Etsy shops via our Etsy Teams profile here and please join us if you are a artisan in the gulf coast La/Ms area. I'm so proud of this group of artisans who really show the awesomeness that is my hometown and region. We pack a lot of talent down here!

It will be really nice to have my quiet back during the day. It's only a short time, but it's something I've grown to love. Seems the older I get the more of a homebody I become! I have some projects to tackle around the house, especially now that we are not relisting it to sell, I can do some things because I want them, not because it will help or hurt a sale. My craft room is getting a serious purge, hopefully starting this week. I have to accept I cannot do EVERY craft I've ever tried and streamline what I have, so I'll probably have some destash available on my facebook soon!

I hope life is great for you, dear reader, and you are staying warm as sunnier days approach us!!

~~Craft on~~
Amy

Taking a Little Time Off...

Ahhhh, vacation. What a lovely idea. Rest, relaxation, time for me, time for my family. Ahhhhh.

So, things will be quiet here for the rest of the month. My shops are on vacation and all current orders have been mailed out. (Or will be when mail resumes on Tuesday.) Now to get posts ready for Real Housewives of NOLA and I'll be all caught up! :)

What's on the horizon, you ask? Well, after my vacation, here's my plans:

*More badge reels will be added to the shops! I pressed over 50 new prints today alone so once pics are edited, you'll find even MORE available in my shops!
* A new blogging schedule. I may not make it EVERY day, but I'll try!
* More Pattern Weights, in heavier weights over at Destash City.
* New items at Micro Mops, shhh, it's a secret.
* Big sales and coupons for the shopping season, in ALL the shops!


So, thanks for staying in touch friends, don't forget to follow me on Facebook for up to date information!! :)

~~Amy

girl, disconnected....coming in June

Hey all, you know me, a little A.D.D. and need to change things up from time to time. Well, last month I decided I wanted to do a month of being virtually offline. So for the month of June, I will be doing a blog series, "girl, disconnected". It should probably be, girl--mostly disconnected because I will not be COMPLETELY offline. For one...I can't blog the progress without being ONline. So here's the deal:

I will be allowed online for the following things:
1. To blog the progress of this project, sort of a diary of how I'm doing dealing with disconnecting. I plan to write 2-3x a week...depending on how bad my withdrawal is!!
2. To check in and run my most popular shops, Badge Reels (which is getting it's own website!) and MicroMops. I will also leave all my Artfire shops open, after all I do pay a monthly fee....I have to be a realist and recognize that I am trying to run a business here and I need to keep up with my income. However, it will be, a log in, check for sales, answer customer questions, print shipping, and get offline! No online promoting, etc.
3. My other blogs and sites may 'post' but will be due to scheduled postings I've already planned ahead of time.
4. Weekly check of email so my inbox doesn't implode.

What I will NOT be allowed to do:
1. Facebook, twitter or plurk. Ouch....that's gonna hurt.
2. Look up patterns, tutorials, recipes, etc. I have a wealth of information ALREADY, it's time I use some of it.
3. Shop Online. This one is gonna really hurt too.... I'll miss you Amazon.
4. Print Coupons. Again, I have PLENTY cut already and a decent stockpile.
5. Play online games....bye bye farm on my Ipad....
6. Any other internet access. My family still can, and we do sometimes use Skype as a form of communication, so that is ok, since connecting in REAL life is  my goal here.

I suspect this will be both equally hard and rewarding. There are days where I don't get online much, as is, like the days I take my Dad grocery shopping...and those days are really nice. Running errands, then sitting in my Dad's beautiful green yard sipping sweet tea....seriously I wonder WHY we get so caught up in social networking. I wonder what it'd be like to be more like Kelly, my best friend who is a rare soul, rarely online, no facebook, twitter, blogs, nothing. She barely remembers to check her email. Granted she has three children and is trying to sell her house, so she has zero time for it as is. But she's an old soul...she even fought getting a cell phone tooth and nail. If she didn't have children, she probably still wouldn't have a cell! Perhaps she's on to something....

I remember years spent in my youth bored to TEARS. Do children even experience that now? Do they know what it's like to just SIT and BE?

I don't plan to just sit around during my month of disconnection. I'll still have my business to attend to, but I hope to really focus on my kids, family, home and what I want. Sometimes, I wonder if I really want to continue in my business. As success grows, what do we sacrifice? What would it like to not rush so much for a month? Could I really close down ALL my shops for a month? REALLY, truly disconnect? (that's a later experiment!).

There is so much I want to create, complete, finish. I tend to take on WAY too many tasks, because, well, I don't know. But I do miss the early years after my son was born, before I took up the handmade life, when I just sat, reading a magazine, while he played on the floor....what happened to that? Where did it go?

It went into starting a business...which has been an incredible experience. I have learned SO much the past 3 years that I've been running my handmade shops. I've actually found some success with it, and there is the possibility to have continued, advanced success if I play my cards right. So part of why I'm disconnecting in June is to focus on that...how can I blend a successful business, my family and my dreams into one?

Soooo, stayed tuned, the journey beings June 1st!!!

~~Amy