Yay sales!

Feels great to be working on orders! 😃

The work from home Dream

I love this little person.

So so so painfully much.

When my husband and I were even still just dating I talked about her.  How much I wanted her, how much I needed her.  Anyone who has had a child knows that for some bizarre reason even though you have never met your unborn (or even conceived) child, after you have them it is like they were always there somehow.  Almost like the attitude and personalities that they have are so much like you or your partner or a blend of both that you recognize them even though you obviously just met them.

Its just one of the things I discovered that no one told me about.

One thing we also talked about was me staying at home to raise our children,  We prepped for this like getting ready for some kind of extreme trip somewhere, packing our financial bag with everything we thought we would need.  We saved a little money.  We cut down on our everyday expenses.  We got to the point were we could live on only Andrews income.

We were READY,

Then we got pregnant.

And everything fell to SHIT.

Within six months Andrew had lost his job, we had lost our bonus for the year, and we had lost the house we were renting due to a hike in the rent.

I will say to our credit, that by the time the baby came we had a new rental, a new job, and had only incurred a small amount of cc debt.  I think we were very lucky.  By the time she was three months old we had even swung buying our first home.  

But after everything settled, the bills, the moves, the setting up of a new house, etc... somehow our plan to survive on only Andrews income has become painfully precarious. 

It feels like every month could be the month we fall short if we are not 100% on top of things.  I have heard from friends that this is how even two income households feel though.  So I am not sure if what we are experiencing is all that unusual for a starting family.

Whatever the case, being able to make some extra income without putting the baby into daycare is proving to be very frustrating.

There are tons of stories and blogs and forums online of how anyone can make this happen.  But the sad reality is that unless you have a very specific skill set (i.e. transcription, data entry, accounting, etc...) it is really difficult.  So for an ex-horse farmer turned professional nanny turned full time mom it is near impossible.  The closest we have come so far is providing childcare out of our own home.  This comes with its own set of downsides of course.  

Don't get me wrong, we are super happy with our lives!  I love being home with the baby, and my husband loves it too.  We just want to increase the oops margin in our financial life for the inevitable.  So using my hobbies as a potential means of income is the next step in trying to achieve this dream of ours.

I am pleased with how it is going so far.  With no real capital and no marketing money spent (so far) I have managed to make some sales.  It is thrilling and very pleasing to know that people may actually want what I have to offer.  I am hoping to go to a fair or two this year if I can get some stock built up.  Which is proving harder then I thought.  The baby has a finite limit to the number of hours she will let me sew before deciding it is time to do something else.  No matter how I think about it, playing with her will ALWAYS be more important then anything else I am doing at any given moment.  The only thing I can think of would be preforming CPR on her father.

“Dream as if you’ll live forever, live as if you’ll die today.”

– James Dean

Out of S(e)wing

It is always incredible to me just how long it takes to get back to a 'normal' routine.  I know that part of it is actually just the ebb and flow of everyday life, but having everyone get knocked out sick seems to prolong even simple things from getting back in line.  Enter stage right laundry...

I was SOOOOOOOooooooooo close to having all the laundry caught up with!  But, of course, my husband brought up the second or third to last load and I discovered that somehow a PURPLE crayon had found its way not only into the washing machine but also into the DRYER...

BREATH.....  

In other news I have decided to go all in with my Etsy shop.  I figured that I had been just dabbling in it for too long and needed to make a real and sincere effort.  My theory is that if nothing sells, the baby or other yet to come babies can just enjoy all the homemade clothing.  

During my absence I actually SOLD OUT!!!! of my baby wipes on Etsy, and no, it wasn't my mom buying them! (I called and asked).  So stoked.  So I am now on my second batch, pumping them out like no ones business.  Also I made a sale on Amazon so I am hoping my listing will get more traffic now.

I am waiting on the arrival of a special stretch needle to finish my Tee's off so I can throw more up in the shop.  Below is a photo of the awesome fabric I am using, all of it grown, milled, spun, dyed, and sewn right here in the USA.

I am really liking these shirts, the fabric is super durable and comfy on her no matter what she is destroying.

I have also (Well I have to wait for the needle to arrive so why not start another project...) started an awesome spectrum quilt that I am excited about.  It's très Montessori.

I will upload the finished photos whenever it is (read if) I finish it.

In other news our offer fell through on the farm we were looking at :(..... It's a long story that will need its own post.  More frustrating then sad though, onward and upwards!!

Monster virus.

So things have ground to a halt here.  .  Baby has a monster virus that has triggered multiple secondary infections.  This is the first time she has ever been on antibiotics and now she is on two! .  So we're hunkering down, and resting.  Will pick back up when were better.

C

Late night projects

Oh my gosh... I think I just made a ring sling!  😨.  Not sure yet as the baby is sound asleep but it looks like a ring sling!  Will post photos of it in action tomorrow!  If it doesn't work though I'm going to pretend this never happened.

Hoop after hoop after hoop

You would think in this day and age everyone knows that you shouldn't let babies play with plastic bags right?  I would hope so anyway.  But regardless, in order to send products intended for use by or around children they must be packaged with a suffocation warning about the bag that they come in... 

A small thing I know but still...

Another unanticipated hoop that I found out today is that in order to sell with Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA) I need a UPC or ISBN code...

So I bought some UPC codes.  Even though the instructions repeatedly tell you to make sure to cover the UPC codes with the amazon codes you are given for FBA items... Can you say REDUNDANT?

Of course then when I went to prep the shipment for amazon the printer stopped working and I have no way to print codes or shipping labels (sigh)

I knew it would be complicated, but I just didn't realize how much time it would take to sort it all out.

My next project?

 Hmm... is my next project already taking shape? It is most certainly thicker then my current diaper inserts... I will let you know!

P.s. As I was making this the baby peed on the floor behind me... and then started dancing in it. 😑