there will be good days and there will be bad days

After all the stress of last week I took the weekend off to relax. The kids were at their dads and Jeff and I had a great weekend. I was so ready to get back to work monday, had a list of projects to complete and things to do, especially with Tre's birthday party coming this saturday and thanksgiving around the corner (we're having 12 people at our house!!) Then disaster struck, the new fabric I bought for the boys tote and crayon roll that Izzie's school asked me to donate was hard to work with and the crayon roll kept unraveling. After messing with it for a LONG time I thought I'd finally got it and as I was sewing the top stitch I saw that it had come apart again at the bottom, only now it was too late, I had to start the whole thing over again. Then Tre came home with a ton of homework and before I knew it the kids were in bed, Jeff was at his studio editing this weeks show and I was making a new crayon roll, which luckily turned out great, but I was up until after 1am. Then this morning I woke up excited, I had plans to go to Joann Fabrics in Hudson after I dropped off the kids at school. To explain, when I lived in Youngstown I had 5 craft stores with in close driving distance and here I have one, Hobby Lobby. Don't get me wrong, I like Hobby Lobby, but I LOVE Joann and I'd heard the one in Hudson was HUGE! Considering that most mornings I leave to drop off Tre in sweats  and eat when I come back it was HUGE to have all 3 of us up, dressed and fed AND walking out of the door on time. I dropped the kids off and headed to Hudson, following my GPS. It ended up taking me to the distribution center, which I learned later was just a block away, the actual store sat way off the road and didnt have a sign at the road like the distribution center did, lol, but I eventually found it. It felt like walking into paradise! It was HUGE, one whole side of the store was fabric front to back! Me being me, after an hour and a half of walking around, I had picked and put back 5 fabrics and 2 patterns and ended up leaving with 9 spools of serger thread (which was why I went in the first place) and 2 spools of regular thread, lol. I figured I'd go back after I'd played with my new serger and figured it out, it was (relatively) easy to find and easy to get there and back while Izzie was at school. I happily walk back to my car, get in and turn the key...click, click, click, nothing. What?!?!?! Again, click, click, click, nothing. OH MY GOD! WHAT?!?!?!? My battery was dead! I pull out my AAA card and call, they say 40 minutes, should be plenty of time to get back home to get Izzie. As time ticks by I get more and more nervous, I don't know where I am, no one lives close enough to help me get Izzie if I can't make it, without a car I can't get Tre back and forth to school, and on and on. I ask Jeff to call me and while we are talking I flip out, completely lose it, it's been 45 minutes, I'm never going to make it to get Izzie on time! I try to calm down, it will be ok. After an hour and a half the guy finally shows up and I'm on my way. The school told me it was no problem, half her class goes all day anyway so she was fine. I didn't turn off my car while I was inside picking her up, we make it home fine. I feed us both lunch, start cleaning and getting chicken thawed for dinner. Jeff calls about 35 minutes before we have to pick up Tre and tries to tell me where the battery charger is in case my car won't start. I find it, but not the cables. I try my car, it's dead again. I walk around to the neighbors I know will be home, no jumper cables. Luckily Jeff can come home early to go pick up Tre so I email the teacher, tell her to let Tre know to look for Jeff's car and not mine. I'm beyond upset by now, I had a million things to do today, this week! Jeff finds the cables when he gets home and charged my car for the next 3 hours, still wont't start. Needless to say, now tomorrow's plans are changed too, I need a new battery. I'm such a routine person this has all just been too much for me. It may sound silly, but I had a LONG list of things to do and the last 2 days have put me so far behind I can't stand it. I guess luckily I can just go to bed and wake up with a new plan and work from that, hoping I'll get it all done and knowing, somehow, that I will, I always do. I know that this was VERY long winded, but I had to get it off my chest so I could move on and wake up tomorrow with a positive attitude!

Today was a good day

Oh wow, today was a good day! Not even 24 hours of having my facebook page up and I already got my first order!!! Just found out that an early christmas gift, a new Brother SERGER, will arrive in a few days, thanks to the love of my life and undoubtedly the BEST man in the world, THANK YOU JEFF, I LOVE YOU!!! And I am getting another early christmas gift from my parents, start-up and supplies money! The kids will be at their dad's this weekend so Jeff and I have plans to work on our hobbies so I'll get a lot done without the usual interruptions. After an exhausting and stressful week I'm going to bed with a smile on my face :)

Facebook page is up and running!!!

Last night Jeff and I sat down and figured out my facebook page! Yay! It was fun to add all the pictures that I just took. It's a good step in the right direction. After feeling so overwhelmed and wanting to quit getting my facebook page started is like a breath of fresh air! Thank you Jeff for all you help and support! I love you!

overload

I am officially on overload, I'm physically and emotionally exhausted! What I really need is a break, not a 10 minute break, or even a 2 hour one, but a WHOLE DAY break! My endless list of things that need to be done never gets smaller because every time I cross something off 2 more take it's place. The house is a disaster area, the laundry is done but not put away, and the thought of making dinner tonight makes my stomach hurt. I know that once I get this business up and running I will feel much better but right now I am so stressed about it that it's sucking the fun out of it all. Part of me wants to quit now, I mean I feel like my happiness is being threatened by the stress and pressure that I feel and I'm such a routine person that this endless list of things to do to open a shop makes my scheduled life so difficult it's nearly impossible to keep up. Luckily the other part of me is a stubborn and bull-headed and no way am I giving up when I've already worked so hard to get to this point. I just need a break, even a half of a day, to not think about any thing RG Originals related.....sigh, a girl can dream can't she?

What a long day!

     It's not even 9 and I'm contemplating going to bed! I'm exhausted! After spending the weekend finishing up a peasant dress, 2 skirts, a matching crayon roll and tote, and a rosette hair clip in between finishing a seal habitat diorama and report with Tre, writing out his birthday invitations, and having my future mother-in-law aka "Grandma Betty" spend the whole day sunday which was filled with a big family lunch at Outback, then a trip to Kohl's (we love to shop together!) and 2 grocery stores with Jeff while Grandma Betty watched the kids, I was almost dreading the scheduled photo shoot from sheer exhaustion. Turns out that Kate also had too much on her plate and I woke up to a text canceling it. To tell the truth I was a bit relieved, I needed a break! My mom, who was going to help out today by getting Tre from school, then suggested that she come to my house and we just do the pictures ourselves since I've been working so hard and so I don't loose momentum. It took me a while to get into that idea, but before I knew it I was cleaning up our dining room/hobby room since we have the beautiful chaise in there and it has the best natural light (aside from the playroom but it is NOT what I want potential customers seeing!) Amazingly Izzie was into it, though I think knowing that Grammy was coming for a visit and she was getting a treat after we were done helped her out! We all had a lot of fun, I took about 250 pictures and Isabel hung in there like a champ! We finished in time to give Izzie her treat and sit around the table for a few minutes before my mom had to leave and Izzie and I had to run off to school to get Tre, then snack, homework, play, dinner, math games on the computer and bedtime routine. I've started sorting through the multitude of pictures and after deleting out of focus or crazy faces I'm down to 157, lol. It's going to take me a day or so to figure this all out and Jeff, my CIO, has to record his show tonight so he won't have time to help. Yeah, my bed is sounding better and better right now! Isabel has preschool tomorrow, I can take a look at the pictures then, alone, with fresh eyes because right now they are drooping.

photo shoot scheduled!

    So I have the patterns, measurements, prices, sample pieces made, and account started on etsy, the next big hurdle was pictures. My wonderful friend Kate Echle just so happens to be a FANTASTIC photographer and I knew her eye for style would be just what I needed. Looking through etsy pages I'm always drawn to the clothes that are in very well done photos first over just a dress on a hanger against a solid backdrop. I love Kate's work, she sees things in a way that leaves you wanting more and that's how I want potential customers to feel. We have a photo shoot scheduled for monday. Izzie loves Kate and is always a willing model for her. I'm so excited that I bought some fabric and started 5 new pieces, a peasant dress, 2 skirts, and a matching crayon roll and tote. Unfortunately this horrible cold that I can't seem to shake (ugh) and our already full weekend is making completing all these projects difficult. I'm just going to keep working and take what I can on monday, because I know Kate will far exceed any expectations I have!!! Now I better get back to work!

FOCUS!!!!

     I need to FOCUS on making the things I already know, peasant dresses, pillowcase dresses, twirl skirts, headbands, bows, crayon rolls, and totes and stop thinking I need to figure out how to make every cute thing I see!!! It's like a disease, lol, I see something cute and say "oh I could figure out how to make that" and then spend way too much time thinking about it and searching for examples online. Maybe I need a break from my computer...well Pinterest at the very least-too many ideas on there, it's addicting! I need to FOCUS!!!!

research, research, research

     Today I have spent most of my day scouring etsy for sizing and pricing info. Up until now I've only ever made clothes that fit Izzie, I take her measurements and figure out my pattern according to that. Maybe thats another downfall of being self taught (other then the length of time it takes to get a specific pattern right!) I'm not 100% sure about adjusting the sizes and I can't only offer size 5 clothes!! Not to mention the fact that Izzie has long legs and is petite at the same time so I don't even think I'm making a typical size 5. So I have been spending a lot of time researching sizing, on etsy, blogs, websites, and even sizing charts of some of my favorite stores. I think I have it figured out but I really wish I had some girls to try things on. Izzie's friends are her age-not much help.
     Next on the list was pricing. That took considerably less time though I was still amazed to see the difference in prices for the same pieces, even taking designer fabric into account, it still had no real rhyme or reason. I cross-referenced prices for certain pieces against seller ratings, number of sales and length of time in business. I think I have some numbers that will be acceptable as a new business that will offer quality pieces with a reasonable price.
     Now that I've spent my whole day on the computer all I want to do is sew, but I have 20 minutes until we leave to pick up Tre then I promised we would go to the library after school, then we need to start working on his animal diorama due next week and I'm sure he has homework. Dinner needs made, the house needs cleaned (the playroom is off the hook!) showers, reading then bedtime at 8. Maybe I'll get to sew after that...