The Sewing Mom

This past Sunday I shared with my readers the goal I have set for myself to get some exercise back into my life and start feeling healthier as a result. I wanted to update on my progress because I feel that I’ve gotten off to a good start.

On Monday morning I walked on my treadmill for 20 minutes, it felt good, but a little short on time. Wednesday, I did another walk, but it was only 15 minutes, not long enough. Today though, I got started earlier so I was able to get in 25 minutes and I felt really good. Later this morning I was grocery shopping and found myself buying healthier foods including fresh vegetables and reduced sugar instant oatmeal! I also bought low calorie frozen meals for my lunch and some low calorie snacks to help me get through the day.

I feel like I’m off to a very good start and the fact that I’m all ready feeling better leads me to believe that I won’t be needing la weight loss anytime soon. I think as time goes on I’ll get my schedule going a little better and be able to walk for longer periods of time. Wish me luck!

I stated in my previous post that I, along with family members, plan to sell some of our handiwork sometime this year. That’s all well and good, but I need to have product to sell. I have to admit that I haven’t done any sewing for the last few weeks and I still need to straighten up and organize my sewing room after the projects I completed before Christmas. I like to start fresh!

To help get myself motivated, I’ve decided to join the new Blogger Craft Club that will begin on January 28. Some club members will be working on the same projects while others will work on their own. Each Monday, beginning Jan. 28, we will post our progress. I think this is an awesome way to keep me on track and accountable! (a good quick kick in the butt, just what I need!) Thanks Hadias for coming up with this great idea!

I believe I will be making another one of these bags as my first project.  The next one will probably be in light blues.

Technorati Tags: Blogger Craft Club

My sisters, mom and myself are working towards selling many of our home crafted products beginning sometime in 2008. We are still working on the details of when and where we will first sell at, but in the mean time, we have quite a number of small details to work out.

To begin with, we have to have enough product to make it worthwhile to rent a booth at a craft fair. Also, while we are each making different products, they need to go together in some fashion. If they don’t our booth will not show very well, it will be filled with randomness as my daughter would say. I think the biggest thing we have in common is that we all tend to gravitate towards the same colors and same fabrics and that is what will pull it all together.

Most of what we will be selling are hand made bags of all sizes. Some bags will be quilted, others won’t be, but they will all be hand sewn. The neat thing about these bags is that no two are ever alike, each one is completely unique. I believe my mom is working on some small quilted wall hangings and table runners to sell. Her work is beautiful so I know there will be no problem selling anything she makes!

Because this will be our first ever time to sell our products, we are having to also think about how to set up the booth, display our products, and how to market ourselves. I know that whenever I go to a craft show, I like to get information on the sellers when I find a product I really like, that way I know how to contact them if I want more product. One option for this is creating business cards. The problem with this is that they are so small, it would be difficult to show what we really offer, and they are small and tend to get overlooked by the customer. I like the idea of using custom printed postcards. They are bigger, less likely to be overlooked, and we can put a picture of our products on it as well as contact information. We can also get postcard printing done on good quality heavy cardstock.

I am really starting to get excited about all of this. I think we have a bright future ahead of us!

Technorati Tags: business cards, postcards, postcard printing

I am so very proud of my daughter. I believe I mentioned before Christmas that she had requested $100 cash from Santa. This isn’t unusual for kids to want cash, but the reason she wanted it was so that she could make a donation to the World Wildlife Fund. She not only got the $100 she’d asked for, she got much more.

What makes me so proud of my daughter is that it would have been very easy for her to see all the cash she collected at Christmas and decide to use it to purchase video games and toys. It was the most money she’d ever had in her hand at one time, $240, but no, she stuck with her plan and handed me the form to send in with her donation. I added another $10 so she was able to send in a total of $250 and symbolically adopt a sea turtle family.

My daughter is a turtle lover to say the least. She has done several school essays and research papers on the turtle species and we even visited the giant Galapagos tortoise in South Dakota, a completely thrilling event for her. This Christmas, she put her money where her heart is and support the efforts of the WWF in saving the endangered sea turtles. I am very proud of her.

Yesterday’s mail delivery brought my daughter a special thank you from the WWF. The blue box held 2 sea turtles stuffed animals (a family), a picture of the sea turtle and certificate of the symbolic family adoption, a poster and a sea turtle fact sheet. This was a definite photo op!

Technorati Tags: World Wildlife Fund, WWF