But I have to say, when I stop and look at how many projects or orders I have outstanding it's daunting. And I'm afraid that one could fall through the cracks. So, I have devised a plan. I am going to print out a check list or packing list for each order and work through them one at a time. I know that if I try to look past that, I will start to panic and get caught up in how many more orders I have or how many animals or blankets or hats I have left to make. Am I the only person who this has happened to? How do you handle it when you have multiple orders on your plate?
Monday, June 11, 2012
The Holidays are coming!
I know, it's only June, but for me, this is the time when I start thinking about the holidays and how far behind I am for them. I am going to be getting back into craft shows for the holiday season, which means I need to have my stock ready for showing by the end of September. Yes, it's only the middle of June, but as anyone who's ever crocheted knows, these things take time. So, I need to be thinking about Halloween stock, now, and Thanksgiving stock within the next few weeks. Christmas should be well under way by mid July. And applications need to be submitted for fall and winter craft shows. But before I can even start all of that, I have to take care of some outstanding business. What outstanding business you ask? Well, the orders that have been sitting on the back burner. The orders that came in from friends and family, people who were close to me, and did not have a required due date. They were the orders that I was told not to rush on, there was no hurry. So, when the requests came in I said "I'm going to finish this urgent order, then get to those." But before that could happen, another urgent order came in, or another craft show came up and I had to frantically work on that. And now, I have a list of projects half started or not started at all that need to be finished. I won't start the next session of craft shows with these projects hanging over me. So, the next few weeks I will be working on those orders, and planning for holiday stock. And, hopefully, by July 4th, all the outstanding "no rush" orders will be caught up on.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
The beginning...
Good Evening!
This is the beginning of my journey into blogging about my business, but I feel I need to keep a record of the ups and downs as I build my name. So, for this first entry, I'm going to stick to some basics and try to lay out what you can expect to find here.
First and foremost, as much as possible, I am going to stay away from personal drama. If it doesn't pertain to the business, it doesn't go on the business page. That being said, my business is here to help me fund my child's many medical needs, so you may read about him from time to time. He's a great kid, really funny, so don't worry, he'll keep you entertained.
Now, on to what you can expect. You can expect updates on patterns I am working on. And perhaps, though I make no promises, you may even find some free patterns. If I find a particularly great free pattern, I'll post the link here, so ya'll can enjoy it as much as I have. Also, you can expect updates from craft shows that I am a vendor in, updates for sales on my etsy site, and heads up alerts about new products that I will be featuring on Etsy.com, Yardsellr.com, or DannyandKate.com. Finally, expect to find my feelings toward starting my own business and keeping it going. As I said at the beginning, this is a journey for me, it's going to have it's ups and downs, bumps in the road, and mountains that I will be climbing, so I don't expect--and you shouldn't either--that every post is going to be daisies and smiles. But I hope that the majority are.
Okay, so that takes care of the what to and not to expect here, now lets move on to some basic background about yours truly. Well, I'm a stay at home mom to one very wonderful little boy. He will be six years old in only a few weeks (Yikes!). When he was 18 months old, we started to notice that he was a little different. He was quiet, barely speaking at all, and he was barely walking, but we weren't worried about it at first. It was as he neared 2 years old that things began to escalate. He was throwing violent tantrums, ripping his own hair out, scratching his face until it bled, throwing things, hitting myself and my husband, and biting. He was completely inconsolable. I brought my fears up to his pediatrician and she referred us to Early Intervention. Though a very long process of weekly therapy with speech, occupational, developmental, and behavioral specialists, we got Connor--my son--almost up to speed. He was still, and still is, very awkward in social situations. He still does not like to be touched or hugged unless he initiates the contact, even when it's my husband or myself that wants to hug him. And he has many markers of Obsessive Compulsive Personality and Aspergers. Connor attends a normal elementary school and is in a regular class room, but still requires assistance to handle all the kids and commotion that come with that environment. My husband and I have decided it is time to have him evaluated for Aspergers or OCP, because neither can be accurately diagnosed until a child is at least 3 years old, and that is where Needle My Yarn Crochet Creations comes into the picture.
Because of Connor's needs, daycare is not a viable options, which makes me working outside of the home virtually impossible. But we are a family that works best with two incomes, even if the second income is very small. Every penny helps, if you know what I mean. So I decided to take a love of mine, crochet, and put it to good use. Now that Connor is much more self sufficient, and in school for at least part of the day, I am able to work on making new patterns and building stock to sell on my website and at craft shows. I am also able to take on special request projects.
A portion of the proceeds from my sales is going into savings to help pay for Connor's initial evaluation and after that, the proceeds will go toward any therapy that Connor needs outside of what he receives in the public school system.
So, that basically lets you know a little about me, the driving force behind Needle My Yarn Crochet Creations, and my goals for this blog. Please stay tuned for future updates, and I would love any feedback or commentary you would like to add. Thank you for reading!!
This is the beginning of my journey into blogging about my business, but I feel I need to keep a record of the ups and downs as I build my name. So, for this first entry, I'm going to stick to some basics and try to lay out what you can expect to find here.
First and foremost, as much as possible, I am going to stay away from personal drama. If it doesn't pertain to the business, it doesn't go on the business page. That being said, my business is here to help me fund my child's many medical needs, so you may read about him from time to time. He's a great kid, really funny, so don't worry, he'll keep you entertained.
Now, on to what you can expect. You can expect updates on patterns I am working on. And perhaps, though I make no promises, you may even find some free patterns. If I find a particularly great free pattern, I'll post the link here, so ya'll can enjoy it as much as I have. Also, you can expect updates from craft shows that I am a vendor in, updates for sales on my etsy site, and heads up alerts about new products that I will be featuring on Etsy.com, Yardsellr.com, or DannyandKate.com. Finally, expect to find my feelings toward starting my own business and keeping it going. As I said at the beginning, this is a journey for me, it's going to have it's ups and downs, bumps in the road, and mountains that I will be climbing, so I don't expect--and you shouldn't either--that every post is going to be daisies and smiles. But I hope that the majority are.
Okay, so that takes care of the what to and not to expect here, now lets move on to some basic background about yours truly. Well, I'm a stay at home mom to one very wonderful little boy. He will be six years old in only a few weeks (Yikes!). When he was 18 months old, we started to notice that he was a little different. He was quiet, barely speaking at all, and he was barely walking, but we weren't worried about it at first. It was as he neared 2 years old that things began to escalate. He was throwing violent tantrums, ripping his own hair out, scratching his face until it bled, throwing things, hitting myself and my husband, and biting. He was completely inconsolable. I brought my fears up to his pediatrician and she referred us to Early Intervention. Though a very long process of weekly therapy with speech, occupational, developmental, and behavioral specialists, we got Connor--my son--almost up to speed. He was still, and still is, very awkward in social situations. He still does not like to be touched or hugged unless he initiates the contact, even when it's my husband or myself that wants to hug him. And he has many markers of Obsessive Compulsive Personality and Aspergers. Connor attends a normal elementary school and is in a regular class room, but still requires assistance to handle all the kids and commotion that come with that environment. My husband and I have decided it is time to have him evaluated for Aspergers or OCP, because neither can be accurately diagnosed until a child is at least 3 years old, and that is where Needle My Yarn Crochet Creations comes into the picture.
Because of Connor's needs, daycare is not a viable options, which makes me working outside of the home virtually impossible. But we are a family that works best with two incomes, even if the second income is very small. Every penny helps, if you know what I mean. So I decided to take a love of mine, crochet, and put it to good use. Now that Connor is much more self sufficient, and in school for at least part of the day, I am able to work on making new patterns and building stock to sell on my website and at craft shows. I am also able to take on special request projects.
A portion of the proceeds from my sales is going into savings to help pay for Connor's initial evaluation and after that, the proceeds will go toward any therapy that Connor needs outside of what he receives in the public school system.
So, that basically lets you know a little about me, the driving force behind Needle My Yarn Crochet Creations, and my goals for this blog. Please stay tuned for future updates, and I would love any feedback or commentary you would like to add. Thank you for reading!!
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