A few days off...who am I kidding :)

     I'm taking a few days off...planning on it anyway. I had my tonsils removed yesterday and I'm in a great deal of pain...the pain meds seem to keep me up at night, that's why I was able to get a few designs test stitched and added to my site. The first 3 days I'm suppose to be doing barely anything but I feel the pain less if I stay busy! Here's a couple of pics of the new designs...just in time too! Don't forget to sign up for my newsletter to receive updates and special discounts on designs! The sale I have up now I'm just going to be leaving for a little bit to give everyone a chance to get what they want!

                                                                       

Click here for the link to these designs.

More hours in the day.....

   

     I know its been longer than I expected since I wrote last...still trying to find that balance! It's crazy how (I'm sure anyone who does custom clothing knows what I'm saying) you can go days with no orders and then get 15 in one day. I'm up to my ears in orders, kids are sleeping so I'm taking a break to test stitch a design I have been working on!
  I ordered some sewing supplies from online and I just want to put a warning out there (don't want to name anyone) but I had a VERY bad experience...I ordered several "commercial" stabilizers which were very cheap & I mean by quality, I have always heard you get what  you pay for...well in stabilizers this definitely tends to be true. This wasn't my problem though, its one thing to order something and not be happy with it but half my order was wrong, I ordered WHITE stabilizer and got black, customer service (was horrible) told me I had to return it....and pay the shipping. I not only will never shop COMMERCIAL...sounded like a good idea and I go through it so quick I figured this would save me time and money...OH and to top it off because you know it had to get better than that right??? A few weeks later the credit card that I used online to make this order with (let me add a new card that I had NEVER used anywhere, first purchase) I received a call from Dell (yes DELL COMPUTERS) wanting to confirm an order because the shipping address was different from the billing address.........WHAT!?!?  I haven't ordered a computer OMG so they cancelled my order and I got online to check my credit card and there was 3,000.00 worth of charges already made....Thank Goodness Dell called, none of the other companies called to confirm the address. Anyway so to make a very very long story short the card company said they will credit everything back to my account as soon as they make certain is was fraudulent charges. So I called that "commercial" company to let them know that hackers are getting through their back door but they said that it wasn't possible we'll then you need to keep some eyes on your employees because it is either or...so........moral here just be careful what you get online (I have shopped online for yrs probably do Most of my shopping online and have had mainly positive experiences so I'm by no means telling u not to shop online) but know the company and your products well, at least before u spend a lot of money!! Sorry had to vent! Just finished my test stitch, this time I did the test stitch on a shirt for my baby boy, well hes 19 months but still my baby :) the girls are always getting the shirts! Click here for the link to this design.

My Space

      I haven't received any request on tutorials but someone did ask me about my sewing space so I'm going to share a few pictures. I have a limited amount of space to begin with and since our last child arrived we are growing out of our home! I have a split space it's a computer/sewing room/ with a few toys for the kids :) room.So I have a "L" shaped desk and one side is for my computer and the other side I use for sewing & embroidery which I keep a child's gate up to complete the division. This way my kids can be in the room while I'm working but I don't have to worry about them getting into things or pulling a hot iron down so its works out good and I have utilized every inch of space possible. It can get aggravating climbing back and forth over the gate especially if you have short legs like me but worth it especially with my kids they would be into everything in seconds!

Oh and my M&Ms are Madison, Miranda & Miles :) So across the gate, the wall that the window is on is where I get to create bits of goodness and have a little bit of me time (yeah right...whats that??).and on this other side I have my computer and everything set up and a bookshelf with toys to occupy my M&Ms while I try to work (sometimes its actually works for whole minutes at a time !)

I keep all my thread on this peg board which really saves alot of space and I love it! My hubby put it up for me but its just basic peg board (I painted white) and added the 2in hooks to hang the thread on (if u order these hooks wholesale you can get them really cheap like 100 for $20. if you get them from a hardware store you will pay anywhere from .75 to 2.00 each. I didn't think I was going to have enough room but this actually holds all the thread I have except some really big rolls and they just sit by my machine.

I have a brother PR650 and I got the cabinet for it, I got a great deal on it and it doesn't take up much space and stores my stabilizers! The right side folds down too so if you don't use it you will have even more space, that was a plus when I got it but I iron on that side so it stays up most of the time. LOL

Here's a view standing at my machine...I know its a little cramped and if you are anything like me (just a teeny weeny bit OCD) then this can be a challenge at times but it seems to work...most days anyway! And of course this happens to be one of my messy days that I decided to take pictures for posting ! Being OCD & ADD is a mess so I pretty much stay in this vicious cycle all the time.

I use this book shelf for my materials and supplies and another storage container down to the right for more materials...I'm NEVER wasteful so most of my material and supplies go a long way! Nothing very fancy but it works, maybe one day I'll have one of those dreamy sewing rooms but I'm not going to hold my breath til then!

This is the opposite view of my tight headquarters...don't misunderstand my adjectives for complaining because I feel blessed to have what I have & I do love it but it can make it hard to think sometimes and make my brain feel scattered!!!

Last but not least this is where I keep my blanks...well some of them anyway the ones I use the most and that are in season, everything else stays in boxes until needed. Now that I have started the venture of having a website and selling my creations, I'm hoping at some point to slow down on my sewing for customers...I do enjoy it but I'm having a hard time trying to balance home, kids, custom orders & designing so I think pretty soon I will have to slow down something will have to give!