Tuesday, March 3, 2009

My Custom Easter Dress and personal moment

BLOG GIVEAWAY IS ONE POST DOWN!







I am in love with this dress! It was a custom order from a customer, but now I just have to make it for Lilly! And possibly a very miniature similar version for Shaylynne...

I've got to say, the customer who ordered this dress has got to be one of the most easy going customers I've ever dealt with. :) I did take a little extra time on this dress than expected. I was very backed up with my orders from Etsy and off Etsy.. :( (I hate being backed up) But she didn't mind a bit and was in no rush. So I threw in quite a few freebies for her and her daughter, yay!

I've been selling boutique style clothing for quite a while now..I used to use ebay.shhh.. I was always very good with my time management. But I also only had one little princess at the time. I didn't realize how much just one tiny extra person could impact my creating and selling. I find it so difficult to fit time in to sew while trying to care for her. I often wonder how others do it. I'm sure there are even single mothers out there who create products to sell. How do they do this? It's almost miraculous!

I find that I am beginning to care less and less for my shop, to the point that I barely promote it. But I do promote my blog. Having and Etsy shop is more of a hobby for me. It gives me something to do, other than only being a SAHM.. But I'm beginning to wonder if it's just weighing me down. My girls are growing so fast and I sometimes feel like I don't spend enough time with them because of my Etsy store. I almost feel forced, but not completely. I've been considering putting my shop on Vacation mode so that I don't feel so pressured. But I don't totally want to do that.

This is a whole lot of ramblings going on! lol What would you do in this situation?

15 comments:

  1. Lovely dress! I, too, sell on Etsy and only do it as a hobby for now... I work full-tim 9-5... but when I become a mom, it will be my extra income *fingers crossed* to help support our family.

    I think you should DO WHAT YOU LOVE whether its spending time with your girls, sewing... but hopefully both! :-) You're obviously very talented... keep it up!

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  2. what a really cute little dress! so adorable!
    Rianna Bethany xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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  3. I would say, do it when you feel like it, and don't when you don't! Then you get a surprise buy and it's like "hey, awesome!"

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  4. adorable, I would love one of these for my little Megan, she is 20 months. I truly sympathize with you on how much time the little ones take. I also have 3 older ones but they are in school during the day.
    enjoy they grow up so fast.
    www.jujulee.etsy.com

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  5. hi.. could you please take a look at my todays post and share with your friends... this family needs our help
    all our love
    mona & the girls

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  6. Etsy is a hobby/experiment for me, too. I have a full time job and I chase after my Monkey-face when I get home. I'm also trying to get published. The way I see it, when Etsy starts to not be fun anymore, I'll put it aside. Rolling on the floor with the bebeh is mush more fun anyhow. ;)

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  7. You're right. It is hard to juggle it all. These early mornings are killing me! That's the only time I can really get anything done with my little one. I wouldn't trade this time with her for the world though. So precious. Thank you so much for adding your link to the list of sales promotions on my blog. I really appreciate your participation. If you have the chance, please promote it so that the page gets as much traffic as possible. We need to let shoppers know it's a great place to find good deals! It's been so nice meeting you.
    Blessings,
    Gina

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  8. Thank you for your kind comments everyone :) I think I will put it on vacation in a couple of weeks. :) I definitely don't want to miss out on this time with my girls.

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  9. Having raised two kids while running a business I can relate completely. Children grow so fast, you will never get these days back. If you can afford to take a little break, I say go for it! Come back refreshed and revitalized!

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  10. Every time I come to your blog- I wish I had a little girl to buy clothes for.
    Love that dress.

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  11. I had this situation a few months back, but with my blog. It takes A LOT of work to keep my blog up and I was feeling stressed and like I was missing out on my little guy growing. So I took a month and a half "vacation" from my blog. It gave me the time I needed to spend with my little guy, gave me the much needed break, and now I'm back on it and loving it. Plus, since then I took on two new partners that are helping with the workload, which means more time with my little guy.
    So maybe you should take a vacay from your shop. I'm sure you're little girls would love it.
    By the way, that dress is the cutest dress I have ever seen! Once again, I am blown away by your sewing skills and super jealous! ;)

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  12. Thanks :) I try to update my blog at night after everyone's in bed, so it's a little easier on me.
    I definitely will be taking a break from Etsy in a couple of weeks.
    You're all so great!

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  13. I entered already, but thanks for the reminder.

    I've been single parenting since my kids were 3 and 6 (now almost 20 and 23). I was always crafting/making things and selling even before my divorce, and I never stopped after, although I didn't have an Etsy shop back then. When they were growing up, I usually just did events, mostly in November and December, and then sometimes one or two in the spring. Many times I thought it just overloaded me and added lots of stress to my life, but I could never really stop because I got so much enjoyment out of it all at the same time. I find that when I'm creating, I'm in my happy place -- truly. I do understand though and would suggest cutting back rather than stopping altogether. Perhaps you should just post what you create and not take orders. That way, you'd still be creating, on your own time, but under no obligation (or stress) to fill orders with stuff you don't yet have made.

    And by the way, the dress is absolutely adorable!

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  14. Thank you Theresa, That's how I used to do it on ebay. But I felt guilty because I would sell everything and not make anything for my kids. So I started keeping the originals for them and selling the orders. But you're right, that's a great idea and I may end up going back to that.
    :)

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  15. Omygoodness, totally adorable dress! I don't blame you for wanting to make one for your daughter too. Too cute! :o)

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