The Giveaway Winner!

Thank you so much to everyone who participated in this giveaway;-) I really appreciate your support - and I love giving away something for free! The winner of this giveaway is:

Jamie A.!

I will be emailing you shortly regarding your prize.

To all who entered, I will be emailing or messaging you on FB with your coupon code;-) I will post on Facebook when all of my emailing is complete!

Thank you all, and good night!

Handmade Baby Love Giveaway!

Happy Birthday, Cameron!!!

My little man is 6 today, and to share the celebration, I'm having a giveaway from my shop, Handmade Baby Love;-) By entering the giveaway, you will be earning the chance to win a free item from the shop - which could be any style, any size booties, or any style, any size hat. (Excludes blankets and OOAK.) All of these items are designed and handmade by me, and I would love nothing more than to share with you;-) And get this - just for entering, you will receive an awesome coupon to the shop. Read below for details!

Here's how to enter:

1. "Like" the Handmade Baby Love fan page on Facebook.
2. Post to your facebook about the giveaway, linking to my fan page. For example: "@HandmadeBaby Love is having a giveaway! You could win a pair of baby booties or a hat of your choice!"
3. Then comment on this giveaway post letting me know you've done these things, along with your first name and last initial and your email address so that you'll be able to claim your prize if you win. (If for some reason this crazy blog won't let you post a comment, please post your comment to the Facebook fan page instead.)

One winner will be chosen on Wednesday, August 31 at 10 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. ALL who enter will receive a 30% off coupon via Facebook Message.

http://handmadebabylove.com

http://facebook.com/handmadebabylove

The Giveaway Winner!

Thank you so much to everyone who participated in the giveaway - I love you guys so much! Stay tuned, I'll have another couple of giveaways in the coming months to gear up for the cooler weather;-)

The winner of the giveaway is Jen R.! Jen, I sent you a message on Facebook, and can't wait to see what you choose as your free item! ;-)

I've also sent out the 30% off coupons through Facebook, so most of you got a message from me, Debbie Kyle;-) I wasn't able to send messages on FB to a few of you, so I sent an email to the email address you provided. If you did NOT receive your coupon code, please let me know and I'll hook you up!

Love you guys!
Debbie

Handmade Baby Love Giveaway

This summer has been flying by, and before we know it autumn will be right around the corner! Enter this fabulous giveaway for your chance to win any style of booties or any style of hat from the Handmade Baby Love shop.

Here's how to enter:

1. "Like" the Handmade Baby Love fan page on Facebook.
2. Post to your facebook about the giveaway, linking to my fan page. For example: "@HandmadeBabyLove is having a giveaway! You could win a pair of baby booties or a hat of your choice!"
3. Then comment on this giveaway post letting me know you've done these things, along with your first name and last initial and your email address so that you'll be able to claim your prize if you win.

One winner will be chosen on Sunday, August 7 at 10 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. ALL who enter will receive a 30% off coupon via Facebook Message.

http://facebook.com/handmadebabylove

http://handmadebabylove.com

Love you guys!
<3
Debbie

Five

(Beautiful print from VickieWadeFineArt)

1)      July. Today not only heralds in a new month, but also the beginning of a holiday weekend. I cannot believe it is July already! I feel like I just made my 2011 goals list a couple weeks ago (uh, goals? What goals?). Before I know it, it’s going to be Halloween, and then Thanksgiving, and then CHRISTMAS! Crazy! I’m not ready! Along with that reality slap, this holiday weekend also means a lot of people I know are on vacation, or about to go on vacation. Insert sad face here. I have reached the point of exhaustion that always makes me daydream about going away. San Diego! Laguna Beach! ….Flagstaff, even! I’m still plotting and devising… so we’ll see if I can swing it;-)

2)      Summer reading program. Cameron finished his first year of public school at the end of May, and with two and a half months of the “summer slide” ahead of us, I decided he needs something academic to do. I looked into several summer reading programs, and was sorely disappointed – read 10 books, get a free book; read 12 books, pick from a selection of bookmarks. Ten books? Twelve? What’s up with that? Now, Cameron’s got a literature major mama, and there’s no way I’d let him aim so low. Granted, he’s going into first grade, so it’s not like he’ll be reading chapter books, but still. Kids should be reading every day, not once in a while. So I set up a chart – every time he reads a book, he fills in a block and writes out the title. When he reaches 20, we’ll take a trip to Target and he’ll get to pick out a toy (which, I don’t know how your household works, but he really only gets toys for his birthday and Christmas). He was all too eager to start, and we are 5 books down so far. He shows so much improvement every time he finishes one. That’s my boy!

3)      Summer movies. I don’t think I’ve been to the movies in about two months. That’s pretty sad considering it’s one of my favorite things to do… but it costs money, and I’m penny-pinching right now. I wanted to see the Pirates movie, Transformers, Bad Teacher, Kung Fu Panda 2, Cars 2, Harry Potter… ugh – summer is such a tease! Have you been to the movies lately? Seen anything good?

4)      Work. Work has been really busy – and it goes back to #1… I am so burnt out right now. My fingers don’t want to do what my brain tells them! And I think I’m going to have to start making at least 8 items every day, so that I can stay in it when school starts up again. Here’s to perseverance!

5)      Sale. Speaking of work, if you haven’t checked out the Handmade Baby Love Facebook Page, you should – there’s a special Independence Day weekend sale going on!

Here’s to a fantastic July everyone!

Custom

I’ve been crazy busy lately doing a lot of custom work. Sometimes it just requires color changes to designs I have in the shop – which is always fun. I generally try and snap some pictures of these and post them as new listings, but that doesn’t always happen. For example, most recently I had a customer request a light purple/lavender color for the boots style, since the only purples I have available are dusty purple and eggplant. So I was more than happy to oblige!

I had a customer request boots in brown with a blueaccent, fashioned after these loafers, and that was cool. (I had a customer more recently ask for the boots in rose pink with brown trim, which came out so cute; I hate that I didn’t get a picture of them!)

What I find most adventurous and fun is when a customer asks for a design that I don’t have listed in the shop. It gives me the excuse to play with style and shape, and figure it out, and I love that. I usually first do a sketch of what I want with what measurements it needs to fulfill, and then I calculate the gauge of stitches, and go for it. Usually it takes about 3 tries for it to come out exactly how I want it. The tail hat (which is about to undergo another revision) and these cute leg warmers are the most recent examples.

Summer is definitely the time to work out new designs! With school out, I can actually be patient and take the time to work these things out. Come fall, it won’t be so easy… orders will pick up in a big way, I’ll be slogging through my last (finally, finally!) semester of school, and Cameron will be in first grade (love it!). So I’ll be cherishing summer while it lasts;-)

Origins

My crafting origins go back to my mom. Although I love crocheting, knitting, and cross-stitching, and she’s a painter and a writer and loves to work with stained glass, she taught me at a very young age that art was worthwhile, and creativity was something to latch on to.

I was eight or nine, and we were living in a three bedroom condominium in Virginia. Sandwiched between two floors, we could hear our upstairs neighbors moving their furniture around constantly (of course, the fact that they moved their furniture around so frequently didn’t bother my eight-year-old mind so much as the nuisance of thunder rumbling from our ceiling.) Living there was a far cry from the  two story house with an imagination-inducing backyard where we lived before this. It was just another shake of salt into my wounds following my parents’ divorce and the upheaval of my life.

(beautiful painting print from lloydgallery)

I remember walking into my mom’s bedroom where she had her drafting table. Seated before it, she had a huge sheet of filmy, fragile tracing paper draped at her fingertips, and beginning in one corner, she was writing line after line of words, filling up these huge floppy sheets of paper. They were stories about two children who went on adventures. I would find these sheets of tracing paper rolled up and stacked in the corner – like maps tucked away for future quests. The thought that these strings of words became imagination captured on paper, that you could ride these thought-created images into an alternate world, sent my mind reeling. I could use my own powers of creativity to escape, or build a new world. The thought of escapism was extremely appealing to me.

(beautiful print from ThisYearsGirl)

In school, creativity wasn’t really encouraged, so much as forcefully used as a tool to complete specific tasks and reach certain expectations. (My middle school did an “invention” unit where we all had to come up with useable creations and make a model and presentation of it. I’m sorry, but I’ve never invented anything in my life! If we were all inventors, this world would be a very different place.) It was my mom who showed me that creativity was a gift, not a torture device – a gift that could be snatched up anywhere, at any time, and used to create imaginary places on paper, or tangible objects you could hold in your hand.

Before I was born, my mom knitted and crocheted, and after she lapsed at these crafts, she kept her stash. It survived moves, and changed lives, and proved instrumental in my development as a crafter. I don’t know why or how I gravitated towards the art of crocheting. I was twelve, and I had always enjoyed crafts in one form or another, from painting Christmas ornaments to crafting lanyards and friendship bracelets. I was at a craft store, browsing their cross-stitch and yarn aisles while my mom picked out some art supplies, and I decided I was going to try my hand at crocheting. I picked up a book called The Harmony Guide to Crochet Stitches, took out my mom’s old yarn stash, and began making chains, single crochet stitches. Over and over and over again. Through trial and error and a lot of persistence I trouble-shooted why my strips of fabric were tapering off or getting wider and discovered why some stitches were looser or tighter than others. Soon I was making granny squares, and making purses for my friends. (Not that soon; I think it took me a couple of years before I really made anything worthwhile and felt comfortable giving anything as gifts.) I made a ripple blanket for my grandmother, a huge multi-colored squares blanket for my stepmom, and several kinds of blankets for my mom and sister.

(beautiful blanket from my shop!)

I think crocheting stayed with me through high school, my first year of college, working full-time, and having a baby, because it was so incredibly cathartic. I could sit in front of the TV and create something with my own two hands. I couldn’t wait to finish one project so that I could start the next.
 

Designing didn’t come into play at first. I was completely satisfied creating blankets and playing with color. I had tried creating a tank top when I was in high school using red string and single crochet stitches, but I never wore it. I also made several hats – a few I did wear, but most I didn’t. Living in Phoenix, hats aren’t generally a necessity, even during our coldest mornings, and I wasn’t known for wearing hats just because.

Ultimately, I feel that designing is extremely uplifting. When I’m crocheting or knitting one of my designs, not only am I creating a tangible object, but I created the idea of it, too. It’s like a piece of me in each stitch, and it is addicting and fulfilling all at the same time;-) I thank God every day for this gift, because I know that my inspiration comes from Him, and Handmade Baby Love wouldn’t be doing half as well as it is if I’d taken any other path.

Winner

Thank you so much to everyone who participated in the giveaway! You might not believe this, but I haven't done one since... 2009?! Holy cow! I think I'll do another come August or September, to kick start the fall season;-)

THE WINNER IS....
Katie
:-)

I've sent you an email with "Handmade Baby Love Winner" in the subject line.

Stay tuned everyone! Love you guys!

Milestone

Remember, there is a Handmade Baby Love Giveaway happening right now in the 5/19/11 post below. Check it out and enter if you haven’t already!

Cameron’s last day of kindergarten was on Thursday, and while they didn’t have a graduation ceremony (boy, the tears would have flowed!), I did feel a sense of change as I looked around his classroom during the end of year party. The tables were stacked on top of each other and pushed off to the side. The crayons, scissors, and glue sticks had been collected into large storage containers. The chair-back pouches that had been unique to each student were uniformly in a pile, now belonging to no one. Cameron and his classmates were buzzing with excitement and bubbling with laughter – looking forward to watching their special movie and eating special snacks; though perhaps not yet realizing why the day was so special. It’s amazing to look at all of his classmates and remember how little they were back in August, and how big they look now.

Cameron’s come such a long way since the beginning of the school year – from struggling with the concept of having to actually sit at his table, follow directions, and do the work given to him (at first he was giving his teacher a flat out “no”), to getting used to the idea of having homework everyday (which was still a pulling-teeth experience to the last). There were definitely some adjustments that had to be made. Now he is a full-fledged reader, he’s learned a lot of social lessons, and he can (almost) ride a bike. The entire school year flew by, and I just can’t believe it’s over! I have a first grader now ;-)

In other news, I’ve really tried to get my Facebook fan page going for Handmade Baby Love. That’s where you’ll find opportunities to score some coupons – up to 50% off! – as well as see customer photos and all that jazz. Be sure to “Like” it so you can keep in touch!

I’ve got two new bootie styles coming out hopefully next week, so keep an eye out for that. I’m really excited to be working with different closures and clasps for securing the booties on baby’s feet. Yay, summer productivity!

Handmade Baby Love Giveaway!

It’s time to have some fun! The winner of this giveaway will get to choose one free item of their choice from the Handmade Baby Love shop to be shipped to their location of choice for free. This includes any style booties or hat, but excludes blankets.

To enter, head over to the shop and check out the listings, then come back here and post a comment about your favorite item along with an email contact in case you win. If you choose not to provide contact info in your comment, make sure to come back when the winner is announced to see if it’s you!

For additional entries, you may do any of the following (and please post a separate comment for each entry; of course, if you've already done one of these, such as "Like" us on Facebook, that counts as an entry, simply post a comment about it):

1) Follow this blog

2) “Like” our Facebook page

3) Post on our Facebook page

4) Blog about the giveaway (include the link in your comment so I can see!)

5) Tweet about the giveaway (include the link in your comment so I can see!)

6) Share about the giveaway on your Facebook page (include the link in your comment so I can see!)

The winner will be chosen randomly out of the pool of entries on June 9, 2011.

Relax

 (Lovely print from lauratrevey.)

I finally finished the semester on Monday – which culminated with a 8 page rhetorical studies paper and a 3 page course reflection. It’s kind of ironic because during the semester I had inspiration by the boatload for anything but school, and now that it’s done, my brain can’t dredge up the simplest color scheme, or a page of writing! Perhaps pulling that last paper out of my head took more out of me than I thought.

On the other hand, the lack of inspiration this week has really given me an excuse to chill out for a bit. I’ve watched some TV (love The Mentalist!), rested my hands from all of the knitting and crocheting, and finally found the motivation to cook. I was proud of myself because I made some awesome banana muffins yesterday out of a banana that I otherwise would have thrown out –hooray for using instead of wasting! I also made a slow cooker beef stew meal, which I thought was amazing, but Cameron complained and preferred cereal instead, the little bugger.

While waiting for Cameron to get out of school yesterday, I went to Target and picked out my summer reading: The Season of Second Chances by Diane Meier, and The Proper Care and Maintenance of Friendship by Lisa Verge Higgins. I’ve been a picky reader for… too long, and never have time to read recreationally when I’m in school, so I’m excited to have found two books that interest me. For a long time I was into Young Adult fiction, because that’s the genre I liked to write, and, let’s face it, I was a young adult. Now, I’m more interested in the “Fiction and Literature” section, especially women’s fiction, and I’m trying to write more in that sphere as well. I hope these books live up to my expectations:)

Suffice it to say, I am feeling relaxed and ready for summer.

àStay tuned! A special Giveaway is coming soon!

Educated

I am twenty-six years old, and I am a fifth-year senior at Arizona State University. I started school back when my son was a toddler, and I was still married. During my time at school, I’ve gone from working as a florist, to a retail sales associate, to owning my own business. I went through a divorce, an identity crisis; I was a lit major, then a secondary ed major, then back to a lit major. I’ve been on the Dean’s list twice, clung to my purpose as a student like a life line, as well as equally resenting it as a burden and distraction. I’ve failed three classes, dropped several, and earned A’s in most of my non-major classes. I have loans that I’ll be paying back for the next ten years.



(from Wacodis)



It has been such a journey – and certainly not always pleasant – and it’s amazing to think I’ve lasted this long as a student. I began my studies at age 22, when most of my high school friends were graduating, and my decision to go back and try again (after my freshman stint at age 18) stemmed largely from the fact that I didn’t want to work in a retail store at $10 an hour for the rest of my life. All I had to do was look at my two-year-old son and the dedication would solidify inside me. I had to do it.

I have two classes left for my degree. After four years, that’s all that’s standing between me and that distinction that I can put on my resume.

I can’t wait to finish! I CAN’T WAIT. I’ve been through so much in the last four years, but I feel like the next chapter in my life won’t start until it’s finished. So here’s to another semester in the books.

The Recap

The beginning of 2011 heralded in a huge insurgence of inspiration for knitting. I learned to knit a couple of years ago, but crocheting has always been my staple and guided how I thought about yarn crafting. However, I’ve always loved the look of knitted items – the soft texture of a plush bunny or the intricacy of a smocked sweater. Love it. Almost everything I’ve been thinking about design-wise has been of knitting.

I was also extremely inspired by the spring palate this year: soft pinks mixed with blues and muted naturals. Love it! Based on these colors, I had designed a series of items, not just for babies, but older children as well. Hats, flowers, vests, sweaters, onesies, and diaper covers. Ahh! The inspiration and style ideas were never ending. I was going to start selling limited edition items based on season – switching out for fall/winter.

 

(These two did make it to Handmade Baby Love, and are available here.) 

But…it’s the beginning of May and while I still have the yarn, the items have not materialized. Family matters, financial issues, and school have all chipped away at my psyche and my time. How frustrating it is to have so many ideas, and no time to bring them to fruition!

In the end I decided that trying to produce multiples of most of these items would be time consuming and not economically practical for my customers. However, they would work out as patterns for other crafters to utilize… and I’ve now developed a more reasonable venture. Coming in July I will be rolling out collections of designs to their own Etsy shop – collections inspired by naturals, summer fun, fall fashion, and winter coziness ;-)

It’s not that I’m a flake, or a waffler, but life happens, and plans change. But my brain keeps sparking, and the ideas keep coming. Even with the complications rising up from every quarter, I know that this year business will be better than ever! Perseverance is key! ;-)

Also, please note that the current coupon code for my shop, Handmade Baby Love, is MAYDAY20. Use it during checkout to receive 20% of your entire purchase!

The Start of Something New

New phases and new events are always so much fun - they're fresh and exciting and full of possibility! Two things going on around here:

1) I’m working on a new venture that will give me another outlet for my love of yarn crafts. Come June/July I will have a second shop solely designated for crochet and knitting designs. I am really excited about this, and my brain has been buzzing since January with design idea after idea. Most of my time has been taken up actually creating the product from the designs I’ve thought up, haha. I’ve got blankets, sweaters, hats, and scarves coming at you very soon. I can’t wait;-)

2) In other news, my best friend is getting married, and I’ve got all things “wedding” on the brain. I’ve never been in anyone else’s wedding before, and my own wedding was anything but traditional, so I’m finding myself online and at the bookstore catching up on all the latest on this topic. It’s kind of overwhelming, and I’m not even the bride, haha! Definitely get ready for a couple of themed blog posts in the future. Knitting definitely has a promising role in the wedding sphere.

Aspirations

In the small business world, I think it is important to have people/companies in your field that you can look up to and be inspired by. Not to the point of envy or jealousy, but in an effort to visualize where you want your business to go. Things don’t happen in a vacuum, and inspiration can happen anywhere! When I first started Handmade Baby Love, there was another business on Etsy that I aspired to be like – pdxbeanies. She wasn’t making booties, really, but she was, like, the guru of crocheted hats. She had lots of sales, beautiful photographs and was exactly where I wanted to be. Having her shop to “look up to” really helped spur me on, give me attainable goals, and inspired me to no end. Her shop proved to me that it was possible – I could do this for a living.

Just as it is important to grow, and make changes to support that growth, it is also important to find new aspirations to support that growth. One of my new goals is to have a website for my business – and I have just found the most beautiful, inspiring site: Matilda Jane Clothing. Granted, it’s clothing, and not crocheted, but it’s a small business, the brainchild of one young woman, and I love it. Her designs are unique and cute and modern, and the site is so well done (of course, I would expect nothing less from Promise Tangeman, the web designer).

I am expecting big things for myself this year – God is really moving in mighty ways. Get ready for coming changes!

I’m curious, though – what inspires you? If you have people or businesses that keep the creative juices flowing, tell me or link to them in the comments section!

Goals List

Melissa Jill is a creative photographer, self-employed, and I recently read an interview about her at Siren Magazine. She mentioned in the interview a “101 Goals in 1001 Days” list that she created, and my interest was piqued. Check out her blog post (which includes the list) here. Basically, the idea is that writing down your goals – no matter how far-flung they are – makes them more real to you, and actually have a greater probability of coming to fruition than if you simply thought about them in the wistful “what if?” forum of nonexistence. Completely inspired by this, I set out to make my own list – although I’m not really putting a deadline on it like Melissa did. (I have sooo many things going on at the moment, and even creating the list in the first place is a goal accomplished!!)

Haha, I am not anywhere near 101 things, and some of these are, like, life goals, but they are goals nonetheless. These are in no particular order, and some are definitely more practical than others. Also, I will be adding and/or subtracting to my heart’s content whenever the occasion calls for it. I’ll also edit the list to show when I’ve accomplished a goal – for your benefit as well as my own. I am posting these in the hopes of breaking your own mental chains of the “what if’s”, so please feel free to make your own list, and share in the comments section if you like!!

1.       Exercise 3 times a week consistently for 3 months

2.       Make 5 inventory items in one week

3.       Reach the $4000 mark on car loan

4.       Clean out yarn stash

5.       Go through last storage buckets

6.       Revamp kitchen décor

7.       Revamp bathroom décor

8.       Rearrange bedroom furniture

9.       Get health insurance

10.   Get dr’s check up

11.   Make artificial flower arrangement

12.   Finish a knitted sweater for myself

13.   Finish a knitted hat for myself

14.   Visit California

15.   Go to the beach

16.   Visit San Francisco

17.   Visit Seattle

18.   Visit Raleigh, NC

19.   Build up $1000 emergency fund

20.   Increase profit on current production

21.   Clearly visualize where you want your business to go/to be

22.   Cross-stitch something to hang on the wall

23.   Write out my testimony to date

24.   Take a spinning class

25.   Create a design board for the business

26.   Re-brand business

27.   Create website for business

28.   Blog at least once a week for 3 months

29.   Move into larger home

30.   Get a new office chair

31.   Really organize desk area

32.   Drink at least four glasses of water a day

33.   Visit London

34.   Visit Galway, Ireland

35.   Visit New Zealand

36.   Visit Hawaii

37.   Make list of people you’d want to interview for your blog

38.   Coupon codes for repeat customers (put in packages)

39.   Make some flower clip prototypes

40.   Create a real budget and calculate how much you should be saving

41.   Do something to commemorate the 2-year anniversary of HBL

42.   Compile all design notes and scribbles into a scrapbook

43.   Get more involved at church by joining a more personal Bible study

44.   Eat at least one fruit and one vegetable every day for a month

45.   Journal at least once a week

46.   Write a new book

47.   Compile all the notes and finished bits to the Casey Story

48.   Read one fiction book every month

49.   Read more Christian fiction

50.   Connect with Mom once a week

51.   Call Dad and Jean at least once a month

52.   Get Cameron involved in a sport

53.   Switch over to Excel bookkeeping

54.   Read the Bible every day for 30 days

55.   Get a Y membership again

56.   Run a half marathon

57.   Run a full marathon

58.   Do some acting

59.   Create a newsletter for business

60.   Create a family newsletter celebrating positive and encouraging things

Busy

Things have been going well since I organized my life – HA! I have not stuck to the daily schedule, although writing down everything in a visual format has really helped me stay on track. I may not have been doing everything in the order in which I wrote them down, but they do – mostly – get done. I am on top of my homework, current in my order queue, and have been able to exercise consistently. So my stress has dissipated to a more tolerable level, and now that I have all of the necessities under control I can begin to expand my work load and move forward with my goals. Yay!

A side note about business – last year around this time, business was dead. So dead that I almost quit it altogether. I was lucky if I received an order every day – it was more like one every couple of days. This year, business is steady! I feel like its June or July – it is awesome. I was prepared for the slowdown, and had planned exactly what things I wanted to expand on, new ideas I wanted to develop, etc. When it never came it was such a pleasant surprise:-) Praise the Lord! Having too much business and feeling crazy with a full schedule is way better than starving for work. I feel extremely optimistic about 2011, and I know God’s going to do some amazing things this year.

Are there any blessings in your life so far this year? Things can get crazy and depressing if you let them, and I think it’s important to find something positive in your life to help you move forward – even if it is the promise of something good in the future.

I was really inspired by a post another blogger wrote about a crazy dream list of life goals, so stay tuned real soon for more on that!

Interrupted

It’s just like Murphy’s Law that states anything that can go wrong, will go wrong – right when the inspiration and motivation strikes to help me jump three steps ahead, something interrupts and sends me reeling backwards. If you read my last post, you would have seen how on fire I was – so ready to take my business to the next level.

Right after I laid out my plan of action, my mom landed in the hospital with the discovery of a pulmonary embolism (a blood clot in the lung). She was in the hospital for six days, and as she was hopped up on Percocet, I spent most of my time there, not just keeping her company, but also doing the mother hen thing – talking to the doctors, making sure she was comfortable and had everything she needed. It was a stressful week and set me back in my order queue, not to mention all of my plans to organize and revamp went out of my head.

The week after that, the spring semester started, and I’ve been bombarded with a crazy amount of homework since day one. Of course my last semester of college would be grueling and stressful – why not?

Last Friday I finally sat down and analyzed how I was using my time verses what I really needed to get done. I ended up making a complete daily schedule for myself to account for homework, work, exercise, grocery shopping – you name it, it’s on there. Then, I went even a step further and made a color-coded calendar of homework deadlines, so that I wouldn’t forget anything, haha. I have four classes, each in orange, red, green, and blue, and the days between now and the second week of May are almost completely full. Scary. I just have to keep reminding myself that come May 12, I will graduate and have my degree. Whew!

I think it’s important to remember that regardless of what comes at you, you need to focus on your goals, and not give in to excuses. I might be behind on what I want to accomplish, but the goals are still there. Time to move forward!

Question: How do you keep yourself organized? Or do you just like to wing it? Haha, I would love to know if you have any little tricks you use to keep yourself on track!

Beginning

Can you really look ahead without looking back? I read this awesome blog post by Promise Tangeman, and it sent my mind reeling. Her blog is extremely inspirational for the creative type – regardless of your background (her background being photography and graphic design; mine being crochet design and writing). This post really got me thinking about my business.

Normally it is hard for me to think beyond a week – and that is usually in terms of impending projects, customers, and money. The Present is so busy that it is hard to think in terms of the Future.

But without some dreaming and planning, how can I hope to get this business where I need and want it to go?

Promise’s post examines this idea by sharing how she analyzed the ups and downs of her business in 2010, and made plans and goals for what she hopes to accomplish in 2011 and beyond.

So here goes. In the spirit of a new beginning, in dreaming of bigger and better tomorrows, here are Handmade Baby Love’s highlights and weak points from 2010, as well as the goals for this year:

Highlights

1.       HBL survived its first slow season! Going from the beginning of the year, where I’d lost all heart and basically gave up on it, to the end of the year, where I had the most successful season ever is a huge success.

2.       I have to thank God for the addition of the flower beanie and earflap beanie to HBL. They are more sophisticated than the original beanie, and now the most popular.

3.       Doing my first craft show (ever!). It was definitely a learning experience – from designing the displays to agonizing over quantities. It was awesome getting to interact with people, and to see my products being tried on right there in front of me – and looking so cute and perfect! It was definitely a validating experience, and I’d like to do it again this year.

Weak Points

1.       Communication! I should be responding to every inquiry, no matter what it’s about, and to be completely honest, I haven’t been. Some fall through the cracks, or I wait too long thinking about it and then simply dismiss it from my mind. Not good.

2.       Bookkeeping! I am really lazy about this, and that is not good… I should know month to month and week to week how the business is doing. Not year to year. Yes, all of the necessities get done for taxes and whatnot, but I didn’t analyze any of the data, and that has really kept my business from learning, growing, and expanding.

3.       Time Management! Sometimes it feels like all I do is crochet, so when I do have a moment away from it, I don’t want to respond to emails or do the books. And there’s always one thing or another to distract me or pull me away. The key to fixing this lies with God. A prayer for focus each day would help tremendously.

4.       Inventory! My ultimate goal would be to have things already made, so that when an order comes in I can just send it out the next day. I would like to transfer over from Made to Order to Ready to Ship.

Goals

Obviously, my first goals are to rectify my weak points from 2010, haha. But beyond that, I would really like to

1.       rebrand the business

2.       simplify inventory

3.       design new products

4.       work on this blog

5.       and have a website.

I also made a list of Far Out goals of where I’d like the business to ultimately end up, but I won’t post them here. I think it’s good to have that drive and be honest with yourself about the dreams you have, and to know that they are real possibilities – just not at the moment. 2011 looms before us, and the goals for this year are great ones to start with and work on. What happens in 2012, well, will happen in 2012.