Opening an Etsy Store

I tell you what, opening an etsy store is hard. There's 10,000,000 zillion billion things you have to do.....aaaand then there's no guarantee that anyone will like your stuff. I'm really worried about that. I am TERRIBLE at failure. lol

The first step was getting my sewing up to par. I've worked really hard for months. There isn't much I can't do. I'm going to be making a dress, the Jenny by Scientific Seamstress/Sisboom, this very week so that I can teach myself a new technique. I'm totally going out of my comfort zone on this dress in both technique and style. I'm kind of excited to make it.

Then I had to figure out who I wanted to sell to and for. You have to know who you're talking to. I'm choosing plus size ladies. We don't get many choices. Mostly I have casual wear now but I'm going to be dressing things up a bit in the very near future. Big girls should get to look pretty, too! I want to lol. I'm also going to feature items for little girls. Hmm. Kinda seems like a no brainer. I want to sell to people like me only with money to spend on hand crafted clothes. lol

I had to sew up samples. That was the fun part :)

Jocole Mix & Match

EYMM.com Piko Top

I arranged for photos. It's impossible for me to take a decent selfie. My friend Kim White took the photos. She doesn't have a business but she certainly has the talent.
These may be the two best photos of me ever taken. I'm pretty far from photogenic. Thank you, Kim. Please accept this gratuitous plug for the business you haven't started yet!

I started my Etsy shop. The "Grand Opening" will be sometime today. I did a lot of research on this. I read everything Etsy published and  I talked to the ladies in my Facebook sewing group, Sew & Tell. Those ladies are sharp and they know how to do business on Etsy. Etsy gave me the first 40 items free so I plan to use them. Today I will upload photos and add tags.

This is all pretty exciting and nerve wracking at the same time. Wish me luck.

It's done! We run an Etsy shop now!

Hibbadoray

the Jocole blog: Knit for a Princess!

Today I am tickled pink to show you a post that I wrote for the Jocole Blog. I'm pretty impressed with myself lol. Check it out and let me know what you think! Be sure to show Jodi some love!
 
the Jocole blog: Knit for a Princess!

New Beginnings and Some Back Story

Two weeks ago I quit my well paid job as a Network Engineer to pursue my dream of raising my tiny girl myself.  It's going to be quite a journey and this seems like a good way to chronicle it.

I...am nobody special. Six years ago I found myself pregnant and alone and unemployed. I had NO idea what to do with myself or my life, I just knew I was about to be responsible for this tiny little life and I better not jack it up! I went to college. I got my MCSE and I got a good job. I started off at the bottom. $30,000 per year for doing remote tech support. It was GREAT! Exciting and fun. I was good at it and customers liked me so I excelled.

Promotions and raises came. I bought a house when it came time to send my precious baby to school. And I worked. And worked. And worked. And I paid people to watch this precious girl for me while I worked. And I felt like my own life was screwing me over. I wanted to be with my daughter and not pay people to raise her on my behalf. No matter how much I did it wasn't ENOUGH because I was so busy making a life for little Bub that I wasn't enjoying what I was building.

I had money. I had a house. I had a solid future. I was miserable. The only time I was happy is when I was with my tiny girl or when I was sewing. So I quit. I gave it all up to telecommute for $10 an hour. I'll be opening an Etsy shop here right away to help support us.

So what's this blog about? Sewing. Raising little Bub. Living life. The pursuit of happiness and the American dream lol. The things that REALLY matter. idk for sure what they are just yet, but I'll keep you updated.

Wish me luck.