Forever and ever ago....

Yes I realize that it has been forever since I blogged... I love to write but in the grand tangle of all my hobbies, writing is always the last one to be spooled back up.

First let me get the excuses out of the way. :) In my last post I talked about selling my wares online through my website Butterfly Garage! It took me(with help from the husband) approximately 2 weeks to put the website together, and I was quite proud of myself. I waited for the orders to come pouring through.... but it has been more like a slow steady trickle. I have had at least one order on the go since, with the exception of maybe a few weeks in the summer. I am grateful for these orders so thoughtfully put in by friends and family, yet I haven't had one order from a stranger yet( I do have a remedy in mind, but more on that later). And because I have had one order on the go consistently, I haven't had time to work on a whole lot of stock....

Plus... When I had the "craft = money" epiphany I had one baby and one part time job. 6 days later I was pregnant with baby #2, a few weeks after that, I had 2 part time jobs... any of you who have been pregnant, know what the first trimester is like, let alone having a 1 year old, let alone having two part time jobs!

So in conclusion, having one order always on the go, plus a 1 year old, plus pregnancy, plus 2 part time jobs, I haven't been able to make stock for Butterfly Garage....

Fast forward 11 months... Baby number 2 has arrived all chubby and cute, and I only have one part time job to contend with! Ah finally the pace has settled down a lot, yet I am left with thoughts of how I can contribute financially. I have my one part time job which is only about 5 hours a week, which I work for my previous employer from home.

In an attempt to raise our family with as much love and faith as possible, we have decided that I will not be returning to work outside the house until we feel that our children are at a stage in life where they are comfortable without my full support(maybe junior high, or high school?)

I praise God for this opportunity, as it has always been my dream to be a stay at home mom(don't scoff at my "lofty" aspirations, as I believe being a stay-at-home mom is one of the most important jobs in the world!) I am deeply grateful to my hard working husband who is working 2 full time jobs in order for this to happen. I fall more in love with his sacrificial, loyal, and committed heart every day. He is my first greatest blessing.

But still... how do I contribute? We are one of those families that don't live to keep up with the Jones's, but still like to live a comfortable life, i.e. good food, nice clothes, a practical car, and comfortable home. We obtain all these things on sale, or second hand, and therefore I feel okay with making sure we are comfortable. We don't buy the latest gadgets, or fancy cars, or go on vacations, and although it would be nice to live a higher class life, we are happy and thankful for where we are at. Plus I don't know how I could live with the moral, social implications involved with that style of living.

Andrew and I have always maintained a good work ethic, and trusted God to provide the rest... BUT I must admit, we haven't always made the wisest financial decisions, and are, as most people, in a bit of debt. Andrews salary covers our day to day living, but doesn't dig us out of the debt hole. I would love to help do that. The biggest reason, besides the obvious(living without the extra financial weight), is we have a major house repair(foundation... oh the prices we pay for not trusting God to give us the best!!!) that is only accomplishable if we are out of ALL our consumer debt. So that's my goal for wanting to contribute financially....that and I like cute second hand clothes and decorating my house.

So now that life has slowed down a bit (how slow can it actually be though, with 2 babies under 21 months and a part time job??? but I digress) I want to amp up Butterfly Garage, and get my sore butt(having a baby hurts) in gear! I am planning on updating the web site with a whole bunch of new materials and stock! I already have about 6-7 stock items, and am working on LOTS more.

Plus I am excited to further expand my selling options by opening a store on etsy. Etsy, for those of you who don't know, is an online "mall" where you can go from store to online store and shop for handmade, vintage goods and materials. Its definitely worth checking out if you need some gift ideas! I don't know how many hits the site has per day, but I am willing to bet it has more than butterflygarage.com... I will maintain butterflygarage.com, selling stock and special orders(etsy doesn't do special orders the way I would have them handled) but I will also be posting my wares on etsy.com, and hopefully between the two, I will have steady work and profit!

My newest addition to Butterfly Garage is the Teddy Baird!(all names of all products are derived from butterfly names) It is hand crafted out of 100% recycled 100% wool! My mother, acting as my creative and emotional supporter, and I went shopping for the materials, and I am SO excited with what we brought home! I have already made 7 of these bears for special orders, and I must admit I am just as excited about it as I am of Judies Booties, and the Brimstone Reversible Diaper Bag! As I make stock I will be posting them for sale, so stay tuned!

Thanks for your patience, and interest, and hopefully I can maintain this blog a little bit easier in the future!