While Mom's Out

They say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Here's a little something to endorse that idea. My eight year old daughter, Autumn, is a crafter at heart... just like Mom. Last night I had to be out fairly late leaving Autumn somewhat on her own until I got home. (Dad was sleeping) This is what I came home to... A little Autumn "fairy"!


She has taken a liking to beads, so I had given her a roll of stretchy cord for bracelets. She decided that it would work well for a mask as well so she picked a few leaves off my ficus tree (not real) and with some paper, tape, scissors and a bit of imagination made herself a mask. She liked her mask so much that she decided some fairy wings were in order. A little more paper, tape, and a couple sticks later... viola! a complete fairy outfit. I was rather impressed, well except for picking the leaves off my tree.. She is also very good at dressing her barbies with paper clothing. Hmmm.... maybe a future fashion designer?

Bonanzle

As the countdown to summer vacation draws near I am spending as much time as possible readying myself for the reality that my bi-weekly paycheck is about to take a major nose dive. I know we can get by without it, but truth is I have grown accustomed to being able to purchase what I want when I want. Now my wants are not all that much... a kiddie pool for the backyard, a magazine, beads, etc... but none the less, I want them. I've decided that I had better put a little effort into making some extra income from home. I know that my beaded lanyards sell fairly well on ebay, but I don't really care for feebay. I've had some luck with etsy, but marketing on etsy is an all day job and I want to spend my summer with my little girl. So yesterday I set up a booth on bonanzle.

I must say that in just a matter of one day, I am very impressed. I spent today listing some new items and getting to know the site a bit more. They have an abundance of great tools and step by step instructions for marketing my booth and increasing views. And everything is so easy! These guys have really listened to sellers and made the site seller friendly. Listings are only one page and so easy to do. People are so friendly and offer great advice for optimizing my booth, and gaining exposure. I'm really very happy with it. Only time will tell whether my efforts will pay off, but I really feel confident with my decision to use bonanzle as my selling platform. Summers vacation is looking better every day:)

Summer vacation

It's here. Well almost. Summer vacation. We all dreamed of it when we were kids and dread it as parents. I was lucky with my older children as I was a stay at home mom and didn't need to worry about summer vacation. It just meant I had lots of company for a few months:) But times have changed and I have needed to work outside the home for the majority of my youngest daughters life. Summer vacation has meant hunting for daycare that I could trust, cooking extra meals to be re-heated while I'm at work and being just too darned tired to do anything fun with her. There was a brief time period that I did decide to work from home and did exceptionally well, but found that I spent more time actually working than I did when I was employed outside the home. I decided that working part time was the answer and found the perfect job for me... designing and teaching jewelry! I was so WRONG! I have spent so much time and creative energy creating for someone else that I had lost the desire to create for myself. So I made the decision to spend the summer home with Autumn and get my passion for beading back! This is possible because I have shaved our household expenses and learned how to shop strategically. (I'll write more on that later.) Tomorrow is her last day of school for the year and Saturday is my last day of work for a few months. I spent today getting ready:

1. got all bills paid.
2. got together a few fun inexpensive projects for us to do together.
3. fell in love with my beads again.
4. opened up a new shop on bonanzle.

I am ready for and looking forward to summer vacation for the first time in such a long time. Four more days and I can't wait~