Oops

I didn't forget to post pictures, I swear! The weather has just been terrible again. Between the rain and freezing temps I haven't been able to get outside for photos, however I broke down and took photos inside yesterday! Yep so I do have the pictures for you as promised. You can also view the products for sale by clicking on the big ETSY banner to the right of the screen!

Okay, before I show you the pictures, I wanted to tell you about what's been going on here. It has been far from a cake walk trying to get this hobby turned into a home business. Nothing is easy if worth doing though. I did get an order for a bearded beanie and started working on that tonight. I got the piglet set shipped out today too! I finally got to go pick up my new glasses today as well, it amazes me how blind I am! haha. Yep, with my ability to be able to see better I can now take over the world!

I am going to be going to an open house for a lovely new park here in Perry this Saturday, it will begin at 1pm. I am excited. It is a free opportunity to help me before the big festivals this year. Speaking of big festivals, I am applying as a vendor for our local Dogwood Festival, it is a pretty big thing here. I am hoping to get approval, if I do it could be big. I really have high hopes for that one. It may be the only spring festival for me this year most of the festivals are in the fall. I am going to be working hard the rest of this week up until Saturday morning to get some good stuff finished for the festival. I will also be working hard after that at some new stuff I hope to be ready to show you and put in the store. Okay, I am gonna go ahead and show you all the photos so I can get back to orders and backstock!

This is the piglet set, it was a custom order hence the blue color rather than pink. I love how it turned out and it was entirely original. I did veer on the diaper cover from a pattern but only in shape.

By the way this is my lovely little 6 month old daughter :)

The viking beanie, ha ha I look crazy. I was going for a warrior look, I think I failed!

This is the beanie alone with the beard. The beard is detachable by buttons on the inside of the beanie.

Some bonus pics, this is a new mocha toffee coffee soap, coffee soaps are second only to my peach cobbler soaps at the events and festivals and a top seller next to the eucalyptus mint Celtic tree of life soaps in the shop. they are made with REAL coffee and caffeine is FANTASTIC for skin it removes fine lines and wrinkles and rejuvenates the skin!

New glazed donut soaps, this is a trio they are cotton candy, berry and apple scented

Popscicle soaps, also cotton candy, berry and apple

and my newest owl family additions, mini cuddle buddies they are small enough for little babies but cute and cuddly enough for kids at heart!

 

 

 

 

Have a Great night folks, I will return sometime in the next week with another posting here meanwhile be sure to check out the other blog, craftingADD http://apescraftingadd.blogspot.com/

 

 

Ape

 

The thunder rolls!

Yep, the storms have been raging here in middle Georgia for the last three days. We have gotten so much rain we have been under a flood warning for two days and it isn't up until Saturday! So needless to say our field trip with the homeschool group was cancelled! :( I have been a busy bee the last few days dispite me being sick. I went to the ER today and they said it was just a sinus infection. So I am on antibiotics and nasal steroids for the next two weeks. It hasn't slowed me down in the late night hours. I hate being such a night person lol. I have been working my bum off on an awesome new hat. It is a bearded viking hat with a long flowing beard! It is almost ready! I will show it off within the week. I have also finished a lovely requested hat and diaper cover set of a blue piglet. I love how it turned out and did not use a pattern on it (I didn't have a pattern for the viking hat either but I did use a pattern for the beard when I reveal the hat I will put a link up to the pattern). I will put the picture of the piglet hat up at the end of the week for you all too. Meanwhile be sure to check out my Facebook page (Ape's Custom Jewelry (and stuff). We have FINALLY hit 100 likes! A giveaway is taking place. If you invite friends and family and have them comment under the giveaway status that you sent them you will get an entry for each additional person you send, they too can get additional entries.

Thanks for reading and keep an eye out for our posts this week for the big photo reveals!

The Big Day!

Yep, tomorrow is the big day folks! We start homeschooling officially tomorrow! I am so glad my six year old is super excited! Today was not as productive as I had hoped. My baby girl has a cold. She may have to go to the doctor tomorrow or Tuesday if I can't get her sinuses to clear up. Though I doubt they will do anything for her because she is only 5 months. I do not have a lot of artistic news today. I have been super busy getting homeschool stuff together. We are scheduled for a park day with our local homeschooling group and I am super excited to get to meet the other moms in the group! Just thought I would drop in and keep you all informed. Be sure you check out my other blog craftingadd it is where I tell all about fellow crafters. A new crafter is featured in every post! If you love to crochet or craft be sure to check them out, even if you like to buy handmade or homemade check it out. I post all about my favorite crafters!


Hope everyone has a great start to the week!
Ape

Venturing into New Territory

Well, I left my last post with a bit of a cliff hanger. I recently visited a local private school. I had read they do scholarships and had hoped my daughter might be able to get one. I found out once I got to the open house that they do not do full scholarships and the $9,000+ tuition per year would never be pushed down to a level I could afford without a full scholarship. So, I did take the tour of the school and speak with the teacher in her grade level that was present. The kids in the same grade level had perfect penmanship and were doing amazing things. I couldn't believe what they were learning versus the public schools. It seems like all they do in public school is reading and math and writing because they HAVE to get certain scores on tests and reviews to get their grants. Money is always a thing. Well, I decided that I was going to homeschool. Why? Well, no it wasn't just because the private school kids were learning about the solar system when public school had yet to teach my first grader that the sun was infact a star, not a plant. No it wasn't because I don't want to get up in the morning. No, it wasn't because I feel like she should be a recluse. In fact, the rumor that homeschooled children are terrible at socializing is just that. There are so many wonderful support groups and resources for homeschooling. We have joined a local secular homeschooling group that has several events planned just for this month. A benefit of homeschooling is that your child gets to socialize with other people of all ages instead of a bunch of kids the same age. They get to learn from life and they get to see more than the inside of a classroom for 180 days. I don't have to wait for the public schools to decide to go to the Arts and Sciences museum for a field trip. We already have one planned with the homeschooling group on the 12th of this month. Yep. I don't have to worry about my daughter being bullied or some psycho with a gun coming into my house with a gun to kill off everyone. Nope. I know where she is, what she is doing, what and if she is learning. Best of all I DON'T have to send her to school for someone else to teach her for 8 hours only for her to come home and me have to spend 2 more hours with her doing homework, reading and developing an understanding of her words.

Homeschooling may not be for everyone, I am not by any means suggesting it is the best or only way to go. I am simply saying it was what I decided to do. At first, it seemed over whelming. How in the world am I going to teach my child these things she's supposed to be learning when I don't even know what she is learning?! How can I possibly spend the entire day everyday entertaining a 6 year old when I also have a baby to take care of and a home business to tend with? Well, I decided that if I worried myself to death it would get me no where. I knew time management would become my best friend. However, this new adventure will not be without its ups and downs. Her folders are all filled for the week with worksheets. My computer has been running word, IE, and powerpoint non-stop, there is a USB to USB cord on it's way to me in the mail, and we went to the library Friday to get the books we needed for the next week or two. I am a little nervous about how this will work out. I am confident in my ability to teach her. It occured to me I have been doing it for 6 years.

Being a parent that is what we do. We teach them from birth, how to eat, how to roll, how to crawl, how to walk, how to talk, how to brush their teeth, I could go on and on but you get the point. I have been her teacher all along. When her baby sister was born she had a noticable change in behavior. It seemed as though she thought that she was falling into the background. At six they don't realize that mommy HAS to get up a million times to feed and change the baby. That when the baby is asleep we have to keep the ruckus below a 5 on the richtor scale and that Mommy is VERY tired! I tried to keep up with giving her attention. She just seemed to want to go to her great grampa's all the time which made it hard for me to give her the love and attention she needed. However once I started keeping her at home she realized that Mommy was still there for her and she has gotten back to being a sweetheart who randomly walks up to me for a hug and a kiss which still melts my heart. I know that before long she will grow out of that. I used to work full time at one or two jobs all the time and quite frankly I feel like if I am going to be stuck at home instead of working I should be able to spend as much time with my girls as I can because we all know how fast they grow up. Time flys and I don't want to miss another minute of it.

As for business as usual, well it is slow with all the new activity at home. I have a few new patterns working up and am getting ready to do up a lovely pattern I purchased from BonitaPatterns, Crocodile Stitch Booties. These are absolutely ADORABLE! I bought the pattern a while back having fallen in love with the yarn she used in her photos and didn't realize it took sock weight yarn. Whoops. Well, I couldn't find fingering weight yarn locally so I went on the hunt for a decently priced fingering weight online. It took me a while but I found a beautiful hand dyed yarn on ebay! I have it now and am ready to rock this pattern out. So hopefully I will have a picture posted soon. I would like to add this, Bonita Patterns has absolutely amazing patterns and I purchased two from her I would and probably will get more they are easy to read and understand and the finished products are always amazing. Not to mention her ability to make crocodile stitches into wonderful wearable art! So of you like to crochet and know how to read patterns please visit her site, she is also wonderful at customer service if you need help with a pattern! So definately be sure to stop by her shop by clicking on the link in the text above or clicking HERE.

I am off to do something important as usual. Have a blessed day!

Ape

Beginning Again

Life as I know it has changed. Once again life has decided to throw another curve ball. Once I found out I was pregnant last January I knew that work wouldn't last too much longer for this long time working mom. I was right. I became a stay at home mom in February of last year. It was definately a change. I had time to myself but being pregnant it wasn't the normal day. I was sick for most of my pregnancy and then came the back aches and swollen feet which is the norm for pregnancy as most moms know. I found myself learning knew things and getting my online store functioning again. I finally had time to make soaps and scrubs and bath salts again. I even had time during my early to mid pregnancy to make some jewelry which was difficult to do when I was working strange hours and having to come home and do what moms do; homework with the kiddo, cook, clean, get the kiddo cleaned and in bed. In my last trimester I got a hankering for a new hobby. I learned how to crochet.

Crochet has become a big part of me ever since. I find it relaxing and it is great for your fine motor skills. I took to crochet much easier than I thought I would. I remember being a kid and my Grandmother trying to teach me. At 12 I definately didn't give a hoot about crocheting. At 12 you think that it is for old people. I learned over time the beauty of the craft and the satisfaction of completing something with a purpose. It is so enjoyable for me and I am glad I get to share my enjoyment with others. I realized that there was quite a market for crochet products and being that I think we should buy more locally and handmade instead of from some chinese sweatshop I decided to add the crochet products to my online store's inventory.

My daughter was born in September. In fact she was born on September 11th. I had made tons of hats for her little head while she was in my belly. I did find that I was once again pressed for time to do what I enjoyed since having a newborn in the house changes the whole schedule and it didn't help that I had to take my 6 year old to school each morning and pick her up in the afternoon. I found pieces of time during her naps when I was not able to sleep and once she went to sleep at night I would crochet for a little while to help calm me before bed. As my schedule finally got back to what was now the norm I had time to get everything done. I ended up putting a few crochet items in the Georgia National Fair and at the Georgia buildings store. This was my first test of selling my crochet. After the fair I was pleased to see I had sold many of my crochet items as well as recieved two awards from the Ga living competitions. I got a first place ribbon and textile of excellence award for an owl pillow and a second place ribbon for a cute little long tailed elf hat I had made for my daughter. This boosted my confidence enough to push me to do a few arts and crafts festivals.

In November of 2012 I did my first two festivals. They were not as lucritive as I had hoped but I was still learning. I am still learning actually. I enjoy what I am doing and it brings my family a little extra money. If not for my wonderful husband we wouldn't have a thing so he is the rock of the family financially but Mommy is the rock of the family for everything else. I sometimes look at my life and wonder how I manage to do it all. How do I get up with the baby everytime she cries and still manage to get my other daughter off to school, get the house cleaned up, do the dishes, cook dinner, take care of the animals and still find the time to crochet and dabble in the arts? I doubt that the answer is simple. I think women were just made to take the world on their shoulders.

I have however given myself something else to have to do. Homeschool. I will tell ya all about that next time!


Thanks for reading!
Ape




www.missred871.etsy.com