Lately...

I think I have become someone I do not especially like.  I have been working so hard at trying to find some balance and freaking out because I need to make some career changes (and that is scary - especially because I am 38 years old and the bread winner!!). I have been forgetting to take care of the little things.  I have gained back the 15 pounds I lost in the spring, my house is a disaster and I have fudged Penelope's home reading the last two weeks.  I think I deserve a great big F in life lately - I know I can do better.  I will do better.

I miss PITA, she helped me keep my head above the water when I was not doing to great job at it myself.... I need to get my poop back in a group.  A winning lottery ticket would be helpful... I am worried that if I give up the shop all together, I will feel like I did when my Grandmothers died - I was in an emotional black hole for months with both of them.  It won't be the same I know but I am worried none the less because already everyday all I want to do is stay home and cook and clean and hide.  I will admit, I am getting a little worried about me.

I read a quote about Pinterest today.  Same goes for my blog.  I wish CH would read and look at who I am, I don't think he really knows. I am no sure it would help him but it might, a little.  I tend to keep everything in - well not everything.  I love to write.  It is a safe and easy way for me to talk about how I feel.

"It hadn't occurred to me that such an online service also would be a window into me for my husband who sees me every day."

I have a huge list of what I should be doing and I am spending all of my time here - or reading blogs or pinning.  So off the frickity-frackin' computer and onto more productive things!

:o)  Tina

Fill in the Blank Monday - what the???

I have been away - well not really away, but away from an internet connection that works well enough for a blog post even on my phone - for the last few days (Wednesday night through Sunday night).  I was at a craft fair selling some of the things I have accumulated over the years - including slippers and hats that my Mum crochets, quilts and quilted things that were previously samples in the shop, and some crafty things that I like to make to sell.  It went really well, I had a vintage quilt that I sold for $75.  I was pleased.

I thought I would have time to post this on Friday but I was at the craft fair until 9 and then came to the shop for Quilt Till You Wilt until almost midnight.  I was so pooped I went straight to bed.

Baby Hayden, when he was about 10 days old.
He is now 5 1/2 weeks!

Saturday was pretty much the same.  At the mall until 6, then to the Smokies game (which they won!!!) and them home and right to bed. It was a great game, CH me and PITA's men were hoarse from yelling at the refs and cheering for our team.  It was SO fun!

Sunday, I had the craft fair and then another baby shower for my lovely new nephew Hayden, and then back to the craft fair and home to bed.  I am starting to feel a little more normal and have a crap load of laundry to catch up on tonight!

*I just spent the last hour and a half on Pinterest.  I got side tracked there while looking for an image of a needle and thread to use as a section break in my post.  Pinterest - oh so good, yet so very very bad.

1. Waking up at the break of dawn to go shopping is my idea of complete and utter madness!  There is no way on God’s green earth that I would wake up at dawn to go shopping in the freezing cold no matter how good the deal was!  American’s are nuts – we do not have a shopping day like that in Canada and if we did I am sure I would not attend (although the rest of my family probably would, Grandpa, CH, my Dad, every one of them loves a great deal and will go out of their way for it).

2. If I were to go shopping today I would be on the hunt for a stainless steel kettle.  I am tired of the electric one and would like something a little more interesting to sit on my stove.  My dear sweet cousin Tegan has one with a bird that whistles in the spout - you can take it out and let the water keep boiling - I covet it. I am a "little" OCD about my tea making process and like to keep the water at a full boil while I hot my mug and it would be nice to do it without the kettle whistling and annoying everyone (but me).  The Little Man with his own little dose of OCD, comes and unplugs is while I am standing there.  I think OCD might be hereditary.

So I found it!!!  This is the one my cousin has - did I mention that she lives in the British Properties?  I can buy this puppy for 90 pounds or about $175!  I don't think so!

Source: amara.co.uk via Tina on Pinterest

3. The best thing I ate yesterday was ... I never had anything exceptionally good.  Tim Horton’s sandwich for lunch and greasy spoon fish and chips for dinner. Wasn’t terrible but wasn’t special like an American Thanksgiving turkey dinner or anything either. :o)

4. Something I've been learning lately is that sometimes is it okay when you have to give up your dreams and start over. I am starting over with the shop and hoping to get it right this time and to always remember that I am doing it for the love of doing it and making money from it will (hopefully) come from that, rather than trying so hard to make money from it, trying so hard to have everything everyone asks for - and getting lost in that concept.  I want to feel like I am working for me again!.

5. I cannot start my day without a cup of tea! (Duh!) I also need like an hour to drink it and wake up.  I am not very good at mornings - even when I don't I stay up too late at night.

6. My night time attire consists of nothing at all! Sheets, a feather duvet and a nice snuggly husband. Eewww. Don’t like my answer do you PITA? Hahaha. Just being honest. :o)

7. I am looking forward to everyday!  Other than money and the constant disaster area my home is, I would not change anything. My life is wonderful, and I look forward to everyday with my amazing short people and the rest of the pack.

So for now, good bye but I will talk to you soon. I have been pinning all day and it has given me lots of inspiration for posts. I think I need to make a "look book" with the things that I have made... Shall I pin it or post it? Probably both!

:o) Tina

Local Blogger AND Fabulous Artist!

It is such a small world - especially here in the Kootenays.  I am always meeting people that have connections to people that I already know.  The other day Jen and I were talking about my hopes for the direction of the shop and she mentioned this great local artist whose talents I may want to draw upon.  I had a look and LOVE her style.

Source: etsy.com via Tina on Pinterest

So, I am poking around her blog and am led to her portfolio - which includes basic webdesign for her Aunt's store in Creston.  So strange, I know her Aunt - not like she is my bestie but to say hello and perhaps make small talk.  Anyway, I am looking at her picture - her about me photo on her blog and I am thinking - I know this girl.  That was Tuesday.  On Saturday, she comes into the shop to pick up her serger (we were servicing it for her) and I instantly know who she is!  I love that, definitely a perk to small town living.

Hanna Sandvig - check her out on her blog, Hanna's Life is Cool.  Stay tuned for an beautiful blog makeover - I sent her an email...

Source: etsy.com via Tina on Pinterest

:o) Tina

Love This

Source: iheart-stolenimages.blogspot.com via Irene on Pinterest

Were You Wondering?

I have not been posting about the books I have been reading, because I have not really been reading much.  I read a big string of really great books, and have been in a bit of a slump since.  If you have any recommendations for something I will not be able to put down, I am all ears.  For the last three weeks I have been reading The DaVinci Code in hopes of discovering some big secret.  :o)

Fill in the Blank Friday

I always use the image provided by the little things we do to fill in the blanks, but this week seems kind of inappropriate - it does NOT look like this outside right now.  Everything is covered in snow!

This is my neighborhood... pretty, huh?

Source: google.ca via Tina on Pinterest

1. A nervous habit I have is chewing the inside of my cheek I would love to stop doing this mostly because it is a dead give away when something is bothering me and the more I am chewing the worse the problem and the more obvious to those close to me and chances are I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT! :p

2. Something that makes me sad is the way that people treat each other. I work really hard to make sure that the children I am raising today grow up to be gentle, caring, responsible, considerate adults - and that they are that way as children as well.

3. Today I am thankful for my friends. I am so happy that this circle has expanded, I have PITA, Andrea, Krista, Lynette, Karen, Jessie, ... - it is so nice to have a bunch of close friends again after a few years of feeling abandoned by the people I thought were my friends during my 20s.

4. My favorite room in my house is my bedroom. It is the only room in the house that is clean and tidy all (most) of the time. It is all white and yellow and cozy and my bed is the comfiest ever and I love it.

5. I can't stand the value society has put on the stuff a person has over the value they put on who a person is. Why does it matter what you have or what you look like, it should only matter who you are and how you conduct yourself as a human being.

6. If I had an extra $100 to spend on whatever I wanted today I would take my kids to dinner at Boston Pizza and go to a movie. I have been a little extra broke lately and I would really like to have a little spending money for a treat for them. :o)

7.The last person I hung out with was Andrea. She is my favorite lunch buddy! Right before she left, Lynette came and we had a really great talk. I love her so much and so grateful for her! For both of them! :o)

A New Approach to an Old Plan

I want feed back - please comment!!!  I am about to embark on a huge change in my shop - and hopefully my life - and I want to hear what you have to say. (Nothing negative though please - negativity messes with my head).

I asked for a sign from God and the electricity was turned off.  Was that a sign?  I asked for a sign from God and my till got robbed.  Was that a sign?  I don't know.  I don't want to give up all together, I want to change.  I want to grow and to become something.  I want to continue being creative and feeling the way that I feel when I am teaching a class of presenting someone with the beautiful (original) quilt that I made them (PITA, I need pictures please).

So I am going to find a way to grow and to change and to prosper.  I am willing to put in the work.  I want a good life, an easier life - for me and for my children.  I want for them the childhood I had.  Never having to worry, always getting what I really wanted.  Being happily carefree. 

The shop when it was in my home...

She was my reason for keeping it simple.  I want to get back to the basics.

Introduction

Since I began Sugar Shack Quilting in November of 2005, it has undergone an enormous amount of change – all of which seems to happen beginning in the month of November! (I was approved for the self-employment program in November 2005 and began the loan application process to expand in November 2007.)

When Sugar Shack first began and I was going through the self-employment program, the co-ordinator at the time said to me that writing a business plan was like taking a 1,000 piece puzzle, throwing all of the pieces up in the air and then putting them all together so that you can see the big picture.  I remember the feeling after my business plan was done of knowing how right she was to give that advice.  So, now, on the cusp of another big change, I am beginning the re-write of my business plan.  This time I am doing it only for me, to get my feet on the ground, to see where I am want to go and how I will get there – or if it is even a possibility.

In February 2008, I moved the shop taking over an existing shop downtown and transforming it into the bigger, better than in my family room, version of Sugar Shack that I hoped it would be. I thought it would be so much more profitable - busy all the time - I thought that was what I wanted.  I was wrong on both counts and now, in November 2011, I have given my notice in the space I am in and am planning for the future.

During the course of my mental planning I realized that a lot of where I wanted to go with the shop is very much where I have already been.  When I started, I started with the idea of selling the work of others as well as my own but I had not really gotten my creative feet under me yet.  I really wanted to have and sell fabric and felt that it was the be all end all of my crafting life.  I have since learned that it takes a little bit of everything as well as a lot of talent to create and it takes even more than that to be successful and to make a profit.  I have made a lot – a lot – of mistakes along the way, but I have learned so much.  I am at the point now where I want to fix the mistakes, take what I have learned and apply it to a changed concept.  I have new ideas and I want to pursue them.  I have old ideas that are resurfacing and I want to re-explore them as well.  I am excited for change.  I just need to pause and get on the right page so that I know how to do the things I need to do to get back to where I want to be – so here I sit, writing my business plan for the third time in 6 years!