I'm Back!

I'm back!

I'd like to apologize to my reader (if I have one) for not updating in a while. I was far too busy last week, and heres why:

Last Monday my former employer called me and asked me to substitute for the rest of the week. Having only been out of that place for a week I still had some very hurt pride, but I still agreed to work, because.... well, it is stupid to turn down money when you aren't making any.

So I went in and hated it even more than I did before I left. Having a week of freedom totally changed my perspective on things. On Thursday they offered me a 25 hour/week part time job, at which time I was very happy with myself for not laughing in their faces.

Now I'm back home where I belong and the outlook appears bright. Thanks to my blog post about my sensory books, I received a facebook message from an old high school friend (Somebody is reading!). She commissioned me to make a book for her son's first birthday!

I was so excited I was telling all of my friends, and you know what? I got another commission from a friend that wants one for her nephew!

So after I did a very silly victory dance I got to work. A bunch of my friends urged me not to give up on selling my books on etsy, and now that I know there is demand I am determined to make it work.

I started looking for a way to comply with the labeling laws... then late last night I had one of those fabulous eureka moments.

I can make these now!

DuhBe is an incredible blog that I happened to come across that details how to make labels at home. Now I can make just enough tags for the amount of fabric I bought and not worry about the fabric content changing and being stuck with a hundred tags I can't use.

Needless to say I shall be off to the fabric store this afternoon!

An Answer and Some Progress.

Last night my husband asked me if I was going to start looking for a job today. He seems to already be feeling the loss of my income, even though I still have another check from my old job coming. It made me all the more determined to make something happen.

So this morning I got up and went straight to work. Yesterday I blogged about receiving an email about making some curtains. Today I responded.

Good Morning,
I would be happy to do some curtains/valances for you. Do you have a design and fabric chosen? How many would you be needing? Is $9/hr an acceptable rate for you? I'm not sure how long it will take me, as it all depends on the number of curtains/valances and the detail required by the design.

Hope to hear from you soon!
Samantha Merrill



After hitting the send button I became exhilarated and started to build up momentum. I reposted my craigslist ad. I signed a contract to be an independent agent with LiveOps. I became an Amazon Associate and added Google Adsense to my blog.

Now I need to find a way to generate traffic to said blog. Don't get me wrong, Facebook friends, I love you, but I need more.

I also need to find a way to sell bread, granola bars and dog treats.

Next I think I'm going to sew up some samples, perhaps one of a sensory book like the one I made for baby Violet, and create an Etsy store.

Looking back at this post it looks like I have ideas and attempts scattered everywhere. Lets see where they go.