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.

You're Asking the Wrong Question.

Last night, as I was preparing my garden cucumbers for their transformation into delicious bread-and-butter pickles, my husband rushed in to my disheveled kitchen to tell me that I had an e-mail response to my craigslist post.

My heart skipped a beat. A job!

I dropped the measuring cup into the pickling salt and rushed to my laptop.

What I read next made me question whether my decision to work from home was a sound idea or some silly dream that would ultimately leave us broke and homeless. It threw me into an unforseen pit of self-doubt.

"Hi: do you do curtains and/or valances? What is your hourly rate?"

Uhhhh. The question is not do I do curtains/valances.... It's can I do curtains/valances. I don't even know because I've never tried before. What do I tell her? "I can certainly try!" Is honesty the best policy here or should I fake it till I make it? The option of telling her that I do not do curtains or valances came to mind... but that would be tantamount to throwing away my first business opportunity, and who knows when I will get another!

 Also: What is my hourly rate? Well, I googled the national hourly rate of a seamstress and found it to be between $9.31 and $14.87. I decided that, this being my first job and me being more obviously unaccomplished by the minute, I would start at $9.00.

I haven't written her back yet. I still don't know how to respond. I am slowly crawling out of the dreaded pit of self-doubt.

What I need is a mentor. I need to learn the seamstressing trade much more thoroughly. Anyone know a seamstress who would be willing to take me under her wing?

Being Pushed In

I lost my job today. The funny thing is, I have been dying to quit and start my own business for a while now. I have been biding my time, making arrangements and generally procrastinating for months now. And suddenly... I no longer have the luxury of sticking my toes in the water. I've been pushed in.

 So now, of course I am...excited and terrified.

I decided to start this blog to chronicle my attempt at starting a business from my home. What business you ask? Domesticity! (Saw that coming, didn't you?) It's really the only thing I'm good at. I love to cook and sew. The plan is to start a series of small businesses. Seamstressing. Maybe selling somethings on Etsy. Baking and selling my foodstuffs at the farm up the road. I'm really not positive how this will all work out at this point.

 My last day of work is Friday... Lets see what happens next.