A Little Bit of Etsy In My Life

What a fun and educational 11 days it's been as I've been fumbling my way through all of this etsy stuff.  I am truly amazed by the team who constructed the etsy idea and site.  Brilliant and creative minds!  How very grateful I am to have an online venue to sell handmade goods and to be a part of a creative community.

A few orders that shipped out this week. 

I am equally thankful to instagram for helping me boost my sales too - I've learned that posting pictures of my designs on my insta page has helped send folks to my etsy site.  I've been using them hand-in-hand this week, and it's interesting to see how one effects the other.  When I post a picture of an item on Instagram, I'm more likely to make a sale from someone who saw that picture than I am to make a sale from someone who randomly found my etsy page on their own.

I am especially excited about this little belt that was made for the tiniest customer yet - a little guy  weighing only 12 lbs.!

Ten little boys and one little girl across SC, GA, AL, and FL have received a High Cotton Handmade belt since the shop opened. The shop and listings have been viewed 464 times and 23 people have "favorited" a shop or a listing. The Nautical Collection of the monogrammed belts sold out in the first week and was re-listed.

You have no idea how incredibly humbling this experience has been.

I remember two weekends ago, sitting at the laptop, trying to work out some of the verbiage I wanted to list on the HCH etsy page, and finally, just after midnight, holding my breath and hoping for the best, I pushed the "publish" button making the shop live.  Then I went to bed.  The next morning, I pulled up the computer to find that I had 3 orders.  No one was more surprised than I was.

And so I just sat at the computer and cried.

People are so kind and so very supportive, and I just absolutely can't believe that there are people out there who like the merchandise enough to purchase it - and then to have their children wear it.  It's so overwhelming in a wonderful, fulfilling sort of way.  A big huge THANK YOU to all of you who have checked out my etsy site, mentioned it to a friend, purchased an item, or reposted an image on your insta page or facebook page.  I am especially thankful to Bo who has an answer for every single one of my business questions, celebrates with me every time I make a sale, and doesn't complain when I show him yet another thing I've sewn. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Been playing around with the packaging and have settled on this combo for now.  The  High Cotton logo is a stamp that I use on everything - packaging, thank you notes, and the labels that are sewn into products - I just use different types of ink depending on whether I'm printing on paper or fabric.

I was searching for something to use for labels on my bags and found so many great options with the Martha Stewart Line at Staples. The boys and I spent way too much time looking at office supplies. 

This Navy Anchor belt from the Nautical Collection is by far the best seller.  I've done it  two ways: using navy top stitching (pictured here) and also with white top stitching (in one of the pictures above) and can't decide which I prefer.  Any thoughts?

Just ordered some seersucker fabric in fun summer colors and some new girly buckles - look forward to adding a Seersucker Collection to the belts with coordinating fabric bows for girls. 

Snow 2013

It snowed on Saturday, February 16th and it was not only Wade's first snow, but the most snow McCord has ever experienced.  Here are a few pictures from our fun weekend.

Here's a picture that Bo took of our front yard. Love that everything is so silent when it snows -  no traffic, no hustle, just quiet. 

Bo and Mc worked really hard on building this snowman (almost as tall of Mc!).  

I totally forgot about the gigantic hill down the street from us.  If it snows next year, I can't wait to take the boys sledding!

Wade is 9 months old

At the maple, 9 mos.  Wade's fist snow!

Bo snapped this photo with my phone without me knowing, and I'm so glad he captured this moment of Wade, freshly bathed and ready for bed.  He is especially cuddly at this moment in the evening, and I soak it up nightly.  

Hanging out at the playground is lots of fun these days!

Wade does this thing with his hands when he's especially smitten with something.  And sometimes I can't help myself, I just have to nibble on those chubby fingers!

A few highlights from the past month: 

- At 9 months old, you've been out as long as you were in

- Wade is growing a new tooth on the bottom (four on top and almost 3 on bottom!)

- Sweet potatoes top the list of favorite foods with carrots a close second

- He's working on crawling, but to be fair, he's a much better scootcher

- I'm pretty sure his favorite color right now is orange, because I see him repeatedly reaching for orange toys over other colorful items

- This month, Wade began sleeping through the night!  Hooray, time to celebrate!  It's been a long time since I slept 8 consecutive hours at night - especially since I didn't sleep while I was pregnant with Wade. And here we are, 18 months later, loving every restful second. 

-The past few nights, Wade has bathed without a baby tub - he just sits in the big tub with his brother now.  He seems to really like having free access to all of the bath toys.

- McCord has started a little game he loves to play at nap time called, "Hey Wade!"  I put Wade in Mc's bed before tucking Mc in for a nap, and McCord gets in Wade's face and says "Hey Wade! Hey Wadey!" And Wade just loves it - arms and legs flailing everywhere.  Then he starts reaching for McCord and McCord starts laughing. It's a special moment between brothers.  My heart doubles in size every time I witness their little game. 

- Wade's been enjoying his Kindermusik class and loves music.  He especially likes it when we sing the blessing "God our Father" or play his Kindermusik CD in the car. 

- Sometimes I think Wade was supposed to have wings instead of arms.  He gets so excited about things, that his arms just start flapping as if he's a bird.  At bath time, I love to hold his naked, rolly self up in the air and "fly" him into the bathtub.  He gets so excited about his bath, and those arms and legs are pushing the air furiously as he is trying to get to the tub as fast as he can.  He looks like a little cherub sending love and slobbery kisses to all in his path.