The Question: How did you do it?

Do you ever sit and wonder, how did you do it?  I’m sitting here with that thought in my head.  Why?  Well, these past few months truly have been the hardest for my family and I.  At the end of October, I decided to go back to work full-time to help my husband a little more in catching us up on finances.  My husband had lost his job, and once he did we got behind on so much.  Not only was I working full-time outside of the home, I was running Baby’s Breath Handmade.  Was I tired? Yes!  Did I want to give up?  Yes!  Did I?  NO!!!  I truly love what I do, so I kept it going while working full time.  During all of these past few months I couldn’t stop thinking of how I could do this better?  How could I continue to work full-time AND run Baby’s Breath Handmade.  The answer was simple – I couldn’t.  I had to make a decision as to what truly made me happy.  I was missing seeing my little girl Lola grow up, losing out on time with my husband, losing out on time with my friends…and slowly but surely, I wasn’t taking care of my own self which led to unhealthy eating habits and a whole lot of sleep deprivation.  Sounds pretty eh?  No, not really.

A lot of times we take ‘handmade’ for granted.  We don’t appreciate how much time goes into making one item.  It can easily take an up to 3 or 4 hours depending on the project.  We don’t appreciate how much time goes into shopping for materials, how much time goes into marketing, how much time goes into bookkeeping….it takes up a lot of time….period!  Working full-time, being a mommy, a wife and doing BBH at the same time, simply put…I was EXHAUSTED.  Now I realize how time management is so so so important.  

After much thought and prayer and talking it over with my husband, I had to make a decision.  So as of May 15^th I will no longer be working full-time outside of the home, but back to being a full-time business owner at home and spending time with my Lola like it has always been meant to be.  Although I'm sad to leave an amazing team at the company I work for at the moment, I’m super excited being that I miss so so so much waking up, making her breakfast, hearing her giggles throughout the day and teaching her a multitude of things.  Which by the way, I’m so proud to say that she is learning sign language at a very RAPID pace!  She’s an intelligent little girl for sure!    

I’m really looking forward to the next few months and digging deeper into handmade items.  A few changes will be occurring which will include many more items ready to ship, a newborn luxury line & a bigger variety of items for all ages. 

As of October of 2011, I no longer do product trades.  I attempted to open that up two - three months ago again, and it failed.  With the amount of orders coming and the working full-time, I couldn’t get products out as I wished.  The items I did send out, I never received photos for.  I receive emails almost daily for free items and I’m so flattered…but please oh please, do not insult me because of my decision to no longer do trades {yes, I have received nasty emails believe it or not!}  Product trades have ended. 

I hope you join in on all the fun and exciting things that are to come.  I can’t thank you enough for your support and the words of encouragement I have received from the few of you I have really gotten close too through Etsy and Facebook.  It really means the world to me.

Baby’s Breath Handmade is run by one person, designs are done by one person, orders and shipping are done by one person, marketing is done by one person…and that one person is ME.   So thank you once again for all the love and support!  I hope to not disappoint you over the next few months!  And please keep sharing your photos on my Facebook wall!  I just love seeing my items on your babies and I love seeing my items in your photoshoots!  J

So the question continues, how did I do it?  How did I do it all these past few months and really not go insane?  My answer:  I have NO IDEA!  LOL!  I do have to thank my amazing husband & our loving God!  My husband and I truly worked as an amazing team to push through a hard time!  I was so thankful to have  Lola taken care of during the weekdays by two amazing women, my mother and my sister.  Thank you for your help!!!

So…………let the designing begin!

Boutique Owners:  Lets respect one another, keep our integrity and refrain from copying designs.  Hard work goes into designing.  Being successful comes from being yourself!

Photographers:  You guys are AMAZING!  You truly have taken 'handmade' to another level and have opened the doors for so many amazing designers.  For that, we THANK YOU!

Parents:  Thank you so much for your support and for loving handmade goods for your children.  Items they will treasure for the rest of their lives and can possibly pass on to their children and for that opportunity, we thank you.

Much love to you all!!!

Xo

Joyce

{Photo Courtesy of Juliette Hilliard Photography}

{Photo Courtesy of Pam Birmingham Photography}

 {Photo Courtesy of Tara Swain Photography}

{Photo Courtesy of Peekaboo Photos}

{Photo Courtesy of lightful | photography}

{Photo Courtesy of bellasaluti}

 {Photo Courtesy of lightful | photography}

 {Photo Courtesy of Perles Photography}

{Photo Courtesy of bellasaluti}

{Photo Courtesy of Photography by Melina}

{Photo Courtesy of Perles Photography}