Follow-Up on the "Marketing Op"

So nothing has come out of the blankets that I feverishly created and donated to Lucian's school. I had such high hopes, but in the end... I didn't get to do a table at the event and pretty much all I could do was put a sample sheet in the blanket along with my card and hang tag. BUT - alas! I am NOT discouraged. The key to starting anything is that you must follow through with it. TO THE END. Don't get discouraged, which I was close to doing at one point (I took off about 2 weeks from sewing and just cut out Pokemon for my other side business... I have a couple of those right now for extra money!) and didn't get much sewing done. But I'm motivated again. I got a new walking foot (otherwise known as an even feed foot) and wow. It makes sewing stretchy and difficult to sew fabrics a breeze.

Here's what it looks like just in case you need to get one - I'm telling you - it's AWESOME. It acts like another set of feet on your sewing machine so those slippery little sucker fabrics don't get away from you (isn't that frustrating? I know. It is!). Anyway... Here it is. My new savior of sewing...




So... I'm back on it. I'm starting to sew again and made Sean's cousin a lovey and some pee pee cups (my newest favoritest thing to sell! I just listed some. Wish me luck). I think they're the CUTEST thing that a baby is going to pee on EVER! DUDE! CUTE!





Oh yeah, and here's the lovey I made for her baby (1 month old and ADORABLE) Rhett (I loved making this one by the way - WITH my new walking foot!):





Toodles my lovelies. I have to finish up at work (day job... WOOHOO).

And I have to pee (I know. TMI).

Dave Ramsey!

Guess I haven't posted in like - an eternity. I guess there's just a lot going on! Join the club, right? Yeah. That's what I figured. Nothing really exciting. Sean and I were supposed to be married on February 20th. But, we postponed. No no no... nothing wrong. Just allocated that money towards something else. Speaking of MONEY!

I was talking to the CFO of the company that I work for (my day job - have to have one of those right now! Holy shaky economy!) and he mentioned that they'd be holding a Dave Ramsey course. COUNT ME IN. I jumped on that. So we sign up and I take Sean to the first class. Of course it's just a certified Dave Ramsey-ite and not the man himself... but we get to watch him on DVD. Anyway, if you EVER EVER EVER in your life get to take one of his courses/seminars - DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT. That's a resounding - DO IT. When I tell you that after the first class, Sean ACTUALLY started to GET why I wanted to 1. Pay off my car THIS year, 2. pay off the house in 15 years and 3. GET OUT OF DEBT - which, by the way, means that we don't have to pay ANYONE else payments! I sort of had the ideas and the foundations down of becoming financially secure. But I needed a pro to pound it into my brain. And that's what Ramsey does. Pounds it into your brain in a fun manner.

I'm telling you - it's almost like a hammer hits you in the head and you say "wow. It's THAT easy?" But, in reality, it's not. It's an entire lifestyle change and some people will be resistant, but I have to tell you - the idea of paying off my house by the time I'm 50... that sounds wonderful and amazing and just surreal. The idea of having a minimum of $1,000,000 for retirement... can you even imagine? I can't.

Read more about Dave Ramsey if you haven't ever heard of him. My GOD he's amazing. And all he did was just change his lifestyle and now, through his learning and teaching, he's a millionaire - a few times over I'm sure. He puts things into perspective and talks about taking baby steps. Baby steps - who can NOT relate to that? Too many people like to jump into things too quickly - and they get frustrated. With Dave's method, which he came back from Bankruptcy and created all of this (by the way! HE LIVED IT!) it's so easy. It's just that you have to WANT and NEED the change. Debt free living? What the heck IS that? Society has taught us that debt is good... WHAT? Unbelievable in reality. Now... it's come to my attention that without debt - I can have like - $3000 a MONTH E-X-T-R-A to MYSELF (ok, so that would be myself and the family... but still!!). WHAT?

Check out some links. You won't be sorry. AT ALL. You'll have to pay for the materials and maybe the course, but you'll make that back and so much more. Trust me!


www.daveramsey.com/

Listen to his radio show if you ever have a chance. Good stuff! He's even charismatic which helps tremendously!

www.daveramsey.com/radio/home/

Look at some YouTube vids... Just do a search on him...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b--HwXE3064

Wow. That's big stuff! I'll have to post my progress... :) HOW EXCITING!

Realization, some thoughts

SO I'm sitting at my desk at my JOB (which so many unfortunate Americans have lost in this increasingly shaky economy) and I realize that the economy hasn't hit me. Not because I have a job that I can go to every morning and not because we have money to pay our bills, but because of the positive attitude that comes forth. In times like these, it's so easy to say "Oh woe is me. I'm going to stay in bed all day and not do a thing." How is this productive? It's not.

I thought to myself a week or so ago "how on earth are you going to start a business and SELL items that aren't exactly cheap to people that may not have grocery money for the next month. It's crazy!" And guess what? I started thinking on the downside. I thought that this investment of time and all of this money (I'm in this about $2,000 so far including new sewing machine $400, embroidery machine $900, Fabric at LEAST another $550 - $600 with an order that I'm trying to put together to create a "line" of cohesive products that will top $600, not to mention the books that I've purchased and the misc supplies like a new scanner, hole punch, binders, etc... topping probably $400 or more and I'm SURE that I'm missing something in there...), storage bins $150. Not to mention the $250 or so that I had to sink into my computer that crashed... and what is it going to get me? Deeper into debt? Immediate downer.

What do you do when you start thinking like that? When you start doubting yourself? Turn it around. Think to the future. If you've lost your job think "something better is going to come around and it may take some time, but it WILL come". Good things come to those who wait. I remember someone on my family saying that often and for the life of me can't remember who - my immediate family is filled of "Downer Dotties"... you know the type. And it's true.

I told Sean when we first met that things just work out for me. They do. I may make a couple bad decisions along the way, but things work out. Why? Because I stay positive and don't let the downers get into my path. If I find something negative, I'm going to try to find something positive in it.

I'm divorced from Lucian's dad (and I use that term loosely based on his performance as a "dad") and although I initiated that, I felt like I was never going to find anyone that met my needs. Who loved me for me. Who worked just as hard as I did. Who met my values and saw me eye to eye. I have to admit - it was a downer. It was a HUGE downer. I wallowed in self pity for like - 2 days - and kicked myself in the ass and said - WHO CARES?! Guess what? You have a WONDERFUL little boy that came out of that disaster of a relationship. Positive Found!

Then, without warning, Sean came along. The most wonderfully amazing man that I have ever known or had the priviledge to share my life with. Positive!!

So in these hard economic times, where is the positive? If I can't sell my items, am I going to be sitting on tons and tons of fabric, machines, materials, notions, ideas (which are luckily free), and storage devices, blah blah blah? Woe is me. Woe is me. HAHA! And you know what??

Turn it around. Turn it into a positive. Turn it into "The future is always brighter than the present." Something GOOD will come out of everything as long as you remain positive, have your morals and values in line and the planets will align just for you at just the right time.

Starting anything sales oriented right now is frightening. It's downright crazy to think that it's going to take off when people are scrounging to buy the newspaper to even look for a job. But, where is the positive in this you may ask?

The future. What is going to happen when the economy takes an upswing? People are going to get jobs, have money, be secure, and then they're going to do it - they're going to SPLURGE. They're going to splurge on things that their kids were deprived of (in their minds). They're gonig to spend money on creature comforts. They're going to be looking for that unique item that just stares at them an in that deep french Parisian accent and says "buy me. Oh buy me you lovely lovely lovely thing!"

So I tell you - everything and anything is possible if you keep your eyes on that prize - regardless of what it is. Stay and think positive and don't even LET any negatives bog you down - regardless of how "bad" it may get... it WILL be better and you'll thank yourself for that time you spent not wallowing, but living.

Toodles my lovelies.