Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Some Days You Feel Like You're Drowning.

Lord have mercy. This week has been so crazy busy with my Etsy shop that I'm doing all I can to stay afloat.

And not rip my hair out.

Or anyone else's. ;)



I love what I do. I CHOOSE to do this!  I am what Craig's buddies call a "hustler" by nature. (Duke Preston, I'm talking to you!)  I love to make my own money, to feel accomplished at the end of the day and (selfishly) to feel important in some way. And my little ole Etsy shop provides all that and more for me. I am SO grateful. That Inspired Chick has come a long way since my first wood sign almost 3 years ago.

Just for kicks, here was my VERY FIRST wood sign EVER.  I'm hoping someday this will be hanging in the office of Nall Brothers Construction, Nall Brothers Family Dental, Nall Brothers & Associates...you get the idea.  ;)


Right now is my busy season.  I remember last year when I was working full-time as a PE Aide (quite possibly the best job ever but paid nex to nothing), April rolled around and my brand new Etsy shop quadrupled in sales almost overnight.  I was SWIMMING in orders. And the stress level was through the roof!!  This April has been even busier but thank goodness I'm only dealing with one job this year instead of two.

But April/May are full of Teacher Appreciation/End of Year gifts and Mother's Day gifts...a lot of which are last minute.  And my shop has a TON of amazing little gifts for the special ladies in your life.  So I totally get it.  :)  The other day I did a Guide to Buying on Etsy so take a peek through that for some tips and tricks you might not know about!

Ca I just say that I do this for a living and STILL forget to think about my own kids' teachers half the time?  I am so focused on everyone else's gifts that I forget about my own!  I am the queen of the last minute gift.  But thank goodness I know where to get a good one when I actually do think of it.  ;)  (And by the way, this also includes kids birthday gifts which are a whole other post.  But let's just say there's a pretty good chance your kid is either getting a handmade card by one of my boys with some cash inside or a random toy they picked out on the way to the party, thrown inside a recycled gift bag.  And no, there is most likely NO cute tissue paper in there to make it pretty. #anyoneelse?  #boysdontcare #boymom

*Do y'all judge me for that??  My mom thinks I shouldn't be quite so revealing sometimes.  ;)



To top off my stress, I am almost always at the mercy of suppliers.  Lately, they have all been sold out of all my best selling items which is incredibly frustrating.  And I have to trust them to ship when they say they will in order to keep filling orders that have come in.

Last week, I had a supplier that dropped the ball.  They were supposed to ship some tumblers last week and for whatever reason, they are still "processing".  It's been 6 days.  I had counted on them being here by now.  So now I get the fun job of emailing customers, explaining their tumblers still aren't here and trying to figure out if they'd like to cancel, wait or substitute something and then pray they don't leave me a bad review.  I HATE doing that to my customers.  And it takes so much time out of my day when I should be focused on filling orders anyway. It makes me sweat.  I hate it.

For the record, it's these cups that are in some sort of black hole at the moment.  So if you've got one scheduled to ship pretty soon, you might be receiving an email from me!  The company is still "checking with the warehouse" and will be getting back to me "soon".  It's been almost 24 hours and this Inspired Chick is not happy.





There hasn't been a whole lot of that "balance" stuff going on this week, that I've been talking about lately.  But last night, I did manage to throw together a spaghetti supper for us in between paint layers for a bunch of teacher name signs.



They really are so stinkin' cute if I do say so myself.  I love painting them.  All those pretty colors just make me happy.  :)  You can find them here.

I'm also trying to step up my fitness routine now that summer is almost here.  (It was 90 yesterday.) Yes, I can find the time to do a 30 minute workout.  But will I be awake enough to do it right? Because the only time I can do it is early in the morning when I'm a zombie or after the kids go to bed (also a zombie).  I've got to figure this out.  I wish I hated sleep.


Craig was still at his Quarterback coaching sessions, so after dinner, I managed to hustle the boys into the shower, unload/load the dishwasher and made Matthew's lunch for the next day.  (He does this for himself about 50% of the time which is AWESOME).  Both boys were in bed by 8:15 which is a little later than normal but I'll take it.  We even managed to remember to stick a rock Matthew needed for school into his backpack and the stuffed animal Mason needed into his backpack.  #winning

I immediately went outside and sat by the pool for a few minutes to unwind a little.  We just sold our table we had in the breakfast nook in our kitchen on Monday so I've been on the lookout for a new one. I found a couple I love online and sent my mom pictures of a few tables I'd found a little earlier.  She called me so we could discuss them in detail.



After we got off the phone, I went back upstairs to finish up the last layers of paint for orders that had to go out the next day.  By this point, my eyes were crossing with exhaustion.  I took a quick shower and rallied a little by crawling into my warm bed and watching the season premiere of Below Deck Mediterranean.  (Add that to the list of my Bravo favorites.  Real Housewives of anything, Southern Charm, Vanderpump Rules, and Below Deck--highly recommend them all for hours of fun reality TV!).

Craig will say he doesn't watch Bravo TV but he does.  He likes Below Deck but will never admit it.  Shhhhh...he also likes Southern Charm.

One of the girls on the show this season is named Malia.  I think if we ever had a little girl, she probably would have been a Malia.  (Muh-LEE-uh)  Matthew, Mason and Malia.  Sounds good, right?

I ended the night by listening to my FAVORITE song by Pentatonix on YouTube while I slathered on wrinkle cream and brushed my teeth.  ;)  I thought I'd share it here in case you haven't heard it before.  It gives me chills and makes me smile.


 


Here's to another day of paint, glitter and vinyl!  Your orders are coming as fast as I can, I promise!! And as always, thank you all for the support and sweet words of encouragement!!  It makes it all so worth it!  I'm hoping to make it through the busy season and then take a week off pretty soon.  I need a vacation.  :)

Happy Wednesday, friends!


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20 comments

  1. This post made me tired just reading it!! Hope you get a week of relaxation soon!

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    1. I know. I'm such a whiner sometimes! I decided to skip out on the Arizona trip too because it's just too much right now so hopefully I can plan something a little later. Can't wait to mee that baby, friend!!!

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  2. I often feel the same way- that I'm drowning just to keep up. I use to have a craft business. Just not in Etsy. And because I had a full time job I never had time with my family. I eventually found something else that gives me more time and I'm so grateful for that!! But sometimes busy is a good problem to have.

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    1. It's definitely a problem lots of mamas have no matter what they do. I'm glad you found something that gives you more time! I have a hard time finding balance during the peak seasons but there is light at the end of the tunnel! (It's way down there but it's there!) Have a great day, Elaine!

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  3. Hi! Fellow etsy mama here! Love your shop and your recent etsy posts! Your shop has the cutest items and wow, you are rocking it girl! Bless you! Balance is hard...I have a 2 year old I chase all day long while trying to get orders done and maybe a little laundry and cleaning too, which usually doesn't happen! Would love a post on how you keep all your financial stuff organized (like do you use excel or what software?) Would love to see pics of your craft room, too! We just finished mine so I am always looking for neat ideas for storage and organization! Check me our on etsy, too! Www.deardoodlezdesigns.etsy. Hang in there, etsy mama!

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    1. I just went to your shop and it's so cute! Those bridesmaids tumblers are adorable! I always wished I would have learned how to embroider stuff too. And I have to laugh about the craft room pics! Mine looks like a bomb went off in it 90% of the time! (Actually, its probably more like 99% of the time! haha!) I will definitely keep that in mind though! And my financials...girl I could use help too! I've started making everyone go through Etsy to checkout which helps (no more paypal invoices or cash/checks) and I use Excel to keep track of expenses. I could definitely be better!

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  4. Below Deck is another I have never watched. But I did check and I can watch pretty much all Southern Charm on demand on our DIRECTV so I need to start that! I feel like most people understand that you're busy and some things in your shop, like those cups, you can't control. Even though there's always people out there that aren't so understanding lol. Try not to stress but I know that's easier said than done :) But you're doing awesome! Your shop is one of my favorites on Etsy. I love the cups I got a few weeks ago and use one everyday!!

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    1. Thank you so much, Michelle!! And yes, Below Deck is awesome too! I clearly like to watch pretty people do stupid things in places I'll probably never go. haha.

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  5. Love your blog! Your Etsy turnaround time is incredible. I've bought two items so I know!
    Cut yourself some slack and don't ship every item within 2-3 days. That's incredibly hard to manage! I think most customers expect Etsy products within two - three weeks or they would pay the rush fee.

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    1. Thank you so much!! The stuff I have to glitter myself and wood signs are all 1-2 weeks and the rest of it is usually 3-5 business days. However, I did just extend that to 5-7 business days to give myself a little break! ;) You'd be amazed how many times I get "why hasn't my order shipped" emails within a day or two of them ordering something glitterdipped and personalized or a wood sign. Eek!! Thank you for the validation that it's ok to take a little longer!! I appreciate it!!

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  6. And don't forget 'Jax & Brittany Take Kentucky' which airs this summer. Cannot wait!

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    1. Yes! Can't wait! I can't believe she is still with him!

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  7. Bless your heart! That version of Hallelujah gets me every time! I have a fairly high stress job so I use the Breathe App on my Apple Watch (also available on the phone) at least once an hour and it seems to be a huge help in my day!

    www.typebplusblog.blogspot.com

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    1. I should probably use that!! I've got an Apple Watch but I lost the charger last week and need to find it!

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  8. I love that kitchen table! Do you mind sharing where it's from?

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  9. I could not have more similarities in this post if I wanted! May is one of my best/busiest months also due to teacher and Mother's Day. I have no balance right now either. We just sold out breakfast table as well and my parents gave me their round table that is just like that and I'm going to paint it white with a dark stain on top. I'm probably going to have to replace the chairs though. And I feel for you on the supplier issue...I don't have suppliers, but all my stuff is digital and my computer crashed in the beginning of December last year! It was a nightmare and I had to refund TONS of orders/money during my best selling month! I'm going to order a glitter water cup, but am going to wait till after May when your shop slows down a bit...I get the feeling :) Good luck and hope you're getting tons done!

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    1. Whoa, that is A LOT of similarities!! Bless your heart on that computer crash! Mine did something similar last year and I thought my head was going to explode. I think I may have cried for 3 hours while I begged it to come back to me!! hahaha. (It didn't. I had to get a new computer and it took hours transferring files and fonts and all that. Thank goodness I had it all backed up though!!).

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  10. Girl you made me tired ready this post! 71 open orders I would be freaking out! How on earth do you do it??

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