Monday, May 16, 2016

Mondays are laundry, bill paying, checkbook reconciling, expense tracking, reimbursement, and soapmaking days.  I normally do my cold process soap in the evening when I know that there won't be any distractions.  Distraction and lye water do not mix very well.

The last few Mondays Kelli and I had to scramble to get mixes replenished.  We still have some to do, but I am happy to get back to my regular Monday routine.  

This week I have been making foaming soaps.  I LOVE foaming soaps.  A couple of my daughters do not care for bar soap so I have been looking for a liquid soap to offer as an alternative.  I have also been making Goat Milk liquid hand soap.  Our house definitely smells better than it looks.  

Mondays I also make sure I have a supply of stockings to take down to Nina.

I also finished the retirement quilt for Deacon Mike.

Friday, May 13, 2016

Well, Friday is my designated cleaning day - and here I am on the computer.  Hmmmm.  It's all good - my day starts at 10:00.

Alas, I had to say goodbye to my number one container wax supplier.  When the wax is good, it is very, very good, but when it is bad it leaves terrible sink holes that need a heat gun application.  That gets old very fast.  This is the second batch I have had that has not been great.  Soooooo, I found a new supplier.  This new wax is a bit gooey - like very thick vaseline - and is not fun to measure out, but it makes beautiful candles.

It has been quite a challenge to keep on top of inventory, but I think once I get used to it and do it regularly, it will get a lot easier.  

Here is a bit of what I have been working on lately

Yesterday was "work in the shop" day because I had a funeral to play for on Wednesday.  It was a muggy warm day and there was absolutely no street traffic down town.   It gave me a chance to spruce up the room a bit and take inventory.  I really need to make more of the small jar candles.  Here is a video of what our shop looks like.

The noise you hear is the creaky floor.  LOL!

Time to get back to work.  I am making slow progress in each room, but now I am able to actually see that I am making headway.  It's all about focus!  My goal for the day is the kitchen, laundry room, and living room.  

But I did take a little break to make a spring flicker lamp. 

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Wow!  My last post was February!  I didn't realize how long it had been until Nina asked me if I had posted recently.  I took a look at my last post and a few of the pictures have disappeared.  Arghhh!!  Since February I have finished quite a few quilts.

Maddie's quilt pic disappeared from my last post so here is her quilt.

 I also finished Meghan's Quilt

Here is my quilt for the challenge at the Maple Syrup Festival.  (I took first!)

And here is Ben with his quilt.  He was emphatic that the quilt had to have combines on it.

About a month ago, a friend approached me with a business proposition.  She and her business partner purchased a building in downtown Alma.  It was a former office building and they are renting out rooms to businesses to set up boutiques.

  

I was a bit nervous about committing to a monthly rent, but so far things are working out very well. This is so opportune because Anna is getting married in January and wants to back off from the business.  I have taken over her end of the operations and Kelli has been brought in to help make mixes.  Melisa will join us if time permits when school is out for the summer.  It has been a challenge to keep on top of inventory, labeling, stocking, etc, but once the learning curve is over, things should run more smoothly.  Where we used to concentrate on fall and spring, I am now trying to figure out product for the year round.  We will be cutting back on our craft shows, concentrating on the two shows in Shepherd.  I will do a couple of smaller ones with Kelli and Nicola. 

I have been subbing at St. Vincent de Paul in Shepherd.  They have a fantastic keyboard guy, but he needs a break every now and then, plus he teaches during the school year so I have been covering funerals.  It is just enough to keep my hand in and I am loving it.  Most Sundays will find me juggling a twin on my knee.  Life couldn't be better.  

I have been listening to some podcasts on organizing and those have really helped me focus.  I have better structure to my work week and I have limited myself to quilting on Sundays only (for the time being).  I am currently working on a retirement quilt for the administrator at St. Vincent who will be retiring in June.  

I am doing some repair work on one of Nina's quilts and then I will be only working on a quilt for Anna and Michael.  It is a double wedding ring quilt and I am doing the Eleanor Burns applique version.  

Eleanor Burns Double Wedding Ring Quilt

Today was a frantic product making day.  I usually work at the store on Wednesdays, but today I had a funeral which means I work tomorrow which is my usual product making day.  We did a batch of Potato Soup and 2 batches of brownie mix.  Yesterday and today I made 4 batches of jar candles, 1 batch of tart melts, and still have room spray to do plus the labeling of the mixes we made today.  All of this is to re-stock the shop - which is a good thing.