Hello again!

Well now, it's been a while, hasn't it?
I can't imagine why! Actually, I am about to explain why I've taken a bit of hiatus from blogger-land. I even took a few days off of Facebook (gasp!). All of this is due to my recent re-direction of energies. "Toward what?" you may be asking...
Of course if you've been keeping up with us and this little blog of mine you know that Orion is now almost 4 months old - amazing how times flies! I went back to work this week, which was sort of a bummer. I was so sad the day I had to go back. I've never been away from him for that long! But he's at home with Daddy while I'm at work, so at least we don't have to leave him in expensive child care! And the best part is that we live so close to Trader Joe's that Russell can bring Orion to see me on my break, therefore limiting the necessity of me pumping breastmilk at work and keeping everyone happy!
The return to work deadline motivated me in other ways, too, because there was a lot I wanted to get done before so much of my time was taken up with groceries. We are still researching schools, jobs, towns, and options for our move next year. We don't know where we're going yet, or what our plans are; we just know that it's time for the next phase of our lives and there is a lot to do to accomplish it. In order to facilitate that, I've spent a lot of time searching, but there was still a lot more to be done. Both Russell and I need to get our focus narrowed and our ducks in the proverbial row. This includes but in no way is limited to: reworking resumes, creating on-line portfolios, and marketing ourselves. For me, specifically, I have needed to get my ass in gear in regards to my creative work. I have a ton of supplies, a smattering of skills, and a fair eye for design - but very little motivation when it comes down to it. Why? I don't really know. I need to figure out "who I am" as a crafter/designer. I need to develop certain aspects of my skills/talents. And I need to get my work out there, stat!
So I've started working on my own stuff as much as possible with lots of breaks for baby time. This includes working on a wedding dress commission that I'm excited to see completed. I've also started doing more jewelry work, since that's something that is fairly easy to do while nursing (since sewing definitely isn't). But that's not enough - I need to get this work out there. Clearly I need to build a stock so that I have enough items to sell to shops. I'd like to even vend at a festival or two in the Spring, which also means collecting the materials to create a booth, which will then need to be set up and photographed in order to apply to most craft fairs. That requires money up front... And right now we're pretty broke, since I just returned to work. In order to support my craftwork, I need to get it working for me!
So I've tried hard in the last few weeks to update and revamp my Etsy shopfront - it's still in the works - but I have re-shot a lot of the jewelry photographs. And I've been working like a madwoman on a line of hemp jewelry to add. I also finally photographed the line of baby tie-dyes, and actually managed to get the one adult piece of clothing, a corset, photographed and posted. Whee! This effort lead to several sales in the first week. Hopefully that will continue!
If you'd like to see my work (and I sure hope you do!) please check out my Etsy shopfront at http://www.etsy.com/shop/SachiIvy
You can also find me on Facebook under Sachi Ivy Designs - I love all the "likes" I've been getting! Please pass on this information to anyone who might be interested in my work. Word of mouth and support from friends is the best advertising I could ask for!
And now it's time to get back to tying some hemp....