Been Quiet..but with good reason ;)

So I've been busy. And by busy, I don't just mean no time for coffee dates with my girlfriends. By busy, I mean, I'm down in my studio at least 6 hours every...single...day! Oh, except Sunday...it's family day ;)

It may look like a mess to you...but it's piles of progress to me :D

It's always a good sign when the piles move enough for me to see a surface!

Starting to look like an end product. But this is only one third of them...*sigh

I've been praying that God would allow me to use my purse business to help support my family. And when God's will lines up with yours....POW!

about 1/8th of the orders I am filling right now!

I pray every night before I fall asleep, reflecting on all He has done for me. I have to pause, take a minute from the craziness of filling orders and realize that God has blessed me RICHLY with the ability to do what I love, and help pay for my two daughters tuition at their AWESOME christian school!

I know I wouldn't be able to keep this pace up if it weren't for the grace of God, so when it gets crazy, I look up and am reminded of how I got here in the first place, and how wonderful it is to be here.

My hardworking. lovely staff...my serger and sewing machine <3

Next post (when I can spare a minute!) I'll show you some finished products. It feels so good to utter those words...finished products!

Thanks for checking in!

Angie

Where does my loyalty lie?

Lately I've had this nagging feeling that I've got it all wrong.  I started my business almost 4 years ago fresh faced. I was ready to serve God and honor Him in all I do. When Kerrie and I started this together, we would  meet together and pray for our business. We would faithfully tithe 10% of our earnings, so that someone else could benefit from the blessings God has given our business.

Then Kerrie moved, and I no longer had that accountability. I was building my business on my own, and watching God at work, from a comfortable distance.

Sure, I still thank Him with each order I see. And  I tell people all the time how much God has blessed Gathered & Sown. But is HE still a part of what I am doing? Not really. I somehow found myself working harder than I used to, getting frustrated more than I had before and not appreciating my business for all that it is. I am in a place where I'm not sure what to do next. I am feeling overwhelmed with my blessings.

And why is that? Because...


I forgot that God is the pilot.  And that I, as an inexperienced pilot, stupidly grabbed the controls from His hands and tried to fly the business by myself. 


Which brings me to now. With His endless patience and mercy, God has shown me where I am falling short. He is showing me that things will be so much easier if I allow HIM to be in control. And I'm in a place where I'm simply asking Him "How do I do it?" It seems I've forgotten how to let God be in control.

Credit:  Jeannewinters

I've decided that I'm going to start this new year intentionally seeking Gods will for my business and my life. I'm not sure what that looks like yet, but I know that " .... God is able to bless me abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that I need, I will abound in every good work...." ( taken from 2 Corinthians 9:8)

He also promises me that He..." is able to do immeasurably more than all I ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within me..." 
(adapted from Ephesians 3:20)

I invite you all to join me. If you are feeling like you struggle with allowing God to take control, I'm with you. But I know that with a little faith, and a lot of trust, God will get me to where HE wants me to be, which is far better than where I think I need to go.

Photo Credit: RedLetterWords.com

Meet My Boss...ME :)

Now that we've gotten back into the swing of another school year, I am looking forward to FINALLY getting back into a regular work schedule . Work schedule??  Many ask why I have one when I work from home. Don't I sit around all day eating bon-bons and watching soap operas??? (ok, I do, but don't tell anyone!)

I think my "friends" in Salem would agree with my bon-Bon choice. He-he!
[ source]

Finding the motivation to work for yourself can be difficult at times, but here are a  few things that work for me:

Work hard, but also remember your REAL job, your family.

Most people think that since I work from home, I have a lot of "free" time.  I have had to learn to tell people that I am working. I have set myself regular work hours, and I try to schedule appointments, and even fun things around my work schedule. In that schedule, I allow myself one hour in the morning, after my daughters are off to school to get my house in order. (I hate coming up after working all day to a crazy, messy house!) I usually work until my kids get home. I also try really hard to adhere to "off" hours. When my whole family is home, I limit my computer time, my sewing time, even my phone time. I try to be as available to my family as I can. This allows me a balance of being Gathered and Sown by day, Mom and wife by night.

This, doesn't become...

...this, without a little discipline.

Acknowledge that your business is your job.
When you work from home, it is very easy to get sidetracked. I get those tempting "wanna go shopping" or "come on, you can work later calls" from well meaning friends. I also tend to get recognized as "that girl who is always home" who gets frequent calls  babysit/drive carpool/volunteer at EVERYTHING.  You have to learn to tell people that you are working. Then they naturally begin to realize that you are not sitting around eating bon bons and watching soaps all day long :)  

I have learned that while I want to be everywhere for everyone, if I don't work, the work doesn't get done.  Which brings me to point two...

Set your schedule

[source: http://jengrantmorris.blogspot.com]

I love what I do but I don't want to have my business be my entire life! I know when my standing commitments are, so I made myself a work schedule that is consistent from week to week. I know that I work best when I am home alone, so weekday mornings, when Ryan is at work, and the girls are at school, I WORK, WORK, WORK!  I am terribly unproductive on weekends, so I count those as my days off. If I so happen to feel like getting some work done while the family is busy, it turns out to be bonus time, which is always low pressure and relaxing.

Divide your time wisely

Over the last 4 months or so, I have realized the huge potential of marketing my business online. What I didn't expect was the insane amount of HOURS I would have to spend in front of my computer. That could be a problem, since my whole business is based on the bags that I create! I have learned to schedule a period of time to do my computer work. When that time is up, I have to turn it off until another scheduled time. That means I have to exercise an insane amount of self control. It is so tempting to just "check" my email or my blog stats... what I intend to be a minute will ALWAYS turn into 15 or 20. I've also started a list things I want to look up. That way, I can factor the web surfing in my computer time, and not allow it to take over my production time.

Here is the computer where I am sitting right now,
typing this post.
 I wish I were in the picture, so it could be like one of those
super cool infinity mirrors :D

Remember to LOVE what you do

When you are your own boss, if you don't feel passionate about what you are doing, it will be evident in your work. So let yourself have some fun! Take a few hours off to make a cool craft for your work space. Have a good friend over to chat while you  while you work. Take an afternoon to check out the competition and get inspired. Whatever it takes to keep you sharp, focused and in love with your job.  After all, isn't that what makes us "self employed geniuses " go to work each and every day?

[source: work is not a job via ashappyaskings]

We all need a day off now and then

I've been offline for a few days, taking a much needed breath of literal fresh air in the beauty that is...Door County. Talk about just what the DR ordered! My Dad and his wife have a cottage there, where Ryan, I and the kids have an open invitation. {You can say we're a little spoiled!}

I have some great stories and beautiful pictures of the fall beauty of Northern WI, but will need another day or two to get it all together. I do, however want to show a few pictures I took last week when I was running errands around Sheboygan. I can't say enough how much I love the beauty of fall! In the wise words of my friend Amy as she explained fall to her 8 year old son this weekend: "God could have just made the leaves turn brown and fall off, but instead He wanted to give us a little gift by turning them such beautiful colors first" Oh, Amy, you are so wise!

Angie

New Pics, thanks to Addimae Photography

A dear friend of mine offered to take some pictures for me for my fall collections. How awesome is that??I'd be a fool to say no! I gave her a big ol' bag of bags, and she sent me a message last night. It was 10 pictures that she took, as she was "playing around". 

{swooning}This is why I don't take my own pics. 

My very best pictures don't even look as good as her"playing around" pics! Tomorrow, we have a date to meet at our local historical museum to get some more pictures, which I'll post when I get them.

 She has a great eye for rustic flair, which goes so well with my {modernly-vintage chic-ruffley-pleated- fabulous} style! 

After oohing and ahhing over my pictures, please stop by Addimae's site and check out her work. And I know she'd LOVE to know what you think. Tell her ANGIE sent you ;)

I can't say thank you enough!

Well I jumped off a virtual cliff of sorts on Tuesday, when I posted a very personal journal piece that I had written. What I didn't expect was the overwhelming support and GRATITUDE I received from people. I never knew that sharing my experience would open the door for so many people to share their own. It's funny how when we have all experienced some sort of pain in our lives, it remains one of those things that we work way too  hard to hide. But in reality, a lot of times, our pain can be a comfort to someone else. Someone who feels like they are alone in their experiences.

Through this blog post I heard from acquaintances, who watched me go through this 14 years ago,who wanted to ask how I felt, or how I coped, but they were afraid to ask. It was an incredible experience to hear the genuine, straight from the heart condolences that some of my dear old friends wanted to say for all these years, but were afraid to hurt me even more. Maybe afraid that the mere mention of my pain would make it all the more difficult.

I not only got to enjoy reliving old memories, but got to experience an unexpected, outpouring of feelings. This week I received hugs that on a normal day would be slightly awkward. But I can't tell you how many genuine, totally unawkward hugs I received (and gave!) this week. From people I passed in church, people I see while dropping my kids off at school, as well as many virtual hugs, I feel like people heard my message, and appreciated it.

I was privileged to receive messages of memories people had of my mom, of how proud she would be of me, and even how proud they are of me! I got to read about other peoples heartaches and how they appreciated reading this and knowing that the pain does get more bearable.

One of my biggest fears with posting this page were how my close friends and family would react. From those closest to me, I got overwhelming gratitude. From others I heard nothing :(  But the most important feedback of all was straight from my Dad. After all, he was the one who experienced the greatest loss that day 14 years ago. My life may have changed, but his had to STOP and start over.  He called me while I was out shopping last Tuesday, a few hours after the post went live. He told me he read it. (I started to sweat a little at this point!) I don't even know if I asked what he thought. I was to afraid to know. I was afraid of all the things I said before. That it would be to hard to relive. That it might hurt him more to read it. That he would be mad that I put the side burn picture up for the whole world to see. But his answer. " I loved it. It was hard to get read at times, but I am very proud of you, Ang." {sigh of relief} Those were the only words I needed to hear. That my DAD was proud of me. Then my sister calls me later that evening, and was speechless. Excited and speechless, which said more to me than a million compliments. Then, I even caught Ryan reading it. He didn't say to much, but the hubs doesn't like to read, so I knew what this meant :) And as the commetns, emails and phone calls rolled in I realized that the emotional roller coaster of writing and posting this were so worth it.

The newest addition to my living room. A gift from my Dad :)
He must have known how much I needed to hear it! 

I apologize that I can't respond to every comment I received. I tried to at the beginning, but couldn't keep up! Between comments, facebook messages, emails and shares, the support I felt is something that I can't thank you all enough for. So please know, that even if I couldn't write back to you personally, I read each and every word you wrote, and even read most of them twice :) Your words were kind, funny, emotional and real. Your words were a gift, and I thank each and every one of you.

Sincerely,
Angie