Category Archives: Women’s Corner

  • We’re on a roll!

    We’re on a roll this week!

    I shared on facebook that my eldest daughter, Alesia, has decided to come back to work for me! No one can know how happy this has made me AND what a relief it is.

    Alesia used to work for Homestead Emporium quite a bit. She did 90% of the fabric cutting for the inner absorbent layers, and the backing layers, of all our pads. Then she also was in charge of adding listings to our etsy shop. Another job she had was to help with packaging, and send out emails to customers once orders had shipped.

    Once she began getting more hours at her “out of the home” job, I could see it was becoming too much, so I decided to start doing all the cutting again. This was “doable”, but barely. She was no longer overwhelmed, but I sure was! I also started doing a lot of the other work she helped with and I was constantly feeling pulled in WAY too many directions.

    If this business was all I had to do with my time, that’d be one thing. But feeling guilt over children not having quality time with their mom, school not being finished properly, and meals being thrown together in a rush, is NOT the way I enjoy living my life!

    Add to that, my husband moving 1000 miles away for work and now listing our hobby farm for sale on our own (re: me doing the showings, emails, phone calls etc…) and it all adds up to more then one person can truly handle.

    I was doing it, and doing it to the very best of my abilities, but when the best of my abilities is no longer good enough, SOMETHING needs to change. And FAST!

    So I’m truly doing a happy dance that although it seemed like a negative that Alesia’s hours were being cut a little at her job, it’s become a huge blessing for me AND, I hope for her as well. When she works for me, she gets to choose her own hours and her own pace. She’s got set things she needs to get done, with a time frame of when it needs to be done. If she wants to work in the evenings and spend her days riding or writing, she can do that. If she wants to work during the early part of the day, and go out with friends in the evening, she can do that. On top of it all, I pay her the same as her ‘other’ job, so really, what could be better for us both?! It’s the best of both worlds!

    Not to mention, this is one of the big pushing factors behind this business. To provide an income not just for me, but for my girls too. If they so desire!

    I’m so glad that right now, she so desires, and I know you all will be too!

    This is what she’s helped me get done so far this week:

    And that, my dear friends, is just the beginning!

    Yesterday we finished stuffing last Friday’s pillows. I love these things and it seems many of you do as well! I’m very glad! 🙂

    Poor photo, bad lighting choice, but a truly fluffy stack non-the-less!

    But now, it’s time to get back to work before I take the youngest three girls to spend 2 nights at my sister’s house! She’s taking them to see Puss-n-boots 3D tonight! They are pretty darn excited!!

     

  • Shipping

    Shipping. One of the most time consuming parts of my week at ‘work’ here at Homestead Emporium.

    If I could hire out any work around here, it’d be packaging and shipping.

    It’s not that I don’t “like” it, it’s just that as I do it, I can’t help but think of all the things I could be creating in the same amount of time it takes me to put together all the packages. I’m not an ‘office’ person. I am a creator.

    Speaking of ‘office’ work, one other person I’d hire? A book keeper. Oh how I would absolutely LOVE to simply hand over my receipts, orders in, orders out, and paperwork to someone each week. I keep telling myself that when our family is finally ‘stable’ again one day (meaning when we sell this property and live under one roof again!) I am going to search out a book keeper!

    Maybe the book keeper would enjoy packaging and shipping too?

    Yep, packaging and shipping. It’s one of those things I do,  because I know my customers love it when they receive their shipping notices, and that’s truly what’s MOST important!

    I only wish I could do it a lot quicker!

  • Christmas is coming

    Every year since I began creating things for my online shop, I tell myself that I REALLY need to get started early so that I can have a special “giftables” stocking.

    And then every year fall comes, and goes, much too quickly, and I miss my opportunity.

    And then I kick myself, hard, very very hard.

    Since I’m in Canada, I don’t like to stock giftables, for the sake of being used as Christmas gifts, after October. I like customers to have their giftables in hand LONG before Christmas! I’ve learned over the years, because just about every single year SOMETHING for SOMEONE on my Christmas list does not show up on time, that it’s best to do your online Christmas shopping VERY early!

    So this is why I have this kind of ‘unspoken’ rule about getting the Christmas types of giftables into the shop before November!

    Let me tell you, was I EVER glad I finally did it this year!

    It was SO much fun creating so many different kinds of items over the past few weeks!

    Even the girls were inspired to work extra hard, and get extra creative!


    Shaylah’s Duckling.


    Julia’s Facial Gift Sets.


    Elsa’s Cotton Ball Sets.

    I always enjoy making baby items!

    And items for the entire family, like our comfort tissues!

    I always hope that items such as these will help those who are maybe a little ‘uneasy’ about cloth pads, to at least make one small step into the world of reusable cloth!

    Wash cloths are another great item EVERYONE needs!

    And who doesn’t like super soft, and super luxurious?!

    It’s also a great way to introduce EVERYONE to cloth, not only the women & girls!

    Kitchen cloths are also something EVERYONE needs kitchen cloths.

    And then, there’s simple luxury, the kind of luxury that just says “ahhhh…” at the end of a long day.

    Yes, having a great big giftables stocking was a LOT of fun!

    We ‘might’ be able to add a few more giftables this week, but we’ll have to wait and see.

    My husband is coming for a 5 day visit in just TWO days (but who’s counting right?), and there’s SO much to do before he gets here, top of the list, get things ready for our taxes. How romantic right?

    I’ve also got a date night planned though, thanks to all of YOU, my wonderful customers who helped me the FLASH SALE last night a huge success!

    So stay tuned this week! I’d love to say I’ll burn the midnight oil to get giftables done, but unfortunately I seem to be feeling the affects of being 40 lately. No, I’m not OLD, but I am old-ER and I just can’t seem to keep up with myself anymore. All these early morning shifts my older two kids have may be contributing to that. Ha! Thank goodness they will BOTH soon have their licence! I’ll be jumping up and down for joy and sleeping in for a month!

    Not really on the sleeping in for a month part, but it’s fun to dream…

  • My diaper stash

    Yes, I have a diaper stash, I admitted sheepishly on facebook. Hee hee.

    Why sheepishly?

    My youngest children will be 12 in December. My eldest is 20. I don’t have any need for diapers, however, over the past many years there is the occasional time that I can not resist adding a diaper here or there.

    Some I’ve obtained because I’ve traded with other wahm’s, some I purchased through charity auctions I felt were far too low and needed some extra bids, and a few I’ve simply bought, just because.

    It’s not a huge stash, but it’s certainly more then I “should” have. However, I have no fear that it will ever go to ‘waste’!

    That’s the joy of cloth!

    Photo 1:

    Photo 2:

    There you have it, ‘most’ of my diaper stash.

    Who wants to play, “Guess The Diaper?” Give me your best guess on some of these! Some have the cards or names visible, but others don’t, so tell me what you think!

    I KNOW I have a few more somewhere, but I could not find them, so this will have to do. We have so much of our lives packed up, actually these were packed up too, but the box was in my closet so I simply unpacked them to snap photos. lol

    And I snapped a photo of something I thought you all might think is cute, a blanket I made for Shaylah’s doll a few years ago for Christmas. 2008 actually, I even put the date on it. I made each of the girls one of these in fabrics they liked best, but Shaylah’s is the only one that’s unpacked because she loves ALL her blankies, even at 11 years of age. Ha!

    Shaylah loves duckies. She still does!

    But I can’t blame her, even I still think they are super cute! And what mother who buys diapers, who has no babies, is going to tell her 11 year old daughter that she’s too old for duckies!

    Not me!

  • A hair tip

    While I think of it, I’ve been wanting to post a tip!

    You’ve probably seen the new hair care products, the ‘dry wash’ shampoo you can use between washes if your hair is starting to look a little… ‘greasy’? For lack of a better word.

    These seem to be the newest thing.

    alesia

    Well you can achieve the same thing using…

    of all things…

    baby powder!

    With 3 sisters and one bathroom growing up, we could not wash our hair EVERY day
    (I still don’t wash my hair EVERY day! It’s really not good for you and just not neccessary!) so one of my sisters, I believe it was my eldest sister Ellis, found out this neat trick!

    That was about 25 years ago, and to this day, I still brush in a little baby powder into my hair when it’s not looking it’s best and I don’t have time to wash it! And let’s face it, lately, I do well to find time to wash my hair more then twice a week!

    And the best part, you don’t need much at all. I sprinkle just a little on my hands and run it through my roots mostly, then brush. We’ve been using the same travel size bottle here at my house (I have four daughters!) for months now.

    And there’s your helpful tip for the day!
    If you’ve got a beauty tip to share with the world, let me know and I’ll share it here!

  • Comparing fabrics with dyes

    I shared on the facebook page that I had recently dyed three different fabrics, all in the exact same colorway, to show the differences in how each fabric takes the dye.

    This is my “black currant” colorway.

    I used ONE dye batch for all three fabrics so I would have a good example to share.

    On the left, organic cotton velour.

    Organic cotton velour is quite a ‘plush’ fabric. It’s not the same ‘silky’ softness as bamboo velour, but I love it because of it’s feel while wearing. To explain better, it keeps me feeling dry.

    The ‘finish’ of the fabric once dyed is more of a ‘matte’. It shows color with a rich quality.

    In the middle we have bamboo velour.

    Bamboo velour is a very silky soft fabric. It’s definitely the favorite choice of most women.

    Bamboo velour takes dye VERY beautifullly. The ‘finish’ of the fabric has a sheen to it, adding to it’s beauty.

    On the right, is bamboo fleece, with the smooth side showing.

    What I love most about bamboo fleece, is that the smooth dyes up with such gorgeous ‘veining’ that it adds a whole new dimension to the finished product. It takes dye as gorgeously and vibrantly as the bamboo velour (with out the sheen) but the finished look is quite different. Very pretty! It’s quickly becoming a new favorite for many of my customers.

    So there you have it!

    One colorway, three fabrics, all the same, yet different! 

    And because my paint mare always seems to be in the perfect spot to be included in so many of my photos, here’s one last shot I couldn’t resist.