#3a- Ecco Base Update

So I have neither the time nor the energy to post a FULL update on my business right now, but I'll take it in chunks so it seems like a less daunting task.

Where to start? The last couple of weeks have been packed full of work. I had a retailer in NE Portland show some interest in my stuff and spent several days whipping up some merch for her. In the end I went to visit her shop and decided maybe I should look around for a better location before settling on selling there. It's not a bad shop by any means, just a little out of the way and for the commission I'd be paying her I want to have my stuff in a more prominent location. So right now I have a ton of gear on my hands that I need to get rid of!

I have realized that, when it comes to business, I lack neither the creativity nor the work ethic, but sometimes I lack the faith that this may actually become successful/profitable. I am still very early in this game, and actually I have had some killer opportunities crop up the past couple of weeks (which I will get into in a later post). Regardless, I am almost constantly doubting myself. I'm having to work on keeping a positive attitude and counting my successes. I'm also just beginning to understand the massive amount of work I am getting myself into. I feel like perhaps I was running blindly into a massive ocean thinking it was a kiddie pool.

Anyway, if that sounds depressing/depressed to you, don't worry. I am not depressed. I am exhausted today (I spent most of the day working at a street fair downtown), but I am also feeling pretty good about where I'm at when it comes to my business. The more opportunities I find, the more I learn. I'm beginning to shape a better vision for marketing, advertising, sales etc. I'm starting to network with the Portland art community, and I have a small army of people who seem to be crawling out of the woodwork offering me suggestions on where to sell or who to contact or something. So that has been helpful.

I desperately need to update my website, and I'd love to write a better update about some of the stuff I have going on, but for now I'm going to call it a day, and just post a couple of pictures of some of the new stuff I've made... and there will be more to come in the next couple of days.


A new floral applique bag- I call this color scheme "beach"
This is a reusable grocery bag very similar to the one I made for Ang.

"I <3 Planet Earth" handbag- beach, with "ecco base" screen printed liner- very cute (I think), this is one of my faves. :)

Same design, but this one is a reusable grocery bag


That's all for now! Keep your eyes peeled for more updates.

#2: Binder Microfiling

As promised, my nerd blog of the month.

I consider myself to be a fairly organized person. That's not to say there aren't spaces in my house that make me want to scream/cry (our kitchen junk drawer and way-too-small closet spaces come to mind), but I do like to organize and I'm always trying to make the most of the space we DO have.

One of the issues we have come across is where to keep all of our files. Medical bills, tax documents, etc. Since our "office" has been relegated to one tiny armoire in our living room (which houses computer, printer, games AND files) we don't have a lot of space to work with, and on top of our personal files, I also have to keep track of all the Ethnos paperwork (and there is a LOT of that).

One thing I have learned to utilize while living in a small place is our wall space. We have at least one bookcase in every room of our house, which is where we store pretty much everything. And lately I have been working on a system that allows me to store all of our paperwork on the bookcases too. It satisfies my urge to have everything look put together (color-coordinated binders anyone? and yes, they match the rest of the decor) and I also prefer it to file folders.

Three-hole-punching everything would be too much of a pain in the butt (although I have done this before), so I'm just using sheet protectors, which also allows me to keep like items together (ex. an insurance statement, the corresponding bill, and a copy of the paid check in one sleeve).

Another bonus to this (especially for Ethnos) is that the system is highly portable, which is a giant plus considering we don't have an official "office" and it makes it virtually impossible for our files to get messed up. Unless someone were to open the rings of the binder and shake it everywhere. In which case my head might explode.

Anyway Kristin, I hope you enjoyed this. Since you are the only one who read it. And possibly Matt, who is getting ready to comment: "That's nice, but a better way to do it would be to scan everything and keep it on your computer."

#1: Kisa Camille: 10 months

On Tuesday Kisa turned 10 months old. Matt has been blogging about all the big milestones of her life so far (3-6-9), so I'm choosing to blog about all the everyday stuff instead.

These last few weeks have been fun for me because Kisa is really learning to communicate at a rapid rate, and beginning to initiate games or ask for things she wants. The only word I have heard her use so far is "Dada". Otherwise, most of her verbal skills are just babbles. This kid is a master of nonverbal communication, though. She knows that "no", "nope", and "don't" all mean essentially the same thing, and she will respond to these words with an emphatic shake of the head. She'll also shake her head to tell me no sometimes (which I'm not as wild about).

As I mentioned in an earlier post, she has also discovered how to point, which has been a huge help. During a meal she can choose one dish over another, ask for more, or ask for milk (I have even had her point to an empty bottle on the shelf to ask me to make her a bottle). This is really nice after 10 months of blind guessing.

One of her favorite things lately is to play "chase", which consists of her crawling and then looking repeatedly over her shoulder to make sure you're following her. This usually ends with her getting so excited that she forgets to crawl and just sits there giggling. You can also initiate this game with her by telling her that you're going to "get" her, and she'll crawl about two feet before dissolving into said giggles.

She just cut tooth #2 on Tuesday, and that will hopefully bring to an end a couple of weeks of horrible sleep. Fingers crossed on that one. Teething sucks.

One of my favorite things about Kisa is how chill she is most of the time. Every morning we wake up, eat breakfast, play together for a bit, and then she listens to music in her crib for at least an hour, followed by a two or three hour nap. No joke. You can do the math on that one but I seriously have almost the entire morning to myself (which is usually my workday).

I try to play different kinds of music for her since she is enthralled by the different instruments and styles. For some reason she has a particular passion for dance and jazz (I'm going to throw out a wild guess that it has something to do with the percussion) but really anything with a good beat will get her pretty excited. She LOVES to listen to music and will literally sit through an entire album while just chillin' in her crib. Pretty much every time we walk into the nursery she asks me for two things right off the bat: 1) to turn on the fan, 2) to turn on the music.

Anyway... that is all I've got for now, but I'm sure she'll be doing something new and awesome by tomorrow. I'll keep ya'll posted.

Well, I have been so busy lately that I literally have not even had time to blog, which, of course, is when I have the most to blog about, so I've had topics queuing in my brain for the past few days. This is kind of like a blogging to-do list. Which I know is lame, but if I don't commit to it I will never get to it. And yes I meant to rhyme that. :)

Upcoming blogs to look for:
-10 month update on Kisa
-Binder Microfiling (yes, really... it will enjoyable to the one person that reads it ::cough:: Kristin ::cough::)
-Ecco Base update
-Jobs/finances

Coming soon! AKA when Kisa takes a nap!

And now a word from my sponsor:
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There is really nothing in the world quite like watching your kid learn how to communicate. Today as I was getting Kisa her snack, she started shaking her head, then pointed (rather insistently, might I add) at her favorite snack instead. Jeez, mom, how >dare you feed me a cracker when what I want is a cheese puff!

Last night, when we were getting ready to put her down, we walked into her room and she started dancing, even though there was no music playing. I started laughing at her, until I realized she was pointing at her cd player and asking us to turn it on for her so that she could dance.