Tuesday Time Saving Tip - Use what you have

Sorry about last week. We (AngelaSpots and family) took the kids camping and I didn't get my post done in advance.

This weeks time saving tip is use what you have. I don't know about you but when I need something is to run right out and pick it up from the store. Moving out to a rural area means a trip to a store takes forever and they all close early. I have to use what I have. Today the dogs collar broke, so I looked through her stuff and found a Christmas one what will work for now. Last week I needed foot cream, tried my lanolin back from BFing days and it worked amazingly! Be creative and you'll be able to find a solution for each of your little problems. Feel free to share them in the comments of this post.

So when you use what you have for now you can sit down and surf Etsy under "busymomsteam" to find the perfect replacement.

Monday's a cool day! - Meet Lucilia with boneca Linda

Hi all! I'm Natacha from pioupioukids and this week I have the pleasure to introduce to you Lucilia and her shop Boneca Linda. Rather than Giving you a description of what this busy mom makes, I'll let her introduce herself and you can see for yourself with some photos of my favorites...

Who are you?  My Name is Lucilia Downer

Where do you live? I live in a small town in central New England.  I’ve been a Massachusetts resident all my life.  My parents immigrated to the United States from Madeira, Portugal. 33 years ago.  I mention my Portuguese background because it has had a strong influence in my life and my shop.  The translation of Boneca Linda is Beautiful Doll.  Read more about my shop name at my site    http://www.etsy.com/profile.php?user_id=6154123

What do you do?  My husband and I seem to have a love for renovating fixer uppers! We moved into our second “beautifully challenged” home about 4 years ago. I have done everything from sponge painting my kitchen walls as well as installing tile flooring. I’ve enjoyed the challenge so much I think we may need to do it one more time! I was previously employed in the Financial Services Industry. Due to outsourcing, I had the chance to stay at home with my daughters. I hoped that I could find a good work from home opportunity and then I found Etsy! Within the past year, my sewing machine and I have become inseparable!

How many kids? And husbands/partners?  I have two little girls, Olivia, who will be 4 in two weeks!  My youngest is Sonia and she will be 2 this fall.  I’m married to Jeff who I have known for 12 years (hard to believe) and we have been married for 6 years now!

And so you have a shop…:

o       What’s its name?  Boneca Linda, for those who love to Play Dress up!  

o       What do you sell?  Accessories for young and old!  I create Toddler & Adult Belts, Handbags, Clutches, Camera Straps and more!

o       But how on earth do you find time!?!  Finding the time is a constant battle.  I try to get a head start on my day before the girls wake.  I’m lucky enough to have my youngest still napping while the oldest has quiet time.  I try to sew and list during this time!  When it’s time for lights out, I am back on the computer again.

Anything else you’d like to add…  I enjoy the creative process of selecting various materials to work with.  From reinventing, salvaging, and buying traditional materials.  The final result is always unique!

Some of my favorite things


My Family
Evenings outside looking over my flower garden
Glass of Chianti
New England Beaches
Band/Singer: Right now, Jason MrazSeafood Marinara Fra Diablo (Bring the heat)
Sweet Potato Fries
Cheesecake

Monday Interview- Meet Marcella with Little Ballerina

Who are you? Marcella Hogg

Where do you live? Visalia, Ca [central california]

What do you do? I'm a stay at home mom. I will be returning to school this fall to pursue a career in computer science.

How many kids? 3, all 3 and under. My oldest is my daughter Charlotte [my little ballerina]. Draven will turn 2 on friday, july 17th and my youngest, Mason, was born 3 weeks ago on June 23rd.

Husband/partner? Jonathon and I have been together for almost 10 years, and married for almost 5.

And so you have a shop:

What's it's name? The Little Ballerina

What do you sell? Tutus, Clippies, Bow Holders, and Crocheted Headbands. Will soon be adding hand-painted screened onesies and toddler tees for the boys.

How do you find the time? Naps and bedtime! It's a way to pass the time and sort of wind down.

Some of your favorite things?

Movie- Almost Famous
Color- Pink [used to be blue, until I had my baby girl]
Food- lately it's been pizza
Kids book-Fancy Nancy
Time of day-late afternoon, after everyone's naps when we finally get to get out of the house
Cartoon Character- Curious George

Tuesday Time Saving Tips - ad mail

It's AngelaSpots here with another tuesday time saving tip.

Unsubscribe from all that ad mail and those mailing lists you never read. I didn’t realize how much time they took up until I lost my internet for a month. Those messages pile up fast and even though each one only takes up a minute or two of your time, add up all those minutes and you’ll have time for that little project you’ve never had a chance to finish.

Monday's a cool day! - Meet Grace Hester with gracehesterdesigns

This week's interview with Grace Hester is brought to you by pioupioukids. If you haven't stopped by her shop yet, make sure you check it out at gracehesterdesigns. There's some really cool prints and you're bound to find one that's just perfect for your kid's room. I personally love the colorful simple designs. 

- Who are you?

Grace Hester online, aka Grace Chiam-Hester in real life. (Super hero in disguise?)

 

- Where do you live?

Westerville, Ohio (closest major city would be Columbus, Ohio)

 

- What do you do?

I am a full-time working mom for a global company and I just started in an operations leadership role after 3 years of being in an internal global consulting team.

 

- How many kids? And husbands/partners?

2 young daughters: a 4-1/2-year-old, and a 16-month-old.  They have totally taken over my whole reason for being.  I am originally from Singapore and moved to Cleveland, Ohio after a long-distance relationship with my now-husband Noah.  We were wedded on 01-01-01 and have been married for over 8 years now.

 

- And so you have a shop…:

o What’s its name?

Grace Hester Designs

o What do you sell?

Right now, I am focused on selling digitally-created or mixed-media prints and artwork targeted towards younger children.  I also offer multi-language prints and am starting to brainstorm ideas for more adult-inclined prints/artwork.

 

o But how on earth do you find time!?!

For the few precious hours after the girls go to bed, I try my best to maximize those hours by being really focused on what I need to do.  My general time management approach is to work on appropriate things based on my known energy levels.  For instance, I would work on developing designs only when I know I have a 1-hour quiet block to do so because then I get to the final design much more efficiently.  But I may fulfill orders in the 20 minutes before work because it helps me get into the office mode for the day and because it does not require much focus.  My to-do lists are mobile, prioritized in relation to one another, and the actual to-do is always manageable in small blocks of time so the progress I make towards a bigger picture is usually made one mini task at a time.  I was never a slow-and-steady kind of gal but once this approach began to work for me, I was sold.   

 

- Anything else you’d like to add…

I am starting to post random blog postings on my blog about productivity and tips specific to, or beyond the scope of being an Etsy seller.  I am looking for additional ideas, tips, tools that have helped any busy mom with their respective juggling acts.  Please email me with your ideas at grace@gracehesterdesigns.com or visit gracehester.typepad.com/theproductivemom to post a comment.  

 

My top 5 movies/ movie series

Le Violon Rouge (The Red Violin)

The Underworld Series (Always had a thing for vampires)

Harry Potter Series

LOTR Series

Top 5 Recommendations for Kids Movies

“Princes and Princesses” - This movie may be the very reason I love silhouette-styled design so much, it's in French but has English subtitles.

“Backyardigans's International Super Spy” - We never get tired of this episode and I personally love the fact that Secret Agent Pablo travels all over the world 007-style.

 

“My Neighbour Totoro” - My fave Hayao Miyazaki movie is actually “Spirited Away” but some parts of it are pretty dark - more suited for an older child.  Totoro is an awesome introduction to his works.

  

“A Charlie Brown Christmas” - Classic.  My husband grew up watching this - I didn't.  And every time we play it for our girls, I feel like I missed out on an entire childhood because I did not.

“The Gentle Giant“- I do not know where one can get a copy of it anymore but we have a copy that was transferred from an old VHS to DVD.  It is such a beautiful story of how a guarded giant learns to let the children play in his garden, and as a result, opens his heart to love - another classic that my husband introduced me to.

It's AngelaSpots with another Tuesday Time Saving tip. This tip is from Ozark Scents

"Get a really big wall calendar and have everyone write down all functions and
appointments on it instead of telling you, so you can keep track of everything
in one place. My family consists of 6 people, so for us it is a must to do this
because I cannot remember everything that everyone has going on."

Check out these items and other great items from Ozark's shop.

Have a Time Saving Tip? E-mail it to me, angelapaton @ yahoo.ca along with your info and I'll feature it in an upcoming post.

Interview Monday- Meet Sarah with Stolen Time!

Who are you? Sarah Drabant

Where do you live? Erie, Pennsylvania

What do you do? I’m a SAHM and I teach piano in the afternoons/evenings.

How many kids? Husband/partner? 2 boys – Spike is 5yrs old and Cuddles will be 3 on July 18^th. (*sniff sniff*) My hubby, Matt aka The Man, and I have been married 6 years but actually met just as I was finishing highschool. We started dating while we were in college – 350 miles apart. For my shop, he is my tech support, plate driller, thread/yarn detangler and now light holder when I do the photos.

And so you have a shop:
What's it's name? StolenTime

What do you sell? Stuff! :-) I started with clocks that we’ve made for wedding gifts. I purchase a single dinner plate or platter from someone’s wedding registry and turn it into a clock. They have been a huge hit with friends and I hope they take off in the shop too! But my main crafting hobby is knitting and sewing. I especially love making things for babies and small children. So far I’ve made some knit and sewn lovies and am currently working on adding layette sets to my shop. The sets include a half size baby blanket, hat and booties. I have also done some stuffies. These are works-in-progress and I hope to get them up this summer. The hand stitching is a little time-consuming! Some of my friends think I should add my aprons to the shop – but I’m wavering. Although, it would be nice to add something for ‘Mama’ with all of the kidlet stuff I have going!

The BookWorms in my shop aren’t entirely mine. The yarn is – it’s all been stolen from my stash – but they are the creations of my 5 yr old son. He is trying to earn money to save for a puppy.

How do you find the time? I have no idea. I steal it. I work mostly in the evenings after the kids are in bed and while my hubby is working or playing on his computer. Sometimes I’ll do a little work during the day if the kids are actually playing nicely – but that usually ends in disaster.

Some of your favorite things?

Movie- argh – the only question harder than this is my favorite book. I love all sorts of movies – from all kind of genres – and always surprise people with the variety. But if I had to choose one…..or two…..the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings films.

Color- purple, green

Food- tiramisu

Kids book- ack! I’m a book junkie. Seriously. If it were any more of a problem, I’d be sent to rehab. I’ll stick to listing the latest juvy lit that’s on my shelves: harry potter, chronicles of Narnia, his dark materials, sisters grimm, anne of green gables (all of them), little house books.

Time of day- evening

Cartoon Character- Belle

Anything else you can think of you'd like to share :-)

I have a crazy long list of in-the-works projects right now – so expect some new additions to the shop! And…..I drink a decaf non-fat latte with a shot of hazelnut whenever I can get it :-)