Well friends, it's been over 2 months since I've written a blog post. There's been a lot of change going on in my little corner of the crafty world. My priorities have shifted quite a bit as of late, and it has taken me time to get used to it. Basically, I've decided to focus all my creative energy on Kuhmillion, my lingerie business, to really try to build it and make it into a full-time gig for my husband & I. In fact, we've been working our designing (mine) & programming (his) fingers to the bone lately giving our website a complete overhaul, which we hope to launch later this week. Kuhmillion 2.0 is going to be amazing, and we're really excited about it! We both have bigtime entrepreneurial dreams and schemes that we just can't give up. But there are only so many hours in the day, so much energy in our bodies, and so much stress we can handle healthily. Splitting my time between three small businesses just wasn't working out very well (imagine that!). Something had to give. Know the feeling?
So, in the past few months I've withdrawn my partnership in The WonderCraft and put Beth Hempton Art & Toys on the back burner (my Etsy shop will remain open, and I still have stuff at a few shops in town, but I won't be developing any new products or pursuing new consignment or wholesale accounts for the time being). There's been quite a bit of guilt involved over my many unfinished projects and unrealized ideas, and a lot of "what now?" confusion coupled with twinges of feeling like a failure... but I think I've come to peace with all of that.
Also, to save up money and pay down debt in preparation for the hubs & I both being gainfully self-employed someday, I went back to work. I'm a part-time hostess and shop girl at a lovely local cafe, which I'm enjoying, but it's been a big adjustment after working from home and being my own boss for over 2 years. And oh yeah, I also joined a recreational roller derby league (which is totally awesome!), so I'm skating 3 or 4 times a week now.
So, needless to say, all of these new developments have left me little time or energy for blogging. I'm bidding a fond farewell to Crafty Mishmash. I'll leave it online, but don't expect any new posts (for now, at least). But, before I go, I have something for all of you dear readers - fabulous craft books!
Several weeks (months?) ago, the great folks at Kodansha Publishing sent me copies of two of their fun & creative titles: Felt Friends from Japan and Crane Origami. I was too overwhelmed at the time to do this giveaway, so some of the timely impact has been lost, but I figured it was better late than never. These are both great books, and all you have to do is leave a comment telling me which book you would like and you'll be entered in a drawing to win it!
Felt Friends (pictured above) is a simply adorable book, with clear instructions for making tons of cute toys and accessories. The book has lots of useful diagrams and full-color photos of finished projects. I've got 2 copies for the taking, ya interested?
About the crane origami book, Laura from Kodansha says,
Isn't that a beautiful vision? Would you like to learn how to fold paper cranes to show your support for Japan? I've got 5 copies of this book to give away!"There's a legend in Japan that says that if 1,000 origami paper cranes are folded, a person's wish will come true. Over the years, The Thousand Cranes ("Senbazuru") have become the symbol for peace, hope, and recovery from illness. Today, in the face of monumental hardship and loss following the earthquake and tsunami, people around the world are folding cranes as a sign of support for Japan's thousands of victims."
Remember, all you have to do is leave a comment telling me which book you would like and you'll be entered in a drawing to win it! Easy-peasy! Thanks so much for reading my blog.
<3<3<3
UPDATED 5/18/11:
Congrats to the following winners; I'll be emailing you!
Felt Friends: Aimee & Deborah
Crane Origami: Meredith, Amelia, Jen C, Jen F, Beth A
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