Sometims life gets so busy that before you know it, you're completely tangled up in the web of life. Once in awhile, you slow down a bit and take a look around ...and ... you see more clearly and you breath.
It'll be two years in April that I started Little-Snuggle Boutique. I remember I started off by putting a few of my sewing creations on Etsy... and I would stalk the page looking to see if anyone was looking at my baby items... and waiting patiently for a sale. Yes, it shows you how many times your item hs been viewed by others (worst.feature.ever for me!!). Oh my gosh..it seemed like forever .. and then I got my first sale ...and ..it was to a gal in Great Brittan. I was so excited.. I finally had a sale and it was even an international sale!! From there, things slowly trickled in ... life wasn't so busy for me and I was able to enjoy my little ones and still do my hobby. How lucky I was ... and I knew it and I appreciated it.
Here I am 2 years later ... sometimes getting caught up in things and having those moments where I've seemingly lost track of what matters most to me...my family. It's sometimes really tough to run a business and balance it with family. I'm one of those people who listens to those that are older than me... I listen when they tell me that life goes by quickly, that children grow up way too fast and to spend every free moment with them. That you not only need to cherish the "firsts" in your childrens lives but you also need to hold on to the memory of the "lasts" ..the last time they use a bottle.. the last time they need a sippy cup, the last time they NEED to be tucked in, etc. I get that and I believe ALL of it.
Little-Snuggle is my release.. my chance to take something simple and make something beautiful from it. I'm not doing this for the money (have you seen how expensive yarn is lately!!!??), I'm not doing this because I have to... I do it becuase I love doing it and I love using the talents that God has given me. My business has grown substantially over this past year... I have awesome customers, period. Recently I've been scratching my head trying to figure out how I'm ever going to get caught up or keep up with the custom orders that are coming in. For those of you who know me well, I never rush through a project "just to get it done" ..each item I make gets my full, undivided attention. I thought about cloning myself but I'd hate for there to be another one of me around;) So I did the next logical thing ..took a step back and decided I needed some help. I needed someone that loved making handmade things as much as I do, someone who makes them not becuase they HAVE to but because they love to. There is a huge difference in quality of someone making things because they have to, and someone who is making things because they want to. So this person needed to be someone who had passion and talent. It took me about 2 seconds to figure that out... a good friend of mine (also named Aimee, just spelled the wrong way...ha!) is a wonderful knitter .. and she doesn't knit because she has to or needs to, she does it because that's what she loves to do. She is very talented. I immediately sent her a message (literally dug out my phone and sent her a text at that very moment) and asked if she'd be interested in adding her line to Little-Snuggle...and the rest is history!
I never ask for help ... but seriously ..I only have 2 hands and no matter how much I love making things for others, I can only do so much and I really owe it to my customers to have a nice variety of things to choose from, shorter wait times, etc. Up until now, I handmade every single item that I sold. Adding Aimee's line to Little-Snuggle makes perfect sense... customers will have more to choose from and hopefully it'll give me time to get caught up and stay caught up with orders and also spend a little more time with my little girls and that amazing husband of mine.
It will be a couple of weeks of preparing and getting everything ready and set up to bring Aimee's items in. You'll be able to custom order directly through Little-Snuggle and/or purchase items from my Etsy store. Our combined efforts will give customers more options and more choices. Who knows ... adding more in the future is always a possibility as well. A one-stop-baby-shop?:)
Thanks everyone... thanks for taking my tiny little business and making it into something so wonderful. Thank you for inspiring me to always go beyond what I believe I'm capable of. I can't thank you enough.
Be well!
Amy
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