Baby Oopies

Baby Oopies sent out our first newsletter! This is so exciting I can hardly stand it! I've gotten great feedback about the newsletter, and would like to include a question/answer piece in every newsletter. There will be a link for customers to my contact me page, where they can ask their question, and I'll answer it in a future newsletter. I think it's a really great way for potential customers to get to know who they're buying from.

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The past month has been super hectic, and I thought I would get a break from it, but now I'm not so sure.

Yesterday, I had a modeling party. I gathered a few friends together with their babies and hired a professional photographer. I made each child a special outfit, and a diaper for those that wear them, brought a collection of hats, stuffed critters and play food. The session was nearly 3 hours and the photographer got about two memory cards full I think. That's a few hundred pictures! These photos will be going on my new website, and I am so thrilled them

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Along with stocking Baby Oopies every month, we're also going to be stocking at dotCA congo (which stocks every three months). Our play food, stuffed critters and toys will be featured there. On top of that, the Crunchy Congo was looking for a diaper maker, so it looks like Baby Oopies will be stocking diapers there as well They stock twice a month. Plus, West of the Moon, the local toy shop, has placed their order for play food. Oh, and making stuff for a huge Business Fair in the Fall, lol!

There is just so much to make and it gets a bit overwhelming when I think about everything. It's kind of funny. I want to get Baby Oopies name out there, but when it actually gets to that point, it scares me, lol!

It's so awesome, though. And we can make it work!

I've been playing around with newsletter software, and happy to announce I've figured it out, lol! So if there are any readers who would like to subscribe to the Baby Oopies monthly newsletter...

 How awesome is that!? So excited

Newsletters will include things like the next stocking time, a sneak peak at what will be stocking, info on current free draws and auctions, coupon codes and all kinds of fun stuff exclusive to readers.

So sign up, and be one of the first to reap the benefits of our new newsletter!

Baby Oopies is back in action! Will be stocking regularly, the first of every month at 1pm EST. January 1st is our grand re-opening! There's lots of diapers, cute hats, neat play food, and more! Enter the draws for free products, where all you need to pay is the shipping. An auction on a great hand made tea set! Enter the draw to receive a 15% off coupon code! Plus, there are some custom slots to be taken advantage of.

Come visit if you're not too hungover, hee hee

http://hyenacart.com/BabyOopies/

January 1st at 1pm EST, Baby Oopies instock store is having a grand reopening! There will be lotteries, auctions, great deals... all kinds of fun stuff happening throughout the day. And it's free to sign up!

I would like to get my first newsletter going for January as well. I have a lot of stuff to read through, software to think about, and then come up with stuff to write about, lol! Fortunately, I thought of this months ago and did up a beautiful plan. I'm very impressed with myself

As for my website, plans are going a bit slower than I anticipated. My designer and I come up with so many new amazing ideas whenever we get together that the plan keeps changing. Our goal now is Spring 2010, and my new website is going to be awesome! I totally can't wait for it to go live.

Baby Oopies is also going to be in the local newspaper. I've been writing a story about my business and supporting home birth. It's been so nerve wracking writing the story, but I've asked for help from friends and family, so I think it's going to turn out really well. This will be my first time ever in the newspaper, I'm so excited!

A few days ago I had a meeting with the lovely ladies of West of the Moom, the local toy shop. I was really nervous and forgot some thing I wanted to bring, and some information I wanted to share. Fortunately, they seemed just as excited about selling my playfood as I am They were so understanding about what I can offer with wholesale pricing, and that this is my busy time of year. They're giving me some time to get together a price list, and then will be placing an order in the New Year, and giving me lots of time to complete it. I don't think I could ask for better people to sell to

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In other news that's non-business related, I've realized I really need to do more things for me, and I'm actually acting on it. I got a gym membership and hired a personal trainer. I may chase the kids from time to time, but I spend a lot of every day sitting on the couch knitting or crocheting, or sitting at my sewing table. It's worse this time of year when I'm up until the wee hours of the morning trying to fill custom orders that are intended for Christmas presents. I am so terribly out of shape! During the fitness test, I couldn't do a single sit-up *blush* and I scored pretty low on the rest of the test. I need this and it's probably the most important thing I can do for myself.

I've also been making an extra effort to see friends. I've been making coffee dates, and trying to get together with the people I know that have children. I've also registered for a play group for the kids. It's something I've been feeling guilty about not doing because Freja hardly gets any interaction with other kids. I wanted to get her set up in a preschool just down the road, but in the end, it was too much money for us. Fortunately, this play group is free and promotes the parent/child bond with play, learning, and singing. We had our first visit today, and it was a lot of fun!

My neighbour is a counsellor, and I've started visiting her again. It's so nice to just talk and have someone interested in listening to the things I'm passionate about. The conversation almost always leads to birth

Speaking of birth... My second daughter was technically the first baby born this year on the island. However, she wasn't the first born to an island family (who had their baby earlier and in an off island hospital) and my cousin gave birth a month later in the local hospital. These other women received gifts for "first baby of the year" stuff, but I didn't because I had a home birth. I probably didn't need anything anyway, but it didn't seem very fair. So, I decided I would sponsor the first baby of the year born at home! I made a few phone calls, and ideas started brewing... I'm thinking of getting a lot of local WAHMs to donate an item, like a "home business supports home birth" kind of theme. I think it would go over really well, and I've already got the local newspaper interested in doing a story. I'm so excited about it, and can't hardly wait for January. It's going to be a really amazing month for me

As a result from the Business Fair, I got an inquiery about selling my play food at the local toy shop. I'm having to put my customs list on hold for a day or two as I crochet fruits and vegetables like a crazy person I want to be able to take lots of good stuff when I go down to the store tomorrow. I'm incredibly nervous, though. I'm not really sure how to present myself. It would be so amazing if I could sell my play food at this shop. It would get awesome exposure, which is something I'm really lacking.

Wish me luck tomorrow!

Here are some pictures of the recent trades I've done:

I made these jammies to trade for a shirt and matching wool to make Aaliyah capris.

I knit these fingerless gloves to trade for some jewelery for a friend.

I made all this play food for some really cool jewelery for several family members.

I crocheted this bag, and still have some gloves to finish, to trade for some enwrapture skirts:

My poor fingers were getting sore from all this crocheting, lol!

The Business Fair was this past weekend, and I had a blast! I got lots of custom orders, and sold a few things from my table as well. My sister was there, and our tables were next to each other... which may not have been a very good idea because there were moments of great unprofessionalism where we were having a little too much fun playing with each other, lol!

I was up the entire night before the fair, sewing like a crazy person!  So I wasn't at my best for the fair, and forgot to take pictures :/ However, a local toy shop posed an interest in selling some of my cotton playfood, which is totally awesome!

I also got lots of people interested in joining a newsletter... which I'm going to have to figure out soon and hopefully sending regular emails starting in January.

Already, there is talk of having another fair in May, and I'm already half planned for it. Having only just finished one fair, the ideas are still fresh in my mind about what to do differently. I'm so excited about the next one, especially for that time of year. That means I can do lots of pretty summer clothes for kids, which are just too cute!

Today I'll be adding a page to my website, which will include custom orders. I have a pretty decent sized list, so it will help me keep track, and help others find out how close they are to their projects being finished. I think it will be really informative and helpful.

I'll also be uploading some pictures of projects I've done in the last few weeks, so check out my galleries for new stuff!

-Elsie

It seems as though the local Business Fair is going to happen around November 7th. I wasn't sure if it was still going to happen, so I stopped doing the preparations for it. But now I only have a little over 3 weeks to get things done and I'm a bit of a crazy mess

I have so many ideas, written lists upon lists, and even drawn out plans for how I'm going to set up the table. I'm really excited about it. All of my original plans worked around summer stuff, because it was being discussed that the Fair was going to be in June. So now I have to redo everything and plan for winter. That means a lot of hats, gloves, and slippers which take more time to make than sewing a dress. This is going to mean a lot of late nights for me. But it will be worth it, I'm sure!

I told my sister about it as well. She's a personal trainer, and has been for about a year. She wouldn't have anything on the table, but she could really market staying fit over the holiday eating season, and getting back into shape for New Year's Resolutons. I'm just brimming with ideas for her. Probably becaue it distracts me from what I really should be doing :P

Also... I have a laptop! My husband wanted to get one for me for my birthday in August, and was fishing around for a good deal. It just so happened that his mom had one she wasn't using, so she sent it over to me! I'm absolutely thrilled about it! I've been able to get a lot of work done in the few days that I've had it, and now DH and I don't have to squabble over who gets the computer. As a bonus, I can play on the computer while sitting in front of the fire, now that the weather is getting colder.

So, hopefully in the next 3 weeks, I'll be updating with picture of my creations, and my table at the fair. Did I mention how excited I am about this? *squee*

I helped out a friend at the Baby Fair this past weekend, and it was a lot of fun! I wore Aaliyah on my chest for pretty much the entire day, both Saturday and Sunday. I've never worn her for so many consecutive hours before, and was only slightly surprised that my back and shoulders didn't hurt at all My feet however, were burning from standing most of the time.

Being at the Fair, or rather, being part of an exhibition at the Fair, gave me some really good insight for what to expect for next year. I'm planning on having my own booth next year, and I've already started on the preparations. I got all kinds of ideas from looking around at other booths as well. Turning a candle holder into a fancy hat rack, for example I like the idea of having someone else there, too. I think I'll ask my sister for help. She's a business woman, so will have some experience in bringing people to my booth.

My friend running the booth, is a professional phtographer. There were two or three other photographers, but none could compare with my friend's skill. She was the only one there that was actually part of a professional organization, won an award, and had recognition. Her website is here, and I encourage all to visit. Her work is amazing! We're currently scheming together to put together some specials over the winter. I'm super excited about it!