When Winding Actually Means Unwinding

When Winding Actually Means Unwinding

It’s been a week!

I debuted with my first batch of yarn mixes last Saturday, and after a week, I’m still reeling and giddy with excitement.  I don’t think the excitement will ever die.  I think it will forever stay with me, because just as I have been, and continue to be, passionate with the virtual career I started in 2006, my passion for crochet will live in my heart forever.

Every day is a new day.  Every day brings a new level of enthusiasm and eagerness to create something, anything, with my yarns.  They’re a delight to see, a pleasure to hold and a joy to work with.

unwinding

Now that we’ve plunged into the business side of my hobby, the passion doubled.  Maybe tripled even.  And the hubby is with me on this all the way.  Even the kids actively participate.  They do their own mixes, help me with building up my catalog and cheer me up when I get frustrated.

My VA life can get so stressful at times, and now that we got into mixing specialty yarns for crocheters and string artists, winding up cakes also mean unwinding from being a VA.  Creating the mixes takes me to another plane, where I don’t have to think about time zone differences, or phone consultations, or dead links, or planning a trip.

For me, it has become a lot more than just a hobby. It’s even something greater than making money.

Passion.  Integrity.  Commitment.  Heart.  The whole nine yards.  Those are what Crafted Crafts is about.

So here I am.  Unwinding while I write this post.  And later, I’ll be up and winding again.  Can’t wait to try the new combination that my firstborn gave me yesterday.  Watch out for our Aladdin mix on March 30!

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Sugar-Free Cakes! It’s My Turn to Indulge

Sugar-Free Cakes! It’s My Turn to Indulge

And indulge, I will!

I’m just so happy to have met Sheila and Jherae, the ladies who introduced me to Sugar-Free yarns.

And I will forever be grateful to my dear friend, Regina, for introducing me to these lovely artistic women.

When I learned how to crochet, the only yarn I knew was Red Heart.  We have a large bin full of Red Heart SuperSaver yarns that my brother brought home from the US.  And then there’s the milk cotton variety that I buy from an online seller.  But they’re kind of expensive for a WAHM hobbyist from a single income household.

When I met Sheila and Jherae, they introduced me to a whole new world of yarns.  From them I learned how to choose the right type of yarn for certain projects, and how to substitute the imported yarns with what’s locally available.  From them I learned how to discern what hook size to use for certain yarn weight, or what hook type works best with a particular yarn type.

Sheila and Jherae are fiber artists.  Their passion is on creating yarn mixes that any avid crocheter would love to work with. They turn boring to exciting, bland to colorful and blah to wow!  They work their magic on every strand.  I’ve seen them make a plain white yarn turn into a rainbow.  And their finished projects… just wow!

My only complaint is that they do have the temperament of artists, too.  🙂

My first experience with the Sugar-Free mix was not that good.  As a beginner in crochet, I just couldn’t get all the threads together most of the time.  I was getting frustrated and wanted to forget about using the mixes.  Why punish myself when I can always use thicker yarns, right?   All I had to do was go to another supplier.  I’ve been buying online from a reputable yarn seller, and really happy doing business with her.

But I was drawn to the story behind Sugar-Free.  Sheila has a very young diabetic son, and she named her yarn mixes Sugar-Free for him.  She said every single cent that she earns from her yarns goes to her son’s medications.  So I started buying her mixes as my way of supporting her business.

Actually, I buy from Jherae most of the time, and Jherae gets her raw materials from Sheila, so in a way, I get to support two fellow working moms.

Truth be told, I have yet to finish one project using multi-strand yarns.  But there is hope.  I’m not giving up.  I have to walk my talk and be a good example to my children.

Here, look!

sugarfree broomstick lace

That’s a Sugar-Free yarn, and I’m learning to do the broomstick lace with it.

By the way, the knitting needle that you see is a DIY project of my husband.  I’m still waiting for the knitting needle I bought from Amazon, so I’m learning with a homemade needle for now.  

And here’s another unfinished project…

Sweet Scallops Shawl

There are more of those works-in-progress that I’m hoping to find time to finish.  But yeah, finish them, I will.

But I don’t want to stop there.

I also want to mix my own yarns.

Below is my very first mix.

sugarfree rumpleberry

And below is my middlechild’s color mix, which she calls the Powerpuff.

Powerpuff

Creating fiber mixes is not easy, I’m finding out.  From choosing the right combination of colors to making sure they weigh just right, it’s all hard work. We wind multiple strands together on a manual winder to create a mix.  It’s a lot of fun, yes, but can be pretty tiring, too.  And if you have allergies, forget about winding.  And no, I am not complaining.

I am beyond thrilled about this new venture.   Never dreamed I’d be in the creative business!

Who am I kidding?  Of course I dreamed of being in a creative business!  I even started a desktop publishing business, remember?  I’m just more of a realist, so I’ve accepted long ago that my creativity is in raising creative children.

But yeah…I am way beyond thrilled!  My hobby is taking me to new heights.  And my husband remains to be my staunchest supporter, setting up my workstation beside the laundry area, making me a photobox (which I have yet to try using) and committing to be my driver when we have to go pick up inventory.

Again, here is proof that you can always create income opportunities around your passion and your skills. It’s just a matter of knowing what you are good at, what you are happy doing and what people are willing to pay for.

Do come and visit my Facebook book for this crafty venture, Crafted Crafts, and of course the website.

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Please leave me a message, or post them, at my Facebook Page.

Branding, And Why It Is Important

Branding, And Why It Is Important

Branding, logo, About page, re-design… these are the items on my to-do list that I have yet to find time to attend to.  But soon, I will.

Truth be told, I’m quite happy with my brand.  There is no plan, whatsoever, to change it in the foreseeable future.  What has been nagging me for months now is my logo, and my About page, and my desire to re-design this blog so that it will keep up with how I have evolved from The Happy WAHM who found happiness in virtual assistance, to The Happy WAHM who took control of her already full daily schedule to make time for a hobby.

I always tell people who attend my virtual assistance workshops, or people I communicate with thru my Facebook page, that in order for them to succeed in WAHMing, it is important to build a strong cyber presence.  And not just thru social media, but thru a fully functional website where they can showcase who they are and what they do.  In short, build a digital brand.

I built my first website on my first year of WAHMing.  At that time, I was working with an affiliate marketer in London who sent me articles to read so I could understand his requirements.  And read, I did.  In the process, I understood more than just my client’s requirements.  I learned early that for me to be found by clients, for me to build credibility, I had to have my own address on the web.  And so my quest for a domain name started.

My first domain name was called myhomeworkspace.com.  I wanted my domain name to encompass that little space I have at home, to tell people that I work from home, but alas, it was more descriptive of the space, not my services, not what I do, not me.

So I thought, I’d build a name around my skills as a virtual assistant.  I played around combinations of keywords that could still compete on searches, and settled with VASupportPro, which actually means Virtual Administrative Support Professional.  Still, I was not happy.  It did not sound like a brand I could put to life.  It was good as a business name, maybe.  So I kept it, but not as a brand.  I didn’t know it then, but subconsciously, I was leaning on building a personal brand, rather than a business brand.  I was more keen on reaching out to people, especially moms, who would just love to leave the corporate life, but so afraid to take the leap.

Then I stumbled on the Pajama Mama, and she has this other site called WorkAtHomeSuccess.com.  Ah, now there’s an idea! I searched some more and found WAHM.com, and I decided, I want to be known as a WAHM.  Not a VA.  I was thinking, I may not forever be a VA, but I will forever be working from home, so a WAHM I will be.

But yeah, WAHM.com was already taken, so I thought about it some more.  Asked myself, what’s my message, really?  What do I want to tell people?  I am a WAHM, so what?  What does WAHMing mean to me?  Do I develop a voice for the service or the voice of a person behind the service? Again, I thought of how ambitious I am, that I may not forever be a VA.  I knew I could do more, and I wanted the branding to be able to adapt to how I would evolve as a person working from home, or more to the point, a mom working from home.  And then I decided, I want to be the voice who would inspire working moms to give it a try.  Most moms I know, especially those I left behind when I left my corporate life, would just love to stay at home and take care of their kids, but they were afraid to let go of the income, they were afraid that working from home cannot support a family.  So I wanted to be that person who could show them that it can be done, and how.  My brand will not be about clients finding me, but about creating a career from home with the family at the center, and being successful at it.  I will leave that aspect of clients finding me to marketing.  But my branding will show the characteristic, the values, the nuances of the person offering the service.

And then one night, in one of those moments that my husband would fret about me being deprived of the opportunity to pursue my corporate career dreams just because I happen to be a mother, who, by default, should be the one to take care of the children, I voiced out my assurance to my husband.  “Dad, I’m happy where I am.  I’m happy working at home and staying home with the kids.”  And that’s how my brand came to life.

A brand that I am living every single day.  A brand that I am so proud of, I don’t even care that people address me as The Happy WAHM, not Marge.

So what’s my point, really?

Is this just to brag about hitting the jackpot on choosing a domain name that became my brand?

Well, you can say that.  But I’m hoping that this post will be taken more as a how-to post on how you, too, can work on your branding.  More and more people are choosing to stay home to earn.  More and more people are going online and putting their services out there.  The competition is getting stiffer, and you don’t want to be left behind.  You may be skilled and qualified to be a WAHM, but are you being seen?  You may have a website now, but do you have a brand? You have may have a brand, but is it really who you are?  Is it really your voice?  Your message?  And, will your brand keep up with the potential change on how you want to be heard?

Ask yourself these questions, and think about the answers.

If branding is something that you have not seriously considered yet, now is the time to do so.

When you finally decide to work on your branding, just make sure that you are delivering your message clearly, that people can emotionally connect with you and encourage them to work with you.

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Please leave me a message, or post them, at my Facebook Page.

Thank You, The Learning Basket!

Thank You, The Learning Basket!

How sweet it is to be loved by you!  Thank you, The Learning Basket duo!

I am beyond thrilled when I received this email yesterday from Sanne of The Learning Basket.

Here’s the full email, no edits.

Dear Marge, 
Mariel and I would just like to thank you for all the help that you gave us from the setting up of The Learning Basket Shop to the integration of the Affiliate Program. Working with you was such a breeze. You knew exactly what we wanted and you were able to follow through. To say that you work quickly is an understatement. We look forward to more projects with you! From (former haha) IT folks who could’ve just done it themselves, we are happy that we chose you for these projects. Thank you! Thank you!
Sanne
www.thelearningbasket.com
Inspiring you to be your child’s first and best teacher
Shop pre-loved children’s books by the best authors and illustrators

In case you’re wondering what the fuzz is all about… well, I set up The Learning Basket’s shop back in May last year.  And like any other shop I created in the past, there was no fanfare.  But I do love these ladies.  I just don’t post much about my projects in particular.  I just talk about my glorious WAHMlife all the time.  🙂  I love working with clients who simply tell me what they need, and give me the freedom to go about fulfilling that need.

Then again last month, they wanted to know if I could help them set up an affiliate program for their shop.  Just at that period in my VA life that I was seriously considering giving more focus on doing affiliate marketing and helping others do it, too.  I’ve been immersed in it for years, and so many business owners in the Philippines are still not taking advantage of having their market reach multiplied a thousand-fold by simply setting up an affiliate marketing program.

So I set up their program, and ta-da!

You can read more about their affiliate program here.  This is an opportunity to spread the word on the importance of reading, of being our children’s first ad best teacher, and top it with an opportunity to earn extra by simply talking about it.  If you’re someone who’s active on social media, by all means, sign up and be an advocate of reading.  I promise, this is something that you will be proud to share.

And on another note, if you are a business owner who wants to bring your business to the next level, do let me know!  I can set up your affiliate marketing program, too!

Do you have questions, comments or feedback about this post?
Please leave me a message, or post them, at my Facebook Page.

Valentine Came Early!

Valentine Came Early!

26/365Challenge: Today’s a happy day!  Never thought much about Valentine’s day.  It’s not a day I got used to celebrating, but my son changed that for me.

Three days ago, he asked me if we still have origami paper.  But unfortunately, we’ve run out.  So next he asked If I have colored papers.  And I gave him what’s left in the ream that I bought last year.  I knew there’s something he’s trying to follow on YouTube, but I’m not one to go where I’m not invited, so I just let him be.  I would hear him getting frustrated.  And I would just shush him and say, “Patience, Jude.”

Then yesterday, he finally admitted that he could not finish it all by himself.  He needed someone to hold the folded paper with two hands, while he used his hands turning the paper to its shape.  When I commented that it’s looking good, he said, “It’s for you, Mommy.”

By afternoon, he asked me if he could borrow my glue gun.  He needed it to attach the wire stem to the leaves and the flower.

Again, he was frustrated.  He’s not used to using a glue gun, and it hardens before he could attach.  So his dad finally offered to help him.  We don’t normally offer to help.  We have to be asked.  That’s what we teach them.  Figure things out by themselves, and ask for help when they can no longer do it on their own.

So Daddy showed him how to simply use the white glue and roll the paper around the wire.

This was the photo I posted on Instagram.

And this is where it is now, holding that special space on my lap table which also serves as my crochet project table.  The crane is from my middlechild.  I wonder what our firstborn will have for me this Valentine?

Valentine came early

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