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Check out the new digs!

February 18, 2012 by froggygirl 1 Comment

It’s been a long time coming, but my blog finally feels more like “home”! Anyone who knows me will let you know just how technically challenged I am, so I’ve been hanging out with the old theme and background since the beginning because well, a few reasons! LOL! But this year I’m working on pushing my business forward, and I wanted a more cohesive look between my website and my presence everywhere else. So I called in Lisa from The Blog Whisperer and we started talking business.

So here’s a glimpse of what you’re missing if you’re reading this in a reader. I simply adore how well Lisa saw my vision and helped make it happen! I still have to work on the sidebar content a bit, and figure MY way around this place, but I am SO darn excited! Now the links to the different categories are much easier to find, as are things like the links to my shop, how to contact me (please, feel free any time!), etc. I’m going to be trying hard to BE back in this space, I love it, and I need to get over my hangups! LOL! So tell me, what do you think?

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: blog design, blog whisperer, graphic design, new blog

Disappearing posts

October 6, 2011 by froggygirl 1 Comment

So, along with my hard drive crashing, apparently my blog went crazy as well. When working on the tutorial I wanted to post earlier this week, I went looking for a specific link and it was gone! Looks like over a month’s worth of posts have gone *poof*, including the last tutorial I wrote..sigh. I don’t even have the pictures from it anymore since the hard drive fried. SO frustrating!!!

But, onward and upward right? Right now I’m smack in the middle of working on sewing some samples for Quilt Market so I’m a bit crazy, but I’m going to try and get the newest tutorial up in the next few days! Here’s a hint:

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: blog craziness, Sewing

Have you been Pinned?

July 14, 2011 by froggygirl 1 Comment

First, I want to say thank you so much for the comments and notes I received about my last post. It’s always hard opening yourself to others, but it’s something I’m working on doing. Your support means SO much to me!
I’m pretty sure everyone knows about Pinterest by now, I’ve been pinning for awhile but keep forgetting to mention it. I ADORE this website! It’s got a little “pinmarklet” that you can put in your browser bar to pin stuff from anywhere on the net. I use it ALOT! Lately my pins have been very food heavy, it’s summer, the garden is starting to produce…what can I say?

Photo Credit

Are you on Pinterest? If you’d like to see my boards, you can find them here. I’d love to check yours out. If you’re not a member yet, you should seriously sign up. Except it’s MAJORLY addicting!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: cooking, pinterest, Sewing, zucchini bread

2 auctions for the QLD flood relief raffle

January 16, 2011 by froggygirl Leave a Comment

I have a soft spot in my heart for Australia, always have. Bobby and I have even talked a little bit about emigrating there one day (probably a pipe dream, but a fun one!). So when I saw the news of all the flooding, and knowing a few people who have been directly affected, I wanted to do something…anything. Since flying down to help in relief efforts on site isn’t possible, when I saw Toni’s post about these auctions I knew that’s what I had to do.

So today I will be posting 2 auctions to aid with flood relief as part of her series. One will be fabric for the crafter (and its something everyone will want!), another will be a handmade item. So check back later this afternoon for that. Hop over to Toni’s blog and start browsing the other auctions. There is some really fabulous stuff up!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: auction, fabric, flood relief, make it perfect, queensland, Sewing

A new quilt, a new baby

December 31, 2010 by froggygirl 4 Comments

As I sit here staring down the barrel of 2011, I’m EXCITED! But I’ll get to that tomorrow. Tonight, I’ve been sewing, and not sharing (bad Mika, no cookie!). One of the things I finished this week was a quilt. Now, if you remember, I’m not a quilter. But I have so many scraps that I decided awhile ago to just start cutting squares and piecing them together for quilts for donation or even here at home. My method is simple, as I’m sewing other things, I use the squares as “leaders and enders“. Once I get a big ole stack, I iron them, then piece them into strips of whatever length I decide on. It’s all very scientific ya know!

Excuse the first of the morning bedhead here, Miss Thing has recently decided that no picture can be taken without her giving a big cheesy face in the middle of it lol. As you can see, this is COMPLETELY scrappy. I try to avoid having the same fabric touching each other, but it happens and I try not to freak out too badly.

The “batting” is a big piece of cotton fleece that I’ve had hanging around since I very first started sewing. I figured it was time to get it out of here! I was worried how it would do as batting, but the quilt ended up with a really nice drape and is definitely warm! The quilting is very simply and light, just straight lines running horizontally across. The back is an old Amy Butler print that I really don’t like much and so has been stuck in the “use it for backings” bin with the other unfortunates.

This quilt is for my favorite cousins new baby, born on Christmas Day. I haven’t met her yet (she wasn’t home when I dropped by to drop it off), but I hope she knows that this quilt, no matter how imperfect, was put together with her in my mind, and in my heart. Wishing great things to come for the whole family.

And no, you can’t see the whole back..it’s horrid.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Heather, quilt, quilting, scraps, Sewing

Dishin’ About Business: Getting (and Staying) Creative

July 26, 2010 by froggygirl 4 Comments

Welcome to this weeks Dishin’ About Business! If you’re just joining in, you might want to read previous posts first. I was so happy to see everyone linking up last week, and hope to see more get brave and join us this week!

This week we’re talking about getting, and staying, creative. We all obviously have creativity running through our bones, but channeling that into something productive can sometimes be a challenge right? First, we need to talk about the space we have to create in. Some of us have a whole room (and feel very blessed to have that!!), some have a corner, some are delegated to using the dining room table in between meals. But no matter where it is, we need to use our space to it’s highest potential.

For me, I have a whole room in the house devoted to my sewing business, unfortunately, it’s spilled out into the dining room as well. I have a completely ridiculous fabric stash, that inhibits my creativity alot of times just because it’s overwhelming! That also leads to my sewing room being quite messy most of the time, which impedes being creative even further.

As Kari talks about in the book, we need to use our space to it’s highest potential. Wherever it is, make sure things are at least moderately tidy-I know I do better in a space that is slightly disheveled-as they say “A clean desk is the sign of an empty mind”! If you need organizational inspiration, there are a few Flickr groups you can browse around here (mmm eye candy!!), here, here, and here to get you started. If you know of any good articles or photo inspiration, please feel free to leave a comment with the link!

Another thing Kari talks about is having an inspiration board or wire. Do you have one? I don’t, YET. I have a notebook I tape pictures in, but then it gets hidden away where I don’t really see it. I do find alot of inspiration by just hanging out with my fabric, listening to it tell me what it wants to be (I really should get out more, I know). Another place I’ve seen chatter about online recently for keeping inspiration pics in one place is Tumblr. I haven’t really checked it out much, because to be honest, I don’t get it! If you use it, would you mind explaining it to me on a toddler level? HA!

Staying motivated is another challenge we all face with no boss telling us what to do, etc. Not only for actually creating products, but the “drudgery”-taking pictures, editing pictures, doing listings, answering emails, etc. It gets tempting to just say “Meh, I’m tired, tomorrow” all too often for me. I TRY and take it easy on weekends, focusing on spending time with the family and such, but I have massive guilt if I let emails go too long unanswered!

OK, are we ready for this weeks assignment? It’s a 2 part one! First, show us your space! No, not the pretty ones from when you just painted the walls and got everything neatly put back in the room. The real ones, that you go and snap and then immediately blog about it (you can see mine here from last week, I was unintentionally working ahead!). I want to not just see pictures, but know how you make it work for you. Second, leave us your tips on how to get and/or stay motivated to do even the not so fun things. I’ll be doing my post about it tomorrow, but I want to hear from you. Give “the class” your tips! You can either link up to Mr. Linky, or leave them in the comments, either way, but speak up!

Glimpse into next week: Branding!! OOOhhhhh..it will be a good one!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: craft room, creativity, dishin about business, handmade marketplace, motivation, organization, sewing room

Dishin’ About Business: Preparing for Success

July 19, 2010 by froggygirl 10 Comments

Welcome to week 1 of Dishin’ About Business! I asked on Friday “What is your biggest stumbling block to success?”, and the main answer is “Fear”. I’m right there with you! But remember what they say, fear can be a powerful motivator so let’s put it to good use! Hopefully with this series, we’ll all work on overcoming our fears and by the end of it, be well on the way to our own successes!

Today’s post will be focused on Chapter 1 of The Handmade Marketplace, but you don’t have to own the book to participate (although I do highly recommend it, check it out over at Amazon!).

There are so many pros and cons to owning your own business-and all of those must be taken into account . You need to take stock of your own work ethic, the time investment (not just creating, but everything from photographing to listing to back end paperwork), your support system and so on. Running your own business is a huge investment, but one thing is that if you feel like you get in too deep, you can step back without getting fired!

For me, my biggest challenge in this area is keeping myself focused and on task. I refer to myself as an “ADD crafter”-while I stick to sewing as my medium, the number of projects I have going on at any given time verges on ridiculous. So many times you hear that you need to focus-on one product (or product family), on one topic, etc. and at least for me that’s always been disheartening. As you can tell from my blog (and as I’ve posted before), I don’t focus well on one thing, and for a long time I’ve felt like that makes me “less than”. It was really nice to see in black and white that it’s OK to not focus. Part of creating is following the flow from within, and your flow is what makes your creations your own. Never second guess the good that that is, following your flow will ensure that you always love what you do.

Source

Ask yourself how serious you really want to be about this-do you want a business or a hobby that earns you a little bit of cash? Are you ready to make the necessary sacrifices to make it happen? For me, I want a business! Getting to that end means we need to set out some goals.

Preparing yourself for success doesn’t just mean physically, it means mentally as well. Overcoming that mental stumbling block of fear is hard to do. I know for me, I’m not just afraid of failing-I think I’m equally afraid of success if it comes. Hopefully by setting goals and working steadily, I’ll be ready for the success I hope for.

Now, it’s time for your “homework”-whether it’s just a quick jot, or an entire step by step 5 year plan..take some time this week to sit down and write out your goals. Write them up in a blog post (including a link to this series-feel free to grab the button up above), and then come back here and link it up! Next week we’ll be talking about your space, inspiration, and staying motivated-so keep coming back!!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: books, craft business, crafting, dishin about business, handmade, handmade marketplace, Sewing

Dishin’ About Business: Starting next week!

July 16, 2010 by froggygirl 5 Comments

I am SO excited about this series ya’ll! As you may remember, a few months ago I got a copy of The Handmade Marketplace by Kari Chapin (I posted my initial review of it over on Stuff To Love, check it out!). I’m seriously so in love with this book-my copy has notes all over the margins and bits of paper sticking out all over the place. With all the “life crap” recently this series got pushed to the back burner, but now I’m finally ready to roll it on out!

You’re probably wondering “What the heck is she blathering on about? Dishin’ About Business?”, well let me tell you! One of the things talked about so much in this book is community, how important working together is in order for any of us to reach success, we can’t do it alone. That’s what blogging is about too, is it not?

My hope with this series is to dig into this book, go through bit by bit and get a serious “round table” type of discussion going-all of us talking about our successes, our tips, suggestions for one another, our struggles and SO much more. Each week, using the book as a guide, I’ll be posting about a topic, telling a bit about my views on that area, asking questions of you all, and giving you an “assignment”. Don’t worry, no grades, it’s purely an exercise in making our businesses more successful!

Remember, no one suggestion will work for every person, but I certainly hope that won’t stop anyone from participating. Some of the topics will be:

Preparing for success-mentally, physically, etc.
Branding
Getting Legal
Marketing
and SO much more!

And just as a starter question for ya’ll to think about-what is your biggest stumbling block to success for your business? For me personally, I could point at a bunch of little things (5 small children, lack of funds to buy a great camera, husbands unemployment, etc.) or I could get to the root of it. This is something I’ve thought about quite alot, and it boils down to low self confidence. That affects everything, and not really in a good way. But I’m just as afraid of success as I am of failure. Quite the conundrum!

So hop on over to Amazon and get yourself a copy, even if you don’t participate in the series with us, I don’t think you’ll regret it if you’re even THINKING about starting your own handmade business! So come on back on Monday, ready to kick your business to the next level! (Oh, and friend willing, I’ll even have that little bloggy button up there ready for you to grab and post on your blog as well!)

Disclosure: The book links are affiliate links through Amazon, if you choose to buy a book after going through that link I get like 1/2 a cent or something..just to be totally honest! But even if you don’t buy it through that link, you should still buy it lol.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: blog series, crafting, dishin about business, handmade, handmade marketplace, questions, small busines, success

Perfectionist Blogging: Not for me

June 7, 2010 by froggygirl 20 Comments

Credit to (nutmeg )

I’m a bad blogger. Alot of the people I follow on Twitter, other blogs and such are “big” bloggers, or are in it to BE “big” bloggers. I’m really not. I mean ya, who doesn’t fantasize about being the next Dooce, or getting a book deal, or the other connections that can come about from blogging? The downside of that is, I don’t want to be a big blogger, I want to sew. I started this blog as a way to record things about my kids, and our lives, projects I’ve made and just my general rambly thoughts.

But all too often I don’t blog at all because I think “Oh no one cares about this thing my kid did” or “is this post good enough to lead to something bigger and better?”. It’s an evil cycle, because I do want to see my business grow, but it’s not going to happen overnight, and this blog needs to be for me, and my family first and foremost. Giving people a glimpse into the crazy that is my life.

*This post has been a work in progress for the last few weeks, and now I’m deciding to finish and post it. I attended WordCamp Chicago this past weekend, and my thoughts were validated, so well, here’s the rest.

I know I”m not the first (and most certainly won’t be the last) person to struggle with the whole “I’m not good enough thing”. But you know what? You ARE good enough! And so am I! I was told over and over this weekend as I talked to other bloggers about the perfectionist struggles that you can’t be all things to all people. That’s absolutely right. I can WANT to be, but I just end up feeling like I’m spinning my wheels and doing nothing for anyone.

So I resolve this..I will blog. I’m not sure I can be a “niche blogger” (meaning I only blog about one topic), because I’m an eclectic person. But I will blog the things I sew, the things I’m thinking, and whatever else I want to share. It may not be good enough for a book deal, but it’s good enough for me.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Blogging, Chicago, perfection, wcchicago, WordCamp

Ultimate Blog Party: Get to know me and a giveaway!

April 8, 2010 by froggygirl

*Comments are now closed, and I’ll get to choosing a winner over the next few days as I go through all the awesome name suggestions. Thanks so much for participating everyone!*

It’s party time ya’ll! If you’re a first time visitor here at Froggy Girl Designs-WELCOME! And if you’ve “met” me before, welcome to you too!

First, a little about me and my little blog. My name is Mika, and I’m the Froggy Girl herself. I’m a WAHM of 5 little ones, ranging in ages from 10 on down to almost 16 months. I’m married to the love of my life, and we live in Southern Indiana. I own a little shop on Etsy, where I sell primarily children’s clothing, but there’s always lots of goodies in there. I have a severe love of fabric, meaning I have entirely too much, but I love it ALL!

What’s my blog about? Well, a little bit of everything! I know the experts say you should blog only about one topic, but well, I’m way too eclectic for that! I blog about my kiddos of course, the joys and challenges of running a one woman business from home, lots of sewing, tutorials, and the like, and really whatever shiny thing distracts me that day. I try and post at least a few times a week, but sometimes life gets in the way.

You can also find me on Twitter and on Facebook, so join me!

Now, what you REALLY came here for! The giveaway! I decided to take this opportunity to pick ya’lls minds! I just started making a new product for me, these quilted monogrammed wallet keychains and I need your help. I LOVE these because I’m not a purse girl, and they’re perfect for carrying my ID, debit card, and a bit of cash when I go out and about. (and you’ll have to excuse the horrid pics, I forgot to take them with decent light earlier today…sorry!)

These have a sturdy D-ring attached to the loop for your keys, and have a polyresin snap closure. Poly snaps are most commonly used on cloth diapers, but they are PERFECT for an application like these because they are VERY secure and won’t wear out the way a metal snap will. So you won’t have to worry about your snap opening and your life getting flung everywhere (not that that’s ever happened to me, nope).

I need to name these babies! So post your comment here with what YOU think I should name them, and I will go through all entries and pick one! The winning entry will receive their own Wallet Keychain personalized just for them!

This giveaway is open worldwide, so everyone is welcome! 1 entry per person please (I will check!). It will be open from now until 4/16 at noon. At that point I will go through the entries and I will announce the winner sometime on 4/17. This is your chance to give your input..so let it fly ya’ll! I’m SO excited!

As for me? My top 3 prizes would be:

$25 Amazon GC from The Product Review Place, Muffintop attire from Muffintop Mama (cuz Lord knows I need it!) or the $40 GC to Beautiful Blooms because that girl makes some fabulous stuff! Otherwise, seriously..anything kid or mom related outside of skin care/make up. We all have sensitive skin and have to be careful what we use! Now, YOU go check out the other blogs that are linked up..WOW!!!!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: giveaway, monogrammed, quilted, Sewing, UBP, ultimate blog party, wallet keychain