anniversarys and holidays and boredom, oh my!

confession: i don't really know how to organize this post. it is quite ironic that i don't considering i have been writing it in my head for about a week now. but then again, the whole memory thing and neurons firing appropriately are not my strong points anymore. :)

BG is coming up on a big anniversary. 4 years. doesn't sound huge, but for those of you that run your own business and spend every waking minute pouring your heart and soul into it, answering emails, taking care of PR, putting out fires, balancing budgets, etc., you get it. i am so very proud of where my sweet, little hobby turned business is after 4 years. i feel i have grown immensely as a designer and i have made so many more friends through this process than i ever could have imagined! i have learned so much more about sewing and everything involved, designing, drafting, graphics, etc. than i ever thought possible. it has been a ride, let me tell you.

so, on that note...i think i can say that i have worked hard. very, very hard to be where i am right now. and, since i am all about rewarding positive behavior - i am going to finally reward myself. i am giving myself a holiday. a big, fat, 2 month long holiday. call it a break, call it a vacation, call it what you want - but my friend mira that lives in the netherlands calls it holiday and every time she says it, i smile. it just sounds like such a lovely thing to take, so yes please....holiday, party of 1 sign me up.

it is no secret that i have been struggling with balance lately. i just recently blogged about it and in the past few months i have talked with many friends, my poor sweet husband who is blue in the face about hearing about BG, and God who knows way more about BG than i do at this point. i don't have a good answer, but a holiday seemed to be the general consensus of the group. it sounds great to me, although i did have one concern. and i voiced it to my husband and this is about how it went down...

byron - what is keeping you from taking a break?

amy - honestly, my biggest fear is that i am going to get bored.

byron - (with a smirk, a giggle and maybe even a snort thrown in there) amy, in the many years i have known you i have never seen you bored, although i would absolutely love to see you bored.

 

hmmmmm...while i am almost always right (duh), he does have a point. i won't get bored, and even if i come close i am sure i can find something to dive into. we crafters tend to not play nice-nice with idle time. :)

 

so, what this means to all of you fabulous customers - i will keep my shop open this week so that you can grab any pattern that you may feel you will need over the next 2 months (if you are like me, this puts me in panic mode and i feel the need to get everything, you know...just in case, haha). i will close shop on sunday, october 28th...exactly one week from today. in the 2 months that i am on holiday (still smiling), i will be checking emails maybe once a week or so - so i am not completely falling off the face of the earth, just being extra shady. :) i would say to think of it as a maternity leave without the baby, but us moms know that maternity leave is the EXACT opposite of a vacay!

 

in the meantime, i hope you ladies have the best holidays with your families. i cannot even begin to imagine the cuteness that will be going on over halloween, thanksgiving and christmas. keep sharing all of your creations on facebook because honestly, that is one of my fave ways to end the day...looking at all of your fabulousness and those adorable kiddos!

 

so, here's to holiday and getting bored and spending every waking moment not on BG, but on my sweet family. happy, happy aniversary BG. it's been 4 crazy awesome years!

 

LOVE my brownie geese!

 

xoxo - the girl behind BG

 

meet henry and henrietta

okay - before i cause any more confusion, let's just get this out there in the open. the henry and henrietta pants are the SAME pattern. the reason i decided to split the name was because of my little tow-headed fireball. one day i told her i was making her some fun pants. she asked what they were called. i said, oh the henry pants. and this is what followed: "oh, okay. well, i don't want to wear any pants that are called a boy's name."

so, to avoid all future meltdowns, to her they were the henrietta pants. i just kinda figured there were more fireballs out there that may refuse to wear henry pants - so i made them both gender friendly. :)

now, to meet those notorious pants.

over and again you ladies have asked me for more boy patterns. i try my hardest, but my noggin doesn't work as well when it comes to those boys. however, when designing daydream believer in my head i envisioned a slim-fitting pant with a flat front, elastic back, flared legs and suspenders. i was DYING to have some suspenders. and after many bad words, muslins thrown across the sewing room and then into the trash, the henry pant was born.

but, a certain someone couldn't just stop there. i had to keep going. add more details, more options and of course, make them unisex since i thought that would be a great cost-effective answer for a momma with both boys and girls. so, i kept at it and about 50 pages later (haha, not that long...but pretty darn close) i had instructions written out for the henry/henrietta pant with many, many options to make them your own. 

like suspenders? great. 

 

don't? well, then that is just fine too! 

 

want a welted pocket? GO FOR IT, it isn't as hard as you think. promise! (ps - there are instructions included for a welt pocket with or without button)

how about a cute button-tab front? sure thing my dearys.

ps - check out that adorable blouse. all courtesy of a gorgeous pattern by the brilliant ladies of violette field threads. seriously, you might need it. if not that one, i am sure they have something else you need. especially if you and i define wants and needs similar. ;)

you cannot go wrong with this pant. ever. 

i even included in the 459 page instructional booklet (hehe) an inseam chart so that you have a sort of GUIDE to help you decide sizes. 

oh yeah, AND i have a secret to tell. for those of you that asked for a pants edition of the summer sailors...guess what? yep, here you go. :) fooled you didn't i?

and now, i am going to knock your socks off. just because BG and HB play so well together, we have teamed up again. up to no good, hilary and i have decided to do another buy this pattern and get a discount code for her shop. because you realize, fabric and patterns go hand in hand, right?

so, if you purchase the henry/henrietta pant in the first three days of debut (so either on wednesday, thursday or friday) i will email you a discount code to get 10% off your purchase at HBfabrics. sweetness. total sweetness. she just happened to test the henry for me and check out her little cutie sporting some suspenders. it really is the coolest to sport the 'spenders, the girl behind BG has been sporting them a while (read here). word.

oh, and another thing - since my last blog post about running on empty i am sure you have seen how well i have shaded out. i told yall i was good at that. i have really enjoyed it. but also, i invested in a program that sends you your patterns immediately for instant download. it has been working fantabulously and i think i may love it as much as yall do! however, it doesn't work on bundle patterns, so, if you buy a bundle - i still have to email those out separately. but, just FYI - your henry/henrietta has the possibility of being in your hands within 5 minutes of purchase. wahoooooo!

so, don't hesitate - tomorrow morning when i drag myself out of bed at noon (wait, i was having a fabulous daydream just then of catching up on sleep) i will make the pattern live in my etsy store. i will email you within 24 hours of purchase the code to HBfabrics which will be good through the weekend. what a rocking start to hump day!

peace out geese!

running on empty

do your floors look like this?

do you have piles of laundry heaped in the hallways on top of the cardboard the contractors put down that also happens to be covered in a layer of dog fur? not to mention un-painted walls...

is your laundry basket not even closing because there is so much in it?

what about the dust? if you left corningware on top of your buffet for a few weeks would this happen when you removed it?

phew. me either. goodness, for a while there i was about to think i was a terrible housekeeper! but, thankfully those pictures are of my boss's house. this one is at her house too, she obviously wouldn't pass the white glove test.

 

tisk, tisk.

while we are on the subject of how AWFUL of a housekeeper my boss is,  let's also talk about what a slave driver she is. ugh. she sets unreasonable goals for me, she expects me to be perfect and gets crazy upset and disappointed in me when i am not, i think most of the time she forgets that i am just ONE person who also happens to have a family with young children and a husband that keeps long hours. she expects me to be able to function on just a few hours of sleep. she also expects me to be able to work my tail off for her but also keep house too. did i mention she doesn't even pay well? cheese louise, she can be a real pain in my arse some most all of the time.

well, while it is all fun and games to talk bad about my boss and how she is an absolute lunatic with crazy demands and expectations with no room for remembering that people are human, let's also be real.

i am self-employed.

ouch. i am my own worst critic/nightmare. i am that lady. i am that lady that sometimes want to make bad faces behind her back, call her ugly names, talk bad about her to my co-workers, and recently...want to walk up to her, put my hands on my hips and tell her i am sick and tired of her shiznit and quit. right then and there. 

i'd be terribly dishonest if i told you this was the first time. but then again, you ladies probably know that already. i was emailing back and forth with a girl that just started her own business of making these fabulous pony tail holders the other day and she was telling me how she hadn't gone to bed before midnight in weeks and was trying her hardest to be able to find a balance in it all. it dawned on me then that with 4 years under my belt, i should be able to have words of wisdom for her since i should have that balance down. but guess what, i didn't have one good piece of advice that i follow to give her. shame on me.

the majority of my issue is that i am not a quitter. i tend to be one of the stubbornest mules there ever was. hee-haw. as much as i thought this past week about taking down my etsy page, deactivating my facebook, and telling BG sayonara, etc i never did it. it was very tempting. especially on the days that i was literally S.T. Rugglin' trying to keep my head above water. but i am still here and am about to make attempt number 1,593,441 of figuring out a balance.

my graphic designer (who also moonlights as a fabulous friend of mine and genius) told me that i needed to set reasonable goals for myself. like 1 new pattern every 3 months. that way i wouldn't feel so rushed and pushed to have it perfect right then and there. and you know what, i think she is on to something. that will be goal #1. never again will i debut new patterns back to back to back. i am surprised my family is still speaking to me. not to mention my beloved pink compass that got thrown across the room and stomped on in a moment of temper tantrums.

goal #2 is to work on researching a new site that offers instant downloads for patterns via etsy. i think if i could have those patterns automatically emailed out, i would find that extra time wonderful in the balancing act. 

goal #3 is my fave, and one i am very good at, just ask my friends. being a shady lady. when i am shady, i tend to get lots more done. i am too easily distracted by facebook, crafty blogs, fabric sales, etc. 

goal #4 is something that is hard to do for any momma, not just one that runs a business too. make more time for ME. i want to do the things i enjoy without feeling guilty because i am not putting that extra time into BG. if i want to take the few hours that both kids are in school to take a book or magazine up to the coffee shop, drink some java and just sit - i need to do that. or, go buy shoes. or just go and wander target and try my hardest not to find trouble. instead, i spend that "me" time drafting, stressing, pdf-ing, stressing, etc. 

if i had a dime for each time i "rebalanced" myself with brownie-goose, i could probably pay to hire someone to figure it out for me. i do really well sometimes, and then i just get off track and fall victim to my crazy-alpha female design side. i like her, in small doses - but she can be very overbearing at times. this last time i wanted to poke out her eyeballs. when i made the decision to grade for larger sizes, i made the investment of purchasing standardized charts to use in addition to my measurement charts to make sure i was good to go. i had NO clue going into it how much more work, stress, figuring, etc it would add to the drafting phase. and even worse, the changes i have to make after i get them back from testing. you see, before - all the sizes i published i had tested them out myself on my collections. i am sort of driving blind with these larger sizes and they've been kicking my boootay in all honesty!

so, over the next week or so i will be starting this new balancing act. i got up this morning, put on my big girl panties (and my cleaning gloves, i mean...gross - you saw my house) and am going to turn the tables on my boss. it is time to let the dog wag the tail!

thanks for sticking by me through all of my moments, good and bad. thanks for being patient and understanding. thanks for being there. and most of all - i need to thank you in advance for holding me to my new goals! i put on my facebook over the weekend how there would be no new debuts this week. that hasn't changed. i have the henry/henrietta pant at the testers and the new/revised hattie at the testers as well, so be on the lookout for those maybe next week?? it all depends on how well i am doing at ruling my boss. :)

celebrating the brownie in brownie-goose

so, for all of you that know the girl behind BG, you know that she loves her labradors more than she loves most people. yep, it is the truth. my doggies are my heart - and tomorrow my sweet brown boy, my first baby, turns 11. i cannot hardly believe it. he is my best bud in the whole wide, my side-kick and partner in crime. he even walked me down the aisle. oh how i love my brown dog.

so, to celebrate his birthday, along with doggie birthday cake (yep, i am that girl) i will also be hosting a FLASH SALE in my etsy store! it will run from 12:00 am EST on september 16 until 11:59 pm EST on the 16th. your code is FLASH25 for 25% off your purchase. eeeeeeks!

the bundles are not included in the sale since they are already discounted, so i will have those listings inactive while the sale runs. 

but, for some of the best news so far, my newest pattern will debut tomorrow during the sale. i am super excited to debut betsy's dress - a dress that had me head over in no time!

this twist on a peasant dress is right up BG's ally. you may recognize her - yep, betsy and nelle are sisters - you've got that sweet ruffled neckline on both, but one with flutter angel sleeves and the other with belled longer sleeves you can finish off with lace or ruffles. methinks you cannot live without it. not to mention it comes in sizes 6-12 months all the way to 12! holy junkaroos. :)

the betsy looks fab on her own, but pair her with tights and boots and you just might fall off your chair. or your rocker, in my case. :) for a fabulous pattern that comes together in no time and makes a huge fashion statement - girls, go get you a betsy's dress! 

just look at the beauty that came from the testers!

 photo and dress courtesy of hearthmade creations - this girl ROCKS some BG patterns!

 photo and dress courtesy of saflower photography - this is a girl after my own heart, she photographs with her labrador. :)

 photo and dress courtesy of sweet birdie & co. her fabrics and attention to detail slay me, as always!

photo and dress courtesy of handmade by autumn. i'd kill for that fabric!

okay - time out from betsy fabulousness. time to talk hattie.

for those that know me, you know my perfectionism and how i really, really, really always like to be right. well, i goofed and let 2 mistakes go out on the hattie pattern and to say i have beat myself up about this would be an understatement. i mean, i cried. big fat tears with snorting and snot running straight down my splotchy face. big cry. i was so upset with myself for missing those mistakes. but, thankfully i have some super awesome customers that held my hands through it and told me that all would be right in the world again soon. so, in my big moment of anger with myself  - i also realized something else. well, a few things actually. but maybe one doesn't count because i already KNEW that my BG girls are the best girls in the world and i swanny if you ladies didn't stand by me and be as loyal and awesome as you are, i wouldn't still be doing this but so many of you have become my friends and companions and you mean the world to me. i am uber lucky. and i also realized something that if i could bear the pain of a tatoo i need to have it permanently tatoo'd somewhere that i can see it everyday. SLOW DOWN AMY. i have a lot going on right now and i sometimes don't like to remember that or take it into consideration that i am about to run myself into the ground if i keep up like this. i always smile and remember the lyrics to my most fave buffett song that "i must confess, i can use some rest. i can't run at this pace very long. yes it's quite insane, i think it hurts the brain." and yes it does. so, i really do need to slow it down and stop pushing myself to the cliff!

so, in that regards, i will not have hattie back in the shop tomorrow for the sale. i am sorry yall, but i really want to get this pattern right before i release it again. PLUS, while i had it on the table redrafting my mistakes, i graded it up to a size 12 - so now i need  to have those larger sizes tested too before i send it to you ladies again. so, for those that have already bought a hattie, you should have an email about how to make revisions if you need to do so before the new one gets released. let me know if you haven't gotten that email because that is also the list i will be using to send out the new pattern when it is available. i hope you all understand this and know that i am VERY upset that it wont be in the shop tomorrow, but i really, really am mortified that it wasn't right the first time and now really want to make up for it and not have this as a repeat!!

wordy blog, wordy blog, wordy blog.

but, what you need to take away from this blog is a SALE TOMORROW when my shop opens back up and a NEW PATTERN. yay!

once again, the sale starts at 12:00 am EST on september 16th and runs until 11:59 pm EST that night in honor of my brown doggy's birthday. your code is FLASH25 for 25% off your purchase. also - please note on flash sale days it gets caaaaaarazy. so, i will email the patterns out to you in 24 hours, promise! but just be patient as it gets a little wild. :) and you know i have those 2 tow-headed hooligans on top of it all making it just a bit more chaotic. haha.

thanks again ladies - you rock as always and i am off to finish up scanning the new hattie and then to finish up the henry/henrietta for the testers!