It's official

I'm going back to school! I should be starting web design classes next week. I originally just wanted to take a few classes here and there to learn a few things I've been curious about but it looks like I'll be going for a diploma - not a degree but if I feel I want to start a career in web design and I feel a degree will help, then I can always do that later. For now though I'd like to test the waters before jumping in. I'm scared but it should be fun and very rewarding.

It isn't even October yet but I'm already hunting down the perfect Halloween costumes for my girls. Jocelyn decided on Ariel (Hannah Montana was a close second). Alysa wanted to be Dance rescue Dora but while I was on eBay trying to score a good deal on a mermaid costume, I ended up bidding on a Dora mermaid costume thinking it would be good for Jocelyn (last minute decision with only seconds before the auction ended and a bidding war going on - mermaids must be a popular choice this year!). Well after the auction ended, I realized it was a size 2-4 and Jocelyn is a little big for 4 so it would probably end up being too small. Plus, when I showed it to her, she reminded me that she wanted to be ARIEL not DORA - I should have known better. SO I had to convince Alysa that she wanted to be Dora mermaid instead of Dora dance to the rescue by popping in the Dora mermaid DVD and saying "Look Alysa, it's Dora mermaid! Don't you want to be her for Halloween? Mermaids are SOOOO cool!". She agreed =) I then decided that I needed to stay away from eBay and check out Target - what do you know? they have an Ariel costume for $20! (same costume selling for $40 on eBay). Now Jocelyn's only demand is a red wig....oh, and a tiara of corse.

Oh, and....

Here is the banner I made for my zipeez shop

Definately the opposite of my bright colored Haute Bebe shop theme! The fabrics I'll be using for these zipeez will be pretty funky. The first one I made for the shop has green leopard print mixed with pink and cream toile and a retro apple print for the lining. With so many people selling zippy pouches on etsy, I've got to make sure mine stand out - It's going to be fun =)

Busy

I finally got an order today! It's been a couple weeks and I was starting to freak out about money so I'm happy to finally get some business. I started putting the word out that I'm back to work and was expecting a huge response since I've received so many emails from people the past few months asking when I was going to start taking orders again. I didn't get any orders right away so I started listing a bunch of custom covers on etsy and ebay (even though I told myself I wasn't going to take custom orders - but hey, that's what sells!). I seemed to have fixed my machine though so it's running smoothly and that's one less thing to worry about. I also bought Jocelyn a new car seat so I need to work on a new cover for her. Here is the fabric she picked out:

She said she wants Hannah Montana fabric because she's going to be a rock star! lol she cracks me up. I also offered to make my neighbors a cover for thier daughter. They have a high back booster seat so I'm a little worried about how I'm going to make that work with the seat belt guides but it I should be able to figure it out. I just hope I'm not making too much work for myself.

I've also decided I'm going to go to school for web design and maybe graphic design. I found an online corse through the art institute. They offer a web design diploma program which sounds perfect for me. I don't really need a degree since I'm not looking for a career, I just want to learn for myself. If I end up really liking it and if I am confident doing it, then maybe I'll start a small web design business selling premade templates to other mommy boutiques.

Well, that's what's been going on lately! I've only got a few more months of this deployment left and we need to save some money for our move to CA in May so I've just got to stay modivated and get some work done!