Just a quick promo for a fellow etsyian

I don't know if I've mentioned it here, but we're renovating our kitchen starting on Monday. "Gutting" is the word that comes to mind, as does "demolishing" and "fixing the stupid things the original builders got wrong."

This means that over the past two weeks I've had to devote valuable craft time to packing up stuff in the kitchen ... and living room and dining room, since we have to move everything in there to paint and install hardwood floors. This happened, of course, AFTER we had gotten rid of all the moving boxes from this spring. Oops.

But a fellow Clevey just finished a move and was looking to get rid of a whole bunch of boxes ... so VirtualLori hooked me up with something like 30 copy paper boxes, plus a whole mess of food cartons and boxes. The first minivan load took care of loading out all the books and dining room stuff; the second load is currently being used to build forts in the living room while I finish cooking a few last things this weekend. Then, it's off to the basement with just about everything from the kitchen, and I get to learn various take-out numbers by heart over the next six to eight weeks.

Where am I going with this? In addition to her freelance day job, oversight of the ClevelandHandmade web site and blog, and willingness to share her cardboard, VirtualLori has REALLY cool jewelry for sale on her etsy site.

As a "thank you" for the boxes, I'd love to send some business her way - or at least some extra hearts for her shop. Show her some love, will ya? And if you buy anything, tell her the Cardboard Queen sent you :)

Hurray! We're up and running!

High-speed internet connection? Check.

Most of the house unpacked and (sorta) put away? Check.

Sewing room and office unpacked and settled?

Check.
I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to sitting down in front of the sewing machine and working on a couple of unfinished Lazy Mama projects. Oh, so much! I haven't sewn since March, other than some cross stitch and lots (and lots and lots) of knitting. My pedal foot is getting itchy just thinking about blowing through some Busy Baby Book samples for stores and my etsy shop. And I've got a quilt design all written up ... now I just have to actually make the darn thing to make sure all of my measurements and directions are right.

I'm back in the saddle again : ) : )

Anyone need a few moving boxes?

Welcome to Lazy Mama HQ, otherwise known as The Room That Will Be My Combined Office and Sewing Room, Should I Ever Unpack Enough Boxes To Find The Floor Again. Chest-high, those piles of boxes are, and all of that stuff has to go somewhere. I'll be able to weed out a few things - there's going to be a massive yard sale here in a month or two, so drop by if you're near Ohio - but most of it's necessary.

On the positive side of things, several of the projects I need to do to perk up the rooms in my new house are things that I plan to adapt to be Lazy Mama designs, so there should be some new home dec patterns and quilts coming in the next few weeks/months.

Oh, and here's a quick "Thanks!" to the folks at the Mad Hatter's Quilt Box near San Diego for their recent reorder ... glad the patterns are selling so well, ladies!

Okay, back into the unpacking grind. Hope to have less boring stuff to discuss soon!

We've done bought us a house!

We'll be living in Olmsted Township, in a house that's about four blocks away from the first house we ever bought together. It's a great neighborhood (full of swing sets and pools), and it's only a handful of miles from my favorite quilt store, so I'm doubly blessed.

I went ahead and got a PO box to use for our temporary address here, and I'll probably hold onto it permanently for the Lazy Mama mail. If anyone needs to mail me a check (you know who you are!), here's the new address:

Gretchen Woods
Lazy Mama Designs
PO Box 624
North Olmsted, OH 44070

And, of course, you can always email me at lazymamadesigns@yahoo.com.

Once we're past the worst of the phone calls and planning for this move, I'll be visiting the local shops and sending out a newsletter with some new releases. So keep your eyes peeled, and don't hesitate to contact me if you have a special request!

On the move - temporarily

Me, the husband, the kid, the cats, and the sewing machine are all moving up to Cleveland to live in temporary housing. Gonna be one, big happy family in a really big hotel room, for up to two months. Gah.

Anyway, we may or may not be able to connect J's new laptop to the hotel's wireless network, and my computer will be stuck in dial-up-land, so things may be a bit slow on the old blog for a few weeks. Hopefully we'll find the perfect house soon, so we can get settled (and get DSL).

I should still be able to process orders, though, and there are a few new products under development that I hope to roll out soon. So call or e-mail if you'd like to buy anything, and keep checking back for new developments.

Take care, and wish us luck!

- Gretchen

The big news

Lazy Mama headquarters is going to be moving back to Cleveland! Hurrah!

My husband has gotten a promotion and transfer, so two weeks from now my house will be on the market and I'll be living in a hotel room with my kid, my cats, and my husband (and about 15 crochet and cross stitch projects to keep me sane). We'll be starting the house hunt immediately, but we could be in the hotel for as long as two months. Gahhhhh ...

Needless to say, my internet access is going to be a little spotty, but I'll be keeping up with any Lazy Mama business to the best of my ability. So bear with me if it takes an extra day or two to get back to you or process your order - I'm doing my best!

On a side note, this will give me the chance to finally type up a couple of projects I've had floating around in my head for the last few months. And it was the perfect excuse to tidy up my studio and office, both of which are now looking depressingly sterile. I mean, seriously, how can I be expected to work in a space like this:

Jeez, I'd actually have to pick up all the threads I trim and not have a foot-tall stack of unfinished projects fall over every time I need use the cutting table. We creative types just can't be expected to flourish under those conditions :)