Saturday Artisan: NoodleBeeBoutique

Happy Saturday! Meet our Saturday Artisan, Kristin, the owner/ artist behind NoodleBee Boutique (cute name, right?) 

Take a look at this OWL Wipeable Pocket Bib. The title says it all. It's Adorable (who doesn't love owl?). It's Wipeable (love this feature!!). And it has Pocket to catch all the mess which mean less work for me or any moms sweeping the floor. Functional as Kristin describes it!

  Learn more on how to organize your stuff from Kristin and if you're a scrapbooker who has photos stacked in a closet (I'm guilty of that!), I hope you get motivation from her goal this year. 

Tell us a bit about yourself and what arts/ crafts that you make? 

First and foremost I'm a wife and mother of two amazing kids. I know everyone says that but that's ok! I also am a full time art teacher (going on 11 years) and do as many crafty things around the house and with my kids as I can. My shop sells functional and practical accessories for little 'mess makers' of all ages. I'm currently designing a line of reversible aprons and smocks to add to the shop. 

What is the story behind your shop name? 

When my son was a baby we called him 'noodle'. 7 years later I was blessed with my daughter and 'noodle' evolved somehow into 'noodlebee'. I was on an extended maternity leave due to complications with my daughter's birth last year and sewing was a good therapy for my recovery period. It was only fitting that I name the shop after her!

 
Who is your target market? 

Currently my shop is for babies and toddlers, however I intend to expand the shop to sell aprons and smocks for pre and elementary school aged children.

Which part of creation process that you like to do the most? 

Besides shopping for new fabric, my favorite part is putting the snaps on the pocket bibs. Adding those snaps makes the bib functional and I'm really proud of my design for them!

For us who love to travel, could you share a bit about your beautiful town/ city? 

I live in Springfield, Virginia which is about 20 minutes south of Washington DC. I grew up in Arlington a stones throw from the city and I love living so close to such amazing culture. My husband and I make sure to visit as many events as we can with the kids and taking public transporation is a great way to do that. If you visit, the Lincoln Memorial at night is an amazing thing to see! 

Could you share on how your organize your products, we all can use a little tips here and there in this department? 

Organization is something I'm always working on. I really like everything to be organized not only so that I can be more efficient, but also so that things look good. I work out of a tiny townhouse with no spare room for crafting so once I got started on this new venture I had to be very creative in finding storage space. I moved all of my clothes to one side of my closet and now my fabrics, notions, plans, and sewing machine live there. I use lots of plastic bins under the bed too. Everything is hidden away but easily accessible for the times when I work.What is your best seller? The pocket bib. This bib is 100% wipe-able. Parents love it! How does your day go in general? 5:45 - 6:30 is my 'me time' when I'm getting ready for work completely ALONE! Everyone else is still asleep so I can shower, dress, eat breakfast in peace. I teach from 7:30 - 3 and then pick my daughter up from daycare by 4. I try not to have to run errands after that but occasionally we have to. Usually we are home doing homework and all of the other chores and getting dinner ready by 6. Sometimes there are sports schedules to work around. The kids go to bed between 7:30 - 8:30. After that it's ME time again. That's when I go on PINTEREST, check out my favorite blogs, cut fabrics, sew, scrapbook, or veg out with my hubby & our Netflix. 10:30 is lights out! 

How do you balance your personal and work life? 

As a teacher my personal life sometimes blends with my work life. My son attends my school so his friends (my students) know me outside of school. For the most part though I leave 'work' at 'work'. My family is more important. I don't do school related grading or assignments at home. I only check school emails until 4pm on weeknights and not at all on the weekends. These little things make a huge difference for how relaxed I am at home and how much of mommy my kids actually get. 

What inspires you? 

Pictures. I had the idea for PINTEREST about 10 years ago :) I love looking at the way people do things, new products, new ideas. I am a visual image junkie. 

What is your goal for 2012? And are you on the right track? 

My goal was to do Project Life in 2012. Project Life is memory keeping system developed by Becky Higgins. I'm doing really well maintaining my PL binder. I post my weeks on my blog which helps me stay on track. 

What is your favourite tool that you cannot live without? 

My Netbook. 

How do you promote your shop? 

My shop is very new. I have a Facebook Page and I'm always posting things on there. My friends are good about spreading the love too. For each sale I send the buyer several business cards with coupon codes on them and a note telling them to share with friends. 

Any advice for others running their on-line shop? 

Pictures are really important. I am always retaking pictures and making sure I edit them well. Unfortunately for me natural light isn't always available when I am crafting at night so I don't get around to posting as many listings as I could if I was home during the day.

Saving money is important; tell us one thing that you do to save money? 

My husband and I got married 2 weeks after college graduation and had our son 3 years later. Raising a baby at 25 in the DC area is tough! We've always been on a budget! My tip for children's clothes is to shop at second hand stores whenever possible. Your children will outgrow items too quickly to spend a lot of money on them. Shoes, however, I am a stickler for buying new. Children's feet are always growing and I insist on having a fitting every time!

Be in His Shoes

A moment in an elevator, the three of us (DH, Ethan and I), as we were in the elevator heading up to our apartment suite or down to the underground parking, is never a dull moment.

One day, as I got my knee down giving Ethan a hug in the elevator, he pointed to the arrow signs located at the top corner of the elevator doors and said 'ayow'. I looked up to see where he was pointing at and I realized, being small and short and having to look up at most times are not fun. I looked at my DH for example and I realized that this is how he has been seeing his dad standing tall.

I can imagine this is hard on him trying to make conversation to us, or any other adults. It just feels that there is a big distance between us. Mind you, I'm not that tall, but still...

That day I learned that I need to get into his level when I'm having conversation with him, to narrow that gap of a distance. Sometimes we just need to be reminded of little things we can do for our little one who is growing up too fast.

What did you learn from your little one?

Ethan Turning Two

This is a so-belated post of my son's birthday. Ethan turned two in mid of November. We were just so busy and posting these pictures had slipped away from my mind.


We decided not to have a big party as well this year, similar to his first birthday. Afterall, he had no clue about birthdays yet. This year as we are in Canada, we celebrated his 2nd birthday with a simple family dinner with my side of family: my parents, my sister and brother's families. Read about his first birthday here. It was a nice family gathering.

I can't believe he's TWO now. I do get more hugs and kisses as he can understand in showing his emotion :-) but we all know that these smooches won't last too long. As he grows bigger and older, he will be less generous in giving me this kind of affection, so I'll be sure to enjoy this while I can and preserve this in my memory for years to come.

I'm glad I have the opportunity to be a stay-at-home mom for him for these past two years. It gives me the opportunity to see him growing up and achieving his milestones. Happy Birthday, Ethan, my pride and joy!

This Morning

While Ethan was having fun with granparents at the backyard, running around and finally settling in with a bucket of water...


I had a chance to make few cards.



The morning passed so fast and he was exhausted by noon. Took a nap around noon and is still fast asleep as I'm writing this post (3 hours later).

Out There Playing

If you've been following my blog then you know that we just moved back to Canada. So many belongings that we had to leave behind in Indonesia including some of Ethan's toys.

Being in Toronto with no source of stable income yet, we have to be careful in our spending. We try not to spend too much in buying toys for Ethan.

I love taking Ethan out and finding places where he can play. I want to slowly introduce him to other toddlers and improve his social skills. At the same time, he can play with 'new' toys.


Above is a picture I took at Carters OskKosh outlet at Canada Outlet Niagara Falls (read here). Yesterday, I took Ethan to Indigo (below). While he's having a good time playing, I enjoy reading magazines. What a win-win situation.

By the time we had to leave, Ethan did not want to leave the trains behind. A kind Indigo employee who was on the spot told me that he could bring one of them home as they will replacing with new toys soon. How lucky he was :-)

A Clock According to 18 Mos Boy

Ethan can say 'Clock'. He really can!

He says that when he sees a 'clock.'


And BIG Clock like this.


And I thought he really understand what clock really is until he he saw these and said:


Clock!


Oh my little boy! :-) At least you see that there is something similar on those things.

Snooping Around

Just want to share some pictures of my little guy snooping around. He loves to play with my (or his?) jars that I use to keep my circle felts.

He opens my drawer, which I only allow him just this one, grabs the jars, puts them down on the floors or asks someone to spin them for him.



He also snoops into my purse :-)

while his big brother (the furry one) keeps an eye on him.

Simply PRICELESS, I would say!