A New Direction

Life takes us on so many twists and turns... sometimes it's hard to keep up. Do you ever feel that just when you've got things down pat that things just begin to veer again? Well, I feel my life is veering right now. And I must say that I'm excited to see what's up ahead. My little shop, for one, has undergone some changes. I suppose many of you have already noticed that. And perhaps others are saying 'shop?'.

I love making dolls. I love watching them come to life. There's a special moment for me that's different for every doll. Sometimes it' when I embroider the face, sometimes when I make their wig... but it's that special moment when I really see the doll. This is who you are! Oh! It sounds silly, I guess, but I love that.
And I love making peg dolls and itty bitty toys. I love the challenge of trying to dress their little wooden figure and bringing the seasons into my work. But, to be honest, I got burned out bad and the inspiration well was completely dry. I've already talked really briefly about this but I didn't really know even myself where I wanted to really go. Give up pegs and little toys? Do both? Just a couple of dolls til my inspiration comes back? Well, I guess we never know for sure where things will lead us and what will work out and what will flop. But for right now, in this moment in time I wholeheartedly pursing Waldorf doll making and the pegs will have to go on the back burner, at least for now. I tried to keep them open for made to order but the dolls take so much of my time and any trickling orders I got were just a distraction. Right now there is a handful of ready to ship toys in there, and, of course, my patterns. I think I may do a few pegs now and then when the inspiration strikes, or perhaps some of my most popular items when they're seasonally appropriate, and I'd like to continue designing new toy patterns.

But between homeschooling (first grade in just over a month!) and just trying to keep a household running, I just can't afford to spread myself too thin. So far my dolls are doing really well and I feel like this is going to be such a financial help to our family. I don't like to talk about things like this here, but truth be told, we struggle so hard. If things continue this way with my dolls, though, for once I think we can take a breath and maybe break even.

What a lot to put on these sweet faces. But I truly feel this is a moving forward point for us. And speaking of moving forward....

We're planning to move soon. This is hard and good for me. For one, we live beside my parents and the girls and I are going to miss them like crazy. We're planning to move no more than 30 minutes away, but right now we see them every day and spend much time with them. And this means I'll be selling my sheep... hoping we can find somewhere I can keep my rabbits and chickens.... but we'll see, I guess.

New directions can be so hard, so unsure. but 'moving forward' is my new mantra and truly, I'm ready for what's next.