Friday is my day: Mquin

To sunny Madrid, Spain and meet Milka from mquin.etsy.com who creates beautiful and neat clothing, perfect for spring days. Check her website too

www.milkaquin.com/

Wishing you pretty Friday!
Latticed

by: MQuin

Hi! My name is Milka and I am the person behind the shop MQuin, married for 7 years to my wonderful husband and recently a new mom. Here’s a day in the life of an indie fashion designer-seamstress-wife-mom-milkmaid-errand girl-house help all rolled into one!

Today is Thursday

7:30 am

Good morning! As much as I still want to bury my face down my pillow and sleep till mid morning..I don’t have any choice :) Here’s why…

Hubby left for work already..so Ben and I start the day. He gets his morning feedings first…and gets a dose of our morning kissing and hugging rituals. After the diaper duties, he is quite happy. So now, it’s my turn to have breakfast!

While laundry is running in the machine, I have a small cup of coffee (really sad for a coffee addict like me…. will be back to my BIG mugs of coffee next month when Ben turns 6 months..when he gets the bottle that’s going to be a big fight I bet!)…toast with butter and my laptop! I have to take advantage of Ben’s happy moments, so I quickly answer all my emails, check my shop, treasuries and surf the internet for a few minutes…if I get lucky…up to an hour. Ben is still chewing away at Logan the Lion’s tail….

Hmm..it seems like a good day to go out..but I have to work on something.

9:00 am

Uh, oh, I’m still in my pj’s..it’s time to get ready for the day…

Now, spot the difference? Nah, not much change in there!

9:30 am

While Ben is busy with his morning Mickey Mouse Clubhouse show, I start on a new order for the Tiffany’s dress. Measurements just got in so work begins…

Ironing the fabric, lay outing the pattern pieces and cutting goes on with a few minutes break in between to check up, feed and goof around with the baby until mid day.

12:00 nn

Ok, done with all the preparations for the dress. It’s time for Ben’s lunch!

Tired from his morning activities, he takes his mid day nap. I can now have my lunch peacefully :)..well.. still in front of my laptop… checking online stuff again. Lunch will just be ham and cheese sandwich and a banana…I do not have time to cook a meal when I have orders, so this will have to do.

1:30 pm

It’s time to sew!!!!

5:00 pm

It’s time to wrap up. Today I did not get to do a lot of sewing since I had to cut fabric in the morning. I usually end work during this time since I have to attend to some other things.

After the baby rituals…my afternoon coffee :)…with a little something extra. I baked this blueberry oatmeal bread a couple of days ago but, it’s still yummy after heating it.

6:00 pm

Now it’s time to clean up the afternoon’s mess. Hubby is on his way home from work.

Ben’s time to get clean!

7:30 pm

My husband loves to cook. He usually prepares dinner for us. After our meal father and son have their own quality time while I get to have my little alone time taking a bath. We watch a few TV shows after.

11:00 pm

Time to sleep…another busy sewing day tomorrow!

Friday is my day: Middleburg

Pack your bags, today we will fly overseas and meet sweet Susan, Greg, Tate and bunch of cute furry fellows from middleburg.etsy.com
Middleburg folk art studio is placed in North Carolina, US and this is how Susan told about their lovely place:
About our farm: Nehucky farm was originally built circa 1880 with the two story front done in about 1915. We own a four acre homestead which includes the farm house, 2 pack houses (barns), a smoke house, chicken coop and silo. All of which are currently undergoing renovation. We are located in Snow Hill, North Carolina, about an hour and half from the Atlantic Ocean and the outer bank beaches of North Carolina. It sits in the middle of a 350 acre farm field which this summer they will be planting sweet potatoes in. There are may farm roads, forests and creeks to explore all around the farm. This is quiet different from where we lived for the past 20 years as art directors in advertising in Chicago!

Have a good Friday :)
Friendship Apple

by: Middleburg

6:45 Eye's begin to open with all the movement, Greg (hubs) is always up first and wakes the family, my daughter Tate is already in the bathroom for her 1 hour long morning routine. GiGi the pug dog is jumping about wanting to go out.

7:30 I'm up and downstairs, the dog has been let out and the cat Poe is coming in. I go to the studio which is on the first floor and look at all the e-mails, then convo's and finally orders. Peak at Twitter and play for a few minutes. Feed the Rabbits, dog, cat and chickens.

8:15 Then pop back upstairs to shower and dress. Hubs is home, and usually on his third cup of coffee. I switch back and forth between coffee and hot tea, both with a little cream. Lately been running out to water the garden in the morning, it is really nice here this time of year and love getting out and smelling the fresh air and seeing nature.

8:45 Back in the studio. At this point we divide and concur, Greg prints out all the orders and answers his e-mails. He has been with me in the studio since June of last year (2009) and is a huge help with the day to day stuff. We together decide what can ship that day. I start on the things that need the longest to dry, fabric, dying and papier mache. Once everything is in the mini oven, I go on to painting and custom orders. I love the creative challenge of custom orders and will always accommodate customer requests.

12:30 We usually break for lunch late, Greg lovely soul, usually goes up town, and gets something and brings it back. I check mid-day e-mails, new orders and do my photo work at this point if I had shot anything the day before. My routine has change since moving here and I only photograph in the afternoon, the light is the best. After eating we go back to work and at this point one of us says "so what is going to actually make it?" Because something is not dry or it is being a patute, like the pig that I had to glue 4 times to stay on his spring. You just never know what is go to happen, so we roll with it.

2:30 Greg again runs out this time to pick up our "Pooka" it is his nickname for our lovely daughter. He talks to our son away at college at this time of day and they get to catch-up. When she comes home the whole day becomes brighter, she will always ask what she can do and is a great help with cutting fabric and sewing!

3:00 By this time the mad rush begins, final touches of paint are added to pieces, details are put together. All the pieces are signed by me before they go out and then we box. Our post here closes exactly at 5:00 p.m. and it is such a challenge to get it all in the boxes and drive it over.

5:00 Day is done! Well the studio portion...now on to house projects. Since we bought this house in September of last year it has been transformed, but it is still rough and a camp-out, but were making it a home again.

7:30 Dinner is served, we usually eat and watch some TV, I will read or sculpt in clay during this time too.

9:00 Off to bed for me first, love reading something before falling asleep so I give myself about an hour before I can't hold my eye's open any longer...good night world and I always have good dreams!

Friday is my day: Lunaticart

Today we will meet lovely Bere, a jewellery designer from Paris who has beautiful and very tempting etsy shop lunaticart.etsy.com
Friday is a perfect day for jewellery shopping ;)

Merry go round spinner ring

by: lunaticart

7:30, We have 3 alarm clocks, 2 are our cell phones and the third one is our son Teva, today the third one went off the first (the only alarm clock that kisses you good morning!). I get him ready for school, breakfast and off for the day. Today my husband Rafa is taking him to school, so I have time to get changed and have breakfast in my pijis.


8:15 or 8:30 We have family at home and it is great because my lovely cousin went to get "pain au chocolat" and "croissants" for breakfast! (still on my pyjamas...)It's been only a few days that I've started to exercise a bit, ( every muscle is sore).
A quick shower and quick cleaning before starting my handmade day.


9:00 My day starts with computer work, I love seeing if my "sold items" number has changed!!!!! I answer all my convos, emails, send shipping notifications, write down today's orders. Then I visit jewelry blogs, forums, flickr and I must confess that sometimes I have to stop myself before I spend all morning in front of my screen!



10:00 My working bench and I are good friends...well, sometimes we just can't see each other, like in all relationships...


1:30 I stop for cooking something really quick and simple for lunch to have more time for my orders, even though It's been 5 years I live in France my Mexican side is always present in my food and hot green peppers are a must in my fridge.




2:00 Packaging...time consuming but I like it, just another chance to communicate with my customers.
2:40 Today I am going out to buy some jewelry supplies with my Etsy (an real life) friend Minicyn.
3:00 Usually I buy most of my supplies on the net since they are very expensive in Paris, but we discovered a great little antique shop with almost all a need for a new project I am working on and it is so much nicer to feel, to touch what you are buying!


5:00 Time for a little break after 2 hours of chain hunting in 3 different shops. The weather in Paris is getting nicer, so we try the Terrace for some fresh air and street life. We exchange ideas, we encourage each other and have a good laugh before leaving around 5:30 to pick up Teva from school.





6:16 I usually pass to the gallery Goutte de Terre where Rafa is the Director ( by the way, a few talented Etsy sellers expose in the gallery).
I love the atmosphere...it's been only one month and a half since I moved out to only work on my jewelry, so it feels good to come back from time to time...I miss it, it was a hard decision but I am happy.
8:00 Dinner time, Rafa cooked delicious pasta,
9:00 My son , who always has energy , goes to bed after a story.

10:30 Can't wait to start working on my new body pieces (shhh)...but not tonight, I am too tired!
Computer, a movie, a documentary or just TV...


12:10 I am already dreaming....
Thanks for reading my day...everyday is different, every day is special.

Friday is my day: Iomiss

Spain calling! I hope the sun is there :)
Today we will meet Cristina from Iomiss.etsy.com who creates pretty jewellery and owns a cloth&accessory boutique in Spain.
Wishing you all good Friday trip!

DOUBLE EARRING bi-green

by: iomiss

Good morning! It's 9 o'clock. The alarm has been ringing for almost an hour but I'm unable to wake up when it begins to ring. In this way I wake up in a good mood to start the day:)
The first thing I need to be able to open my eyes is a shower, a very long one, I love it.
I open the window and look how the day is. The bathroom window overlooks our courtyard and in the distance I see the small town where we spend some days a week.
Today is a very good day, a spring day!
I can not leave home without drink a natural orange juice and even turning on the computer. I take a glance at the etsy shop, mail, the flickr group ... ....
It's 10! We're going to work.
Before starting to work I have a coffee. I use this time to read newspapers, chat with friends ... ..

0:30- I open the store. I own a clothing and accessories boutique for 8 years and is there where I spend almost all day.
It's 14:00, going to lunch!

I have lunch every day at my parents' house. I spend all day working and this is the only time I can see them and ask them how everything is and, of course, play with our dog. It is the most beautiful dog in the world, isn't it?

After lunch I go home. I have a small apartment in the city where we've been living for many years and still stay there a few days a week, and this is where I make the jewelry. Normally this is the time when I make the orders that I have to send later in the afternoon and I take pictures for new listings in the store ... and at 17:00 I go back to the boutique.


I live in a very small town and I always walk to work, it takes me 10 minutes. I love walking through my city and go through the usual places. This is my old high school!

At 17:15 I open the store again. I spend the afternoon hanging clothes, serving my customers, talking to suppliers, making orders ... and preparing the package if I've sold on etsy. At 8:15 I go running to the post office and send all the packages. Uff running all day!
Sometimes after work we meet some friends, go out and have dinner with them, but today I've cooked at home. It's 23:00 We're having dinner and watch a movie.

After dinner and the movie I use to stay on the couch with the macbook for a long time. It's very late!
It's around 2 am. I'm exhausted and I'm falling asleep zzzzzzzz Sweet dreams