Changes Abound–Website

Did anyone notice the little box at the top of the page that says “Invited by Lama Works”???

If you click on the link it will welcome you officially to www.invitedbylamaworks.com!!  Now, it’s still a bit of a work in progress, but I finally am working on my very own web page (in all of my spare time …).  You’ll see a link at the top that takes you straight to my Etsy shop, customer feedback, a link to this very blog and some contact information.

It doesn’t seem like much, but it’ll grow.  I really wanted a way for people to find me other than Etsy.  I really want someone in Quincy to be able to search for me and find out more information about a local business.  I know I haven’t gotten quite that far on the site yet, but I will one of these days.  I really want to have a local presence. 

I also want to grow out of Blogger a bit and have more than just a blog.  The site I’m on gives me the opportunity to one day have an e-commerce page to sell samples.  It also gives people something easier to remember than my Etsy site. There are still quite a few people who have no idea what Etsy is or are turned off by Etsy because you have to create an account to purchase something. 

So stop on by the new website and let me know what you think!  Do you have any ideas for other things I can add?

Changes Abound–Lama Works

I’m not sure if it’s spring fever or all of this nesting stuff with the baby on the way, but there are some major changes that have also come about at Lama Works these days as well!

I am incredibly blessed and since I have joined forces and started working with the wonderful team at Envelopements, the invitation side of Lama Works has just taken off!  Their papers and designs are just wonderful!  I really enjoy having a base idea to work with and customizing it to each wedding.  One of my goals for this year is to start a gallery of the different invitations I’ve made so I can show how unique each one really can be.

With that being said … I have decided – at least for the time being – to close the Woolies portion of Lama Works.  It’s been a bit of a bittersweet decision because knitting is where the shop actually started, but I think it’s time to step back. 

There are times in life when you can work hard for what you want.  I have worked incredibly hard to become an Etsy success story, but I think it’s time for me to shift and focus a bit more on paper goods and more importantly my family.  I am very lucky to have one very self entertaining 19 month old, who allowed me to get a few knitting projects done while he played, but I’d rather spend that time playing with him rather than just sitting by and watching.  Family is the most important thing to me and I don’t want to miss this time with him while he is little.

I have learned quite a bit about business plans since I opened up in 2008 and I think I am finally at a point where I feel focused – which is a really good thing. Over the years I’ve had some sewing projects, then some cards, then some knits, more sewing, back to the cards, invitations …. it’s time to pick one and focus. I feel like I’m finally at a good point where I like the setup that I have and I’m not wasting money buying supplies that I’ll never use. I literally have boxes of paper and yarn that I’m sure I’ll use some day for something, but it’s really not a smart plan to have more supplies than you need. Now I order just what I need for each order and it feels fabulous! It leaves me extra cash to help out the family budget and a bit to splurge on some extra things just for me!

I’ll admit that a part of the decision is monetary.  My knits are wonderful, but they take time. Lots of time. Time that isn’t always appreciated.  I had a booth at a craft show this year and a woman was looking at one of my infinity scarves.  It was for sale for $120 and she said “$120??? Are you kidding?? For a scarf???”  I just sighed.  Little did she know that the yarn alone cost about $25 and it took me about 12 hours (yes 12) to complete.   Most projects take on average 2-4 hours to complete if I have uninterrupted time. Now, I don’t sell knits year round, so in theory I should knit more during the summer to prepare for the winter rush. It’s a good thought in theory but I was finding myself only selling a few of the things I made ahead of time and getting more requests for custom colors that I didn’t have in stock. That meant that on top of having a 1 year old, being active in our community, preparing for the holidays and working on winter weddings and Christmas cards, I was also knitting non stop from October through January.  I have actually stopped enjoying the holiday season.

This has been a bit more long winded than I had originally intended, but that’s the scoop.  Long story short – life is good!  Lama Works is growing and I’m really excited to see where things will go from here! Maybe one day you’ll be reading here that I’m hiring someone to help me out – wouldn’t that be cool?

Changes Abound – Family

Lots of changes happening around here so brace yourself!  We’ll skip the obvious format change at the moment and start with the biggest of them all …

You may remember from one of my posts last July that we are expecting!  I have been feeling rather tired and queasy most of the pregnancy, hence why I’ve been gone from blog world.  Fast forward to March and our second son will be here soon!  That’s right – 23 days left until my due date!  I’m nesting – is that why I’m back on the blog again and rearranging everything in sight?  Maybe!  I went in to see my doctor today and she thinks he could be here very soon and we are predicting he’ll be here by St. Patrick’s day, which is yes only 10 short days from now.  Eek!!

So that means that now that it’s rather nice of me to pop on the blog again, it may mean that I’ll be missing for awhile while we get back on our feet.  That’s OK!  If this super high energy of mine stays around until then I may have enough blog posts stock piled that you’ll never even know that I’ve been missing!

I’ll leave you with some fun holiday photos taken at a friend’s wedding back in January.  I was about 28 weeks pregnant at the time.  Welcome back to blog land!

 

What We Eat Wednesday–365 No Repeats Plus a Darn Good Chili

We’re back to 365 No Repeats this week!  I’m almost through the “I feel awful, all day, every day” phase of being pregnant (I hope) and I’m starting to feel like cooking again, which is good because I’m running out of freezer meals and canned spaghetti sauce.  It’s also finally starting to cool off which really makes me want to cozy up with a good plate of something warm and yummy.

In addition to our regular food this week we also made one really big batch of chili. We love to eat it, it was great for our football party with friends, and leftovers freeze really well for a cold fall day.  Now, we’ve been through many chili recipes.  The Mr. is very … we’ll call it particular … about his chili.  He has a favorite flavor from a dive on campus and that is what we strive to achieve.  This one has been the closet we’ve ever found.  The secret is all in the chocolate and cinnamon and I must say that it is fabulous! 

So here’s what we’re eating this week!  I’m really going to try to get back into the blogging world.  Hopefully I won’t feel the need to sleep all day some time soon. 

Sunday – Cincinnati Chili
Monday – Chicken and Rice Stoup – 365 No Repeats #122
Tuesday – Honey Orange Glazed Ham Steaks with Spicy Zucchini and Corn Salad – 365 No Repeats #106
Wednesday – Turkey Club Super Mashers – 365 No Repeats #107
Thursday – Thai Chicken with Basil – 365 No Repeats #114
Friday – Peasant Soup = 365 No Repeats #118
Saturday – Swedish Meat Dumpling Soup – 365 No Repeats #125

Let me know if there are any recipes you might want to see!

What are you eating this week?
~LMM

Show Me that Recipe–Chicken, Corn and Bean Soup

I’m starting something new – just for fun!  I know that sometimes I have links posted to the recipes that I’m making each week.  I’d love to post every recipe, but let’s be real – I really don’t have the time to type up all of the 365 No Repeats recipes.  So we’ll try this.  For every recipe that I don’t have a web link to, I’ll post a picture of it.  If it looks mucho tasty and you’d like to try it yourself, go to the bottom of the post and look for a little button that say “Reactions”.    Click on the little box to the right of it that says “I want that recipe!!”  If I get … we’ll say 5 clicks for now, I’ll type up the recipe with my own modifications and recommendations.

So here’s where we start!  First up is Chicken, Corn and Bean Soup.

Bring on the Christmas Cards!

Christmas makes me giddy – it really does.  I love all the warmth and cheer that the whole holiday season brings, from the food to the decorations, the first snowfall, and a warm cup of cocoa.  My husband knows that the minute I start to see snow falling I’ll burst into song.  I stare outside with wonderment just like a little kid.  I love the smell of cinnamon cooking in .. well anything.  Christmas music makes me sing all day long.  Love, love. love!  Almost annoyingly so. 

Now I usually don’t start to get so excited about it, quite this early in the year, but when you sell holiday cards, you kind of have to start planning those things a few months ahead of time.  This is my first real year selling holiday cards.  I tried to sell a few at the Quincy Service League Gift Show last year, but they just didn’t go over well.  I’m hoping that my new custom cards from Envelopments will help solve the problems of last year.  People like custom, I think they are way better than the designs I had last year, they are much easier to make and I won’t make any unless they are ordered.  Sounds like a good business plan to me!

I just started getting them listed and I’ll go ahead and introduce you to them as they come out.  Remember to order them early because they do take time to make!!  Please plan on ordering them no later than December 1st if you’d like them by December 20th!  Also keep in mind that if the prices are more than you were hoping to spend, I can tweak things to make it more affordable to you!  There are cheaper paper substitutions, layers of paper we can ditch or you can even assemble them yourself.  I’ve been able to cut some costs almost in half, all you have to do is ask!

Here are the first few – let me now what you think!

 

Candy Cane Joy

Lovely Dove Holiday Cheer

Go Nuts!

Candy Cane Peace

What We Eat Wednesday

It’s been awhile, eh?  Sorry about that.  My body is growing arms, legs, and you know, a spine – I’m pretty pooped out.  The good news is that I’m 11 weeks so in theory my energy should be coming back pretty soon!  We had our first Dr’s appointment the other day and everything looks great!  Two arms, two legs, a big head, strong heartbeat and a cute little spine all growing like a weed!  The peanut is already almost 2 inches long and is rolling and flopping all over the place.  I’ve been feeling little movements for a few weeks – which is way earlier than with Jake – makes me giggle every time!

So I haven’t been cooking much.  I lived on the slow cooker last week, which was nothing special.  We’ve also been using up some of those fabulous freezer meals. 

I’m trying to push through though and get some cooking in this week!  I at least do some of the cooking.  Andrew has been a big help and usually finishes a meal if I get most of it done.  It’s a big Rachael Ray week.  This week I’ve gone back to 365 no repeats – I’m determined to get through it!  Here’s what we’ve got going on this week:

Sunday – Dinner with the fam
Monday – Dinner with the fam
Tuesday – #101 Cheddar-Studded Tex-Mex Meatloaf Patties with Scallion Smashed Potatoes and Spicy Pan Gravy
Wednesday – #99 Chicken, Corn and Black Bean Soup (minus the black beans)
Thursday – #102 Grilled Chicken Paillard with Grilled Rd Onion and Asparagus Salad
Friday – Out to celebrate with friends!
Saturday – #105 Lemony Crispy Chicken Cutlets and Roasted Tomato Salad with Pine Nuts and Blue Cheese

If there are recipes that you want to see typed out – please let me know!  Feel free to write a note here or send me an email – I’d be more than happy to share!

Happy eating!
Until next time…
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

Chirp … chirp … anyone there???

I know, I’ve actually been pretty good about blogging this summer, even managing to get What We Eat Wednesdays out almost on time every week.  I’ve been MIA for almost a month now hey? 

Here’s the scoop.  We had a fabulous and much needed 10 day vacation.  It was so lovely!  We got see two of our very dear friends tie the knot up in Milwaukee, then we headed over to Jackson, MI to visit our cousins and meet their new baby boy.  From there we headed north and had a brief afternoon pit stop in Mackanaw, MI followed by the rest of our journey to my parents house in good old Lake Tomahawk, WI.  We had a small adventure over to Green Bay for a storm filled family day at Lambeau Field (my first trip there!!!).

We survived 10 days of travel and 30 hours in the car with a teething 1 year old, only to get home just 3 days before the big 1st birthday party. 

Now, as if things weren’t complicated enough … we also found out just before we left that  …

Jake is going to be a big brother around the end of March!!!  So throw in morning sickness, exhaustion for numerous reasons, and raging hormones that have me crying over spilled milk – I’ve been a little busy.  We are a little nervous about having 2 kids under the age of 2, but we couldn’t be happier to be expanding our little clan! 

More to come on all of these topics, but for now I’ll have to jet – afternoon appointments to get to!  I didn’t want you all to think I had fallen off the face of the earth.  I know that my Mom knows I’m around, but I think I actually have readers that are neither family nor real life friends that I see on a regular basis.    So I’m around!  Blog posts to come!

Until the next time …
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

What We Eat Wednesday–on Thursday!

I’m back!  Did you miss me???  We had a wonderful time on vacation, and as soon as I have time I’ll write up a little post about the big trip. 

I’m afraid that What We Eat Wednesday is a little boring this week.  You see, we didn’t get back until Tuesday and Short Stuff turns 1 tomorrow so we are in total party planning mode!  We are living off of freezer meals this week, so I thought instead I’d share with you the menu for the party. 

We’re having about 30 people over for a good old backyard party.  We’re having:

Pulled Pork with BBQ sauces on the side
Paula’s Italian Pasta Salad (here’s hoping Paula Deen doesn’t let me down!)
Fruit Salad
Veggie Tray
Chips and Dip
and what I’m hopping will be a very cute train cake on each table.  Tomorrow is decorating day – we’ll see how they turn out!

I can’t believe he’s going to be 1 already!! Where does the time go???  Seems like just yesterday I was way pregnant and very nervous about this tiny little baby we were about to bring home.

What’s your favorite party food?? 

Until the next time,
The girl behind the lama …
~LMM

What We Eat Wednesday–Freezer Meals 101

This is a very shot week for us.  We are going on vacation – YAY!!  We are coming back just a few short days before the short one’s 1st birthday party so we are trying to get ahead of the game and prepare a few extra freezer meals this week.  Hopefully when we get home, I can focus on decorating the train cake (details to come!) and get all the food ready for the 30 people plus babies that are going to be coming over.  Yikes!
So we really only have 3 meals this week, plus one dessert we took over to a friend’s house for dinner.   We had a fabulous time and always enjoy sharing a good meal!

Anyway –  and here’s what we’re eating this week!

Monday – Taco Salad (recipe to come!)
Tuesday – Dinner party with friends, we brought Dreamy S’more Pie
Wednesday – Pesto Chicken Penne Casserole (double batch – freeze one!)
Thursday – Chicken Sausage, Pepper, and Onion Pasta Fake Bake (double batch – freeze one!)

There won’t be a What We Eat Wednesday post for awhile – so keep me posted on what you’re eating!

Until the next time …
The girl behind the lama
~LMM