It’s been a while…
Why hello! I fell off of blogging in December and focused my attention to my social media channels like Instagram, the Facebook page, and the Facebook group. I hope you follow me in those places! It’s been a whirlwind of a first quarter. There are a few updates in my business and my life.
Lets start with the updates in my business…:
I won a small business grant and am now apart of a cohert through Build A Nest! Nest is a program that educates and brings together creative entreprenuers, artists, makers and artisans in the USA and beyond. I’m beyond grateful for the weekly education and am even more excited for my one-on-one mentorship to start next month. It’s the first grant I’ve ever won for my business and it motivates me to continue applying to local and national grants.
After over 10 years of working with hand dying vegetable tanned cowhide leather, I’ve decided discontinued this option and took my final Design Your Own orders for it in February. It’s ready that I move on to more pre-tanned leathers. Hand dying consists of many steps and more material costs, and the leather is really tough to work with as it gets stiff after hand dying and is difficult to flip. Overall, I used to love working with it but now I don’t so much. I am currently working on my final DYO orders from February and realized I have enough leftover leather for 2-3 more orders. Please reach out if you’re interested since this will be your last chance for hand dyed leather bags.
I’ve collaborated with two female artisans who are experts in their fields! Kindra of Sandwitch Leather who is based out of Indianapolis, IN and I have collaborated on one of a kind bags that feature her hand tooled leather. Natalie of White Wolf Syndicate Jewelry who is based out of Chicago, IL and I have collaborated on two bag chains that feature her jewelry sourcing and designing.
I’m continuing my partnership with a family owned manufacturing team in southern Ohio to hand craft a few specific styles AND to cut leather for you. We’re using these awesome laser cutters that aren’t like the laser machines you’re used to. These do not burn the leather, they in fact have a tiny rotary blade and cut the leather. Hand cutting is extremely labor intensive, as I’m sure you can imagine, and with the amount of orders I receive a month and the extra bags I want to make, it’s difficult to not feel burn out physically or mentally. It’s been an investment but the small business grant I won has helped ease the costs and in return, make a huge difference in what I’m capable of doing.
Life stuff… now all this is a different story. The big news…:
I’m pregnant with my first baby! As of today, March 17, I am nearing 14 weeks. My due date is September. My husband and I are beyond excited but of course since it’s my first baby, I’m unsure how I’ll navigate my business once I get close to my due date. My goal as of right now is to work up until the end of July… but I expect I’ll likely slow down A LOT on Design Your Own orders a little before that. I’m going to play it by ear. As of right now, I feel great so we’ll just see how the rest of my pregnancy goes! I’ll take off a good chunk of time for post-natal / post-partum but I hope to get in some work during the holidays. I know it’ll look a lot different than any other year and I’m trying my best to plan ahead while remaining calm and present.
I just got home from an epic bucket list trip to Cusco, Peru with my husband and childhood friends! We did a 2 day trek to Machu Picchu (while I was 12 weeks pregnant!) and a 1 day trek to Rainbow Mountain and Red Valley. Both were challenging but so beautiful and if you’re a hiker like me, you know that there’s no gain without pain. I didn’t feel altitude sickness, though some of our friends did, but the altitude was definitely the biggest challenge. After Cusco, we went to Lima and ate at the number one restaurant in the world and many more amazing award winning restaurants. My husband is a chef (we met working in a restaurant!) and my friends and I are all big foodies (we’re from Chicago, so duh) so we’re very lucky to have had such amazing culinary experiences together.
I’m stoked for the rest of 2026 and can’t wait to show you what I have up my sleeve! If there’s anything you’d like to see from me, as always don’t hesitate to reach out.
