Weekly Update

Wow!  I can't believe it's been a whole week already.  It's been so crazy in my home.  For those who don't know, in addition to being co-owner of Hooking Housewives, I'm also the Brownie Leader for one of our local Girl Scouts Troops.  That means we are working hard to wrap up cookie sales.  We have a lot of cookies left to still sell, which means that my Saturdays from last weekend through the next three are being spent working cookie booths in a last-ditch effort to sell what we have left.

In addition to that, on Sunday I went to a Pampered Chef event that a friend of mine held for her past hostesses.  We got to see some of the fun new items coming out for Spring/Summer - and I sealed the deal, after 8 months of debate, to become a Pampered Chef Consultant myself.  My son will be starting school Fall 2014 and I don't know that I want to go back to work full-time.  I love working, but the area where we live doesn't offer much for my field other than news and radio, which I really don't want to do.  I wouldn't mind working for a photo studio, but I want to be able to avoid putting my kids in after-school care or having to get a baby-sitter on the weekends.  Tony and I talked and agreed that I could give Pampered Chef a try.  I love the products and know a ton of people who feel the same.

And as if things aren't crazy enough, tomorrow is my daughter's birthday.  We have been having some major behavioral problems with her, so she won't be having a party this year.  However, we have a couple of surprises for her after the Cookie Booth tomorrow that she doesn't know about.  Like their mama, both of my kids LOVE Build-a-Bears.  And because their personal and each is unique, plus they are great quality, we don't mind splurging to let the kids get a new one every now and then.  It's become almost a tradition to do it for their birthdays.  Over the last month I have been fighting to keep Daisha from seeing any emails or catalogs from BAB.  The reason for that is because they released a Special Edition Thin Mint Bear for Girl Scouts.  She did the 100th Anniversary Bear after her birthday last year.  I wanted to add this one to her collection, but I did not want her to know it even existed.  My daughter is smart enough to know that if there's a GS Bear, Mama is going to get it for her.  I can't wait to see her face!  And her brother got her Brave on blu-ray.  We recently signed up for the Disney Movie Club so we chose this one to give her for her birthday.  She has been wanting to see it anyway.


Completed
I'd love to say that I have completed everything on my to-do list this week.  Unfortunately, that is not the case.  I have managed to finish the blue dog sweater that I showed last week (except for the buttons, that is).      I'll post a photo when I have both sweaters completed.  And I managed to finish writing up the pattern for our Elephant Applique.  It is our first FREE pattern.

You can find information on how to download the pattern here.

In Progress

As I stated, I've only finished one of the dog sweaters, which means the other is in full swing.  I'm almost halfway done with the body and hope to finish it by Monday.  I have made quite a bit of progress on the Carrot Hat & Cocoon Set.  The hat was already finished last week except for the green frawns for the top - that hasn't been done yet.  The cocoon was proving to be a challenge - I had only worked one cocoon previously and it was from a pattern.  I did some research, looking for approximate measurements that would be appropriate for a baby ages 0-3 months.  After gathering my bearings, I'm more than halfway done with the cocoon, writing the pattern as I go.  

Those of you who know me may be shocked to hear this, but I've actually been working on something for myself.  Awhile back I picked up a skein of Hobby Lobby's I Love This Yarn! in Songbird Stripe.  For months I've looked at this yarn in the store, knowing that I wanted to make something with it but not sure what.  I finally quit stalling and just bought it, still not knowing what I was going to do with it.  Then a couple of weeks ago, The Needle Nerd released her pattern for the Slouchy Cowl.  THAT'S IT!!!  I bought the pattern immediately and got to work.  It's been a slow process as I've tried not to put a lot of time into it while I had orders to work on, but it's coming along.  The purpose of the Slouchy Cowl is that it can act as either a slouchy hat or a cowl, both of which I love.  I am not a big hat person, so if you see me wearing them, it's normally something slouchy.

Newtown, CT Memory Blanket Project

I have been making some progress on the second of our blankets this week, though it's not the kind of progress that is going to be noticeable in photographs.  I have managed to sort almost all of the remaining squares, but more importantly, I finally finished edging the remaining squares for the current blanket.  I've added a couple more rows, but still have several to go.  I'm hoping to have the second blanket completed in time for next week's Weekly Update.

News

Last week I mentioned that we would be launching a Customer Referral Program.  Well, it's here!  Here's how it's going to work:

* Starting with orders placed on March 1st, for each item you purchase over $10.00, you will receive one of our business cards with a Referral Code on the back.  The code may only be used once and will expire one year from date of issue.

* You will want to give this card to a friend, family member, co-worker, or anyone else who is interested in purchasing an item from us.  (The code is only valid for new customers!)  When they place an order with us, they will need to give the Referral Code.  The code must be given at the time the order is placed to be valid.

* The friend placing the order will be given 5% off of their total purchase price (not including shipping).  In addition, you will automatically receive 10% off of your next order.  Your discount will be valid for one year from the date your friend orders - we'll contact you to let you know you have a discount waiting.

Okay, so that may sound confusing, but I promise that we'll work to make sure things run smoothly.  :)