Monthly Catch-Up

In mid October I let you know that Kyle and I were planning on moving to Cartersville into a rental house. Well we did and we absolutely love it! We are still settling in, so I don't have any photos yet. A few weeks after we moved in I got a part-time job at a physical therapy office as an office assistant. So with both of our new jobs, unpacking, church activities, sewing, etc...we have stayed extremely busy!

Last weekend was one of the busier weekends! My brother Paul and sister-in-law Brianne, owner of Brianne Nicole Photography came down from South Dakota to visit. We spent the majority of the weekend in Douglasville spending time with them, and of course we took family photos (shown below). We had alot of fun as always just talking, playing games, and goofing off.

To make the weekend even crazier, I had the Christmas in Lithia craft fair Saturday and Sunday as well. Kyle's cousin Sharley and I shared a booth so we had fun and thankfully very successful!

This weekend we have had 2 Christmas parties with groups from church. Yes, I said Christmas and yes, it is only November 16th. The reason they were so early is at CrossPoint the month of December is so crazy busy they decided to have Christmas parties early so that more people could attend. 

This is by far my favorite family photo!

By the way, Kyle and I put our Christmas Tree up this weekend!

"Fall"ing Into Place

I know it has been forever since I have updated everyone on what is going on in our lives after arriving back in America. I am going to try to do better, I promise! First of all I want to thank you for all your prayers and support as we have been in this transition time after moving back home to Georgia! I would like to fill everyone in on what has happened in the past two months, then I will let you know what is coming up.

Well to start off, in September Kyle and I celebrated 4 years of marriage, I turned 25, and Kyle was hired on at CrossPoint City Church in Cartersville as the Creative Director! He started his new job on October 1st and we could not be more excited! Many of you may be asking what a creative director does....well pretty much anything and everything creative in the church. Kyle is in charge of graphics, videos, website, stage design, lights, sound, pretty much everything you see on a Sunday morning, and makes sure that everything runs smoothly, plus a whole lot more. He is great at what he does and knows this is where he is called, so of course he is loving it! We feel extremely blessed that this is where God has called us to be planted in this season of our lives!

I am still searching for a job, but in the meantime I am loving the opportunities I am getting to create and promote Hannah Made products. I was able to participate in a Vendor Fair at Boundary Waters in Douglasville. Unfortunately, only a few people showed up (I guess because of a lack of marketing) but it was fun anyway. Mom, Rachel (my sister), and I were prepping all week to make sure we had enough stock and were ready for Saturday. We got everything set up and decided that since it wasn't a successful day to sell anything, it was a great practice run for next time! We now know how we want everything to look and about how long it will take to set it up (there are a few photos below so you can see how it looked). I am exciting to be participating in a Fall Festival at Winston Elementary on Friday, October 24th and Christmas in Lithia at Lithia Springs High School on November 8th & 9th. If you live in the Douglasville area try to stop by and see us!

Now that you know what has happened over the past two months, I will tell you where we are headed. We have been living in my parents basement since we got back from Australia as well as several months before we left and are so very grateful for the opportunity to get back on our feet and re-established. When you add it all up, we have not lived on our own in two years, that's half our marriage. Don't get me wrong, we have grown so much even in the past two years living with other people and wouldn't trade our experiences for anything. This fact just makes it even more exciting to announce that we are moving to Cartersville tomorrow! We will live BY OURSELVES about 8 minutes from CrossPoint. I will be sure to post some photos once we get moved in and settled.

On another note, I'm loving this Fall weather!

Change is Good

Alot of changes are happening in my life right now, especially on the business side of things! As many of you saw in my last post, I am starting to make baby accessories and loving it! The only thing I was worried about was actually selling the items that I make. This week I had my first three orders and will be shipping them out tomorrow! I am so excited that this week my little business is picking up a bit!

I also had another change this week, but it has to do with the actual name of my business. I am changing from hannahMADE or Hannahmade Homegoods to Hannah Made Modern Goods! I am excited for everything else that may come out of it! My amazing husband also created an amazing logo for Hannah Made, and I am so happy with it! 

I am having an Instagram giveaway from now until Sunday, August 10th. Follow @hannahmademg on Instagram for details on how to enter!

These are a few of my new baby gift sets, some are also available on my Etsy shop. You can click on the Shop tab in the top right corner to have a look.

I'm Back!!

Well, after a little over a month of an unexpected break from my blog and shop, I am now back and ready to hit the ground running! Before I start anything new, I will catch you up on what's been happening in our life over that past month. Our last few weeks in Australia were extremely busy with Hillsong Conference, packing everything up, and spending as much time with our friends as possible before leaving. When we arrived back in the US of A 2 weeks ago we were catching up with friends and family that we hadn't seen in forever, trying to make it past our jet lag (we have yet to do this), and just enjoying being back.

Although we are enjoying all the free time we currently have before we get jobs, we would really appreciate your prayers for us as we seek direction from God to lead us. We are currently in a season of waiting, waiting on the Lord to open the right doors and close all the others. It's not always easy, but we have been given a peace about where we are, and believe that the Lord will provide and lead us to a wonderful place!

In the meantime, I am getting things in order to get the hannahMADE Etsy shop back up and running again. I have been working on new products to sell and I'm very excited about them! Alot of my friends are pregnant, so I have lots of baby stuff and plan to sell them at reasonable prices. You can also place custom orders via email at hannahmadeblog@hotmail.com. Be sure to check out my Etsy shop https://www.etsy.com/shop/HannahmadeHomegoods . I have added a few photos of some of my new baby items.

Custom Boppy Covers

Custom Bibs

Dream Big: Featuring Poppy Nail Polish

So here goes...first post in my new Dream Big series! The purpose of this series is to encourage you to make BIG plans for yourself and actually pursue them. You never know what you can do until you try. This is for anyone interested in starting or currently running a home business. I know the initial startup and all the planning is alot and can be discouraging sometimes, but don't give up! I wanted to do this series for me personally as well as for everyone else in the same boat as me. I have asked a few home business owners to answer a few questions and give some advice to fellow small business owners or those about to start the journey.  They shared some great information as well as their stories and how they got started. I hope you learn alot and are as encouraged by this series as I have been!

The first company that I have chosen to feature is Poppy Nail Polish. Poppy is actually based in Atlanta, Georgia which is one of the reasons I chose it first! Poppy was started a little over a month ago and already has wholesale accounts and has been featured on large websites. Poppy was featured on Zulily this week which is a pretty big deal!

All Poppy Nail Polishes are hand-blended without the use of toxins and are 5-free, vegan, and cruelty free. Poppy has a wide variety of colors and continues to add more. I also love that you can have nail polish parties! Find out more about having a party here.

Poppy Nail Polish in Coral

I asked Tiffany, the owner/mastermind behind Poppy Nail Polish to answer a few questions that could possibly help out new and upcoming home business owners.

What inspired you to become an entrepreneur? 

A romance novel, ha! I was so confused as a young adult because I didn't know what I wanted to be. I knew I liked to lead and was a hard worker when I wanted to be, but I have always had a hard time sticking to routines. I read a book by Nora Roberts about a business woman, and the love/obsession began.

How did you decide what you wanted your business to be? 

I'm a serial entrepreneur, and I got my business degree AFTER starting my first online business, so everything I learned was by sticking my finger in the light socket so to speak. The first few businesses I had didn't do well, but each was better than the last. When I stumbled into creating nail polish, it was completely by accident, but the timing was perfect, and so it all began rather quickly.

What was your startup process?

I did a lot of planning to get Poppy off the ground. I researched business licensing, FDA guidelines, safety guidelines, etc. until my brain hurt. I kept notes in a little notebook until I was ready to start creating my prototypes. I spent weeks developing those first colors, getting the formula just right. After I had my product, I set up shop online and started marketing.

Is there anything you wish you had known beforehand that you would like to tell upcoming entrepreneurs? What?

My advice would be to put yourself in a position to wholesale, outsource things that just aren't your strength (such as accounting for me), and never underestimate the power of marketing and networking!

My first wholesale order was 3 weeks after opening Poppy, and it was through someone I'd connected with on Instagram. They ordered 450 bottles, which gave me enough capital to instantly begin working on bigger projects.

What are some benefits and difficulties in running a business out of your home and being a mom?

I love being able to step outside and take a play break with my kids! I have a 6 year old and a 2 year old, and the days just go by so fast. I love that I haven't had to sacrifice my time with them in order to provide for them.

The flip side, though, is that I am always just a yell away, so unless it's nap time or bed time, I have to make sure that anything I'm doing can be stopped and finished later because interruptions are inevitable.  I try to find a balance between the pros and cons of working from home by doing tasks like marketing, networking, and social media from my phone while I'm supervising the kids' independent play time. More involved tasks wait until nap or bedtime. I also make sure that technology stays out of meal times and that when I'm playing with my kids, I am completely present in that moment.

Be sure to check out the Poppy's Nail Polish website and order some nail polish! You can also follow Poppy on Instagram. 

Be sure to leave a comment to thank Tiffany for all of the information that she gave us and let us know what helped you the most!

New Zealand Roadtrip - Part 4

Well it's finally time for photos of our last 2 days in New Zealand.

Woke up next to mountains, what a beautiful sight.

Drove down a side road before the sun was bright.

Lake Tekapo to my left, snowy mountains to my right.

Last day on the road, in the airport tonight.

Dream Big

Have you ever dreamed of doing something, but told yourself it was too crazy or too big to actually go through with it? Why not actually go for it? God created you to dream BIG and He is going to do great things through you! You will be able to do things and reach people through ways that only YOU can. So go for it, follow your dreams, who knows where you will end up!

Found this photo on Christine Caine's facebook page

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. 

Ephesians 3:20

Many of you may know that I love to craft, crochet, sew, bake, take photos, and really anything DIY. Before we moved to Australia I was trying to start a small business by selling some of the items that I made. While over here it has been a little harder because I don't have as many resources to use, but plan on picking back up when we move back to Georgia in July. I would love to grow enough before we have children so that I can have a home business and stay home with them. I know several of my friends are in the same boat I am, just trying to get it started or getting your name out there.

For this reason I have been researching a little and looking into other small businesses that people run out of their homes. There are so many home businesses and "mompreneurs" out there. I thought who better to hear from then someone that has experienced the process of starting a home business. A few ladies are going to share their story and give some advice on starting and running a business out of your home.

If you are interested in sharing your story and/or some advice please email me at: hannahmadeblog@hotmail.com