Oh what a crazy week!*
*get it? do ya get it?
You guys it is serious craziness over at my house right now. We are moving on Friday. FRIDAY! And do you think I am packed? Do you think I have stopped sewing things for my kids and guest posting and book reviewing and put all my fabric into boxes like a Sensible Person would do? That's right you guessed it: I have NOT. *rolls eyes at self*
So like a Crazy Woman I am posting (again) today because I thought maybe you would be interested in what is going on here behind the scenes at Chez Rae. I usually tend to be pretty vague about my personal and family life here on the blog (even if you see my kids all the time) so I'm not exactly sure how to go about writing about moving without being cliche or boring or too informative about my family's geographic whereabouts (Yes I'm a paranoid freak. It's out. Let's move on.) but I'll give it a try:
Moving.
We are moving in a couple days to the other (west) side of this lovely state of Michigan, temporarily, because the house we *want* to rent on this (east) side of the state is not available until later this summer. I am thrilled that our house sale went through. I am thrilled with the house we plan to rent. I am thrilled we will be staying in West Michigan for a few months, closer to many old friends, my awesome inlaws and the lake. However, I am NOT thrilled that most of my stuff will be in storage this spring and summer (how to choose from all my lovely fabrics??? Like choosing a favorite child...) or that we are going to have to move not once but TWICE in the foreseeable future. Blerg. I truly appreciate all of the emails and comments I've gotten asking about our move...it's so nice to know you're thinking about us. You guys are the best.
And here are some other, more bloggy things I have in my head:
Spring Top Week.
Yes, it's almost that time again: Spring Top Week season! I'm not exactly sure what the final week will be this year (probably first or second week in May), but I've already got some friends lined up to help out again with the spreadsheets and a few spring tops for myself in progress. I'm thinking I might change the name to Spring Topathon though, since it's not really a week but more like a month where everyone submit their tops to the pool (the week part of it is that bit at the end with the voting and the winners and the prizes). You can find more information from past years' contests here.
Anyway, start thinking about what top(s) you want to sew for yourself this year, pick out some fabric, make/buy your pattern, and get ready because I'll have more details soon. Wheee! And you know what, I'm not superhuman, so if Spring Top Week slowly morphs into Summer Top Week this year, we're not going to sweat it. OK?
Pattern requests and testing.
I get lots of requests for patterns from this blog (and "tutorials" which I think might be code for "will you make it for free, Rae?") but as most of you know there is only one of me and she only works part-time and she is also pretty slow. However, I do enjoy making and selling my patterns and as some of them get close to rolling off the line I'm going to be finding myself in need of testers. So I've made up an online form for those of you who have your eye on something here on the blog and would like to sign up to be a pattern tester. Obviously I may not be able to use everyone who offers to help but at least it gives me a place to start. I've also set up the form so that even if you don't have any interest in testing you can still give your two cents on which patterns or sizes you think I should be working on, which by the way, is not only appreciated but also helps me prioritize my projects with the limited time I have. Thanks for taking the time to let me know what you think!
GO TO PATTERN REQUEST/TESTER SIGNUP FORM
Advertising on MBR.
I've got my ad rates for Q2 2011 (April-May-June) ready and available to send to you if you think you'd like to advertise for your shop or handmade business here on Made By Rae. Have a sponsor button up on one of the BEST sewing blogs in Craftblogland (hee)! Be seen by thousands of people each day (no joke)! Made By Rae normally averages a quarter of a million pageviews monthly and even more during special events like Celebrate the Boy and Spring Top Week. My rates are very affordable (roughly $0.30-$0.40 CPM depending on how many months you purchase at a time). Email me at rae dot made at gmail dot com if you'd like the actual dollar amounts (and not have to do any math). Maybe you don't have a business to advertise but you know someone else you think would be a good fit for sponsoring this blog? Thanks for sending this along to someone else; I really appreciate it. I'll be sending out April invoices this week.
OK, that's all for now. Thanks friends!
