Author Archives: Jordan Rae

creative flow

I’ve been giving a lot of energy to my Etsy shop lately, and creativity is going in multiple directions. One day I’m spending hours in front of the sewing machine, the next I have a paintbrush in hand. I’ve also been creating videos to add to many of my listings (adding optional videos to Etsy listings is a fairly new feature on Etsy, but I’ve never used it until now). I feel like my shop looks really good right now, and is successfully reflecting my current creativity.

The hardest part for me when it comes to listing new items in my shop is still setting the prices for them. Does it ever get easier!?

My first reaction is to always think that I’m pricing things too high, because you can pick up things much cheaper from Target, T.J.Maxx, and Walmart (although those are all mass-produced items, unlike everything found in my shop).

But when I deduct the shipping cost (I offer free shipping on everything, so I pay $4 – $12 shipping on each order, depending on the items sold), and the Etsy fees (6.5% of each sale), and the taxes…don’t ask how much I’m left with for the time I put into my work.

Finance can get tight when you run your own business (as they are for me right now!), but this is really all I want to do, so I make it work, and I’m excited to keep branching out!

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halloween

I didn’t have the idea to make any Halloween items for my shop until super recently, so yes, it’s too late to actually have any of them for this year’s holiday. But I figured that the real Halloween stans wouldn’t care.

I keep my Christmas lights up ’til March, so I’m not here to judge other people’s favorite holidays, or how long you choose to celebrate them for ✌🏼

I haven’t made any pillows in a few months, ever since I listed the first ones in my shop, but I’m back in the zone and I have a million ideas (winter/Christmas ones are next, but I also want to do some more non-seasonal ones: dogs, cats, seashells, mushrooms, etc.).

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ugly christmas sweaters?

The newest additions to my shop are extra festive — two Santa Claus sweaters have been added, and they’re super warm, heavy, and cozy for all the cold days heading our way!

Both of them are sewn from thrifted cotton blankets and they have a true classic Christmas™ vibe to them.

The first one is super vintage-y with this doll-like Santa, holly down the front, and gold/black/white fringe.

Click here to view the listing!

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spooky season

My blog may be pretty quiet as of late, but surely I couldn’t let spooky season go by without a themed photoshoot 🕯🍂

I was originally thinking of doing a more specifically themed Halloween shoot (think: turning space buns into two little ghosts on the top of my head), but then I had this ~~crazy~~ amazing idea to craft a crown out of dried leaves (and other organic matter) that I collected outside.

Y’all, it’s give Pinterest witch.

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latest update

To say that my creativity has been flowing lately would be an understatement — I’ve been having so much fun making things for my own enjoyment (Christmas quilts for me and my family!), and for my shop.

I’ve started to add a few new items to my shop (with more to come), some of which are quilted throw pillows (using my new favorite FPP sewing technique!).

every color on the butterflies — including all the small black lines — is an individual piece of fabric that is sewn together to create them!

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etsy shop expansion

I’ve expanded my Etsy shop! Now alongside my classic custom pet portraits, I also have some cardigans/sweaters, and spring coats for sale! I’ve been enjoying making these so much, and I have many more on the way.

The hardest part of this entire new endeavor has been setting prices. I’ve always tried to keep my prices as low as possible (to my detriment — I’ve never hit the minimum wage mark with my custom work!), but with this project I needed to actually start charging for my time and the material (the prices are still low for the amount of hours put into them).

this long, boho cardigan is currently my most expensive piece; from the material cost to the hours I put into washing and combing the vintage cotton trim, and putting it all together. The design, material, and color combo is just gorgeous!! I imagined it being used for something special, like an elopement wedding 🤍

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exciting new things

I painted my room pink.

After years of debating, I did it, and I couldn’t be happier with the end result. It’s a pale, light pink, but the paint color is called lavender moon, so it has a subtle lavender undertone which makes it super soft 🌙

looking cute in one of the outfits I finished this year (although 90% of the time lately I’ve just been in comfy shorts and an oversize t-shirt because I’ve been workiiiiiiing)

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lounge pants (with pockets)

I’ve finally taken the time to master sewing internal pockets into pants.

I don’t know why I waited so long to try this, because it was incredibly easy, and it really would’ve come in handy many times in the past.

But oh well, I can now add this to my resume.

I did a nice double seam on my back pockets, and to make the corners clean and neat I used this sewing hack and it worked perfectly!! So excited to use this for every corner ever

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learning FPP

Aside from watching the flowers grow, I have also been succeeding in catching every illness that Taylor brings home from the office (she hasn’t caught a single one, she just gives them to me). Which has meant that I’ve been making my health my #1 priority, since my immune system is obviously struggling at the moment (I allowed too much stress into my life, and it’s left me compromised). I’ve just survived a not-as-horrible-as-it-could-have-been-but-still-very-not-good case of what I suspect was strep, and thank God for essential oils and Epson salt baths.

But despite my body testing my patience, my mental health has been doing pretty well.

I’ve had to take a little break from work over the past few weeks (what’s new), since sitting hunched over my desk all day has exacerbated all my symptoms, so although I’m still taking orders (and have some patiently waiting in the queue), there will be a slight delay before I get to starting on them.

And if you find yourself starting to wonder: don’t her parents care that she’s not working?? Just know that I was originally very uncomfortable with taking more time off work (and also living with a much smaller income), and it was my dear mother who suggested it and encouraged it, because health and happiness are of paramount importance in our house.

it’s hard to pick a favorite, but the goldfinch is definitely one of them

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spring showers

Years ago Mom got tired of the maintenance of the front gardens, and so she dug them all up, dumped the contents into the brush on the edge of the yard, and filled the gardens up with pea stones and a couple carefully-placed azalea bushes and bird baths.

We didn’t give much thought to what we dumped, aside from Riley Mae being rather morose over the loss of the annually-blooming mini daffodils. But lo and behold, I think each and every bulb and plant that got tossed aside successfully rooted and sprung back to life in the brush.

Each year the bulbs continued to spread along the edge of the yard: snowdrops, crocuses, grape hyacinth, a couple different kinds of large daffodils, and, of course, the beloved mini daffodils.