Friday Feature: Kusi Peru

 

Tell us about yourself.
Hi, my name is Kusi which means Joy in Quechua, the indigenous language of Peru. I am half Quechua and half North American. Growing up in Peru with a rich Quechua heritage I have always had a love for traditional Andean textiles and designs. I am now married to a wonderful man and am a mother to a beautiful two year old boy. As a family, we love Jesus and desire that others know Him. We live in Peru and work with the indigenous peoples of the Andes and Amazon jungle of Peru and we strive to share God's love with them.



Tell us about your shop. What do you sell?
My shop is for the girl who likes to have an accessory that will make them stand out. It's a little bohemian/tribal which I'm really into right now. I sell mostly bracelets and earrings. I eventually want to start expanding my products, also making things for children and men.

When did you start creating? Why?
I have been creating ever since I was a little girl. I noticed at an early age that I really enjoyed creating things and working with my hands. For this reason, after high school, I decided to spend some time in fashion school which allowed me to expand my creativeness. Its also in my blood. I was born into a family with very talented artists. My grandmother on my mothers side has always made beautiful oil and watercolor paintings. On my Quechua father's side, I have family that do beautiful colorful weavings, carvings and jewelry. Most of my creations are inspired by my Peruvian heritage. I use Peruvian textiles, stones and natural seeds from Peru.

How do you balance your business with your family?
It seems to balance well since its something I can do from home or anywhere. I travel around Peru a lot on short trips with my family since we are missionaries, and on these trips helps me to get inspired in the colors, textiles of Peru, etc. We pretty much try to be together at all times. There are times when my son and I cant travel and thats when I work on more products at home while alone with my son and have extra time to do so. We live in a spacious area so my son is able to run free and play outside while i can sit outside and work on maybe a macramé bracelet, etc. So I get to spend time with my son and also catch up on my products when at home.

What has been the most difficult aspect of being a Mommy with a Small Business?
There are some days where I just want to spend time cuddling my son, rest, play, etc, the day goes by and haven't gotten much done on my business.

What has been the most rewarding?
I enjoy making all kinds of things that are unique and colorful. I especially enjoy making them when I know that the money i get from selling them will go to helping others in need. I give a % of my earnings to different causes that I see a need in here in Peru. The rest of the money goes to helping support me and my family as missionaries. and I also really enjoy that I can be home with my son and also do what I like.

Do you have any tips for other moms with a small/home business?
Manage your time well, so that you can spend as much time possible with your family and also do what you like. No matter what anyone says, if you love making things, go for it. There will always be someone out there that will like what you make. As long as you enjoy it, do it.


Here is a coupon to use in Kusi's Etsy shop: 30% off - KUSI30PERCENTOFF

If you would like to follow Kusi's creations, you can find her at the following sites:
Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/KusiPeru
Facebook: facebook.com/Kusi
Twitter: @KusiSaune
Pinterest: pinterest.com/saccsara/

Questions or comments may be added here on the blog, or you can contact Kusi through her shop. Thank you!

The Value of Mommy's Small Business

I am a fairly young mom, just venturing out into the world of starting my own business. My husband and I have been married for almost five years. We have a three and a half year old son who is quite possibly the most adorable little boy I've ever known. Really, I'm not biased at all!

Only a few sentences in and I'm already off topic. Sheesh!

The balancing act of trying to start a business and caring for my family has been difficult. There are weekends I spend most of my son's “awake time” at shows or hiding in the basement, frantically trying to get some work done. I've let household chores slide on more than one occasion. (After all, checking to make sure I don't have any new orders is far more important than cleaning the bathroom, right?) I've turned down countless games of Candyland and let my son watch more TV than I probably should have. Some days, I have to stop and ask myself exactly what am I trying to accomplish? Why is it worth it to take time aways from family to try and build a business?

After quite a bit of deliberation, here are my top three answers.

Financial Benefits

While not necessarily my primary reason, bringing in a little money has been a benefit of my small business (even more than just funding my hobby!).

Before we got married, my husband and I discussed my dream of being a stay at home mom. Sometimes it makes for a really tight budget, but he still supports that desire. I absolutely love spending the day with my little guy, but I also want to help. When you live paycheck to paycheck, sometimes that twenty dollar order is all that stands between our bills and an overdrawn account. Even if it is small, I am making a financial contribution to my family. I hope to grow the amount that I can contribute over time.

Educational Benefits

To be perfectly candid, after even an hour of watching shows meant for three year olds, my brain could also use a little mental challenge, and I am learning SO much! Organizing time/materials, financial planning, marketing, networking, analyzing data... The list goes on. My business venture has challenged me to think in new ways, develop new skills, balance my time and budget. All of these concepts are actually quite useful in home management as well.

Instructional Benefits

This is my favorite reason for why I do what I do. My son is learning from my experience. Children are so incredibly observant. Even when he is playing along side me, he is always watching. More important than learning my "trade" he is learning to imitate my ways of doing things. He is learning about the value of time, hard work, communication, responsibility, self-motivation, discipline, and direction. As he gets older, I am sure his understanding of even more complex topics will grow as well.

That's what being a parent is all about, isn't it? Being a role model and teaching our children to uphold our values no matter where life takes them? To me the legacy lies not in what I create, but the manner in which I create it. That is why I am a mom, and that is why I choose to have my “small” business.

This blog post was brought to you by:

 Amanda Doster.

Friday Feature: Giggle Poo

Welcome to our first ever, Friday Feature! Every Friday, we will be featuring a different Etsy shop. The idea is that you can get to know some of the amazing mom's who have a small business, see their creations, and pick up a few tips about how they make it all work. Enjoy!

Tell us about yourself.
I am a Stay at Home Mom to a wonderful 10 month old baby (who is growing up way too fast), a wonderful husband, a crazy cat, and starting my own small business.

Tell us about your shop. What do you sell?
Giggle Poo is a specialty retail shop focusing on the latest trends for stylish babies. While the company is still in its infancy (no pun intended) its lovies, baby blanket and baby leg warmers are already leading baby fashion trends across the United States and Canada. Baby Clothes are next on the agenda.



When did you start creating? Why?
My Grandmother taught me how to sew by hand and cross stitch when I was in elementary school and it was so much fun. As I grew older, I put sewing to the way side. Then I unexpectedly lost my job at 8 and half months pregnant. I was devastated! I never planned to be a stay at home Mom. I have a degree in International Business from a college in France, speak fluent French and have always been career oriented. After searching for a job to cover more than just day care costs (it’s expensive here!) and with unemployment soon running out, I think I surprised everyone when I bought my first showing machine and opened my Etsy shop. I honestly love it and am learning a lot about running my own business.

How do you balance your business with your family?
Ha! I am still working on this one. It has been a struggle at times. My shop took off faster than expected and my house is disaster! We used to have a cleaning company come to our house twice a month and it was the first thing to go when I lost my job. I REALLY miss them. I am learning to be more domesticated, but I think I have a long road ahead of me. My husband would like me to get there a little faster.

What has been the most difficult aspect of being a Mommy with a Small Business?
I have struggles with managing the house, baby, business and my husband at the same time. I’m not sure how life would be if I were still at my corporate job. My Little Dude likes to stay up late, still wakes several times a night and is exclusively breastfed. As my husband would say, I always take the more difficult route. What can I say, I like a good challenge. My husband flip flops on his support on my small business; it’s that whole domestication issue I have (I did vacuum today). LOL! To be fair, he has been an intricate tool in the success of my business and most of the time he truly does support my small business.

What has been the most rewarding?
Hands down, the most rewarding is spending all the precious time with my Little Dude watching him grow and learn. I wouldn’t trade this time with him for anything.

Do you have any tips for other moms with a small/home business?
Don’t give up! There will be slow times, learning experiences, and time management issues, but they will pass. Your customers will understand if your little one is sick or needs you a little more, just be honest with them. Your babies should always be your top priority. Oh and excellent customer service can go a long way.

You can keep up with Lori and her wonderful creations at the following sites:

www.facebook.com/GigglePooDotCom
twitter.com/GigglePooDotCom
www.etsy.com/shop/GigglePoo
www.gigglepoo.com/


Questions or comments are always welcome either here on the blog, or directed to our featured shop.

Thanks for stopping by!

Tinkerbell Party

Party Time!

For Gooba's 3rd birthday I gave her a few choices of what kind of party to have and her #1 choice was Tinkerbell! I must admit I had A LOT of fun planning this party for her - and the best part was, everything was super cheap and easy!

THE FAVORS

First, the party favors!  Instead of doing the traditional gift bag at the end of the party, I decided to go with a dress up theme.  I bought the fairy wings at Dollar Tree, I made the crowns from ribbon and garland that I bought at the Dollar Tree, and the necklaces are little bottles I bought online and turned into pixie dust :)  The girls had a great time with dress up!

THE FOOD!  

My personal favorite part!

 MAGIC WANDS

I made rice krispie treats and cut stars out of them once they were cooled.  Then I melted a few mini marshmallows at a time on a plate to use as "glue."  Then I stuck the pretzel rod onto the stars with the marshmallow glue.  It wasn't happening without the marshmallow glue.  These were a big hit!

BIRD'S NESTS

Then I made these adorable little bird's nest by melting butterscotch and chocolate chips - pouring them over lo mein noodles, stirring, and forming them (on parchment paper or wax paper)  into little nests/blogs.  Then I put 3 yogurt raisins on each one and put them in the fridge until they were nice a cold. 

ACORNS

I LOVE how these turned out!  They are mini Nilla Wafers (I had to by name brand, I couldn't find generic) "glued" onto Hershey's Kisses with peanut butter.  A little time consuming - but totally cute!

TOADSTOOLS

These went the fastest out of everything.  All I did was cut a mozzarella cheese stick into five pieces, spread cream cheese on the top and add a half of a cherry tomato.  Then I took a toothpick and added the little dots of cream cheese.  Again, a little time consuming, but we had a snow day before the party - so it worked out perfect :)

LADYBUGS

Essentially these are just fancy chocolate covered pretzels.  These were the second attempt... attempt 1 I learned that I lack the skill of melting white chocolate and little pretzels fill up with chocolate and look like blobs.  SO - I used larger thin pretzels and bought red candy melts from A.C. Moore.  I melted the chocolate chips first in the microwave and dipped the heads and let harden completely (on parchment or wax paper) before I melted the red candy melts in the microwave and dipped the bodies.  Once they were all hardened again I took a toothpick and added the chocolate spots from the original bin of melted chocolate and used white icing for the eyes.

RAINBOW FRUIT

My little Gooba LOVES fruit - like most little kids.  My original plan was to make fruit wands or rainbows on a stick - but then I thought skewers and 3 year olds were not a good combination - so I just made a fruit tray instead.  For the record - fruit in January is VERY expensive!

THE GAMES

We had a few games for the kids - but mostly we just let them run around and play.

I love this picture of Gooba in her dress up clothes dancing.  I bought two CDs recently at Walmart - Disney Princess Favorites and some sort of Disney Fairies CD.  We rotated through both CDs a few times.  Gooba will pretty much dance to anything!

FIND THE FAIRY

I bought two tubes of fairies at A.C. Moore and hid them around the house.  Then I told all the kids that I had the fairies in a bowl before the party and that they all flew away and were hiding.  Then they all went looking for the fairies and returned them to the bowl.  They were FABULOUS at this - I wish I had hid them a little more sneaky!

 PIN THE WAND ON THE FAIRY

&

BIRD'S NEST TOSS

I purchased a Secret of the Wings poster at Walmart and used my Cricut to cut out some stars out of yellow scrapbook paper and taped them to craft sticks.  Then we played pin the wand on the fairy.  I also filled three socks with beans and sewed them up to make beanbag eggs.  I filled a green bucket with floral filler from Dollar Tree for the toss the eggs in the bird's nest game.

BEADS!

OK - this one was in no way fairy related, but Gooba LOVES making bracelets from pony beads and pipe cleaners - so I just bought two bags of pony beads from A.C. Moore and let the kids go crazy.  We had about six kids and I found that two bags was WAY too many beads.... one bag would have been fine - but we'll use them another day - so no biggie!

Well that pretty much sums it up!  We had a great time and everyone went home happy, tired, and with full bellies :)  I can't believe my little girl is 3!

This post was brought to you by Gooba Gear and The Gooba Diaries