I just realized that I didn't post again after my last post on September 1st! I've just been super busy lately.
I've been doing a lot of editing and ordering photos...the 4 generation family photos we had and then the prints of the girls' senior pictures. I waited to order Aubry's until we had Ashlyn's...so I could order the same number of similar poses and sizes. I like to have a balance for when I hang them up. Now I just have to decide where to hang them up and get some frames for them.
I've also been pretty busy lately working on CandiMaker stuff. I separated my digital designs and my transfers into two separate shops in October. I also revamped my logo to be more representative of my style...and then redid my shop banners to match. I also added important information to the banners (like how to get free shipping, etc.) so it can be seen easily. I created a few new designs...but have been too busy with other things to create more. I need to press a few of my designs so that I can have example photos of how beautifully my transfers appear on finished products.
I spent all of last weekend rearranging and reorganizing my office. I had to change everything around in order to have room for my new printer! I already have the ET-16650 that I use for sublimation and kept the unused ink that originally came with the printer. So I've been wanting to get another Epson EcoTank printer that takes the same pigment ink. I found a great deal on an ET-5800 in Epson's own Ebay store that was refurbished directly by Epson. It came with a 1-year warranty plus two more full sets of ink. I'll be using the new printer mainly for my third Etsy shop...CandiMaker Stickers! I'm still hammering out all the details and working out what other materials I need as well as packaging, shipping, listing details, etc...so it'll still be a little while before my sticker shop goes live. Right now I'm still using our Epson WF-2650 for printing my mailing labels...but eventually I hope to get a thermal printer so I can print mailing labels and other packaging stickers without using any ink. :)
But back to my office...I'm really pleased with how it's coming along. I moved my big desk over to be in the corner of the room. Then the smaller desk now sits perpendicular to basically make an L-shaped desk. Both printers fit perfectly on the smaller desk. Then the drawers of that desk have labeled boxes for my pigment and sublimation ink bottles and shipping supplies. I left the small desk a little more than a foot away from the wall so that my tall set of drawers fit in between (with another smaller set of drawers on top of that). The drawers store all my different types of paper, printable vinyl, mailing labels, laminating sheets, etc. Then the WF-2650 sits on top of those drawers. Across from the printers I have the large armoire against the wall in the corner. I've changed that into my packaging center. I already had all my Priority Mail boxes and envelopes in the lower cabinet. Now in the upper cabinet I have the guillotine paper cutter and a rotating organizer for regular envelopes, thank you cards, etc. I used command strips to put up two organizer things (which are actually to stick up in lockers to hold pencils and stuff) to hold my freebie/sample sublimation transfer prints as well as a hook to hang a pair of scissors. So now I can just print the labels and fill the packages all right there in one spot. Then I moved my Cricut Maker 3 (which used to be in the armoire) to the other side of the room. I had some modular drawers that have been in the girls' rooms which I stacked and put together back-to-back with a heavy piece of poster board on top to make a table for my Cricut. So now I have a ton of storage with all the drawers. On one side I have all my sublimation supplies and blanks then on the other side I have my planner and sticker supplies...plus my Cricut supplies.
Now that I have other places to store a lot of the things that were originally stuffed in my desk...I need to figure out what all I'm going to store there instead. It will probably end up being my planners, writing stuff, and some of my art supplies. I already have some separate little drawers that I moved to my desktop...and I organized all my pens and pencils in those. I have SO many pens and pencils. LOL. I also organized all my clips into drawer organizers...I had a lot of those too.
So other than finishing up my desk...there are just a few things I have left to finish my office. I am looking for a nice, sturdy rolling utility cart that I can use for my heat press and the toaster oven. I need something mobile so that I can store it in front of the closet and then roll it out of the way when I need to get into the closet or to move away from everything else so it isn't a fire hazard while I'm actually using it. So I've been looking at different types of shelves/workbenches that can hold enough weight, don't have cheap wheels, and are a good size for the space. I also need to get some LED lights to hang up inside the armoire and some white curtains. The teal green curtains that are in there cast a green tint into the room so I want to get some white curtains to fix that. Oh and I also want to get/make a 2-tier shelf to put in the small top shelf in the armoire where I can separate the difference sizes of sublimation paper I have. Right now I just have them in their boxes stacked on that shelf. But that's really all I need for now. I really love how it's coming together.
The office is really "my" space where I can put my stuff that I don't otherwise have a good spot for. I still have the hutch shelf (it goes with the small desk but it's detachable) holding all of my art books, cookbooks, yearbooks, etc. And on top of the hutch I have all of our wedding décor items. Our jewel-tone wedding colors don't really match the color palette we have going on in the rest of the house. :P Plus with it in my office (which usually has the door closed), the cats don't climb up there and mess with anything. Since a lot of our wedding décor is breakable...I don't need the cats pushing it off the shelf. :P I also have two shelves (one is a skinny bookcase and the other is actually a small, swivel DVD stand) where I have my current selection of books. They fit perfectly behind the bi-fold closet door when opened...and makes use of some space that would otherwise not be used. Most of the books on there are the ones I picked out from my grandma's collection after she died. She was very well-known for her love of books. She also loaned them out a lot...so I just picked books that I would enjoy reading and that she had written her name in.
Once I get the office completely put together, I'll take pictures of how everything looks. I'm really excited about it. :)
I still have two more Etsy shops that I plan to open...but I probably won't focus on them much until next year. I want to get my sticker shop all set up and running...plus keep working on my first two shops. But I'm very excited for the future of CandiMaker! Especially now that I'll have more time...since I'm no longer doing transcription. I called them out in October for treating their independent contractors like employees under their control...then earlier this month we reached a settlement agreement. So I've decided to focus on CandiMaker full-time now. And with the settlement I was able to get my printer and a new tablet that I'll use for drawing designs...as well as a few other supplies that I've needed.
Anyway...just thought I'd give an update since it's been so long. I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving! :)