I had the opportunity to share a day in the life of Belinda Lee Designs guest posting over on Vend Raleigh's Instagram feed. Since not everyone is on Instagram, I thought I would re-share here. It was a lot of fun to share every moment through the day on Instagram and it's something I've thought of doing here on occasion. Maybe just a set of the week's best snapshots from the studio?
What do you think? Good idea or TMI?
 |
Happy Monday! - and it is happy because ALL of our kids went back to school today! Here at@belindaleedesigns, this made the kids more excited than Mom! Today I'll be taking over the@vendraleigh Instagram Feed as part of the Vend Raleigh Instagram Relay. I'll be showing you "Behind the Scenes" of an ordinary day at Belinda Lee Designs. And of course, you know that by ordinary I mean "Mom and Entrepreneur ordinary" and that means that anything can happen!
|
 |
Monday so that means my first step is to plan out my whole week. If I don't take the time to write it down it just won't happen!
|
Note: @katiebugbow asked where the planner came from. You can get them for free at productiveflourishing.com. I purchased the full year because I like to plan a full quarter out at a time with my big goals and milestones. I use the Action Planner set mostly but they have Project and Blog Planners as well.
Note: @thetealmagnolia asked where I get the iron soleplate cleaner called EZ-Off. I get the goupy stuff (and my pillow forms and zippers too!) from Rowley Company. They deliver quickly because they are right here in NC - love that!
 |
There's a lot going on here! The white board on the wall tracks the orders I have in queue with a planned ship date for each. I try to ship well ahead of the date I promise in my shop. But, as a mom, I know life can get messy so I always leave in a bit of built in wiggle room. I like to plan ahead and deliver early whenever possible. My computer is up and I am doing a design check before I send it to my machine. My embroidery machine is on and ready in the background.
|
 |
My work table is a life saver. There is plenty of room for multiple projects and I can iron on it to boot! I also use it to do demonstrations during sewing classes. My husband and father in law made it. Love them!! Posted by: @belindaleedesigns #Repost from my day on the@vendraleigh Instagram Relay #mompreneur #wahm##workroomtable |
 |
Two things I think we can all agree on: cleaning and ironing are no fun. But as fabric is an integral part of my business, ironing is a must. My iron has *got* to be clean so I give a swipe before I start with this heaven sent goup and it's just like new. That said, I still use a press cloth and a spray bottle for steam - you can never be too sure... #Repost from my day over at the @vendraleigh Instagram relay#entrepreneur #smallbusiness #wahm #savemyiron |
 |
Work in progress! This pillow was ordered by a sweet mom who wants to add a personal touch to her new home. It has a brother too - but that one is already stitched. Both will be turned into pillows tomorrow and shipped before the end of the week. I like to work in batches - stitch a bunch of tops one day, turn them into pillows or wall art the next, photograph and prep for shipping the third day and ship them on the fourth day. The timing doesn't always work out as each design takes about 1.5 hours on the embroidery machine - which means I can embroider about 4 a day. But it's good to have a plan! #Repost of my day sharing at the #vendraleighInstagram Relay #embroidery #wahm #mompreneur#smallbusiness #raleigh |
 |
It's important to have the right tools for the job. For me that is thread - around 200 spools of embroidery thread alone. Also sewing machines - I have 8. People donate them like I'm a retirement home for sewing machines. And I don't mind at all, last year these donations let me hold my first machine sewing camp! #Repost from my leg today on the Instagram Relay at #vendraleigh #shoplocal #smallbusiness#mombusiness |
 |
A good, reliable #carpool is an absolute necessity for a mom-run business. With a middle schooler playing team sports, I make the 20 minute trip to school at least 2x a day. Without my carpool it would be 3 - and that doesn't account for forgotten lunches and bringing in birthday snacks. #Repost of my day of sharing over at @vendraleigh Instagram Relay#carpool #mombiz #middleschoolsports#thefranciscanschool |
 |
Last post for the night from the #vendraleighInstagram Relay! Thank you for hanging out with me today as I shared my #behindthescenes. Stay tuned to @vendraleigh for tomorrow's takeover by@torreyhillinc. Stop back here tomorrow to see this embroidered fabric transformed into keepsake pillows. And to get the real answer to the question "What's Black and Red and Gold all over?"#mompreneur #shoplocal #entrepreneur |