First Day on the Job

As promised, here are some notes from my first day on the job at Common Thread Studio! N and G dropped me off before heading off to Amy's Playground for a father-son outing. I loved leaving the house as a family so they could see where I'd be spending the day.

Here I am. Kind of like a "first day of kindergarten" shot.

N immediately honed in on these amazing wooden toys, made in Oregon.

They met the shop dog, Luca.

My first major assignment? Embroidering a felt stocking for an upcoming class. Coming fresh off of stitching my way through a fabulous Eco-Felt Ornament workshop, I could barely believe it! (Are you sure I get paid for this?)

Jin, the store owner, gave me a brief training and then headed out to L.A. for 5 hours of meeting and errands. Somewhat dumbstruck, I "managed" the shop solo, encountering many customer questions I didn't know the answers to. (Do you do machine embroidery? Where can I find 100% cotton thread for my vintage clothing reconstruction? Can you sew my coach's name onto a sports jersey?)

Luckily, when she wasn't frolicking with other doggie visitors, I had Luca for company.

Jin returned at the end of the day and we wrapped things up by inventorying some new items for the store. Running your own shop is no joke! We counted everything and assigned each product a code, then I wrote out the price stickers by hand.

I can't believe Jin has being running this whole operation single-handedly thus far. She is a powerhouse!

So, that's a taste of my new job. If you're in the area, check us out! I know the answers to a lot more questions now. As I resume blogging, would you like updates on my work at Common Thread? So much good stuff is happening there, but not much of it relates to gift wrapping. I'd honestly appreciate your opinion. What are your 2 cents?

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Common Thread Studio

I alluded to this news in my last post - and here it is. I got a job! I'm working part-time at Common Thread Studio, a sewing studio and gift shop in South Pasadena. I am almost still amazed that I am here. This is me on my first day:

This job came completely out of the blue. I walked past Common Thread on my way to meeting a dear friend for grilled cheese. An hour later, I met the owner. Five days later, I interviewed and got a job offer!

After having our son N and leaving MOCA, I've essentially been a stay-at-home mom. My main work has been mothering and blogging. For the past year and a half, I've been asking God what it means to have work that is life-giving and income-generating. I know how to be creative, and I know how to bring home a paycheck, and but I didn't necessarily see how to do both.

The Gifted Blog has been an essential piece of the puzzle. I've so enjoyed bringing a piece of something I love - creative gift wrapping - to you every week. It's shown me what it's like to have life-giving work.

This job at Common Thread Studio is absolutely a gift from God. It's another piece of the puzzle and an answer to my prayer. While I've taken steps to be monetarily compensated for blogging, it is definitely a labor of love. But one day of work at Common Thread earns me more than 4 months worth of ad revenue from the blog(!).

I am so grateful to get paid for helping people get in touch with their inner creativity. Common Thread offers classes and studio time to give customers access to expert instruction and sewing tools. Though I'm mostly a hand-sewing enthusiast (thanks, Kathrin!), working here gets me excited about getting reacquainted with the sewing machine.

I'll be working on the website, scheduling students for classes, managing the shop and hopefully blogging and teaching classes down the line! I'm so excited to see how my work with The Gifted Blog has prepared me so specifically to give my best to Common Thread. Seriously cool. And, I truly believe, orchestrated by God.

I'll be back with a recap of my first day of work, then it's back to blogging about gift wrapping. See you soon!

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{Last images via Common Thread Studio}

Checking in

Hi readers! How are you? I'm checking in to say hello.

It's been a while! Three weeks, to be more precise. This would normally make me very nervous. From the beginning, I knew that if I started blogging I wanted to do it in earnest. I drew up calendars (actually, I still do) and brainstormed posts so I wouldn't run out of things to say. I've posted as regularly as possible, even from Japan and visits to family.

But, something happened, and it's interrupted my personal life, family rhythm, and blogging schedule...in a good way! It's made life very full and interesting, such that I haven't freaked out about returning from my blog vacation prematurely. And...it has something to do with the picture above.

I will tell you more this week. In the meantime, I hope you are doing well and that you were able to enjoy your holiday gift wrapping! Let me know how it went in the comments. As always, I'd love to hear from you!

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