Changes and Improvements

Well, during this time of Confirmation and preparation for First Communicants, things have been really busy. As usual, I've fallen behind and am piled up with more than what I can handle efficiently. The "I'm only one person!" excuse doesn't seem to cut it anymore, so I've been thinking about what I can do to get orders out on time.

I don't really like closing down my shop when I get too behind, but this is my temporary solution. So if you see my shop closed from time to time, know that it will be maybe for a week at longest. You can always email me if there is an order you would like me to get started on--just know you might have to wait for it for a couple weeks.

My long term solution that is in progress as of today is that I decided to "hire" my 7 year old daughter to help me make beads! She has been bugging me forever to let her make rosaries, yet although it's pretty easy to make roses, it's taken me a couple years to finally get them to a point where I'm satisfied with them. For now, I could use some help making beads, and I told her that once they are good enough to use on the rosaries, I will pay her $3 for every rosary that sells. We don't do allowances, so this way she can make a little money. My first employee! Her eyes lit up with dollar signs--$3 is big to a seven year old! If she continues to like it and does well, maybe in the future she can help me make roses.

Here, she is practicing etching in the clay.

Anyway, part of the problem with me always being behind is that I have the options menu where people can choose their own rosary. It's a catch 22 problem--it's been great as my sales have increased now that people can design their own rosaries, however, that also makes nearly every order "made to order" instead of pre-made. I can do "made to order" during slow times, but during these busy times it gets me behind. So what to do? I thought about taking the option menu off, but I've had a better idea. During my slow times, I will make strings of beads of every color available in the menu order. So for instance, if someone orders the pink/white swirl beads option, I will already have that string of beads pre-made, waiting to be hooked up to a rosary. It will take me a little bit to get that far ahead, but that's where Lucy (my seven year old) will hopefully help me.

There have also been other things going on--such as being low on inventory. I've put in orders but all the stores that sells rosary supplies are also out on inventory and are waiting on orders, and all of the companies that I order from are behind too. It took nearly 3 weeks just for one of my orders to even get shipped out. I just now finally got wooden crucifixes yesterday. So if the companies are behind, I am behind too. However, I don't normally put the rosary in my shop if I don't have the supplies on hand--if I do have rosaries in the store but don't have the center or crucifix for that rosary, then it most likely was put out by mistake. Part of me being so disorganized. Working on that too!

I am currently really behind on eye pins, which are essential for making rosaries! I have an order out, that is my long term solution, but with everyone else being behind, I have no idea when the eye pins will come. My short term solution while I'm waiting is to make my own eye pins from the left over wires.  Resourceful, but slow. It just makes it even longer to make rosaries. I do go to my local craft store for eye pins if I'm really in a bind, but it's more expensive and I don't get as many in a package, so it's definitely a short term solution.

People have been extremely patient with me as some of them have had to wait weeks for their orders. For that, I thank you! I am sort of a perfectionist when it comes to this sort of thing, so it's been hard on my ego to see all my mistakes that I'm making, but good for my soul. I'm seeing myself learning more in the areas of practicing humility and patience, seeing more and more that I am, after all, only one person, and that I either have to give this up or try to find new solutions.

So let me try these new solutions! I will do my best to get rosaries pending out, I promise. If any of you should order from me in the future (or if any of you have already ordered and you're still waiting!) please email me with a date of when you need your rosary by, and please give yourself (and me) a little additional time to make it, as there are other orders ahead of yours.

Thank you for making it possible for me to continue to make rosaries for you!