Maggie Whitley

joy in motherhood, homemaking, faith & simple living

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{2010, a recap of the year}

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Highlights from 2010 ~

In January, Zack and I rang in the new year being residents of Minnesota. We had moved from Michigan just months before but were actually in Michigan for the New Year. I had bought my ticket to Blissdom and was realllllly excited about going to my 1st blog conference. I had added a shop with Big Cartel (but was still selling through Etsy) and couldn’t even come close to predicting with the following months would bring Zack and I // Gussy.

February came and I celebrated by writing my first tutorial post. I had painted my nails for Blissdom and left for Nashville soon after. The next day revealed a HUGE project I sewed for (in)courage. I blogged about the awesome-ness Blissdom brought my way and just a few days later was featuring Where Women Create on my blog. Little did i know I’d be working with WWC on their first conference/handmade market later this year :] I wrote about discussing analytics. This was the start of sharing blog/biz 411 posts.

sadly we must skip through march as all posts have been lost from my switch to WordPress from Blogger {tear}, but I did find this post on when I moved over to WordPress.

April is such a memorable month ♥. I had a “first” with sewing ruffles on notecards. I also wrote my first most-popular to-date post on Etsy vs. Big Cartel {so fun to see the community form through this!!!}. I added a new print to my line of Gussy totes and later wrote a 3-part series on having a handmade business: part 1 {organizing}, part 2 {business tips}, part 3 {Q&A}. A few days later I received this amazing email from a customer. Wristlets were added to the shop, and then — I made MY BIG ANNOUNCEMENT about quitting my day job to sew full time ♥.

In May I met Allison with OMyFamily for cupcakes and we’ve been friends ever since :] Allison’s son, OBaby, was caught inside a Gussy tote bag. The maintenance lady at our apartment complex saw Zack nekkid {hilarious}. The month of May also meant I was getting ready for my first day as a full-time Gussy girl — May 17th is my first day self-employed. {I also wrote about it here and here} The celebratory day **finally** came and I was no longer working for someone else. Zack and I celebrated by a weekend “away” — here’s all the fun stuff we did. May continued to be a big month as I wrote a detailed post on how I quit my day job. I hosted my very first Gussy/Minneapolis meet-up, and was preparing for The Creative Connection here in Minneapolis later this year.

June finally brought warm weather to Minnesota, so Zack and I went on our first of many bike rides. One month had already passed since quitting my day job and I was finding old sewing posters to giggle over. I wrote a post on 3 of my favorite handmade accessories and was on my way to becoming good friends with Lisa Leonard & Jessica of Allora Handmade. I wrote another Q&A post…

July is my birthday month! :] On July 5th I celebrated my 25th birthday, so to have fun I posted my favorite things: part 1, part 2, and part 3. These three posts were leading up to a super fun birthday giveaway that I posted here. My parents surprised me {as did Zack for planning it all!} by visiting us for the weekend — yay, happy birthday to me! I received some lovely gifts and wrote another tutorial post. Zack and I had a summer adventure with a trip to Michigan. My favorite bloggy friends guest posted for me while we were away visiting family.

Yay — August! I created my first ever limited-edition headband {it turned out to be super popular — I should have un-named it “limited edition”, haha}. I wrote another biz series, but this time on budgeting: part 1a, part 1b, part 2a, part 2b. The bloggers at LoveFeast hosted a MN meet-up — of course I had to go :] One year had passed since moving to Minnesota from Michigan, and Zack & I **finally** found a new place to live {a few pics are found here}.

September I introduced a new product line for little girls >> Gussy Girl purses and headbands. Gussy Sews had our first booth at a The Creative Connection’s handmade market and I spent a few days with these fabulous business owners/bloggers :] It’s so amazing to see that earlier this year, in May, I had just quit my day job to sew on Gussy full time and was *ironically* available to meet and help plan the team putting on The Creative Connection {conference & handmade market}. God is so good! I ended the month with the official tour of our Minneapolis home.

October brought a photo of my Gussy ruffles & Ree Drummond along with new Vacay totes. And, I met Heather Bailey {and she knew who I was!} I blogged about beings pals with social media and receiving a gorgeous 1916 Singer sewing machine ♥. Pregnancy & Newborn magazine featured Gussy again. Zack and I talked about adopting a dog, and then we found Bauer and added him to our family :] I fell in love with the hair salon in our neighborhood {tell me you understand this dilemma for us curly-haired gals}, and Bauer made his first vlog ;] I went to Relevant {Christian womens blog conference} in Pennsylvania and…

then in November introduced yet another new Gussy product ~ Christmas stockings! The Gussy Sews blog hosted a holiday gift guide {day 1, day 2, day 3} and we revealed our ruffled holiday product line. Red Letter Words created THE MOST FUN ever GUSSY print for my studio. Every day Bauer steals our hearts a bit more {sigh}. I found an Etsy Success email and turned it into a community blog post, went to another blog meet-up event {at Aveda}, and shared pics of our new Gussy tags. I started a fun new series called Remembering Memories and blogged about yet another brick & mortar shop that I love. Bauer recorded another vlog and is really loving the winter snow outside. We decorated for Christmas early since we would be in Michigan over the holiday, and Gussy Sews had their first ad in OK! Magazine. {umm, amazing}

December ~ I started out by sharing how I stay [more] organized with my Gussy folder. I also shared {thanks to my friend, Stephanie} some simple tips to improve your business cards since I’m getting ready to go to Blissdom {again} in January {SO EXCITED!} I made plans to host a Gussy // Grand Rapids, MI meet-up and I wrote a stream of consciousness about my sewing machine. Gussy Sews had their “first” Christmas and shipped 148 packages *just* for the holiday season. Creating Community turned out to be a very successful post idea {click over and read about the community of the Gussy Sews blog & find a friend to connect with.} The Gussy // Grand Rapids, MI meet-up was super fun and we talked for over 2 hours :] We finished with a final Sponsor Feature post which includes a feature/giveaway on our sponsors, as well as posting our 28th Featured Artist for the year.

***

Putting this recap together has been a lovely reminder of the places I’ve gone, where I’m at now and where I want to go. Our Press page is something I couldn’t have ever dreamed ~ thank you for giving the press something to write about. Praying for a healthy, successful, fun year for 2011. xoxo

Comments

  2. Kristin says

    Your success and how far you’ve gone in such a short time is so inspiring to me and such a testimony to God’s blessings and how you can accomplish so much when you live your dreams!! I can’t wait to see what you do in 2011!

    Reply

  3. Catlyn says

    it looks like you had a truely awsome and blessed year! totally random: i have a kenmore ultra stitch 12 like in the pic too! ;)

    Reply

  4. Claire @ Madefor3 says

    great post, lovely memories….

    wishing you Zach and Bauer all the best for 2011…

    I find you really inspiring and am looking forward to reading about what adventures you get up to into 2011…

    Claire xox

    Reply

  16. Piper says

    Hey Gussy! I started reading your blog in early 2010 and have just loved it! Every time you mention quitting your day job I hear the hallelujah chorus in my head. :) Many blessings to you in 2011!

    Reply

  19. Mandi says

    What an exciting year for you! :) I’m glad I got to share a table with you during one of the sessions at Blissdom last year … wish I’d been more outgoing to say more than “hi” haha. Gotta work on that in 2011. ;) Happy New Year!!

    Reply

  23. Sandy a la Mode says

    You had quite the year, GUS!! I am sooo happy and proud of you!!! You are such an encouragement to so many women/small business owners out there!!! Here’s to another wonderful year~!!! :D

    Reply

  27. Gaby says

    So True!I remember after Savannah died how diffreent life became. I no longer had to pack the car with her huge blue chair and wagon, crush and mix her many medications or care for her in the so many ways a special needs child demands. It was like my whole identity and meaning had disappeared. Not only did I miss her all consuming love that she gave just with her smiles and her eyes but I missed the lessons she taught me.What is ‘normal’ anyway? I think as you have posted, these special children teach us so much. And while I adore our healthy daughter I do miss my life caring for Savannah.Its also easy to become bogged down in a ‘normal’ world with trivial things…Savannah, each day gave me the gift of appreciating every little thing…even just a giggle from her would make my day.I am honored and privaleged to have been part of a very special world that taught me so much, and I would turn back the clock in a heart beat.Thanks for the reminder today to appreciate!loveDiana x

    Reply

  29. Anangs says

    Good web site! I really love how it is easy on my eyes and the data are well wrttein. I’m wondering how I might be notified when a new post has been made. I’ve subscribed to your RSS feed which must do the trick! Have a nice day!

    Reply

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