Things I make for our shop~Kooter & Flo's

You might know this already or not, I make stuff.  I really like it too.  I have some cool Virgin of Guadalupe pillows that I made right here!

Here's the link to the listing:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/85331720/virgin-of-guadalupe-handmade-custom

I make them with blue or brown bandanna backs but can always do custom colors, permitting they make that color in bandannas :)

My love of vintage sewing patterns has taken on a life of its own.  I keep trying to find new things to do with them.  I figured that I love coffee just about as much.  Why not combine the two?

(the picture won't turn the right way...)

Vintage sewing patterns that I scanned, cut, moved, dropped and dragged into coffee mug inserts.  I have four available

1940's

1950's

1960's

and the Virgin of Guadalupe!

I had an idea for an all men's pattern one but everyone thought it was weird and creepy.  What do you think?

What else would you like to see when YOU are drinking coffee????

Thanks for the time and have a super awesome weekend!

~Brin

my neighbor is rad

Got these two rad pictures from my neighbor today.  This is my driveway at home.  The car on the left is my man's 1929 Ford Model A Roadster and the other one is my 1964 Dodge Dart GT.  Don't forget the neighbor's dog, Sparky.  Life is good.

Here's a pic of the Dart by herself...

Thanks Johnny Knight!

the power of social media - fingers crossed xx

Not only did we do our first paid advertising this month - Sometimessweet.com but we also used a SEO marketing consultant to increase our views and visits to our page.  I bought a .com address so that instead of telling people, "oh, our website is etsy dot com, forward slash shop, forward slash...." now I can say, "It's kooternadflos.com" which directs you right to our shop front on Etsy.

I printed out all of our numbers (views, visits, etc.) on March 1st at 9am to be able to compare the numbers at the end of the month.  I can't wait to see what happens.

Sales are steady and the same as last month for today.  I am hoping that traffic and sales increase due to the push in exposure.  Let's see what happens!

But in the meantime, I would highly recommend Sarah Beattie's services.  She has a website, Facebook, blog, etc. and offers a variety of services for Etsy shop owners and more!  Look her up.  She even wrote a book on how Etsy's search engines work and how to use their formulas to get higher ranking and more views.  She's rad!

http://sarahsmarketing.com

http://sarahsmarketing.blogspot.com

www.DaEtsyCode.com

In the meantime, have an AWESOME weekend and see you all next week!

a free update brought to you by Brin

I haven't felt like there has been anything noteworthy happening lately hence my lack of posting.  Not much going on in the whole weight loss department.  Well, one thing; another pair of pants fit.  I do not own a scale which makes it difficult to determine actual pounds lost or gained.  So I rely on the fit (or lack thereof) of my clothes.

As I told y'all before, I was down to two pairs of pants that still fit; one navy blue, one black.  Well add another pair of black to that list.

I have been really sticking to my food plan and this past weekend I went bowling on Saturday and painted the front of the house on Sunday.  What a difference a non-pukey color makes.

Before:

After:

On another note, going to advertise the Etsy store for the first time starting March 1st.  I love this blog called SometimesSweet.com and she has advertising space.  I can't wait to see what kind of traffic it brings in.

Hope everyone is healthy and happy and doing well.

it's been a bit

so i haven't posted in a lil' while and i thought i owed y'all an update.  I have just put in my second order with Herbalife which means I have been at this for about a month now.

Truth be told, I cheat.  I have been REALLY trying to be good and i gotta tell ya, when I am, i can tell a difference.  my problem is dinner.  i cook for three kids and one hungry man.  i try to find something that, if i take away most of the carbs, i can eat with them.

last night we had chicken quesadillas, beans and rice.  i skipped the rice and had some beans (about 1/2 cup) and 3/4 cup of chicken i did in the ol' crock pot.  i also put about an ounce of cheese on top of the chicken and had about 10 tortilla chips, which i used as a utensil to eat the chicken and beans.  i went online to log my dinner last night.  everything was going great, i was at the right amount of calories, until i added the damn chips.  now, granted, they weren't 10000 calories or anything but they did take my over my goal caloric intake.  lesson learned.  but DAMN those chips from Pancho Villa's are AMAZING!  especially with chicken and beans.

haven't weighed myself in days so i don't know what's up with that but clothes are not as tight and i feel good.

i have decided that weighing yourself is lame.  there are too many factors involved with getting an "accurate" number.  weigh yourself at the same time of day....take into account how much you think you clothes weigh (really?!?!  who has ever weighed a shirt and pair of pants?!?!?!?)...plus if i was working out or doing anything exercise related guess what?  muscle weighs more.  so that would throw it all off.

i think it's about how your clothes fit.  mine are still tight and lame.  so i am trying harder and working at it better.  my nutrition coach told me that she had a client that broke an ankle and was couch-bound.  the client, who didn't exercise, stayed on the strict food plan and lost weight.  shit, if she can do it laying down, i should be able to also!

that's all for today.  have a lovely week.

Eight glasses of water per day. Minimum

So my goal is to drink eight glasses of water a day.  Not 8 bottles of water, 8 cups of water; that's only four bottles of water.  So far, so good.  The only side effect is that I am peeing all the time.  Soo, I figured I needed my own stall in the bathroom.  I am there the most.  Here is what I envision when I think about it!

Granted it's not permanent...yet.  But in my mind, it is engraved in there. Queen of the Throne!

Thank goodness that's over...

Back at work and feeling really good about the new year.  

I realized a couple things.  I eat better when i am working.  i drink more water and stay on my schedule of eating better when i am at work.  vacation makes me eat shit, crap, junk at all hours of the day.  i have no schedule, no clock, etc.  

So I can handle the weekends.  I just can't do a whole week and two weekends and stay focused and strong about eating right and enough.  I want to do projects, and clean and Etsy and all.  But I have learned that I will eat the closest thing to me when I wait too long and am hungry.  I need easy, high protein snacks ready to go at all times!  

Given that fact, I have found my new snack and I am loving it.  Cooked chicken.  Yeah, that's all.  I used the crock pot over vacation and am hooked.  

Easy Speasy Chicken 

throw frozen chicken breasts into crock pot

one or two cans of cream of chicken soup mixed with water to make creamy

dump on top of chicken.  use water to fill the pot enough to cover the breasts (haha, i said breasts :)

turn on high for five or six hours.  

drain sauce.

shread or cube chicken

put into tupperware in frig.

VIOLA!  Instant protein snack ready when you are!  No more searching the cabinets or frig.  Add to cottage cheese with pepper on top or Tapatio.  OY VEY!  It's good.