I am trying hard to not let this blog fall by the wayside again so I thought that I would hop on here and update you with the latest juicy details about life at the Sansom house. It deserves better than to fall into oblivion. It was meant to be so much more than that. I cannot promise the same pace that I posted 10 years ago, but I am going to try to do some sort of update at least once per week. So stay tuned for more.
Confession: This really is not about the entire family. It is about me. These are my juicy details.
It is Mid-Terms Week
I am certain that many of you recall those college mid-term weeks. One would think that this recollection of pain and suffering would have been enough to keep me from returning to school once again, but alas, that is not what happened. And here I am, in the throes of it again.
I am currently taking 2 classes at BYU-Idaho (online) – SMMBC 105 Introduction to Social Media Marketing and FCS 208 Introduction to Fashion Design and Merchandising.
These classes are not hard, but they are challenging because of their online platform. I do not have a lecture to listen to. It is a lot of reading. Some of the reading is not always current because of the rapidly changing nature of one of the classes. Asking questions often feels misdirected because the professor is using a pre-written curriculum from a BYU-I curriculum committee.
I want to do my absolute best for a couple of reasons.
- I am going to get a 4.0 this trip through my schooling. I am focused and I want it. Badly.
- These classes are appicable to my current professional work – seamstressing and marketing a business.
These classes do not have mid-term exams. No tests. There is a quiz each week in the fashion class. That is it. The grades in these classes come from online discussions, written papers, presentations, and projects. It isn’t hard. It is just time-consuming.
The mid-term project in the fashion class is a digital portfolio that includes the work from the class plus the work from at least 3 other classes that I have taken or am currently taking. There is the catch. This is only my second fashion class. The first one had us do a portfolio, but it was not digital. Not every class is portfolio-worthy in my opinion. Yet, here I sit converting old assignments and papers to PDF so that I can post them on my portfolio.
If you want to check it out, feel free to do so. You’ll find it on the Design Portfolio link in the menu. Please keep in mind that is a work in progress much like I am.
Blog Updates
As you have probably noticed, there are some changes happening on the blog. Do not panic. It is me. I imported old posts from Blogger a couple of years ago and was so busy with other things that I just left it a hot mess. I am slowly going to be working to smooth things out again.
Again, do not panic. It is intentional.
For the most part, things will stay the same overall, but you will start to see an emphasis on some areas over time. This is partly because I have to learn to apply some of the information that I am learning in my classes and the best place to do that is in my own playground where it is safe and no one will bully me because of some inferiority complex.
If you know me well, you already know that I shine brightly when I put my heart and soul into something. I frequently outshine my peers. I have come to accept that as my burden to carry, but I want to remind people that this is supposed to be my outlet, not yours. If you do not like it, take your ball and go find another sandbox to play in.
Anyway, some areas of focus will be some of the areas that I wanted to focus on years ago but have simply not gotten around to it for any number of reasons that I will not list the excuses for. Just know that things will continue to change over the next few years. Be okay with it.
Business Updates
Some have asked me how my small business, Stacey Sansom Designs, has fared with the whole pandemic still going on. Here are the juicy details on that.
Change happens. We can embrace it or resist it, but it does not stop it from happening.
I just completed filing my Texas State Sales Taxes about 1.5 weeks ago. At the time, I ran a quick check on the status of the business and how it has grown or not grown over the past 3 quarters and then compared it to 2020.
Let me preface this by saying, you are not going to get the juicy details on my revenue and whatnot. Sorry.
So far this year, in just three quarters, I have managed to surpass the profit that I made in the entirety of 2020. Please keep in mind that I was mostly still closed until mid-May of 2021 due to ongoing sinus problems and sinus surgery at the end of April. The reality is that I surpassed the annual profits of 2020 in about half the time.
My business is in no way out of recovery mode. That will be happening for some time to come, but I can truly say that even though this pandemic is dragging on and on, 2021 is a much better year overall business-wise.
I have started taking in-person drop-offs and fittings again.
Also, I was not considering going back to doing private sewing lessons again, but I had a lady contact me last week or so about doing lessons. I said, “yes” when I normally would have said, “no.” She is not a new sewist. She is simply looking for ways to improve techniques, advance her skills, and learn some shortcuts along the way. So on Monday, I will be teaching my first private sewing lesson in over 2 years. That’s pretty juicy.
Do not worry, Stacey Sansom Designs is here to stay.
That is all for now
I know that you are enjoying this update, but please know that while I am closing the juicy detail spills right here, they will not be the last.
I needed the break from the mid-term papers and projects. I needed a break from the digital portfolio building. I needed a distraction from how exhausted I am.
That was achieved.
Now it is time for me to get back to the daily grind and try to finish up at least one of the two papers that are still incomplete.
Later!
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