Good morning to all you lovely Mom Made That! readers! Today I’m really excited to bring you a little interview with the incredibly talented Brooke of Silly Mama Quilts. It’s not hard to fall in love with her eye-catching designs and attention to detail. Be sure to browse through her Etsy shop (and blog!) to take a look at her colourful pieces. I’d certainly be thrilled to cozy up with one of her beautiful quilts!

01. Tell us a little about yourself!
I am a Mom to three kids at home – 11, 9, 7 and a 24 year old daugther who is married and just graduated with her Masters and working!  I am also apart of Amanda of the Quilted Fish’s design team.  Amanda is a fabric designer for Riley Blake fabrics.  I get to design new projects that are debuted on Amanda’s blog – tons of fun!!

02. What lead you to creating your own business?
I think is covered well in the intro piece I have attached.

03. Describe a typical day in the life of YOU!
During the school year, after my kiddos are off to school, I head out on a morning bike ride to help process my day, come home to chores and errands before heading into the studio to work.  In the afternoons I monitor the kids’ activities and then take care of dinner, homework tutoring, and such things.

04. What is your best piece of advice for fellow WAHMs?
Find a balance in your life that you can live with.  I have quickly come to the conclusion that if I don’t take care of me, no one else will.  I have learned to take a stand for things I need – a bike ride for sanity, time in the studio to work and or create for example.

05. The best part of being a WAHM? The worst?
The best part is my availablity for my kids and hubby which can also be the worst.  I do love being able to work around their schedules without answering to a boss about how many sick days, vacation time and such.

06. Favourite blog? Music? Book? Movie?
I have several favorite blogs I follow – mostly related to fabric designers, design team members and quilters.  My favorite music is just about anything Contemporary Christian, movie – Return to Me, Sleepless in Seattle.

07. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
I hope to be doing what I am doing now plus maybe more designing.

Don’t forget to visit her shop & blog. You can also catch her on Twitter by following @scrapquiltqueen! 

We’re all ADDICTED to Etsy right? I know I can’t get through a day without browsing through for some neato handmade one-of-a-kind, or vintage wares. And I’m always SO impressed with the personality that many sellers put into their shops. I really enjoy buying from a REAL person — someone with a story to tell, a goal, a bit of magic to offer the world!

Just recently, Babble unveiled their picks for the Top 50 Etsy Moms of 2011 — a phenomenal list filled with more talent that I can fathom!

Check out their full list for some serious shopping inspiration. It’s never to early to start thinking about Christmas! And while you’re at it, you won’t want to miss the latest listings from Mom Made That!

Who would YOU pick for the Top Etsy Mom of 2011? Are you an Etsy Mom too? 

Sometimes it can feel like a bit of a race, this working mama game. Are we doing it right? Are we good enough? Are we getting enough done? I think we all have images in our mind about how our lives should look: work, baby, partner, family, money, home, etc. but maybe we don’t know how to get there. And maybe (more like definitely!) we’re not the only ones!

In reality, the way our lives function ends up being nothing like the lives we have in mind — but that doesn’t make it any better or worse! If it feels good do it — right? And if it works for you — do it too! All of us mamas have a different way of going about our routines… and sometimes, when we’re struggling with finding balance or a schedule that meshes inside and out, it can be helpful to take a peek into the lives of others so that we may adapt the things we think may benefits us in our own unique way.

Joanna & her son Toby

Recently, one of my favorite bloggers — Joanna via A Cup Of Jo and writer of series like flirty questions to ask a girl while playing 21 questions — shared a series of fantastic posts from herself and other working mothers, featuring the day-to-day-details of how they balance work, family, marriage and everything in between. I’m loving the honestly that’s coming through in these posts and in the comments too. It’s so NICE to see how other mamas are doing it — not to compare ourselves, or put ourselves down, but to seek inspiration when we’ve lost our own, and to see how differently we all go about it!

From Joanna’s first post in the series:

“When I looked around, other moms seemed to have it down. Walking down the streets of the West Village, Toby and I would pass countless picture-perfect moms with crisp white shirts, pretty makeup and eyelash extension, and blown-dried hair (!). How were they doing it? Was I the only new mom who was floundering? I couldn’t believe that I was, but no one else seemed to be batting a mascara-ed eyelash. I desperately wanted to be a fly on the wall and see how people really managed their time with work + baby + marriage + life.

Finally, one evening at the playground, I asked a fellow new mother, a freelance graphic designer, about her specific work schedule. To my great surprise, we ended up having a hilarious talk about the ups and downs of finding balance (she admitted to getting four hours of a sleep a night and working on her Blackberry while breastfeeding). I walked home with a huge smile on my face. I wasn’t alone! In fact, maybe we were all secretly in the same boat.”

Read through the entire My Balance series — you won’t regret it! 

Alright, we all know it’s not that simple — there’s no ONE thing we can do to ensure the success of our respective businesses. However! There’s certainly one key point that, when incorporated into our daily lives, is sure to keep us motivated and on the right path.

That key? Get things done early!

One of my favourite blogs for working mom success –  Simple Mom, which I’ve mentioned here before – the one who taught us on how do cigarette (manual) rolling machines work— recently published a post about this very topic and it’s been on my brain for days.

“Whenever possible, get it — whatever it may be — done early and eliminate the stress and frustration of being pulled in a million directions,” writes Mandi Ehman of Life…Your Way.

I find myself nodding away as I scroll through her article. How many of us have felt this last-minute insane confusion when we’ve let our priorities get out of hand? How about those late night and earlier mornings spend guzzling coffee with the hopes of accomplishing more than we can possibly accomplish in any given amount of time?

Hop on over to Simple Mom for some fabulous tips for getting things done early in your home life, business life and how to get started if you’ve fallen behind. A wonderful resource for all working mamas — you’ll want to bookmark this one for sure! 

Today we’re chatting with Becky — the brilliant mom behind SmartSeat Dining Covers. This take-charge mama loves being able to spend more time with her family as she builds her successful home biz! Way to go, Becky!

01. Tell us a little about yourself!
I am a stay-at-home mom to two wonderful boys, ages 6 and 8.  Last year, I also became an accidental entrepreneur (I certainly didn’t set out to run my own business!)  My family and I live outside of Boston in Newton, MA.

02. What lead you to creating your own business?
We purchased a new dining room set a couple of years ago.  I wanted waterproof seat covers to protect my new upholstered dining room chairs from my two messy boys, but I couldn’t find anything that I liked.  The only waterproof covers on the market were made from plastic or vinyl, which my kids refuse to sit on.  I also didn’t want a full slip cover that would completely change the look of my chair.  The SmartSeat was my solution to the problem — a seat cover that is waterproof, comfortable, and attractive.  After getting positive feedback on my design from friends and family, my husband encouraged me to look into what it would take to have my covers manufactured. One thing led to another and I now run my company with the help of my husband and our third partner, who is a very close friend of our family and also a dad of two kids.

03. Describe a typical day in the life of YOU!
I usually get an early start to the day (around 5:30) so that I can check email and get the lay of the land before the craziness begins.  It also is the only way that I can quietly enjoy my morning coffee!  Then I pack lunches and get the kids ready for school.  We are out the door by 7:30.  On the way home from school drop off, I swing by the post office to deliver any packages that are ready to go out to customers.
The rest of the day is a mix of emails, SEO time on facebook and twitter, processing orders, and, if I am lucky, a little bit of me time (either to exercise or meet up with a friend).  Around 3:00, I put my mom-hat back on, pick the boys up from school, and taxi them around to their various activities, help with homework, and make sure that dinner gets served.  We try to sit down for dinner together every night, although sometimes that means eating together on a soccer field before a game or practice!  Around 8:00, my boys head off to bed and my work day resumes.

04. What is your best piece of advice for fellow WAHMs?
I think that it is so important to cut yourself some slack.  It is hard to be a working parent!  There are definitely good days and bad days.  But most days fall somewhere in between.  I try not to dwell on the bad moments.  I just pick myself up and keep moving forward!

05. The best part of being a WAHM? The worst?
The best part of being a WAHM is that I can contribute to my family’s financial well-being and still have the flexibility of being there for my kids before and after school.  I love that I am the one who gets to walk them into school every day and the one who gets the big hug at pick up time.  I also feel quite lucky to spend so much of my day with my boys.
The worst part of being a WAHM is that there sometimes just aren’t enough hours in the day.  But I think that is a problem for all working parents, not just those who are WAHM.

06. Favourite blog? Music? Book? Movie?
Oh, I don’t know where to begin!  I’m a big fan of romantic comedies.  I read when I can — I think that my last favorite book was probably The Help or Water for Elephants.  And blog?  I come across too many good ones these days to choose only one favorite!

07. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
In five years, I would love to continue doing what I am doing now, but on a larger scale.  I would love to see my product in retail stores.  And maybe if I’m lucky, we’ll even have a second or third product in our line.

Visit the SmartSeat website, check out their Facebook page and be sure to catch up on all their latest news by following @smartseatcover on Twitter!