I’m Amy. I’m a graphic designer who began as a blogger, and I’m raising three kids while working from home in Colorado as the owner of Nuts & Bolts Paper Co.
After baby #1 was born, I went through the motions of the daily exhausting to-dos as a first-time mom. Postpartum set in. I was tired. Everything about who I previously was seemed to disappear and now the only thing I identified with was “mom.” I was lost.
And then one day, the clouds behind to lift and I realized I am so much more than a mom machine. I am still a woman, a wife, a creative, a businesswoman, a friend, a writer, a DIYer and – as it turns out – a pretty decent cook. I can love and raise my little girl while also pursuing the things that make me me.
The Mombot (mombot = mom robot) was born from this realization in 2011. I wanted to write about my passions and interests in an attempt to reach other moms who feel stuck in the day-to-day and are a little bit lost. I wanted to create a community of women who can talk about everything from The Bachelor, to building a coffee table, to 5-minute dinner ideas, to potty training. Because it’s all relevant and it’s all a part of who we are.
Sure, we’re moms day in and day out. But we’re also so much more.
Over the years as I’ve grown as a mom and a businesswoman, The Mombot has also become about simplification. Because if we are going to be and do all these things we love, we need to simplify. We can’t do it ALL. I have had to learn to say NO, to accept that my house might not be as big as the girl next door’s, to know that cooking and crafting with my kids is just NOT my jam…
But it’s ok. Because even in simplifying and doing things the easy way, there is beauty and happiness in accepting who we are and what we are capable of.
You are a mom. You are superhuman. You, like me, are a mom robot (in the best, strongest, able to multitask and kick ass while doing it kind of way).
xo,
Amy
My Manifesto.
- I am for aspiring to be and working toward being a great mom.
- I am for women pursuing the passions and interests planted in their hearts long before motherhood (and also the ones planted after).
- I am for using television to keep your kids busy so you can get in a quick yoga session and a shower.
- I am for letting dad tackle bath time and bedtime so you can go to Target ALONE.
- I am for enjoying a glass of wine while attending an 8 pm webinar on a topic that you want to learn about.
- I am for saying NO to kid’s birthday parties (occasionally).
- I am for buying baked goods because cooking them with your kids will bring out your crazy voice.
- I am for cutting out clutter in all areas of life and home and instead focusing on the really important things.
Are you on the same page? Great! Let’s do this thing called motherhood together.
What I do.
A year or so after I started blogging, I decided to open an Etsy shop, Nuts & Bolts Paper Co. I had been doing freelance graphic design for a while and over the years had amassed quite a selection of birthday party invites and birth announcements created for myself and for friends and family, so I figured I might as well try to sell them. To my surprise, people actually bought stuff from me… At some point I realized, I like this. This is what I want to do.
It wasn’t until I created my first baby book while pregnant with my third child that things really took off. People bought into the concept – a simple baby book that wasn’t full of pointless information and would never be completed because it was just.too.much. Over the years, I have landed a wholesale account for my memory books and expanded my selection in my Etsy shop.
I sell notebooks, invitations, stationery and memory books for the mom who wants to simplify; for the mom who needs to quickly print cute party invites because she forgot that her kid’s birthday was in a week (yeah, I’ve done it too); for the mom who needs to buy an easy gift for a girlfriend; for the mom who wants to preserve memories, but doesn’t have a whole lot of time to devote to it. And if you’re not a mom, I sell stuff for you, too!
How it happened.
