24+ hours of labor, not including the gathering of ideas, the layout, and the buying of supplies. I am nowhere near completed and it needs to be up by Monday. I am going to walk away from it and pray that it all comes together in the next couple of days. Ugh!!
Time to hit the community boards and small businesses with my info again. I had a bunch of business cards that aren't my favorite and some postcards I thought were a good idea but they are not. I was trying to go for the relaxed leave-the-work-to-me feel but they look like a bad travel agency. So I cut them up into....
...This!! I love it now. I used a transparent sheet for a pocket for the business cards and you can see the list of services I provide through it.
I finally made boxes for my travel tissue cases out of cardboard. Real cheap so I won't feel bad about not getting them back.
Little pockets for business cards are a great idea for community board posts so they can take the info with them.
The Handmade Marketplace- How to Sell your Crafts Locally, Globally, and Online by Kari Chapin: This 200 page book is a quick and easy read with the how-tos of selling your crafts. Lucky for me, I already knew 90% of what the book suggests. A couple of things I am taking away from it are: 1. Always spell the editors name correctly when you email them and make sure you use their first name. It must be a big deal because they mention it about 4 times in the book. 2. Be Polite. 3. Leave Thoughtful Comments. 4. Contribute to Conversations. So basically, they are teaching you to play nice in the happy craft world where there are rainbows and puffy cotton ball clouds. Yawn- nap time.
Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts: I loooved the basic techniques and the tools & materials glossary but I could do without all the projects that I never want to do. The book is 400 pages and 265 of them are projects. She should have made a sprial-bound book with sewing how-tos and sold it for $14.99 instead of $35. I know what you are doing Martha- up the cost of the book by adding projects you have been gathering on your website and magazines. I did put a measuring tape along the edge of my worktable- that was a good thing.
Brendans' Art Studio- September 3rd
Brendan-Seven Months Younger
Brendans' Art Studio: April 16th
The New Printing Press. Oh the possibilities!
Tree in my front yard. It is so pretty that I saw someone ripping off its' branches a couple of nights ago.
Can finally crack the windows.
View from my bathroom.
Front Garden: Before Weeding
6 hours later and a wicked ugly farmers tan. The soil is tilled and ready for planting in 2 weeks.
I just had a client that works at home part of the time and needed her home office fine tuned. She worked in 2 areas- at her back vanity and up front(somewhere). She told me the front gets great light so we decided to focus on that being the main office.
Ta Da! Now she has a place to work. I consolidated the back work area and moved the printer and 3 cabinets up front. Notice that the drawers are not jammed packed with stuff. It makes sense- printer ink and paper is by the printer. I put all her work books, binders, and extra filing supplies in the closet. I also made a folder with all of her computer and printer manuals- I love that!
So my friend Jim gave me a bunch of pots and odd pieces for planting a couple years ago. One thing he gave me were 4 of these huge drain bases. Never thought I would use them but look at me now- I love this. I don't have to worry about saucers for all my tiny pots. Reminds me of the days I worked at pizza joints- sliding my plants into the oven.
Figuring out plant boxes for all my sprouting buddies. I am going to have 3 2'x4' boxes on the balcony. It will be tight but doable. I do have a planting area on the side of my town house that I might need to use for all the zucchini. Maybe Mark will fix the leaking faucet that makes my garden a mud patch- maybe he won't.
I love my lotions and body tools. Just like having a laundry room or a cleaning caddy, a vanity area is a must in my life. You need to repair yourself daily. Weather it is to tweeze an eyebrow or fix a nail, have an area available so you aren't running around wasting time. I set the timer for 10 minute showers- which isn't difficult because I usually run out of hot water by then. I hung my hairdryer on the side of my vanity with a piece of ribbon and a S hook- it cools down safely.
Exercising for 30 minutes in the morning should not be difficult. It is all about feeling better. I have been slipping a bit lately by using the excuse that I am doing something productive to replace it. I have an area upstairs set up so it is always available. I also have a set downstairs that I store in the laundry room. I used a pillowcase to make a hammock for my exercise ball- super awesome. Music is a necessity when exercising for me. Pull out the old stuff- be nostalgic. I just put Pandora on my Roku box upstairs- it has changed my world. A random shuffle of Guided by Voices, Whiskeytown, Beck, Talking Heads, Cat Stevens, etc.?? Yes Please.
