thankful thursday - business lessons from the home front

I have had so many aha moments lately

(where the hell is Oprah when we need her?)

and maybe the biggest aha AHA has been that when we know something we cannot unknow it.

Life just doesn't support our playing dumb.

(when we were kids and we got in trouble, my sister would cover her eyes thinking that if she could not see our parents they could not see her - even then it didn't work - well, it probably did work because she was kinda cute, but it shouldn't have worked, dammit)

When we learn something and we resonate with it and we know that it is true for us and we do not live it, well, things have a way of just not working out and at the very least things have a way of being alot harder.

It's like we get off easy with a little dumb luck early on, but then life says - ok this one knows more and then ... more is expected.

Anyhoo, although I know from my business that it is best to set my intention and work/enjoy the process without trying to control exactly how everything is going to happen, somehow I have not been translating this knowing to life with David.

We set our intention, take action in that direction, then trust that life will take care of the details.

I realized that this was exactly what I was not doing with David.

I was totally focused on the 'hows' - how to get him to agree to see a psychiatrist, get him housing, health insurance, etc, etc - how was I ever going to make these things happen - I was failing.

Then it hit me that maybe the 'hows' are not my job. And it hit me that I already know this, but I just haven't been doing it.

So, I set a clear intention for myself, because I can't control any of this (and I definitely can't control David) and have been doing what I can with what I have from the place I am right now.

I started seeing David visiting a psychiatrist, moving into a wonderful place with other dual diagnosis men, getting to the doctor, having a happy life and I started spending an hour a day (total) doing something in these areas.

Life rewards action after all, but I also have alot of other things to take action on and since the hows are not my job I trust that there are stronger, better hands at work here.

(since changing my thinking or I should say since taking actions that support the truths I already embrace with my thinking - David has agreed to see a psychiatrist, is going to social services tomorrow for the first time with his new intensive case manager - yay, it took 2 months, but we got one - and he got his fishing license)

xo all

* shoe print by cookstah

staying "in tension" until our intentions are clear so our arrow flies straight and doesn't do one of those wobbly, bobbly freefalls

If we were archers -

we would gather our energy.

We would pull back our bow.

We would take aim.

We would hold our bow "in tension".

This holding position is important to landing our arrow where we intend it to go; to hit our mark.

(of course, if we are in some kind of life and death battle with that arrow then I guess we just let it fly and hope for the best, but most situations we makers are facing today are not quite so dire)

The same way an archer's "in tension" allows her arrow to hit her target, our own intentions release our energy where we need it to go.

Intentions are not wishes; they are not hopes - wanting to do something is 180 degrees from intending to do it.

Intention releases the potential that makes things happen.

That's why we need to get crystal with what it is we are intending with our maker businesses. Asking ourself, "what is my intention with this?" helps us get clear.

Sometimes our intention is clear but we are held up for some reason.

It is like we have our bow drawn and we are focused on the target, but suddenly the dog barks, the phone rings, the guy next door starts blasting Adele and you know we have to stop and listen to that.

The archer stays focused and holds herself "in tension" through all the noise.

(and sometimes this noise can last a while and sometimes life sends us noise to test our intentions and see how badly we want something or sometimes the noise could be there to delay us because there is something better for us later)

Of course, we always get to choose because it is our life after all - and there is no one thing we just have to do, in reality life has back up plans for our back up plans lined up for us.

Because once that arrow is released, it is released, there is no grabbing it midair

(unless you have some super power that I would be totally jealous to find out about)

and straightening that baby out.

Better to stay "in tension" and get clear (I know our shoulders hurt, but we are strong, WE CAN DO THIS) than send out a wobbler and stab ourselves in the foot.

* the headhunter tee from blackbirdtees

a sneak peek at my new cork necklace line for spring (aka lessons from the slow lane)

I couldn't resist snapping a few quick shots of my new cuties. I will be offering them to customers in a couple weeks and at the trade shows this summer. They are super cute in person - I have a professional photographer taking pics of these and my new locket line next week, so will post more then!

our bodies; our business - as within, so without

I know that to change our outer world we have to change our inner world first.

Peace within leads to peace without. Abundance within leads to abundance without.

I know this.

(sometimes this knowing is like the knowing about exercise, I know what to do, but I don't always do it)

It is all about our mindset.

It's as simple (and as challenging) as that.

The universe literally rearranges itself to reflect our reality.

The same applies to our bodies. I sometimes have neck, shoulder, arm and hand problems

(and stomach lately - although I looked at a chart of the human body to see what is in the places that hurt and have determined that there is nothing there, well, I'm sure there is blood and veins and miles and miles of rolled up intestines - but the chart just shows empty parts - maybe the empty places hurt - which of course could be a metaphysical truth for me, or maybe I need some dietary adjustments ... or most likely both)

My weekend eating schedule goes kind of like this -

me - what time is it? are you hungry yet?

hubs - it's 3:00 - well .... you just ate a pint of guacamole, 2 york peppermint patties, a package of garlic pita chips and 2 butterscotch krimpets. I got full just watching you.

me - *crickets*

me - what time is it?

hubs- 3:05

me - are you hungry yet?

Our bodies are a mirror of our deep, often unconscious, feelings and beliefs.

I once read that people with a strong need to shoulder responsibility build themselves big shoulders and we have enough sloping shoulder family members with no intention or desire to carry any burdens for me to believe this.

After reading Louise Hay many years ago, I never have a pain in the neck without asking myself "who am I allowing to be a pain in the neck? or how am I being a pain in the neck to myself" and see where I need to re-empower myself.

Indigestion - what can't I assimilate?, pain - what am I aching for?, stiffness - what am I being inflexible about?

I have mostly always been dealing with problems on the right side of my body (men, the future, business), but recently my left side (women, the past, home) has been experiencing strange phenomenon

(not the extra-terrestrial kind, I don't think, although I am obsessed with Ancient Aliens - the tv show, so any phenomenon having alien history does not seem that far fetched to me at the moment)

like rashes

(strangely in the shape of California; some days Idaho)

and of course this makes perfect sense for my life at the moment, but it did get me thinking about the right side of our bodies and our businesses.

So maybe the next time we have a right side problem or injury or ache or pain we can ask ourselves how this might relate to our business and what might have come up to be released?

(after writing this I very quickly stubbed my big toe, hard, my right toe and of course this has me thinking about how I am getting in the way of my business or what I am allowing to get in my way, and of course, this is alot to think about so I will just make myself a small large bowl of guacamole and put on my thinking cap)

* sending blessings print by the amazing lori portka

fighting Etsy exhaustion part lV - bring me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breath free - wait, is that me or the Statue of Liberty - it's hard to know- we both wear flip flops in the winter, have a sore right arm and really need to sit down

8. Do less

Figure out what isn't working and get rid of it.

80% of your money almost certainly comes from 20% of your makings - what can you streamline? what can you dump?

Multi-tasking is yesterday's news - it doesn't work. What we need is to set an intention and focus on it like a laser beam. Even if it is just so we can experience the energy of completion - that's powerful stuff.

We know the power of niche thinking with our physical makings and then we scatter our mental and physical energy all over the place and exhaust ourselves.

And we need to pay attention to what we are telling our subconscious minds when we hold on to stuff that isn't working.

9. Change how we do things, not what we are doing

Sometimes things are actually working, but we get so tired and overwhelmed we think we have a product problem when what we have is a process problem.

(many creative babies have been thrown out with the dirty bath water - stuff gets dirty, life is messy - change the water, not the baby - unless of course that baby really needs changing - but that's what dads are for)

10. Get clear on what we want

I had a friend tell me about a big opportunity not that long ago and I said "God, I wish I wanted to do that" because I knew I should want to do it, but I was just too damn tired at that moment to even want it.

Once we have put a little bit of space between us and "tired" we need to get clear on what we want - not doing things because we should want to do them will open up a huge space in our lives to fill with the stuff we really do want.

And if we reach the point where we are just too tired to want anything, except maybe a nap and a Nook - well, this is just not the time to divide the "should wants" from the "wants" - take the nap, read your Nook and decide later.

Now the very best model of how to sell things on Etsy (in my humble opinion) is the make it once and sell it again and again model.

(think photographs, illustrations, ebooks, advertising on our blogs, knitting patterns - you get the idea)

There are ways to bring some of this into any maker model though and I'm going to talk about that next week (or possibly the week after - when the giveaway will be back, too - yay! - since I have a couple large orders to get out next week and may take a blog break)

As a David update for anyone following his saga - he is still living with us, most of hubby's family has fallen away (possibly all of his family- we will see who cancels next week) and the truth is - although part of me is resentful about it - I totally get that they have been through this before and it is exhausting.

Hubby knows a wonderful young man who also suffers with schizophrenia and is on some great medication (a new medication that he says no longer makes him feel like he is inside a shell) coming to dinner this weekend. We are hoping to edge the conversation toward David seeing this man's doctor because David has refused all mental health help. I have been advised by someone from psychiatric services that it's not illegal to be "crazy" - that we can't force someone to seek help unless they are clearly a danger and I certainly don't want to live in a world where just anyone can be called crazy and locked up

(because I would clearly be living in a world that consisted of a padded cell and some kind of rash-generating restraints if a mental health professional got hold of my blog - I think I should make some of my posts self-destruct - ha!)

but to require someone with a disease that causes the brain to not be able to recognize the disease exists to "seek" help is crazier than schizophrenia.

In the meantime we are using words like brain trauma (since David has had multiple) and ADD to try and coax him to a psychiatrist. It is like walking on eggshells a firey bed of hot coals since his ability to instantly be aggravated and angry and avoid conversations he doesn't want to have is unequaled - also his memory for what happened in the early 80's, before he got sick and before he started drinking.

(since I can't remember what happened last week or last night this is totally amazing to me and has me looking for an 80's trivial pursuit championship we can get him involved with).

Have a wonderful weekend everyone - spend a little time doing less!

*loving this no one else could fill your shoes tee from Jordan Grace Owens

what to give others ....

guidance, attention,
help (sometimes)
love, always.
criticism, never.


love always,
The Universe

(the universe is pretty smart)


* give it away print by brightside studio

thank you for not littering ..... or whining on wednesday

Dear Person Who Did This -->

you. made. my. night.

and I am stealing this idea for the trash can in hubby's shop.

We were having a bad day - I haven't blogged much about David lately, but today we had some big challenges and had to go to court with him -

I always get nervous in court as if the judge will suddenly pull out our 2009 tax return and demand an explanation of the deductions we took for Olive's doghouse - I still think staff housing is a valid business expense even if that staff has four legs and a mole patrol collar tag

plus I did my eyebrows this morning (yes, more grooming talk, sorry). The bad news? I’ll be spending the next several days looking surprised. The good news? I’m totally prepared if someone tells me a story with a twist ending. Also I saved 25 bucks.

fighting Etsy exhaustion part III - tips for one at a time or small batch makers

When my maker shops on Etsy took off, my small batch and one at a time makings model quickly became a challenge.

The time I used to spend creating something new became time spent reproducing/replacing things that had sold and eventually

(I blame Etsy's cunning little relist button)

to producing things that I had already sold.

This can create a situation where we are so focused on the outcome that we lose sight of how much energy we are investing and stop paying attention to how exhausted we've become.

“you can map out a fight plan or a life plan, but when the action starts, it may not go the way you planned and you’re down to your reflexes. That’s where your roadwork shows. If you cheated on that in the dark of the morning, well, you’re going to get found out now, under the bright lights" ... joe frazier

(yes, I realize this quote is off-topic and may even make you more exhausted to contemplate it - but someone just sent it to me and damn it's good
Small batch (and one of a kind) makers need a tight grip on their time.

(something like the death grip Angry Bird addicts have on their handhelds)

1. Unless your item is personalized do not hit the relist button until your next item is made.

Simple thing - hard to do - saves lots of headaches

2. Instead of making 1 of your amazing little whatnots - if possible, make two, often you can make multiples without doubling your production time

3. Limit your time online - clicking is addicting

4. Set up your studio to make your making easier

I recently 'cleaned' my studio ... again ... to make things a little more Ford assembly line-like for myself, but found my hands always reaching toward the places where parts and doodads used to be - it has taken me some time to retrain my muscle memory, but I have been able to save time by getting my workspaces in line with my process.

and yes, you will probably need workspaces - plural -

- constantly taking things out and putting them away is a huge time waster - before I had a studio - I would set up things in drawers within a cabinet and then pull the drawers out onto the table to set up 'areas' for assembly, shipping, photography, etc and then just return the drawers to the cabinet when I was finished with them

5. Get on a schedule

I think, that just like your production area, your schedule needs to fit your life, your energy peaks, etc - this does not have to be a 9-5 thing, but when it's become a 5-9 thing all the time and when the things that you need to do to make your business and your life sustainable- like make time for new work - get lost in the shuffle, you need to get yourself a huge calendar and figure this out.

I like to schedule things in chunks so if something comes up I can move one chunk to another part of the calendar.

Confession - I do not have this all figured out and there are some chunks that have been moving around my calendar for ... weeks ... sigh.

6. Limit your one of a kind or commissioned work - make a production schedule and stick with it

(it is human nature to want things that are not just readily available to everyone - things that are made to order just for us, things we have to plan for - wait in line for; hopefully a cyber line, like your production schedule - things that SCREAM special)

Allowing yourself time for creative work - no matter how many of your amazing whatnots you are selling right now, everything has a life cycle and I can guarantee you that your whatnot will become a whatever at some point - allows your business to grow in a more sustainable way.

It allows you and your brand to be around long after your whatever whatnot has become yesterday's news.

7. Get help

The opposite thinking is that you need to strike while the iron is hot with your amazing whatnot - so farm out the production help that you can while you can - and be ready to move on when the iron cools.

part III continues Friday

(I promise it will be worth dragging your tired self over here to read - unless you have something really important or really fun chunked into your calendar - like a Belgian wax, maybe - yes, you read that right, I do not have my countries that start with B mixed up - it is really just a regular wax that you follow up with a waffle to reward yourself since it hurt so much, but it sounds almost as exotic as the gross kind)

fighting Etsy exhaustion part ll 1/2 - stepping back and refocusing here

A few people have asked me why I am making this series so Etsy-centric when many other things contribute to the exhaustion some of us have been feeling this winter

(and I agree, although I do see Etsy as being an intrinsically exhausting venue to sell our makings)

so I thought I would interrupt this series with some less Etsy-specific thoughts about all of this.

(think of this interruption as a little less annoying than that tv emergency buzz signal and a little more annoying than when someone interrupts your movie-watching with a bag of popcorn)

I have a friend who advises when exhausted:

Do no favors. Do not, under any circumstance engage in another 'act of kindness' unless it is completely 'natural and convenient' for you

This is not about "me time" because that is just not big enough for what we need here - even ME TIME is not enough, not even ME TIME - this is about MUCH MORE than that ...

(cue the marching band)

some things I have found to help:

1. drink more water
2. go outdoors - yes, it's cold - so, what - your toes will thaw out later - just get out there
3. keep your telephone calls to under 3 minutes - no exceptions
4. eat less
5. refuse to hurry
6. laugh

(I have the funniest family on the planet, seriously, after the last week with them, I feel like I have done a thousand sit-ups - now if I only looked like I had done a thousand sit ups ....)

7. put an out of office auto response on your email for awhile
8. sleep
9. listen to music
10. don't start anything new - things started during creative exhaustion have a way of not looking so good when your head clears
11. be grateful

(you probably wouldn't be this tired, if you didn't have a full crazy-ass life which not everybody allows themselves to have and you do, allow it that is, so be grateful)

12. trust

(another door stands visible in plain sight but you are just too damn tired to see it - it's there, you will)

* dandelion by Raceytay

New Polarity Magnetic Bracelets in Shop - when wrist restraints may not be enough

My new style interchangeable magnetic bracelets are fabricated by me from a recycled steel car part with love and propane and are available in either mini (shown above) or regular size with ANY lid designs in my shop Polarity -10% off thru 2/28 with the coupon code GIANTS 

the week the Giants won the Superbowl, I got a gurgle pot and my sister flew back to Portland EARLY

My sister heads back to Portland today ... sniffle
(not sure if I mentioned she was in town this week)

out of town guests who fly out on a Friday and don't have to be back to work until Monday are a bit suspect in my book, but I forgive her for leaving early .. sort of.

She flew out for my birthday and to watch the Giants win the Superbowl surrounded by the peeps who grew up like she did with bobblehead Giants dolls on our dashboards and air-filled Giants rubber tackles on our front lawns

(also a hard plastic baby Jesus sleeping peacefully beside a frayed green lawn chair and a box of Black Cat fireworks)

and could appreciate it.

Not that most of us know anything about football - everytime anyone caught the ball my hubby called it an 'interception' - I guess it was an interception between the quarterback's hands and ... well, landing somewhere else
Anyhoo, my birthday party, held during half-time, for those family members who could tear themselves away from the material girl for the real material girl went something like this -

Picture me rabidly tearing through a huge stack of packages, scraps of wrapping paper flying to the carpet, pieces of tape clinging to my buffalo-chicken stained fingers

(or maybe I just unwrapped a belt and gurgle pot - it is all pretty much a blur to me now - what with the getting older and all - for a few seconds though the gurgle pot came out of its box and into my hand like a Remington Rider single shot pistol - don't ask - my party quickly transitioning from Norman Rockwell to Full Metal Jacket)

My birthday is always the most frenzied thirty seconds of my entire year, not counting Christmas morning and the two or three times hubby and I have sex (ack- just kidding, I'm not that fast with the scotch tape)

People are screaming about the game and by "the game" I mean the bets we made about the really important Superbowl stuff like - will Kelly Clarkson muff up the national anthem - what will be the 1st commercial after the first quarter - what color gatorade will be poured on the winning coach, you get the idea

and by 'people screaming' I mean my brother-in-law screaming at the porch railing that was talking about him again, but that's a story for another day ....

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention, my hair caught fire blowing out my birthday candles - no, there weren't that many candles, I was just out of breath from the sex gift opening ... and Giants cheering ... and buffalo-chicken eating ...

The rest of my sister's visit was not as exciting - some days she just sat around my studio reading DIY magazines while I worked ... poor kid ... it is very quiet here today though without her page turning, gum chewing, smartphone flicking, wise-ass self (more sniffles)

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend - parts 3 and 4 of my fighting exhaustion series next week, plus lots of new work coming out - you won't want to miss it! xo

thoughts become things ... choose the good ones

"Some think life is a place to seek happiness and fulfillment, Cat, some think it's a place to learn lessons and pay dues.

And so it is for them."

Tallyho,
The Universe

got this in my inbox today - thought I'd share it :)

* I think I can print by happy deliveries

fighting Etsy exhaustion part lll - large batch makers

With large batch production you are producing an inventory rather than waiting for an order.

One of the best parts about making your makings in large batches - and being pro-active rather than reactive

(when you are selling your makings in small batches or one at a time)

is that it creates some production downtime - time that you can spend doing the other things involved in running your maker business.

There is more to making a business than making stuff after all.

The hardest part is that you will need a good handle on what is going to sell (sizes, colors, styles, etc - cue the crystal ball) so that you are making the right stuff or you will have lots of unsold whosee whatsees sitting around your studio (and lost time and money on these unsold makings) and sell out of the things you could be making money on.

(this is pretty much guaranteed to happen from time to time especially as your business grows, but if time to time becomes most of the time you need to figure this stuff out)

Three inventory management sites recommended to me by makers are Stitch Labs, RunInventory and Bizelo.

The amount of inventory you have on hand will vary depending on your business. One ideal way to do your batch production is to batch produce the parts of your work that are not customizable - for example with my cork test tube necklaces I batch produce everything except the images. When a customer orders a necklace I just have to add the specific imagery and wording to the existing necklace. I know a lotion/potion maker that adds fragrance to her makings as ordered.

Thinking about any parts of your production you can steamline this way while still being able to adjust your finished product later, may save you time and money.

Some tips from Etsy batch makers on working smarter and not harder include:

1. Know the popularity of your size breaks -

For example a t-shirt screenprinter might find her sizebreaks to be
2-4-4-2 or sm,m,l,xl -

so when she is producing a dozen shirts for inventory this is the sizebreak she will be screening.

This is not a guarantee that she will always be producing the right pieces but if you are working with sizes, etc that cannot be adjusted later and you take the time to figure this out, you will definitely decrease your inventory headaches.

And save time for the other stuff on our to-do lists like getting that SWAT team ready to mobilize, acquiring street maps covering all of Minnesota, a pot of coffee, 12 jammy dodgers and a fez and if you are not a Dr. Who fan and have no pop culture reference for what I am blathering about here you can skip this part.

2. Stock up smartly - take a look at how often you are doing your making, the seasonality of your business and the popularity of your items

If a store orders 4 of something and I only have 3 pieces in stock - I tell them I have 3 on hand rather than making myself crazy and holding up a shipment to produce a one-off of something I batch produce.

3. Have regular sales to clear out your excess stock - one large batch maker told me she does her batch making (about 75% of her production) one week out of every month and at production time anything that is left in the studio gets counted and overstock goes on sale - often never to be produced again

This "never to be produced again" may not be a good idea for everything that isn't flying off the shelves, but eliminating nonsellers so that you can spend your time producing new work is essential to creating a sustainable business and keeping your heart invested in what you are making which is, ultimately, a life and not just a handmade whosee whatsee -

a life that needs to allow time for things other than your makings - things like guacamole and Woodchuck hard cider (just wish these came with corks I'd be stocked), Angry Birds (it has become my number one goal in life - other than having George Clooney delivered to my door ... wet - to pry certain people away from this game - UGH) and movies at an actual movie theater rather than on your computer while you wrap beads.

And speaking of George Clooney and movies I just saw the Descendents and although I wasn't quite as in love with it as the critics have been, I did have a wonderful little blue-haired woman behind me adding spicy dialogue like

"George really does look more and more like Rosemary every year", "Do they call them Hawaiian shirts in Hawaii or just shirts?", "The president is from Hawaii you know", "I hate walking on sand", "Is that the older Bridges or the younger Bridges?", "He runs like a dingbat" and "He can really do sad". I LOVED HER.

4. Get help - large batch production can make it easier to get help during busy times and at regularly scheduled periods.

Trying to do it all can burn us out ... fast. And part of giving back with our creative venture can be our ability to pass on that creative energy in the form of money to others.

I find that when I pay someone and this payment can take the form of things other than money, but when you want more money to flow in, you have to allow - with a grateful heart - more money to flow out - money is energy and needs to move after all - when I pay someone and focus on the amazing feeling that that gives me and wanting more of that, I get more of that.

Giving ourselves little finish lines helps, too. Because there is no real endzone with any of this. We are never going to arrive, suitcase in hand, hair a mess and needing a back rub .. at our final destination because there is no such place.

The maker life is about the process and the more we embrace that the more we will allow ourselves to be the world-changing, passionate, fearless (as in not letting fear stop us), wealth-creating, change-embracing, idea-generating, grateful, crazy ass artists we are meant to be!

* I like making pretty things print by playonwordart

1. shop: Xenotees
2. shop: Palomas Nest
3. shop: Somethings Hiding Here
4. shop: Monkeys Always Look

Back soon with Exhaustion Busters for One of a Kind or Small Batch Makers

twice as nice ....

when the Giants win the Superbowl on your birthday ... and they thank their NJ fans .... got a little Superbowl fuzzy and forgot to finish today's post- back tomorrow ..... xo

fighting Etsy exhaustion part II - vintage matchmakers

I am fairly certain that most vintage sellers on Etsy either 1. started their shop as an excuse to flea market or

2. their love of flea marketing had become an obsession and it was Etsy or the hoarders tv show

(and since you need one of those hairy facial moles to get on the tv show and most people are not willing to get one of those things surgically implanted to become dysfunctionally famous - Etsy it was)

This is not about how to sell more vintage on Etsy, but some vintage peeps did offer up a couple selling suggestions that could help avoid the exhaustion trap:

1. be selective about what you sell - just because it's vintage doesn't mean anyone wants to buy it

2. sell from your heart - offering up things that you love to people who will love them, too, is what you are really doing here - you are not a seller of vintage - you are a matchmaker - the Fiddler on the Roof kind not that scary chick on the tv show! (wth)

Now this 'be selective' thing may go against the 'one man's trash is another man's treasure' typical flea thinking, but your shop is not a flea market, you are a vintage boutique - on Etsy (and the internet in general) it is always a good idea to specialize and find your niche.

If you are selective and sell from your heart it will be easier for you to :

1. become an authority on what you sell
2. develop a following and
3. keep the passion alive for what you are doing

These translate into

1. less time spent doing research and less time shopping (wait is that really a plus?) because you will know what you are looking for and what things are worth and what you can resell and make money on
2. less time spent listing (you can offer items to specific customers through a service like Mailchimp at a discounted price prior to listing - one vintage seller told me that she sells 25% of her finds by offering them up at a discount to her mailing list prior to listing on Etsy)
3. the world doesn't need more people who sell stuff, the world though does need more people who love what they are doing

Some other great tips from vintage sellers to work smarter and not harder included:

1. Detailed descriptions and lots of pics = less convos from customers with questions and less problems later

(think measurements and not sizes and if you ship outside of the U.S. remember to include centimeter measurements, too)

2. Pack up your items after photographing them - don't seal the package in case you need to check something for someone, but having it all ready to ship and being certain of your shipping charges saves time and money - one seller puts a photo from the listing on the outside of her boxes

(I once bought something from a vintage seller who lamented to me how much she would miss it because she was using it as a bookend on her radiator - now I know my purchase had a life before me, but it gave me a weird feeling to think of my precious whosee whatsee being used between the time the pics were taken and the time of my purchase, so as a customer boxed and ready to ship sounds good to me)

3. Lower prices after 30 days - to keep your shop fresh and your cash flow in the red - just make sure to keep a list of what you paid for each item handy and know your selling fees so you will always know your bottom line pricing

4. Decide how much time you will devote to your vintage boutique and schedule your tasks - most successful sellers have a timetable they stick with - you get to decide what works best for you, this is your business after all - evaluate how this is all fitting in with the rest of your life regularly!

Vintage matchmakers have to research, shop, photograph, measure, describe, pack, ship plus do all the marketing and relationship building.

This is all alot of work and you need to love what you are doing or you will not be doing it for long.

Now that love can wane a bit here and there as all business love is known to do - sometimes just a little step back from what we are doing can allow us to see the big picture that we are often too close to our work to see - sometimes you have to just keep backing up until everything is in focus.

(a life lesson from my Canon instruction book - next week we'll take a look at my Kenmore dishwasher manual!)

Monday - Large Batch Makers Tips to Avoid Large Batch Exhaustion

1. shop - bellalulu
2. shop - tippleandsnack
3. shop - everyeskimo
4. shop - 5gardenias
5. shop - bold pigeon

does etsy "success" = exhaustion? the nasty little by-product of selling what you make online ...

Maybe it's the cold weather
(although it hasn't been all that cold here),

the shortened days
(although they're getting longer)

or my own natural inclination to work until collapse

(in a 24/7 selling environment that doesn't really allow for collapse this is not a good model - unless of course you are prepared to really collapse, like into a great big old mahogany box with a velvet liner)

but an awful lot of Etsy sellers are using a 10 letter "e" word to describe their state of mind lately.

And it ain't "exhilerated" (which is 11 letters actually).

I have said it before and I will say it again - this is all a great deal of work

(and before you think I am a big whiner - although hello ... this is not news folks, I did devote 427 42 Wednesdays of my life to the art of whining or maybe that was wining - I need the corks remember, but whining is reactive and I am determined to be proactive here - how do we fix this?!)

No matter how we sell our makings online we have to - market ourselves, create relationships, take amazing pictures, basically make ourselves stand out among the thousands/millions/gazillions

(where the hell are all these people coming from anyway)

of other makers creating amazing makings and doing the same things we are.

(if you have been doing this for awhile just hearing me say it out loud can make you tired and cranky and reaching for your Snugli and I should add that if you do read my posts out loud I am from New Jersey and should be read with a Carmella Soprano 'foget-about-it' inflection)

There are 5 ways to make money on Etsy:

(maybe more I appear to be out of fingers)

1. Vintage - If you sell vintage items you do not have to do the making part, but you do have to do the finding part and the research of pricing part and the take amazing pictures part and you need to figure out the correct shipping charge and get yourself the proper packaging for your oddly shaped whosee whatsee and oh yes, since your items are one of a kind there is no renew button for you my dear ... sorry.

2. Large Batches - If you do your makings in large batches you will likely work really hard for a certain period of time making your fabulousness and then work less during the shipping phase of your process, but you will likely have to have a very good handle on inventory and supplies and what will sell

(I recommend a magic 8-ball for this or some market research I have found them to be equally inaccurate)

or you will be sitting on alot of excess inventory and miss out on sales when you run out of stock.

3. One at a time - if you do your makings in small batches or one at a time, well, you will just be making your makings all the time and the busier you get the more you will need to get a handle on time management and pricing or ... well, I think your head could explode actually ... this is my makings model and I have been known to discover little pieces of brain matter all over my studio, luckily, being the creative professional I am, my brain matter is always in pantone's latest colors, so at least it's pretty brain matter - my apologies if you are reading this while eating lunch, but yes, art is messy, folks ...

4. Make something once and sell it again and again - paint a picture - sell prints, take a photo - sell copies, design a dress - hire someone else to sew it. This is kind of my dream maker business model (sigh)- the make something once and sell it over and over again model - but will not work for everyone. I do think there are ways to incorporate some of this into any of the models though.

Of course, there is also supply selling on Etsy (5) which involves mostly buying things in large batches and selling them in smaller batches for a profit. The pitfall being that you could end up doing an awful lot of work for not an awful lot of money. You really need to know your profit margins and what your competition (you will undoubtedly have alot) is doing.

Anyhoo, I have been talking to some successful shops who sell in these various models for some great tips and tricks to avoid the dreaded "e" word. I will be posting them over the next two weeks - so check back starting on Friday for Vintage and (hopefully) Large Batch Makers.

* carry me by redbishop
* squirrel salt and pepper shakers by kella
* tshirt by xenotees
* map necklace by sherry truitt
* wish illustration by pale preoccupation

choosy with choices - cut, concretize, categorize and condition

I have been listening to a TED talk while eating lunch lately and really loved this one and thought I'd share it - my favorite line to take away may be "choices should mean something to the chooser and not the choice maker" - the studies shown also make it a good listen for makers ...

2012 Affirmation # 5 - if you can't be a good example ... at least be a warning.

"learn to dance or the angels won't know what to do with you" ... saint augustine

I have been around the block a time or two.

(not in a bad way if you know what I mean and not in any way that involves running shoes and a water bottle - in fact if you see me running these days, it is pretty much guaranteed there is a large dog behind me or a small dog in front of me, but one way or the other it is pretty certain that a dog is involved somehow)

I have worked jobs with very long, stressful hours with alot of responsibility and headaches. I have had businesses that went places and some that went no place and all the work and craziness that was involved with all of that. But I was always able to separate my job title or business adventure from myself.

I was never really in it all the way.

And now I am.

In it all the way.

In a what you see is what you get, this gets so personal we know each other's underwear colors

(and styles - why do so many of us wear boyshorts?)

kind of way that is so terribly amazing and terribly rewarding and terribly exhausting.

So, I affirm we all give ourselves a break in 2012, take a little bit better care of ourselves (some of us alot better care of ourselves), dance a little more, work a little less and if we can't be a good example of what to do at least we can be a good example of what not to do

(this has always worked very well for me actually)

and maybe coax a few other makers to join us ....

* dance print by wallfry

** what I have learned this week about schizophrenia - alot - way too much to write about, but a very important thing is that schizophrenia often involves anosognosia which is a long scary word (doesn't it just look like a word you don't want to get to know, like the word chocolate, that one has always been trouble for me, too) for a person's inability to recognize or understand the nature of his illness, like with alzheimer's disease - it's not about denial - so interventions don't work, normal reasoning doesn't work and this little twist called "lack of insight" is like having the Himalayas between David and wellness.

the girl next door or you make a better door than you do a window or ... any song by Jim Morrison

I read that people with white doors (front doors) are most likely to have a tidy house, abhor mesess and like a clean and clinical, modern decor whereas people with green doors tend toward the exact opposite aesthetic and even have a tendency to be hoarders.

(yes, I have a green front door but I only hoard the really important stuff like magazines from the year everyone in my family was born - yes, I mean everyone, unused 35mm film - you never know - used Mallomar boxes - I find they reseal very nicely, make handy little containers and seeing them makes me happy during the summer months when the cookies are gone from the grocery store shelves - it's the little things, folks)

I want you to be concerned about your next door neighbor. Do you know your next door neighbor? ... Mother Teresa

Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door ... Ralph Waldo Emerson

When one door is closed, don't you know, another is open ... Bob Marley

Ten men waiting for me at the door?
Send one of them home, I'm tired ... Mae West

* for some reason the homegrown chaos has me obsessing over doors this week - the top picture is a door from an old hotel in Cape May that I snatched up to divide off my dining room (which is more of a dining nook actually) - the picture above is an old door, painted with an old bicycle shop logo that I have attached to an old white dresser (you might notice a few mistakes with the bicycle drawing - ack!)

xo =^..^=

putting the chiweagle controversy to bed once and for all ...

Sooo ... anyhoo ... Olive has been anxious

(ie pacing the studio and pawing at the mouse)

for me to make this announcement - her DNA results are in!

You may remember that back in the day a certain unnamed, nontrusting family member accused Olive of fabricating her heritage when this photo
<----- appeared in a google image search. This is not Olive. This is Dottie.

Dottie is a Chiweagle (chihuahah/beagle) and since Olive has always claimed to be a Boggle (boston terrier/beagle) but looks more like Dottie than Olive's Boggle buddy Ruby - we were all left wondering ...

(plus she is always googling Paris Hilton when I forget to power down my laptop)

Not that we have any problem with chihuahahs or particular fondness for boston terriers - since our pre-Olive days were filled with labrador retrievers - but we just don't like to be played for fools here. I mean we, of course, would love her no matter what, but the number of bacon slices, playdates and woofpurr toys in her future has been hanging in the balance while we have been waiting on the results ...

Anyhoo, the official lab-certified results are in and Olive is (drumroll please) 45% Beagle, 45% Boston Terrier ... and 10% Australian Shephard.

So, Olive has been totally vindicated

(obviously, we have forgiven her for not mentioning her rascally Australian Shephard great grandpa since we all have one of those in our family trees and he most likely gave her that wild eyed look we love and Aussie accent)

and for everyone who has supported Olive during this controversial time- she wants me to tell you that your hot naked man fruit basket is in the mail!

boggle buddies 4ever (ruby and olive)

2012 Affirmations # 4 - there are no mistakes

I once had an art teacher say, "allow chaos, knowing that order will eventually emerge".

Trust our instincts.

Release perfectionism and criticism; surrender to the process.

Follow the energy and keep adding to the energy.

Fearlessness is probably at the foundation of everything amazing that has ever been born - it doesn't mean recklessness and is maybe the opposite of recklessness. We learn to take responsibility for our choices. We learn our craft and practice it. We choose to be courageous and to open our hearts to life itself.

"the painting rises from the brush strokes as the poem rises from the words - the meaning comes later" ... joan miro

Affirming that there are no mistakes allows us to take risks that perfectionism would never allow. It allows something larger to express through us. We flow with the fierce urge to create, to make, to work with what is and allow it to express what could be.

The idea of "working with what is" and "allowing" are major themes in my life right now both professionally and personally - although I don't keep the two all that separate these days and trying to would probably create a Sybil-like alter ego

(maybe one named Dog who would figure this all out for me or maybe hubs would just have one more pooch to walk and Olive a little competition to kill her plushies quickly by ripping out their squeakers)

*jim morrison quote print above from sacred and profane

David came to our house from rehab this weekend. I have been watching hubs (a man predisposed by nature to say the wrong thing for the right reasons) struggle to say the right thing. Sometimes there are no right things. As I write this he has taken David to work with him for the day ... just holding in our hearts the words "the painting arises from the brushstrokes" and allowing ...

xo =^..^=

2012 Affirmations # 3 - Simplicity

Simple and easy are not the same thing.

Easy is the instant solution - do this and you get that - the magic bullet - that isn't always so magical.

Simple is more organic. More complex. Simple is something we seek with our hearts as much as our heads.

This year I am affirming simplicity by making the choices to clear clutter (inner and outer), making the time to meditate (got off track over the holidays and felt the loss of grounding immediately) and making the things that are most meaningful to me a priority.

Simplicity is not about reducing ourselves to a smaller size - it is about clearing the clutter and chaos to create the space to grow into our true selves.

* beauty in simplicity print by bubby and bean

2012 Affirmations - # 2 relaxation

"every now and then go away and have a little relaxation - to remain constantly at work will diminish your judgement - go some distance away because work will be in perspective" ... leonardo davinci

(some words of wisdom from the master)

A good affirmation for this might be - I take time away from my business and responsibilities. I take time to relax.

I take time for me.

* relax hand screened tee by jonnycobra

2012 Affirmations - faith builders for our reluctant minds - # 1 finding solutions by staying open

I just re-started A Course in Miracles - some of you may be familiar with it. I took this course a few years ago, but like so much else in my life, it went unfinished, so I decided to start again from the beginning.

We also have some family drama which I have not really talked about on here. Some of you may have seen the video or heard the story about a homeless man being beaten up and the kids filming it and proudly putting his beating on youtube. It was all over the internet and television just before Christmas.

We even woke up one morning to see Anderson Cooper talking about it.

The man in the video is my husband's brother. He has been mentally ill, unmedicated, alcoholic, in and out of jail and homeless for decades. We had not seen him in many years.

My husband and I brought him to a rehab center in Pennsylvania on Christmas Eve for a 21 day program - he is being released on Saturday and at this point we have no idea what we will be doing when we pick him up. It is a stressful, crazy time.

Probably part of the reason that little blue book showed up in my life again.

So, I am starting my 2012 affirmations by affirming that I create wonderful solutions by being open to new ideas.

I focus on solutions instead of problems - I choose to see every problem as an opportunity.

Affirmations are a wonderful way to speak abundance into our lives. They are the faith builders (and I am not talking religion here) that encourage our hearts and coax our reluctant minds of the truths that are larger than the life we have experienced in the past.

So rather than focus on the "problem" which keeps us tangled in the energy of "problem"

(which might work if the problem is small and easy to fix, but this focus just seems to make big problems even bigger)

we focus our attention on opening our hearts and minds to the possibility that something or someone can bring about solutions that are greater than anything we can imagine when we are mired in the problem. We are not here to force solutions - but to trust enough to let them unfold naturally.

Trust ... letting things unfold unforced - these are not things that come naturally to me - but I am trying them on for now - the side effects are a little scary at the moment.

(and I don't usually take any medication with side effects - unless they include rapid weight-loss)

* 99 problem print by sweet perversion

... well ... cowboys are pretty cool though ...

Vines grow towards light by elongating their stems and attaching themselves to whatever support is available.

I once got a stubborn patch of ivy in our backyard to grow exactly where I wanted it to grow by trimming branches of an overhanging tree to allow sunlight into just the right area and adding an old fence post.

For a short period of time I blew my own mind with my sense of power over this wayward patch

(kind of like the first time you trick your kids into doing something you want them to do by convincing them you do not want them to do it)

- but soon began to look closer at the un-naturalness (and yes, this is totally a word - if you need to use it in your next game of bananagrams, go ahead - just be sure to offer up this post and not an actual dictionary as proof of its wordiness) of what I had created and think ... hmmm ... maybe there is something to be said for the beauty of things that grow organically.

I am thinking the same way about our businesses lately.

Last year I set out to get a certain specific percentage of my business income from wholesale selling and increase sales by X dollars.

Well ... I did increase sales by X dollars (although maybe I should say x dollars - ha!) and this increase did come through wholesale selling -

although not in the traditional wholesale structure of "store places large order which makes deep discounts to store possible", but more of a "store places one order at a time which I make and ship to buyer one at a time and store still gets deep discount kind of wholesale selling" ... sigh

Of course, the bottom line is that I got what I set out to get but just not in the way I set out to get it. So the movement, which I tried to force into a particular direction, grew in a different direction which although unintended was maybe a more natural direction ... for me ... for now.

More proof that our inner state of being and our outer success is irrevocably connected - the reason we set goals at all is because of who we become as we’re reaching them ... whether we do or not. If we do, it is just the beginning of another journey; if we don't, it is just the start of another journey ... there is no end zone in crafty, maker land - it is all process so we had better be loving it.

(which I am ... most ... of the time)

My metaphyscal friend, who is all about setting intentions containing the word "effortless" as in "good things flow to me effortlessly", said that maybe I have some inner work to do to truly believe that things should be easier - that I likely have deep-seated beliefs in the fact that money comes through hard work ...

Of course I really do believe that money comes from hard work and from setting the right intentions and from walking through those open doors and from elbowing our way into those doors that are only slightly ajar and from bulldozing our way through the closed doors ... but only sometimes ... because sometimes the bulldozing gets us in, but like my wayward ivy, doesn't really get us where we need to be.

* mama don't let your babies ... print by KZukowski

the gift of no-gifts or my eyes have been opened to the need for a little romantic something with a bow on it this time of year

(whisper typing while hubby sleeps)

If I want a romantic gift from hubs I have to

1. find it
2. buy it
3. give him the receipt
4. be reimbursed by him from our joint checking account

(this reimbursement often takes the form of a check signed by me and written to our credit card company)

this usually doesn't bother me, but lately I am wondering if I should be requiring a little more from him ...

I am not talking diamond earrings here, but something maybe a little bit efforty.

To be fair, he did make us pancakes on Christmas morning

of course his family called within exactly the 3.7 minutes it took for him to do this and I heard him saying that he was "making breakfast" .. which of course he was .. but he said it very matter-of-factly as if to imply that he does this making breakfast thing frequently ... which he does if you consider frequently something done along the same time frame as replacing your muffler - has anyone ever replaced one of those things anyway - other than a run over your neighbor's mailbox type of situation - not that this has ever happened to me, well at least not more than once ...

and this year we had agreed to the no-gift Christmas due to our bathroom/kitchen renovation costs but I still kind of expected a little something and thought this no-gift agreement was going to be a wee bit flexible and there would still be something with my name on it under the tree.

(there wasn't, well except for all the packages to hubs where my name followed the word FROM)

I know I do not have the right to be pissed about this since I signed the no-gift agreement, although by signed I mean nodded when hubs suggested this while I was semi-conscious after a day spent inhaling flux and E6000.

It kind of seemed like a good idea at the time.

I thought because I am not a romantic, mushy kind of girl that this would be ok with me. It wasn't. When I brought up to hubby that I was bothered he said to just go out and buy myself something like I usually do, but now this entire find it, buy it, reimburse it thing is just not going to cut it anymore.

So, I have discovered the real gift of the no-gift agreement is to find out that I really do need gifts and I will be cancelling the no-gift agreement before my birthday which is in 4 weeks and 4 days (not that I am counting or anything) or paramedics may need to be called to identify hub's body.

(he is now awake - despite my whisper typing - reading this over my shoulder and says "just don't let them do anything weird with my body" which of course, I won't ... unless it's funny)

UPDATE - since I wrote this post on Sunday night, hubs has fixed my bicycle tire, bought me a box of mallomars, my favorite blueberry poptarts (very hard to find the unfrosted kind I like) and a Sephora gift card so it looks like the paramedics will not be needed - but check back in 4 weeks and 2 days just to be sure ...

* rock me adadeus print by lisa barbero

your mama ....

you don't really think I'd talk about your mama do you .....

10 Thoughts to Kick Off 2012 ... slowly, I am kicking things off slowly this year (picture that field goal kicker in a slo-mo replay because that's about the energy level I am working with at the moment)

1. Banish results oriented thinking to the back of the closet

When we start seeing very clearly that our thoughts can create our reality we might find ourselves getting a little too attached to the results -

(which may be the surest way to muck things up)

When I was back in the craziness this holiday season there was this little voice that kept whispering screaming at me - "are we really doing this ... again? didn't we set up the processes and practices and the right thinking to create a better way this time? how the hell did this happen?"

And although logically I knew

(or the teeny, tiny little part of my brain that still thinks logically knew - I may have destroyed most of my logical thinking with the copious amounts of diet pepsi and york peppermint patties I was consuming)

that I always make about 50% of my annual income in a very short period of time and there is just no way for this to happen in my little one-woman business without things getting insane, I really felt I had failed when things got totally crazy and exhausting ... again.

Of course, there was no failure, there was simply a lesson for me in losing my attachment to the results ...

creating our own reality does not have to be followed by - "and so this is all our fault".

Sometimes sh*t just happens.

Like the fact that although I was somewhat prepared for last minute wholesale orders which mostly didn't happen, I was totally unprepared for a site I sell on called Daily Grommet to explode from 1-2 sales a day to up to 40.

(and before you assume I am planning a trip to Hawaii to spend my millions I should admit this is a wholesale, drop-ship situation with my commissioned artwork mini-lockets - the most work and least profitable of all my makings and that I had to enter every customer's address into paypal to print my shipping labels - this fact alone was adding an hour to my workday, not to mention the 3-4 hours a night fabricating the little suckers)

It was nice to get a check from them yesterday though :)

(and as unexpected as this rash on my neck right now which I have self-diagnosed as a third chakra communication problem or possibly a laundry detergent irritation, of course I am practically a doctor ... well, I didn't actually go to medical school, but I do wash my hands ... alot)

* a better man calendar by splendid and sound

Back Wednesday with 2012 Thought #2 ... notice I am not using the word resolution since I have resolved to remain unresolved for now