Monday Mayhem: Enough is Enough

There comes a time in everyone's life when they must say "Enough is enough and I've had ENOUGH!"
Three years ago, I blogged that that I was going to get my house cleaned and organized.  Guess what.  It didn't happen.
In fact, it just got worse, if that's at all possible.
Finally, I had to say that enough was enough, and I couldn't live like that any longer. It wasn't healthy, mentally or physically for me or anyone else in my family.  I couldn't have people over to my house, I couldn't let my kids have friends over to play, I couldn't let extended family come over.  I knew it was bad.  I knew it needed work.  Somehow, though, I couldn't seem to get the energy or interest to do it.  I don't know why.  Over the last seven years me and my hubby have gone through a difficult pregnancy, the birth of our twins, post partum depression that turned into agoraphobia, my feet giving out on me, the death of my darling dad, hubby losing his job (but thankfully finding a new one very soon), major appliances dying, children starting school, children sick with strep for almost an entire winter....
Well, needless to say, I've been exhausted.
However, this past spring, I seriously took the bull by the proverbial horns, and decided that I was tired of the mess.  I was tired of not being able to find anything.  I was tired of the house ALWAYS looking like a bomb went off.   And I was tired of being alone. 
I was raised in a home that was always neat, tidy, organized, and clean.  And I wasn't giving my kids that gift.  Now, I'm finally getting done what has needed to be done for years.  I made a plan, and I'm sticking to that plan, no matter what.
Every month or so, I'm tackling one room or area of my house.  I'm de-cluttering, de-stashing, organizing, re-organizing, planning, and working.  Working harder than I have ever worked before.

The first "room" I finished was one of the hardest:  The screened in porch.  It took me over a month to sort through, throw away, clean up, and get it to a place where it could be useful once again.

This is what my screened in porch looked like about 3 years ago.  Kind of humiliating that is has gotten nothing but worse in those 3 years.  There was so much crap piled up on that table, that we could barely see the sliding glass doors.   It was insanity. 
After over a month of work, many bags of trash, and a strong desire to get rid of all the excess in my life, this is the new, improved porch:

 There is now space to breathe, space to work, space to relax, and space to actually eat dinner.  Life is getting better.  Sand is becoming more blue again.  And this month, I'm tackling the living room.  Next Monday, I will show what I have accomplished there. 

Time Management and Promoting The Beaded Branch

When it comes to promoting online, I often here the same complaint over and over again-it takes too much time, I'm never left with any time to create! This can be very true. With all the options out there for free advertising and promoting one's business that it is easy to caught up in the whirl of blogs, forums, chat rooms, and the endless list of other social networks. I jumped on the bandwagon recently and started promoting my business at every free site that I could. It soon overtook all my time. I'd find myself on the Etsy forums, reading and answering questions if I could. I'd be on Plurk chatting with my friends there (Hi Plurkrs!!! You know who you are!) I'd be visiting shops oooh-ing and aaahh-ing over the beautiful, fun, unique products I'd see. The list would go on and on and on.

The next thing I knew, my hubby would be home from work, and he would find me much as he left me in the morning. After a couple of weeks of this (yes, weeks) Tim called to my attention that things were getting a little out of control, and we needed some organization back in our lives. (Basically I think he was tired of sandwiches and mac-n-cheese for dinner!) So, I got myself back under control. I sat down, created a house cleaning schedule and checklist for the week, and a schedule for the sites that I promote on.

I opened my handy-dandy Excel spreadsheet program and got to work.

My first incarnation looked something like this:

Pretty basic, huh? All it consists of is a simple chart, that includes: Piece name, Piece Number (from my Etsy shop), Section (where listed in my Etsy shop), number of hearts each piece has, date listed, date sold, and all the sites I've promoted on.

However, this week I've realized that I belong to several more free advertising places that I had forgotten about. (Big DOH! moment for me!) Once again, I was feeling overwhelmed. Then it hit me, kind of like a giant dope slap upside the head. Until I got everything in the business under control, I did NOT need to post in these forums, etc, every single day. Time just doesn't allow for it in my life right now. So, I changed my Excel spreadsheet around a little. Here's the next incarnation of it.

Here is a list of the places that I promote on currently:

Indiespotting : This is a fun little spot where you can submit one piece a week. It gives some extra exposure to your shop, and takes about 10-15 minutes to do. There are also a lot of great things on there to see, so take some time to look around!

Indiepublic: To quote Indiepublic: "Indiepublic is an independent art and design community. If you're an artist, designer, retailer, blogger, or just someone who gets giddy when they buy indie, we've saved a seat for you!" It's a fun place, and a very warm, welcoming group. I haven't fully utilized everything that they offer, yet. I'm still trying to get all of my scheduling under control.

TalentDatabase: is another site where you can get your products seen, develop followers. This is one of the ones I forgot about, but recently have started to work on more.

MerchantCircle: is a site where you can set up all the information about your shop that you would like, post pictures, blogs, create coupons, and all sorts of interesting stuff. One of the coolest things about this site is that you hook up with other businesses that are local to you. It's another cool way to market your stuff. And if you do custom work, it's a great way to remind local businesses of this fact around the holidays, or when they are giving rewards.

Blog: There are a large number of blogging places on the web. A lot of people seem intimidated by the idea of starting a blog, especially when they hear that they should post to their blog once a day. I know that my schedule doesn't allow for that. So, I post once a week. To keep ideas rolling, I have a notebook that I keep handy so that I can write down ideas as they come to me. Waiting rooms in the doctor's office is a great place to do this. Okay, waiting rooms anywhere. I jot down notes for possible blogs, flesh out when there is time. And whenever you post a new piece or product or line, you automatically have something to write about. Talk about what issues came up, how you overcame them, how much fun it was to make it, what inspired you. Whatever! People like to hear about it.

Facebook: Think MySpace, or any other major social network page. It's a great way to keep touch with your friends and family, plus you can show off what you are working on. I have my basic Facebook page, but they also have business pages where you can advertise you business, post a blog (mine is linked to this blog, but more about that later), business information, sites you sell on, develop fans, the list is pretty much endless.

Plurk and Twitter : These are both basically social networking kinds of places. Plurk is defined as "A really snazzy site that allows you to showcase the events that make up your life in deliciously digestible chunks. Low in fat, 5 calories per serving, yet chock full of goodness." Twitter states: "People are eager to connect with other people and Twitter makes that simple. Twitter asks one question, "What are you doing?" Answers must be under 140 characters in length and can be sent via mobile texting, instant message, or the web." They are both great sites, Twitter being the more popular. I do utilize it, but not as much as Plurk, which I addicted to. I find it a little less confusing, and easier to keep up with the flow of the conversations. I keep my web browser open to Plurk all day long, and chat on and off with the friends I have met there. (Hi guys and gals!) I've met a group of wonderfully talented, caring, warm, and friendly people there. I'm learning a lot from them, and they are truly generous, fabulous and fantastic. In the future I will be introducing you to some of these totally great people!

ByHand.me: This is a great site! In their own definition: "ByHand serves as a free social network for those who make handmade and those who buy handmade." Adam and Rebecca are the geniuses behind this fabulous site. I try to post in their forum on a regular basis, and keep adding to my page there. I greatly admire them for what they have accomplished here, and the opportunities that they have given all of us! Their spotlights are fabulous too, and they always seem to be adding new goodies to their site. Just this week they have added a "wish list" feature, so you can show all of your friends what handmade products you want! (Great around birthdays and other gift giving holidays!) Thanks Adam and Rebecca, we love you guys!!!!

Handmadeology forums: This forum is just one, tiny little section to Tim Adam's huge site Handmadeology. What can say about Tim, other than he is another inspiration to all of us in the handmade world. He probably wouldn't admit it, but he is a marketing guru beyond belief, along with being a wonder metal artist. He defines his site as follows: "Handmadeology exists for the purpose of teaching artists how to successfully sell their handmade goods online. Through articles, blogs, video and screen shot tutorials, and Q & A dialogue between Timothy Adam
and followers of his work, the formula for selling handmade goods online can be learned." On Plurk there are rumors going around that he is a caffeine-driven robot, with the amount of work that he does, but it's really obvious that he is just very passionate about helping all in the handmade world, and wants us all to succeed. Thanks Tim, for all that you do!

Etsy forums: Etsy is the venue where I sell, so it makes sense to post in the forums there. They can be a great place to market, and get critiques and suggestions for bettering your store.

Well, if you add up all of these places, you will realize that there around 11 places (and counting) that I advertise. All for free. However, if I spend 1 hour a day on each site, I'm up a creek without a paddle, and will never get anything else done. So, by scheduling my time a little more wisely and only hitting one or two of these sites a day, my time is a little more widely managed. Along with using the Excel spreadsheet, I also utilize my Outlook calendar to help with "reminders". I list everything I need to do under "tasks" that are "recurring" and I'm good to go. I can mark stuff off when it's done' for the week, and I know when I'm finished for the day and go play with my pretties and create more.

I hope you have found this a little helpful. Drop me a private comment or an email if you would like a copy of my spreadsheet. We'll see what we can do to get you a copy of your own!

Until next time, keep crafting and dreaming!

Cookie Sheets and Jewelry Crafting

I had answered a question on Cyndi Lavin's Beading and Jewelry Blog (link is above), and figured I could expand on it, at least a little bit. So, here goes!

What do cookie sheets have to do with jewelry crafting? A lot, actually. Cookie sheets, to me, are one of the most perfect tools someone with an interest in the creation of crafting jewelry can have.
Why?
The possiblities are completely endless, and they are so helpful in a huge variety of mediums.
Beading, metal clay, polymer clay, and altered art media are just a few areas where they can be utilized.

In beading, they can be used as beading trays. The beads will roll around a lot, I hear some of yo thinking. True, but if you place a handtowel in the cookie sheet, the towel will hold the beads in place. Most cookie sheets have a lip all the way around, which will help keep the beads on your work surface. Also, they are generally large enough to hold the tools you will need for a given project.
Are you working on more than one project at a time? This happens to me a lot. Inspiration will strike before I'm done with one project, so I try to gather all the supplies I will need for the next, to keep the idea in my head. Or someone will have a strand of pearls they need to have restrung, or a piece of jewelry they want repaired, or a custom order they want me to fill. After I've gathered all the supplies I will need for the second (or third or fourth) project, I will put the supplies into its' own cookie sheet, and then put it on a shelf.
Each project I work on gets it's own cookie sheet. The cookie sheets are then stacked, in order that they need to be finished. Sometimes I'm even organized enough to put a tag with the start date on the cookie sheet, or some other information, like a type of bead I'm missing, or some other notation I will need for future reference. Once a tray is empty, it goes back to the bottom of the pile, just waiting to be filled up with beads, once again.
And if you really like the beading trays with grooves in them to assist with the laying out of necklaces and bracelets, most of the smaller ones will fit into a cookie sheet. The other bonus is that the cookie sheet with provide you with extra workspace, or, if you prefer working directly on the bead tray, the cookie sheet will provide you with a little extra stability, since sometimes those bead trays are a little too flexible.
To be continued tomorrow.