Woo hoo I can open my eye!

No, it doesn't hurt, but it sure looks gross.

And I have a zipper on my head.

Hope you're having a great week!

Bead, Read, Eat and Need

I realized this morning that it's been a whole month since I last posted.  Time sure flies when you're having fun, and I have been having way too much fun lately. 

Thought I'd share what's on my table today, and it just so happened to rhyme:  Bead, Read and Eat.  Four words just works better, though, so I added one more since eat doesn't rhyme quite as well with bead and need.

BEAD:  I realized how much I love working with Amethyst, and how quickly it seems to sell.  I have nothing gorgeous in Amethyst in my finished jewelry inventory so the next few days I'll remedy that situation. 

Last night, while watching The Juror I made an Amethyst necklace and bracelet.  I wanted it to be all amethyst, but decided at the last minute to add the lavender freshwater pearls.  I'm still debating what kind of clasp to add.  I SO love the facetted coin shapped beads.

READ:  What I'm reading lately is Torch Fired Enamel Jewelry: A Workshop in Painting With Fire by Barbara Lewis.  I love the look of enamel, and since I don't have a kiln but I do have a torch, this method is one I could easily do.  As soon as I buy some enamels!  I have to admit that I'm not at all into the style of jewelry created in the projects section of this book.  But I have some of my own ideas of what I'd like to enamel and how I want it to look.  C-Coop makes gorgous jewelry components (and the owner lives in Duluth, Minnesota!) and I'd like to try my hand at making similar pieces like the pendant on the left. 

EAT:  Not really a healthy lunch, but I bought some Cheese Curls (or Cheesy Poofs, as Cartman calls them) the other day when I stopped at Cub for my Cappacino.  This is why grocery shopping while hungry is a bad idea.  Oh well, once in a while we have to eat something bad, right?  I love the Cappacino that comes in a red plastic container.  I'd have to go upstairs to read the label so I'll leave it at that.  The French Vanilla flavor is my favorite.  I love it because I can heat some water in the microwave and stir it in.  No fuss, and no cooking, is my motto these days.  Yesterday I had a breakfast bar for lunch.  Yes, I'm lazy.  Not sure when that happened, but I can't deny it.

NEED:  There are so many things I could write about under this heading.  There are so many things I should be doing, like cleaning the house and cooking a decent meal.  But should is not Need, is it?  Lately all I do is what I WANT to do.  Sounds like heaven, right?  Except that I don't think we were built to be so self-indulgent. 

I get nothing done during the day except washing a few loads of laundry.  I do have my sales tax ready to file, and just need to run a few reports to get my business income taxes done.  I spend too much time on the computer.  Everything I need to do relies on using the computer, but when I turn the computer on, it sucks my brains out.  Even the laundry sits in the washer or dryer for hours at a time. 

So what I need to do is write a task list for the week or day and make sure those items get done before I can take any time for what I want to do. 

Of course, I've made this resolution many times before.

Want vs Need

What do you do when you have dozens of things you need to do, and all you WANT to do is play? 


I want to be creative today. 


I want to try some new things with paper, watercolors and stamps.

Sometimes being creative is a need that can't be subdued no matter what else is on the list to be done.

Sometimes those practical endeavors must be tackled and you've put them off too long already.

So what do you do?

Do you promise yourself that you'll get to the fun stuff once you've completed one or two of those less than inspiring tasks?

Or do you ignore the mundane and go for the gold?

It depends, doesn't it? 

Today I'll tackle a few of the pressing must-do's and hope that there's time enough in the day to play.


Hope you have time for doing some of the things on your want list in the next few weeks.

Cheers!

Creativity and Organization

I was just thinking about my jewelry making area which is in my family room.  I have a coffee table that has the mechanism to allow it to be lifted up so it's the perfect surface for laying out beads and making jewelry.  Like any self-respecting designer, I have containers of beads and findings all over the place.  Keeping them organized is always a struggle.  Some days I spend way too much time looking for specific things, and while I'm looking for one thing, I'll find 10 other items that were hidden away in a box that I pull out only to add to another box that goes on my couch, where I sit in the family room with growing piles of stone, pearl and glass beads, necessary findings and all kinds of metal pieces including beads, filigree, connectors, wire and what-nots in silver, gold, antique gold, copper, and now gunmetal.

Sometimes I think I'm drowning in stuff.

What does that have to do with creativity?  Everything!

I am always buying new stuff.  New stuff sparks my creativity.  I design by trial and error, which means laying out possibilities on my bead mat and stringing some of them together to see what feels right and what doesn't.  So having lots of choices is very important to my design process.  Based on what I've tried, I get ideas on things that aren't on my design mat and I have to go searching for specific stones or pearls or glass or metal.  Because I can't have it ALL sitting on the couch next me.  At least not at first....

Most of my bead stash is in my "work room" which is adjacent to the family room.  My work room also has my computer, two desks, printer, paper, stamps, cutting area, ribbons, stamps, watercolor paints, stamps, paper, clay, books, magazines, paper, stamps, beads, glass, metal, wire, books, yarn, stones, and did I mention I also have stamps?

This is the room in which I take my photos for my on-line store, where I make greeting cards, book marks and refridgerator magnets, where I stamp metal, enter my beads and findings in my database, process credit card sales on-line, edit my photos, print my jewelry tags, write my blog and keep in touch with family and friends via e-mail and facebook. 

So not only is my work room an organized mess, but so is my family room.  Let's not even go into the spare bedroom where I store all of my craft show things like the shutters, table cloths, jewelry display busts, lights, boxes, earring turn-arounds and jewelry that is priced and tagged and ready to sell. 

I could also mention the accumulation of sales books, checking account statements, receipts from purchasing beads and supplies, credit card statements and other business related paperwork that are stored in my work room that need to be organized so I can enter them into Quickbooks so it will calculate how much money I owe the state for Sales Tax.  I file yearly on February 5th, and I've entered nothing in my accounting database since last February.

There comes a point when the clutter becomes a mountain that looms above me and threatens to spill its guts all over the place like a volcano spewing lava.  When Too Much Stuff becomes Detrimental to Creativity.

I think I see hot red magma swallowing up the floor!

Good thing I can be creative in the family room tonight!

Tomorrow I'll worry about taming the chaos.

Cheers!
Laurel

Goals and Schedules

After 3 months, I still can't seem to establish a schedule for getting things done at home.

Of course, anyone who worked with me during the past 10 years knows I had trouble following a daily schedule even while employed.  You cannot set a clock by me!  Now that I'm self-employed, why should it be any different?  Except that I would like to feel that sense of accomplishment that comes with completing a task; in not wasting time on things that don't have as much value as other things I should be or want to be doing.  How did I manage to work full time before this?

Setting Specific Goals
It's good to have goals, but not ones that make you feel like you will never check them off the list.  I need to be more specific in setting my goals.  Instead of saying I need to add more jewelry to my web site and Etsy store, I should quantify it.  For example, I need to add 10 new items to each site every week, and I need to design and make 10 new necklaces or bracelets this week, and I need to apply to 2 more arts and craft shows this week.

Prioritizing My Goals
Am I working on the tasks that are the most important tasks for that day?  If my next art show is in 3 weeks, do my customers know about it?  Do I have new items priced and ready to sell?  Do I have business cards and a show schedule ready to hand out?  Does my web site have the show dates and locations listed? 

Setting Obtainable Goals
Are my goals realistic?  Where does laundry fit in?  Making dinner?  Cleaning the house?  Paying bills, going to the post office, library, etc., and all the other things that need to be done in a week now that I'm home?  If I spend the time adding 10 new items to my web site this week, will I have time to make and price 10 new pieces of jewelry for my next art show? 

Scheduling My Tasks
If I know what my goals are and what is most important each week, I should be able to schedule time to work on them.  I should be able to look at my tasks for the week and know that I'm working toward something that I value, that I'm that much closer to realizing my goal, and that I've spent my time wisely. 

What is it they say?  Success is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration!

I just need to keep on task!  Which isn't always that easy for a non-task oriented person to do....

In fact, posting on my blog wasn't on today's list of things to do!  Hmmm. 

And now the laundry needs folding.  And I'm a little hungry.  Wonder if there's any mail?

Cheers!!