Creative Giveaway Celebration!

Drawing Friday, May 2nd!

Today I went down to the County Office Building and registered Have All This as a real, official business!

And guess what?  The woman who processed my paperwork at the Clerk's office got really excited over the bracelet I was wearing (one of my Wonderwraps) and bought it right off my arm! (And she wants me to come back with a display case so she can pick more out!)

Sometimes the Universe lets you know you're heading in the right direction. 

To celebrate the official launch of my business, I'm giving away the Wonderwrap above to one subscriber on my e-mail list (I love giving gifts so more to come for lucky subscribers!)
I hope it will delight you as much as the woman who purchased mine today!

You can sign up here:

Get super helpful tips to build your creative business  

Learn Something New

I love learning new techniques and as soon as I learn them, I want to teach them.

I want everyone to get as excited as I do about what you can bring into being with your own two hands and 1500 degrees of heat.

Painted Enamel Pennies

I made these enameled discs out of pennies during a class at the Philly Bead Fest.  I went down just for this class, but I really want to go back again in August to soak in as much as I can.

These are made by first enameling the copper penny (made prior to 1981 when they were still made of copper) with a base coat-here we used white enamel. After you have the white base,  you then paint with acrylic enamels and water to get the beautiful patterns.  No two ever look exactly alike, which I love about them.

You use a torch when enameling these and although it can be a little intimidating at first, it's really very fun once you get used to it.  You just need to have constant vigilance so as not to scald yourself...

If you're interested in learning more about enameling, my most excellent teacher was Stephen James and he has a great video tutorial on enameling here.

I know this is something I will have to teach others-I need people to play with!

Getting Things Done When You Work Full Time

Like many things in my life lately, the Philadelphia Bead Fest this past weekend was a lot to take in.  So many booths filled with color, so much to look at and see...

Sometimes when I have too much in front of me, I start to feel overwhelmed.  Thoughts begin to swirl...What should I do first?  Where should I begin, how will I get through all of this?  It happens at work (which issue should I tackle first?), at home (laundry? dishes?  mopping? putting clothes away?  making dinner?) and in my business (I need to redesign my website and there are so many options, where do I begin? Should I do it myself or hire someone?  I need an online shopping cart and a space to host online classes...how hard could it be to set up my own Wordpress site?)  

Then I just want to lay down and take a nap.  

There is so much to do that I want to do exactly NOTHING.

I have to continually remind myself that what always works best for me is to do what is in front of me to do next.  The important things first of course and then, just whatever is next.

It's simple.

It GETS THINGS DONE.

I often jot down lists because they help me stay focused.  I'm pretty loose about them. I don't put  them in order.  I just dump out the tasks onto paper so that I can get them out of my head and remember to do them.

Here is a sample from today.  Keep in mind I work full-time, so this is my after 5pm. or on my lunch hour list for my business and home life.


Over the next couple of days:


Send personal thank you notes to people who bought from me at the Heritage Wholesale Show I participated in this week (My first one-a huge risk for me, but I'm so glad I did it.  I ended up having a 50-unit sale of my Wonderwrap bracelets and making connections with a couple of different store owners!) I think it is so important to send a personal, hand-written thank you note to show how much you appreciate their business.

Register my daughter for summer camp

Go grocery shopping for food for the week

Stop by the antique store for more jewelry display ideas

Stop by Michaels' for some wire (I think I can do this on my lunch hour today)

Set up dates for upcoming classes

Email the students on my class list the dates of upcoming classes 

Work on creating a calendar for my blog posts and newsletters

Catch up on B-school Trainings and watch the Wordpress tutorial again

Facebook people in my jewelry groups regarding my new idea to create jewelry displays from antique or re-purposed items to see if there is a demand

Fold laundry and put it away

Celebrate the successes of my week (had great sales at the wholesale show, learned a new jewelry making skill, toured the country's first penitentiary in Philadelphia, got to spend some time in the sunshine, listening to a band play in Philly, spent good times with my family!)

I know it can seem like there isn't time to accomplish all that you want to do, but I encourage you to just begin doing one thing at a time and you will see the momentum start to build. Momentum is that beautiful thing that keeps you moving and motivated.

Be gentle on yourself if you don't get it all done. It's really ok if we have only 83 bracelets for the upcoming whole sale show instead of the 100 we hoped to have ready.  It's ok if you take a night off from your list to just do something fun and juicy.

Celebrate what you are able to accomplish. Look back over the past few days and spend some time complimenting yourself for the things you did-many may not have even been on the list, but they moved you forward just the same.