Preparing for a Show at the Last Minute

I have a show coming up on Friday in my hometown of Ithaca, NY that I decided to do only 3 weeks ago, so I've been frantically creating jewelry with my daughter to get ready. My to-do list is getting shorter, but more pressing as it's only a couple of days away...

I still work full-time and have a family so I'm really stretching the minutes I have available.  Here are some things that have helped when time gets squishy:

I shop for supplies on my lunch hour.  I make a list the night before so that I know where I need to go and what exactly I need to get.  That way, I don't get sucked into browsing and take too long.  I also use this time for mailing orders (there is a post office right down the street from my office) and sometimes replacing inventory in stores.

I recruit my daughter to help.  She's 13 and she has things that she likes to do.  Making jewelry is actually at the bottom of her list unless it involves a torch.  Her favorite things are pricing/labeling the jewelry, taking inventory and helping me with income and expense entries.  I LOVE her for doing these things (and well, just in general).

I maximize my weekends.  By "maximize" I mean I do little else but make jewelry.  I actually have calluses on my hands from the Thanksgiving-break-making-frenzy.  I pretty much neglect things like vacuuming or anything resembling cleaning. My family joins in or at least visits me at the dining room table, so I don't miss too much.

I added a "Build Your Own Bracelet" offering for the show.  I think this will work well as I can make jewelry right there.  I can demonstrate what I do and give people a customized piece before they leave.  I don't have to take as many pre-made items with me, so less to do ahead of time and I won't have as much down time at the show if I'm making while I'm there.   

I've made a conscious decision to just get done what I can. I could stress out and stay up until 3am every night, but I'm not going to.  I'm choosing how I want to live as I build this business and "stressed out" is not on the list.  I did set goals for how much I wanted to bring and I made them in the realm of what I knew I could reasonably do in the time that I have.

Every night I review what I accomplished and I take some time to appreciate all that I was able to get done-even with a very busy life.  I write down what I was able to do and I just take a few minutes to celebrate it.  I do this a lot and sometimes I look back at all that I have done, especially when I feel like things are moving too slowly and it makes me feel better to see it all in the pages.

I focused on slowing down and keeping the creative joy alive. In my evening reflection/celebration, one thing I noticed is how much I really love making my new mixed media bracelet (like the one in the photo above.)  I use different types of materials in each bracelet.  Crystals, metal, stone, charms...whatever calls me and I am totally loving them.  This style takes me much longer to make because I keep mixing and matching to get them to a happy place.  One of my customers said they have "good energy" which is what I'm feeling for when I assemble and re-assemble them. One of the stores said "Oh yes!  Bring me more of those" so I think I'm on the right track.

Happy Handmade Holiday!

ps: If you're doing your first show this holiday season and need help with what to bring, email me and I'll send you a free list of what I always bring with me. You can also check out Kari Chapin's Book, The Handmade Marketplace for the chapter on selling at craft shows as a great place to start.

 

Up your Etsy Game

Over the course of starting a crafty business, I have made some mistakes.

Selling my work online has been one.

I focused my efforts on local stores and I threw up (good analogy!) an Etsy page because I wanted to have an online shop, but then I left it to wilt and didn't do anything to even tell people it was there.

To be honest, I didn't want to take the time to take photos, write the descriptions and post them.  I just wanted to get my jewelry into people's hands and doing all of those extra steps, took time away from making the actual jewelry.

A few things have happened that have changed my mind and decide to put real effort into an online shop:

When I post my photos online, people ask where they can buy them.  Now, as a person building a thriving business, you never want your potential customers to wonder and have to ask where they can buy from you.  You want to make it blatantly obvious and as easy as possible for them to buy from you. 

Your local community is finite.  There are only a limited number of people who live where you live and shop in the stores that feature your work locally.  If you want to reach more people (and you may not, which is perfectly fine too) putting your work online can help you get in front of the most people.

When you sell online, you have direct interaction with your customers.  You get to hear their questions and feedback, which helps you improve your product and your descriptions.  You can also do more custom work based on their specific interests and requests.

When you sell direct to your customers, you cut out the expense of the middle man.  Yes, you will have Etsy and Paypal fees, but they will be significantly less than the percentage that a store may charge.  You can charge the retail price for your work, rather than the wholesale price that you will get from stores (of course you are paying for the stores to do the selling for you, so they justifiably should be paid for their efforts.)  If you do the work of selling, you get the profit.

I truly believe you get out what you put in.  There is no "build it and they will come."  You have to build it and keep on telling people about it.  Then, you need to keep building it better.  Posting better photos, writing better descriptions based on what your customers are telling you.

So, this week I freshened up  my Etsy page, by taking new photos and really spending some love there.  Of course, my camera batteries died and I had to venture forth to the drug store and leave the comfort of my pajamas...I so love working in my pajamas.  They're paint smeared and have reindeer on them and I threaten my daughter that I'm going to start walking the dog in them...but I digress.

Part of building a business is you get to decide where you are going to focus your limited time, energy and resources. 

Where will you spend your energy today to build your business?  

p.s. 
I would love if you stopped by to visit my updated online shop and let me know what you think.

Irresistible Art

Art Journal Cover

Art making is irresistibly fun, especially when you approach it with childlike wonder.

When you let yourself play with paints and sprays and inks.  

You splash and fling paint without caring in the least where it's going to land.

You stamp and stencil.

You scrape and make marks with whatever you can find.

It's full of color and it's an active, messy process.

It pulls kids away from the TV and video games.  It makes them curious to see what you're up to.  

But beware, once you travel down this road, you may not be able to get them out of your art supplies...

The Art Journal Cover above began with layering sheets from my daughter's old band music.  I applied it with a gel medium (I like Golden's but you can also use Mod Podge or a glue stick).

You then cover up the plain old white paper with whatever color paint you like.  You can use spray inks (Dylusions and Heidi Klapp make fun sprays) and basic craft paints in colors you like.

I like mixing inks and paints to see what happens and then I keep building layers by stamping, stenciling, dripping, scratching, smearing paint and having a grand time. 

Each painting is a little experiment. I never plan out what it will look like-I just keep happily building the layers until I feel done.  Which is why it's perfect for kids.

The one "rule" to avoid making mud is to keep your cool colors like blues and greens (the colors of winter) away from your warm, summer colors of orange, yellows and reds.  I usually work in layers of cools and let it dry-then do a layer of warm colors.

We have painting parties when friends and kids come over to get their hands in some paint. There is no pressure and no instruction.  Just get some paint, something to paint on and begin!

Primal Painting

A Student's Intuitive Painting in Process

My kind of painting is "intuitive".  Whenever I say that, people have no idea what I'm talking about.

It makes me feel a little woo-woo sometimes when I try to describe it.  That I don't paint pictures to sell.  That I paint to know myself more, to see my own patterns.  And sometimes what comes out is pleasing to other people as well (and I have sold them) but that's not the point.

And I can't exactly name "the point" in ways that will make sense.  Maybe it's because there isn't a point in the way that people look for reasons or points (and I do and have done this too).

As I type this it occurs to me that painting is Primal.  It's tactile.  It's ancient.  When it's intuitive, its like an umbilical cord between your brush and creativity itself.  It comes from the place that instinct comes from.

Sometimes it's easier to say what it is not.  It's not about painting a picture to hang on your wall (although I sometimes do) or perfecting your techniques (I still love learning techniques even if I don't use them all the time).  It's not about critique or perfectionism, more about quieting those tendencies and voices in your head.  It's not about painting realistically or even abstractly.  For me it's not a process filled with angst.  I approach it as a curious observer to see what happens and I LOVE it (even when it gets hard and I want to quit.)

I don't always make time to paint. My nagging inner critic is telling me of all the other things I should be doing instead, like making jewelry for the new co-op that I will be starting in on Tuesday or or doing laundry or writing a newsletter....

But my soul is reminding me that it's time to paint.  I'm noticing it's whisper in subtle ways.  When I haven't painted in awhile, I start to lose the urge to create anything. I don't want to do any of the other things that keep my business moving forward.

I just want to crawl into bed.  Or sit by the pool and drink good wine.  Every night.

I also get edgy and emotional when I haven't painted for awhile. Little things bother me more.  Perceived slights seem bigger.  This is how I begin to notice that all is not right with me.

It used to be that writing healed these cracks when they arose, but lately it's been painting.  Writing is cerebral, painting is primal. It comes from a place beyond thinking.

I get my mind out of the way and just let it flow. Crank up the music, pull out whatever brushes and colors call to me and dive in. 

Experiment, let go, trust that even if it doesn't look exactly as I want it to at the moment, that it will come with time.  That no matter what comes, I will be better for it.

What Do You Love?

I have found that I LOVE making jewelry, but it took a while!

Do what you love!  Have an amazing life!  What happens if you don't even know what you like, never mind what you love?

You only know that you don't particularly care for what you're doing right now and you're feeling restless.  A part of you that believes you have the potential to do much bigger things.

You were born to share your gifts, if only you could put your finger on exactly what those are...

How do you find your strengths?  How do you figure out what your dreams are?

Here is how I began to get clear on what I really want to have in my life.

I started by really paying attention to what I was doing and breaking it down.  I started noticing when something pulled me in.  What exactly I was doing when time passed quickly and when it dragged.

If I found something online that made me want to know more I paid attention to what is was exactly that intrigued me and I wrote it down in my journal (this is how I found art journaling!)

I started noticing what sections of the bookstore I gravitated to.  What was I always looking at? (Business, Creative Stuff, Interior Design.)

I started examining what the favorite parts of my job were (understanding what motivates people and future planning) and what really made my eye start to twitch (I will hold my tongue because my grandmother taught me to.)

I made cards about the people I most admire and the qualities they had, things like "positive energy", "generous", "they talk about things I find interesting" and "kind." This helped me to know what kind of people I want to surround myself with. The type of people I wanted to draw into my life.

I began trying things that interested me even if I thought I wasn't good at them.  Like painting and making jewelry.  Like teaching kids.  Like designing a web page.  If it sparked an interest for me, I tried it and gave myself permission to do it wrong or badly, which really took the pressure off.

I also started making a list of things that I no longer wanted to have in my life.  Things I was ready to release and be done with.  The challenging part here was that many of the things I wanted to let go of, were intricately tangled around me in ways that made them difficult to release.

It has become a process of loosening the threads, one by one, like cutting gum out of a little gir'ls hair.  You want to chop out the wad all at once, but it's better in the long run if you go slowly and try to preserve the good things, while getting rid of the sticky-icky mess.

I encourage you to start paying attention and noticing what pulls you in.  Right now, in the next hour, throughout your day.  You will start to see where you most like to explore and where time disappears. 

Following this path will lead you back to what you truly want.  What is it you love?

Where Does the Money Come From?

I love it when bloggers share how they make money from their businesses.  You can see how having different sources of income really adds up to a living and how people build successful products and services.

Here are two of my favorites:

Writer Extraordinaire, Alexandra Franzen gives a glimpse inside the guts of her business in this blog post.  She includes the services she offers, her go to tools and how she gets paid.

Jewelry maker and marketer Lisa Jacobs shows her various income streams for 2014 and how she makes money from her Etsy Sales and online business. She compares it to what she might make in a traditional job.  I celebrate her courage in honestly posting good months and not so good months.  She also pays attention to why sales decreased and where she could do better, which we can all learn from doing as well.

These women teach me that making a living from doing what you love is possible.  They've built systems and they pay attention to both what is working and also what they most enjoy doing.  They follow what they're most enthusiastic about and that energy is tangible.

You may be in the process of setting up your business and looking at what you enjoy and how you might make money while also making a difference in the world.  There is much to sort out, but that's what we're here for.  To begin figuring it all out. 

To begin building a life that is perfectly designed for you, by you.

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:

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