Lovely Winter Wall Decor

The dream catchers have been a real hit this season! I only have two left right now (looks like it's time to make more), so I thought I would feature them here today. Not that I actually want to see them go... they're one of the more difficult pieces for me to sell, because each one is one-of-a-kind, and I miss seeing them on my own walls... but oh well, it's nice to think of them finding a new spot in someone's home, too.

Plaid (Autumn) Dream Catcher

I think the plaid dream catcher is perfect for Autumn, and I always imagine it on the walls of a log cabin in the Smokey Mountains or something. Yes, I do in fact spend that much time and energy imagining where a dream catcher might be displayed. ;)

Soft Rainbow Dream Catcher

I think this one is my favorite. I love that the soft colors work equally well for Spring, Summer, or Winter (sorry, Autumn). It's so colorful, but so soft that it isn't loud or overwhelming. There's just something so comforting about this piece.

So today is Small Business Saturday, and I'll have my studio open until at least 7pm this evening. I'll probably be working on another dream catcher today, as well as some more of the titanium-treated quartz necklaces, as they've been selling out pretty quickly over the holiday. If you're interested in anything, or just want to stop by to watch old movies and eat cocoa drizzled kettle corn (yes, that IS a real thing) with me, then come on over!

Expecting the Expected

I love to ask for advice, but it's somewhat funny how rarely I actually listen to it.  It's not that I don't value the advice I'm given, it's more that I'm always quite sure that things are going to go differently for me than it did for other people.  Sometimes I think it's more important to me to know the advice is actually out there than it is to follow it.  And, sometimes that pays off, in the form of blazing my own trails, and sometimes it doesn't, in the form of my not actually expecting the expected.

I was definitely told that the Holiday shopping season would mean a lot of time spent working, but for whatever reason, I thought that my beautiful check-off lists and planning my working hours (10 am - 4 pm?  Hah!!) would help me to avoid that kind of drama.

It didn't quite go that way.

A 35-40 hour work week?  Well, that's a joke.  I work almost from the time I wake up (9:15 am) until I go to sleep (1-2 am).  Sure, there are breaks for writing emails to friends, or making cookies, and the occasional Netflix movie.  But more often than not, I'm writing emails while printing orders, making cookies while resin cures, and watching movies while I bend jump rings or put stickers on gift boxes.

But the thing is... I like it.  I love it.  I'm busy, I'm frazzled, I always have too many things to do, and I'm enjoying it!  Sure, there are stressful moments where I might forget I ever typed those words... but they pass eventually, and most of the time I feel really awesome about what I'm doing.

It's a great feeling, to be in charge of my own future, to know that I have a say in how successful I am, that it doesn't only depend on my customers (although I love them, and they are pretty important, hehe), that I have control over it!

When I first started this endeavor, I didn't feel like I was in control.  If I had a slow day, I blamed not having enough views on my Etsy shop, or not understanding SEO, or some other reason... but then I realized that there were days when I would have over $100 in sales with only 75 views, and that I could conquer SEO on my slow sale days.

So yeah, I'm tired and I'm having a difficult time not wearing pajamas (there's no time to put on real clothes!), and I don't often lie on my couch sipping cocoa and doing nothing (holiday traditions) -- but I feel so good.  Just so darn good.

So to my customers, and to everyone who supports tiny businesses, and makers of handmade things -- thank you for making this such an exciting time, not just for me, but for all of us!

Holiday Crunch Time

Shout-out to all my other small business buddies who are probably also having a difficult time keeping up with things like blogging, while the holiday shopping rush is hitting hard.  The good news is that people seem to be really into buying handmade presents -- yay!  The bad news is I can't remember much what it's like to sleep for more than 5-6 hours, my whole apartment smells strongly of resin (& cigarettes, lets be honest, gotta keep my strength up), and I haven't seen a clear space in my living room in weeks that doesn't promptly get filled up with jewelry boxes, chains, pendants, and shipping labels.  I have managed to find small pockets of time to decorate our little tree, and to make cookies one afternoon, but other than that, it's been work work work.  Work with Netflix TV shows streaming in the background, to maintain my sanity (although I'm not sure that's what it's actually doing, because after four days straight of Being Human I was pretty much convinced of the existence of vampires and werewolves).

So... exciting news... and part of the reason I've been so busy...  I'm going to have a sale on Fab.com this month!!  It's only going to last three days, and you have to be a Fab.com member to purchase from their site, so if you haven't joined, you can register here.  I think I'm so excited about it because I LOVE the site so much, and I'm always spending all of my extra money on the awesome, fun stuff they offer.  Needless to say, though, it is keeping me busy!!  I'm offering 800 total necklaces... only 200 of which I've actually made, hehe

I've also been working on these cool combo necklaces.

Los Angeles California Necklace Combo

Chicago Illinois Necklace Combo 

Manhattan / NY New York Necklace Combo

Dallas Texas Necklace Combo

So, I hope everyone (small business people, or not) is enjoying the holiday season -- baking cookies, decorating trees, lighting menorahs, and so on.  I think it might be time for me to take a short break, just short enough to go buy some egg nog.  ;)