Stressin' Myself Out!

As 2009 approaches, I find myself stressing out about all the things I would love to accomplish in the new year. I don't make New Year's resolutions anymore, but do think about things to hope for. I don't think there is anything wrong with being optimistic and hopeful. But if there are too many things to "hope" for, then it seems a little overwhelming.

I really want to do things to help my business be more successful. I am not a business-minded person. I'm not good at keeping track of my materials or figuring out money strategies. I just don't know much about that stuff. So, I'm going to try to learn a few business tactics.

I think what stresses me out the most is taking time to learn the things I need to know. For instance, I've tried to figure out the links in this blog so that they will be "live". Now, as you may know, when you click on what you think is a link, you get an error message. The other thing I've tried to do is make my blog 3 columns instead of two. For some reason, that hasn't worked for me either. I have spent lots of time trying to get computer things to work for me and I still can't do it. It's frustrating because I feel like I have so little time to spend learning.

Anyway, thanks for listening to me vent.

So here are 5 of my goals for my business for 2009:

1. Blog at least once a week
2. Update Etsy shop with new photos, write shop policies and re-write descriptions
3. Read about and implement strategies to help my business grow
4. Get the Etsy Street Team (Missouri Etsy-centrics) up and running
5. Be more consistent in organizing activities for the Street Team

My 15 Minutes

Yesterday the local newspaper ran an article about me and my art. I'm really excited and think it's a good article. Here it is if you'd like to read it:

Tribune Article December 21st

I never thought I'd be featured in the Arts section of the newspaper! Let me know what you think.

Checking In

I just posted my blog address on the Etsy forum and thought I'd better write some sort of update.

I would like to spend some time doing some art tonight, but we've planned this holiday gathering and the house is a mess. So I should work on cleaning, but will I? I'm still in the process of organizing the craft cave. It's coming along pretty well. I love my space. I feel so blessed to have my own space to do with as I please!

Ok, that's all for now. Have a good evening.

Beaux Arts Bizarre

The weekend after Thanksgiving two friends and I participated in an art show called the Beaux Arts Bizarre in Columbia, Missouri. It was held in the Missouri Theatre for the Arts which was recently renovated. It was built in 1928 and was purchased by the Missouri Symphony Society in 1988. Events were held in the theater, but there was no denying the poor old building needed some love! The renovations were finished earlier this year and we were lucky enough to be part of one of the first events to be held in the "new" building. It is truly beautiful. It's awesome to see people who are interested in and dedicated to preserving the past, instead of tearing down what is old and worn out.

There were approximately 45 artists at the Beaux Arts Festival - including a couple of members from the Missouri Etsy-centrics Street Team and some Etsians I hadn't met before. It was good to be able to meet some new people and invite them to join our Team.

Our booth was located at the left side of the stage way in the back, next to the brick wall. The guy next to us was Fergus Moore, a potter. He had a booth he had built out of plywood. It was a really nice display for his work, but the wall that was next to our booth was pretty tall. We were very "tucked away" in the corner - all nice and cozy.

Fergus was a nice guy and sensitive to the fact that we might not want to have the big plywood wall crammed up next to our booth. So he located some nice lavender fabric to cover the wall that faced us and told us we could hang whatever we wanted to on it. I thought that was really honorable of him. The wall turned out to really be a blessing to us. We hung lots of things on it, adopted it as part of our display and it looked great. Thanks Fergus...do you think you could follow us around to all of our craft shows so that we can use your wall?

I think as far as attendance goes, the show was a little disappointing. We had good traffic off and on, but not like we thought we would. Though I'm pretty tired of thinking, hearing and talking about our economy, it's quite possible that is what influenced the number of people at our booth. I didn't make much money, but my partners did pretty well and I had lots of fun. It was great to meet people and to get some feedback about my work. We plan on doing it again next year.

If you get a chance, check out my friends' shops: Jolene at LocoMOmomma and Beth at Heartgrooves . Separately we all have Etsy shops but together we go by the name "3 Moms Creative Outlet". Jolene sells crocheted baby things, felted purses and fleece kidswear. Beth sells altered letters, journals, cards, tags and other papercrafts. Our things compliment each other and fit well together in a display. I'm thankful for Jolene and Beth. It's a way we can cut down on art fair costs and provide needed feedback and support to each other.

We also had a "guest Mom" whose name was Amy. Her Etsy shop is: Truetauruslove. Amy makes knitted hats and gloves, felted bowls and felted unique animals. It was nice to have her with us.

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

Here's the condensed version of my "summer vacation": We bought a house, sold a house, moved, cleaned, cleaned some more, bought some beautiful new bedroom furniture and I helped organize an Etsy Street Team in my area.

In the midst of moving, I painted a couple of things. I did this big leaf painting because I wanted something to put on our walls as we were "staging" our house for sale. I love leaves, but these don't look very realistic (I like them anyway). The big picture inspired me to do a small leaf picture, which is not really like anything I've done before. The whole leaf theme came from this really cool place mat I bought from Pier One. I guess I was kind of feeling like I was hosting an HGTV show or something. I'm not quite as talented as the HG people, but it really is fun to pretend I'm one of them sometimes!

We were very blessed to have found a house that was newer than our other house, had more space, a big back yard and less expensive than the house we sold. How often does that happen?! The very best thing is that the new place has a spot for me to craft. It's in the basement within a storage area (I call it the craft cave). It seemed like a big room until I got all of my things in there. I'm tellin' ya, I had no idea how much craft booty I had until I saw my friends hauling in box after box after box with the words "craft room" written on them. It was quite embarrassing, but it has curbed my supply buying appetite a little...Well, kind of... I'm at least trying to be more mindful of my purchases!

I love the cave and love being in there, working on projects. I'll post a photo of it when it's a little more organized.

I'm currently getting ready to do an art fair in November. It's a juried show that I'm planning on doing with two of my friends. We're still waiting to hear if we've been accepted. If we don't, I'll have lots of things to post in my Etsy shop!

I need to sign out for now. I don't like that I've been away so long, but I'm happy to start writing again. I want to be more diligent in writing for my blog and I want to do some work on my Etsy shop, including being more active in marketing. Check back soon!