Saturday Night

Isn't that a creative title? I couldn't think of anything else :P Sorry I was gone for a couple of days - went all melty brained (migraine) again! But I'm backkkkk. And here is where I'm at:

What's For Sale

Garden Earrings

Aren't these cute? It may not be the right time of the year to be out in your garden (unless you're in the southern hemisphere!) but that doesn't mean it's not a great time to buy these earrings! Wouldn't they make a great Christmas present? Click on the link above to go check 'em out in my store! 

Groovy Nights

Aren't these great to wear to a party? Or even just to add a little jazz to your every day life? I sure think so! Click on the link! 

Daily Crafty ADD

Well - being knocked out with a bad migraine makes for no crafting :( BUT I did go shopping! 

Aren't they cute? It was hard to take a good picture - but that's red and green folks! I'm going to play with them soon, but I have a couple of other things I need to work on first. I'll show you what I mean tomorrow :D

Pirates Swag!!!

Look at all the swag I got today! And at 50% off or more! Woohoo!

Bead Soup Rides Again!

I'm so excited! Bead Soup is coming back! There are already 55 people signed up - and I can hardly wait to see what we all come up with :) The last one was soooo much fun!! If you want to sign up go to this post on Lori Anderson's blog :)

New Beads!

I made a comment on Plurk that I had gone bead shopping - and everyone wanted to see! So here's my stash - I have plans in mind for... well...most of it? LOL I went shopping because I have a custom order and then just some pendants that I wanted better supplies to use with. So most of it actually does have a very specific purpose. some of it was just for fun though :) Because hey, I can't resist the beads!

I Cleaned!

Ok - before I forget! Happy 4th of July! I hope you have a great day and have lots of fun! We're hoping to go hang out with my evil twin tonight if I'm feeling good enough!

So last night I got ambitious and decided to clean! Now if I was smart I would have taken a "before" picture. But I wasn't smart. I wasn't thinking about blogging when I started cleaning. Just about cleaning!

My work space is a table that I share with my hubby for our computers, and then a card table next to it with all my beady stuff. I do try to put things away when I'm done with them, I really do, but I'm, um, very distractable. Especially when I have new ideas! (which is most of the time) So things tend to pile up and every once in awhile I'm forced to make myself clean so that I can keep working without completely losing my mind (which is mostly gone to begin with).

Part of the problem with my work space was that I had stuff that I do need to have around, and I do use, but there was really no place to put it. So it was just piled up on the table, and I tried to work around it. Well, I realized that I do have drawers I cold put them into, I just had to get rid of the junk that was in the drawers!

Did I mention I'm also a compulsive hoarder? I'm getting better since I've moved so many times in the last year, but it's still hard to get rid of anything that I could possibly find a use for. And since I'm such a creative person, I can think of ideas for just about anything! But last night I cleaned out a couple of drawers and reorganized so I could the mess in them. Ok, so honestly, some of it got shuffled to a box to that went in the closet, but I DID get rid of some stuff!

Next I cleaned off my workspace. I started that project last night, but ran out of energy so I finished it this morning. That meant putting things in the drawers I cleaned out last night, and putting away the detritus from many recent projects! Especially cleaning off my planning board.

My planning board is actually what started all of this. I have a custom order that I can't do with out laying it out - and my board was covered in the remains of old projects and pieces I want to use in upcoming projects! That's all taken care of now. Not only is my planning board clean (completely for once), but I can also see my desk! I even took a Lisol wipe to the top of it to clean off the dust and spare beads :)

Want to see my beady collection? I just have a few... 18 boxes of beads and 3 of findings and pendants...

Can you believe I'd love to have MORE??? I'm addicted...

And because this post wouldn't be complete with out showing off my lap top (his name is Jack)! See the blue in front of it? That's a bead mat. Yes, I generally bead in front of my laptop. It gets shifted around so I can work, but most of it takes place right here folks!

I'm drooling...

See that pile of goodies? That's just a SMALL portion of all the incredible beads being given away over at the Silver Parrot! Seriously - it's an insanely awesome giveaway. I would so be in heaven if I won this giveaway. And I need to buy a LOT more storage boxes :D So head over there and enter - because as much as I want to win I think it would be pretty cool if one of my friends won too!

Dreaming and Scheming

This weeks Etsy Bloggers Carnival had two choices:

1. Now that spring has sprung, it's planting time. If you're into gardening, what would your dream garden look like? What flowers/bulbs/herbs would you plant? What about garden doodads or statues?
2. Your Own Space: describe your dream studio (or if you already have one, give details!). Decorating, supplies you wish you had, size, etc.

Let me just say I do NOT have a green thumb. It's more like a black thumb! Ok, I did manage to keep the plants alive at the last two places I house sat, but the fact remains that I'm not really a plant person! Besides, I've been dreaming for a long time about my crafty space. 

Now some of my awesome bloggy pals found pictures to go with their descriptions. I thought about that, but I'm not feeling well today, so you'll just have to make your own mental pictures. Deal? Good. 

I have two separate dreams for craft rooms. One is more practical and obtainable, and one is truly dreaming! You see, right now, just about anything would be better than what I have! Because my hubby is a full time student, and I have limited resources because of my health problems (not to mention the bills the health problems cause), we have to live as frugally as we can right now. So we live in a one bedroom apartment.  

We manage the space by taking the living room (which is relatively big) and splitting it in two. We have a futon that my evil twin loaned us and that splits the space giving us a small living room space, and the other half is computers and my crafty stuff. 

Because of this my very first dream is simply to move to a bigger apartment! I would love to have a two bedroom apartment with our bed and stuff in the smaller bedroom, and all our computers and crafty stuff in the master bedroom! I'd keep the computers in with the crafty stuff because my hubby spends a lot of time on the computer and this means we'd still sort of spend time together, which is pretty much what we do now in our small space! 

Now for my ultimate dream. Well, I've been dreaming of my dream house for a long time.  The one feature that is KEY is having a full library room! Can't have my dream house without that. If you know me, you know I love books! 

Now I'm thinking that the entire second floor of my dream house would need to be a studio. Oh we could have our computers in there, and a tv would be could because I like to watch things while I craft, but the majority of the space would be for crafty stuff! I'd have a big work desk that would be in a V shape in one corner. This would allow me to easily rotate between the computer and my current project. One side of the desk would extend far enough to give my hubby his own computer space so he'd still be up there with me! 

There would be a full set of shelves (or two!) for beads. I already have 21 different organizational boxes piled up on my table - give me time and I can't even begin to imagine how many I'll have in a few years! Then of course I'd have to have some storage space for the finished products and display items for when I go to craft fairs :)

Now I'm not just a beady woman, I like other crafts and have many things I want to learn! So there would a table for a sewing machine, shelves for fabric, shelves for yarn, and shelves for whatever else I want! Plus of course a book case (yes I know I have a library, shhhh!), for books and magazines to use for resources! 

No I'm not obsessed with creating things and books! What ever made you say that?

So Many Pretties!

I have so many new things right now! It's like Christmas in April :) I know, I know, not your normal time for Christmas, but it all came at once therefore it feels like Christmas!

The first thing I got was a present from my brother in Nepal. This was supposed to be our Christmas box, but it got here just in time for April! Got to love transporting things from third world countries. Mom and I got similar shawls (mine's a little more purple) and we're pretty sure that they are cashmire! So incredibly soft. Mom and I both wore our shawls for Easter. With the peasants blouse I wore underneath it my dear hubby told me I should be out milking the yaks or something...

The next thing I got was PACKED box that's been awhile in the making! I was contacted awhile ago by Bird of KittyHawke to see if I wanted to do a trade. I loved the idea! So we started negotiating and I'm in LOVE with what I got! She even gave me presents in the box :)  Here's what I got :)

A bag full of glass stones.

Some funky fiber beads.

A box of totally random beds (a bunch of them wooden).

4 Cabochons - which I'm really excited about!

I've got lots of ideas and I've been wanting to learn to use them in beadweaving.

Funky Peace Charms.

14 strands of beads! (I've already used some).

A special pendant - just for me :D

And as if THAT wasn't enough...I won a bloggy contest from Mama's Little Monkey's, and the package came in the mail yesterday! I didn't get a shot of my own of the crayons I got for my neice, because I was out running errands I took them over as a present right away!

She also included several soap bars that I gave to Becca - because it was her birthday was on Easter! Becca is my nieces mom - an adopted sister :P

The below is some bath salts that are just for me!

I tried them out last night and they smell heavenly :)

Time Management Series - What YOU Have To Say Part 3

Continuing on with our Time Management Series - here's more of what YOU had to say! For anyone who hasn't been following along, these quotes are taken from a forum thread that I did a little while ago on the topic :)



Little Odd Me said: Because I have product that can be replicated (photographs) and I do markets as well, keeping on top of my inventory item by item is crucial. I need to know what is selling, how much of it has sold, and whether I need to order more soon. This is extra important coming up to this rush season. Being disciplined to mark each item down at least on a sell-sheet as I sell it is crucial. It saves me a ton of time.

Being organized. All those photos in my stock inventory have their place. I set myself an aim of being able to set my fingertips on any one of my stock items within one minute of recieving an order if I am at home, and thirty seconds at a market/fair.

Changing my time management with the seasons. I have several hundred pieces of packaging ready to go for the year end. I did them during my slower summer months.

My natural rhythm is to do a bit of everything, so I will often set a playlist of songs up on the computer to run for half an hour or an hour. I set up my list of tasks and set a goal to try and accomplish before the end of the song. Then I move on to something else with each new song until my tasks are completed. (Speaking of which, the song is nearly done, so I need to get onto packaging some orders for posting tomorrow!)



virtuallori said:Count me in with the meticulous list makers and timer users.

I live by my calendar, which also contains (most of) my to-do lists. I have to write it down, pen on paper, so it's in front of me. I should mention that I have a full-time freelance editing and project management business in addition to my jewelry business, so time juggling has become an art for me.

I usually start the week by taking a few minutes to review everything that *must* get done that week, those things I would *like* to get done that week, and other things. I make a general plan for how I will spread out the musts over the week. I tend to leave the likes and the others loose, to fit in when I can. Some things have to be done on certain days or within certain time frames, so they get written in on the calendar on the appropriate day, regardless of their priority. (If it's low priority and doesn't get done, so be it.) I do a mini version of this each day, looking at what needs to get done and making a plan for how I will approach the day. It doesn't always work out that way, but it sets me on the right path.

I also make supplementary to-do lists for long-term goals and piddly things that pop into my head while I'm doing other things. I keep a spiral notebook on my desk to capture these. I'll break them down and move them onto the calendar when appropriate.

I use timers, too, although sometimes the "timer" is the amount of time it takes the water to boil or a batch of pendants to etch or some other naturally occurring interval. The studio is a mess, so see what I can do with it in the time between my cousin calling to say she's on her way over and when she gets here.

The most important piece of advice I have for someone wanting to get a better grip on their time is to break larger projects into smaller chunks, then work through the chunks systematically. "Prepare for next month's show" is not a doable to-do. By breaking that into "make price tags," "order new business cards," and so on, you've created manageable to-dos that you can accomplish in short bursts of time. If I write "edit 400-page book" on my list for this week, I'll be overwhelmed, but if I write "edit chapter 1" on Monday, "edit chapter 2" on Tuesday, etc., it's easier to handle and I feel I'm making more progress.


Summers Studio Etc said: I make a yearly long term goal list, break that into months, and then schedule each week day by day. I used to do project management and this works for me. And I love making lists, I even put things on the list that are already done just to get the satisfaction out of crossing it off. Oh and this is not as rigid as it sounds. It is really more of a framework that keeps me on task. When the long term goals go out of whack I make little adjustments. Its a pretty fluid process.