Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Things have been going well for me. I've been a lot more optimistic lately.

I poured a lot of time into my Etsy shop last week, and it seems to be paying off. It was nice to dedicate my time to what I like, instead of constantly worrying about what I "should" be doing to "prove my worth" to myself.

I also got a cute hair cut. I loooove having short hair, but I hadn't cut it since summer '09. It sounds dumb, but I sort of think my hair was one of those things that was dragging me down and contributing to my negative thinking. It's crazy how much little thing like a hair cut can make me so much happier.

Emo photo of my new hair:

Monday, September 20, 2010

It was another slow week last week. Sometimes it's hard to get myself motivated. I want to make new jewelry, but I have SOOO much existing stuff that I need to photograph. On top of that, I could stand to re-make things that have sold... but I just want to keep going with new ideas. I guess if I want to make this work, I'll have to be a little more disciplined. I did manage to list a couple of things today. Hope to keep that momentum going.

I did expand my crafting repertoire in the last week or so. My husband usually comes along when I go to craft stores, and he's become more and more interested in developing a crafty hobby. He was doing wooden puzzles for awhile. He had a lot of fun, but it wasn't especially creative to put together a puzzle. I'm really happy he did it, though. The Eiffel Tower he built attracted a lot of attention when I put it on my table at my last craft show. :)

Austin decided to try his hand at knitting last weekend. I used an old Barnes and Noble gift card to buy an instruction book for him. Then we got the essential yarns and knitting needles. As he was learning I became intrigued and tried it myself. I just finished my first project. It's a cranberry-red scarf. Goes great with my University of Minnesota Gopher gear.

I also made a little stuffed hamster out of felt. My cat freaking loved it. Since she liked it so much, I made another one for my cousin's cat. I brought it to a family get-together and everyone thought it was very cute.



My dad commissioned me to make a gerbil for him. He has two pet gerbils that he loves. A gerbil will be a little more complex, but I'm up for the challenge. I might try to use some material from old, worn-out clothing that my husband wants to throw away. Hurray recycling!

Thursday, September 9, 2010

My Week

I had a fantastic week. Definitely made some strides in my goal of becoming less timid and more involved.

Austin and I went to his mom's for Labor Day weekend. I had such a good time. I don't think I could have fared much better with my husband and in-laws. His brother, brother's girlfriend, and mom's friend came over for dinner one night. Usually, I'm embarrassingly quiet and anxious in situations like that, but I was very comfortable and really enjoyed talking with all of them.

The day after we got back, I gave my blogging presentation for the ShowMe Etsy craft team. I was surprised at how nervous I was. In college I cranked out speaking assignments like they were nothing. I suppose I was intimidated because I really look up to this group of people, and I was scared of their judgment. Talk about an irrational fear... they're all super nice. I probably talked way too fast and I caught my voice quivering a couple of times, but I have since received thanks and compliments. It makes me feel really good. Being able to join this group was an amazing opportunity for me.

Yesterday I was feeling empowered, so I went on a major cleaning spree. Riley got a little upset that I folded up her blanket. She liked to hide under it when it was spread out on the floor. She gave it one more shot, but it didn't last long:



Today has been a rather lazy day for me. I'm going to have to get back in the swing of doing all kinds of crafty stuff. I feel a little crazy for neglecting a job hunt and focusing on my teeny tiny jewelry business. But I can get away with it at the moment, and it makes me happy.

Friday, September 3, 2010

Football and Blogging Tips

GAH the weather is nice. We got stormed on last night, but now it's GORGEOUS.

I went to my mom's house to watch the University of Minnesota football game last night. My sister's boyfriend is on the team. He was on the sidelines last year, and it was so exciting to see the occasional shot of him on TV. I suppose you can only imagine how much more exciting it was to see him actually play! So awesome. They won by 7, and it was a very exciting game.

I'm working on a blogging presentation for my Etsy craft team. Full of all the stuff I've learned (but not necessarily applied) about blogging. Here's a link to a page full of my ideas. Not sure how it'll be formatted... this is my first attempt at using google docs. Feel free to make suggestions: Blogging Stuff

I've been putting TONS of stuff in my shop. Here's a little sampling.