DIY: Baby's First Birthday Decorations

I love pinning (and pining!) on Pinterest. I love drooling over picture perfect snaps on Instagram. I love reading blogs that have professional level pictures to show you how to just "Do It Yourself".

Like with anything you love too much, there is often the down side: realising that you don't have the time, money, patience, etc. to get it look just like how "they" did it. For a long time I would see something, want to try it but then talk myself out of it.

"I don't have the right tools."

"I don't have enough money to do that the right way."

"My camera doesn't take good enough pictures: how will the WORLD know that I've created something creative?!"

"What's the point if it doesn't look like I hired a professional to do it!!"

The pressure was starting to mount as my little boy's first birthday approached. Now admittedly this pressure was coming from myself and literally no one else. I like coordination! I like themes! Always have, always will. However, I just couldn't justify purchasing all the items I'd saved in my shopping cart at this amazing speciality party shop (if you are wondering where I started my birthday journey then check them out).

My First Ever Etsy Sale!

Yup, you read that right! I have had my first every Etsy sale! WOO! YAY! YIPPEE!

However, you may also be familiar with this as well if you've got an Etsy shop: the immediate euphoria of selling an item is quickly replaced with "holy shit, someone's now going to review my work. Someone who is not a friend or a family member. Eeeee!!"

When I first checked my email and saw "Etsy Order Confirmation" my first thought was, "Oh god have I been late night shopping again?! I don't remember buying anything..." And then I read the whole thing and realised it was a confirmation for an order that someone had placed through my shop! My shop!

I was so excited I ran upstairs and woke up the other half. "SORRY, KNOW YOU HAVE WORK IN THE MORNING BUT I HAVE HAD AN ORDER THROUGH!" I danced a little jig. I may have even fist pumped (I did). It was midnight and I should have really been going to bed having finished three other orders for friends (through Facebook) but I just couldn't. I had to get it started.

As I started the work I began to get nervous. Oh man. This is going to go out in the world. It's going to be a reflection on me as a person, crafter, businessperson. Holy crap. Oh man. Stop shaking, hands!

Even though I have been out there promoting myself and sharing my work on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, this feels different.

It's terrifying and exciting all at the same time. It's pushing me to be better and to create something really unique that people will like, will share and will want to come back for more. It's making me think how I want my items to look when they arrive - packaging is so important! Tissue paper, wrapping, bows, tags, etc. And it's also pushing my creativity, probably the thing I love the most. 

Whenever I get a new idea or inspiration for a make, it's such a rush. There has been a lot of trial and error (and I'm sure there will be much more to come!) but I've found it really empowering so far. And I'm just at the beginning of this small biz journey.

So here's to the next order! And the next. And the next!

Use What You Got!

One of my favourite things to do is product photography. I'm no expert and I am still learning how to take a perfect photo but I'm having fun thinking up new ways to make my items look appealing. It's so important to have clear, fun, images to go with your items - it helps potential customers see your wares in their home.

Good lighting:
     I'm really struggling with this at the moment as every single spot in my house seems to be just plain wrong for getting natural light in. Also this time of year the sunlight is often in short supply! The days are short, it's often grey and rainy, and I usually only have time to do pictures in the evenings when the little one has gone to bed.

*TIP*: A way to help your lighting situation is by creating backdrops that catch the natural light. This blog post over on All By Mama is really chock full of helpful tips. One I have recently started using is the reflector to catch the light. I find that it even works if you have to use harsh fluorescent light in your kitchen because it's midnight and there's no daylight to be found! I had two large pieces of white card lying around and now I'm using them as a white back drop and a reflector.

It's not perfect but I think it still looks pretty good (even if it's
 taken under the harsh glare of my kitchen light!) and I
 can't wait to try it out with natural sunlight. 

Props:
     You don't need to break the bank and go out and buy a bunch of props. Once I started really looking around my house to see the things I already own, I was surprised and amazed at the number of things I have that tie in with my products. I have heart decorations, old books, library "stuff", loads of baby items like plush toys and rattles, etc.

Vintage books and a library card stamp work
perfectly with this library card frame. 

Slate stag coasters: perfect little nod to the stag
heart decorations.

 I bought these chalk coasters from Avon and
 hadn't used them much. Ta da! Perfect signs.

Twine and mini pegs - easy peasy! It's important to find
items that also tie in with your brand and how you'd like #
your business to come across to customers. I like twee things: mini
pegs, lots of hearts, pastel colours for signage, etc.

Something simple: a bit of a ribbon! I have loads around
the house now for Christmas wrapping. Simple and sweet.

I bought this key ages ago as prop to use at my wedding
and it looks great next to a frame.

Photo Editing Site:
     Yup, I'm going to mention it again: PICMONKEY! If you are not using this by now, or something similar, you need to! Doing a quick edit on a picture or creating a fun sign to promote a sale or giveaway I think elevates your brand and make it look more professional. I tend to use the same colours and fonts so that there is a continuity across my pictures. Below is a selection of designs I've created to use across all the social media.

Hopefully the above can help, maybe even spark that light bulb "Aha!" moment about something you have in your house that will help elevate your product photos or give you an idea on how to create marketing strategies, for free!

The Place To Be (And Be Seen)

Righto - the biggest thing I've discovered since launching One Little Chickadee is that you really have to get out there on social media. You have to engage. Yes, there are obviously some people who launch and from the word go they are fulfilling orders, they're popular and everyone's talking about them.

But let's be real: that is probably not going to happen for everyone within a month of launching, within 6 months, maybe even within a year!

As I've said before, I am not an expert. And though I am a beginner who is finding her way through the social media marketplace, there are a few things that I am noticing here and there. A few tips and tricks that I think are worthy of passing on.

I think it's important that you cover all your bases: if you can devote the time to all the main ones, do it!

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. To me these are the 4 big ones and  if you can spend some time on them you should do it. I'm not gonna lie, it can be really overwhelming and I still have not found my marketing groove. I worry all the time that I'm not posting enough and I'm probably not.

There are ways to make this easier: scheduling! I've mentioned this before but TweetDeck is your friend. You can also schedule posts on Facebook. Do it! As far as I am aware you cannot schedule posts on Pinterest and Instagram - I could be wrong so if you do know of a way, please leave a comment!

The second big thing is participating with others, not just posting your stuff here and there and that's it. You have to interact with the community you are a part of. It just makes sense! By creating friendships or connections with other similar businesses, you are creating links: each person is a potential liker, commenter, sharer, customer of your goods.

I don't advocate doing dumps of your pictures in other people's links or adding the same comment as if you're copying and pasting. You should be genuine and interact with people you really want to interact with: like their items, links, photos, etc. Engage in their posts that ask questions of their audience. Share their contests, etc. Sure some of these people may be your direct competition but I truly think it's better to foster a positive environment. What I have seen so far on Instagram with the people I follow is a community of mumpreneurs who lift one another up: they chat, share one another's pages and photos and just seem like a lovely bunch. I was very hesitant at first to sort of insert myself in some of these situations but if you don't put yourself out there first, you may be waiting a verryyyy long time for someone else to do it for you. So get chatting!

The last big point is finding pages that will help you achieve your goals and can help you with finding your community. So far the two big pages that I have seen are Hike Those Likes Market Place and Craft Hour.

Again, still a newbie here, so I do not completely know the ins and outs. But both pages do similar things: they have a schedule for posting certain things on certain days (Tuesday are #TreasuryTuesdays on Craft Hour for example). They share pages and they really help promote your stuff. You've got to be vocal and participate but it's worth it.

I shared something with HTLMP and although it didn't result in a sale (yet), I had so many people commenting and asking the price of the item I was beyond thrilled because I had yet to have that happen. I also had an item chose by Craft Hour as part of a group of cute items for baby. The exposure was fantastic and more than that, it was a boost I needed to remind myself that "Hey, you're doing good things!"

That's my bauble!
Image via Craft Hour

To sum it all up? Networking is your bestest friend!

Running A Competition On Facebook

I'm not an expert when it comes to running a business page on Facebook - I'm very much a beginner! Finding useful blog posts and articles as well as seeing how other businesses operate their pages has been extremely useful in how to run mine. Does this mean you should go out and copy a bunch of posts? NO! But I would have had no idea where to start if I did not look to my fellow crafters for guidance.

I have been very interested in running a competition from my page but felt a bit overwhelmed when I first contemplated it.

Do I open the competition internationally? What if I get 14,000 entrants (Hey! A girl can dream...)? What if I get *no* entrants? How do I pick a winner?! These questions made me put it off as I didn't have the confidence. 

After ruminating a bit I decided I wasn't going to let this put me off as a running competition seems to be a really good way to generate likes for your page, get your name out there and I think overall shows that your business is fun and cares about its fans.

After doing some proper research I found that running a competition is not that hard and there are tools out there to help you make it that much easier.

1. Pick a product that you'd like to use in your giveaway and if you can pick something "relevant". For my competition I have decided on a custom Christmas bauble - as we're nearing Christmas, I think it just makes sense!

2. Make a fun and interesting image to go with the competition: make it bright and cheerful! This is the best way to grab someone's attention. I used my go to image editing site, PicMonkey, to create mine.

The image is bright, showcases the prize
and it's clear what it is all about.

3. Promote yourself! This is admittedly my biggest hurdle: I have a hard time putting myself/business out there. But if you're trying to get new customers and get started, you just have to do a bit of self promotion. Obviously you don't want to go overboard and clog up everyone's news feeds with spammy posts about your competition. A good way to get them out there throughout the day/week/month is to schedule posts. You can schedule posts on Facebook as well as Twitter (using TweetDeck). Spend 15 minutes scheduling posts (changing up the language so they don't appear too "cut and paste") and then you don't have to worry about getting the word out there.

4. Decided on the conditions of your competition: how long will it run? Who can enter? How can they enter? What about posting and packaging - will you include it for all entrants, if the competition is open internationally?

5. Make sure that you follow the rules of running a competition on Facebook. The best place to read the rules is from Facebook itself.

The biggest takeaway from this is: You can ask them to like and comment as a means of entering (or both) BUT you cannot ask them to tag friends or share the post to get an entry in the competition as a condition of entry.

From what I can see from the many competitions by other businesses that I have looked at, is that you can say that people can share the post as it's welcome but NOT mandatory, and to be very clear about that.

It is also very important that you mention the competition is in no way endorsed/affiliated with/sponsored by Facebook.

6. Pin the post! Make sure you pin your competition post to the top of your page. That way, when people visit they do not have to go searching for it and scroll through your page. Also, anyone new visiting your page will see it right there and will *hopefully* enter.

7. And finally, find a good method of choosing your winner. I always wondered how people went about doing this - some competitions have hundreds or thousands of entrants. Do they go through every single one? Do they use an app? How do they make it fair? I found this great blog post about two different apps that help you choose winners. Visit this link to read about both tools in depth.

I've decided to use Woobox as it pretty much does everything for you. It's free and it's really easy to use. All I had to do was sign in to my personal Facebook account, go Woobox's site, create an account (by linking up with my Facebook account) and then it just pulled in all the relevant information. When my competition ends I'll be able to select the appropriate post and then use their tools to pick a winner.

I plan on taking a video as I do this so that all those who participated in the contest can see that it's done by a third party app and in a fair manner. I also think that having a video is a bit different - I've not seen many people do this. It adds a level of excitement to the whole thing!

So there you go - if you're a beginner like me, I hope that this can provide some good information to get started!

Also if you'd like to take part in my competition...you know where to go!

Double O: Order & Organization

Crafting from home, out of your spare room can be tricky. I'm sharing the space with a chest of drawers, wardrobe and a tiny desk. When I get working on a new project I find that before I know it my desk is covered in paint, glitter, and scraps of paper.

The floor is also covered in the same. I start losing track of stamps and my scissors. It can be very frustrating as my goal is to work smarter, not harder! I like order and organization. Which I've quickly figured out is not always conducive to the creative process. Sometimes you just have to get messy.

That doesn't mean I can't try to be more ordered and organized. And that's where the binder comes in!

Apologies for the poor picture quality but trying to take a picture in good lighting in my house is damn near impossible. It also doesn't help that it's now pretty much always gloomy and grey outside.

So far I have sections for my: glitter paper, samples, matte, labels and envelopes.

Ideally I would like to have this bad boy (maybe even two) from Hobbycraft.
Ahhhh, storage dreams!

Until then, make use of what you've got to help create a sense of order with your tools and supplies. It really goes a long way in helping you craft a bit smarter.

The Power of Glitter

My current obsession is GLITTER! Specifically, glitter paper.

It really jazzes things up and I think it adds a certain pizazz without being too much. I also love how it looks paired with the hearts punched from dictionary pages. I like my work to have a bit of sparkle but still remain somewhat "simple" - if that makes sense!

Another discovery has been metallic or foil paper. I've currently got silver and gold, and wow - does it pop! When the light catches it it just flashes, it looks gorgeous! Below is a new piece that will be up for sale on Etsy and Facebook. I'm currently looking into frames as even though I've got my trusty Vintage Grey, I think this needs a black frame. 

I've also decided to use a bit of glitter for the "A is For" Dictionary Name Page Print. The polka dot paper is still on offer but now I've added the glitter option as well as having the two options for additional personalisation: "baby quote" OR "baby name meaning". In the example, my son's name Calvin is French meaning "little bald one". This could also be switched to something like a nickname perhaps as not all name meanings are well, cute (I'm think of my husband's name meaning: gravel yard. Hmm...) Of course if you like simplicity, no additions are fine too! After doing a bit of market research though I think people like being able to customize their gifts.

Sorry for the crap angle and lighting - taking pictures in the evening is ridiculous!

Forget The Dream Journal!

One of my biggest concerns about launching One Little Chickadee was that I would only have about 4 ideas for items and that was it. Even though there are plenty of business out there that specialize in a few products (and do it *really* well) I didn't want to get stuck and then feel like, well, who's going to keep coming back for more if all they keep seeing are the same 4 things?

I'm happy to report that I am not short on ideas. I used to keep a dream journal (read: I kept a journal on my night stand and never remembered to write in it) but since the launch I am bursting with ideas. I am regularly waking up just as I'm about to drift off to sleep to jot something down so I don't forget it. There are times when falling asleep is actually difficult because I think "Oh man, I could do that with that paper and add that to the design I worked on yesterday."

But, I also don't want to get my site bogged down with things I'm trying to turn out really fast that lack in style and quality because I feel pressured to get things made like, now, and get them listed. The key: work smarter, not harder. Take my time when sketching out an idea. Take my time when making a sample. And I think overall: this is a marathon! Not a sprint. There's no need for me to have to start with 15 or 20 items.

It's fun and exhausting and overall I am feeling really encouraged in myself which in turn makes me excited to keep crafting and making and doing. I like the idea of putting a lot of hard work in to something to create a beautiful and bespoke gift that someone would be happy to have in their home.

I'm also surprised at how creative I can be and I'm really loving trying my best to be original. You'd be amazed at how difficult that can be - or maybe not if you've scrolled through Etsy. There's so much that's so similar (and by no means am I truly unique) but it's fun researching an idea and having that moment "Aha! Here's something that gives my item a bit of an edge."

So here's to filling up that dream journal with something a bit more grounded in reality!

What I'm Working On
I recently bought some metallic gold paper and I love it. I can see myself using it quite a bit as it really adds some glitz and glamour.

I'm not sure exactly how I'll be framing this but I think I'm going to try it out in a Vintage Grey 8 x 8 (if you can't tell, I love these frames). It may need something a bit more bold though so maybe I'll go with black. Or white. I don't know yet!

I've Opened My Etsy Shop - Now What?!

My Etsy shop is now OPEN!

It went live last night and after many hours tweaking and editing it - I think it's just right (for now!).

I had to open it under OneLittleChickadeeCo. A tad annoying as I had previously searched for One Little Chickadee and nothing came up. I later learned when I finally went to register my name, without the Co, that I couldn't because as per Etsy guidelines if there is a shop/username that is currently/ever used (even if it's now disused) can NOT be registered.

A bit of a bummer because I've already "established" myself as One Little Chickadee. And by established I simply mean that I had opened my Twitter, blog, Facebook under it and made business cards of it and I created all these designs under it. I decided it's better to just go with the Co because I couldn't stand calling it something like "Little Chick" or any variation because I thought it'd go too far off piste.

My Etsy shop's banner! Made with PicMonkey.

So with the shop open: now what?! I must admit that I am feeling a bit like a headless chicken, running around trying to get everything up and running and post here and schedule Tweets there and finish the 3 new products I've mapped out, all while keeping on top of Facebook postings and getting my name out there on Instagram.

Whew. It's a lot to take in!

Current goals:
1. Master the Tweet using TweetDeck.
2. Expense tracking. I think I am going to do this via Excel spreadsheet. I tend to like the ol' fashion way of making lists/notes in an actually notebook but for something as important as bookkeeping, I think it needs to be via spreadsheet.
3. Orders book. I have my first customer order! Full disclosure: it is from a friend BUT it's my first paying customer and I am so pleased as I am intending to use this as a sort of guinea pig order. What works or doesn't in terms of my packaging, customization of the product, shipping costs.
4. Find out about getting involved in a Christmas fayre.
5. I currently have 4 new ideas for products and ideally I'd like to complete these before Christmas.

PicMonkey Perfection

I'm sure I've talked about this before in another post but I am currently having a torrid love affair with PicMonkey.

If you've not heard of it/used it before: you must. You simply must.

It's free (but you can upgrade and pay a monthly subscription fee to unlock more features/fonts). It's so easy to use. It instantly can give your photos or designs a more professional look. 

I cannot recommend it enough if you've been stuck or looking for way to jazz up your images or create designs from scratch.

OK so this is a bit silly but I think it demonstrates just how much you can get from them - and this is seriously only a fraction of what's on offer. 

My recent, and serious, use of the site has been to create clear and stand out images detailing my product information. Below is the one used for P+P costs.

I think there's something to be said for having things clear and concise: it means your potential customers won't get lost and give up when trying to find out some information on your site (ESPECIALLY if you're not self hosted with a custom built website).

If you're selling on Facebook, a handy tip to make the most of your PicMonkey creations is to use the "Pinned Post" feature. For example, I have created an album titled "Information" and uploaded all the documents detailing prices, shipping info, etc. and pinned it to the top of my wall. That way whenever anyone visits my page the information is at hand. They don't have to go searching all around the many tabs of Facebook to find it. It's a great site but it's not always the best in terms of ease of use when selling.

Hope this helps and happy picmonkeying around!

Products & Photographs

Woo hoo!

I've finally got the photos done for most of the products currently on offer.

At the top of the blog there are separate pages with pricing information, shipping information, pictures, details on how to order, etc. Please, check them out!

I've also have them listed on Facebook, Instagram and I've scheduled plenty of tweets using TweetDeck to get them promoted.

My next step will be creating pins for my Pinterest account.

I am currently feeling a mixture of: pride, fear, excitement.

I am sure I have made some errors and will need to do some tweaking. I need to double check my P&P costs (made a tad bit more frustrating as the Post Office in my town has actually shut and will not reopen until sometime in December!!)

I feel like a chicken running around with its poor ol' head cut off. Trying to keep track of ALL THE SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS is a bit daunting so I am hoping to get into some sort of schedule. TweetDeck is a start - you still have sit down and draft out a bunch of Tweets but I figure if I take an hourish a day to get them all scheduled for that week, I should be able to leave it (sorta).

Work Smarter. Not Harder.

I've learned something about myself over the last few weeks when it comes to working.

I often make things harder for myself. More frustrating and complicated. It stems from wanting to do a perfect job - every time. And wanting it to be done now.

I've always been this way (with school work particularly) so really it shouldn't have come as a surprise when I was getting just *SO* frustrated at myself and feeling hypercritical.

But this morning as I worked out an idea and began testing it to see if it'd make a viable product (it will, it's cute, can't wait to show it off!) I realized if I just slooooow down, take my time, I will save myself so my hassle and grief.

Work smarter. Not Harder. Yes one of those annoying Instagrammy platitudes that's probably hash tagged on some bohunks workout pics but you know, there's something to it.

One of the biggest frustrations with stamping by hand is the effort it goes in to getting your stamps in order. It just seems so faffy and time consuming. I was often going all willy nilly and haphazardly, picking up stamps and then setting them down in a different spot thus making it that much harder when I needed it again. Even using my ice cube storage tray was not 100% working as I have SO MANY STAMPS.

So dumb! And so silly. I'm not sure why I've been doing this as it creates a messy workspace which leads to messy work.

I'm taking it slow. This is not a race. I want to produce quality. I want someone to see something of mine and think "That's cute, I'd love to have it in my home."

I am planning on more ice cube trays to hold the stamps upright as I still think this is the best way for storage and space, using a cork board and taking the time lay out every stamp I'm going to use makes a lot of sense.

They are all in order, on a non grip service and I am taking the time to put them back where they belong. It's amazing what this simple step has done for me.

A top tip as well when stamping - go slow, check hands and fingers for any ink smudges as there is nothing worse than completing a project, looking down and seeing a tiny dot of black that shouldn't be there. I am now wiping my hands with a baby wipe in between and any time I see smudges. Baby wipes are handy, cheap, take the ink off immediately and your hands will dry quickly (or you can use my method - dry on your trousers!).

Progress Update!

How about a little progress update - I've been a bit quiet but that doesn't mean I've just been lounging about (what's that again?!).

I have completed 4 products that will definitely be offered.

A new baby announcement card (pink/blue/yellow offered at this time).

A print that would be suitable for a house warming present.

Two different style prints for a new baby, one of which incorporates dictionary pages.

I have two more solid projects for prints (an ABC one and one suitable for weddings/anniversaries).

And last but not least I have just ordered the supplies today for a mightily big Christmas project - that's one I'm really looking forward to and I can't wait to blog about it.

How To Store Rubber Stamps

When I first started using my my wooden stamp set, I was immediately annoyed at how quickly the stamps became messed up and out of order. If you're stamping out something that requires a lot of letters, the stamps just seem to get everywhere. You spend have your time frantically looking back and forth as you look for the "A" stamp. 

I tried using both the lid and the box to split them up. I still found it cumbersome and messy.

I tried just laying each stamp out on a piece of paper but you'd be surprised (or not depending on how much you use ink!) how quickly ink smudges covered the paper, my hands, the table, etc.

After spending some time racking my brain for a solution, I came upon one that's easy and in theory, something everyone will have in their house already. This is the type of solution that I love because there's nothing worse needing something and then having to wait to order it/go to the store to buy it.

Here I present my clever storage hack - yes! I used the word hack!

I wish that my ice cube tray had space for all the letters but I think this is pretty good, for now. It alleviates some of the fuss of hand stamping.

Is this something you've done before or would consider doing? I'm always interested in clever storage ideas - so please, feel free to comment!

Creating A Workspace & DIY Studio Backdrop

I have created some samples of the products that I will be selling but to be honest, I haven't done nearly as many as I'd like or I should have and that's because for the longest time I've had no workspace. I started out with sitting on the floor in front of the TV, dodging the dog and the baby. It hurt my back and my knees and I kept screwing up: carpet is not for crafting! Also, TV is highly distracting. And the baby kept putting things in his mouth.

Chalk Paint: The Cure All For Down and Out Furniture

Over the summer I had been itching to get rid of all my living room furniture and start again. I also want unlimited pizza every day and that hasn't happened either. So, rather than rob a bank to fund any new purchases, I knew I should look into giving some of the pieces a bit of a facelift.

I had a beat up, cheap, boring, laminated side table from Argos. All our living room furniture is currently Argos buys and I liked it at the time but 4-5 years on, I look at it and just go "What the hell was I thinking?" I have since learned that the answer to your bad furniture woes is: CHALK PAINT! Seriously. It just goes over everything so easily it makes doing a spot of DIY that much easier. If you have something that you're tired of looking at, give it a new look with chalk paint.

I'm pretty pleased with this piece as it looks a bit like white birch and that was what I was going for. Well, to be honest I had no idea what it was going to end up like but there's nothing like taking something that's a bit crap and making it a bit less crap.

Tools: Sand paper, Rustoleum chalk paint in Clotted Cream, Rustoleum furniture wax

Method: I didn't even bother to sand the table before applying the chalk paint. You probably could but this was a cheap piece of laminate furniture from Argos and it didn't seem worth it to put that much work into it. So I just wiped it down to ensure it was clean. Then I slapped on two coats of the paint, allowed to dry, and took my sandpaper and went to town distressing it. Easy peasy.

Props: Chalk heart coasters from Avon (really!)

What's Next: Creating Business Plan

As per my last post, it has become very clear to me that if I don't get organized and have a business plan set in stone then this little bird won't ever fledge from the nest (haha!).

So here are the next steps I need to take, in list form of course! Future posts will be dedicated to each of these points in depth.

1. Mission Statement
2. Goals
3. Schedule
4. Suppliers
5. Pricing
6. Packaging
7. Sites
8. Ideas
9. Stockists
10. Workspace

It's a jumble and not really in order of importance.

But it's a start and it helps to see where I am, where I need to be and an idea of how I'll get there.

A Work In Progress

As usual, I'm getting ahead of myself with this whole "Start your business, craft like mad, be your own boss, make money. Simple!" My first post on this blog was of course written about 5 months ago (for another, now defunct blog). I've just now decided on a name, created a Facebook page, set up a Twitter account, etc.

I'm learning, with a little bit of research that this is tough and it's a *tad* more tough because during the day my main job at the moment is caring for my 8 month old. And then by the evening, I am so tired I just want to flop on the couch and binge watch TV. Currently on the magical Sky box is Desperate Housewives. Fitting, eh?

A Pilgrimage To Wantage

My very bestest friend took me to the most amazing used bookshop in Wantage back in May. I can't even remember the name of it because as we walked in I just about lost all sense of anything, trapped in the heady aroma of used books. Well, I *am* a book sniffer.

Hearts Galore

How funny is it that I got all ready and raring to go with my crafting projects, my brain full of ideas to the point it felt like it was going to burst and then I sat down to actually *do* something and...poof.

I instantly felt stuck. Jammed. Like all my ideas flew out of my head. Then my dad came to visit from the US for a week. Then *we* went to the US for what was supposed to be a 2 week visit but turned into a month and a half.

I think because I was so happy and excited to get this small business going that it's actually terrified me and I was able to use my trip home and other bits of life, to get in the way. Using it as an excuse almost. "I don't have the time for that right now." "Maybe tomorrow."

Because what if it doesn't work out? What if I'm a huge failure? What if I'm a huge success and people all across the land are beating down my virtual door to place an order?!

I realize I am really putting the cart before the horse but it's just the way my thought process has always worked. I think everything through with multiple scenarios. It can be exhausting at times and also a bit of a downer. For some reason I tend to lean towards the more negative side. Although I'm working really hard to get more on the positive side.

But in the end, I'm trying something new and I am going to just push on through that fear. Something really great could happen and it's that hope, that desire, that is going to keep me motivated when things get tough and one of my project bombs...

What I've Worked On:

Alphabet Table Confetti (I'm thinking ideal for weddings). The idea is that they can be used like the fun fridge magnetic words.

Spell out something fun, a message to the happy couple perhaps? Or Mr & Mrs? I like the idea of using #lastname and then taking a picture for Instagram as couples are wont to do these day with creating their own wedding hash tag!

There will also be fun things like ! ? & # Maybe even some hearts IN the hearts #heartception

Unfortunately my dog felt the need to show her displeasure at the English language being stored in a tiny dictionary...so I'll be using it to make some fun dictionary table confetti

I have my eye out for more in the "Midget" series but have yet to come across any! This one is from 1964.

Best intentions and all that...

The following words were written and posted on *another* blog I started back in April. Funny how things work out (or don't!). I had every intention of starting that second blog, get down to work and poof! Have my business started and a blog full of my products and "How To" posts. 

Like I said, best intentions and all that!