Snow Day

It is a beautiful lazy fat falling snow. Which is rare in Kansas. A magical day for children. And me. I am so fortunate to have a home based business. Starving artist descriptor inserted here. I keep my life simple by design. My goal is to be. Not to do. Doing like works of the spirit comes because of overflow, it is a symptom of being. So I sit here at my work table and I watch the snow fall-simple as that.I can love it and appreciate it-not fight or hate it. The cats still are stepping outside gingerly to do their business, then come inside to roll up in a ball and dream. Animal wisdom. Rolling with the earth. Stay out all night under the moon and stars when the earth is warm, sleep and dream with the world is cold. Genius.

Back To The Blog

The weather channel said the weather for today is; abundant sunshine. I love that! I had a message on my phone-it was my sister singing 'Happy Birthday' -it also made me smile. So, what have I learned in 53 years? Forgive, forget, move on. Make boston cream pie with alot of pudding. Seek and invest in a deep spiritual life. Sacrifice for others...it benefits all. Love nature. Read. Walk toward the light. Laughter is good medicine. Do not judge. Love, love, love. Don't diet. Different is good. Weird is who I am. Whew-that's enough for onr day I guess. Going to do two fun things today-eat Indian food and shop at The Yarn Barn. Perfection.

The Glorious Fourth

Well, we did have a glorious fourth of July around here-even with the rain. Including this morning when I have been lazying around on a unofficial national monday holiday after the holiday thingy. All of the kids were here-some with their kids, some with friends and Katie brought cousin Ben-so fun. The little grandchildren smiled all day long practically. Which by itself was a delight. Summer is not the fun filled sunny respite it is knocked up to be. Lots of hanging arounf the house with too much time on their hands. Lots of good food-and lots of fireworks. Big ones. Ones that make me wonder why they are legal to shoot in town. It rained hard-severe thunderstorm warning hard, then settled into a fine soft drizzle. It made the night look smoky, murky. We all sat out and got mildly damp and watched our little town go wild. I am sure all of the volunteer firemen were sleeping easier with the wet conditions. Even my mom came by and had dinner with us. She is leaving to go to Alaska tomorrow with my sister. What fun! I am so very happy for them. I found time yesterday to make a couple of pieces for my shop 'Gamut' and look forward to working them in today-making some more even. Here are some shots of my more recent things.

Catching Up

It has been too long since my last blog post. Mea culpa mea culpa. Last weekend was a whirlwind of delight. The hubby and I stayed out late last Thursday night-5am late. And slept most of the next day which was a friday. Checked my shop at about 4pm. And it was abuzz. Literally, well-maybe there were no bees there but.... it had been dead for a week and now it was aflame. 9 conversations to answer, 7 sales. Of course my first reaction is what the sweet potatoes! It seems that one of my pieces had been included in a storque blog titled "Etsy Finds; Free Delivery" something like that. Well, I had like 66 views the day before and 1,394 that friday. Of course I am telling you the truth. Mount Vesuvius. Over 120 people added me as a favorite shop, and it resulted in about 20 sales directly. My shop still is running 120-130 views a day. I think I had hitched my overall shop threshold a little higher. Yippee, yahoo. Bought alot of supplies this month. The czech beads are so gorgeous! Drooling gorgeous. And I am aiming for better quality materials-pure copper and brass chains, sterling silver and gold filled, handpatinaed, pearls. It makes working with the materials joyful and confident. Thank you Beloved Divine One.

Meditation or Chocolate and Coffee for Breakfast

One is reality-the other is not. I am in a desert of no sales right now in the shop. I have humans coming to see-around 100 yesterday, but not really any sales. I try to wax philosophical about it. This will happen I say. To everybody. But then I look at another shop.....let us say 'Sparkle Peach' and see they have 1400 sales in the same amount of time, and I think-well, obviously not everybody. Can those sales be real? Let's see-6 months x 30 days=180 days. 1400 divided by 180=8ish sales a day. If those sales averaged $20 each-that is 160 per day or 4,800 per month minus everything they do to make a profit. Well. I didnt get the job in Topeka. I feel that I am being stripped bare. I hope it is for some great purpose-like to be made pure. Or to prepare me for some great new phase. I get scared when I think the rest was an illusion and I am nothing really. To help counter this pain (this pain) I bought 300 dollars worth of supplies on etsy and had coffee and chocolate for breakfast. Om.

Satisfaction

I am satisfied with my shop right now. The happiest I have been with it since I started. When I go through the items, I like what I see. Which means of course-that I need to step up and push the boundaries a little. I don't have big dreams with my etsy shop. I never planned on developing my own jewelry line and going mainstream. I may however-place some pieces in our local art building. I would love to increase my profits..I wont mention any dollar goals here, but enough that I would not have to work at another job. When I order supplies-I order them with purpose and intent. I used to order them like I bought fabric, just to add to my pallette, my stash. In case I needed some of 'that'. Now I order because I can see what I will do with it.

It does look like I will be working at a 'real' job soon. I think I have a job working at the Topeka Marian Clinic as a part-time nurse for 4 months. It is just about perfect. It is across the street from where my husband works. We will be able to drive together and the hours are exactly the same. It is 3) 8 hour shifts. And it is over at the end of September. It gives me 4 months to pay off bills and build up my store so that when it ends 'Gamut' will be stronger. I put up a few new things I especially like.

Twists and Turns

Life twists and turns. I know that as well as the next person, maybe better than most. I for one, am glad, I don't see what is coming. My sister Cindy left me a message on my phone a week ago with a lead to a job. A JOB. Which is different than my shop in most peoples minds. People rarely ask how my business is going. Where as if I had a new JOB they would. Developing a business of my own on an international website is so different that most people have a hard time wrapping their minds around it. Personally I love it. No change there-it is my vision for my future as a professional. Very excited about my second shop which will feature fibers and fabrics. Anyhow-a nursing job. And a good fit. A part-time seasonal RN position at a clinic which treats people that fall within 200% of poverty line. Went today and visited with the director. I am interested, would give me 4 months of added income to reduce overall debt and monthly bills. And the job sounds rewarding.