Thursday, March 10, 2011

New Year's Resolutions. So far.

It's March! I feel as if I've already wasted two months but I know I haven't.  Last year, after some less than stellar craft shows and one super fun but economically disastrous solo exhibition, I decided to try my hand at some new things.  Pieces with a lower price point than I've ever made before.  I love beading, I've done it for 11 years and while my style and ability have changed and improved the economy has done the opposite.

So, what's a girl to do?  For a while I read all of the articles about how there's still a market for me, not to give up, bah.  I'm not giving up- I read this quote by H.G, Wells "Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature's inexorable imperative."

That's my motto for 2011.

January saw much experimentation, lots of resin, meh.  It's fun, but it's not my thing.  I'm going to keep working at it but I'm leaving the awesome resin jewelry to the awesome resin jewelry makers.  For now.

January also saw one of the best creative epiphanies I've had to date.  I'm a little bit of a nail polish fiend.  To the tune of almost 200 bottles and the shelving units you find at salons.  So I bought lots of different things onto which I could paint nail polish.  Trial and error, trial and error, fumes, sticky fingers for weeks, trial and error.  Et voila!  The Unrepeatables nail polish ring was born!  Now I can't stop making them for long enough to actually commit time to selling them.  Which brings us to March.

I'm a firm believer in lists, I think something written down is more likely to get done.  So I've been writing down my goals.  The ultimate goal- January 2012- is not having to get a job.  Lots of my craft groups and Etsy Teams have goals such as "quit your day job" mine is "not having to get a day job".

January's Goals:

  • learn to make wooden and scrabble tile pendants. Done. So fun!  More on that another day.  
  • have a clean work room.  Once I got it clean it's been easy to keep it that way.  Organization, however, is something I'm constantly working on.  I will have a photos of The Bead Room post in the next month or so.
  • figure out how to integrate nail polish into jewelry.  Done and done! I haven't loved what I've made as much as I do now in years!


February's Goals:  not as clearly defined, I got distracted making things.


  • plan a strategy for placement of my items in shops.  Luckily I have an awesome friend who studied marketing and a sister why really likes my work.  The process has begun.
  • list every day on Etsy.  Hasn't happened, I'm averaging twice a week, I don't feel like a failure, I just need to work harder on it.  


Goals for March:


  • three shops.
  • list every day.
  • prepare for a big Craft Event I'm participating in in Mid April.
  • start a blog.  done! yay! 


I'm really working towards a successful year, I'm joining groups, reading a lot and generally taking charge of my crafty future.  I want to be a Crafty Mastermind and I hope you'll join me!!

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