Thursday, January 28, 2010

Change your Life Thursday

1) Lose 20 lbs. ( I know it should be more but you gotta start somewhere)
2) Focus on my craft business and get it running
3) Apply to school
4) Blog
5) Organize my craft crap
6) Get my novel completely fleshed out
7) Do more things for myself
8) Go to church more


SO, it's been a week since I posted my list of things I want to work on in the next year. I've worked on some things and ignored others. I promised I'd keep ya updated so here we go.

I've been thinking a lot about my crafting. I'm reading a book called "Crafty Superstar" on my breaks at work. I'm finding it really motivating and full of some great ideas. I would have NEVER thought about astro-turf as a table covering for a craft fair. It's got me thinking outside the box a bit.
After talking to my friend Heather I started a FaceBook group called 'Craft-Tacular'. I'm hoping that it will draw a group of crafters that will help keep me motivated as well as teach me a few things. And, yes, I know it's a crappy name but it's all I could come up with! :) If you're interested look it up!

I'm not 100% sure that school is REALLY what's right for me but I am looking into it. I'm reading "What Color Is Your Parachute 2010" that I checked out from the library. I'm trying to complete the workbook portion to maybe give me a bit of a direction at least. There's not been anything too surprising but it's got me thinking in directions that I hadn't thought about before. For example, teaching is something that pops up every now and again. I don't think I'm cut out to be a traditional teacher but I could teach small groups some craft techinques or even host craft parties.

Then there's blogging... Welp, if you care to peruse through my archives you will see that I have been doing just that. It's become a lot less stressful not worrying about having photos involved every time and just writing about whatever. I hope somebody's enjoying it.

As for doing things for myself... Welp, I went to Dallas the other night to hang out with the hubby who was at a conference. It was great. While he was busy I showered, watched tv, read... I even took my book down to the bar and sat with a Stella (that's a delicious beer in case you're wondering) and read. When he was done we ate and had a few drinks. It was heaven.

Not much in the way of the other things. I'm trying to drink more water and be more conscious of the things I eat and I have THOUGHT about what I'm going to do with my craft supplies but for the first week I think I did pretty good.

How did you do?


Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Little Rascals 2010







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Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Self Portraits



I decided that I wanted to take a few pictures of myself. When you're the one with the camera you don't get to be in a lot of them. That's OK. I'd much rather look at my kids and their friends than I would myself but when I'm famous there should be some sort of documentation, right?
The thing with looking at pictures of yourself... especially if you're the only thing in the picture... is that you start to notice things. They are things that I've noticed before but they get brought to the forefront in a portrait. For example... I have HUGE teeth. My left eye is surprisingly smaller than my right. My skin is starting to get blotchy and those darn chins just keep multiplying. I get more break outs now than I ever did. I could make attempts at touching these things up in Photoshop (if I could figure it out!) but, hey, this is me. This is the face I live with on a daily basis and, for the moment anyway, I kinda like it.








Monday, January 25, 2010

When I grow up...

When I grow up I wanna be a... A.... Hmmm... Well, let's see..
OK so I can't quite figure out WHAT I want to do with my life. Every time I think I know I come up with something new. I seem to have no focus.
I really enjoy making things. I could see myself doing that for a living. I would love to hang out at craft fairs every weekend and have a successful on-line shop. I'd also love to have my own craft show on HGTV or something.
I also love taking pictures. I always have. I got my first camera when I was like 7 or something. I even went to Ohio State for Photography for a while. My true passion was art photography. Unfortunately, weddings seem to be where the money is at and I am not a big fan of wedding photography.
Writing is another passion. I still remember the short story contests we used to have in Mrs. Dennis' third grade class at Ely Elementary. I wrote one once about an old mattress that had become a mouse hotel. It won. I've taken several creative writing classes and have a book that I've been working on for more than a few years now. There is even a whole novel sitting in a drawer somewhere around here that I wrote when I was 18. It's really bad.
I enjoy working with kids. I don't know if I could deal with them in a structured environment for several hours a day every day but they're fun.
I can't make any decisions. I'm actually working through the book 'What Color is Your Parachute' book to see if that helps. So far there has been no real surprises in anything I've found.
I'm considering going back to school for Graphic Design. My thinking on this is that I can use my artsy fartsy capabilities towards something that may actually help me get a real job. A career even. Even just reading about it makes me nervous though. I'm not sure if I'm cut out for school. I've been out of that world for a LONG time.
Another possibility is that, over the summer, I find out that I CAN make some money doing my crafts. That would be wonderful. Of course that would mean I'd have to get organized and develop some time management skills. Both of these things are a bit weak for me.
If I ever get my book finished I can start the process of getting my rejection letters. Maybe, just maybe, some one will bite. It may also turn out that once I get this first one out of my head there's another even better one waiting to come out. Who knows?

Have you figured out what your true passion is? How have you done it? How many shots did it take? Help me out here... I'll take ANY advice and/or suggestions.


Thursday, January 21, 2010

Change Your Life Thursdays

OK, so a friend of mine sent me a message on FB saying that another friend of hers was challenging herself and others to find ten things that they want to accomplish this year, post them and then tell others when they've been completed. Here is my list...

1) Lose 20 lbs. ( I know it should be more but you gotta start somewhere)
2) Focus on my craft business and get it running
3) Apply to school
4) Blog
5) Organize my craft crap
6) Get my novel completely fleshed out
7) Do more things for myself
8) Go to church more

I know it's not 10 things and I know that these things may not seem all that life altering to you but trust me... Being an unorganized, fat, lapsed Catholic with no stick-to-itivness these things could make a HUGE difference. I will definitely let you know how it goes.

Let me know if you're up for the challenge. I'd like to find some people to help keep me accountable. I will try to make Thursday my day to blog about the steps I've taken (or my lack of taking any) towards my goals . Check in to see how I'm doing and to let me know how you're doing.

If you do a similar blog post tell people about my blog and I will try to figure out how to do the same for your blog. Thanks!

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Playdo Day





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Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Retail Therapy

I like my job, I really do. I work at a bookstore. It's a perfect fit for me because I LOVE books. I love helping people find something to read. I love finding new stuff for myself to read. I love the people I work with. I've been doing this now for 9 years or so. It's a nice place to be.
Then there are the OTHER days. The days where I'm in the womens restroom mopping up pee. Not just a little pee a lot of pee. Like the person missed the toilet all together. My 5 year-old son even manages to get it into the bowl.
Or when I'm picking up stacks and stacks of books that have just been left on the floor in the kids section. Whole shelves just knocked clear. Pages ripped, plastic wrap pulled off, stickers... GONE.
Or when I spot a 4 or 5 year old by themselves in the kids department. Sometimes they've just made a break for it and there is an adult or older sibling hot on their trail but a lot of times they've been left there so the parent go shopping... IN ANOTHER STORE!!!!!
Another favorite that is more of a pet peeve than anything else are the people who make you look and look for a title or subject. You run around ignoring the phones because you really want to help this person with their project. Other customers are waiting but you are committed to giving your current customer excellent customer service. When you finally find the books and get them to the customer they want to know where they can leave them when they are done using them for their homework!!!
Oh, did I forget to mention the people who stay on their cell phones the whole time you're trying to help them. That's fun because you never know if they're talking to you or the person on the phone. FYI... Those are the people I ask the MOST questions of.

Sorry. Just needed to vent a bit. I like my job... I really do but sometimes people can drive me a bit wonky.


Monday, January 18, 2010

So I do stuff. I make things. I get all excited about an endeavour and then let it fall to the wayside. I make excuses. I move on to something new. I'm a bit of a flake when it comes to this stuff.
For example: I got ALL excited about becoming a professional crafter. I made things. Heck, I even sold things! I was happy. I love to get messy. Paper and glue are so much fun to play with. It's a true outlet for me. Then it happened... I applied for a HUGE craft fair. I was so excited. I got ahead of myself planning on all of the stuff I was going to make for it. The day of the acceptance emails came. I got on-line. I saw the sender. My heart fluttered a little. Here it was. I hesitated KNOWING that it could be a negative response but surely not. I'd had such positive feedback from so many people. Alas, I...was... REJECTED. Well, I was put on the waiting list if some one else fell through. I was devestated. Frustrated. Heartbroken.
I convinced myself that all the other positive feedback I got was just people being polite. It really took the wind out of my sails. I've since gotten over it but have yet to get back that zest for crafting that I had before. I'm working on it. I've got some projects lined up. I'm also hoping to get into the Farmers Market in Bloomington IL with my friend Lauren.
I am nervous. Afraid that I will hold Lauren back. Afraid that I WILL get in and then not sell ANYTHING.
I know that this is like falling off a horse. You just have to get back up and try again. I think that will be one of my resolutions. To stick to it. Not let one rejection (or 2) get me down. DO what I love and what makes me happy regardless of what a couple of people may think. I know from personal experience that this is going to take some focus on my part. It ain't gonna be easy but I'm going to try.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

A new year

It's a new year and I am vowing a new blog. I've spent a lot of time trying to find a way to make my blog 'cool'. I wanted a huge following, right away. It didn't happen. I know that people looked at it but only a few have chosen to follow or even comment. I wanted to be able to create art and photos that everyone HAD to see. I started trying to hard. I'm gonna stop worrying about all that. I am going to blog for me!
Some days you may see a 'crafty' post or a post about my family, my joys, my frustrations (is that redundant?). You may even see contests or links to other blogs that I like. There may be photos. Who knows what I'll discover about myself.
I'm taking my new blogging cues from "Wreck This Journal' by Kerri Smith. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Wreck-This-Journal/Keri-Smith/e/9780399533464/?itm=1&usri=Wreck+this+journal I got it from my mom and dad for Christmas and am having so much fun trying to break out of the confines I've placed on myself. I hope you'll join me but if not that's OK too.