I'm forever looking for new, better ways to stay motivated and organized. One thing I've found out about myself is that I need to change my methods as my life changes. I wish that I was one of those people who could find a system and stick with it forever! Not going to happen for me. I eventually get bored with the current plan and it falls away. Time to look for new inspiration! So for me, the secret is not just in starting, but in starting again and again. I have also finally accepted, that although an electronic calendar works very well for me, I need my todo list to be on PAPER. I need to write stuff down to make it happen. Even though my iphone is always nearby, it's just too easy to ignore tasks that require me to open an app to view them.
I have a simple little spiral notebook that I use to keep up with whats gotta' be done. Brook Noel's book "The Change Your Life Challenge", was the inspiration for my notebook. I've stuck with the basis of her plan for a couple of years but I like to print out different planner pages to paste into the notebook when I need to "mix it up" to stay interested. I'm a big fan of Charlie Gilkey and his productivity strategies. I recently discovered that he offers his planning calendars FREE on his website. What a great resource!! Here's the link: Productive Flourishing
According to my newly revamped list, I should go start the orders I took at Saturday's show before I have to leave to pick up kids from school. So happy planning to you! If you have organizing tips you'd like to share, I'd love to hear about them!!
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
Making fine silver jewelry components
I'm working on building my stock back up and needed some cool components for a batch of bracelets I'm gonna make. Here's a brief picture tutorial on the basic process!
Start with fine silver wire:
Use a mandrel to shape the wire into rings. Make sure to file edges so the join is very clean!
Use torch to close join in rings
Shape and texture rings with dapping hammer
Add a design with metal stamp
Oxidize with liver of sulfur. Don't worry, they'll get pretty again!!
Polish with pro polish pads. Here's one 1/2 done so you can see the difference.
Here are the beauties all done!!
Look for the finished bracelets using these components soon!
Thursday, January 06, 2011
What you should focus on
I just found this great visual quote on www.behaviorgap.com . Isn't this perfect? So simple but so true!!
www.mjanedesigns.com
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Wednesday, November 17, 2010
TEDxHouston - Brené Brown
This is such a great talk! Love Brene Brown.Such a great, great concept but so hard to embrace!
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Necklace Display Redo
I have several old necklace displays that I was given years ago by a nice lady who was closing her jewelry business. They are inexpensive cardboard backed black velvet, quite beat-up & they don't match my setup. Needless to say, I don't use them very often. But I hate to throw them away & new displays are expensive. So I got the idea to recover them.
If you've looked at my booth pics, you know that it has an organic look. Lots of linen and wood. I wanted these to integrate into that theme. I got a spool of jute twine from Home Depot. Using a glue pen, I've wrapped the display front and back, top to bottom. It's looking really good! Much better aesthetically and also sturdier and heavier. Nice upcycling!!
If you've looked at my booth pics, you know that it has an organic look. Lots of linen and wood. I wanted these to integrate into that theme. I got a spool of jute twine from Home Depot. Using a glue pen, I've wrapped the display front and back, top to bottom. It's looking really good! Much better aesthetically and also sturdier and heavier. Nice upcycling!!
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
Craft Show Photos and Tips
Hi yall!
Here are a few pics of my booth set-up from a show I did last weekend.
A few handy tips I've picked up doing shows and craft fairs:
- Invest in a hand truck/dolly. It will save you time and tiredness
- Tweak your display every time you use it. A clean professional display will draw customers to you. Think of it as your store front.
- Take pictures of your display and use them as reference for future shows.
- Don't take your booth down before the show is over. This show, I make a sale during the last 5 minutes!
- A tasteful giveaway, like the gift boxes above, can set you apart from other vendors and send more sales your way.
- Don't put out a bowl of candy for the kids. I love kids - have 3 of my own - but the candy bowl just causes mess and confusion. I keep lollipops under the table. If a child is having a hard time while the parent is trying to shop, I'll ask if it's OK to give them one.
- Pay the extra few $$ for a corner space. It pays off.
- A great tip another vendor shared with me a couple of years ago: Keep your business supplies in a rolling cart with drawers that you don't have to unpack each time. It's a great time saver.
- Keep a running list of what you bring to a show and what you wish you had. Keep that in your rolling cart as a double check that you've remembered everything.
Here are a few pics of my booth set-up from a show I did last weekend.
 |
| Bracelets |
 |
| Necklaces |
 |
| Earrings and a few bracelets |
 |
| More necklaces |
 |
| Flower Necklaces |
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gift Boxes |
- Invest in a hand truck/dolly. It will save you time and tiredness
- Tweak your display every time you use it. A clean professional display will draw customers to you. Think of it as your store front.
- Take pictures of your display and use them as reference for future shows.
- Don't take your booth down before the show is over. This show, I make a sale during the last 5 minutes!
- A tasteful giveaway, like the gift boxes above, can set you apart from other vendors and send more sales your way.
- Don't put out a bowl of candy for the kids. I love kids - have 3 of my own - but the candy bowl just causes mess and confusion. I keep lollipops under the table. If a child is having a hard time while the parent is trying to shop, I'll ask if it's OK to give them one.
- Pay the extra few $$ for a corner space. It pays off.
- A great tip another vendor shared with me a couple of years ago: Keep your business supplies in a rolling cart with drawers that you don't have to unpack each time. It's a great time saver.
- Keep a running list of what you bring to a show and what you wish you had. Keep that in your rolling cart as a double check that you've remembered everything.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Brave Girls Club
This is a reprint from the brave girls club daily email. They are fantastic!! Check them out at www.bravegirlsclub.com
Dear Beloved Girl,
Great frustration, hurt and anxiety can come from trying to get our worth and our acceptance from other people or from anything that is outside of our own selves and our own deepest truths.
Many of us want love more than anything in the world. We want love and we want acceptance...we want to be understood. Frustration comes when we do no accept the fact that we simply can not MAKE others love us, or accept us, or even understand us. This is why it is so important to first learn how to love ourselves....
When we can get in tune with our deepest truths....the truths that only come from listening to the very force that created us and placed this knowing inside of us.....we can find peace whenever we need it. When we do the work necessary to learn who we really are in spite of who the world may tell us we are....we can find the love and acceptance we so need...whether we have other people in our lives or not. We simply do not NEED to have constant reassurance from others....because there is a voice of knowing inside of us...a voice that comes from the only place that truly KNOWS who we are and what we are capable of.
Be o.k. with YOU, beautiful friend. Be o.k. with the moments of aloneness that come, and that sometimes stay. Be o.k. with sometimes feeling that no one understands or that no one is giving you exactly what you need.....because the only WHOLENESS of spirit that will come is from your own self and your own deepest truth. Be o.k. with this....this is where you will find peace. You can give your SELF love and acceptance, through listening to your deepest truths that come from your Creator. It will be real, true and authentic. And it will be enough.
It really will. It will be enough.
You are so very very loved.
xoxo
www.mjanedesigns.com
Dear Beloved Girl,
Great frustration, hurt and anxiety can come from trying to get our worth and our acceptance from other people or from anything that is outside of our own selves and our own deepest truths.
Many of us want love more than anything in the world. We want love and we want acceptance...we want to be understood. Frustration comes when we do no accept the fact that we simply can not MAKE others love us, or accept us, or even understand us. This is why it is so important to first learn how to love ourselves....
When we can get in tune with our deepest truths....the truths that only come from listening to the very force that created us and placed this knowing inside of us.....we can find peace whenever we need it. When we do the work necessary to learn who we really are in spite of who the world may tell us we are....we can find the love and acceptance we so need...whether we have other people in our lives or not. We simply do not NEED to have constant reassurance from others....because there is a voice of knowing inside of us...a voice that comes from the only place that truly KNOWS who we are and what we are capable of.
Be o.k. with YOU, beautiful friend. Be o.k. with the moments of aloneness that come, and that sometimes stay. Be o.k. with sometimes feeling that no one understands or that no one is giving you exactly what you need.....because the only WHOLENESS of spirit that will come is from your own self and your own deepest truth. Be o.k. with this....this is where you will find peace. You can give your SELF love and acceptance, through listening to your deepest truths that come from your Creator. It will be real, true and authentic. And it will be enough.
It really will. It will be enough.
You are so very very loved.
xoxo
www.mjanedesigns.com
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