Archive for April, 2011
A small space can be quite a challenge when you are desperate for a dedicated room for a home office. But, with a little ingenuity, it can be done!
This space (shown left via Domino magazine) is completely tucked away on an otherwise unused half wall in between two doorways. The desk fits perfectly on this oddly sized wall, and when you have guests over, you can tuck away the drop down and it looks like practical storage.
What are your tips for creating a cozy, inviting office in confined quarters?
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*image c/o Domino (found via The Frugal Materialist)
You’re full of ideas for your creative business, so why can’t you seem to get anything done? Why do you feel lethargic? You might need to take some time to define the purpose of your business. Even creative work needs a good business plan! Let me show you the bare bones way to make a business plan and define the purpose of your business.
1. First, Set Business Goals
This first step is paramount. You can set monthly goals, or go the next step by setting a goal for each week. Make sure your goals are both realistic and achievable.
2. Set Revenue Goals
Set the revenue numbers you want to reach monthly, weekly, or biweekly. Many creative business owners skip this vital step!
3. Make Your Action Plans
Write a list of actions you’ll take to hit the revenue and business goals you’ve set. You might list more items on Etsy or invest in advertising, for example.
4. Schedule Your Ideal Week
This isn’t a necessary step, but it’s an extremely helpful one. Schedule your week from Monday through Sunday. Schedule time for all the steps you’ll take to accomplish your goals. (Make room for rest and fun, too!) Schedules can feel limiting, but you’ll be surprised at your accomplishments when you stick to one. (Admit it; we artsy-types need some reining in sometimes!)
5. Avoid Procrastination
The internet playground is beckoning, tempting you with cheap thrills. Don’t go down the proverbial rabbit hole and forget your assignments for the day! Don’t procrastinate. Make crossing items off your task list a priority.
Call to Action: I Challenge You…
To make a business plan and stick to it next week. You’ll see an increase in productivity, creativity, and sales.
Get Help: I bought Brittni’s Track This! Workbook and loved it. It completely takes the frustration out of writing a business plan. Brittni also has a free Goal Tracking Worksheet you can use to help you hit your sales numbers.
*image Do What You Love by Letterhappy
Vanessa wrote this post. She is a full time copywriter and webmarketer with a passion for art, creativity, and thrift. She writes about thrifting, creating, and saving money every weekday on her blog, Thrift Core.
Artist and illustrator Mary Kate McDevitt combines two of my forever loves: handlettering and chalkboards. Her mini goals chalkboards can help you to get things accomplished in your day, while the clockboards will keep you on task + on time.
Perhaps it is the sense of nostalgia, for elementary class rooms and dusty chalk hands, but I am currently clamoring to get my hands on one of these (perhaps for my birthday, hint! hint!).
Check out Mary Kate McDevitt on Etsy for more of her illustrated collection.
About Rachel Anne: She is a 20-something wife and mother of one, who enjoys making things for her embroidery and tiny handmade goodies shop called, Goose and Trisser. You can visit Rachel Anne on her blog here.
I don’t normally talk about baby related items here, but I felt like I needed to make an exception for this leaping rabbits mobile from ARTISANIEeurope. It is just so a.w.e.s.o.m.e!
Have a great day. See you tomorrow.
A guest post by Zoe of A Quick Study.
One of the best (in my opinion) traditions surrounding Easter is the egg hunt, particularly when it’s accompanied by customized touches. There’s nothing like a couple of extra-special, hard-to-find eggs (preferably with additional prizes attached to finding them) to sweeten the deal, and there are so many fun ways to get everybody involved with crafts and light-hearted activities. No Easter party or egg hunt is complete without a personalized Easter basket, and that’s where the inspiration for these basket tags came from. They are relatively quick to put together, but the hand embroidery makes them feel especially sweet. Not so into the egg hunts or candy-filled baskets? These tags also make great place cards for an Easter brunch, or omit the names and hang them from a pretty flowering branch.
Required Supplies: the Easter Tags PDF template (download it for free by clicking the link), printer, card stock (this could be colored or white), various colors of thread or embroidery floss, scissors, needle, ribbon to hang the tags from
Additional Supplies: an awl or other pointy object (thumb tacks work well), hole punch
How To: Step 1: Prepare the tags for sewing by printing the template onto card stock and cutting out the eggs. Use your scissors or a hole punch to make holes for the ribbon where marked on the template. Then, use your pointy object to poke holes through every dot on each egg. This makes it much easier to sew through the paper without tearing and keeps everything nice and neat.
Step 2: Everything except the flowers will be embroidered using the back stitch. Knot your thread (this is a great tutorial for an easy way to knot thread for hand-sewing). Pick a line across your egg to start with, and pull the needle up through the hole closest to one edge. Loop the thread around the outside edge of the egg (this makes it look like the design continues around the egg) and pull the needle back up through the second hole in the line from back to front. It will look like you skipped a stitch in the front – no worries! This is where the “back” in “back stitch” comes in – go back down through that first hole to make your stitch.
For the next stitch, come up from back to front through the third hole. Again, you’ll make your stitch going back towards the side you started at. Continue this way until the end of the line, when you’ll once again loop around the outer edge of the egg. Tie a knot in the back as close to the paper as you can and cut the thread. You will use this same method for everything except the flowers, including the zig zags!
Note: If you are looping around an outer edge at an angle, you may find it helpful to make a very small slit or indentation in the edge of the egg to keep your loop in place.
Step 3: For the flowers, you’ll use a detached chain stitch. Start by bringing your needle up through the base of the flower. Put the needle right back through the same hole, keeping a loop of thread on top of your egg (I wrap it around my finger to keep it in place). Bring your needle back up through one of the petal tips and through your loop. Pull gently to tighten the thread but don’t over-tighten because you’ll lose the petal shape. To secure the petal, put the needle back through the hole you just came up through at the outer tip of the petal, but on the outside of the loop. Again, don’t pull too tight!
Make the next petal, starting in the center at the base of the flower again, creating your loop, and tacking it to the egg at the tip. Continue this way to complete the flowers!
Step 4: Really, that’s all the steps! Of course, you’ll be doing a lot of back stitching to get all the designs in place, but there’s nothing else you need to know! Once you’ve got your embroidered eggs, loop your ribbon through the hole to hang. Now it’s time to get creative with your color combinations (I’m thinking white thread on bright paper for my next set) and get stitching!
If you try this yourself, I’d love to see photos of your color choices or your creative ways to use the tags!
Download the free Easter tag template today
and make your own embroidered tags right now.
About the author: Zoe can’t pick just one medium to work in – she dabbles in metal sculpture, painting, sewing, digital illustration and more – but her current favorite is hand-embroidered paper goods. In addition, Zoe spends her time thinking about organization and planning, and enjoying her husband and two sons, as well as writing about it all on her blog.
Jean Cody offers an incredible selection of delicate and beautiful vintage-style art prints in her Etsy shop, Faux Kiss. She has a wide variety of work to choose from, this vintage whaling scene exemplifies warm vintage patina of her work. Her delicate prints are beautiful and affordable additions to your home.
Please check out the Faux Kiss Etsy shop, see if a piece speaks to you!
Sometimes I need a little pick me up at the end of a Monday.
If you need one too, I have a fun party roundup of diy craft projects on Oh Hello Friend. Everyone loves parties, right?! Enjoy.
