Day 14 & 15

Phew! Last night I was crusing along making notecards and didn't post.  I really had fun with the artistic editing of the photos I was working with.  I am very pleased with how things turned out and once I "regroup" I will post a few photos of the completed sets.

And although the artistic creating took a little longer than the simple touches I was making on the notepads, the whole process was much easier! Well, once I got the layout and print figured out correctly.  There is a lot less cutting with the notecards than notepads. 

I am happy, very happy, to say that I will complete my order on schedule by the end of this evening. I have 1 1/2 sets of notecards to finish up-and then....Done!  The only thing that will be left is a few finishing touches of few ribbons to tie the sets together and get them in the mail.  YEA!

This has been an awesome learning experience in time management, efficient work flow, and use of my software and I hope to take a little time tomorrow night and recap those lessons a litte for myself. When I have given that a proper thought, I'll share what I learned.  Then, it's back to focusing on blogs and other things for the final days of my challenge.  Although, I have been looking into different website design things....it hasn't been all stationary making over the last couple weeks.

For now, it's off to the 9-5.

Day 12

It seems sort of silly to write that I am not going to write tonight.  This is just a check in post for my 21 Day Challenge to do something everyday for blog and hoped for new business. 

I have spent a lot of time focusing on getting a stationary order ready.  Tonight is no different.  There is also some reading in Problogger in my future tonight.

Then, to be honest- it is time for a little popcorn, something refreshing to go with it, and a little TV.

Back to the 9-5 tomorrow and

tonight I get a little time off.

Cheers!

Day 10

Here I am at the half way point. There are still so many things I hope to accomplish with the blogging aspect of this.

The next 21 Day Challenge is already identifying itself and will hopefully begin after the new year. It has definitely helped to have this public accountability to do something every day.

Tonight marks the anniversary of the first date with the man who was to become my husband. This past year was our 25th wedding anniversary. We enjoyed dinner out tonight and now he is out raking snow off the roof and I am here, blogging, but not for long. It was nice to have a break, no matter how brief.

I have already done some general printer and cutter maintenance and some notepad cutting.  I have worked my promised hour and I am keeping it at that tonight. 

I am really enjoying the fish, too.

Whooohoooo- Day 2

A Challenge Can Be Reassuring
Well, here I am again. There is something reassuring about knowing that I have set this time aside each day. It takes away some of the wonder about what I should do when I get home after work. Should I clean, should I watch tv, should I stop at the store on the way home? 
NO! I am going home to take care of the dogs, have a small, but healthy dinner and I am going to allow myself the pleasure of focusing on learning how to do "blog" things and to enjoy the creativity of working with my photography and publishing software.  And writing, I really do love writing. Then somewhere during the evening I will spend time with my husband and daughter.
Now, sooner or later, I will have to do some cleaning, laundry, holiday shopping, and all the other things that make my house a home. And I am ok with that. For now, I am grateful that somehow my evening is less chaotic with this blog and business time specfically set aside to focus on the 21 Day Challenge.

Less Reassuring
Earlier tonight I spent time on the online blog class. I confess I am still overwhelmed with the notion of setting up a self-hosted blog. I am not quite there, yet. I have to wonder if a hands on class is what I need. I have no real technical background to glean from.  Perserverence will have to be the word for this part of blogging.

Other Progress Today
I figured I would be working on my photography and stationary more over the next 21 days and now there is no doubt. A dear friend has just put in an order for some holiday gifts. I am so excited! I am thrilled to be able to create something for a friend and I am thankful that now I can't put it aside, which I might be inclined to do if there was no one waiting for it.

I spent time during the day looking at other blogs again. There are so many wonderfully creative people out there. I feel slightly intimidated and also hopeful. I know that I cannot be them, nor should I be. I see that there are so many different styles and I will find my own. (especially if I can figure out how to self-host and design blogs or at least find someone who can see my vision).

And Tomorrow
Tomorrow I begin to work on designing my friend's gifts, continue reading and/or class, and remain open to my next step.

I'm Expanding



Cup of the Day

 I am now a member of the Whole Living Daily Challenge Community at http://www.wholeliving.com/ and have added a few blog posts there.  I have also applied there to begin two new groups; In Between for those of us who are at the in-between stage of life where we care for and support those both younger and older in our family group, and 50+ and Counting for those of us who are 50 years young, and beyond, who want to stay active and enjoy life. Both groups are awaiting approval and I'll keep you posted.

Although I have not created a whole new blog and these do not directly fit into my business plan, I do feel this fits into my overall life goals. I will continue to add blog posts and if the groups are approved, I will spend some time with those as well. And in reality, since life is not, or should not be, compartmentalized, I guess this really does fit into my business plan. Not only am I writing more and expanding my reach, I am also seeking to find ways to stay balanced and healthy so that I can work my business and enjoy all aspects of my life. So it fits.

Hey, there is that 'balance' word again. No, I don't mean balanced as in all things being equal and even, but rather balanced as in giving attention, at some regular interval, to all things that are important. I still like the visual example of juggling where you are working with many different balls, and you focus on just one at a time.  To me it is like being in the moment. There are many aspects (juggling balls) to my life, and I can not pay attention to all of them at the same time and do any of them well. Remember the plate balancing acts? Well, I used to be the person who was struggling to keep all the plates balanced at the same time and running back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and .....well you get the idea. No more of that. It is exhausting, and for me, not a healthy way to live.

So I am doing something everyday, expanding my reach (adding another juggling ball), adding another blog post here; and today I will be reading other people's blogs, working on choosing my first photo gift/stationary designs, and doing other photography related things.

Momentum is a beautiful thing and I feel mine picking up again.

Catching Up-or Picking up the Pieces

                                            

It is a cold, blustery day here in the Midwest. I got a call early this morning that the offices where I work are out of power and I don't have to come in until 10:00am.  It was nice to get a little more sleep and to now sit with coffee in hand, watching the autumn colors blow outside my window.

It has been awhile since I have looked at, much less written, on my blog.  And although I won't write much right now, I just wanted to let my readers know I am still here. Since my father's passing earlier this month, I have been spent time with memories, getting caught up at home, at work and helping my mom catch up, too. With this brief, but most welcome gift of time,  I thought I would take a few minutes to do a little catch up inventory for blog and business. 

A few things fell by the wayside over the last month and hold some lessons learned. Even though most of these are directly connected to my dad's illness over the past year and the sad events of October, I believe that some of these hold lessons that would be true, regardless.  I take on too much too fast.  A recipe for disaster. And because a lesson learned is really not helpful unless there is a plan for applying the lesson, I will include my plan, too.  And I am stopping at three.

-I totally forgot about and "flunked" my two online courses for photography and online writing.  I flunked them only because I did not finish them by the deadline.  Two online courses were too much with everything else I was trying to do, not to mention working a fulltime job.
Lesson learned; don't be so eager that it becomes too much and nothing gets done.
So, I will take them again.  This time, I will just take one at a time.  My deadline; hmmm, not sure with holidays approaching, but will have signed up by year's end.

-All my plans to get designs into an online store stopped, as did creating more designs
Lesson learned; I don't need a full line of product to begin and to open an online presence. I just need to begin with a few good choices and get the account/store created.
Choose four designs, then open a Cafepress shop by year's end with photo gifts and stationary.

I stopped doing something everyday.  That's ok, the lesson here is sometimes there are more important things in life.
No regrets, I was where I needed to be. Begin again, today. Do Something Everyday!

Now, to be fair, I have done something over the past few weeks. I was very pleased and honored to have created my dad's memorial service program. I worked hard with my new software to get it just right and learned a lot about the Serif PlusX4. The heart that went into this project will be a good standard to hold the rest of my work to.

And so today begins a new day.

My Creative Corner

Creating Space
My creative corner, formerly known as my daughter's bedroom, is beginning to take shape. Little by little I am setting up for the business I am working toward.  One of the first things I had to do was move my desk, books, and craft supplies into the room and get that all organized. I'm still working on the closets, but there is enough done to work with.

The Work of My Hands
Part of this business will be a photo gift and stationary e-shop.  In addition to playing with my new Serif desktop publishing software and designing various formats of notepads, I have been buying crafty supplies and trying out different supplies like glues.  For my sticky notepads I have tried Modge Podge and some dimensional silicone I had for paper tole as a binding glue. The Modge Podge worked ok and the silicone worked great, but took almost a week to dry.

The other day I bought a little portable paper cutter. It works ok, but not as well as I would like.  I was trying to keep with inexpensive things to begin with. I should know better.  That's ok, it will be fine for small straight cuts.  Then I bought a rotary cutter that has a few different blade attachments. It is not a major heavy duty cutter, but it is lightweight, portable and can nicely cut 10 pages at a time, which is great for now.  A friend of mine had asked that if I ever created bound journals that I make the pages with perforations because she hates tearing off pages and having the scraggly edges.  Well, Barb, my new rotary cutter has a perforating blade and it works great! It also has a 'wavey' blade that leaves a smooth, wavey edge.

So I continue working with my Serif software and enjoying the effects I am finding are possible and I will be trying out different types of paper to find those that provide the quality and look I want at affordable prices.

The Next Step
Now that I am closer to getting some stationary designs finished, I am back to needing to finalize a name for this business and creating a logo. That is my main focus for the week as I also continue to finalize designs and create templates. Slowly but surely, this part of the business is taking shape.