Sorry for the waning in posts last week – things are starting to sort themselves out with our move situation, so I'm getting back on the ball. And on that note...
As I stated at the start of this blog, I want to share not only my thoughts on handmade design, but my experiences as I attempt to sell my own handmade goods. My first outlet is going to be a shop on Etsy, with the plan of opening shop March 11. Which is two days from now. And which is also not ... going ... to happen.
At the outset of this venture, I knew a few things about myself that would both help and hinder me along the way. Number One: I am an extremely flexible person. This comes in handy when life throws you for a loop. In fact, this whole idea was birthed from the unfortunate circumstance of me getting laid off from my job as an art director at an advertising agency in Dallas. Being optimistic in general (that's Number Two), I figured that since life gave me lemons ... I'd open up a lemonade stand! Or, more accurately, open up an online shop for my handmade goods – something that I'm much more passionate about than advertising anyway.
Then life threw me another curve ball: my husband got a job in California. So, just as I've finished turning our guest bedroom into a silk-screening workshop and our second bathroom into a make-shift dark room, I've got to leave it all behind for a tiny furnished apartment in LA, with none of my crafting supplies, and no place to craft anyway. Plans go on hold. I start going crazy not being able to make things, so at Christmas time I go home to Dallas and ship myself boxes of fabric, yarn, and some of my more portable printmaking supplies. And when I return to LA, I'm back in business! This time I get really serious. I set up goals to start this blog on February 11th, and open up shop on March 11th. Then, because of various factors, March ends up being our month to finally move all our things from Dallas into a larger, unfurnished apartment. Yay, I'll be reunited with my silk-screening supplies! But a pattern seems to have emerged: Every time I begin making real progress with this Etsy thing, we end up moving!
So, a little bit of go-with-the-flow-ness has been crucial in trying to get this thing off the ground.
Now, the flip-side of being both optimistic and flexible is that I tend to set hugely unrealistic goals for myself, and then not put a whole lot of stress on actually sticking to the time-frame. Case in point: the above obstacles aside, I was laid off in June of 2008, and it is now March of 2009. So I think the real lesson for me here is going to be learning how to practice effective time-management. I'll get on that tomorrow ... it should only take ten minutes or so! ;-)
1 comments: