Monday, June 20, 2016

Finished Quilt

Its done!! Celebrate!! A firm deadline always works for getting a project done. This quilt was for my friend and it just had to be done before the baby shower.




I used the Denyse Schmidt Quilts Book for the inspiration and made my own templates. It was actually suppose to be a few squares bigger but I like the smaller size.
I am really happy with it, though it was hard to tell as it laid in pieces on my floor if I was going to be able to pull it off, but it here it is and I really like the color scheme. What a big relief. Im always weary of putting too much effort into a project and having it come out only ok, or worse, ugly!!


Wanted to share my daughter's recent project. Inspired by watching me quilt, and determined not be out done, my daughter put together this wonderful little patchwork. I think it will end up being a pillow.

Now I'm off to enjoy the rest of my vacation! Hoping to make it to at least one antique store while in the Midwest.

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

To Do List or Not to Do List?


Starting a business is not for the weary of heart, and definitely not for the *disorganized*. It has been about a month since I decided to start my own online handmade business. One of my biggest challenges is keeping myself organized. My go to tool? LISTS! I have made an art of making lists, evaluating my lists, redoing my lists, handwriting my lists, typing my lists, putting my lists into my calendar....Today, I made a list of my lists. What madness!! I've decided my lists are making me crazy. Instead of keeping me organizing and running like a well oiled (albeit squeeky) machine they have lead me to feeling stuck. So...... tomorrow I am throwing caution to the wind and throwing out my lists. I'm going list-less. Not listless. LIST-less. Ah, the freedom! (and lets be honest, fear) I am going in with a plan. My plan is to have just 3 goals for the day. Three priorities, three must do's, three no-matter-what spills, tracks mud in, forgets their lunch, breaks or cries these three get  done, or else! If I get those accomplished (along with all the other mundane dishes, laundry, making lunch, etc) I will call the day a success!!  Sounds simple enough. Let's see how it goes. 





In addition to making the very big decision to go LIST-LESS tomorrow, I spent some time brainstorming names for my new business. This process have brought up a lot of FOC! Fear of Commitment. Once I pick a name its on everything. With social media that means literally everything. I absolutely don't want to have to change it a year or two down the road. I found some great advice on how to develop your business identity from Sara Sewell founder of Flourish, The Joyful Entrepreneur. She said as a strategy to help develop your business identity, your brand, log into Pinterest and open a new Pinterest board. 


This board will conveys the look, ideas, colors, and images that really capture the feeling of the business. Mine includes quotes, images, color palettes, and other vendors that have a similar feel to your feel. I thought this was a GREAT idea. So, I put together some images.