The Silence will Fall #11: Love my sample cards from Moo.com

Day 234

What will you create today?

Starting your business? Trust me on this, GET A SCHEDULE

Day 90-- So you think you are the Wonder Woman (or Superman) of organizing? Well good for you...you can stop reading now and later after I lure you in with a cup of coffee I am gonna have Wonder Woman give you the lasso treatment cause no one is ever as organized as they want to be...

Image Source (yes that is the NEW 21st Century Wonder Woman, I think she is pretty awesome)

Now back to creating a schedule- I don't just mean go out and buy a planner although there are some sweet planners out there that look cool and will make you feel better that you actually went out and bought one. Oh yea you know who you are--seriously you need to recycle those empty planners from 1999 on because honey they are a one time use only and you just need to let go-move on.

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Here is what has worked for me:

Get yourself a simple piece(s) of notebook paper and a pencil. Sit down and write out everything you should be doing, need to do, want to do. I mean everything--even the activities your kids are in, your exercise schedule, chores...everything you want to do in a day, week, month. I even included the maintenance stuff that is included in running a business-blogging, advertising, planning and website.

I happen to have a whiteboard handy so on it I wrote out my annual schedule of what I need to do each month only in terms of planning ahead for the next season, so it is very general just to keep me on track. This is where I also put the general blog topics to focus on every day. All of this sounds really anal but it has gotten me back to a focus that I felt was slipping away behind all the homeschooling, family and kid stuff that seems overwhelming sometimes.

Then I went out and splurged on a plain ole desk calendar [these are cheap remember we are also trying to keep business costs down]. The black and white large kind that you can also hang on the wall. Simple and big enough to put all your stuff on-it even has a cute little note section at the bottom. Those of you who are offended by it's simplicity can get your creativity on by putting a frame or fabric around it.

Now if you were to look in my purse you would also find that I have a pocket calendar but it has been turned to March since at least February because I find I just don't use it--and if I do I forget to transfer stuff to my main one on the desk. Per my instructions above this empty date book will be recycled as 2010 starts to play itself out--but I still carry it around in case lets say I suddenly need a piece of paper to throw my gum out in-May 15th? pah! wrap gum up and toss in trash--see useful?!

Most of us these days have smartphones--in the calendar function I entered in the obvious big stuff like appts; kid events; meeting with clients; big deadlines useful stuff when you need to set an appt or I use a note app to remind myself of things until I get home.

As an artist you need to create so this is really the biggie when scheduling things--obviously the family and kid stuff will go to the top of the list of must dos but you need to make sure you are giving yourself enough time to make things or sketch out ideas. Once you make this schedule STICK TO IT as best you can.

I do keep a teeny notebook of ripoutable pages in my purse where I write down ideas that pop into my head and new appts to add to my desk calendar. Here is what is vital---I DO NOT SAY YES TO ANYTHING UNTIL I HAVE CONSULTED MY PHONE AND/OR CALENDAR AT HOME.

See these guys didn't plan--they didn't plan on some gold crazed Spaniard in a shiny helmet to show up on the beach either but that is a whole 'nother story.

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Lets say you did all of this and added a few of your own bag of tricks and you are starting to feel out of control again.....guess what? I give you permission to start the process over again! Maybe there are some things that are just not working and some new things that will work better. Go ahead and switch things around-it is your business and you have to do what feels right to you.

So be your own version of Wonder Woman (or Superman)-yea this image is forever burned into my retinas-methinks it is perhaps a good thing that there is a new 21st century wardrobe now for this heroine *shudder*

Image Source<--if you click on this you might want to A. make sure your kids are not in the room and B. well don't say at least I did not warn you that this is what happens when you use Google Images and type in 'Wonder Woman'

Then again I could be wrong about all of it cause this post was scheduled for Wednesday, time and projects just got away from me and I was not able to get to this--but that is ok I give myself permission to break schedule every once in a while lol

And what did YOU do today?

Day 56

OK so I have to note here that I was rereading the previous post thinking to myself uh I told you to think about the business you want to have for a month or so ummm well that might not work out so good for everyone cause for some people you wait too long and you end up talking yourself out of it....so I say if you know you want to do it just go for it.

Back to the day here....not bragging or anything BUT I got so many things done on my TODO list it was crazy...lots of little stuff that never gets done when you are sick, like I actually have clean floors and no dishes on the counters WHEW

The mailbox was ready to explode when I opened it today cause mail just does not get picked up when I am sick-bad i know but I just forgot is all...anyway there was my package from the 1 Million Pillowcase challenge I am participating in from AllPeopleQuilt.com--I was waiting to say anything until I got some people lined up to donate them too and turns out there is a great lady who sends them to our National Guard troops here in New Mexico and it is called Ziacase gotta put together a cutie blog button and official post this week so that will kick it off for me....gonna get the swim team involved in it too! So excited to be a part of this charity! Might even have to get me some of this Robert Kaufman fabric they featured (think it is called Mingle in Monolua)

In amongst this excitement of opening a WHOLE bunch of mail I did some fun homeschooling with the girls, cleaned a little more and sewed some beads onto the fairy tale shoe quilt square beading is slow going but very satisfying to see the progress...more on that tomorrow..

...today I got down to finishing a pair of lounge pants that I had sitting in my UFO basket for the longest time because I wanted to redo them from a pattern that was NOT made for those of us vertically challenged (yes I do believe that all kitchen cabinets should be lowered to my level) so I had to chop and rehem....they are in the (top left on this picture) Chloe's Imagination line, the orange fabric of Tina Givens--I love her patterns and her fabrics as they are very whimsical and almost look as if they will fly off the fabric and the oranges are my FAVORITE shade of orange--I have a huge love for bright bold colors--anyway check out her newest line, I can't wait to get my crafting hands on it

so that was my excitement for today...I must get back to a few more beads before calling it a night...

...so what are you gonna do for 6 more weeks of winter eh?

Note this is a prairie dog--Phil's 23rd cousin, no relation lol

How do you know if your business will succeed?

Day 55

OK well you don't and you won't....but if you have something you think you might want to do you owe it to yourself to at least explore the opportunities! And um well I can with much confidence tell you will NEVER know if your business is going to succeed unless you try....

I am not very scientific about things, OCD maybe with my lists upon lists (thank gawd for my note app on my Droid phone, shhh I still keep my paper pad in my purse too) but when I am interested in something I sort of just go for the gusto....

I did not start checking out books on businesses quite at first or even websites for that matter, first I needed to gather my thoughts on exactly what and how I wanted to work balancing the needs of my family at the same time because as a homeschooling mom that is my first job.

Pilfering supplies from our school stuff in the form of an unused notebook, a blank journal, sharpened pencils with good erasers, my favorite ball point pen, etc.. During down time in the bleachers at swimming or even in the car while waiting for a kid to get out of a class, I wrote down goals and random thoughts about this journey I was undertaking. I sketched out some ideas I wanted to create. Lots of randomness.

Goals were what really has made the difference or I should say goals AND expectations. I know all this will change as I grow and learn but that is part of the fun right? Succeeding, failing, scratching out old goals and squeezing in new ones. Maybe it is just me but I like to fail or do something wrong-I would not feel like I was learning if I didn't. LOL So make sure you rise to your expectations or realize they need to change. Pay attention here--->>> Changing goals and expectations is NOT a FAILING!! If this is not a part of your plan you are NOT doing it right!

Take a month or so to do this, talk to supportive friends and family, listen to the naysayers too but don't let those voices get in the way of how you want things to work. It might turn out that after thinking it all through you are not ready to take the next 10 million steps and that is OK, really OK, you have not lost anything by inspiring yourself!

What writing all this stuff down has made me realize was that I could go forward....and you can too...go on, be inspired.....just go sit on a rock (especially if you have a loverly Japanese garden like we do) and close your eyes with your face to the sun oh maybe even a nap (I dream of naps)

Tomorrow some amber beaded goodness teaser of my fairy tale quilt block....hey sewing on individual seed beads takes time but I find it very relaxing EXCEPT when I spill the teeeny beads on the floor-SIGH always happens no matter how careful you are...and remember when I said there would be needle pricks well I jabbed my finger tip pretty good yesterday luckily NO BLOOD on the fabric ya know it's like spaghetti sauce blood is flippin magnetically attracted to white fabric.....but you can always use ye olde Quilter's trick of spitting on it (if it is a teeny drop not a CSI spatter--ask me sometime about how I was going to have a career in Forensics BEFORE the cool show started) to get it out just--enzymes, proteins blah blah blah.... make sure you WaSH the item before selling or gifting lol

Tale of a shoe embellished in a 12" square....

Day 54

Ah Valentine's Day is quickly approaching and most of us know how LOVE can really tie us up in knots....sort of like this lovely tree that I can't wait to reaquaint myself with in Spring!

My latest project is based on a well known and world wide translated fairy tale happy ending of a boy and a girl....a romantic vintage fabric that was also used for the lining of this cape could not have been more perfect...I will be VERY sad when I run out of this fabric...

and this vintage fabric cut from a pillow case.....some of us might remember our moms having couches, clothes and such made out of this stuff but I can not for the life of me remember what it is called, some sort of damask? but this is softer than I remember when brushing by some Grande Dame wearing an outfit made of this stuff, as a kid I remember things being oh so much more scratchy and annoying.....so once again romantic and vintage for the project....

together they are parts of a quilt square with a Cinderella theme.....divine shoe pattern eh?

We are free to embellish it and mine will be sparkled with topaz colored seed beads-I wish I had excuses to sparkle more things with beads or the Beadazzler and it is all her fault lol such a glitter queen...

...sorry about the wrinkles -on little projects I tend to smush everything flat with my cutting ruler and iron later...probably not a good example to follow but eh I am cool with it for now, always room to improve and learn if I need to right?!...

I am hoping that my quilt block is one of the ones that will be displayed at a future upcoming quilt market, fingers crossed....and shhhh more info later after I turn it in.....hmm maybe one of my new found blog friends who attend quilt market can see if they can locate this tiny square in all that fabric madness, can you say schoolhouse? Oh I do hope it will be there!

....and of course more on the workings of a start-up business this week ...so be inspired, create or just sit and truly see the world....today in Albuquerque it snowed and sleeted and for a moment the world was white all around the house like we were wrapped in a blanket. A comforting thought as we recover from the flu.

The post where my superpower becomes readily apparent--pontification powers activate...

Day 53

(this one goes out to you Cristine, you know who you are and it is a label I proudly wear which sometimes requires me to wear a scarf to tie around my mouth....lol)

So while dreaming of Spring and the colors that arrive in our usually brown and sage green with perfect blue skies of Albuquerque....I start my saga....lol

I sit here with a horrible flu and head cold trying to not only hang out with my family but sketch out some ideas for upcoming projects and play online games (sigh I love my video games). Sad that my oldest had to not go to a championship swim meet because she too is gunky but happy because she did not nearly get as sick as me! Apparently going stir crazy and coughing my lungs in bed with a cup of tea, no chores and internet movies is a good time for contemplation. The thoughts running through my head? My business, how do I do it? Do what? Do it, you know uh well EVERYTHING.??? My TODO list is a billion miles long. Everyone looks like they have things under so much control-'they' have projects, advertising, sales, deadlines and book deals galore. Ok so fame and fortune not so much, I am pragmatic that is not a priority, having a fun business where I work hard but reap rewards and get to meet clients that is at the top of my where do I want to go with this business list. Where do I start? Oh every book in the library under 'How To Start A Business' has been checked out by me at least twice-oy thank goodness for libraries who do not charge overdue fines by the day! (I seriously ♥ my local library system.) I look over blogs and websites for daily inspiration wondering how to gain knowledge and still keep my identity. And it is all SO OVERWHELMING.

So I suppose lets start at the beginning or choices, it is all about choices right? Oh and balance, lets not forget the promise of the woman having it all while still maintaning that happy, shiny exterior while deep inside you have no idea if you really do sound like an idiot (hush people who really know me I see you rolling your eyes). I love to create. I love my family. We decided long ago to homeschool. Homeschooling is usually done by one income families-meaning lots of choices about money, lots of calls to bills making arrangements, lots of balancing checkbooks when you only have $20 left to balance and did I mention lots of not so popular choices because well 'everyone else is doing it'. So did this business idea of mine come about because of debts and wanting to put my two cents into the household income? No not really but the more I thought about it the more I realized I could help out. Just maybe if I could bring $200 a month just imagine how much that would help our budget. Could I really show by example the value of hard work to my girls? Starting a business from the ground up with no start up funds and all elbow grease, could it be done? Well I think anything can be done with a little bit of work, ok truth A LOT OF WORK.

Let me talk a wee bit about debts so that you don't misunderstand or perhaps you breathe a sigh of relief because you TOTALLY understand.....our outstanding debts while sometimes overwhelming on our income are laughable when I called a debt management program-'-HA HA' the person on the other end of the phone told me "$20,000 including your car is NOT in debt". Well I realized that is totally screwed up--this was in 2009 when economy was a dark cloud. Why can I not be totally debt free-why do I have to live with credit cards? Well the only credit card we currently own is the debit one attached to the bank. We drive one car with nearly 100,000 miles on it (and so that karma does not gift me one more huge repair for at least 2 more months let me say to the universe that I unabashedly LOVE my car) My husband takes the bus to work in a city where the public transportation sometimes has less horses than the pony express. We shop at Costco, we are the family buying those HUGE bags of rice and beans! So darn it all last year I decided to put a silver lining on that dark cloud and start my business! November 2009 was the month I officially started my business--the doors were opened!

Oh how exciting you say?! AHHHHHH But what to do where to start? I think that by blogging about this experience as I learned it it might not only help me work my way through things-good and bad-but help those of you who want to start your own business realize that most people start with an idea and a bit of luck. But my true hope is that by blogging about my business and my creations I will inspire you to stop and create what does your heart and soul the most good, even if it stays a hobby you really should make every day Momtastic -unless of course you are a dad or uncle or kid or elephant...I dunno but just go ahead and add 'tastic' onto your title....everyone is welcome!

See don't these vintage fabric pants and the pose both strike you as 'tastic' ....now THATS Momtastic ?!

And beware I ramble but it won't hurt a bit....only a few needles through the fingertips....tomorrow a break from blathering with some creative inspiration....cough, cough after I take some good medicine and get some rest....

P.S. and just in case you are wondering why this post is so late or so early because I am getting up to watch the last night-launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavor, there I've outed myself, I am a TOTAL space geek and I am fairly sad to see the end of this monumental program come about with only 5 missions left to go