Illustrating again

So my project now is making postcards to sell individually and as part of correspondence sets.  I'm going to make some black and white, some colour, some doodles & designs, some illustrations or even graphics and illustrations I've built on Illustrator or photoshop... I used to make fun photo-montages in highschool, that would be fun to do again.  Nice, this could be a neat avenue.  I could also use them to make cards.  I should probably start giving myself deadlines for when I want projects to be finished.  Saturday April 17th I will get at least 2 different sheets of postcards printed.  There.  Good :)  

Off to it, then.

So, the Expose Yourself show just finished, another success!  What a fun thing to be a part of, I created a couple of pieces for the show, and had most of my attention on that, and now the next thing is my best friend Sarah's wedding invites.  I'm also going to talk to someone tomorrow about teaching classes and workshops, so tonight I'm going to get all of that together so I know what I want to pitch!  I've come up with so many ideas over the years, I now need to write them into concise little proposals.  I also brought my girls out to my studio this morning while Gavin was napping, and they glued scrap foam and fabric to sheets of paper while I tried to organize all the stuff that I've been keeping in the house while it's been too cold to work out there.  I think it's officially warm enough to get back into the studio at night now, fun fun fun!  And once I've got the studio looking presentable it'll be time to arrange some kind of studio art-date with some of the lovely artists I have made friends with here :)

I'm just going to write quickly to say that I'm going to be switching my shop space... I'm going to be getting the pillar apace, which is actually a much better space in the store.  I'm also going to be putting some pendants and things in there tomorrow.  I've got a couple of lamps I'm going to bring in, maybe for Friday.  It's definitely a slow process, but I'm getting things set up.  I'm lucky that I've been able to have the space while doing this, it's definitely not making money yet, but I'm going to focus on actual products for a bit here, rather than just kits and things.  I've also got to figure out how to exhibit my show book.  It's going slow, but I'm definitely thrilled to have things moving forward.

It has been so long since I've posted anything here!  I've managed to upload photos onto our computer, so within the next couple of days I'll go on and put a bunch up.  We've had company, which has taken most of my time and energy in the last week, but I'll be getting back to it now.  I've got a list of what I want to accomplish this week.  I'm hoping that making weekly lists of what I want to get done for my business will keep me feeling like I'm moving ahead, and with measurable goals.  And there's nothing like the feeling of crossing off something that has been nagging at you for a while.  This week I have a couple of networking e-mails and calls to make, I have to finish the sample lampshade that I'm doing, I have to work on (hopefully finish, but I'm not promising anything) the "eroticize this object" project I'm doing for the Expose Yourself Exhibition, and I'm sure I'll come up with some more things to add to the list.  Oh, and I'm going to make sure I get back into walking/running this week, I was doing it every other day for a while, before I screwed my back up a week ago.  It's still a bit stiff, but I need to just start slow and jump back in.  Another goal this week:  put pictures up on here.  Tomorrow, with any luck!  

It's so hard to go at a slow pace with this business!  All I want to do is spend all of my time working on it, but I have to make sure I divide my time between this, my house and my family and friends.  And I still feel like I'm not really giving anything quite enough time.  How do I do it?  Maybe I need to talk to other Mums who have started their own businesses to find out if they have any advice for me.  I want it all, but I know that's a cliche and I'm going to have to build my business slowly.  It's just so hard to be patient!  Either way, It's taking me a lot longer than I had hoped to get my shop up and fully stocked, but I'm getting things together so that tomorrow I can go set up more.  It will have been 2 weeks since the first set up.  I have to try hard not to give myself too much flack for taking so long.  But it sure feels like I'm not doing good enough in getting it up and running.  Whatever I'm working on, it feels like I'm working on the wrong thing.  I just have to believe that it'll get where it's going eventually.  I have to remind myself, it's not a race.  It's not a race.

Today Jeremy and I are making raised garden bed #3.  He's out collecting more driftwood since we didn't quite have enough, but hopefully we'll be able to make a 4th one as-well today.  It's fun piecing the logs and stumps and burls and branches together to make interesting, organic looking beds.  I'm so excited to get them all in, it's going to look so beautiful once there are beans growing up the branches, and the ground is covered in green and orange and red... I drew my self portrait last night, and this afternoon I'm going to be picking up more stuff from a couple of stores.  Then tonight I'll get my statement written up and the suppliers' board together so I can take them in tomorrow.  And I need to remember to bring little blocks of wood to support the shelves that are a little unsteady still~ and maybe I'll be able to start on some more kits, but we'll see.  I've got to gather stuff and put it out for A-La-Carte materials buying too... haven't quite decided how I'm going to present it yet.  I need to get into the studio, but it's so cold it's hard to talk myself into it, so I just end up doing all my work in the house.  As a result there's art stuff all over the place and I still don't have everything I need.  Time to bundle up again and truck everything back out.  It's going to be a fun, productive day! :)

Well, I've put some products into the store!  On Friday I dropped the girls off and then Gavin and I went in and I put the voodoo doll kits, 2 types of necklace kits, foam stamp/wrapping paper kits, collage kits and pen cup kits out.  I also put out the sheets describing some of the workshops and classes that I'm going to offer.  I hope that anyone who's interested will check them out and let me know, because I want to gauge interest in them so I know which ones to arrange first.  I have so many ideas and plans, and I can't wait to get all of them going.  I'll be going back to the store this week so I can add more stuff.  I'm going to be putting up an Artist/Shop Statement that explains exactly what I'm doing, along with a self portrait sketch so that people can see that when I offer to teach life drawing it's because I actually know how to draw people! :)  I'm glad that the women who own the store (Sue and Melissa) are really positive and supportive of my ideas.  It's nice that it's being received so well.  If anyone out there has anything interesting that they'd like to get rid of, please let me know.  I'm always looking for more arty bits!