Let it Go

CAN'T HOLD IT BACK ANYMORE!!!! ...ahem... Good day!!

Anyways, I have realized I say anyways a lot... Back to basics!!

I've been a lil bit absent on here lately, sorry about that! But I've been re-thinking and re-branding and trying to learn about them... That and introspection. LOTS of introspection. And playing with crystals and chakras and meditation. Good times!!!

But as for my business I've decided that I need to actually make a strong brand for myself! Now that the summer at the Farmer's Markets are over (financial tank, good experience), I can now sit back and REALLY look at things. I saw a lot of people this summer with a lot of great brands. They probably think I'm super creepy, I may have totally scoped out the joint, but got a lot of great ideas.

First off, I've been kinda all over the place about everything. Looking back at my first set-up I kinda cringe a lil bit. Enter "Branding for Dummies." Since I can't really afford an expensive business coach to walk me through it I'll just keep on doing what I've always done!! When in doubt, blunder through it until something works!!! Because eventually something will work!! And if I can't believe that, then what's the point right:P

If there's one thing all this introspection (and chapter 1 of my new book:P) has made me realize, it's that by playing on my loom at the market or sewing may not have have been displaying the big bold happy brand I'm trying to exude. I may or may not have been exuding cranky and not super excited about my products. Whereas all the other peeps who were there seemed pretty pumped and knowledgeable about their products. I was getting ok towards the end, but still not super great. May need to work on my pitch a lil bit... And take out some stuff... And add some more things to make it better... Like more professional...

LIKE MY NEW BUSINESS CARDS:D SUPER  excited about those! They're super cute!!! See below for pics! My goal is to get a matching sign. Yay:D I know what my colour palette I want is, just need to solidify a few things...

Gotta spend money to make money right?? Not that much, but yeah... Gotta save some of that for yarn... But yeah!!!

Letting go of some things feels good, gonna get a little more interesting around here!!! Back to the internet (and the loom)!!!! WOOT WOOT!!!

Ciao for now!!!!

Vanish into the Mist... NOT!!

I am still here!! I have not vanished into the misty morning, just, as I mentioned earlier, been very introspective, and I've realized that I have a lot of work to do on that too! Don't worry, I'm not going to go all hippy-dippy on you:P That's not really what this blog is about. But it will probably be mentioned from time to time because it's really inspiring me to do something creative (which has mostly been journaling up to this point).

Anyways!! Creative-wise, I'm still looking for my people and waiting to be discovered... I think I need to be more pushy maybe, but that annoys me SO MUCH when people do it to me I just can't bring myself to do it.

I have big plans for more products, and I FINALLY got a new needle for my sewing machine. Things are just kind of chugging along with the little funds that I have. This REALLY limits what Markets I can apply for, or the promotions that I can do.

Ugh... I hate money... So, my next big move is pretty much to just create as much as I can, and keep an eye on the horizon for other places that I can sell my product! Etsy isn't working out super great either...

So, instead of getting super down on myself I've ended my Farmer's Market year early, and have decided to really work on the basic bones of my business. I've realized (introspection!!) that I've been putting a lot of pressure on myself to make lots of money and stressing about it when I should just be focussing on enjoying my craft...

Something I really plan to work on this long weekend!! And I REALLY need to improve on my online/social media presence. It wasn't going too bad, bbbuuuttt summer has been a lil wild:P

Anyways, look for some awesome stuff from me in the near future!! Ciao for now!!!!

Rethinking and Refocusing!

So! I have been diagnosed with clinical depression, chronic anxiety, and OCD... Not a new thing for me, but if I'm not constantly aware of it, it kind of takes on a life of it's own. It starts to control me! This is not even an over-exaggeration.

Depression makes me want to recede into myself. Anxiety makes me... Well anxious about everything and anything. Oh the anxiety, but we'll touch more on that later. And the OCD makes me want to put everything just so, and if it can't be just so then whatever, it can't be worth it.

All of these little wonders have been giving me chronic tension headaches like I haven't had in YEARS!! On the one hand, I guess it's a good thing because I'm getting out there and trying new things. On the other hand though, they are INCREDIBLY painful (bordering on migraine) and are really not helping me to grow and evolve as a person and as a multi-potentialite. So what the heck!?!

I think this is my body's way of telling my to SLOW DOWN!!!!! Not physically, I'm not really running myself physically ragged (quite the opposite:P Yay Chocolate!!), but mentally. I've been overthinking at a pace that I'm pretty sure a Bullet Train couldn't keep up with (or something else really fast).

I've been worrying and thinking about so many things that my body is starting to react physically. So I kinda zenned (it's a word if I say so) in and tried to refocus. What's really bothering me?

Well, to start I think that it might have started by reading/listening to two inspirational books at the same time, both telling me to GET OUT THERE AND DO WHAT YOU DO BEST!!! MAKE ART!! ...yeah that's all well and good, but it's REALLY not that simple with a mental illness. Like at all! My body was screaming at me, but I'm of the stubborn variety (I could out-stubborn my parents even when I was 5), so I just kept schlepping away at it. Trying to organize/paint/draw/sew, and throw in a little financial worries in there and just exhaustion, things weren't going so hot.

Plus work was being a drag, so on top of all the things going on in my personal life, I was constantly on the edge of tears. Ugh... Just writing this is bringing up all those icky feelings. All of this, along with the wonders of mental illness, brought me to my knees. Something had to stop this swirling in my glass box of emotion:P

So I sat back (in the Sun at my Farmer's Market) and really thought about it. What do I really need to do?? What's REALLY the reason I'm sitting on the edge of a full blown panic attack??

Well, I came up with a whole list of To Do's/Wish Lists/You name it, it was probably on the list. That made me feel much better, because now I get to CROSS IT OFF THE LIST!!! YAY!!! But it also made me think a little deeper about my current Farmer's Market experience...

I don't think I'm in the right crowd for my wares... The market I'm currently at is incredibly rural, and the baking goes the fastest. Clothes/Accessories (except jewelry for some reason?) don't really seem to sell. Things like Norwex, Avon, Epicure, small knitting projects, blankets, etc. seem to go over really well... I have a lot of people come and look at my loom and go "Oh wow!! That's really cool!!", but they don't seem to be terribly interested in what I'm selling. I've decided that I'm going to:
1. Lower my prices for now to maybe help it catch on
2. Set up an Etsy market postey hastey
3. Try trade shows/craft shows in more artsy places over the winter and see how I like it

If Etsy takes off I might just say screw it to the whole Farmer's Markets and just stick with artsy Trade Shows and online sales. I think that's something that's really been bugging me a lot lately. And if the rain stops by tonight, I'm going to start taking pictures of what I've done so far!! There!! It's decided!! I'll do it in my riverstone backyard in front of one of my old elm trees!!

I've reworked things a few times, but I think that this might be my biggest reworking yet. We'll see how the summer goes!!

Ciao for now!!