Purple and Curtains (Not purple curtains)

Oh, a day of relaxation AND accomplishment! It's a premium win win! I believe that staying offline for a big part of the day is quite positive for my creativity. I haven't even checked google analytics for at least a week. That's real progress.

I finally got to work and finished my little man's curtains, he helped, as you can see from the pictures. He wanted to make sure I had the measurements right. I am surprised that I am so immensly proud of these curtains. I mean, we all know they are just rectangles. I guess I feel that way since it really finishes the nursery, and I have never made curtains before. They are also really big, (not for curtains, but for a project) which for some reason makes them seem more worthy of accolade. I dunno, I spend alot of time making tiny robots and things for babies to wear, so something that actually took up the whole table to sew felt gratifying. I should make more curtains, as far as satisfaction goes, it's a lot of bang for your buck.

I logged online sometime in the later afternoon, after finishing curtains and putting baby down for a nap. Open email aaaand...Well looky there! Another sale! I didn't even post anything new since the robot I sold the other day. I mean, the ball is really rolling!

I have to say, I know I have mentioned Feng Shui having a positive effect in some previous posts, but I am really a believer. I didn't do any "fixes" per se. Well, not true, I bought two purple bars of soap and put up a Hawaiian sunset picture (that looks kinda purple) in the back bathroom, which is in the financial area of the bagua and represents financials ($$$). Purple is the color for that area. But mainly, I got myself really organized in my craft workspace (see yesterday's post), which is what alot of Feng Shui is really all about. Organization, streamlining, you know, the positive flow of chi through a space. Can't be blocking up your chi with a bunch of stacked up cardboard boxes and piles of material. Clean corners, clear visual and traffic pathways.

Allright, so that's my story. I relaxed, and I finished a project (monkey) I had in the wings (on my back) and I made a sale. Yay me! Please feel free to share if you have done anything lately to help streamline; success with Feng Shui, Organizing, basically anything that has you "Working Smarter Not Harder." I used to find that concept elusive, but it is starting to become more clear to me now!

It's a big world out there.

Today is of reflection. I blog. I like it. I twitter. pretty fun. I facebook. crack. I have started doing more and more to create an online presence, getting lost in techy stuff like adding applications, social stuff like starting groups and posting in threads. I really cannot imagine that anyone could spend more time online without suffering from video-game-obsession style exhaustion.

Yet, the more I do, the more discussions I am involved in, and blogs I link to, the more I am beginning to see it very clearly. I am a tiny, tiny boat lost in a ginormous sea of expert bloggers and expert crafters, some of which "just started and don't know what they are doing" but have hundreds of followers, hundreds of sales and more apps than I even understand. Um. before I was a SAHM I was in IT, yet now I feel like the internet is set to make me feel like a third grader in college.

Don't get me wrong, I am not upset by any of this. I just wonder, what am I doing? I unplugged for many hours today, I cleaned the house, I spent a few hours at a playgroup with my kid, and we just frigging relaxed. I refuse to let myself stop having fun with all of this, but if I don't feel so "Rah Rah" I am totally allowed to take a break. A jaded crafter is not a crafter at all!

I actually took a few pics today in the windowsill, a technique I have wanted to try. I didn't get that far because I caught up with an old friend on the phone. I didn't download the camera, so no new pics. And you know what? I can't wait to do it tomorrow! My motto is to just plug away, but only if you want to do it. I'm not throwing in the towel, or saying I won't stick to any discipline or deadlines, but when I am spending more time "trying so hard" than I am just loving the whole idea of what I do, I think it is just as important to pull away for some perspective. And you know what? Huh, I got three new followers today.

I think it's a good time to work some Feng Shui magic on my environment to zone in on where I am in my head and achieve a little zen. That's a crafty thing to do.

And I am actually a little bit proud of myself for taming the OCD beast and letting myself enjoy the day a bit. So, off I ride into the sunset of sleep with the satisfaction that I still really, really love what I do and will keep on doing it.

Feng Shui and a new sale

Ok, so far I have spent about 6 hours on my assembly line of 11 skunks, and I am feeling like I may be half, or a little over halfway there. This will hopefully add up to about an hour a skunk, and after paying for supplies, I might actually make $10 an hour in labor! Of course, none of the hours I spend online networking and posting, none of the driving to the PO, fabric stores, etc...(the list is endless) will count in this "labor cost." (Yet!) Enough of the math portion of this blog.

I was talking to a friend of mine who does another blog, and we were talking about using Feng Shui to bring in money. We have both done it successfully in the past, working on that back left corner of the house from the front door, adding purple and fresh greenery (live plants) and stopping up all the drains in the house and shutting toilet lids and closing bathroom doors. The usual. So as I was about to hang up after our in depth conversation, up popped an email, "Whoah! I just made a sale!" So my faith in the ancient Chinese Art of Wind Water movement is renewed. I sold three stars to a perfect stranger, awesome.

I have found that the more I blog, and especially, get active commenting and posting on etsy articles and forums, my activity level goes up. It is just nice to see it actually PAYING off.

So if you need money, get some Feng Shui action going on, and if you have money, go buy some stuff on etsy! ( I actually bought a bracelet while I was on the site to check on my order, it's good Karma!)

Enjoy the picture of my little man amongst my Star inventory!

friend's blog: http://glutenfreecolleen.blogspot.com

my etsy: http://www.StarsandRobots.etsy.com