For the past two weeks, I have been off work. We are on strike and I am lucky enough to have someone to take over the bills so I don't have to go on the picket line. I have had a taste of what it would be like to be running my business full-time. What an interesting view of my life.

A few things I have discovered:

1. I have the focus to sit down and work. I have been able to complete a lot of new product as well as work on some new designs.
2. I rely a lot on the paycheck to keep me going
3. I can actually have a clean house.
4. I take for granted the technology we have at work.

I have designed and completed about 20 new ribbon bookmarks that I am really excited about. I have been using more beads in the design and learning new techniques. The problem is the amount of time that it will take to get them up on the web. I so take for granted what goes on behind the scenes on our work website. Here I have been head writer, and webmaster. It isn't easy. It is so tempting to just post items and write as I go but this leads to sloppy, unimaginative writing that does nothing to capture the prospective customer. It is quicker to go this route but in then end I spend time at a later date reading what I wrote and editing it. I also find that I don't always get everything posted using this method as I tend to put the completed products away after I photograph them.

This week I received notification from my internet provider that I had maxed out my monthly usage by the middle of the month. With my son away at school, I was surprised and downloaded and trial version of a program to track my daily usage. It actually tracks every 30 seconds and I learned that my son's laptop, which is what I am using, is constantly downloading information from the internet. I was able to shut down some of the programs but I had to spend most of an entire day dealing with this. I up-graded my internet package to give me more GB for up-loading and down-loading and speed up the internet, as well as learned how to disconnect from the internet when I don't really need it but still need the computer.

I have a spreadsheet for doing the costing and realized that I couldn't use the same spreadsheet to keep track of what and where I posted items. As I have my own site, GLC Mall, and iCraft, and I post different things in different places, I need to keep track of what is posted, when it is posted, and the response I get to each item. I now have two spreadsheets, one for costing, and one for tracking.

To solve a couple of my problems, I decided that if I did my writing ahead of time, disconnected from the internet, I would be much happier. It was a good idea - one problem though, I couldn't use the same spreadsheet that I used for the costing, not really. It gets too messy and cluttered. It will help if I can force certain pieces of information from one spreadsheet to another. I will need to do a bit of research on how to do this as I can't remember how.

I also realize that I need better software. However, the problem is, I don't know how to use anything more sophisticated than Excel so I am now going to need to purchase new software, decide what I want it to do for me, and learn how to use it - I have to ask the question - do I really want to learn?

Working for someone else has benefits, but until this week I thought it was only the steady paycheck. I now much more appreciate the HelpDesk, the IT department that comes and programs Access to do an important part of my job, the Webmaster who quickly and efficiently makes the changes to our website that I need, without a lot of detail, and Marketing who does a lot the writing that gets posted on the web.

Working for yourself, especially on your own crafts, is very satisfying. The freedom I have had over the last few weeks to design and create has opened me up to do more and implement further the goals I set out in my business plan. I keep asking myself what I will need to do in order to continue this once I am back at work, because despite joy in the freedom to create, I still need the paycheck that I get from working full-time.

Keep an eye on my website over the next week for the new products. Right now, my camera is broken. I cannot connect it to my computer and have to rely on my daughter to up-load the pictures from the memory card. Hopefully she will do it this afternoon and I can start to get the new products posted.

Happy Crafting

CraftyLadyLiz

Back to School Offer

The kids are back at school, including mine, and to celebrate (and I am celebrating as I thought he would never go), I am offering a 25% discount coupon to all my Google Blog readers. Click on the My On-Line store at GLC Mall link and start shopping. When you check out, enter coupon number GB07911 to receive a 25% discount off your purchase. Discount available until September 30, 2011.

• Think stocking stuffers, teacher gifts, or someone far away. Most items are inexpensive, and easy to slide into an envelope.

• Get ready for Christmas, check out the Christmas Ornaments and stockings, or add something new to your holiday table with coasters or wine glass rings.

• Spoil yourself with a bookmark for your winter reading, curled up on those cold winter evenings. Lots of different themes to chose from.

• There are some items already on sale and more to come so just add to the savings with the coupon.

Thanks to all my readers, hope you find something you like

Happy Shopping

CraftyLadyLiz

The New School Year

Well, it has been quite a week. I finally got my son off to University. This is his second attempt and hopefully it will work out for him. It is also the first time he has left home so it was a bit of push to get him out the door. The good news is that I get my workroom. I have been sharing work space with my bedroom since my daughter came home from University. This has not been good. I have also been trying to do all my office work off a small computer desk.

No more. I have expanded. It is amazing how important lots of room is to your success. I have most of my office set up now, including lots of shelves, a filing cabinet, and a place for office supplies. I can now find the stamps, three packages as I kept loosing them and bought more. I like to keep the office stuff separate from the crafting stuff, that way I am not in the same space all the time, and can focus on the task at hand.

I am delaying setting up my work space through, it is an overwhelming job. One step at a time, is all I can think of. For now, I will continue working on the dining room table, and organize things as I need them and put them away.

Having a well organized and comfortable work space is a necessity, not just from a practical point of view. It can be quite frustrating to know you have something and not know where you put it for all the clutter. Sharing space with laundry, cloths, and other essentials to get your day started, means that things are piled on top of each other, shoved into corners, or stored in the wrong container. I am not sure if I am out of 8 mm jump rings or if I put them somewhere. As much as I enjoy going to bead stores, I don't really want to spend money on something I don't need. I have been putting off a project until I have rearranged everything.

I am looking forward to having a comfortable chair to sit on at my worktable and get my radio set up again so that I can listen while I work. I have been hunched on a hard wooden kitchen chair for the last little while. The only good thing about this is that it forces me to get up and move around every once and a while, which reduces the strain on my back and legs, and even on a comfortable office chair, I have developed the habit of moving around more often. Today, I am thinking I will make muffins to break up my day.

My work table also has better lighting, essential when doing small, detailed work. The room has great overhead fluorescent lightening and I have some good movable spot lamps as well.

The entire work space has lots of shelves and drawers that I have labeled to easily find everything. I have a great shelf for finished products. I store everything in plastic containers that are similar is size which helps when getting ready for a show. They are portable so I take them with me, and pack everything back up at the end of the show and put them back on the shelf.

After much searching found a great shower caddy with lots of slots that holds my tools. It is portable so it can go where I want. My sister also bought me a craft box with lots of storage that I use for a items I use for multiple projects, glue, scissors, needles, sequins and seed beads.

I keep my reference books and magazines in my office space as I usually browse through them when I am not creating or if I am, I like to get away from the idea that isn't working for fresh thoughts. If I get a good idea I take the book back to my work table or flag the page and leave it on my work table for later.

Watch this space over the next few days for some great offers that are coming for both my website and my next craft show.

Happy Crafting and Shopping

CraftyLadyLiz