See Saw Balance

Remember see saws from the playgound? Being flipped up in the air or landing hard on the ground? Trying to hold steady, straight across and balanced? Hard? YUP!

A partial, from memory,list of handmade venues:
Zibbet
Etsy
Artfire
Recycled Market
Folksy
Storenvy
Bonanza
EBay
GroovePress
SilkFair
Big Cartel
eCrater
Cafepress
Zazzle
RubyLane
(After I wrote this list, I Googled "handmade venues" and 3,460,000 entries came up...!)

A partial list of sites to promote the above partial list:
Facebook
Google+
MySpace
Flickr
Blogs
LinkedIn
Twitter
Forums
Ning Groups
IndiePublic
and all the sub groups within each of those...overwhelmed yet?
You should be!

How about all the e-mail newsletters you must/should subscribe to to learn the ins and out of online selling, how to take photos, the way to handle the oodles of money you're making and to be notified when your favorite seller is having a sale?
In-box clogged?
It is!!!

Some conflicting truths:
The most seasoned & novice amongst us have to step away from the computer at times and resume normal (HA!) life.
The newbies must realize posting an item online will NOT get them tons of sales without hard work and long hours promoting online.
The young parents and full time workers must not be online all the time until 3AM to work this business.

So I'm saying take a break from the computer but work hard online?
Yes...
We all need to establish a balance. I try to do it by closing the door to this room and spending time in another. Maybe in the studio creating. Maybe in the kitchen cooking. Or outdoors, gardening.

Whatever you do, balance. Create,photo,promote BUT step away from the computer whenever you can. You will also lessen the chances of  back trouble or carpal tunnel syndrome!

Refresh. Relax. Balance!

What I Make

In previous posts, I confessed to crafter's ADD....I like to make lots of things and get easily bored if I have to repeat. Almost everything I make is one-of-a-kind. That got me to thinking....what do I make? It kinda of made me stressed to think of it all.
Scary to think, I probably have forgotten something! (and I did...just added aceos)

aceos
barrettes
basket clocks
bobby pins
book clocks
box clocks
brooches
button necklaces
button bracelets
cactus
CD clocks
clothespin magnets
cocktail spoons and forks
cowls
crochet bracelets
crochet necklaces,
cozies
cuffs
custom business clocks
dog sweaters
dish cloths
earrings
embellished boxes
embroidery hoops
eyeglass cases
face scrubbies
gloves
hand warmers
hats
magnetic bookmarks
mini purses
napkin rings
pins
plate clocks
purses
ribbon bookmarks
scarves
scissor fobs
shadow boxes
tapemeasures
wash cloths
wood magnets

I have 12 letters of the alphabet not covered yet...better get cracking! So I am taking suggestions for new products starting with letters I haven't yet used. Colors don't count.
What can I make that starts with y? U?  Hmmmm.... remember, most of my things have buttons on them!
And I'll calm my stress with this bit of advice:

Holiday Weekend

First-Happy Memorial Day to everyone and THANK YOU to all our wonderful service people who sacrifice for us.

The great majority of my years was spent as a student or a teacher. Life revolved around the September to June calendar. This weekend marked a beginning and an end. It is the unofficial start of summer and where we lived in New York was a summer resort area for those wishing to escape New York City for a cooler locale. We never left because of the traffic and because we always had visitors.

It also marked the beginning of the end of the school year. After the 3 day weekend, it was a count down to the last day, hoping it would not become too unbearably hot (no air conditioning), rushing to do the tons of end-of-year paperwork and praying we could keep the kids focused until that last bell.

Now, aside from the primary importance of remembering those who preserve our freedom, this is just another weekend. In fact, a semi-yucky one! The DH has to work all weekend and I have been curtailing my shopping trips to conserve gas. So staying home is the itinerary. The garden is planted & weeded and the house is clean enough. The laundry is folded and returned to its proper place. So today may be just a day to relax...maybe create...maybe read...maybe watch a movie! Did I say this was yucky? Sorry, a senior moment.

Enjoy your weekend whatever you choose to do!