Dear future me, and people of the internet,
I am working to start an online career. I am 4 weeks into my dogged pursuit of this goal, almost 10 months into the attempted pursuit. Innumerable years of dreaming and denying this idea are behind me. I currently work a split shift job, and in between my shifts I work on this project for two hours a day. It is hard. I struggle to find focus, encouragement, and discipline. I have begun listening to small business and creatives podcasts on my drives to and from work. This is so helpful, in educating myself and in getting motivated to work. My favorite podcast of the moment is Elise Gets Crafty. Another great one is She Percolates. All these ladies educate me and keep me going. I have been reading Austin Kleon (Steal Like an Artist, and Show Your Work) and I also bought the ebook Building a Business by Elise Blaha Cripe & Maggie Whitley (which is amazing, and totally worth $12). I cannot believe it has only been four weeks of this dedicated work. I struggle to keep working. I have new ideas every week that threaten to throw me completely off track (assuming of course I know where the track is). I have been scouring the internet for someone's beginning story. I am listening to lots of people's success, many have been at it for 3 years or even 10. Perhaps in the great abyss that is the internet, I just can't find the other people who have been at it for just 4 weeks. But I decided that if nothing else I will write my own story. I am leaving this as a record for myself, when I can no longer remember what it was like to start (so much faith is hidden in that phrase!), and also as a way for people to follow along. As encouragement and honesty for other people just starting out, or wanting to start out. We can do this! I am starting this journey. I have 41 Instagram followers on my branded account. Most of those are my real life friends. I have made 1 sale via an email request. I have 3 items listen in my Etsy shop, and no sales yet. This is the beginning. No one knows I exist as a brand. I am still deciding what to dedicate my self to. I have made some resin pendants and earrings, and still dream in that direction. But most of my energy is going into developing a line of stained glass jewelry. I have 2 work areas. I have a desk that is mostly covered in clutter. Where I do my computer work (such as writing this letter), and I have a basement work table where I work on stained glass projects. I am calling this series letters from the basement, because making is the heart of this business I hope to build. As hard as it is to make myself go down there and get to work, I always love it and wish I didn't have to stop and go back to my day job. These letters are going to be my space to just record how things are going, and be a little more behind the scenes than I can be other places. I hope that someone reading this, in the future I struggle to imagine, is feeling empowered to just start (whatever your dream project is). Even if we fail, we will have learned so much. Sara
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Well guys, I have finally stopped thinking and started doing. I have been "intending" to open an Etsy shop for 1 1/2 years, and today I opened shop. It is nowhere near perfect, but it exists. I can only make it better from here. I am so excited to start this new project, or outlet for projects? Either way. Go check it out!
I went over to dinner at my sister's house and it smelled lovely. I stood in her kitchen and inhaled the lovely aroma before inspecting the candle nearby (though the food smelled lovely too), pumpkin pie scent as it turned out. So on my next jaunt to Target I made a point to stop at the candle isle and deliberate. One candle? Two candles? Big small? And what will I set them on? I wanted a pretty candle holder, but decided I'd rather have two candles and make holders, than have one candle with a pre-made holder. So I came home with my two lovely candles (and all the other things that willed their way into my cart) and began to search. Jars? Too small. Box of junk? Nothing. Finally after many trips to and fro around the house I remembered the saved-for-no-reason-but-I'm-sure-I-can-make-something tin cans. Sure enough one fit, and a near by saved jam jar's lid fit as well. Perfect. For the lid I decided to simply spray paint it gold. I headed to the garage, ripped out another phone book page, and sprayed one side. (I came back in between working on the can to spray the other.) The water chestnut can needed a little more work. First I used Goo Gone to remove the label residue, and then I gently hammered a pokey bit of metal. I tried to hammer holes in a pattern using a nail, but I only managed to get 2 holes in before realizing the metal was too soft. It was deforming instead of becoming beautiful. So I quickly moved on to plan B, tribal sharpie designs. I repeated the same columns of shapes in a pattern, but colored in different areas of the shapes for variety. It only took me thirty minutes to sharpie the can, which was the most time consuming part of the project (besides hunting for recyclables).
What have you DIY-ed lately? Anything I can use glass bottles or jars for? Waaaaaay back in April, we decided to get some chickens. We had a new big back yard, and it was already set up for chickens, we just needed to redo the chicken fencing. Since then my favorite thing has been just being with these cuties. They were such cute little fluffballs. Looking back at these month and a half old photos I can't believe how tiny they look. The first few weeks we kept them in a box on our back porch, perfect for frequent visiting. These pictures were taken only ten days after the first set. They only stayed tiny for those first two weeks and then we moved them out into their chicken coop, with their own section of the yard to explore. Here you can see bigger feathers coming in, but still plenty of baby fluff. They each have their own personality. Buckbeak is the most comfortable around humans, Mufasa will jump on to people when she feels like it, and Arwen is most aloof, she nips our hands when she pecks food out of them. I have bribed them all equally with treats to love me, and they do come greet me looking for corn, but each has their own comfort level. None of them like being picked up, but they'll let me pet them if I'm also feeding them treats. This picture is only a week old. Their colors are more vibrant, but they are not even close to full size yet. I am so glad we decided to get them. They are so funny to watch, and they give me even more reason to hang out in my back yard. They are a fantastic addition to my life. One of my favorite adventures so far this year. Any of you have chickens? Or a favorite new adventure?
Well guys, here is my new project. Last weekend I made my first earrings. I am happy with how they turned out, and am excited to make them even better. I already want to try a different way of making them, but that will have to wait. I only made two styles so far, gold glitter and blue, but I am sketching some slightly more intricate designs for the next round. They are simple post earrings, in an antique bronze color. I have also made a few necklaces, but they will be featured in their own future post. I am playing with packaging options, none of them seem perfect yet. Which one is your favorite? Leave me your vote in the comments.
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Hello!I'm Sara. I live in Portland, Oregon. I have chickens. I love coffee AND tea, I make stained glass pendants in my basement, and I love adventures and new ways to live. I have an Etsy store as well. Categories
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December 2015
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