Oh my...

It is strange how time works and life happens. My last post was months ago, but if you would have asked me I would have told you I just put something up just the other day! I have not done a whole lot of creating as I have done a lot of the behind the scene's work.  I have landed my first wedding package job and I did not know how much really goes into doing one of these. I am having a lot of fun, but learning a lot along the way. But I guess that is what happens any time you go into business for yourself. Here are a few things that I have put together in my absence :) 

Thanks for looking! And Happy Crafting!

Life... the Other Side of Business

Sorry about my delay in blogging! Life is ..just..well.. Life!

 However, that is exactly what I wanted to blog about today, what do you do when life happens? 

In the past couple of months so many changes have taken place in my world, it is enough to make any one need to take a breather. Nothing negative exactly, just a whole lot! But, during all of this I have had deadlines to meet, product to deliver, new customers added and new ideas to market (and yes, I still work full time and have a family). There where quite a few times when I thought how much easier it would be to just put a note up some where, " Be Right Back" and hide under my desk! But this is business we are talking! And deadlines are not going to meet themselves. So what do you do?

You do a lot of re-prioritizing and get serious with yourself about what you are and are not capable of doing. I know that when you are first starting out in just about any business, when something comes your way you feel like you just have to do it or you are just doomed to fail! But in being fair to yourself and to your client it is sometimes better to say no than to over extend yourself and run the risk of losing a client.

With the work that you are able to do, separate it into priorities. Items that are due the soonest get done first, biggest projects get tackled in sections, perhaps you do not have a set client that you are working for? In that case it is very important to have personal goal time lines. I set a date to have holiday cards finished, or samples that I would like to have done for potential custom orders. I feel like it is very important to have a eye out for the bigger picture at all times. You never know when that next big thing may drop in your lap!

I personally would not have been able to make it through the last couple of weeks with out self goals and personal lists of "to do's". But I also would not have been able to make it through with out scheduled "down-time". That part of the day when you remind yourself that you are only one person (or in some cases a very small business) and give yourself time to relax. This will help with the burn out feeling (which does happen from time to time) and give you time to regain some focus. 

Just remember why you got into business, set realistic goals and work to surpass them. I hope these little tidbits help you. I would love to hear feedback on what you do when life happens! 

Happy Crafting! 

On the Move!!!!

Hello All...

Just wanted to let you know that I have not forgot about the blog world! On top of being extremely busy creating, Kiesha's Krafts is moving! March has been a very busy month with lots of wonderful opportunities opening up for me, and one of them came as quite a quick but very pleasant surprise, a wonderful new apartment, with tons more craft space.  So excuse me while the dust settles and I get settled into my new place! Be on the look out for organization tips, with out these this move would have been very difficult to say the least!

Happy Crafting!

Take Time to Play

It is very easy to get caught up in the "to-do" list of life. Every once in a while it is okay to give yourself a break and just create simply because you love to do it.

Being a hand-crafter you are in constant competition. Competition with big business, other crafters with your skill, and the average joe blow that doesn't get why you work so hard and why on earth they should buy from you. ( My goodness they can get a whole pack of cards from the local dollar store for that price!) I have found myself working so hard to try and keep up with the latest trends, preparing for the next seasons, that sometimes I forget why I do this.

 I just love it.

So Sunday I gave myself permission to  play, no pressure, no agenda other than to create. And this is one of the things I came up with:



I just love butterflies!



Set a play date with you, take one day of the week to do what you love, be your own inspiration...

Happy Crafting!

Who Says You Can't?!

This week I wanted to talk about selling your crafts, art, handmade delights.

I personally struggled for a long time with the idea of selling things that I just loved to create. I just kept telling myself over and over, I just can't do that. So in this case, I said I couldn't. The first step to overcoming any challenge is to rethink your thought process about the challenge itself. Changing your mind will change your actions, which will in result change your outcome. Every time you tell yourself that you "just can't do it" challenge yourself to come up with two reasons why you just can!

My two reasons were:

• I love to create.
• I am good at it too!

I know this is coming off a bit Bob the Builder, "Yes, We Can" , but you will surprise even yourself when you look at what you did! I often refer back to the fact that I have been a business license holder for over 3 years now, but it has just been in the last couple of months that I have changed my thought processes that my business has changed as well! I present myself as an artist, who is serious about her work, and stands beside every item that I make.The worse thing that you can possibly hear is a no, but then you are no worse off than where you began.Not comfortable with the thought of talking to a store owner,then present yourself online. Look at websites that offer storefronts for little to no cost and then tell every one you know about it. And every one they know too!

Going into business for yourself is not something than can be taken lightly regardless if you are doing it part time or full time. When you decide to commit do just that, commit. Understand that the possibilities are endless. The biggest hurdle you have to over come is the one that you set for yourself.

Think your items are good enough to sell, who says you can't? I say you can. Now the question is do you think you can?

Happy Crafting!

Never too Busy

What a whirlwind of a couple of weeks it has been. This year my vow has been to take my business serious and being serious is hard work! But the pay off is priceless. No, I am not raking in millions, but what I am rolling in is a wonderful amount of personal fulfillment.

I have had to re-vamp my work schedule, think about new tools to increase productivity, ponder other product lines, inquire about sales tax, and remember to eat in between all that!

However I did not want to become so busy that I forget to re-connect.

With that in mind,  today I gave one of my favorite customers (who just so happens to be a co-worker) a little trinket to let her know that I appreciate her and her business. That made me think, I wonder what other work at home people/ small business owners do to say thank you? Maybe it is not for business maybe it is just a random act of kindness. What are your ways of letting people know you haven't forgotten about them? While all of the behind the scenes work is so important, where would we be with out our clients or customers? I want to be very successful, I just never want to be so successful that I forget the people who helped me to get there.

By the way, my customer was overwhelmed at the fact that I thanked her, she said I made her whole day.(Like turned beet red!)  That to me was worth more than any sale that I could ever make!

OMG... Did you see this?

Cricut Craft Room

I was just on my new favorite site Scraps Of Color and there was a discussion about the Cricut Design Studio and the Gypsy. I personally have the Design Studio and I love it, but I have seriously considered getting the Gypsy especially for the portability! I think I would still want one, but this program looks absolutely wonderful and best of all its FREE!!!!! Take a look and tell me what you think? I saw this video on Creations with Christina (check her out here!) and was almost screaming!!! Now I will let you in on a little secret, I am not the most patient person in the world. Like, I want this YESTERDAY, but I know that this will be worth the wait! Would love to hear your thoughts on this!

While I'm here let me share a couple of Valentine's I have been working on!

Thank you for all the warm welcome's from my readers at S.O.C. Please be sure to leave a link to your blogs if you comment and I will be sure to check you out, whether they are craft related or not! I love to hear from you ... Happy Crafting!!