I'm doing Science and I'm Still Alive!

Classes have started again, meaning my attention is greatly divided.

Most of my work on the shops has been transferring over my main selling venue back to etsy. I love Artfire dearly, I think they're better run, and better features, better admins... but they are lacking in traffic. I don't have time to drive the traffic to Artfire myself, so, back to etsy I go!

That said, I have played with my perler beads a little. Check out the awesome Robot Pendant! His arms, legs and body are free to move and dance about!



I've also brought over the current stock of d20 Pendants!

Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day, or as one person called it "The day Google turns their logo into a tree."

I live fairly green, mostly out of need. I don't have a car and cabs are expensive, so public transportation and walking for me! Today had the added bonus that they were giving out reusable bags on the bus, yay! I never can get enough of these things.

One thing that's being batted around is sustainability in crafting. Some forms of crafting are very plastics heavy, and the items created are... well take a look over at Regretsy for how useful some of these items are. Crafters has the ability to take forgotten items and make them beautiful (upcycling), dismantling unsuccessful creations for new items (especially true for us chainmaillers! And beaders to a large degree), and choosing items which are green for supplies.

Upcycling has to be one of my favorite things some crafters do (and me soon!). Yes, there are some absolutely terrible examples, but that's true of most things. There is so much geeky goodness to be had out there!

How about this blast from the past by RussellDornan?


I could certainly use the memory boost TransientTreasures is providing!


And for those days that you need a little bit extra resistance, my own creation!


What's your favorite upcycled creation you've seen?

Sci-fi Convention

Where oh where has the mailler gone...

No where, I swear! I've been right here the whole time!... sorta.

I'm a full time student on top of mailling, so this time of year is naturally busy anyway... but add to that my biggest event of the year and it's full blown chaos!



I'm excited to be selling here this year, in addition to showing off my swanky trek costume!



However, I am but one person, and in all this time had to give. And that something was my online presence. I have severely neglected my shop, my blog, and even twitter. I did take some pics to drum up excitement for my table, and to show the organizers the piece I'm donating for their auction...



but that's about it.

However, once April 18th is done I will have some free time. First order of business... clean my house. The microwave is about to develop sentience and may be in cahoots with the toaster oven. Second is get a TON of stuff listed to Artfire. Seriously, there might be over two dozen new items to list! Third will be to get a backlog of posts done! I have a bunch of new styles and weaves I've been doing that I'm dying to share, but just have not had the time. Fourth will be to update my much neglected guilds.

I'm also going to be doing up a tutorial for one of the new weaves I've been doing! After I posted about it there was much confusion trying to put into words how to do it, so I'll do up some pics :D

Thanks for you patience those who still keep checking me out here! You can check out my Flickr page for a sneak peak for my upcoming listings (and for a sample of what I'll have at the Convention!). If you want to make sure I'm still alive at times like these, follow me on Twitter!

If you can't wait for me to list something that's on my flickr, send me an email/artfire convo and I'll get a custom listing done up for you if possible!

Time!

First, thanks for the pliers advice! I'm making a trip to see what I can get soon and now I at least have an idea what to look for!

Also takes for noticing the feedburner issue :) When I was messing with the blog (tried to move to my server, moved it back, changed templates) a while ago a few bugs appeared that I never noticed, so letting me know is a great help!

I still haven't gotten pictures of my experiments, let alone work on them more. Any time you're self employed time management is always a challenge. There are lots of blogs out there that deal with this subject, and are better informed that I have time to be! While most of them deal with self employment when you have children, we can all use some advice.

Personally my biggest challenge is not neglecting school. Face it, creating/crafting/mailling is WAY more fun then writing a paper. Staying up late messing with wire is definitely preferable to getting early for a class you regret signing up for.

For me, the key is prioritizing. Once crunch time hits (finals and the biggest show of the year at the same time) I don't have time for many of the tricks. But I need to decide what I DO have time for. Yes, I might LIKE to spend three days learning HP3, but is that wise?

Make a list of everything you need to do. Then decide, do you *really* need to do that? What can you put off to when you're less busy (such as a store redesign), what can you ask for HELP (it's not a dirty word) with (ask your husband/girlfriend/roommate/parents/favorite second cousin/best friend to cook a couple of extra times), what absolutely has to be done, what should be done, and what needs to be done for your sanity.

The last point was one I needed to learn. Maybe that store redesign isn't vitally important. But is thinking about it keeping you up at night? Are you worrying about it to the point where you have trouble concentrating? Then it *is* a top priority. My boyfriend is a perfect example of this. He can't study while there are dirty dishes to be done, and I do mean can't. He drives him to distraction, and he is better off just spending the time to get it done and move on. If he's really swamped, he'll ask me if I can do it.

My mother is huge proponent of lists, and while it took me time to warm up to them it is worth it. How do you deal with the time crunches?

Since I have nothing to show today, here's something I'm currently lusting over!

Balancing Acts

Balancing school and a social life can be hard enough when you're in university. Balancing school and a part time job even tougher. Balancing a home business and school? Near impossible.

I'm a full time student, and started mailling as a hobby. As anyone who is involved in chainmaille can attest to, it's addictive and quickly spirals out of control. You sell to pay for more supplies to play with!


(Because I totally need more rings)

I'm lucky that I have previous business experience, and a lot of skills that have made setting up Chained to the Strange easier. I've taken business writing classes, know web design, some graphic design, and have experience with marketing. However, I'd never been a sole proprietor.

With classes there's always one more thing that needs to be worked on, the same goes with your home business. Something I'm learning, luckily early, is that you really do have to treat it like a job. You need to set at least an hour every day, and a minimum of 10 hours a week to keep things running. Yes, there is the advantage that if need be you and push things off for a day or two, but make sure you make up the time!

But, the main thing I have found is this. Don't confuse work for fun! It seems simple enough, but is really easy to over look with a hobby-turned-business. You aren't going to enjoy every part of it, and some of it will get tedious. There's a few weaves that I hate doing, and of course they're popular. Making those items aren't fun, and I shouldn't expect them to be. It's easy to see working on Chained to the Strange as a break from school work, but it's not a guaranteed break from stress.

How you balance is an individual thing. For me calenders and deadlines help a great deal. To-do lists are also an effective means. But really, the right mind set is half the battle!