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74 ways: changes and letting go

November 24, 2010 By 7 Comments

The future is not some place we are going to but one we are creating. The paths are not to be found, but made, and the activity of making them, changes both the maker and the destination. John Schaar

This week is turning into a bit of a transition week here at 74 Lime Lane. I knew I would have trouble sticking to the regular posts with the hint of change just around the corner.  I want to dive in. I’m the impatient type ~ when I decide on something, I want it now, want it to happen now. So please indulge me while I  combine the two today and throw a little bit of me into the post.

I’m making some changes around these parts because I becamse a little jaded with blogging, particularly by my own regular features. But the simple act of deciding to make a change was enough to bring the mojo back.

Change is as good as a holiday.

It’s no fun being jaded. Sameness sucks {hmmm, I could make that into a poster}. But I think in the creative life we know we need to shake-it-up every now and then. Growth, leaps, new horizons, comfort zones ~ all great buzzwords for this train of thought.

I know, that some of these changes are about balance: finding more time for better posts, more time for photography, more time for the brand, more time for me.

I blog about what I love, I still love my blog, but I thought it was time to ditch the safety net that was a calendar of regular features and take a leap into blogging unknown. It’s exciting, ideas flow, inspiration comes back, I look forward to this space, changing it and creating a new future for it.

So, how am I going about these changes {and these can apply to anything, not just blogging ~ opening a shop, starting a new line or project}:

  • Decision ~ I made the decision that it was time to let go of my existing calendar of features. This in itself was quite liberating.
  • Planning & Preparation ~ Time to get out that notebook. I started writing down ideas, getting ready for that leap away from the safety of having  a pre-set blogging idea. I put the idea out there but it was hard to not dive in. But I realised the importance of taking the time to get feedback and plan properly.
  • Action ~ Just do it. Pick a date and go for it.

Are you making any changes in your creative world? How are you going about them?

 

 

 

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74 ways to be inspired: inspiration by the senses

November 10, 2010 By 4 Comments

How’s your inspiration mojo going  this week? Are you knocked about by the sudden onset of warm temperatures {like I am here in Australia} or feeling a bit blah because there’s a chill is in the air? Are you excited by the coming festive season and all it brings, or feeling overwhelmed by the amount of things on your to do list?

Or maybe it is a little bit of everything?

And let’s face it ~ Wednesdays are hard. It’s not know as Hump Day for nothing.

So today, I’m taking a step back {just for a couple of minutes ~ I have lots to do you know!} and taking a deep breath and thinking about my inspiration sense, inspired by this post about Finding Inspiration by Coming to Your Senses. This also reminds me of Abby’s lovely posts called Five Senses Friday which are a simple and effective reflection of her week.

Here’s my inspiration by the senses {bound to change on a daily, if not hourly basis}:

hearing

Silence. I find myself working better without music at the moment, moving from one task to another without distraction, and trying to listen and tune into my thoughts more so I can find some order among the chaos.

seeing

Mess {which inspires me to clean and organise and declutter, and you know what they say about the effect that has on your mind}, and endless possibilities.

tasting

A ‘snack’ of success. It’s small, but it is confidence buliding, a few sales here and there, nice feedback is all a welcome boost to the self-esteem.

smelling

The perfume of roses and baking. I love baking ~ achievement, nourishment and love all rolled into one package. It is such a great feeling to create something that your family appreciates and enjoys.

touching

Or in this case “feeling”, better. A moment of reflection reveals all that is good, puts things in perspective and helps me re-prioritise.

And this essentially sums up my week. After taking the time to sit and think about what motivates and pushes me forward, I’m ready to face the rest of the week, full of new plans and goals.

I recommend taking a few minutes to see what is inspiring your senses today and I would love to hear what they are.

Happy hump day!

ps. Some notes on the photo above ~ abstract with a dash of lime. It comes from a string of photos taken the other night during a thunderstorm, when I was trying to capture a moody lightning shot. Apart from being cropped it is straight out of the camera. I have no idea where the lime lights come from, but I like it!

 

 

 

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74 ways to be inspired: Etsy Success Stories {a review}

October 27, 2010 By 3 Comments

Something a little different in 74 ways today, but something equally inspiring: an e-book review.

When Jess, from Ephieriell Designs offered her new e-book Etsy Success Stories: Tips and Strategies from Seven Top Sellers up for review, I jumped at the chance ~ for two reasons.

One, Jess herself is a bit of an indie biz success story, {you would remember she also featured  here} and with her own experiences as well, I was confident she would put together a great resource.

Second, I was in the throes of working on making 74 Lime Lane it’s own little success story. So I was looking for all the help I could get.

In my own experience, I find the real-life tips and hints the most valuable. Those little bits of information gleaned from forums or flickr discussions. When someone tells you, “this is what I do and it works for me,” I find I more open to the idea of trying it for myself. Especially if several people are singing on the same page.

And here, Jess has wrapped up those tips from interviews with seven top sellers in one lovely little e-book. But what was her motivation to put together and share these tips:

When I reopened my Etsy shop in March, I made the commitment to become a success.  I’d tried selling on Etsy before, and my sales were slow – but I was sure there was a secret that I was missing.  So I went to the source for answers.  I decided to seek out the knowledge of sellers whose sales numbered in the thousands.

Isn’t that what you would like to do? And for Jess it worked and now she is sharing that information with you.

In the first part of the e-book, Jess brings together the tips and stories in neat summaries based on topics like preparation and presentation, promotion and motivation. These topics then cover everything from photography to pricing.

The second part of the e-book is the full interviews with the sellers. I love this type of advice ~ raw, honest and from the heart. And they don’t all agree but it is great to hear everyone’s point of view and decide how it fits with your own work and goals.

The other great thing about this e-book is it is easy to read. The last thing I want to do, or have time to do, is wade through long verbose stories that I don’t get anything out of it. And that’s an hour of my life I won’t get back. But Jess has cleverly broken it down into manageable and succinct pieces, and her interviewees have stayed to the point.

To top it off, Jess has also included some handy links to pertinent threads on the etsy forums. If you have ever visited the etsy forums, and tried to search for something, you would know that this alone is a huge time saver.

The thing is, the steps to success can be quite simple, with a little bit of attention and work and putting some of this into practice I’ve noticed my own little upswing in sales. I’m not ready to be interviewed for an e-book but it has been a nice boost to my confidence.

For any small, indie business, this e-book is a good investment, whether you are starting out, or have been going for a while and chasing that elusive “success”. This is a reference to get you going and then to refer to back to when time get tough ~ print it out, mark it up with a highlighter, write some notes. In fact,  I do hope Jess does some sort of follow-up down the track.

You can find out more about Etsy Success Stories: Tips and Strategies from Seven Top Sellers here. And Jess has lots more tips and hints at her site Crafting a Business.

 

 

 

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74 ways to be inspired: talking with …

October 13, 2010 By 4 Comments

The 74 ways to be Inspired series is all about finding inspiration and applying it to your creative life ~ whether it be for your own satisfaction or as part of the process of setting up and maintaining a small creative business. These interviews aim to inspire by gaining an insight into the inspirational and creative process of those who are doing exactly that.

Today, I’m excited to welcome Jess from Epheriell, Epheriell Designs and *bespoke* zine. Jess is a successful jewellery designer, an advocate of the handmade movement, now a zine publisher, and her openly shares advice based on her own experiences in business.

First off, an introduction,  tell us a little about yourself, what you do and how it came about.
Hello lovely people! My name is Jess, and I’m a crazy-devoted crafty businesswoman and handmade advocate!

However, this hasn’t always been the case … until September 2008, I didn’t think of myself as a creative person. I was the scientist, the logical, rational person … and I never felt fulfilled.

Then, I went to Fiji. My boyfriend (now husband) Nick and I met a lovely fellow Aussie family. We became friends, and the day we left, the mother of the family gave me a novel to read – she’d read it, and decided to pass it on.

I can’t remember what it was called, but it was a story about a woman who owned a yarn store in New York. When I finished that book, I decided to try knitting… and that’s where it all began!

I discovered that I LOVED creating, making, working with my hands.
The previously empty part of my ‘self’ was filled, and I finally became a whole person.

Not long after this, I began Epheriell. I now make sleek, eco, contemporary sterling silver jewellery. I’ve been selling my jewellery online since October 2008. I began ~ like many others ~ selling my work to just get rid of all this stuff I was making as a hobby! However, not too long after that I took a course in silversmithing, and it all got a bit more serious.
I’m also a blogger. I run EpheriellDesigns.com and JessicaVanDen.com (Crafting a Business). On top of all that, I’m just about to launch a brand-new zine called *bespoke* ~ all about the handmade/craft/vintage movement.

What was the inspiration behind the name of your shop/blog?
The word ‘epheriell’ was one I came up with many years ago ~ it’s a mash-up of the words ‘ephemeral’ and ‘ethereal’. When I started my jewellery business and blog, it just seemed like the natural choice!

{Jess' talents spread far and wide}

Now this series is about inspiration, so where do you find inspiration? Either online, in the “real world” or from whom? What kind of things inspire you?
Everywhere! I know that’s cliche, but it’s true. More specifically though, my main inspiration comes from all of my fellow crafters, bloggers and generally awesome online peeps. Without their help, support, encouragement and creativity, I’d be nowhere!
Online, I love Pinterest ~ I collect a lot of inspirational images over there. I also love meandering through the blogosphere, twitter, and facebook.

{Some of Jess' beautiful designs}

Where do you find the inspiration for your pieces?
Well, when it comes to my jewellery, I honestly have no idea! Often I’ll just have a shape or idea come to mind, and I’ll then either draw it, or just jump in and see if I can make it! My process is much more defined these days, as I have a certain aesthetic for my brand that I strive to keep to.

Jess, you have so many projects on the go at any one time ~ last count it was Epheriell, *bespoke*, the e-book, the new crafting a business blog, designing other blogs ~ how do these ideas come to you and how do you fit it all in?
How do I fit it in? By being completely obsessed ;D Honestly ~ my business is my full-time gig and I spend every day working. My lovely husband Nick does try to get me to take some time off now and again … but I’m usually working in some capacity from when I wake to when I sleep. That’s the beauty and the curse of your work being your passion! But I would not have it any other way, and my aim is to keep my business growing so I never have to go back to a ‘day job’.

How do you find juggling the creative life with your home and/or work life?
As I mentioned above, I’m lucky enough to currently be working on all my projects full-time. As for my home life ~ I have an amazingly awesome husband who does *everything*. Because we were planning to travel this year (and still are!) he isn’t working at the moment, so he spoils me and does the domestic stuff so I can work on my business. Yes, I know how insanely lucky I am, believe me!

{Inspiration on the walls}

Do you catalogue your inspiration in some way, either virtually, clippings in a notebook or perhaps an inspiration board?
Yes! I mentioned Pinterest before, which I love, love, love! I’ve also just stumbled across the new site Pearltrees, and I’m going to give that a go ~ it looks like it has potential!
Nick and I are going to be building our house soon, and in my office I plan on having a whole wall of cork-board so I can pin up all the cute, sweet, and quirky things that I buy and come across ~ I love having lots of little images for my eye to wander over! At the moment I do this in our room by using magnets on the metal walls to stick things up (pic attached).

And because we are in blogland, can you share a couple of your favourite or most inspirational blogs/sites.
Oh dear, there are so many!
For pure prettiness, I love Daydream Lily, and browsing Flickr (and Pinterest, of course!)
I also enjoy the finds at Lushlee. Of course, I love Etsy for finding gorgeous things to feature on my blog I also love reading everything Tara has to say over at Scoutiegirl. For business, and because she makes me giggle, my fave biz site is ittybiz.

{a sneak peek of *bespoke*}

What’s next?
Business-wise ~ have a successful launch of the first issue of *bespoke* zine ~ that’s number 1 on the priority list for the moment!

Personally, get on the road for a trip in our campervan that we’ve been looking forward too all year! We’re hoping to get away for at least a few months over summer ~ and I’ll be running my business from the road ~ very exciting!

Thanks Jess for popping into Lime Lane. I don’t know about you guys, but I am in awe of Jess’ endeavours.

The important info is *bespoke* launches on Monday and you can order your copy here. It features work by yours truly and a little surprise. There are only 500 copies being printed so snaffle a copy now.

You can also find Jess at:

website | blog | twitter | facebook | flickr

 

 

 

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74 ways to be inspired: talking with …

September 29, 2010 By 2 Comments

The 74 ways to be Inspired series is all about finding inspiration and applying it to your creative life ~ whether it be for your own satisfaction or as part of the process of setting up and maintaining a small creative business. These interviews aim to inspire by gaining an insight into the inspirational and creative process of those who are doing exactly that. Today, Sandy, aka the Crane Maker, is sharing the story behind her inspirational project.

First off, an introduction,  tell us a little about yourself, what you do and how it came about.
My name is Sandy. I’m a New Jersey native, currently working a 9-5 desk job in my area (and attending graduate school part-time). I see a lot of people who have come upon hard times while working. That played a part in why I started my crane project.

Tell us the story behind the name of your 1000 Crane Mission? What kickstarted this project?
Originally I was planning on calling my project the 1000 Crane Project, and so I signed up for everything as such. Then my friend from college, Matt, suggested I make it more personal like the book my project was inspired after, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr. So I changed over from “1000 Crane Project” to “Sandy and the 1000 Paper Cranes”. Since my elementary school never taught Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, I had picked it up on a whim to read. And was both saddened and inspired by it. It’s a true story about a girl named Sadako who was diagnosed with leukemia as a result of the bombing of Hiroshima. Her goal was to fold 1000 paper cranes. In Japanese folklore, anyone who folds 1000 paper cranes is said to receive a wish, usually involving a healthy life or wealth. Sadako’s wish was to live. Sadly, she wasn’t able to finish her goal before she passed away. So I decided that I, too, wanted to attempt to fold 1000 paper cranes. But mine will be left in different locations for strangers to find, and will each exhibit a unique and positive word.

Now this series is about inspiration, so where do you find inspiration? Either online, in the “real world” or from whom? What kind of things inspire you?
As for inspiration, it’s really the simple things that get to me. When I see someone perform a random act of kindness, or even just holding the door open for someone, I find it inspiring. Seeing other people do nice things makes you want to do them too. Other positivity based web projects also lead to my feeling inspired. Gosh, even that one television commercial by Liberty Mutual where they were all helping one another got me inspired. It really doesn’t take much.

Where do you find the inspiration for your words and cranes?
The words on my cranes started out coming from friends and family. From there, I used dictionaries and thesauruses online to continue making out my list. All 1000 words are already listed because I wanted to make sure it was possible before actually starting my project. As for the cranes, I bought large packs of paper in a variety of colors and have been using those.

Do you catalogue your inspiration in some way, either virtually, clippings in a notebook or perhaps an inspiration board?
I’m not particularly organised, so I don’t categorise my inspiration physically. I do have a favorite’s folder in my web browser where I keep a couple of my favorite inspiring web friends, articles, messages. I certainly wish I could get some sort of physical thing up and running! Most of the magazine clippings I have are currently stored wherever I can find a place for them. Hopefully one day they’ll make it to a binder.



Tell us a little the process of about making a crane and then choosing a location?
I make the cranes whenever I have spare time. Usually it’s on my couch when watching television. As it turns out, the folding is actually the easiest part of my project. I usually fold them in batches of 10 to keep my numbers steady. From there, I’ll usually write the words on them and put my blog link. Then I stick them in a large ziplock baggie until I’m ready to use them. I try to make sure I have at least 5 cranes on me when I leave the house in case I want to leave them somewhere. As for placing them, I try to leave them in public places where I have no idea who will find them. So I don’t leave them at restaurant tables or for specific people. I try to make sure it’s a visible place but that no one is watching me place them and take photos of them. (Which is getting increasingly harder!)

How do you find juggling the creative life and this project with your home and/or work life?
In the beginning of my project, over the summer, it was a lot easier to juggle my project with work. However, now that classes have started up again and work has gotten busier, it’s gotten a bit harder to keep it all going. I knew this would be the case so I tried to do as much planning and settling as I could with my project over the summer. In a little time, I’ll probably have some sort of system set up to make it easier to do everything I need and want to do. I’ve been doing more crane placement either after work/class or on the weekends than I did during the summer.

What is your goal for this mission? Any plans for when you reach the 1000?
My goal of the project is to spread a little positivity in the world. Even though my cranes are small and I’m not sure how many people will actually find them, if my project even inspires or helps one person, I think I’d call it a success. I have another idea up my sleeve for another project after I make it to 1000 cranes. We’ll have to see how this one turns out before I decide whether or not to execute the next one. I’m hoping to do something special for the 1000th crane, but I’ve got a bit of time to think about what it is that I want to do.

And because we are in blogland, can you share a couple of your favourite or most inspirational blogs/sites.
A couple of my favorite/inspiration blogs:

Thanks Sandy. Now surely that inspires you to go and do something nice today ~ open a door, pick up something someone has dropped, leave a nice note!

And dont’ forget, you can follow Sandy’s journey over here:

website | facebook | twitter

 

 

 

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