Think Spring and maybe it will come sooner!

  Here in the Hudson Valley, we have had a long winter.  We are hanging on to any hint of spring.  I thought a good way to keep our chins up through the gray cold weather we are having is to surround ourselves with the spring visitors we will hopefully be getting soon.

1. Medium Pouch from H and J Star Creations

2. Tangerine Porcelain Birdhouse from L and M Studio

3. Blackbirds baked in a pie tea towel from Wicked Mint

4. Butterfly Notecards from DiGilio Designs

5. Fuschia mums earrings from Merry Alchemy

Karen - Lark Practical

Where To Find The Hudson Valley Etsy Team This Weekend

How about a little trip to Woodbury, New Jersey this weekend? Woodbury is just south of Philadelphia which means a little balmier temperatures - a weekend of mid 70s and sunny? Count me in! But don't worry, we have a team member selling local, too, scroll to the end of the post for a Hudson Valley event.

Anjali Creations and Merry Alchemy will be selling their jewelry at the Fall Arts Festival in Woodbury, NJ, this Saturday, September 28, from 11AM-6PM and Sunday, September 29, from 12-4PM.

The Fall Arts Festival is a celebration of the arts with a weekend of over 300 Artists, Artisans & Craftsmen featuring Five Stages of Free Music, Acoustic Music Lounge, Performing Arts, Fine ARTS Gallery, Gourmet Foods, Interactive Fun for Kids and Adults, Wine & Cheese Experience, Craft Beer Tasting, Art Battles, Chili Cook-off, Cake Wars & other Creative Activities.

Here's a small taste of Anjali Creations' pieces:

Anjali Creations

Anjali Creations

Anjali Creations

 And here's Merry Alchemy:

Merry Alchemy

Merry Alchemy

Merry Alchemy

If you're staying in the Hudson Valley this weekend go check out the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts Harvest Fest in Bethel, NY, for their Rustic Craft Event. New Prospect Pottery will be there selling her beautiful pottery on Sunday, September 29, from 11AM-4PM.

New Prospect Pottery

New Prospect Pottery

Happy shopping!

Creating Success from the Inside Out - Chunk It Down

If you were a fly on the wall of my studio of late, you would find a half-crazed woman with glue on her hands, half-buried alive in boxes full of beads with a trail behind her of camera set-ups and half-made jewelry pieces.  Not to mention the pile of items by the computer yet to be described and added to Etsy.  Perhaps you can identify.  Indeed, it is the holiday season in the land of Etsy shop owners everywhere.

That’s why it’s serendipitous that the next principle in Jack Canfield’s self-improvement book, Success Principles, is Chunk It Down.  As busy Etsy shop owners in the midst of holiday madness, knowing how to take our goals and break them down into manageable tasks could prove helpful.  At the very least, re-reading this chapter may very well have saved my sanity.

In this chapter, Canfield discusses making overwhelming goals more attainable by breaking them down into a series of tasks from beginning to end.  He suggests a couple of different ways to do this.  One way is to work backwards from successful completion and identify each step along the way.  Another way is to create a mind map.  A mind map is pretty much a to-do list that is set up in a visual way.  Start off by writing your goal in the center of a big piece of paper and circling it.  You can also do this on post-it notes on your wall or on a magnetic board.  I prefer post-its because it’s dynamic (and because I’m completely addicted to them).  Divide your goal into major categories of tasks.  Underneath each of these subcategories you can write your spokes or task items.  You can break it down as far as you need to until you get to individual tasks or steps.  I took my insane and unfocused attempt at my goal and turned it into a mind map that has structure to it (see below).  My major goal is to make a certain amount in sales by the end of the year.  That is written on the orange post-it note in the center of the map below.  Next, I identified my sub-categories (in pink).  In this case, I wrote the vehicles for my profits:  repeat customers, local shop sales, Etsy sales, and craft fair sales.  Lastly, I broke down into steps the things I need to do in order to generate more sales within each of these subcategories.  These tasks are written on small blue post-it notes.  I may break this down even further.

Once you have your mind map, you can use it to create daily to-do lists.  Ideally, you would create your next day’s to-do list the night before so that you are ready to go in the morning.

How do you chunk it down?  I’m interested in how you all organize your busy lives so that you can be efficient and focused when you do have time to devote to your business and your shop.  How are your holiday preparations going?  Please share!

Creating Success From The Inside Out - Writing Goals

Lisa from Merry Alchemy is back with part four of her series about creating success from the inside out - today we learn to believe it is possible.

I don’t know about you, but when I go to the supermarket without a list, it leads to all kinds of bad.  Not only does it take a lot more time to gather what I need, I usually forget items (like the beef for that night’s beef stew!).  And of course, I end up buying things that I don’t want (or need) to begin with.  How did that Nutella end up in my basket anyway?!
Achieving your goals is a lot like shopping.  It’s best done with a list.  By taking the time to write down what you want to achieve, you are acknowledging what you want and, by nature of exclusion, what you don’t want.  There are lots of ways to record goals: a list, a goals book (put one goal at the top of each page and you can add drawings or photos to strengthen your vision), or put goals on individual index cards.  No matter how you choose to record your goals, make sure it is easy to read and something that you will go back to.

Also, just like shopping, you will find yourself closer to achieving your goals if you follow your list.  Your list will help you focus your energies on the things that are important to you.  So when you write out your to-do list for each day or week, you can be sure that your tasks are going to help you achieve those goals.

Hands Notecards by Karmabee on Etsy

Here are some tried and true tips for writing goals:

Make sure when you are writing your goals that you are specific so that they are measurable.  Instead of “I will do more craft fairs”, say something like “I will participate in 10 craft fairs by June 30^th of 2013.  That way you have a day of reckoning and it will also help you measure progress.

Write different levels of goals – smaller short term goals as well as longer term goals and even a “breakout goal” (that goal that seems like a pipe dream, but if you achieve will change your life)

When you are done writing your goals, be sure to read them every day.  The more times a day you read them over, the more internalized they will become and the more your subconscious will draw to you what you need to achieve those goals.

What are your suggestions for writing goals?  How do you keep track of your goals?

Happy goal writing!

Check out the first three parts of this series.....
Creating Success From The Inside Out
Taking 100% Responsibility For Your Life
Believe It's Possible

Creating Success from the Inside Out - Believe It Is Possible

Lisa from Merry Alchemy is back with part three of her series about creating success from the inside out - today we learn to believe it is possible.

Sunrise Tree With Fairy Pendant from Get Glassy

I’m a firm believer in the law of attraction – Ask, Believe, Receive – because of a profound experience I had two years ago.  After several wrong relationships and one failed engagement over the course of my adult life, I was growing disheartened about ever finding a life partner.  I had recently broken up with a long-time boyfriend.  I had one big disappointment on Match.com.  I was ready to throw in the towel and go become a monk in Tibet.  Then I watched my DVD of The Secret.  I recognized that until I really believed it was possible to find a wonderful man and a great relationship, I would never draw that to me.  So I double downed my efforts and spent a lot of time prepping mentally to accept the right partner into my life.  It may sound cheesy, but I visualized the way I wanted my life to be with this special person in it.  As the experts tell you in The Secret, you need to do more than visualize what you want.  You need to believe you already have it.  That means conjuring up the feelings of happiness and elation that you will experience when you do have what you want.  So I did that, too.  I convinced myself that it was possible for me to find that person.  As a result, I became happier.  Within two months, I met him.  After all the struggles of previous relationships, I finally felt the rightness of a good relationship.    The fact that he lived in New York and I lived in Boston when we met added to the amazement of our meeting.  How did we find each other?  In redoubling my efforts on Match, I accidentally typed in a wrong zip code without realizing it.  A happy accident, yes; but I also think the Universe had something to do with it!  And now Kris and I are getting married this October and are incredibly excited.

That’s why I firmly believe in the law of attraction for all things, not just love.  When it comes to our business or our craft, we can employ these same techniques to obtain the life we want.  Ask, Believe, Receive.  Ask the Universe for what you want.  Believe that it is possible to have what you want.  And then you will receive it. Believing it is possible is the hardest part of this tenet.  But when you believe something is possible, there is no limit to what you can achieve.  I really want to run my jewelry business full-time and receive an income from it that will allow me to quit my day job.  Right now, I’m struggling with believing that it’s possible.  I come from a long line of people who worked long hours to make ends meet working for someone else, so running your own business is a foreign concept.  My challenge now is to employ the same thinking exercises that I did to find love to find success in my business. 

What are the things you want to ask the Universe for that have been difficult for you to believe possible?  What successes have you had that your beliefs helped you to achieve?  How did you get there?

Check out part one & two of this series.....
Creating Success From The Inside Out
Taking 100% Responsibility For Your Life

Creating Success from the Inside Out

Last month, Lisa from Merry Alchemy spoke about taking 100% responsibility for our lives, this month she continues sharing success principles with starting from within.  

Source: gussysews.com via Marilyn on Pinterest

Deciding What You Want is the third principle that Jack Canfield discusses in his inspirational book, Success Principles. In order to get from where you are now to achieving your dreams, you need to know where you want to be, what you want to have, and what you want to be doing when you get there.

First, though, you need to believe that what you want is important and not something to be sacrificed for others. When you are working towards what you most desire, you are being true to yourself and true to what the universe has in store for you. This is a point that Becky brought up in her Signposts and Guides for the Creative Life last month – not letting outside forces determine your way.

Now write it down! Canfield instructs his readers to write an “I Want” list of 30 things you want to do, 30 things you want to have, and 30 things you want to be in your life. Don’t limit yourself because you don’t think something is possible or you’re not sure how you’ll get there. Once you’ve made your lists, visualize and record a detailed description of your ideal life. Be sure to include all facets of your life like work, hobbies, finances, health, relationships, community or service to others, and other things that are important to you. Imagine it as if you are actually there already, including how it makes you feel.

Next time I’ll talk about how we can use our lists to achieve our desires through goal-setting and visualization.

Some of the things I put on my list: I want to get married, work full time as a jewelry designer, balance my chakras, be healthy and fit, learn how to relax, and own a villa in Tuscany! In my visualization, I feel content and at peace, proud of my accomplishments, elated, and less fearful.

What are some of the things you put on your lists? In your vision of having achieved those things, what were the emotions you experienced?