Each year I make my kids new hats. They don’t really need them, but they love them. I knitted a green beanie for my son. Sorry no pics. I almost made it too small.

Note to self: Stop using own head to measure the size of son’s hats.

The pattern I used for his hat was a free one from Woolly Wormhead.

For my daughters hat pictured here I used a free pattern I found on Ravelry called Capucine. It knit up quickly an easily in bulky yarn. The only problem I had with the pattern was that it didn’t call for dpns for the crown shaping and you really need them.

She love the color purple and was inspired by the Anticraft to stitch a skull on her hat and crochet it a bow. She really loves being able to personalize her stuff.

Now I just have to make a hat for my youngest and myself. I’m sure some other people will line jump me at some point and need their hats too.

I’ll admit it has been awhile since I had a custom order. I have been working hard on other things and taking a break from jewelry making. I was so excited when I was contacted through my etsy shop. The customer gave me free range over the over all design as long as there was moonstone, blue beads, and netting. I had a great time making and I know she’ll have a great time wearing it.

I have applied for a shop at 1000markets.com. After I have everything up and running and have checked out everything, I will be posting a etsy vs. 1000markets review. I know many artists that sell their work online like having the exposure of being on more than one site. I’m just looking for the one that will work best for me. We will see how it goes. First impressions of 1000 markets is it has a more professional feel. I can’t say yet if that is good or bad.

Lady Anne is a beautifully carved shell cameo. I have hand wrapped her in 14k gold filled wire. She comes on a gold plated chain. She is elegant and classic, but she isn’t your grandma’s cameo! Lady Anne is heirloom quality. You can have her placed on a custom beaded necklace. She would look great on a strand of pearls, even faux ones! She is about 2 inches in length.

I love working with cameos.

I’m so excited. I will be getting rid of dial up internet next week. This means that there will be more pics, youtube, podcasts, webinars and so much more. I will be able to share with more people in more ways. I know you are dieing to hear more about me. lol.

Until then you can read these plain posts about my knitting misadventures, plot mishaps, and general twaddle. I’m working some knitted scarf patterns that reflect themes from the wheel of the year. I’m trying to create them myself but I may just kidnap some amazing designers instead. I’m sure at this point kidnapping would be easier. I can see the pattern in my mind but I haven’t gotten it to knit out correctly. YET!

In my spare time (while I’m sleeping) I have been plugging away at my novel. I have rewritten it 5 times so far and I’m still not sure what it is about. I know there is a plot and a purpose hiding in there somewhere. but for now I’m still learning about the characters and trying to understand what they are telling me. They are very secretive about their world and just do want to spill the beans. I may have to use force if sweets don’t do the trick. One of them maybe liar, because the story keeps changing. It is a mystery that I must solve. And then fix the grammar and spelling.

And then there is the workshops, boiling away on the back burner. I promise to get them fully prepared and ready for the masses. I’m still enjoying working one on one with my clients. I will be uploading some guided visualizations I have written for free download. I’m just putting the finishing touches on them.

I’m running or at least faking running 3 different businesses. Crazy, I know. I have a hard time sticking to one thing at a time. I must have more than 2 projects going on at a time or my brain doesn’t know what to do. I’m sure some silence is just what it really needs, instead of running around like a lunatic. There needs to be change. Some things will have to go and some will have to grow, ready or not!

~ Since this blog is about creativity and sometimes earning money, I have decided to invite some wonderful creative folks to share with us.~

Creativity needs support. I am who I am because of how I was raised. From an early age, my mother and my father supported my need to create. They both claim not to be creative people. Maybe they don’t actively design or make anything, but they understand the importance of fostering creativity in other people. When I was young, I spent quite a bit of time with my grandparents. Both of my parents worked, so Nanny and B got a lot of quality time with me. Lucky them! They pretty much indulged all of my whims, and so I was allowed to work with stained glass alongside them and my uncle.

Can you imagine letting a young child solder anything? I did. And what did I make? Earrings, of course. Both sets of my grandparents worked with stained glass and I can see now how it influenced my art. Not only do I have a jewelry line, Simon and Ruby, but I also have been painting in a stained glass style since college. Now, combine that with the fact that my great-grandmother and grandmother were seamstresses who let me play with buttons and beads while they worked.

I am completely a product of my upbringing.
Fast forward twenty years. Not only is my family supportive of who I am and what I do, but I have found a network of creative friends who are as well. They allow me to talk on end about my art, ask questions and for their feedback, help me come up with ideas, marketing, and sit all day at a craft show with me. I can do what I love because I have a husband that is patient and understands my need to create. He supports everything I do, and I support everything he does with his music and his art. My life and art can flourish because of this network. Because of their support and love.

Lindsay Farrer of Simon and Ruby Jewelry

www.simonandruby.etsy.com
www.simonandruby.com
@simonandruby

“I want to do more charity work through my business, but most of my business is done online and not locally. What can I do?”

One of my coaching clients asked me this during our email sessions. She already had a successful business, had reached previously set goals, but was ready to move forward again. She had a huge online worldwide following but few local clients. Her goal was to grow her business both on and offline and support her favorite charity.

Do you want to do good for others and your business? Here are some ideas.

If you have a brick and mortar business location, host an onsite event for a local charity. It does not have to be anything huge. You can host a big event or a simple sale. You can also include any online shop or customers you have. Remember to send out press releases and contact the charity to let them know what you are doing. These events let your local community know that you care and gives them a chance to know you.

Contact charities and let them know you are willing to donate product, time, or services to their fund raising events. This works well for home based businesses or online businesses that do not have brick and mortar locations. When you do donate, send out a press release about it. That way your current customers know about the fundraising event and potential customers learn about you. It turns the event into a win-win for you and the charity. Keep your customers up to date on the progress of the event. Have them join your mailing list that you can send them up dates and thank you notes.

Do you have some great tips for donating to charity through your business? Share them with us!

This nest is created with sterling silver wire carefully wrapped around three green and white agate bead eggs. It also has two little spirals at the bottom. These nests are so cute and fun to make. Bird nest classes are available and can be apart of your Affirmation Jewelry workshop. This nest is for sale on Etsy.

What happens when the doodle bugs bite?

I love doodling swirling and spiraling things. It can be a mindless, relaxing and meditative thing to do. I also love the way the pen or pencil feels as it slides across the paper. If there was a way to hand write all my blog posts, I would.

Have you even just been doodling on the edge of your paper and been surprised by what you’ve discovered? Did you scribble the solution that you have been looking for? Maybe you let your mind wander a little and doodled yourself a great idea.

We all experience it at some point during the creative process and sometimes more than once. It is totally normal. I’ll admit that I have at times given into this frustration and quit working on a project. Sometimes forever and sometimes just for a little while. Was I just blocked or was the project wrong for me?

All projects have their ups and downs and can threaten to burn you up or out. How do you tell which projects are worth sticking with and which ones just aren’t right for you? Can you tell if the project is really the problem or if some other life issues are interrupting your work flow?

I could go on with an even longer list of questions, but I’ll save you from that. I think that if we are connected to our creative centers then our intuition will help guide us toward great projects. If we are creating deeply with meaning and exposing our vulnerable selves, we must be doing right.

It can be hard to find that connection with projects that we are hired to do. What the client wants may not be something we enjoy making. When this happens it is time to dig really deep and find at least one thing in the project you love. Even if it is something small.

Another way we can lose that connection is life stress. We all have some kind of crap we have to deal with. Stress stifles creativity. Find a form of stress relief that works for you and use it daily if you need to. Meditate, do yoga, go for a walk, put on your favorite music as loud as you can and dance yourself silly. Let the neighbors laugh. You just helped them relieve some of their stress too!

When you discover that the project you have been working on doesn’t really have any meaning to it, let it die. Grieve, morn, throw a wake for it if you need to. Realize it is time to move on to a better more fulfilling project. Don’t waste time trying to cram some fake meaning into it. You will hate the finished product and may be even yourself. Even if only for a little while.