Handbook for 2010

A friend sent this to me, so I thought I would share...


Health:
1. Drink plenty of water
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants...
4. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy
5. Make time to pray
6. Play more games
7. Read more books than you did in 2009 .
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day
9. Sleep for 7 hours
10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk daily. And while you walk, smile

Personality:
11. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about
12. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment
13. Don't over do. Keep your limits.
14. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
15. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.
16. Dream more while you are awake
17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need..
18. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with His/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
20. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23. Smile and laugh more.
24. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree...

Society:
25. Call your family often.
26. Each day give something good to others.
27. Forgive everyone for everything.
28. Spend time w/ people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
30. What other people think of you is none of your business.
31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:
32. Do the right thing!
33. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
34. GOD heals everything.
35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change..
36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
37. The best is yet to come..
38. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.
39. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

Sewing Again

With all the cleaning and vacationing I have been doing I have not been sewing that much.  I did however finally add two new bags to the shop:

 Large Pleated Handbag - Chestnut Branches in Eggplant

A pleated handbag constructed in a brown-burgundyish and light blue Joel Dewberry's cotton print, "Chestnut Branches - Eggplant" from his Chestnut Hill collection. A color palette of brown and blues, this handbag is lined in a coordinating light blue broadcloth cotton. Constructed with two interior pockets (a zippered pocket and an open pocket) and stiff interfacing to help maintain its shape. 

Pleated Shoulder Bag in Black 

A great everyday bag, large enough to carry more than your essentials. A heavy weight black cotton canvas that has a subtle pebbled texture fabric, this single pleated shoulder bag is fully lined with a coordinating floral cotton fabric. The rich color palette consists of black, blues, oranges, white and reds. The interior has a large split deep pocket, a great place to keep your blackberry, cellphone, keys and a zippered pocket to hold other important items. The Shoulder bag is then finished with a magnetic snap to keep your items safe and constructed with a stiff interfacing to help maintain its shape.

New Year - Time to Get Organzied

With all this talk of a new year, new decade, fresh start, etc., it was bound to happen.  I had to do something about my Studio.

I couldn't find anything, really wasn't able to work in my studio anymore and I have had an itch for a change.  I should add that the rest of my house is actually very organized and clean, but for whatever reason, I have never been that organized when it comes to my studio.  I have blogged about this in the past and I thought it couldn't get worse, but was I ever wrong!  When I had friends over a few weeks ago, I apologized for the state of my studio and one responsed that it was a working studio. While it temporarily made me feel better, my studio was at the point of ridiculous.  So while it's still not done, (I still need to paint and once I get a shed in the backyard, some of the items behind the screens, including the black file cabinet will be moved out of the room), it's at least a start....

So now I air my dirty laundry (and yes, these photos are embarrassing):

Before:


View from the doorway


Look at all the boxes stashed underneath the table

 Views of the window side of the table

Look at how I store my roll of fusible fleece, by standing it upright on the garbage can.






Closer view of the corner
Oh look, another box of fabric..







A closer view of the closet side of the table, (what's that, another box of fabric?)





And now After:

View from the Doorway

On the shelves I added some boxes to hold thread and other notions

Added another shelf over the doorway







View of the table.  Moved my sewing machine to the other side of the table and still have my jewelry tools and boards on the other side in case the whim to make jewelry overtakes me.






View of the window side of the table, added an old wardrobe that been sitting in a box in the garage.  Here I store my rolls of interface and handbags that I have already made.

View toward the closet (just don't look behind the screens)

 My desk area, still need to organize my idea board and finish going through all the magazines I have stacked under my desk.


And now the only thing I have under my table, is a little rug for my puppy...

New Year - Now What?

So, it's not only a New Year, but a new decade, therefore I have to ask myself so now what?

It's that time of year again, to start thinking about the year ahead, what is in store and will what will you do differently this year.  It's also time to form those Resolutions, so do I have any New Year Resolutions? Yes I have a few buzzing around in my head.

Some of the same old ones, some new ones:

• Weight loss, would love to drop 15lbs, perhaps just get into better shape
  
• Change careers - dream on....
• Get Organized Home & Studio  
  
• Add more items to the Shop (maintain  90- 100 items by year end?)
• Market HM Mills - Market off Etsy, participate in off site selling (Shops & Shows, Newsletters)
  
• Incorporate more jewelry & lampwork beads into some of my bags
• Blog More - perhaps undiscovered Etsy Shops
• Upgrade my Store Front - perhaps participate in some Critiques
• Watch my FL Panthers in the Play-offs (ha ha ha, now I am dreaming)
• Work on my Mystery novel
• Add some new items to HauteBridal 
• Practice Yoga everyday
  

Vision Board - Part 2

I was rummaging around my tool bench the other day looking for the tools to make a pair of brass earrings I had just sold on Etsy. As my studio is so small, I have a small table inside my closet area where I keep my hammers, buffing tools etc and to work on the messy part of jewelry creations.  To hide this ugly area (as I have no closet doors), earlier this year DH hung some pretty fabric IKEA screen panels that slide back and forth.  However because my studio is so small and I have almost no wall space and last year when I created a Vision Board, I had to hang it over my ugly tool bench.  It's not as if I haven't looked at it, but I guess I violated some of the Vision Board rules by hiding it from my view when the panels were hung.

So anyway, I was looking at it and thinking I have not added anything to the white spaces I had left open, still in a career that sucks my life force from me, no weight loss and killer body, no shed, no puppies and haven't made a splash with my handbags or jewelry, bedroom not even started...but I had  to smile.  A photo from my wedding with my DH...still living happily ever after and there in the middle was a photo from a magazine  of friends gathered around a table.  After my "best friend" stopped being my friend last year and several of our "couples" friends divorced, there were no more dinner parties or nights out with a group of friends.  At the time when I had  created my board, I really missed having a group of friends...

So, as I stared at my vision board,  I kept smiling as I thought about the past week, because the Core 7 (as we have been named), have gone out to dinner, have watched away games together and had another one of our little dinner parities. (Yes I know, there's only six, but someone had to take the picture.) I think of all the things I have on my vision board, at least I have so far accomplished the two most important ones...

As for the rest, I guess 2010 looks like a busy year.