I found a little extra time.

Remember a blog post a few days back about having no time to do the things I needed and wanted to do? My subconscious might have stepped in and given me a hand. In a nutshell - you might get the bracelet done quicker if you don't spend half an hour looking for those jump rings. I know it sounds simple enough but I have seen many jewelry benches and we are all pretty much the same!

My glass bench.

Last week I switched out my summer clothes and started throwing. When I took the bags of discards to one of those roadside drop offs I felt like I was shoving a human body into that little opening.

Then I headed up to my shop. Little by little over the past week I have been concentrating on the business end of what I do. Maybe it helped that I purchased my domain name and was inspired by the sense of accomplishment. I followed that by putting in the order for my personal metal stamp and smiled when I saw the man write LOGO STAMP on the order form. I'm now designing my business cards since I read somewhere that scribbling your information on a scrap of paper isn't so impressive.

I then went to my crazy pile of things that are finished and did an inventory. That led me to making an excel price list of all the materials that I use, which enabled me to make an inventory sheet of what went into each piece, which might give me some idea of how to accurately price those pieces. Then I finally acknowledged that a pile in a box is maybe not the best way to store something that you care about, so now each piece is in its own little bag.

Then came the drawer labeling! Don't get me started on how much fun that is! But the true satisfaction is knowing what you need a drawer for! For so many years it seems that I've been dabbling at figuring out how to do things. Now that I have some sort of clue and am really liking what I'm producing it is leading me on a more linear path. I find that I'm using the same tools, recognizing my favorite findings and quite possibly discovering the style of pieces that I create that is all my own.

Today I enjoyed my coffee, trimmed my hydrangeas, got out my leaf blower and still had some very productive time in the shop before I caught the 3 o'clock bus to head into the city for my show.

So for all of you neat freaks out there (and you know who you are) I am trying to find my own order in my constant hurricane and am liking what I am finding.

Now I'm going to nap for the rest of the bus ride. Have a joyous day and thanks for reading.