looking ahead

Through no fault but my own, I've been trudging through this past week, making up for the fact that I didn't keep up with my book work last year. I need that data to file my sales tax return which is due Saturday, so I've been slogging away entering all the data that should have been entered weekly and monthly. It hasn't been one of my more exciting weeks!

It's a good thing I've made discipline one of my touch stones this year, as evidenced by my lack of it last year. I didn't keep up with my book work last year (even though that was a goal I had made for myself!) because I find bookwork tedious and boring. And, if I pushed it off for another day, there were no immediate consequences.

This year, I've recruited the help of artist friend Bonnielyn Brankey to hold me accountable in keeping my books up to date each month, and I in turn have promised to keep her accountable in blogging at least weekly. I'm excited about this because I've had friends keep me accountable in other areas of my life, and it has really helped.

Why the picture of the brayer and printing ink? Just before Christmas I ordered some printing supplies so that I could do some exploration with nature printing - i.e. making leaf, flower prints, etc. on my handmade paper. I have been really eager to try this, and I set up my new supplies with in eyesite of my computer, as motivation to get my tax work done. Next week should be much more interesting!

read, write, read, write, read, read...

Purple Flowers
Pressed Botanicals on Handmade Paper, Unframed
5" x 5" handmade paper (mounted on 8 1/2" x 11" Gilbert Oxford card stock)
Available for purchase here

Did you make fresh new goals this year? Me too, but lets not make the mistake I made last year.

Last year I spent quite a bit of time making goals, but I'm embarrassed to say didn't really keep any of them! Because I didn't faithfully review them, eventually in the hustle and bustle of daily life they got pushed back to back of my mind.
By early spring I had forgot all about most of them.

Donna Otto, in her book Get More done in Less Time, Otto says the Goals section of your daily planner should be "flexible and expandable - and worn from reviewing. She goes on to say, "Remember that if you write your goals and never read them, you will forget them. Reading them often fives you direction for your daily activities and a focus for your energy."

Every Monday I am re-reading my New Year goals (I have set up Google calendar alerts to remind me), and then basing my weekly goals directly off of them.
Just like our grade school teachers used to say, I need to "read, read, read!"

My focus word for 2009...

Discipline. (yawn) It's not too exciting, is it? But when I look back on where I've been, where I've ended up, and what I could have achieved, I've realized that this one element is key - not just in my art life, but in every single area of my life.

Friends who know me well will be amused, because discipline has never been a strength of mine. I prefer to base my actions on whatever I feel like doing at the moment. I love being flexible and spontaneous, not rigid and calculated. Being a "stay at home mom" has been like winning the lottery for me, because no one tells me what or when to do anything, I plan my days according to whatever I feel like doing.

But, this freedom has its downfalls, and God has been kindly pointing out some glaring deficiencies in my life over the past year, all of which involve my having great difficulty saying "no" to myself, and yes to something that would be a wiser, or more unselfish use of my time.

The most glaring area of my life that lacks discipline involves my use of time - especially in relation to the Internet. I love, love, love, checking my email. I love reading blogs, too many blogs. I love checking out CNN, USA today, Fox News, the Weather Channel, Lifehacker, ebay, MSNBC...the list could go on and on (and some days it does). I need to wrestle with myself and come up with a workable way to be more disciplined in my use of the internet - the amount of time I could free up would be huge.

I really love myself, and love giving myself whatever I want at the moment. Another snack? Sure. A free afternoon? No problem, you can fill that order and do the laundry tomorrow. That growing pile of bookwork? It can wait, and besides it's so boring so go ahead and ignore it another week or so...

Basically I divide my life up into these five areas: spiritual (my relationship with God), family, home(and garden), others (church, friends, etc), Elizabeth's Flowers (my art and online businesses). Each of these areas would benefit greatly from me saying "no" to myself, and my whims, and "yes" to whatever would help me achieve my goals in these areas.

I do foresee one major problem with my quest to become more disciplined. What will motivate me enough to override my long ingrained natural tendencies? The newness of the challenge might for awhile...but what about during the long haul? Do I even have a chance at becoming more disciplined consistently? Knowing me, and my track record, my answer would have to be no. Not in and of myself. I don't have enough "will power". But, while reading a blog this morning (there I go again), I came across the answer. I need to love someone else more than me. I'm going to give this a try.

Looking forward, looking back

Back when I was working full time as an Occupational Therapist in a rehab clinic, I absolutely hated doing my yearly reviews. I was all about living in the moment. As far as I was concerned the past was the past, and the future was safely in God's hands, so why waste time struggling to come up with impressive sounding goals? I intended to "do my best," and I was eager to move on to the next thing, not waste time muddling through priorities, facing past mistakes, etc.

Thankfully, I've come to see the value in reflection, and the wisdom of bravely facing past mistakes and areas of weakness. It's not comfortable, not fun, but necessary to move on to a higher level, in any area of our life.

So, off and on during the past few days (when I haven't been playing on our new Wii) I've been looking at various areas of my life with a critical eye, and writing down the areas I've fallen short. But, I'm also making sure I record and acknowledge my achievements with gratitude as well.

I have come across two great resources that have helped me in my yearly review that I'd like to share with you. For looking back at the art side of my life, I'm using Alyson Stanfield's Acknowledge yourself and celebrate! list.

More importantly, I have been taking a hard look at my spiritual life, and am working my way through these Questions to ask at the Beginning of a New Year. I am going through this list somewhat superficially right now so that I can see where I need to make concrete goals, but will review parts of it in depth later on.

I'm also narrowing down what my focus word of 2009 will be (ala Christine Kane's blog). Only a day and a half left to decide...what will yours be?

You frame it Friday

Wow! I just realized that my previous blog entry was my 200th post! I am amazed. I wish I would have realized that and celebrated in some way! I will have to keep closer track, and be sure to recognize the next big milestone.

This week's unframed pressed flower art creation is called "Golden Flowers." An online friend pointed out that I seem to be stuck on yellow flowers lately. I think I am drawn to the warmth and joyfulness of yellow - yellow seems hopeful, optimistic, and always joyful - like a celebration.

I've been using a Franklin Covy Planner for years, a small compact binder with my calender, daily and monthly "to-do" lists, yearly goals, etc. I can also fill out a small card called a "Weekly Compass," with the key goals I want to focus on. I use it as a "monthly compass" instead, and usually come up with a key word that I want to focus on for the month. In the past, I've focused on kindness, timeliness, humor, reverence, etc.

This month I'm focusing hard on joy...which seems especially appropriate given that this is the month we remember the incredible gift of God Himself coming to be with us. Psalm 8, which I am attempting to memorize says:

"...what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?."

Yes, who are we, really, that we've been given such a gift?
The more I think about this, the more joyfully amazed I am.

Everything in its place

Two things are on my list for today - to begin listing my new botanical journals in my etsy shop, and to do some massive "decluttering" in my work area.
My work area - I can't call it a studio (but hopefully someday...) has silently become a disaster area. A stray object or two here, a few things I'll put way later there, some un-filed papers here...and suddenly I have a mess. Elisabeth Elliot always used talk about the importance of "a place for everything, and everything in its place." How true!

I love to read tips on organizing, I could read them all day - but diligently putting them into practice is another matter. Thankfully I am becoming increasingly aware of how my lack of diligence in putting things away -as soon as I am done with them- is costly in both time, energy, and even personal joy. The frustration I feel when I struggle with the chaos covering my work area robs me of my enthusiasm in creating.

Off I go, with a quick prayer for perseverance, wisdom, and a sense of humor wouldn't hurt either.

doing art

As I mentioned last time, I've made Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays serious art days. I've only taken a few minutes to dabble on the computer today, while I was waiting for the UV resistant sealer on these pressed flower pictures to dry.

Now, back to work!

you have to mean not to

One of the hardest things for me is juggling my time, wisely. I have my priorities - God, family, art, my business/websites. The first two priorities are set in stone as first and second, the last two seem to get juggled around.

Ideally I would like "art" to remain my third priority, but when the house is a mess, the kids need something, I'm blessed with lots of orders, or am working on a marketing project or gearing up for some kind of sale, my art priority gets pushed out of the way, sometimes for a week at a time.

That's bad! Especially if I'm going to call myself an artist.

I think I may have found a solution. When I was gliding around the internet during half time yesterday (go Packers!), I happened upon a blog article written by another busy "mom" artist who found that dedicating Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday to her art was the solution that finally worked for her. Weekends were devoted to family, church, etc. and Monday and Fridays were devoted to cleaning the house, laundry, errands, making appointments, and so on.

I think this will work for me. Today I'm busy cleaning up all traces of our active weekend, making phone calls, answering emails, tackling ALL of the laundry, and doing some tedious book work I've neglected. I'm also going to try to reschedule a Wed. meeting to Friday, and hopefully I'll also squeeze in some quick paper making, so I have a few more large sheets of handmade paper ready to use. Then, if all goes according to plan, I will have three glorious uninterrupted days (8:00-3:30 when the kids are in school) of art making.

I don't really mean to have neglected my art, but as a friend of mine says, I have to mean not to.

Free!

Today is another resource day – I want to share with you some more of my favorite free internet resources that I’ve found helpful for my pressed flower business.

Number one on my list today is Google – what would I do with out it? As a search engine, it is phenomenal. With it, you can find anything on the web! I find the best deals on cardstock, envelopes, framing materials, printer ink, and shipping materials. I can check out my competition, and find information on any topic I want to know about. I have never taken a class in papermaking or pressing flowers. I have learned 95% of what I know from reading whatever I can about them on the internet. For free! I love it.

I also make use of the free webmaster tools that Google offers, which have helped my web sites perform better in the search engines, which is key for good internet sales. And, recently I’ve been making use of Google Alerts, to learn more about certain topics I’m interested in. Simply go to the Google News page, and sign up for an alert on any topic. Then, you’ll receive an email alert whenever anything is published on the web or in a blog about that topic. I have Google Alerts on my domain names to alert me to new incoming links, and on pressed flowers, cooking with herbs and using handmade paper.

A word of caution: as amazing and helpful as Google is, it may occasionally lead you down a seamy path. Be ready to hit the back button in case you end up some place you shouldn’t be.

Another wonderful web resource is http://www.about.com/
What a fascinating site – one could get lost on there for days. I have found a lot of helpful information on website design, setting up and maintaining a small business, how to do any craft imaginable, blogging, computer maintenance, desktop publishing, cooking techniques, and on and on. Amazing. And it’s free!

One last resource that I’d like to recommend to you is http://www.flylady.net/
It’s kind of a wacky site, but I have found it very helpful for getting my house in order. The “Fly Lady” is touted as being “your personal online coach to help you gain control of your house.” Through barrages of email, she takes you on a journey of tackling your house “zone by zone” and helps you set up a daily, weekly, and monthly cleaning and organization plan that really works. Like I said, the site and her approach are a bit wacky, but I like the results I’ve achieved. I needed direction in this area, and her ideas have given me the structure I needed. My dear husband is very much a “neatie”, and when we decided that I would embark on my home business, I agreed to keep our home neat and orderly. Well, I’m not normally neat and organized, and I’ve failed more often than not in the past. But since I’ve realized that I need to pray about this area of my life, and since I made a commitment to keep on track with the Fly Lady, I am doing so much better.

We certainly blessed to have so many resources at our fingertips.