I've got a plan ... Stan

I'm know I'm not the only one that works best under pressure.  

Take bead fairs for example, they're usually in my diary at least 6 months in advance and the sensible approach would be to start stashing bead stock away from the outset.  Ha!  Check me out 3 weeks before a fair and the frown lines are appearing, I'm starting to lay a few bits away.  A week later and I realise that 4 sets and a couple of focals are going to put on a pretty poor show on that six foot table, so I get much more serious and get my "production" head on.  Fast forward another week and I finally get my act together: emails go unanswered, commissions start to pile up, the house is uncleaned, the washing is unwashed and the only time I come up for air is to walk bluddy dog.  Instead of spending most of the day fiddling about cleaning beads, photographing beads, looking at photographs of beads (blah beads blah blah beads) I actually get stuck right in to making beads, from early in the morning till late at night and I fall into bed exhausted, satisfied and excited to open the kiln next morning.  I get deep deep deep into "the zone" and I LOVE IT!


Thing is, I don't do many bead fairs any more (although watch out for my next post when I tell you what I'm going to be doing instead).


I stopped doing bead fairs for a number of reasons, but one thing that always happened, whether it was a great fair, a so-so fair or a downright dead fair, I would slog back down the motorway, unload the car, put everything away, photograph all those unsold beads, get em up on the website like fresh sheets on the line - and get the most satisfaction from posting them out to my lovely customers all over the world.  


But since I stopped selling at so many bead fairs, I've missed indulging in that period of concentrated production, and I just end up grabbing good studio days when I can, uploading a few listings here and there in dribs and drabs and constantly berating myself for being a bit rubbish and never getting enough done; even though I seem to be always running round in disorganised circles.


So its time to get organised!  And tell you about my plan!

Listing Day! A kind of virtual bead fair, once a month, on the 1st of every month to be precise (or as near as possible), no need to buy a ticket or look for a parking space :0)

For the last week of every month I hereby promise to get In The Zone. Dib dib dib! Steam will once again be seen coming out of my studio till the wee small hours and my bead stash will grow like it used to.  I'll send an email to my mailing list members (sign up on my home page) to remind you of Listing Day and I will restock my virtual shelves on the 1st of every month for at least the first few months of 2012.    

Let's see how it goes, shall we?!


P.S. Don't forget, if you want to be reminded of Listing Day, sign up to my mailing list and keep me informed if you change email address.


P.P.S. A month is a long time, so I'm bound to list new items for sale on my website or in my Etsy shop at other times too, but I aim to give this monthly mega-upload a good go!

Tag!

I fell in love with this photo that popped up in my Flickr contacts by Russian artist, Sasha Kulakova, recently.

The simple shapes, the bright contrasting colours, so stylish and just crying out to be made in glass.  

Sasha was really pleased to have inspired me, so she took up the challenge and recreated my Poppin' Buttons

Wow!  Crochet?! Incredible!

I just couldn't leave it there though - Ring Toppers!

Playing Tag! like this has been brilliant fun, I'd love to hear if anybody else has been inspired across media in a similar way.

Do check out Sasha's photostream and blog, her work is beautiful.  I'm loving her stress relief cats and funky birds ... black, white, orange, mmmmmm ...