Empress Bat's Journal: motivate

Showing posts with label motivate. Show all posts

Welcome 2015!

Hello Batlings, and welcome to 2015!

ANNOUNCEMENTS

(1) This year I am very excited to announce that Empress Bat's Journal has a wonderful guest blogger on board who will be sharing her wit and wisdom with you all as the muse takes her! You may know her from the Madam Monstrous blog, she also blogs on Zentangle Creations; she is a great person and I am really happy that she has accepted my invitation to be a guest blogger for Empress Bat's Journal.

(2) Last year I participated in the Documented Life Project (DLP) 2014; this year I have decided to double the creative projects I am participating in, so I shall be actively involved in creating pages in the Documented Life Project 2015, PLUS the Creative Every Day challenge! My DLP pages will be shared on this page and my Pinterest Board for DLP as usual, and the Creative Every Day challenge will be in a blog post each month or so with the subject line: CREATIVE EVERY DAY: <Month>: <Theme>.

(3) As promised in my December 2014 blog post I will share with you all my resolutions/goals for 2015 and I will monitor and review them through-out the year to see how I am proceeding with them. Feel free to share your resolutions in the comments of this post too! Publicly promising to achieve a goal and reviewing your progress is a handy tool to keep you on track!

MY GOALS FOR 2015

Write
Organise
Create
Positive
Improve

Write:

I will blog on here and/or my Alternative Therapies Blog and/or my Herbalism website at least once a week.
I will actively keep a journal where I write at least a paragraph of either fact or fiction every day!

Organise:

I will organise my time effectively to be able to fit in all my projects and volunteer activities, and my hobby business, and my studies, and my fulltime job without exhausting myself and ensuring I have time to relax and ..just be!
I will organise my stuff: I will stop hoarding and cluttering!

Create:

I will actively participate in creative projects
I will design and create items to sell in my etsy store and via my Facebook Page
I will play music (whichever instrument I feel like playing at the time)
I will draw, just for fun

Positive:

I will keep supporting small home, family run, and hobby business to be a positive force in keeping cottage industry alive!
I will continue Project Funmail to bring some happiness, smiles, and positivity to the days of others.
I will do things for myself and be mindful that I am a worthwhile part of the universe and deserve good things too

Improve:

I will take steps to improve my hobby business
I will complete at least two tertiary qualifications this year
I will exercise more and look after myself
I will be organised
I will stay free of clutter
(clutter is a common theme here.. i have OCD and tend to hoard...)

Having said all that...all that is left for me to say in today's blog post is: may your year be full of wonder, happiness, and imagination!

............................................................................................................... Please visit me on etsy! www.etsy.com/shop/empressbat handcrafted gothic goodies at bargain prices. see me on etsy! www.etsy.com/shop/empressbat ...Please visit me on etsy! www.etsy.com/shop/empressbat handcrafted gothic goodies at bargain prices. see me on etsy! www.etsy.com/shop/empressbat

DIY decorative storage box: Part Two of the 'Organise and Beautify' saga

In 2012 I sorted and stashed my craft supplies oh so neatly after my husband bought me an awesome shelving unit from Ikea...... however, with working fulltime, studying, trying to maintain the usual household chores, designing and creating jewellery and other things to sell on etsy, and all the other things I do, my craftroom/study/office/hang out has become sadly neglected.

I decided that if the room looked nice and welcoming, and had plenty of storage containers and shelving, it would be easier for me to keep it decluttered and organised.

Step one for me then, is to get some nice storage containers..

I looked at the boxes I use to stash craft supplies and magazines in, they are functional, strong, and..oh so drab!

I don't know about you dear Batling readers, but I cannot afford to buy the latest and greatest in new trendy storage crates. So I had a look around my chaotic craft room, and found I have quite a stash of previously used and kept wrapping paper, as well as glue, tape, all sorts of things that I could use to make my ho hum storage boxes look less utility and more..well..me.

I gathered my supplies, scissors, glue, tape, old strong box (the one I complained about being drab), old wrapping paper, and ooooh some Martha Stewart/Avery bookplates I forgot I had!!!(see what happens when you start decluttering? you find cool things!)

I went over the box and its lid to ensure they were intact, and used some thick masking tape on areas of the box that looked like they needed reinforcement. I then painted the box with a very thing coat of Modge Podge that had been diluted in water, to prime the cardboard.

After the coat of diluted Modge Pode (it is basically a very thick PVA glue) had dried, I sprayed the box with spray adhesive and wrapped it in the re-used wrapping paper. (just like wrapping a pressy!)

I used an Exacto knife to cut out where the hand hold holes are in the box, and then wrapped these with clear tape to reinforce them.

Starting to look rather nice.. if I say so myself.

I didn't want the box lid to have the same paper on it, I felt that made it a wee bit too twee, so I hunted around some more in the chaos of my craft room, and found some old wrapping paper in almost the same design but in opposite colours!!

I then prepared and covered the box lid the same as I had for the box.

After it all dried I sprayed a thin coat of semi gloss varnish over it all to help strengthen and preserve the new look box, and stuck the Martha Stewart/Avery bookplate on it.

I am very happy with this box!!! It has the Gothic/Baroque look that I really love.

Now to do more sorting out of my room!

For inspiration I visit I heart Organizing, a very motivating and informative blog!

If you have any great storage ideas, DIY boxes or anything else that may help me in my goal to declutter and get organised I would LOVE to hear your ideas! Please feel free to let me know about them in the comments section below!

Tips for motivation and inspiration

I have been creative for as long as I can recall sentience, however there are times when I just cannot make anything, design anything, think..of anything. Considering i have a small hobby business that sells the things i create, it is a bit of a drag if i can't motivate or inspire creativity within myself!

Stay positive!
Easier said than done, however if you train your thoughts to turn things around to think of them in a more positive way, or as a healthy challenge to overcome, then this can help in a small way to bring your inspiration and motivation back. Do not take on the stress or nasty thoughts of other people, and choose happiness. Nothing kills inspiration and motivation as quickly as depressive thoughts!

Do something different
Are you making something out of clay and the clay just will not take the shape you can see in your head and you are telling yourself you are useless and why on earth did you believe you could do this? Then step away from the bench!! Go for a walk, read a book, smell the roses, and do something different. Then go back to the clay after your mind is refreshed.

Refocus
Okay so the gorgeous hand knitted bags you re making are just not selling?? Refocus, have a look around market stalls, chat to people, see what is online, and find out what people want at this moment! Refocus and make something else for a while. Knit bags aren't selling, what about knitted scarves for winter instead?
Keep trying different things, find a good seller, and work with that, intersperse other items to sell, but keep your main saleable item a constant!.

What tips do you have to stay inspired and motivated?
What tips do you have to sale the things you make?

Feel free to comment!

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