Embellishing

I need a job.  You know, a real one that pays.  With almost no income, I've really started to notice how quickly my financial reserves evaporate.  How do I spend so much?  And I need money invest in my business before I can expect to make a profit.  Supplies, advertising, etc. don't pay for themselves!

Here's the problem:  I don't really want a job.  Do I even have time for one?  Sure, I may not have posted a blog entry in weeks or listed any new cards in the online shop in over a month, but I've been really busy doing.......something?  Let's see...I do crossword puzzles, I read a lot of books, I watch a lot of TV (Don't judge, it's fall premiere season!), and I've even started going to the gym.

Anyone who has know me for a while knows how funny it is that I've started going to the gym.  I've been staunchly opposed to organized exercise for the better part of my life.  And yet now you can me tripping over steps, getting barbells caught in my shoelaces, and performing off-rhythm jumping jacks in the back of a class several times a week.  Am I really so desperate not work that I'll actually work out?  Maybe a little.  But I hope the real answer is something a bit deeper.

I was considering this question this weekend while I finally got my butt back to work.  I sat at my desk for hours on Saturday sewing tiny glass beads onto greeting cards and wondering why I let myself get so behind.  This is what I came up with:

1.  I need a stronger needle to work with.  For serious, I think I ruined mine.  This is what it looks like now:

2.  Some of my best ideas come when I'm not trying to "work."  For example, while visiting my grandfather I came up with a line of "glimpse into your future" birthday cards.  The idea is to develop several different characters and a quiz to help you determine what kind of old person you or your friends will be.  Hopefully no one will be offended by it since its my way of coping with my grandfather's Alzheimer's.  But the point is that my life fuels my work.  When I stop participating in life, my creative energy dries up.

So here is my new outlook:  with every action I take, I am sewing a bead onto my business.  Or maybe I'm adding glitter, or making a little wire flower bouquet.  The point is, I'm adding embellishment.  Yes, we could make cards with no embellishment and it would be efficient and sensible and cut down on postage.  But they wouldn't be as fun and pretty, and they wouldn't fully reflect me and Ashley.  And yes, I could work more efficiently.  I could skip the brunches and the crossword puzzles, put the books down, and even give up the joys of Body Pump class.  But what can I say?  My life needs sparkle!

By the way, check out www.JAGreetingss.etsy.com later this week.  Our new embellished holiday cards should be up in the next 2-3 days!

And also, I still need to find a stupid job.  Sigh.