Don't Forget to Add the Items on This List to Your Expenses

Accounting is one of those things we as creative business owners wish we did not have think about. Unfortunately it is an important part of business.

As we about the half way point of the year, and it's a great time to make sure you have all your receipts to update your accounting forms.

There are things that we do in our business that we may not think of as a business expense, today I have a list of not so common items you want to make sure you are tracking in your business.

• Camera supplies
• Computer fees - hosting, domain names, software, website fees, graphic designs services
• Business and creative books, ebooks, or trainings
• Marketing materials
• Gas to and from shows and business related events
• Classes you take on and offline
• Labels 
• Travel expenses
• Advertising
• Coaching fees
• Show supplies and display materials
• Application fees
• Licenses
• Insurance
• Phone & Internet service
• Meeting expenses - such as food or drinks

When it comes to you creative business you want to track everything related to your business activities.

Tip: Tracking your business profits and expenses on a monthly basis will make preparing your taxes much easier at the end of the year.

Any not so common business expenses you can think? Please share. 

Spring Update

Spring is here! Well at least that's what people are telling me. It's still cold here in Chicagoland and brown. I really can't wait for thing to start greening up and warming up!

This is the time of year people start thinking about Spring cleaning, and transitioning your home to reflect the warmer seasons. 

What about your studio/workspace? 

Do you do give your studio a Spring update? 

This is the perfect time of year to add some color to your studio, open a window (if you have one) for fresh air, rearrange, or bring in some elements to brighten things up.

Don't forget to Spring clean your online business. Click here for tips to get your shop, blog, and social media sites updated for the season.

What do you do to transition your studio/workspace for the Spring season?

Simplify for Less Stress

Make your home less stressful in 2014. The easiest way to to that is to simplify.

Start by going through each room, and making a list of all the things you do in that room. Next decide the functions of the room and how you could make it simpler and function better. Even if you can only do this in one or two rooms it will reduce your stress when you are in those spaces.

Create creative systems for doing your chores, meal planning, shopping, and dealing with everyday necessities. The easier it is to do those things you have to do everyday the calmer your life will be.

Simplifying is a great way to making your life less stressful, relaxing, and peaceful. 

Click here

Your Etsy Shop Reinspired for the Holiday - Bonus Day Rework Your Space

Today's post is full of Inspiration for reworking your creative space to keep you organized and inspired.

Inspiring Spaces

Studio / Office Organization

DIY Organization Ideas

Organization screen

Mail Organizer 

Organizer 

Repurposed Organizer Ideas

Your creative space should reflect your personal style. You want to fill your space with things that inspire you and keep you motivated.

I hope these spaces and ideas got you thinking of ways to rework your studio/office space.

What kind of changes are you going to make to your creative space for the busy holiday season?

Share this inspiring post with your creative social network!

Tips for Creating a Space That will Inspire You

It does not matter if you have a studio dedicated to your craft business or if you work at your dining room table, how you organize and set up your space is all that is important to keep the inspiration flowing.

When you feel inspired you do your best work, so having that feeling every time you want to create will help you produce pieces you love.

Here is a list of ideas for creating an inspiring space.

Create an inspiration board. Make it as big as you want, and then fill it with images that really inspire you. I am lucky to have the space for a large inspiration board right over my desk, but a small collage in a frame that you can move around is an easy option. Click here for ideas to create an inspiration board.

Have a dedicated spot for contemplating your ideas. A comfy chair and some light for sketching and writing is all you need. Using the same spot when you want to regroup and gather your thoughts is good practice. Every time you sit in that spot you will be inspired.

Creative organization will help keep you be ready to create. With so many cool ideas out there for staying organized, you should find a few creative ideas for creating a space that will inspire you to work. Click here for a few ideas for creative organization.

Hang an inspiring quote in view of your work space. Put up your favorite quote, read it often, and make the words part of your everyday life. Try this idea: Put your favorite quote into action

Create rituals that let you know you are ready to start working. Get a cup of tea or coffee, light a candle, pull out the supplies you want to use, take a deep breath, and then start working. Having a daily ritual will trigger your brain that you are ready to work and inspiration will flow. Here are some ideas for creating a creative space.

Choose one or all of these ideas for creating a creative space that inspires you.

What do you have in your space that inspires you?

Are Your Ready to be Completely Organized?

Being organized is what we strive for in our business and in life. 

Being completely organized is relate to efficiency, productivity, and achieving simplicity.

We face challenges trying to achieve total organization. We set up systems to help us get things done, but we don't always stick to them, or the system we create is not really helpful.

Every time my sister comes to town she helps me organize my work space. She is really good at setting up stations for me to do my tasks so I can be more efficient, and I try my hardest to keep it up and stay organized.

Did you know that real organization starts in the minds. Take a moment to contemplate this question:

What excuses are you using that make you fall short of meeting your organizational goals?

Once you have answered that question, you can work on eliminating those excuses from you everyday life and create the systems you need to put in place to meet your organizational goals.

Being organized is a tool that takes you to having a more empowered life.

6 Tips for Preparing Your Online Business for Black Friday and CyberMonday

This month is cruising by and it's hard to believe that Thanksgiving (here in America) is next Thursday (11/22), which means Black Friday and Cyber Monday are quickly approaching.

I usually travel on Black Friday (11/23) and Cyber Monday (11/26) because I did a show in Minneapolis, MN over that weekend, but I decided to not participate this year and I will be home to work my Etsy shop all weekend!

The plan is to have continuous sales all weekend, so I have been reading up on some tips for preparing my Etsy shop for this busy time. I thought I would share a few of the ideas I found helpful.

♦ Are you planning on having a sale? Give yourself enough time to get your shop set up. Don't forget to change your announcements with your offer, and your policy page. Also make sure your titles and tags have all the right keywords so you can easily be found in searches.

♦ Change a few of your tags to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and if you are offering free shipping. Several people will use those as keywords to find shops that are having sales. One tip, you don't need to change your tags on every single item, just a few of your best pieces should do the trick.

♦ Stock up your shop, and build up your inventory. The more items you have the better, and you won't have to worry about making piece during your busy weekend of filling orders.

♦ Prepare a shipping station. Have all the supplies you need ready to go so you can quickly pack orders as you get them.

♦ Create a plan for doing social media, so you know where you want to spend your time and how often you want to post. You don't want having to be on social media suck up all the time in your day.

♦ Don't forget about Shop Local Saturday or Small Business Saturday (11/24). You could have a special sale just for your local customers.

If you are prepared, you will be busy all weekend and have some fun. Planning ahead is a great way to make sure you are ready for lots of sales and a successful holiday weekend!

Are you ready for Black Friday and Cyber Monday?

3 Simple Ways to Stop Procrasting

Procrastination small screen print spiral sketchbook

I will admit it, I am a procrastinator.

Procrastination is part of our lives, we do some form of procrastination everyday. When you have a big project or lot of things to accomplish, procrastination does not help you reach your goal.


I found three easy ways to help avoid procrastination:

Turn Everything Off - Shut down your email, Facebook, Twitter, even your phone. Set a time limit to get your project done and get to work. This is my favorite, and I need to do it more often.

Set 3 Goals for the day - Choose three things you need to get done, two small goals and one big one. Start working and cross them off as you go. When your done take a break, you deserve it. For me, it helps to have the small things to cross off for a sense of accomplishment for the day.

Stop what your doing - Walking away and doing something like walking the dog, cleaning your house, or just reading a book will help to clear your mind to start again. This one really works. When I walk away from the computer and take a break, when I come back I am ready to go.

Want more tips on how to avoid procrastination? Check out 5 Tips to avoid Procrastination and  What type of procrastinator are you?

What do you do to avoid procrastination?

Big Risks

I am thrilled to tell you I am finally done with my wholesale order. 400 pieces are packed, shipped, and off to Arizona.

I can't show you the pieces yet, but as soon as the website launches I will share the link.

Taking this order was a big risk for my business. 

I knew I would still have to work on orders that came through Etsy and my shows coming up (I have one this Saturday). So in the mist of making all the pieces for the order, I had to build up my inventory for my shows, and Etsy.

This experience really challenged how I do business, and my time management skills. It inspired a few new ideas for organizing my business, and I will be working on those over the next few weeks.

I will share these ideas with you closer to the end of the year, as I use my new system and make it an effective part of my business.

Taking on this project was risky, but it gave me a greater belief in myself and my business and I now I know I can handle anything that comes my way.

What risks have you taken in you business?

What do you want to try but you don't think your ready for?

Planning for the Busy Season

I can't believe it's August already. 

Back-to-School is in full swing, which means summer is winding down and everyone is in planning mode for Fall.

I'm still in the middle of making jewelry like a crazy woman for my huge wholesale order due this month, but I have the up coming holiday season on my mind.

This is the perfect time of year to start planning for the busy holiday season.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Build up your inventory
• Print your marketing materials (business cards, tags, fliers...)
• Revamp you studio for a more efficient work space
• Research blogs and websites to feature your work and to advertise
• Create a marketing plan for the holidays

Being prepared makes a big difference when you are busy creating, packing, and shipping holiday orders. My first holiday season I was so unprepared.

By the second holiday season I learned what I needed to do and I had all my packing materials, tags, boxes, business cards, and postal supplies, cut, organized, and stored for easy accesses. I even created a shipping station in my studio to make it easier to pack multiple orders all at once.

A little planning goes a long way in having a successful season. As you prepare for Back-to-School, don't forget to prepare for your business too.

What do you do to prepare for the busy season?

What Would You do Differently?

When I started my business, I was kind of flying by the seat of our pants. I read lots of info on having an online business, but I didn't know what to expect. With a little planning my business might be different today.

If I had to start my business over today, I would do things a little differently. 

I would plan a little more, by writing down what I want to achieve and having specific goals. I would also have a plan for growing my business and a way to track my success. Over the last 3 1/2 years I have grown my business, and now have goals and plans in place, but sometimes I think of where I could be if I had started my business a little more organized.

What about you, If you had to start your business over what would you do differently?

Your Creative Space - Re-invent your Storage

We are always looking for space to store our supplies. Your creative space does not have to be boring and full of plastic bins. Today I have ideas for using everyday items and turning them into unique storage options for your creative space.

Click here for a huge selection of ideas for using tin cans

peg board 

Simple idea and practical

Check out these creative ideas

Simple and very cool - create any configuration you want

Access to pallets - great shelf idea

What have you recycled to store your creative supplies?

Is it Time to Re-vamp Your Creative Business?

If you have been in business for years or just a few months it's always good to look at your business closely every few months,  and see what you can re-vamp to make your business function at it's best.

When you are doing the evaluation of your business, their are several area you should consider:

Re-think how you feel about your business - Do you like what you do? Are you making the money you need to make? What is working? What is not working? Are you inspired by your business?

Re-vamp your physical environment - How is your work space, Are your comfortable in your space? What can you do to make your space the perfect working environment? Do you like the color? Is it organized the way you want?

Re- inspire your products - Are your products moving as quickly as you want them too? Do you need to find a new source of inspiration? Does your product have more then one use? Can you market it differently? Do you like it?

Re-design your shop, blog, and social media - Is it time to create a new banner and avatar? How are your Etsy shop sections? Do you need to update your tags and titles? Is your blog drawing the readers you want? Are you writing content that inspires you and your readers? Are you on social media sites you enjoy?

Refresh yourself - Do you have a daily routine? Are you taking care of yourself? Do you have positive thoughts about your business daily?

Don't limit yourself to just these questions. As you start answering questions new ones will come up, make sure you write those down as well. When you are done with the question answering process, create a list of all the thing you want to change.

Don't try to change everything at once, work slowly. Choose one or two projects, put the action steps on your to-do list and work on them until they are complete.

Reevaluate you changes after a month and then again at 6 months. Make sure everything is working to your satisfaction. Make any changes necessary, and watch the business you love grow.

Going through this process will get you thinking about your business, how you can make it better, explore new ideas, and get inspired to make the changes you need for your success.

When was the last time you re-evaluated your business?

Blogging Journal

One inch 3 ring Oil Cloth Covered Binders by rbtbags

Yesterday was the last day of Inspired Success Week, and it was a week full of ideas to create a better blog. Today I want to encourage you to keep a blogging journal.

I use a 3 ring binder with a blogging calendar, my weekly blog plan, and some lined paper to jot down my ideas. I have learned that if I don't write my ideas down right away it's forgotten forever. So when I read something or see something that I want to share on my blog it goes in my blogging journal.

Three Ring Planner Covers set of two linen blue by CrownBindery

Having the ideas written down gives me the opportunity to expand on my ideas, research as needed, and create an outline for my posts.

Sometimes all I have to do is page through my notes and a word or sentence will inspire me and I can sit and write a post off the top of my head.

Chalkboard Notebook & Chalk Binder Notebook by ArtisanPost

Keeping my blogging journal has really helped me save time with the blogging process. Writing a post 5 - 6 days a week can be challenging. My journal is what I use so the process of writing a blog is more of a pleasure then a pain.

Start a blogging journal and see how much time it will save you in your blogging process.

Do you have a blogging journal?

Your Creative Space - Inspiration Boards

Inspiration is an important part of our creative process. When we create we want to have inspiration around us to keep us inspired.

One of the best ways to stay inspired is to have an inspiration board in your creative space. Creating an inspiration board is easy. It can be as simple as pinning your sources of inspiration to your wall or a board, or you can get creative. Check out these unique ideas for creating an inspiration board in you space.

Source: 7thhouseontheleft.com via Tamsyn on Pinterest

A cork board painted to match your space.

Source: flickr.com via - SAND on Pinterest

Wire stretched across your wall. You can use clips or mini cloths pins to display your items.

Source: ohhellofriendblog.com via - SAND on Pinterest

Burlap covered cork or foam core with a wood frame.

Source: prettyhandygirl.com via Laurie on Pinterest

Use an old window and fill each pane with chalk board, cork board, magnet board, or pin board.

Source: gussysews.com via Carol on Pinterest

Wire wrap a frame to create space to clip on your inspiration.

Source: soc.li via Candace on Pinterest

Use clip boards to hold your inspiration. This is a easy way to change your inspiration often.

Source: madebylova.wordpress.com via Rosanna on Pinterest

Use a large cork board sectioned off with different papers. Each section can be for different ideas or projects.

Source: bhg.com via Ashley on Pinterest

A piece of household tin can be a magnet inspiration board.

You can also keep your ideas in a notebook or put together mini inspiration boards for new ideas and blog post ideas. Click the document to print out mini inspiration boards.

Click here 

It does not matter the size of your space you can always find a way to keep what inspires you close.

Do you have an inspiration board?