DIY Friday - Create Your Own Maxi Skirt

I love when longer skirts are in style. The maxi skirt is one of my favorites, and their are so many options for creating your own. Even if you have limited sewing skills check out the links, it is easier than you think to create your own maxi skirt.

Duni's Studio Hippy Maxi Skirt

Maxi Dress

Easy Knit Skirt

The 10 minute Maxi

One stitch maxi

tiered Maxi

Do you like to wear maxi skirts?

Master List

Tuesdays post asked the question what has been stopping you from meeting your monetary goals, now that you know what is stopping you it's time to create the list to help you generate ideas for what to do next.

Coming up with new ideas to increase your income can sometimes be the hardest part of growing your business. If that is the case for you it's time to create your master list.

Master List

Make a list of all the ways you can make money. List everything, don't edit. List things you never thought you could do, things that seem scary, things you think are too expensive to start, just list everything. Then put the list aside and come back to it in a couple of days and add more ideas. You can continually add to your list for as long as you are running your business.

This list is going to become your go to list when you need to make some extra money, are ready to grow your business, or need to make a change in your business. It is as simple as reading over your list, picking a couple of ideas, research what you need to learn, and incorporating these new ideas into your business plan.

The process of creating your list is simple, and over time it will become an important part of generating ideas for your business.

Do you have a master list?

Inspiration for Mother's Day

Mother's Day will be here before you know it, and time to start thinking about what you want to get the Mom's in your family (or maybe for yourself). I have been getting lots of inspiration from Etsy, these Etsy artist have lots to offer, click on their shop links and check them out.

Chamomile French Roses and Lavender Organic Tea by namastea

Embroidered Love Pillow by bluebellsandbunting

Personalized Engraved Wood cutting Board by woodink

Mom Necklace Heart Charm by GlowWish

Green Painted Flower Vase by MichaelDanielMetal

Crochetted Daisy Flower Bag by NzLbags

Body Butter Neapolitan Creamy Body butter by PuraGioia

Teacup Candle by pinkfence

Will you be doing handmade for Mother's Day?

Money Talk

Making money, is the ultimate goal. We may be creating and selling our creations as a hobby for extra pocket money, or we may be working our business to support ourselves. Whatever the reason, we set monetary goals to inspire us to keep moving forward and making money.

I know for myself, I always set goals with a plan to have an increase over the previous year. Sometimes I make the number and sometimes I don't. I know if I did a few things differently, or worked a little harder I could do better at meeting my goals.

Ask yourself this:
What has been stopping me from meeting my monetary goals?

Making a list of what is holding you back is a great way to see the areas you need to work on, and what needs to change.

While you are working on this list, it's also the perfect time of year to look over your goals and make sure you are on track to make your monetary goals. That way if you need to make some changes, now is a great time. There is still a lot of time for adjustments, for you to meet your yearly goal.

When was the last time you thought about your monetary goals?

Motivation Monday

I struggle with #3, but try to work on it everyday. What number do you need to work on?

DIY Friday - Earring for Spring

Earrings are the easiest way to dress up an outfit, why not create your own and get exactly what you want. Even if you don't make jewelry, give these ideas a try they are easy and fun to make.

Shrink Film earrings

Paint chip earrings

Paper Dot earrings

Embroidery Thread earrings

Update old earring by adding bright colored nail polish

Recycled plastic earrings

Lace earrings

What kind of earrings do you like to wear in the Spring?

Switch Gears

When you have been working on something for a long time or you're trying to come up with some new ideas and you get stuck, why not try switching gears.

Stop trying to come up with ideas and start with the technical side of your project. Switching to a new task is a great way to get your creative juices flowing, and thinking about the technical side of things will give you a little insight into your working process and help you see new options.

All you need to do is create a list of all the steps involved in what you are working on, down to the littlest details. Then create a flowchart from where you start your project, your action steps, the decisions you have to make, and where you need to stop.

When you are done with your flowchart you should feel the creative juices flowing back, not to mention you now have a tutorial for your project that you could use in the future.

If you really want to challenge yourself create your list of steps starting from the end and working your way back to the beginning.

Working on the technical side of your project is a great way to get inspired.

Have you ever listed all the steps involved in creating your art?

Artist to Know - Robert Longo

Today's artist to know works with charcoal. All of the artwork featured are drawings, even though they look like amazing photographs.

Robert Longo

Robert Longo was born in 1953 in Brooklyn, New York and raised in Long Island. He had a childhood fascination with mass media: movies, television, magazines, and comic books, which continue to influence his art today.

Although he studied sculpture, drawing remained Longo's favorite form of self-expression. Longo's "portraits" have a distinctive chiseled line that seems to give the drawings a three-dimensional quality.

Longo projects photographs of his subjects onto paper and traces the figures in graphite, removing all details of the background. After he records the basic contours, his long-time illustrator, Diane Shea, works on the figure for about a week, filling in the details. Next, Longo goes back into the drawing, using graphite and charcoal to provide finishing details.

His work has been displayed in museums all over the world, in books, magazines, film, and on an album cover. See more of his work on his website.