Lettergirl

Saying goodbye (and hello).

The past year has contained a few business-y goodbyes for me:  first my workspace:  goodbye basement, hello studio; then my business name:  goodbye Dreamland, hello Gina Sekelsky Studio LLC; now my blog:  goodbye Typepad, hello Wordpress.  (If you go to that link, there's not much there yet.  I'm still working on my first post...it's a bit daunting.)

All of these goodbyes have been moving me in a positive direction, but they're still bittersweet.  I worked in the basement for TEN years, and even though I started feeling really claustrophobic down there by the end, it was still the site of many (many) creative moments.  It's where I painted my first handstitched garment, where I made hundreds of holiday cards and wrote thousands of stamps.

And I'm still second-guessing the name switch, to some extent.  I am glad I did it, I feel more settled somehow.  But a few long-time clients have mentioned that they miss it...and that makes me miss it too.

But the move to my new blog site?  I can get behind that 100%.  A clean slate, a fresh start, a chance to be more intentional when I'm posting.  Remember the comments from January's giveaway?  I really took your words to heart.  Now the question is, how can I maintain that drive -- when I'm busy, when I'm tired, when I can't think of what to write, when it's two years from now?

There are only a handful of blogs I read with any regularity, and it's easy to pinpoint what keeps me coming back.  (In fact, after I wrote that, I went and looked at all three of them, got a little distracted and now it's ten minutes later.)  I want my blog to be one that you read.  I want to inspire you and encourage you and show you neat stuff I've made.  And have a written/visual history of my creative life. I want to let you in to my world a bit more, since I am constantly juggling my work life/family life/personal life.  And you are too, right?  So why not write about that the next time I'm sharing a recipe or a quotation that matters to me?

I'll post the forwarding address again when it's all official.  Thank you for spending the last five years with me, and here's to continuing our conversation!

Friday wrap-up.

On Monday, I didn't realize how hectic this week would be; on the upside, it was ordinary hectic, so I'm grateful for that, and I'm pretty happy that we didn't get 13 inches of snow on Wednesday night like my mom and sister, who don't live too far from here.  But still, here it is Friday and there are many things circled on my to-do list that I just didn't get to.  (My friend Beth uses a ta-da list instead, for the things she managed to get done.  I'm definitely going to figure out a way to work that in somehow.)

Destiny, I have read All Over but the Shoutin', only years ago so it's pretty vague.  Maybe I need to consider a re-read of that one myself!

CJ, I think you should add The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society to your list of happy books, if it's not already on there.

What I'll be doing today:

*artwork to commemorate my 21 years as Dreamland Designs (which ended on Tuesday this week)

*reading a post or two on Dinner: A Love Story

*five-minute good morning snuggle with my 12-year-old (whose birthday was Monday)

*working from home for part of the morning since my wireless disappeared at the studio on Wednesday

*stretching to work out the kinks from two intense kettlebells classes this week

*catching up on Glee with my daughter tonight

How about you?

 

Big changes!

Last week I was listening to a roundtable discussion on mpr about "what I wish I'd known when I was starting as an artist."  The very first thing they recommended (or the first bit I heard, anyway) was Define success for yourself:  does it mean fame? wealth? making lots of stuff? getting published? having lots of clients?  And of course I thought, I wish I'd done that when I was starting.

Then I realized I had defined success for myself, in a way.  Early on, I used to say, "I just want to get to do this for a long time."  I didn't say it out loud much because part of me felt like that was a cop out, a way to settle, to not take risks.  If I said success meant staying in it for the long haul, then I wouldn't have to bother with the drive to be bigger.  I can't say how many times I've struggled with that over the last twenty years:  should I be trying harder? should I be reaching more people?  should I be striving to make enough money to send my kids to college (gulp)?

Then just when I'm feeling overwhelmed, I remember that I've made choices along the way:  choices that allow me to make the after school snack every day, to read companionably beside my husband at night, to buy my groceries in the middle of the day, to get to do this for a long time.

Most days I don't dwell on either side of that coin, I just keep putting one foot in front of the other.  In May, I'll celebrate 21 years in business (woot, woot, that's a long time!).  I'll also celebrate my first day with a brand new business name.  On April 30th, I'll say goodbye to Dreamland Designs, and on May 1st I'll say hello to Gina Sekelsky Studio, LLC.  My husband gave me the name Dreamland in the first place, as a nod to my rich inner life.  I worked with hundreds of local clients in the 1990's under the name Dreamland, and later with national clients through my wholesale line.  When stationery stores started closing left & right, I decided to try my hand at etsy; the name Dreamland was already taken so I plucked lettergirl out of thin air, having no idea how much my etsy shop would come to mean to me.  (Incidentally, I will be keeping the name lettergirl, and making it more official from a business organization standpoint.)  Now that I am expanding into new ways of sharing my art (trunk show!), I wanted a name that encompasses everything I do. 

Along with the new business name, I'll have a brand new website and a new blog home.  Stay tuned for details!

Spotted on vacation: admirable work ethic.

I wish I could always take 2 weeks of vacation.  It really takes me the first five days to sink into it:  going with the flow, leaving the expectations behind, appreciating the pace & lack of schedule.

Twice during my week in southwest Florida, I was drawn to noticing someone's work ethic.  I'm quirky that way.  Seeing someone get it right makes me feel all tingly.

The first was J.N. Ding Darling, whose studio is recreated at the wildlife refuge on Sanibel Island.  In addition to being an ecologist, he drew thousands of political cartoons in his career.  (I think it was over 15,000.)  I got the shivers when I read about him at the exhibit -- maybe because it was earlier in the week and my brain was seeking structure, maybe it was my obsession lately with being more prolific.  (I've been dwelling on that for weeks now.  Another post or two on that for sure.)

The second was the first base coach at the Class A ball game we went to on Saturday night.  (The Minnesota Twins train at Fort Myers in the spring, but we arrived the very day they left for the regular season.  Luckily we could still catch a minor league game at their field.)  I always feel naive when I realize how many jobs there are that I've never considered, and here was this guy doing one of those jobs and into it.  Work was getting me down a bit before we left on vacation -- just the constant need to be thinking ahead when you're self-employed (which was a heck of a lot easier in 1992 when I started, than it is now in 2013).  Seeing someone so in tune with his job, so right for it, reminded me that I am right for mine too.

Today is the last day to enter my quote giveaway on facebook.  The comments make for some yummy reading!

Coming soon: a trunk show!

Now, this is a bit of a stretch for me.  As you know, I like the big huzzah of showing projects when they're all done:  look at this! isn't it awesome? it's almost like magic!

Today I'm going to share an idea I've been mulling over for the past six weeks, but which I'm ready to make real.  (Posting it here makes it real, right?)  I'm planning a trunk show of my hand-stitched garments here at my studio in St. Paul.  Skirts and scarves and shawls and anything else I can stitch up between now and October.

But I'm a just a bit nervous about pulling this off.  My heart is in it.  What if I fail?  So true to my nature, I've made a little chart to remind me of the who's (who can help me, in the periwinkle color), why's (why I'm excited, in the blue-green color), and what if's (what I'm afraid of, in the sort-of-yellow color).  And now that I've done it, I'm going to tuck it away in my Circa notebook and get back to the less-scary part:  making stuff that's worth having.

Strategies for success, in a nutshell.

Success, part 8.

I'm definitely going to have to set aside time tomorrow for tidying the studio.

Relax.

One of the hardest things for me when I have some open studio time is to not jam-pack every minute with projects and items from my to-do list.  It's essential for me (and you?) to take some time off in the midst of creating and do something completely different.  For me, that means lunch with a friend or kettlebell class or reading a book in the middle of the afternoon.  Even reading a book while I eat my lunch or taking a walk around the block refreshes my mind.

I also hope to have some planned inspiration/investigation time when I get back to my regular schedule.  (I am my own boss, right?)  Rather than getting distracted by a link in a website or a gallery review, I want to figure out the way to balance that curiosity with the rest of my active day.  Save it for my Brilliant Idea Hour?  That would mean keeping a list...hmm, I may be on to something there.

Tomorrow I'll sum up all my strategies for success, and then next week I'll reopen the shop on Tuesday with a giveaway.  I've got more than 5 new stamp designs on the way!

 

Success, parts 5-6-7.

Set a timer.

Now, I'm usually not a procrastinator.  I love my work and I love to organize; those two things fit together very nicely, thank you.  But faced with a whole day to do whatever kind of work I want?  I dither.  I resort to list-writing.  I snack.  That was my day on Monday:  a little of this, a little of that, but not a whole lot of anything.  So on Tuesday, I set the timer.  You've got 2 hours to work on this project.  Then 2 hours for this one.  A deadline is not a bad thing.  (It also helped that I started my day with exercise and companionship.)

Keep a journal. 

This year I'm pondering:  What is success?  What does it mean to thrive?  I've started a journal so I can jot my ideas down as they come to me.  I'm also giving some serious thought to working through The Artist's Way.   A friend in the Magic Wand Collective leads an Artist's Way workshop, but I may just start in with the morning pages now.  Tomorrow!

Pay it forward.

I'm trying to figure out how I can get more flat-out creative time into every single day.  I'm thinking of adding The Brilliant Idea Hour to my daily schedule:  an hour set aside each day to work out whatever brilliant idea I can't wait to try.  And if I didn't have a brilliant idea that day, I could play.  Or watch a video on creative living (like Good Life Project).  How do you get creative?  What fuels your fire? 

Success, part 4.

Music (or not).

When I am really in the heat of creating, I prefer silence; anything else is distracting to me.  When I'm cleaning, or coloring, or stitching, then bring on the music.  Lately, I've been listening to the original soundtrack to Les Mis, but after seeing the new movie, I bought the new soundtrack as well.    (I loved the movie, but I think the soundtrack is better suited to the film than it is to listening independently.)  I usually like music that I know so well I can sing along (a little harder with the thin walls in my new studio). 

Home is a different story.  My husband puts on something new every single night, as soon as he gets home.  I'm grateful for his eclectic taste.  Lately it's old 12-inch singles on the turntable, perfect for making dinner or washing dishes.

How about you:  music, or not?

Success, part 3.

Do your homework.

Last year during my play-week, my intent was really to play, to make stuff.  Then I found myself running out to get things, or wishing I had ordered custom fabric in advance -- so that I had it in my hands to play with.  (Instead I spent part of the week creating the custom fabric -- fun, but then when the fabric came in, I had to wait awhile before I had a chunk of time to make something with it.)

This year it's a little of both.  I've created a few new designs on Spoonflower, which I'll be telling you more about in my next newsletter.  I carved out time here and there in January to make them, I ordered them last week, and I'm hoping they'll be here by the end of next week so I can play with them.  I'm also noodling on yet another Spoonflower project, so I can enjoy the front-end of the process during this time too, even if I have to wait to put it together.

Of course, it's a fine line between being preparing and procrastinating.  Writing lists, stocking up on Good & Plenty (which is what I meant when I said "have the right food"), and getting your supplies in order are all great ways to stoke your fire -- but only if they add to your creative energy.  What do you do to get ready to be creative?  Clean your studio?  Buy new colored pencils?  Jump in?