Athena Dreams Design

A Start to Re-Defining Success

I've been thinking a lot these past months about success. I've spent time with friends in conversation about success and what it means to us. How we define it as a culture. How I define it for myself. How the idea of success can creep in and change a moment, and how we all have our own measuring stick for what success is for us.

This past weekend I went to a Battle of the Bands at a local high school with my husband. One of his private music students was in one of the bands playing. There were some great bands, and there were also some nervous kids and some false starts and some out notes, but overall it was a truly great night. I sat there in the audience listening to each band play there 3 or 4 songs: some covers, mixed in with some originals and I felt gratitude.

I felt gratitude to each and every one of the kids that got up there to share their gifts, their passion, their excitement and their hopes of winning because it reminded me that I am on this path to do the same; to share with others what drives me to create, and keep creating. It's the winning that I sometimes trip over, the idea that in the process of working towards a creative goal there may be a winner and there may be a loser.

And I might be the loser.

I might not get into a show in a gallery I've always wanted to show at, one of my illustrations might not get picked for the poster that I was competing for, my design work might not get accepted by a publisher that I so hoped to work with, and etc.

Watching those kids jump around on stage, playing music together, having fun and sharing their hearts, I thought: wow, this is success. It's the trying for something and following through. Win or lose. Good or bad.

For me personally, I am looking at re-defining what success is, and that doesn't necessarrily include huge licensing deals or a solo show in a big gallery. It does, however, mean trying for something and following through. Would I turn down a big show or a great deal? Of course not, I'm not crazy. If I don't get either does that make me a failure? Not even close.

Every day I get up and try for something, even if it's just settling down the ugly voices in my head, or cleaning my studio because I can't find my favourite drawing pencil. Each day I get up and think about the projects I have on the table or on the computer monitor or on the easel and I'm excited to dive in and solve a problem or finish up a project that's just about there and make notes on the new ideas I gather during the creative process.

Every day I show up in my own life, on my own creative path and I create, and I've made my living this way for a lot of years now. So the beginnings of my own personal redefinition of success equals going for something and following through.

My husband's student's band rocked that high school auditorium and had people up on their feet yelling and clapping and waving lit up cell phones in time with the beat. The crowd was yelling encore encore as they finished their last song.

They didn't win.

Were they successful? Damn straight they were.

May 2012 .:. Biz Goals

I completed several of the many goals in April, (yay) and you will find the Biz Goals post happening over here!

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IF you are new to The Meetup or would like to play along, here's the scoop:

• Post a list of your business related goals for the current month on the 1st of each month on your blog. {If the 1st falls on a weekend, post on the following Monday.}
• Come back over here and leave a link to your goals blog post in the comments of my current month's goals.
• And then {and this is the most important part, since we are a community} visit all the links in the comments, stop in and say hello, have a conversation, meet and greet and etc.

15 Weeks In

 

• The flu made a surprise appearance at our house, week before last, and we are still recovering. I think that covers that topic.

• My mum came for a visit, and that means working in the garden–because that's one of her favourite things ever–and she lives in Massachusetts where gardening isn't happening quite yet. We finished clearing out the front garden, and the side garden, and got them planted.

• The rain made a return appearance, just in time to get the new plants settled into their beds.

• My cat likes to wake me up in the morning when she's bored (or wanting breakfast). This week she sat on the table beside my bed, and tapped my face with her paw, with just a soupçon of claw, to really wake me up. She's so sweet like that.

• Almost all my journals have sold, and I'm having an awesomely fun time making more. It's kind of like recess, or a play date with myself.

• I'm thinking about cutting my hair. Or maybe going for some fringy bangs. I'm just going to let that sink in to to my psyche.

• I rearranged my design studio space and am so much happier with the way it feels. I love rearranging furniture to make a room feel the way it's meant to be.

• More fun projects and more dreaming into the future with the inimitable Jen Lee coming later this month!

• Weeeeek 15, over and out!

April 2012 .:. Biz Goals

So here's the first quarter of 2012, finished. Yeow that's crazy, but anyway here we are at April.

Got a fair amount of the heavy lifting things done in the first 3 months, or at least started and now onward to April.

JAN-MAR 2012 Goals

1. Identify and contact 2-3 potential licensors over the next 3 months - Moved to June
2. Get packages off to the 2 companies that are interested in my design work- Didn't happen
3. Re-work and FINISH artist statement for website and for portfolio - DONE, you can see it here!
4. Pattern design - create 2-3 series - have thought about this one, and actually haven't done Anything, I feel like I have a lot of other boats in the water, and need to work on them first.- Decided to put this one on hold, too many other things going right now. It'll come back around.
5. Start flower painting series for licensing. 12 images. Seasonal. Pen & Ink and Paint. This ended up feeling too calculated a way to start, so I've been painting and will evaluate any potential series that I could add to in the next few months
6. Put a list together of 10-12 people I know and ask them about what methods they have used to market their work. Move to April-June
7. Write announcements and press releases about my current work. Target 10-15 blogs and SEND them out! Sent out 3. No responses. Will focus more on this April-June.
8. Work more on branding and ask for testimonials/words from peers. - started putting them up here. These are design specific, need to get the art/jewelry ones up elsewhere.
9. Re-evaluate ALL of these things as the days and week pass, and listen to my own voice and re-evaluate their importance/priority I am re-evaluating a few things on this list. Patterns: I need to follow through with my Etsy shop and my jewelery and a few other things before I throw out another thing. Too much. Painting Series: the idea is OK, but it's too forced. At least right now. I AM painting. I need to paint what is speaking to me, and not set it up trying to pre-suppose what a licensor wants, and paint to that. Nope. not goign towork that way.
10. Add to this list with any new ideas/possibilities
11. Create for FUN and JOY. 

APRIL Goals

1. Contact the potential licensors I identified in March. Try to get all contacts out by end of April.
2. Get packages off to the 2 companies that are interested in my design work before 15 April.
3. Put more time and effort into marketing my Etsy shop and trying different ideas/methods. This item needs consistent focus all month. Limit diversions and distractions and disappointments.
4. Finish the About Liz sections of website by end of April.
5. Move the blog to WP by end of April and have a cohesive site.
6. Continue marketing research and interviews with people I know. Read more. Listen more. Try more.
7. Write {and re-write} announcements and press releases about my current work: jewelery, cards art. Target 10-15 blogs and SEND them out!
8. Spend some time each day just drawing. Re-visit the pencil, or the pen and a piece of paper. Think about shadow, think about perspective, go back to the basics!
9. Practice {everyday} some of the self-care techniques that I learned at the Steady Burn Retreat with Jen Lee and her band of merry-wise women that was held at Teahouse Studio last weekend. I am rearranging my time, and my focus, in so many ways that are helping me to find more creative space.
10. Paint. Create. Revel. Celebrate. Focus. Collaborate. Rest. Repeat.

April is here, and we are so not fooling around. Let's embrace the month of April in a wave of creativity and abundance!

________________________

IF you are new to The Meetup or would like to play along, here's the scoop:

• Post a list of your business related goals for the current month on the 1st of each month on your blog. {If the 1st falls on a weekend, post on the following Monday.}
• Come back over here and leave a link to your goals blog post in the comments of my current month's goals.
• And then {and this is the most important part, since we are a community} visit all the links in the comments, stop in and say hello, have a conversation, meet and greet and etc.

And What About Pinterest . . .

I accepted an invite from Pinterest sometime in its beta stage and didn’t really do anything with it until well into 2011, and at that point I fell. And fell hard. A dream, a hope that I never knew I had, was being answered: a place that I could keep track of favourite artists, favourite words, colours, design ideas, really anything and everything on the internet that inspired, provoked, healed, blossomed, and cultivated any kind of feeling inside of me . . . and yet, there are also some feeling of unease.

Join me over at Scoutie Girl today, where we're talking about Pinterest.

March 2012 .:. Biz Goals

The extendo-month of February is done, and even with that bonus day, it flew on by - {AND I'm a day late posting}.

In addition to below, I joined SF Etsy, I've been meeting {in person} with a group of "-preneurs" on ce a month which Rocks, and I'm taking a painting class with Michael Cutlip {which is taking me out of my confort zone, and that's exactly why I'm doing it.}

OK, let's check out those goals:

JAN-MAR 2012 Goals

1. Identify and contact 2-3 potential licensors over the next 3 months - Have identified 25, and now need to put together queries. Query lettters put together, and images chosen to send
   
   
2. Get packages off to the 2 companies that are interested in my design work- am re-evaluating this, I'm not sure I'm interested in doing this {gulp} every time I think about it I think "sigh... I'll do something else on my list." I'm flipping this, and am going to choose some places that I'd like to work with...
3. Re-work and FINISH artist statement for website and for portfolio - STILL working on it (with some help from a friend)
   
   
4. Pattern design - create 2-3 series - have thought about this one, and actually haven't done Anything, I feel like I have a lot of other boats in the water, and need to work on them first.
   
   
5. Start flower painting series for licensing. 12 images. Seasonal. Pen & Ink and Paint. Nada, BUT I've been painting, just not that calculatedly.
6. Put a list together of 10-12 people I know and ask them about what methods they have used to market their work. Put the list together, and now need to compose an e-mail.
7. Write announcements and press releases about my current work. Target 10-15 blogs and SEND them out! Sent out 3. No responses
8. Work more on branding and ask for testimonials/words from peers. - putting a list together of people to ask for "praise". All the people on my list have been asked, I have some back already, am waiting for others!
   
   
9. Re-evaluate ALL of these things as the days and week pass, and listen to my own voice and re-evaluate their importance/priority I am re-evaluating a few things on this list. Patterns: I need to follow through with my Etsy shop and my jewelery and a few other things before I throw out another thing. Too much. Painting Series: the idea is OK, but it's too forced. At least right now. I AM painting. I need to paint what is speaking to me, and not set it up trying to pre-suppose what a licensor wants, and paint to that. Nope. not goign towork that way.
10. Add to this list with any new ideas/possibilities
11. Create for FUN and JOY. Another reason #5 wasn't working

Happy March everyone, looking forward to seeing where you're all at!

________________________

IF you are new to The Meetup or would like to play along, here's the scoop:

• Post a list of your business related goals for the current month on the 1st of each month on your blog. {If the 1st falls on a weekend, post on the following Monday.}
• Come back over here and leave a link to your goals blog post in the comments of my current month's goals.
• And then {and this is the most important part, since we are a community} visit all the links in the comments, stop in and say hello, have a conversation, meet and greet and etc.

The Notebook : Pinterest-ing Pins

I am a notebook girl. I love a good notebook, and I carry one with me everywhere. One notebook (or journal) gets everything. I write. I sketch. I jot down ideas. I write down reminders and messages. I write notes to myself and notes in general. I make lists and I make little illustrations. And when the notebook is full, I put it on a shelf in my studio and move on to the next one.

Some of my specific wants in a notebook: lines but lines that are not printed too dark, they have to be subtle, they have to be optional use. Pockets are also good, a pocket in the front or back to stuff things in. And paper. The paper needs to be heavy enought to handle a Pitt Artist Pen without bleeding through, and also soft and creamy and smooth enough to handle a .04 Sarasa Gel Pen.

I've pulled together some of my all time favourite notebooks, since you too might be a notebook girl {or boy} and want new notebook finds. What do you love in a good notebook? Please share!

Handstitched Journals by Paperblanks
The Leuchterm by Kikkerland
The Ubiquitous by Moleskin
The Decontructed Journal by Studio Oh and Orange Circle Studio
Markings journals from C.R. Gibson heavy paper, nice
A Cup of Latte from Bold Ideas {in Thailand}
and the Smash from K & Company

For more paper, more journals, more notebooks, visit my Paper • Stationery • Notebooks board

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Each week a different topic illustrated with some of my favourite images from Pinterest.

If you are a Pinterest user, pinning on pinterest please remember to "Link with Love" and credit the maker, the creator, the ideator, or the originator.

If you'd like to share on Pinterest you can find me here!

Is There Enough Life in Your Life's Work?

We all go through periods of getting intensely wrapped up in our work, in our goals, in our dreams. It's part of being human. It's part of being self-employed. It's also part of that little habit of putting work before anything else for any number of reasons. {I will not use the more formal word, but you can maybe guess what it might be.}

So my thoughts for you this week on Scoutie Girl: Are You Leaving Enough Space for Your Life in Your Work?

8 Weeks In

• I've been painting just about everyday, and have several ideas for several series. I wake up with such a different kind of purpose when I'm painting. It's like purpose and joy. Pur-joy? Joy-pose? Yeah, no. Purpose and joy.

• 2 smallish earthquakes were centered just a few miles from my house last wednesday and thursday, and they were the kind that made it feel like someone smacked the side of your house. Not ever to be confused with the rolling, more merry kind of earthquakes.

• There have been earthquake alerts all over the place. I realised, for sure, that I would rather not know. It just makes me worry.

• Does this happen to anyone else? You do like, 5 loads of laundry, you bring all the clean clothes up to the bedroom, you fold and put everything away and then you pick up the clothes that have been deposited on the floor since you started the laundry and the basket's full again. {sigh}

• PG&E shut off our power saturday night, they were doing work on the lines, and I lit all the candles and read by flashlight on the couch with a pile of quilts and a cat sitting on top of me. It was Sweet.

• Having the power shut off at 8pm, encouraged me to go to bed really early. There's only so much to do with a flashlight in your hand, no electricity, and a very dark and chilly house. 

• Does anyone know how to re-grout bathroom tile? We need some serious help with that old grout. So far I've googled and come up with a lot of information that I need an interpreter to help me with, and I've stood in the bathroom and stared at the old tiles and grout, hoping they'll send a message.

• The dog that lives 2 houses over figured out how to get under his fence and into the vacant lot next door to us, his presence there sends my cat running into the house with tail 5X bigger than usual and a lot of cat talk. He's still separated from her by a fence, but I guess a 2 fence separation is more comfortable for her than 1.

• Oh, and just so you have some perspective: the dog might be just a tiny bit bigger than her, and I'm talking a tiny bit. She could so take him.

The Dream Big Award: Nominate Someone!

Is there someone in your life who has consistently inspired you?

Is there someone in your life who has inspired you to dream bigger?

Is there someone who inspired you so much that you
put that dream you'd been hiding in your back pocket into motion?

Nominate him or her for the Dream Big Award!

Beginning this week, with the Dream Big Award, the website CreateMixedMedia will host a series of 3 more awards all centered around Christine Mason Miller's book Desire to Inspire. (see below) Each award corresponds to a chapter in the book, and each week, Christine will share a bit about the chapter and how the award links to the book.

• The DREAM BIG Award (boldly making one’s dream a reality)
• The MOUNTAIN CLIMBER Award (overcoming great challenge with a positive perspective)
• The MAKE-A-DIFFERENCE Award (inspiring us to be of service to others)
• The LIVING IT FULLY Award (offering a beautiful example of being present in every moment)

At the end of each week’s post, you are free to nominate your special someone, by leaving a comment explaining who you wish to nominate and why. {Please include a link to this person’s blog or website if they have one.}

Each week, everyone who comments will be entered to win a copy of Desire to Inspire, and then on March 15, the winners of the four awards—who will be selected by a specially appointed panel from CreateMixedMedia—will be announced on Christine Mason Miller's site.

Haven't you always wanted to nominate someone for an award? Well, now's your chance!

For ALL the details: you can visit Christine or CreateMixedMedia.