Athena Dreams Design

September 2011 .:. Biz Goals

And here we are back to September. I know that we celebrate New Year in January, because come on, that's when the ball drops in Times Square, right. But is anyone else with me on the fact that September REALLY is the start of the new year?

There's the back to school exodus, everyone is out clothes shopping, stationery and office supplies are being purchased, people are getting serious about their goals and their mission in life and squirrels are burying nuts. Maybe that last one doesn't totally apply, but the squirrels here are really really busy after a summer of lounging.

So how did August go?

1. Design projects on deck - one down, a few more to go
2. Create Jewelery Making Goals - have narrowed down my focus (and what makes me most happy) and am making, making, making
3. Work on writing projects - not much happened with this one
4. Finish designing birthday cards - have one more to go! and am done with the astrology birthday cards
5. Newsletter for Etsy shop - will go out this week
6. Paint - yes yes yes, tho didn't get in as much time as I would have wanted to (what's new?)
7. Enjoy the August sun - this is the easiest one to say Yes to

OK well here goes for September:

1. Finish out the 2 remaining design projects over the next month and a half.
2. Make room for lots of jewelery design.
3. Design 3 covers for journal series I want to porudce on my own.
4. Start flower painting series for licensing. 12 images. Seasonal. Pen & Ink and Paint.
5. Allow myself to re-schedule something when I am on a roll with something else. Remember to remember that going where the fire is and re-scheduleing (if possible) is where my best work is going to come from.
6. With whatever free time is left, make things that make me happy, and don't think past that.
7. Take out The Money Book again, and do a thorough read, and thorough note taking/plan for the "new" year/financial assessment
8. Get some Long walks in this month.

Let's go make September the most fabulous new year celebration of life, and creativity, and sustenance, and receptivity, and abundance that has ever been! Here we come!

OH, also, just wondering if anyone else might like to "do" #7 with me. If any of you have been wanting to read The Money Book, have started it but not finished it, are in the midst of financial planning and etc. maybe we could work through it together, and see if we can all make a dent in this thing we loosely call finances and money. E-mail me and let me know if you're interested: liz.kalloch{at}gmail.com

Here are some reviews of the book if you've never heard of it: here and here.

________________________

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.

August 2011 .:. Biz Goals

I touched on everything that I had listed for July, and then some, and even took a week off and went back east to visit family. OH, swimming in lakes again, just heaven, and eating 3 ears of corn for dinner (and skipping the rest of the meal), and floating in the water looking at the clouds, and playing with the kids. Sweet.

1. Continue discussions about marketing and talking about my work, and really delve into the deep waters of WHO, not just what, my art and design is. - very helpful, and quite fun, still happening
   
2. Patterns baby - a few and more to come
3. Website art done so coder can do her thing.
4. Writing more about the topics and issues that really really interest me, that really make me nervous AND excited. Delving deeper. - yes and more of this
5. Declare to the universe at large that I am available for work that will feed me both creatively and monetarily, and will also be a collaboration filled with synchronicity and balance and deep value, and dare I say joy, yes I do, and joy for all involved. - THIS one, in an of itself, was tremendously successful!

And so now to August:

1. Design projects on deck
2. Create Jewelery Making Goals
3. Work on writing projects
4. Finish designing birthday cards
5. Newsletter for Etsy shop
6. Paint
7. Enjoy the August sun

OK, here goes everything... we're on for a new month and it's coming fast, and I am so ready for it!

July 2011 .:. Biz Goals

 

New Piece - Paint the Sunset (original is available here)

Oh Hello July, on this very warm Friday morning! I have been working through a lot of stuff this past month, some good, some annoying, and some that I know I will get the lesson from at some point in the future, so there has been much to mull over. Some specifics that I am debating with, amongst and through:

• When to put things on hold in order to figure out my bigger picture, long path view, and when to just forge ahead and change things later. Sometimes jumping is the best, and sometimes lingering at the edge is. It's making the call that is the hard part for me.

 

And SO, here was June

1. Put a list together of 10-12 people I know and ask them about what methods they have used to market their work. DONE, and I have gotten some wonderful responses, and have also set up some telephone dates with people. There will be more to come on this topic, it's a baddy but a goodie (if you know of what I speak).
2. Making Patterns! sketches on-going, but not much finished
3. Write announcements and press releases. Target 10-15 blogs and SEND them out! I ended up putting this one on hold, as I am rethinking so much. Branding. Name of my business. What I am selling. What is my vision?
4. Design Portfolio finish it up and get going with it already. Put this on hold too, until I figure out some key things in my art and design life.
5. Website. - I will have a coder to help me in July!
6. In addition to walking, which I am reinstating, I am adding BREATHE. Holding one's breath when stressed, does not help the stress. Too much breath holding this month, need to work on that some more.

And so onto JULY:

1. Continue discussions about marketing and talking about my work, and really delve into the deep waters of WHO, not just what, my art and design is.
2. Patterns baby
3. Website art done so coder can do her thing.
4. Writing more about the topics and issues that really really interest me, that really make me nervous AND excited. Delving deeper.
5. Declare to the universe at large that I am available for work that will feed me both creatively and monetarily, and will also be a collaboration filled with synchronicity and balance and deep value, and dare I say joy, yes I do, and joy for all involved.

OK people, we're half way through this thing we have decided to call a year, and rather than making the ubiquitous groan at how fast the time is going, I am diving into the stream and swimming with the current. It's fast. It's furious. And somehow it's refreshing, won't you join me for a swim?

June 2011 .:. Biz Goals

Here was May:

1. Put a list together of 10-12 people I know and ask them about what methods they have used to market their work.
2. Continue working on fabric design portfolio. I won't be going to Quilt Market this May, unexpected cost of a new computer got in the way, but there is another one in the fall!
3. Write announcements and press releases. Target 10-15 blogs and SEND them out!
4. Design Portfolio finish it up and get going with it already.
5. Website.
6. In addition to walking, which I am reinstating, I am adding BREATHE. Holding one's breath when stressed, does not help the stress.

And June will look a lot like her sister May. I have gotten the process started for ALL of these things, and I have more work to do, and will continue on for June.

I found myself May-mid-month looking around, and asking myself: what am I rushing towards? Yes, I need to do some things to keep income coming IN, that's important to our household, and to do that, all the balls need to keep rolling.

But seriously what is the rush? What am I leaping around trying to achieve?

• Is it about looking at the things that others are doing, and feeling like I need to "catch up"?
• Is it about some need to prove myself, not only to myself, but to my peers?
• Is it about moving around and jumping up and down to make myself feel like there is lots of energy around everything I am doing?
• What is at the bottom of all this doing and being and showing and OY . . .  I'm tired.

I mean seriously, does anyone else feel like they started work at the circus only to realise that the circus never sent you to Juggling Camp, and so you're in the side ring (phew! at least it's not the center ring) trying to get the hang of juggling more than 2 balls with the tent full and an auduence watching?

Someone asked me this week, whilst having a discussion about just this topic: what if everything is ok right now, just the way it is? What if there is nothing to rush towards, and nothing to do but be in the moment?

That will be my #7 for June.

Ask that question of yourself - outloud - and see how just asking it, changes how you feel inside that body of yours. For me, all the pressure came off and the search for a clear view of what's ahead became a magnificent view of what's here now.

OK June, we're getting the hang of this... and everything is OK just the way it is.

May 2011 .:. Biz Goals

  
Sea Shell Flowers

April was not my best month on record. In fact April had many moments of just plain sucking. I'm glad April is gone, and we're on to a new month, here's to May NOT including food poisoning, lower back going out, and a dead iMac. And let's get even more specific with the happy stuff: let May include finishing all the things I've been putting off, more freelance clients, lots of sales, much time with good friends and the spring world outside, and much joy.

Here was April

1. Come up with work for one more product category, and that will complete the list of 4 new products. And then it's on to marketing... did not happen
2. Approach the finding a mentor thing a little differently. I am going to get really really specific with myself about what I would like a mentor help with, and put it out there again. still working on this one!
3. Work on portfolio for fabric designs, so I will have something to show when I arrive here in May. started and will keep going with this one
4. Write some announcements and info pieces on my work to send to blogs for stories, and get them out by mid April. - didn't get to this
5. Hire a Wordpress coder to finish the site. THIS is my second lesson in how to work smarter. 
6. Put design portfolio together and target places that I'd like to design work for. still working on this one
7. Paint, that's all I'm saying, no quantity directives, no finish dates, just paint. and paint paint some more!
8. Walk. Every. Day. Rain or shine. Get your butt (and feet) up on the hill and Walk. Yes!

 

So April, bye bye! and on to May:

1. Put a list together of 10-12 people I know and ask them about what methods they have used to market their work.
2. Continue working on fabric design portfolio. I won't be going to Quilt Market this May, unexpected cost of a new computer got in the way, but there is another one in the fall!
3. Write announcements and press releases. Target 10-15 blogs and SEND them out!
4. Design Portfolio finish it up and get going with it already.
5. Website.
6. In addition to walking, which I am reinstating, I am adding BREATHE. Holding one's breath when stressed, does not help the stress.

OK May, we're looking forward to you and all your bounty!

So What Am I Waiting For?

 

Do you ever ask yourself that same question? Do you ever find that you are waiting for your moment, though you might not know exactly what it will look like or feel like, nevertheless you hope it’s on the way, and so you wait for it? And wait some more? Do you find yourself waiting for approval from a teacher or mentor, or from your peers, waiting for the nod that says NOW, you’re ready?

To read more, join me over on Scoutie Girl.

April 2011 .:. Biz Goals

First of April, April Fools Day. Does anyone else ever get curious about the origins of some of these "holidays"?  Wikipedia is not always totally reliable, but it's a quick source of information, and so, April Fools Day:

The earliest recorded association between April 1 and foolishness can be found in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (1392). In the Middle Ages, New Year's Day was celebrated on the 25th of March in most European towns. In some areas of France, New Year's was a week-long holiday ending on the 1st of April. So it is possible that April Fools originated because those who celebrated on the 1st of January made fun of those who celebrated on other dates. The use of the 1st of January as New Year's Day was common in France by the mid-sixteenth century, and this date was adopted officially in 1564 by the Edict of Roussillon.

OK, end of the research, and on to the goals:

March went a little something like this:

1. Finish up design for at least 2 more product categories, and submit. - done! New shop at Society Six! I need to upload more art, but there are 2 pieces available as iPhone covers, and more coming for laptop skins!
   
2. Work more on re-branding and asking for testimonials/words from peers. - asking really does work, and I need to do more!
3. Be BOLDER in presenting showing and talking about my work - this is a life lesson for me. - baby steps, working on the bold, shoulders back, chin up!
   
4. Create AND finish 2 new paintings or illustrations, and I mean FINISH! - ignored my own directive, BUT got a few pieces started.
5. Make some time to dig in the garden a bit, pull some weeds and make a plan for planting.- started!
6. When feeling down or frustrated or impatient (or any other related feelings) spend a moment to count all my blessings. Mmm-hmmm, always a good list item

And then there is April.

1. Come up with work for one more product category, and that will complete the list of 4 new products. And then it's on to marketing...
2. Approach the finding a mentor thing a little differently. I am going to get really really specific with myself about what I would like a mentor help with, and put it out there again.
3. Work on portfolio for fabric designs, so I will have something to show when I arrive here in May.
4. Write some announcements and info pieces on my work to send to blogs for stories, and get them out by mid April. 
5. Hire a Wordpress coder to finish the site. THIS is my second lesson in how to work smarter. 
6. Put design portfolio together and target places that I'd like to design work for.
7. Paint, that's all I'm saying, no quantity directives, no finish dates, just paint.
8. Walk. Every. Day. Rain or shine. Get your butt (and feet) up on the hill and Walk.

OK, GO April. Hope you all have a great month!

________________________

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.
• You can also "meet" the Meet Up peeps, go here and visit the links.

Creating the Road You're On

An Invitation to Travel, original mixed media painting by Liz Kalloch

As small business owners, creatives, and entrepreneurs we are all on our own road to somewhere.

For most of us there is no map, no mapquest directions to be downloaded, no Michelin guide to help us find our way. So, what do we do? We create most of it as we go. I like to think of it as creating for the journey, and since creating is fun and gets us to unexpected and sometimes miraculous destinations, and a road map that you have to fold up neatly to get it back in the glove box isn’t, I’m going with the fun map. . .

I am over at Scoutie Girl today, to read the rest of the story, go HERE.

March 2011 .:. Biz Goals

Welcome March! Isn't it March that they say in like a lion out like a lamb about? I always loved that phrase, it gives such a visual metaphor for winter moving into spring.

Okay, and wow, its really March. Did anyone else get up thinking, damn, it's already March? Okay, so since time is streaming by us so very quickly, let's get to the goals...

 Here were my February goals

1. Identify 3-5 new product categories to create with my art/design. Research. Prototype. Came up with 5 or 6, and one is already done and done: pillow covers!
2. Find a mentor. I have NO idea how to do this, but the first step is always putting it out there. I want to find a mentor who is also an artist and a designer, and has worked their art and design into brilliantly placed, licensed product that are seen and bought and loved all over the world. OK, so I identified 2 people - Amy Butler and Tricia Guild, and I wrote them both letters! So it's in their hands now, and fingers crossed, they say YES!
3. I think #2 above might go under the category of working smarter.
4. Repeat #2 from last month. Yes!

And March will go a little something like this:

1. Finish up design for at least 2 more product categories, and submit.
2. Work more on re-branding and asking for testimonials/words from peers.
3. Be BOLDER in presenting showing and talking about my work - this is a life lesson for me.
4. Create AND finish 2 new paintings or illustrations, and I mean FINISH!
5. Make some time to dig in the garden a bit, pull some weeds and make a plan for planting.
6. When feeling down or frustrated or impatient (or any other related feelings) spend a moment to count all my blessings.

OK, so here comes March, spring will be on the other side, and the world is full of possibility!

________________________

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.
• You can also "meet" the Meet Up peeps, go here and visit the links.

February 2011 .:. Biz Goals

Pink Tulip necklace, available here.

January's goals were short, and really really sweet. I mean really sweet. I can't remember a month that was more fun, because my goals were fun. I think we all sometimes have a tendency to make work, well, work, when it may be work, but it's also what we love to be doing everyday (or most days), and so, it really is fun. Did someone, sometime, somewhere, really say that work should be any of these things:

• dreary
• negatively competitive 
• heart-breaking
• soul-sucking
• the thing you do until you get to go home to your real life

Yeah, I don't think so either. Most of us who come here at the beginning of each month are working for ourselves, (or are working to get there) we are growing businesses around ideas/talents/things we love to do, and sometimes we lose touch with loving what we are doing, so I am here to remind myself and all of you, let's get back in touch with that feeling: no matter the stressful days, the overworked evenings, the crazy deadlines, and the such like, we are here because we love what we are doing, and how lucky are we!

SO, here were my JANUARY goals:

1. Figure out what working smarter is, and how I can make it a regular and central part of my life and my work.
2. Create for fun and joy.

I can say I successfully did all of them. I am not done with #1 or #2, and I worked them all month long. I am going to keep my February goals pretty simple again, and see how that goes.

February:

1. Identify 3-5 new product categories to create with my art/design. Research. Prototype.
2. Find a mentor. I have NO idea how to do this, but the first step is always putting it out there. I want to find a mentor who is also an artist and a designer, and has worked their art and design into brilliantly placed, licensed product that are seen and bought and loved all over the world. 
3. I think #2 above might go under the category of working smarter.
4. Repeat #2 from last month.

OK, here we are, the shortest month of the year, so it's gonna go even faster than the one that just passed us by. Let's take February by storm, in a crazy, fabulous cloud of creativity, ideas, colour, movement and inspiration! Happy February everyone!

________________________

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.
• You can also "meet" the Meet Up peeps, go here and visit the links.