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But seriously folks…

on top of being sick the past week a friend of ours lost her husband to a massive heart attack. Nothing like a huge dose of reality to slap you upside the head. We don’t know when our time will come or how long we have here – “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” Mark 13:32

“M” spoke about her husband and kept reiterating don’t overlook the small moments, don’t let the small things pass you by, don’t get too wrapped up in life.

It’s true. That’s part of our reason for downsizing and “getting back to basics”. It’s too easy to get caught up in the day to day rush, the need for “things” that the advertisers put into your head or the need to “keep up with the Jonses”.

The more clutter you have in your life, the more cluttered your schedule is, the less you live and actually enjoy life. You are a slave to your things and your activities. I have to do this, I need that. There’s no more enjoyment in the here and now and just “being”.

My husband and I always tell each other I love you, we still hold hands after 35 years(this Aug) of marriage even though his uncle said that would stop after 6 months,  we do most things together, we are best friends.  We support each other in everything. It doesn’t matter if we’re just sitting here reading books together or sitting around a campfire together at a campsite somewhere, as long as we’re together.

So tell that person you love them, give that hug, hold the door open for someone, smile at the stranger, take time to slow down and enjoy life a little and be present instead of just being a passenger in it and letting it pass you by…

 

 

 

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Little Engine that Could…

Remember that book from childhood – “I think I can, I think I can”. The little train chugging up the mountain. That’s me at the moment finalizing everything for this show on Sat. Between a different format/set up and it having been a while since I’ve done a show and I’m rusty getting it all together this one seems to be taking forever to get ready for!

I just finished my last pour yesterday. I won’t make any more before the show after that one. I’ve got tons of pins and hair pins which I hope sell like crazy since they are my cheapest item. I need to make a few more key chains and the rest well be earrings and necklaces.

I put together a pour day before and forgot that resin is a 24-48 hour cure resin. I carefully eased most out of the molds close to the 24 hour mark but maybe a tad early. We’ll see what they look like I’m the morning and if I just messed those up or not! I needed the molds though…

Praying this pour goes better. I had some unexpected rain crop up and according to the gauge I have in the room the humidity didn’t change thanks to the AC. Hopefully that was the truth.

I have some beaded chain that I hope is waiting for me at the Post Office tomorrow when I run by there. It was supposed to arrive on Tues and I didn’t have a chance to get out there today. I’ll get by tomorrow and it had better be there so I can put some of these new pieces on the new chain and possibly switch a few older pieces to it from the sterling silver chains they were on.

I did manage to get all of my tagged inventory proved and listed in my Square app, so that’s a good thing. Check out will be much easier on my Kindle than on my phone. Also, my daughter may come by for a bit to help out and if I’m really busy we could both run sales, one on the Kindle and one on the phone. Speaking of I need to see if I can find my spare Square card swiper. 😊

When I’m done with this I don’t get to relax either… Day after I have a meeting about the website for the shop/co-op I’m a member of and sell my items in and were revamping that. So no rest for the wicked. 😄

On we go!

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Pulling my hair out…

Well, not literally, but close to it. I’m trying to get ready for a show coming up on the 26th and it’s raining non-stop. Started raining this past weekend and shows no sign of stopping until this coming Sun/Mon at least. There goes the power bill because the dehumidifier and AC come into play now.

This is also “new” for me in that it is only a 6 foot table set up not a full 10×10 space and I’m focusing only on my resin jewelry. I’ve never done a show with one “item” only. There are a range of products within what I do with resin, but that is the focus. I’m used to having a range of items available from jewelry to origami art to sewn items. This just feels odd to me and a bit nerve wracking putting all my eggs in one basket. I’ll either do well or I’ll be a total and complete flop.

I’m also getting down to the nitty gritty and worrying if I have enough product on hand, do I have time to pour more of this or that, what do I need more of, getting my display set, getting supplies gathered (remember that move I’m packing for? yeah, I’ve had to dig stuff back out of boxes!) and just wrapping it all up. 

Somehow it always seems to come together but at this stage it never feels like it will. It always feels like I’m going to forget something, drop some ball I’m juggling, have some sort of snafu I just did not see coming. This to shall pass. 

I will try to post some photos soon for a sneak peak preview of what will be available at the show! One woman show ya know…

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“Oh the places you’ll go…”

What a strange and wondrous journey this life has been and I have plenty ahead of me! Never in a million years as a little bare footed girl playing on a dirt road did I think I would go, see, and do all I have thus far in life and I am thankful for all of it and thirst for more. Like many I have come to realize that in order to do more I need to downsize and simplify my life. Whew, what a job ahead! (especially if you know me and all I have accumulated in the past 10 or so years! LOL)

So, join me on my journey to downsize my home, learn to live more simply, figure out how to downsize my arts – the largest challenge – and come along on my travels and adventures too.