Showing posts with label small business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label small business. Show all posts

Friday, March 13, 2015

Link Sharing by Susan Walls

Hello everyone!

I've been a bit lax on the schedule here because of busy times in my studio but wanted to jump in and do some link sharing today. Maybe give you some new things to read and learn about for the weekend.

So...I do a lot of cruising around the internet when I have a chance. There are many artists, writers, cooks, and general life enthusiasts and, in my opinion, too little time in the day. The following links are the tiniest portion of my list but in the top 20 of the sites I go back to over and over again.


Food. Is there anyone who doesn't like food? Food has been a huge focus in my life for a very long time now. Over the last 2 to 3 years our family has rid itself of all processed food stuffs and I have taken on eating vegan whenever I can swing it. but it wasn't until I found Isa Chandra Moskowitz and her vegan cookbooks that I really figured out how good vegan cooking could be. You might be a vegan skeptic but all you have to do is try one recipe. I've bought almost all her books and every single one is great!

Her site is: Post Punk Kitchen and she is the bomb!

This week one of my favorite business women has been holding her fifth free entrepreneur video summit. She is the writer of "The Right Brain Business Plan" and Building Your Business the Right-Brain Way ". If you are creative and want to start or build on your business...this is the gal!

Her name is Jennifer Lee and her site is: Right Brain Business Plan and the video summit, which I highly recommend, is on through the 20th of March.

March is National Craft Month and the craftiest, amongst other things, gal I know is Jennifer Priest. She has some fabulous projects and tips on her site plus her family also crafts with her.

Check out her work at: Hydrangea Hippo and for those of us in creative business wanting to learn more about social media she is also an expert. 

Check out her other site, Rainmaker Media Works plus her groups on FB.

Last but certainly not least is the wonderful artist and person Tracy Verdugo. One of the reasons I'm kind of in a creative fog, a good one, is that I just came home from 5 days with her immersing myself in "Paint Mojo." I had never taken a retreat like this for this length of time and it was hugely inspiring! Tracy is warm and intuitive truly a guiding spirit through all the artistic techniques shared through the class.

If you aren't familiar with Tracy I suggest you hop on over to her site: Tracy Verdugo or her blog and start learning!! 

Those links should get you started! Tune in next week when my friend Ursula tries out Ice Resin and I do a follow up Resin 101 post...should be good fun!

Until then you can find me: 
or my website Susan's Art Circus

Monday, January 26, 2015

Create a Shipping Station for Small Spaces By Kelly Campbell Corso

I think if you ask some Creative business owners what they like least about their job, one of the most popular answers would be shipping my products. I know for me, it can be a bit of a nightmare! I have a small room in my house that is my studio. In said room I have 3 tables. One is for my needle felting, one is for painting and the last is my sewing table.




So, when I hear that little ching ching on my phone and know i have an order, here is how it has been playing out!


1- Do a happy dance for getting an order
2- Print out the order
3- Find the item on my inventory shelves (which could be a whole other blog post!)
4- Put these items on my dining room table and go searching for a mailer/box
5- On the way to find a mailer I see some of my kids dirty socks so i pick them up and take them to the washer which reminds me that I need to do a load of laundry.
6- Start a load of laundry then remember I was looking for a mailer
7- Find a mailer and head back to the dining room table
8- Realize that I need tissue paper, head off on a tissue paper hunt
9- Find tissue paper, now I need scissors


I’ll spare you the rest of my very non linear thinking and get to my solution!
This mailing process should only take about 5-10 minutes but with all the distractions in between finding the items I need can stretch this process out quite a bit!

The solution- a shipping station box! When I have to ship an item, I grab the box and take it to my dining room table and I have everything I need in there! No need for searching and getting side tracked with dirty socks, a pile of toys or whatever else may grab my attention.


Here are the things I’ve included-


- Mailing envelopes/ some boxes
- Tissue paper
- A pair of dedicated scissors
-Tape and packing tape
-Little notes I like to include
-Little free gifts I also like to include
-A Sharpie
-Some pens
-Business cards
-A shipping scale (which I do  not have yet but plan to in the new year!)



This is a box that I had handy. When I am able I will purchase a bigger box that will enable a bit more organization within the box but for now, everything I need is in one place!!!

Perhaps this can help some of you who do not have the space for a dedicated shipping area!


Until next time, Happy shipping!




Website Bird in a Tree
You can find my creations at Bird in a Tree
Instagram- Bird in a Tree

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