Working from home. What I'm doing and why I can't always hang out.

What do you think of when you hear someone say they work from home? Do you see them in their PJ's lounging around all day? I think there is a big misconception about working from home and what it is people that work in their home actually do. I work at home, and I can tell you right now, yes, some days things get a little too relaxed and you don't end up getting much finished. However, more often then not I am hard at work. I think this applies to most people when working from home. Not only do I have my business responsibilities but I also have to worry about how the normal work at home like cleaning, yard work, fixing things that undoubtedly break. I am also currently getting ready to move, so getting things in order and ready to move is no easy task. Now this is just my summer routine, when summer comes to an end I will be going back to start my third semester of college as well as homeschooling my son. This kind of life makes it hard to get anything extra done. I think that people don't really understand how much time, hard work and effort it takes to start your own business, and I am currently working on two. Obviously I have Peace, Love, and Knotty Hemp which I sell macrame jewelry. This jewelry is all handmade by me with the exception of about 3% that has been made by a helper when they feel up to making something. I am also working more on my photography and have had shoots lined up, including a wedding that I recently shot in July.
I think that more often than not, people assume that I just sit around all day, occasionally make some jewelry and that's it. Just in my jewelry business alone, I spend 20+ hours a week promoting on Tumblr, Pinterest, Etsy, Instagram, Facebook, blogger and anywhere else I possibly can. Then most weeks I log at least 30+ hours just making jewelry. On top of that I also spend hours photographing the jewelry, editing the photos and listing the pieces on Etsy and Storenvy. That's at least 50+ hours I have to devote to jewelry. That's more than most people my age work in a week. Then to add schooling, mine and my sons that adds another 60 hours a week between the two of us. That's 110+ hours a week that is filled. When I get my free time, after the chores are all finished and I have finished with my photography I really don't want to do much of anything. People who are lucky enough to really have free time don't understand that not everyone is as lucky. I work really hard to be able to work from home. It isn't all lazy days with an empty schedule and I know this isn't just me. This is a lot of peoples lives. Please try to understand that when you ask me to hangout at the last minute and I say no, it's not because of you. It's because I have a busy life and any extra activities have to be scheduled ahead of time. There is a lot of things you don't see that I do every single day. I don't want to fill you in on all of it because, well, most likely you wouldn't have any interest in hearing about it unless you were looking to open a business yourself. Please, please don't say that I am boring, and no fun anymore, because while I know I may not be a whole lot of fun right now, I am not boring by any means. I have a lot going on I just don't feel like talking about it in the free time I do have. And I am sorry if you don't understand that when I do have free time I don't want to spend it driving places to hang out when my bed calls my name and so do my PJ's. I'm sorry if you feel neglected, or rejected but I am trying to make a life for myself, and my son. I'm not rejecting you, I promise! Working from home doesn't mean I can have visitors and hangout sessions whenever I want either, because when I'm working I need to be focused, or it will take twice as long to get my normal work load done. I'm sorry if I can't come party it up, because I usually drag myself to bed by 11PM...sometimes midnight. I'm sorry if I can't hang out whenever you want to, or go do things like I used to. I'm glad you have the time and can go out and enjoy yourself in the evenings! But most likely, I'm still working.


I know a lot of people who work from home have these issues, and I hope that this makes you feel like you aren't alone! Owning your own business and working from home is an awesome thing! There just needs to be some awareness for people who do not have their own business,or even work from home and those who don't see just how much effort and time is put into it. It's stressful and time consuming. It may not be for everyone, but I know that I have made the right choice by doing this and I hope everyone in my life understands that I'm not snubbing them, I'm just busy. So let's make plans to see each other and visit. Just don't get upset if you ask me to hangout out of the blue, and I can't. My schedule isn't super flexible, and I am sorry for that.

Creative Block

Hello all!


I have been really hard at work promoting Peace, Love, and Knotty Hemp while also getting ready to start the fall semester of school, as well as preparing my son for third grade. He is home schooled so that is like a full time job in itself, so adding everything else makes for a crazy schedule! So Before all the schooling starts, I wanted to get some jewelry made and ready, as kind of a stock pile for pieces to list during my busy periods when I just don't have the time to sit down and make something. However, unfortunately I am feeling a bit of a creative block and I just can't seem to come up with something to make. This usually is a pretty easy thing for me. I have woke up in the morning and instantly ran to grab the hemp because of a dream I had, I even take some with me on road trips... just in case. But for about a week now, I haven't been able to come up with anything special, I can make simple pieces with no problem. However, coming up with that special something to make has me at a loss right now. So I have been working on other aspects of my jewelry like promoting and reading up on creating a website. I have had one for my photography in the past, but it has been a number of years and I am a bit rusty on the coding. I'm also working on creating a custom template for the blog which is proving to be another task. I seem to be pickier about it than I thought I would be, haha.

So despite the busy schedule that will become increasingly busy by the end of the month, I will have some new pieces to show off..soon. Until then, check out whats already available from Peace, Love, and Knotty Hemp on these sites:

So what do you do to move passed creative block?

Let me know! I'd love to hear your tips and tricks!

Cheers!

Jen

Paper Beads ((OLD DRAFT POST))

Hello!

Last night I finally got to sit down and take a stab at making paper beads. I have been wanting to do it for quite a while now, but I never had the time to sit down and do it. They have always intrigued me, to the point where I almost bought paper beads instead of making them myself! Which I felt would be absolutely insane because I have a basket full of magazines waiting to be upcycled!
So I started with an old fashion magazine. I cut a few test strips and wrapped them up around a skewer, using a touch of glue every now and then to keep it held together. Then I coated them with mod podge. This is how they turned out:

They turned out smaller than I thought they would, and one of them got stuck on the skewer. So this was a total test run. After I did a few of those, I dug out some pink/brown/white striped scrapbook paper and created these:

I feel the magazine beads weren't terrible, but I love the second batch I made with the scrapbook paper. They were much easier to cut and some of them have a bit of a tie-dye effect to them. 

I will be making more of these today. Now that I have figured out which way I like them more. I will most likely post more photos in my next post.

Do you make paper beads?

What kind of paper do you like using the most?

Which style is your favorite to make?

Cheers!

Jen

[I found this post in my drafts! I'm not sure why I didn't post it but here it is none the less :) ]

Instagram is like the cool kids in high school

Hello all!

I have been doing a lot of research on how to get more interaction and followers for my jewelry throughout social media sites, and what I have come to learn is that Instagram is a lot like those cool kids in high school.
Instagram is all about hash tags and photos showcasing what your doing, what your wearing or what you're looking at. You want everyone to know, to see how cool you are, but if you use too many hash tags on a photo, you appear desperate. If you have boring photos or captions, no one will pay attention, and if you have bad quality images you will also lack the attention you are seeking. It just makes me think about how in school all the cool kids had the best stuff, you know, like the latest and greatest technology, music, etc. and those who had sub-par, it was cool a year ago stuff, get laughed at and then ignored.  Now I get how these things are important, and can really be used when looking at it from a personal aspect or a business aspect. I know that taking a quality photo of your jewelry plays such a major role in who will take the time to view it, and purchase it, but isn't this the stuff we were trying to get rid of after we graduated from high school?

It can be a real struggle to get your jewelry out there for the world to see, and even more so with no budget for promoting. Doing it all yourself can be long and draining, and sometimes you might not feel like you are one of those "cool kids" that seem to get tons of attention on social media without real effort. It can be disheartening but I will get there one day. I'm not sure I will ever want to be one of the "cool kids" but I would like to get the attention they do when it comes to my business!



Researching information about getting more interaction on social media has really helped me see what key ingredients I have been missing, and I am working to see if adding those key ingredients will increase, followers, views and interaction. Keeping everything regularly updated daily seems to be a big one that I really wasn't doing. I am trying out a  trial for a program called "buffer" which automatically updates some of your social networking sites, which seems great! I would love to find one that is free though, most of my money goes to supplies, so free is always fantastic.


What are your tips and tricks to getting more interaction of social networking sites?! I would love to hear them!




Cheers!
Jen