CREATIVE BIZ MARATHON

I saved this puppy for this hour of the marathon as we are about to move from an hourly marathon to a daily marathon, you know 24/7, the hours are first, then days.  In an e-mail Lisa explained to us that this flower/mandala took them five days to complete this year in Mexico . A little note to Lisa , letting her know of our plans for her book, prompted her to give us her blessing on this journey and boy have we been blessed with the work of the hands we own, the hands we know and the heart we hold. When I stepped out of the house today ... my books in hand, my camera in hand ... it felt different today. Today I feel the power of me and now I also have the start of an awesome journal that focus on my biz. All in one day!

My heart fills up so easily, it's so much bigger than I ever imagined, since motherhood found me. This was my turning point. My heart fills with a desire to leave a legacy for my children. A legacy in which, one of them will write ... she did more than shed tears for those in pain or wondering. Then the other will  write ... she did so much with so little. Then they will both question the gifts in their heart or the heart that gives from the gifts received in abundance. This past year was huge for my business, so many baby steps taken, I feel like a toddler now. But the big people are so tall and I don't want to stunt my growth by missing a stage. I desire a slow and steady growth ... like a tree which flowers. 

Chapter 2 of  The Creative Entrepreneur by Lisa Sonora Beam covers the “Creative Entrepreneur Mandala”…More specifically, 4 pathways: 1.       Heart & Meaning  2.       Gifts and Flow  3.       Value and Profitability 4.       Tools and Skills  In the video below, I talk about how Lisa points out that value and profitability are all about the CUSTOMER and the MARKETPLACE.   I believe that as important as these two things are, I’m guilty of overlooking them as an “artist”.   In reviewing my answers/notes for value / profitability, here are the words that I used again and again, as they relate to my jewelry as well as my design biz: Accessible ~ affordable ~ unique ~ handmade ~ sharing ~ helping ~ heart ~ training/tools ~ unexpected gifts ~ caring ~ above and beyond ~ blogging Onto “ Tools and Skills ”, I have a video and ...

Chapter 2 of  The Creative Entrepreneur by Lisa Sonora Beam covers the “Creative Entrepreneur Mandala”…More specifically, 4 pathways: Heart & Meaning  Gifts and Flow  Value and Profitability  Tools and Skills Below are a few questions/notes I jotted down from Chapter 2 regarding Gifts & Flow Q: What do you do well with little effort? …A: jewelry, earrings, writing Q: What comes naturally to you? ...A: selecting beads, creating designs, social media Q: What do people compliment you on that seems easy to you? ...A: My jewelry creations, writing, social media, design Q: What do you get absorbed for hours in doing?... A: Making jewelry, writing, social media, photoshop Q: What feels like rowing against the current?. ..A: Proposal writing, database management Q: You are most in flow when …A: When I'm relaxed and making jewelry with music on in the background; when I'm designing a website or online space and not under a deadline ...

A few weeks ago, Alease wrote a list blog post and one of her recommendations was a Stop doing list, so when I spotted the same title in The Creative Entrepreneur, you know it caught my eye. My journal will most likely include several pages of the Stop doing list or as I have titled it here My What not to do list and find some of my thoughts about this marathon here  ...

From my journal pages My biggest sources of information for exploring my creativity are books .  The very first creative book I read from cover to cover was Twyla Tharp's Book The Creatve Habit which let me just live this idea of a creative life in the form of lists.  Lists and Questions have definitely been my biggest vehicles for getting at this thing.  Julia Cameron and The Artist Way was another huge spark for thinking.  I would read about creativity for many years before I ever got the courage to act on it. Reading blogs really gained momentum during my time in Germany because I many times had only access to a computer when weather or transportation hindered any outside connections.  The Wish Studio and Kelly Rae Roberts were the main spaces I went to in order to dream of this life I was wanting for myself and then one day FINALLY I took the steps...

Robin's Mandala Notes on the Mandala I got to admit this: I was ABSOLUTELY skeptical about this exercise.  I have mentioned how much I love making lists.  I just really could not see what difference it would make whether I left my thoughts in list form or created the mandala. BUT, I committed to experiencing this project FULLY and one thing I know I needed to so is remind myself how many times I have gotten at some revelation once I tackled the problem by another means AKA creatively ! I am sitting here right now looking at the original version and I am STILL AMAZED by how all these HUNDREDS of ideas I have that were floating around in my head are now down in one COLORFUL PLACE .  I can place it in my work space and it offers a QUICK BOOST of support and encouragement when I am tackling the not so fun parts of business.  It reminds me that I have a plan in place and I am working TOWARDS SOMETHING...

Chapter 2 of  The Creative Entrepreneur by Lisa Sonora Beam covers the “Creative Entrepreneur Mandala”…More specifically, 4 pathways: Heart & Meaning Gifts and Flow Value and Profitability Tools and Skills click to enlarge In this post, I’m sharing my “ Heart & Meaning ” Journal page click to enlarge

Managerial Prompts Value/Profitability Prompts "The nature of entrepreneurship is the desire to innovate and offer something new, possibly something not yet financially proven in the marketplace."  Lisa Sonora Beam, The Creative Entrepreneur I am a manager at heart.  I love to create order out of chaos.  So the nuts and bolts of a thing once they are nailed in place, really help me to thrive . When I cannot see my way clear to the place I need to go, I feel very aimless AND I use my time wastefully almost as a means to SABOTAGE where I am going.   What I love most about the section on Value and Profitability is that the questions offer the challenge of PRACTICAL DREAMING .  Questions like what "astonishes my customers" and How would others "evangelize my products" offer just the right amount of whimsy to get at the root of the question:  IS THIS THING GONNA MAKE SOME MONEY?

Journal Pages - Gifts/Flow I love how a stream a questions help you give value to do it is you are accomplishing and how you are assessing/redirecting/trusting your instincts.  I find that I LOVE LOVE mixed media work and when I have an idea it comes INCREDIBLY QUICKLY which for some reason my head places LESS VALUE on it.  I have taken on a mentality that if you are not COMPLETELY hating the task at hand, you must not be working hard enough. IRONICALLY , I had to take a moment to reexamine some of the WHYS of my product line.  I first started making a large tote bag - it is actually my first product that I got incredibly positive feedback on.  The problem:  they take an incredibly large amount of time to make!  AND I cannot get the price point to the place where it should be so that it is WORTH the time I am expending.  So in other words, people like it BUT NOT ENOUGH  to pay the actual value of it.  I have to let go of the idea tha...

Robin's Journal Pages - Heart and Meaning I began my creative business back in 2009 with the intention of offering something different than what I had seen around me.  From there, it began to evolve into what I see written on these journal pages.  Every item that I make is done in a one of a kind, unique, MADE FOR YOU fashion.  I now put messages of hope on the items I create which is something that has evolved over the last year.   The #1 thing that makes my heart sing is TO WRITE .  And my writing has also experienced a revolution. I am realizing that the right word placed on a product or a mixed media piece SPEAKS VOLUMES .  I have discovered blogging and HAVE A PASSION FOR IT .  These are cues that I have been following through on unconsciously not realizing that it is part of a wider business model.