Saturday, June 4, 2011

Ch-ch-ch-changes!

There have been some big life changes around these parts. Those of you who follow me on Twitter know (from the incessant count-down): I quit my corporate 9-5 desk job

The reasons for this were at least two: 1. To devote my time to art & small business; and 2. Chris and I are moving to LA.

delicious pie
Pie! I just had to take a picture. 

After visiting LA a few weeks ago, Chris and I fell in love. To leave a 45-degree Chicago day and step off the plane into 90 degrees was heavenly. I'm tired of this cold, endless winter (she types on a day where it's already 85 degrees at 10am). Also - it will enable me to pursue another dream - acting for a living. I'm hoping to break into the world of film, and LA is the place to do it. 

And the last big change, pertaining specifically to the blog: I am now part of the Blogher advertising hub. Not much will change, but I will occasionally post or tweet sponsored content, and I will post links to book reviews I write for Blogher

pile o' fabric!
A pile of fabric from Caitlin of salty//oat - we did a swap!

So, my questions to you, my lovely readers: 
- If you work from home or are a SAHM, how do you keep yourself motivated and on track?
- What kinds of posts would you like to see more of? Are you interested in outfit posts? Book posts? Food posts? Craft posts only?
- How frequently would you like to see these posts? I'm thinking of upping my posts!  

7 comments :

  1. Yay! In my opinion, the West Coast is the best place to live, but I'm a little biased.

    To answer your questions, I have no idea about the first one. I'm interested in what other people have to say because I'm pretty bad about managing my time outside of school.

    I'd love to see more crafty posts. I like food posts too. Outfit posts are fun, but I tend to skim past them if there are too many too frequently.

    As long as the content is good, I have no opinions on the frequency of updates.

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  2. tutorials! yayyyy can't wait to see you

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  3. Wow big move. As another midwest girl I can so understand wanting to leave what seems like endless winter, of course it will be like 80 something in Ypsi today!
    For me the best blogs are always just ones when the author lets their own personality and likes shine through, if that means a big mix of subjects or just I don't care.
    Good luck with all your changes!

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  4. I know I've said this before, but congrats again! I did it and I've never looked back. I have a part time job that subsidizes the crafting which is important to me because it gets me out of the house 4 hours a day and it's nice to have a paycheck, however tiny, so I know I have money coming in.

    As for motivation, my best advice is to break up your day and do the stuff you don't like to do in the part of the day you are most motivated. For me that is the morning. I get up super early and crank out a bunch of computer work - blogging, pattern writting, blog commenting/social media blah blah. Then I eat lunch and hit the crafting in the afternoon.

    If I'm feeling stuck or unmotivated I leave the house. Go for a walk, go to a coffee shop and work, go sit in a park and read. The last thing you want to do is sit in your house laying around. It makes doing that an option, which is a killer.

    ... longest comment ever! Just some helpful tips I've picked up over the past 2 1/2 years crafting full time.

    And I wish you weren't leaving! We'll have to meet up before you hit ol LA because lord knows I'm never going there :)

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  5. ooh! I live pretty close to LA. Glad you like it, good luck! <3

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  6. For me, after the first month or two of having a much more flexible schedule of working from home, I found that I WANTED a little more structure. Sure, it was great at first to stay in my PJs until 11am, and not leave the house all day and be able to craft or read or watch tv anytime. But honestly, I got to a point where I craved a little more structure and it happened organically. Now, I'm more productive than I've ever been! I have a feeling, knowing you, a similar path will come about.

    XO

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  7. Ah! So glad you're going to follow your dream. And you're right, LA is the place to get into the biz. Anyway, to answer your questions:

    -I work from home and what keeps me going is structure, like Annie said. Of course this isn't for everybody but after a while of working when I felt like it, I needed it. I don't have it set by time, more of "tomorrow I need to get these many aprons finished. The day after I need to just focus on photographs."
    - As a semi-new reader I don't know that my opinion really counts? ha. My favorite blogs are crafty ones with some life tidbits thrown in. I'm not too much of a fashionista (love my tees and jeans) but don't mind outfit posts.
    - Once or twice a week is a happy medium for me. Too frequent and it gets boring (because only so much can happen in a few hours). Of course that's just my life, I'm not sure how active you are :)

    Ah, I don't hear of too many people moving TO LA, usually they move out. Maybe I'll run into you ;)

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