On minding your tongue to get more out of the adventure

When you've accomplished something with your business, what happens inside of you? When you've met a goal, how do you feel? If you've reached a deadline in time, how do you talk about it to your friends or share it on social media? When the perfect customer walks in to your business life, how do you react?

The most obvious answer would obviously be to be proud of your business, happy about your job, enthusiastic about the future and the challenges and opportunities it brings.

But I bet you there's someone out there who would behave differently. That against all odds after accomplishing something with their business, they pull back to a corner. When they've met a goal, they talk about all the things that went wrong with it. When they've reached a deadline, they beat themselves up over something that happened along the way. When the perfect customer walks in, they're happy to see him walk away and give a sigh of relief.

If this is you, you're not alone. And you're not going crazy.

I'm in there with you.

Talking down your business comes from inside of you. But as much as your business is most probably the fruit of your work, your business is not you and it's weaknesses are not your weaknesses necessarily. And it should never be talked down just because you feel under the weather and you feel you could've done better. 

Doing business is always uncertain, and there is always something you could have done better. Sometimes it's easier and much more rewarding to be the one who gets to say "I told you so" when something goes pear shaped. What's good to take a note of though is that when you talk down your own work, your business is the one who suffers, and the reward for yourself (of bashing your own head to the brick wall) will be short-lived.

You are the spokesperson for your business. You are the living, breathing business card that gives out a message to the outside world. If it weren't for you, your business would not exist. This is/was/may be your dream, and the way you handle the outcome might turn your pretty dream sour just because you feel like saying "I told you so" and prefer being on the safe side.

What to do, then, instead of "I-told-you-so"s?

*Next time someone asks you how your business is doing, stop before you answer "oh, the usual", "slow", "damn that accountant and manufacturer" or "you won't believe what this customer just said". Before you say anything, think how courageous you are for having started a business in the first place. Not many people do that. Then think of something nice to say. Your business is your friend and your ally. 

*Next time you run out of stock because something has been more popular than before, instead of wallowing in "oh, I'm so low in stock and now there's nothing to offer (see the finger pointing this way?!)" run quick and re-order, bash up a factory, or do whatever it takes to get your stock up-to-date and for the next round, perhaps think of a little thing to make your customers' day even better when they're buying from your stock. Make their day, indulge them. They're coming for your product for a reason, and the barrier they have for returning is much easier to get lowered for good while they're making their next purchase or thinking about it. Make them a thank-you card. Or a little note on how to take better care of your product. Or give them a little discount for the next time they come and visit. Or brew them a cuppa and listen in. The options are plain endless and need not cost a fortune (and they need never be tacky and pushing). Make them lovely and fresh, and make them you. It's the thought that counts.

*Next time your perfect customer walks in the (physical or virtual) front door, don't lurk in the corner. Breathe, and softly try the ground beneath your feet. Listen in, be open to new life, and lean into the adventure. 

Challenge: Choose three

In creating new habits and starting something new there's always the challenge of keeping it all going. Making a new habit automated takes some 30 000 repeats, so it's clear that beginning something new and keeping it going isn't going to last on it's own for too long - it's not sunk into your spine and long term memory until it's repeated a certain amount of times.

The good thing about the statistic is that it *only* takes 30 000 repeats to make something automated. That means getting into reading books, blogging, running a marathon - they're all something one an learn, and they're not at all out of reach for most of us.

There are things and habits in the life of a micropreneur that can be learned too. Ever looked enviously at the fellow business owner who takes good care of her-/himself? Who does yoga every morning or goes to a ballet class? Who eats what you consider to be a healthy diet and goes out for walks in the woods?
Or the one whose desk is always organized no matter which time of the day you visit? Or the one whose marketing ideas are pure genius? Or the one whose shop you go into time and time again simply because it's so gorgeous and the atmosphere is shere bliss?

Rather than wallowing in self pity and thinking you'll never get to where those people are, or thinking it's all right for *them* but it'll never work for *me*, you could try a different sort of approach.

You could do it yourself.

*They* are people, too. Much like yourself. And that makes most of what you admire doable, if only you start by taking one little step at a time.

Designate the next three months for creating new habits. Little, small, insignificantly tiny habits, that allow you to get closer to what you admire. Do not take a bite that's too big, but ease yourself into a new habit with the time that everyone can pinch from their daily schedule.

For the next three months - that is, until early July, decide on three things you are going to concentrate on, daily. Try to form simple deeds that can be accomplished within minutes. Simple deeds that can be made accountable at the end of the day.

If you want to have a healthier life as a micropreneur, you could for example:
-drink one (more) glass of water during your work time
-eat one fruit during your work hours
-stroll once around the block before you start working, every day
-take one 5 minute break in the middle of working to stretch yourself
-exchange one cup of coffee a day to herbal tea

If you want a better organized work space, you could for example:
-try to see is one tea/coffee mug would be enough for you (learn to wash up right after you're done)
-take a 5-10 minute clear up of your space just before the work is done for the day
-take an inventory (5 minutes a day) on your paperwork/email starting from the oldest stuff
-decide to recycle *all* of your paper for three months and dedicate a special place for them
-take on the idea of C A L M and bring a wee bit of it to your work space daily

If you want a blissful atmosphere in your blog/shop/website, you could:
-take notice every time you shop/read anything anywhere of what makes you feel special and good
-journal/mindmap for 10 minutes a day about bliss
-implement one small deed/thing to your work that would make you purr if you were your own customer and keep at it for the whole three months without changes
-search Pinterest for daily inspiration and collect your findings on your own Bliss-Board
-add a wee bit of BLISS to your work space (be it virtual or touchable) daily

I have chosen three different things to concentrate on daily for the past half a year, and have found them very helpful. In three months the deeds will prove their worth, and it's easy to see if they are worth keeping or if they could be replaced with something else. Sometimes three months will make the deed so automated it can be done without thinking and something else can be taken on board too.

Here are my three for the past 6 months:
October-December 2013
1. Spend 3 or 4 mornings at home a week (I start work at noon at the shop, 5 days a week)
2. No more than 20 minutes a day of social media at work (I still suck big time at this)
3. Stop working 15 minutes before going home and spend the remaining time cleaning/organising
January-March 2014
1. Drink one glass of water a day at the shop
2. Spend one hour a week sewing for the shop
3. Bring some C A L M into the shop daily

And now for the three of the current period of April-June 2014:
1. Keep on up with the C A L M -thing
2. Learn/write/read/implement something about marketing/promoting/advertising daily
3. Take back on the 15 minutes of fame cleaning a day

At the end of each day, make yourself accountable. Ask yourself: "Did you eat one fruit today at work". "Did you do a Pinterest search today". "Did you do five minutes of stretching in the middle of the day". "Did you clean/organise for your full 15 minutes of fame".

And I promise you, after three months of wee little deeds, your life as a micropreneur will have changed. Your surroundings change. You change. And most importantly, when you see the little changes, you'll believe the next little step will be possible too.

So what are your three?
And what will they help you with?

One thing at the time.

Do you ever get the feeling that your head is buzzing with everything on your mind? The feeling where everything would be better if you to-do-list was shorter or that it just magically vanished?

This could happen for example at work, where you've got deadlines, research, promises to be kept and orders from others piling up on your desk and it feels like you'll never get over them?
Or at home, where there's dishes and laundry and homework and business stuff and kids and garden and the significant other?

If you do, I say stop still. Stop now.

Pour yourself a cup of your favorite stuff (I'm having green lime tea, yum!).

And now think.

All of the things you have on your mind are somehow important. They have a valid reason to stay on your to-do list and on your mind. And it isn't wrong to want them all to be done as-best-you-can. They deserve your attention, and in order to get them sorted and done some attention will need to be given to them, at some point.
But thinking about them all at the same time doesn't do them any justice. Trying to do them all at the same time will work even less. Multitasking divides your attention to smithereens, and the amount of effort and attention that can be given to a single task in the middle of everything else is probably not enough to get the thing sorted as-best-you-can.

Instead of trying to do it all at the same time and worrying about whether you'll get anything done at all you could try out a new approach. The approach of ONE, and the approach of NOW.

*When you're making dinner, don't do the dishes at the same time. Try making Dinner instead, with a capital D. Give it your best shot, and don't go checking Facebook in the middle of boiling potatoes.

*When you're checking email at work, don't try to answer the phone at the same time. Concentrate on responding to and dealing with emaily things at once. Reply to those who need replying, delete the ones that do not require your attention, unsubscribe at once to the spam someone has sent you without your permission, and file the leftover emails appropriately so it's easy for you to come back to your inbox the next time you visit.

*When you're cleaning, concentrate on making the space as clean and tidy as you can with your skill and level of energy and time you have. Rather than going for a whole house at once, which could sound quite daunting, start with a small section and work your way outwards from your chosen beginning spot. And rather than haphazardly moving one thing to another place to get it out of the way, concentrate on finding a permanent home for your belongings.

*When you're out on a date or have promised a board game night to your kids, -this goes without saying- make sure you know where your attention is.

Rather than letting your mind wander about and figuring out new things to be put on your to-do list, take one single task -whatever it may be- and finish it. Do as much of it on one go as your time allows. If something else comes into your mind that would need your attention, write it down on a piece of paper, and resolve to think about it after you're done with what you're doing now.

Do ONE thing at the time, whatever the time.

And if you don't know where to start, start anywhere, and start now. You don't have to be on your best mood, you don't have to be well rested, and you don't have to have a plan. Pick up the first thought that comes to your mind or the first sight that you see and go for it. Follow it through and finish it if you can. Give it all the concentration it deserves, and when it's done, notice how well you just did. How happy it makes you feel. How time flew when you concentrated. And most of all, congratulate yourself on a job well done.

Market stall simplicity

As a micropreneur, you might get the occasional chance to take your work out on a stall to a fair, a conference, a competition or a market. It is a wonderful opportunity to tune in to the essence of your work and to show a glimpse of it to people who've possibly never heard of you and your work before. And at best, it can be a time, when you also meet your most loyal customers, who come in time after time to support your work.

Building a market stall can be inspiring, exciting and fun, but it can also create a whole array of stressful feelings, especially if you've never built one before.

Here is a part of one of Tanssiina's early stalls - outside in the open air.

When you're designing and creating a market stall, and find yourself overwhelmed, you might find some of these 5 simple points helpful:

*Designate a sturdy, medium sized box for stall making purposes. 

This can be a permanent place for receipts, pens, papers, the calculator, some sticky tape, stickers for labeling, the business cards - the basic office stuff you need to take with you every time you take your business out of the front door. Leave some space for petty cash, the card machine (if you use one), and other bits and bobs to be thrown in before you leave. Most of the office stuff can live permanently in this box, especially if you build stalls regularly. This will take away most of the "did I remember to take everything" -stress, as you know for certain, that everything you need is already there in the box. For extra comfort, you can set a card inside the box that has a tick-list of things you need to add to the box before you leave.

My box is a see-through plastic one with an attachable lid. The lid has also a handle for carrying, and this helps me a lot when there's a lot to carry. Our seven year old prides himself on carrying "the most important box" when he helps out.

*Make your stall colourful in your own way. 

Take colors from your logo or website design - the colors that people remember you by, and add them to your stall. This shows people in a very subtle way who you are, what you represent, and when they want to be in touch with you later and come looking for your web-based home, they'll find the same colors there and are reassured they've found the right place.

You can add extra color by choosing the way you show your products, making sure the overall color scheme matches the idea your company has. If it's fun and perky and imaginative, there can be splashes of color everywhere on top of your basic color scheme, and the most colorful items can have center stage, or if it's calm and centered and professional, the color changes on the stall can be much more subtle.

In any case, by making the colors of your booth represent you and your business, you're creating a stall-size business card that'll stand out from the crowd and invite people in.

In figure skating competitions, we sometimes have the privilege to offer luscious skating jewelry from a friend's shop.

*Design your stall with the easy-to-carry -method. 

When you're taking out products and building a stall on site, the amount of stuff you need to carry is most often more than one human back can easily handle. Design your stall from the beginning on to be easy-to-carry. It'll save you time, it'll save you effort, it'll save you from cursing and it'll save your back. When your stuff is boxed conveniently and the boxes are easily stackable, and/or have handles on them for easy carrying, building and taking the stall down gets a lot easier. And even more conveniently, if your boxes are pretty enough to show to the public, you can pack everything in advance to be in the right boxes, and then all you have to do to build your site is show off the boxes in a pretty setting. For extra stock I love the big sturdy shopping bags you get from grocery stores or Ikea, they are easy to carry when full and sturdy enough to be tossed around aimlessly, and if you've had a good day of sales, they are light to pack away and fold into a small space.

I have sturdy and stackable, pretty weed boxes that fit most of the stuff I'm taking with me when I go stall building. The boxes have little holes in them on the sides so they are easy to carry. And one can easily stack three of them on top of each other and still see over them when loading. I also love the big shopping bags you can see below - I can fit two weed boxes inside a big grocery bag and easily carry two or even four bags at the same time. That means my stall set up is usually all carried with two or max three trips to the car, and I don't need to hire extra help.

Here we're going out to an oriental dance festival, all packed up and ready to roll.

*Make it easy for people to get back to you. 

You've probably taken out your business on a field trip for this reason - to invite more people to be a part of your work (whatever your work is). This is an area where you can constantly hone and develop your approach, and try out new things every time if you want. There are a million ways to invite people in, but here are a few basics to consider. My approach is to tune things so that people do not have to ask.

-Make sure your business name is clearly visible. 

-Get creative with your business cards. Make them fun and inviting, in fact, make them so much fun that people will want to stick them on their fridge doors when they go home. AND make them visible and easy to grab from your table, even if the customer is not buying anything right now.

-Consider collecting email addresses for a newsletter subscription (and follow up within a week of the fair so they'll remember you for certain).

-If you have bags to give out to your customers, have a business card or a flyer ready inside every bag, so that when people go home, they'll be reminded who they've done business with.

-If you're selling something at your booth and there are people who are not buying now, but who are interested in your products, get them to try on what they're interested in, write appropriate information of the product on your business card (perhaps they found a pair of shoes, or a piece of jewelry they were interested in) and hand it over to the customer. It's much easier to order the pair of shoes from your web shop when they have clear information on what they've tried on and of the right sizing for the customer. Better yet - snap a picture of the customer with the product on them, ask for their email and send the picture off with the appropriate information (and a link to your site) after the fair. 

The shop's business cards are fun to make - a bit of scrapbooking card stock and glue. Each of them is different.

*Remember, that money is not the only currency.

Sometimes the day at the stall doesn't produce even enough income to cover the expenses of the day. Do not beat yourself over it. Your venture out of your ordinary premises is a breath of fresh air to your business in a lot of ways. Sometimes the income turns up later - people come visiting your website and become paying customers after the fair day is over. Sometimes you find new inspiration from other stall makers and turn a new page in the life of your business because you've seen something different as you've stepped out of your front door. Sometimes you find another small business owner and get together to create something new or figure out other ways to work with each other. And every time you take your stall somewhere, you're a walking, talking advertisement for your business, and that's usually worth much more than an array of FB ads or notices on a local paper.

Here is me on the right with my lovely Bailamama-friends Emilia and Maija taking care of the connections.

If you're looking for more inspiration on how to create your stall, you can go and have a look at how 'Ihilani at SoPupuka has done hers. Her products are so deliciously coloured, and they shine on her display!

I've also found this Studio Exsto's excellent blog post an inspiration lately.

March will play host to two different stall building happenings for me and my little shop. I'm really looking forward to trying out some of the tips I've come across lately.

Do you have a top tip for stall building? What has helped you keep the stress at bay on a day when you're taking your business out for a walk?

Office C A L M

When there's many things in life to consider, and days fill of different deeds that require concentration, it's much easier to find that peace for working when the surroundings for working are somehow in order. 

I have spent some time lately diving deep into the land of organizing videos to find inspiration for my work space at the shop. 

My work space has open shelving under a counter top, and it's all too easy to just let the shelves get filled with junk to get it out of the way for now. I also use a certain number of binders daily at work, and their storage space has been a few steps away from the counter. It has provided me with about five extra steps worth of moving daily, but is becoming a nuisance, because I have to reach for the folders so many times. So I needed a re-do, and I've been working on it slowly, bit by bit, and solution by solution.

I've watched Alejandra's YouTube-videos from her website for inspiration. She's an American organizer who seems to find storage solutions to just about anything. I think I'd personally prefer a lot smaller amount of things to organise in the first place, and shiver at the sight of her pen collection (I don't think I've ever seen that many pens at one go), but her videos are fun and show her enthusiasm and love for color. And who wouldn't be inspired by fun and color?!

I took her advice, and carefully measured the nearest shelf below my desk to fit my most needed daily folders. I found these beautifully coloured and to my eyes calm binders first online, but then found out my local bookshop is selling them for half price, so instead of ordering them and getting them delivered to the door, I put on my winter boots and walked to the bookshop to collect them myself. 

And now I have my four most needed binders right at hand, just when I need them. Before this, one of them lived two steps away in the opposite direction, forcing me to bend over to floor level to pick it up (and because it's the bookkeeping binder, it's used sometimes several times a day). Two others lived on this shelf, along with some miscellany of cd's, wool yarn, hangers, baskets and a cup. The fourth binder (which had kiwi fruits on the cover) lived next to this shelf on the floor, because it had no space anywhere else. I don't have a "before" -picture of this shelf, but believe me, it's probably all for the best.

The wee shelf above this one got a revamp too.

It is the home of the daily most needed things at the shop - the receipts, the calculator, and the back-up drive.

Now it has everything arranged so that it's out of sight, but easy to reach for, even if you're not looking AT what you're looking FOR. All the extra rubbish is gone, and everything on the shelf is needed daily. I also love the way there's no space for the extra rubbish now - the spaces are used for good.

On the counter top live the Stress Tool Cards from Living With Ease - course I did in January. They help me daily. Here's hoping this one is helping you out too:

So is there something where you work/write/play that would need a revamp? Some thought? Arranging? What could be better where you spend most of your productive time? 

January wrapped up

January in the life of this micropreneur has gone by quickly and swiftly. There's been much on the go and a lot of things have been learned and accomplished. I'll gift wrap my January in 5 parcels for you.

1. Living with Ease - course by Sandra Pawula
Sandra's e-course was something I wanted to devote my January - the beginning of a new year - to. I woke up each morning a little earlier than the rest of the family to read the daily lesson and to do my homework. In three weeks I got to know so much more about stress and how it manifests itself in my life, how to deal with it and how to prevent it from invading my life sneakily without my permission. The course gave me straightforward tools to work with, and made me feel much more prepared for what this year has in stock for me. Sandra is doing another round of the course later in the spring, so if this is something that speaks to you, be sure to subscribe to the announcements Sandra has on the course page for when the next round will be up.

2. Creating C A L M
I didn't make any new year's resolutions. I did, however, choose one word to guide me through the year. My aim for the year is to create a little bit of calm each day of the year. It's a broad enough subject to cover most anything, so it feels easy to accomplish daily, but it's focused enough to give a sense of calm as a result of whatever it is I've chosen to do on a particular day. Creating calm has meant I've finished quite a few of unfinished businesses, done a fair bit of laundry and cleaning, taken a good few naps, recycled and renewed things that are no longer serving me as they are without causing stress. Taken a firm hold of things that are left winding by and finding out enough about them to let them have a life of their own again. This word seems really helpful, to me.

3. Financial plan
For the first time since beginning the running of the little dance wear shop I made a financial plan in the early days of January. It was a plan to see approximately how much money the shop would need  to make, so I could raise my own salary to meet at least some of the needs I have at the moment, and so it wouldn't mean less money to pay the bills for the shop. I counted the over all gross total I needed to make in a whole year, divided that into months, and divided the months into working days. It isn't a goal to sell your mother for, and there's breathing space there to meet the end-of-the-year goal - so it's a loose plan, which I think is good for being the first ever plan. But for the whole of January I kept a chart going to know where I was with the plan, and come to the end of January I had actually exceeded the goal, which was a complete surprise for me.

4. Work of elves
Every year around Christmastime I feel quite sad that I didn't think of Christmas before the end of November. I would have wanted to make the gifts for my lovelies by hand, and at the end of November I realize it's far too late to make something for most. So this year I thought I'd begin early. I'm in no hurry, and I don't want to create anything in a rush or because I have to. But I'm making a pair of woolly socks at the moment, on my spare time, when the rest of the family's watching TV and I can't be asked. They'll most definitely be ready by December :)
If you happen to still be stressed about The Christmas Past and the gift giving (or are already dreading Valentine's Day), there's a book fresh off the shelves of Amazon that's just been released about the gift giving frenzy and how to escape and avoid it. It's by Robert Wall, who is a fellow micropreneur-blogger, and the book can be found (and purchased for a ridiculously cheap price for the comfort it presents) HERE. I loved the book and Robert's humour. Well worth the investment :)

5. Blog friends
January has also been the beginning month for a wee group of bloggers to get together and support each other's work. It's been a great month of getting to know new blogs and personalities behind the writings. I notice my own writing has had less time to manifest itself in the past month, but I've had so much fun reading other people's blogs and getting inspired by them!

How has your January evolved?
What does your wrap-up look like with big bows and sparkly papers (I know things aren't always sparkly and fun, but if you were to present your most gifted, most glittery, bona-fide awesomeness in a parcel or a few, that would they be like)?

You're not H&M.

Being a micropreneur means most of the time that one needs to be a ton of different things all at once. You might be the business owner, but having no-one to work for you means you have to be everything from a shop keeper to a marketing guru, the window cleaner, the customer service department, the web developer, the wholesale person, the blogger, the cook, the designer and the cashier. To name a few.

It can be daunting. It *is* daunting.
Robert Wall at the Untitled Minimalism writes brilliantly of one way too look at this dauntedness in his latest post of The three little pigs of DIY.  Sometimes is pays off and saves time and money, not to mention stress to spend a little on someone who can get the job done better, and with ease.

I'm currently doing Sandra Pawula's course of Living with Ease and a comment in the group this morning made me think about my need to get everything done as best I can (which is not a bad idea at all, if you've only got so many things to do that you're still sane after sorting them all out), get it done myself, and get involved in a million things at once.

We do create our own stresses most of the time. There's obviously stuff that we can't seem to control, like illness or accidents (and even those are debatable), but I believe most of the stress for the average person comes simply from spending the 24 hours that they've been provided with in a day. There's too much on our plates and it's hard to let go of anything. I notice this at the shop all the time. I'm too busy or tired to get everything done that I've thought of doing, and there's more around the corner. So one might be tempted to work harder, be more involved, tire oneself and fall ill eventually.
I didn't want to fall ill. I've seen it happen too many times around me.

Looking back at the year that has just ended I've been able to pinpoint three separate, but connected things that I've learned in the course of the year gone. And I notice, that whenever a stressful day is beginning, I can bring my mind back to those three things, and I remember my place and my worth much better, feel much more at ease.

They are:

1. I am one person.
One person can only do so many things in a given 24 hour period. I am not a 100 000 people corporation with a work force to solve the world hunger. I am one person, with plenty of energy, but one person's energy. The work load I can safely put solely on myself is therefore not a load that a 100 000 people work place can bear.

2. I am me.
I know a good few things and can learn a whole lot more if and when needed. But I cannot be an expert in every thing in the world (and this is where Robert's post comes in handy), and I should never expect that from myself or beat myself over it.

3. I am not H&M.
I run a wee dance wear shop, and often catch myself from wondering how brilliantly and easily things seem to go at the local H&M. I'm not a fan of their fashion and hardly ever shop there, but they are everywhere, so they're easy to spot and follow. Their cashiers have these great machines to work with, they have cleaners at the shop, there's time to fold the clothes back nicely and then five minutes later go and fold them over again. They have great marketing campaigns and some pretty amazingly quickly changing stock. There's sales and the company is booming. And I forget they are a billion dollar corporation with hundreds of thousands of people - professional people - working for them all around the world. And I am *me*, I am *one person*, and my company speaks of my values and it has a size of it's own. Which is never going to be H&M -size. I would never want my shop to turn into a billion dollar corporation. So my glimmering goal should never be to be H&M. Ever.

Knowing those three little facts makes me think of the 24 hours I have in a day again. *I've* set the standard for working at the shop. I come up with everything there is to do. Therefore I should really be the one who has the responsibility to measure the work load I put upon myself and stick to a load that stays on the healthy side. It might mean I never get a beeping machine at the cashier like they have at H&M. And it might mean my advertisements are never the size of a house. It might mean there's not going to be another brand new set of leotards every two weeks, and the shop will probably never be open 24-7. But it doesn't make me eligible for beating myself up, or overworking so I'll fall ill. There's got to be a standard for myself - a work load I can bear.

How will your next 24 hours look like?
Are you struggling with things you know nothing about and don't really want to know anything about? Is there something you can delegate to a professional - or someone you can ask for help? And is there enough space in your next 24 hours for *you*?

Half-hearted solutions

"I'll just do this for now, and can concentrate on it better another time"

"It'll do"

"It's only temporary anyway"

Do you ever get that? The feeling of not giving something in life your full attention because it just wouldn't fit your life right now, there's so many other things on your plate and it's just not very convenient to be spending time on something as trivial as - whatever it is you're supposed to be doing.

Sometimes it's right, of course, to leave things off your to-do-list and decide not to give them your attention. It's even good to prioritize and purge your to-do-list/home/car/work place to make time for stuff that's really important in your life.

But how about things you bump into time and time again with half-done solutions? How about you having to live with the consequences of half-done, half-hearted, not-really-working solutions because you never gave them your full attention?
They might be everywhere.
*The kitchen counter may be full of glass jars and bottles waiting to be recycled, because it was easier to put them there *for now* than it would have been to find them a good storage space until your next round to the recycling place.
*Your inbox might be filled to the brim with emails that are sort of waiting for your attention but are not the most urgent and needed, so you leave them there *for now* until you can sort something with them at a later date, and so they bug you daily, every time you open up your email.
*Your make-up bag might have a dozen eye shadows or nail polishes, although you know you might need the pinkest one of them maybe once a year at the Christmas do, and nowhere else. But they'll stay there *for now* because who knows if the next door neighbors are having a ball before the eye shadow passes it's sell-by-date and you might just be needing that particular pink.
*You never did the excel-course at school, so you're having to constantly ask for advice from friends and family who know a whole lot more of excel than you do, and you're spending hours at work trying to figure things out for yourself to make a simple spread sheet, because it just is not that important to learn excel (*raises hand* - Guilty!).

In my venture to create calm in life, I found two pieces of cardboard stuck on the side of my work desk at the shop. One of them stated that I need to visit the shop next door (with a mail box right next to it) and I'd be gone for 5 minutes, and the other had the same message but for 15 minutes. I'd written both in a hurry at some point of these 3 years of running the shop. Temporary messages, obviously, and with the best intention of informing the customers that we are indeed open, and that I'd be right back after dropping the mail off to the box next door.

And every time I took one of the notes to be put on the door, I'd get a feeling that this is a temporary arrangement. And every time, the notelets would be a bit more run down and ugly and - temporary, and I'd feel a little guilty about closing the shop because I'm serving some customers who live further away that the one who's coming to the shop while I'm visiting the mail box.
And then I thought again.
Three years of running the shop on my own has proved there is nothing temporary in running to the mail box. It is, and will be, a permanent deed, to be executed about twice a week for as long as I'll be running the shop on my own. It is a part of my way of serving my customers, and there is no need to feel guilty about it, and no need to diminish the action by run down cardboard uglies.

So as a part of my Friday "creating calm" -action last week, I took the run down cards and placed them to forever rest in the paper bin. Here's what I made instead:

From this   -   to this

Three note cards from scrapbooking card stock with properly printed messages - all laminated to stand strong in wind and snow and sun and rain. And I found them a drawer space to live in, other than constantly in sight on the side of my work desk.

It's a small project, and not that special, if you think about it. But it's one less thing in life that's half-done. It took me about half an hour, and now I never (or at least for the next few years) have to think about them again, so they make me extra happy, and bring some extra calm to the shop.

Where are the half-done things in your life that you keep bumping into? Challenge yourself this week, and tackle one half-hearted solution head first. What will yours be? How will it help life?

C A L M 2014

As it is the beginning of another round around the sun, I thought of spicing this round up with something to concentrate on. It looks like new year's resolutions are completely out and everybody's choosing a word for guiding the year ahead, which I'm only noticing now. I'd chosen my word in early December and heard of nobody else's words, so I had no idea I'm in there with everybody else. But I have a word to guide me too. My word is

C A L M

with big, spaced out capital letters to let it all sink in, slowly.

And the way it might manifest itself - I thought, might be that instead of me sitting still and doing nada and *being* calm, I might try to actively produce calm, to *create* it. The being calm might just happen miraculously once I've created some space for it to exist.

I'm a master of beginning things, and it's super easy for me to leave everything half done (see my previous post). So there's about a million half-done things laying around in my life, and I tackling those, in a calm manner, one by one, and with concentration and some deeply breaths, is my plan for the beginning of the year. I'm intending to *create* some calm every day, especially at work.

And this is what I've done so far:

1st of January

I was at home, and sewed some half done products for the shop that were laying around the sewing table waiting for "the right moment". It took about an hour, and now they're one step closer to becoming finished, 3/4 finished. 

2nd of January

The first day of work for this year. I decided to begin the calm-creating by tackling three little drawers on my desk at the shop. I decluttered them and left only the direly needed stuff there, so they're easy to find when I need them. I also found there are business cards that are sort of half done (I scrapbook them from card stock and printed recycled paper), and some elastics and satin ribbons for the ballet pointe shoes that need packaging and restocking. I had none left in the shop although I have all the materials for them, so they clearly needed some crafting.

So as well as cleaning the drawers, I finished the elastics, made some 20 packages of them for the shop, and sorted out their pricing and the restocking options from the manufacturer.

3rd of January

The second day at work meant more finishing business. I packaged the pointe shoe satin ribbons, and finished one roll of ribbon completely from the storage shelves, making sure I have a reminder in my calendar to order another roll with the back to school -orders in March. This is how many there are now - they should last us until next autumn. Oh, and the packaging is from an old book that I salvaged from the local University Library. It's an early edition of the three musketeers. SO much fun to read as I chop the pages :)

4th of January

This was the day of packing at the shop (were taking the shop to another town for a day), so I didn't have as much time for the finishing business as I had in the previous days, but I did finish most of the business cards I had half done. Now there's plenty again, and my little watering can looks so cute with the cards in :)

Although there's still a few business cards let to finish next week when I get back to work, the three drawers are looking pretty calm already. This is the bottom one of them:

So the year is off to a good start.

What's your word - and how have you manifested it in the first few days of the year?

Finish.

The more I peek into my life and try to amend things so that life would be more manageable, the more I come across one particular thing - unfinished business.

I am great at beginnings, I do love a good beginning and the thrill of it. But halfway through the project the thrill wanes, always, and it's a miracle I can get anything finished. And when I do, it's usually a very stressful experience, for I'm usually late, the deadline is either long gone or it should be finished NOW and I need to hurry it through. The relief after finishing something that's been on my mind for far too long is obviously huge, and that's probably one reason why I keep finding myself in the same situation again and again. Finishing something in time is hardly a cause for celebration, but the relief of stress after finishing something far later than expected is huge, and requires definite celebration.

When I have edited my possessions at home and at work, I find I'm more at peace when I get to a point when there's a space with no more unfinished business for now. That however hard I look, I find only things that are thought over, needed and done. And that look is so serene. Where there's no unfinished business, there's no stress, for me.

In our living room at home, I have a shelf for my knittings. I'm usually actively working on one project at the time, but there can be several that are sort of half-done.

And although I've gone through that shelf and there's hardly anything extra there anymore, this basket made of an old vinyl record caught my eye last night. They were calling to me, those knittings. Although there's no more than two items there that need attention, that's definitely two that keep calling my name until all the Christmas presents are finished and I can concentrate on my own stuff again.

There's a pair of gloves. One of them is already finished, and the other one would take no more than a day or two of active work to get done. I started them in the late summer / early autumn, and have forgotten all about them until now. They'd go well with a triangular scarf that I made for winter some half a year ago, but I can't bring myself around to finishing them. 

And a pair of lace socks. The yarn is so pretty, and the model easier than I thought. And yet something holds me back from getting around to finishing the sock no. 2 (I know, it's the Second Sock Syndrome, SSS, and I'm not the only one suffering form it, but it's worth pondering through).

My challenge for the living room will begin with these two right after Christmas. The gloves and the socks. To make the stressful stuff disappear from the knitting basket, and to see some unfinished business get finished. It's a small step for this house and for my life, but if it reduces stress even the tiniest bit, it might just be worth it.

How will it be for you? 

Where are the little things in your life, at your home, at work, at hobbies, that cause you to be stressed, that you might not even be aware of? Is there a way or two to diminish the anxiety they cause? 

My January will begin with learning more about stress, how it manifests itself in my life and how to live with it so it doesn't cause damage. Sandra Pawula from Always Well Within is holding a three week course on Living With Ease and I'm taking part. I'm so excited :)

Anjusha

Cast-On Fast

I finished a pair of woolly socks last night. My son needed them for the coming winter and I thought of using some left over yarn to make stripes for the socks - both to get rid of the extra little balls of yarn and to make sure the one bluish-brownish ball I had purchased for the socks will definitely be enough to last until the end of the second sock. I'm happy to say the dark brown and the blue-brown yarn were just about enough, with only a few meters of left overs after the socks were finished, so my goal of getting rid of the excess balls fulfilled itself fantastically. There's only a bit of green left, and that can be given to a friend, who has just recently bought the same type of yarn for the first time. 

One thing I realized as I was darning in the ends of the yarn. More than being happy of accomplishing something, more than a feeling of contentment of a finished project, I was already feeling excited over what I'll cast on next. In fact, many of my knittings become very hard to get to the end point because of this. I'm so excited about new stuff, that I can't be bothered with the old anymore. I can't be asked to even finish certain UnFinished Objects because there's no joy in the accomplishment itself. 

Yesterday I was happy about finishing the socks. I was proud of myself for sticking to one single project at a time, for making sure this pair of socks is properly finished before thinking of anything else. But lo and behold - as soon as I set the darning needle off my hands, my mind was wandering off to the UnStarted Projects, and my hands longed to crawl into the nest of my yarn balls and find something suitable for casting on next.

And I thought there's something wonky about that. I do love yarn, and I do love beginnings, but not even being able to take the time to notice something being accomplished was something that struck me. 

So I thought of trying out something I've never tried before. 

I didn't cast on anything new last night. 

I didn't cast on anything this morning. 

And although I did take two balls of yarn and some needles and a knitting magazine with a pretty winter hat tutorial with me to work when I packed my things this morning, I haven't cast on anything for the whole of today.

There's an empty void in the knitting department. Nothing new has been started to replace the finished object, and boy does that feel weird.  

I can't remember a time like this, when there hasn't been a replacement in line waiting for the old project to finish.

I'm intending on lingering here for a few moments, for this is new territory for me. 

How about you? 

What are the moments in your life where you have so many things in line waiting to be fulfilled that you never ever even dream of stopping still for a moment and appreciating what you already have done? Emails? Dishes? Hoovering? Shopping? Christmas card making?

How about stopping anyway and seeing what happens?

Anne

Autumn's Thrift Season update

Since February this year I've been a part of the wardrobe Project333. The current season is special, for I've chosen every item (apart from shoes and my laptop bag) from thrift shops and charity shops.

The benefits of a thrift season have been great. I've been longing for a wardrobe which I would not be so emotionally attached to, and choosing items from thrift stores has helped with this a lot. And it hasn't killed my budget, even if I've renewed nearly everything in my wardrobe within a month. I think the most expensive item in the capsule at the moment is the teal scarf, which cost 5 euros (about 6 american dollars). I have to say, to my defense, that the town where I live in is a thrift shop paradise, and it has been really easy to just walk in and choose what one needs, just like I would go to an ordinary clothes shop. Buying a hat for winter last week stopped me thinking for half an hour, for the single thrift shop I went into (off about 10 in town) had at least 50 hats to choose from.

I've reviewed most of the thrift season items before HERE so I'll only add photos of the items I've found after starting the season.

What I needed to add to the original items were an autumn coat (on the right) and a winter coat (on the left), and it took some time from the end of August for them to appear on the charity shops' collections, so I had to wait to get them. But I'm actually really happy - I haven't had a decent autumn coat for the past year, and finding the one on the right was just perfect for the working mornings. The winter coat on the other hand has received such amazing comments, it's really pretty and warm enough for Finland's cold late autumn. People have asked me where I've bought it and claimed it must have been really expensive, and it's been fun to see the looks on their faces when I've told them it's a thrift store find for 4,50€ :)

Accessory-wise I've tried to keep things small and practical (for once). I'm a scarf and legwarmer -kind of a girl, and I usually have at least four scarves to choose from per season. This time I've stuck to two - a cooler scarf for the warmer weather, and a wool scarf for the colder times. They are both pretty, and go well with both coats. The ones I chose are also fairly wide, so I can use them as shawls or wrap them around my head if it's cold and I'm missing my hat.

The count comes, all in all, to this;

I have

3 pairs of leggings

3 skirts

2 sleeveless tops (to go sometimes under, sometimes over longer sleeves)

3 teeshirts (which can also be worn as underwear or overwear)

3 tunics

2 half-sleeve shirts

2 long sleeve shirts

2 cardigans

2 coats

2 pairs of shoes (which are my own, not from charity shops)

and for the accessories

1 hat

2 scarves

2 bags (a laptop bag for work and a purse-type for times off work)

1 pair of legwarmers and 

2 pairs for the hands (one of mittens and one of gloves)

I still have one item left, so I'm down to 32.

If I'd be missing something, it would be leggings that would be made of some warmer material. The synthetic ones I've found from second hand shops are quite cold now that it's snowing (at times) and the temperature's dropped. But as I've mentioned before, the leggings have been the hardest to find.

So I'm a pretty happy girl. There are definitely things I will want to keep for the future, like the winter coat and the denim skirt (although I was worried of it's length, it is shorter than anything I've ever used, but I'm loving it for it's easy use underneath tunics and with cardigans), and the white knitted tunic shown above. And it feels like it won't be so hard to let go of items that have not worked their full magic for me.

I have a month left of this autumn season, and I have plenty to choose from for the coming months of winter. When the next season begins, I'll be editing and culling both my current thrift wardrobe and my "ordinary" wardrobe (which is in a box upstairs waiting) and will most certainly be crediting to the local thrift stores and giving them back some of the goodness I've found from them in the past few months.

Clothes are no longer memories and history and something to cling on to. They are items to be used to keep us warm and to brighten up a day. And while it's good to make good use of the items that one has chosen to live with, it's also ok to sometimes experiment and have fun a bit. I'll be sure to use more of the second hand shops of my area in the future, although I've always been a bit of a thrift shop girl.

What to do with to-do?

I'm a to-do-list girl. Since high school, I've made hundreds of to-do-lists and still do. My then french teacher gave them a word - she used to tell us to "do a posture perfecting movement" whenever somebody had forgotten to do homework or show up for class. So my to-do-lists are called "posture perfecting movement lists", "ryhtiliikelista" in Finnish, to show how one should really start behaving like an adult and take responsibility for one's life and deeds.

I make the lists for home, and most importantly -running a little dance wear shop on my own - I make them for work. I have a book for to-do-lists at work and keep ticking away the chores as they are done. They do work well, and I love the feeling of drawing a line over a chore that needed accomplishing to show the world that I've accomplished something. I also can't forget the things that are on the list, they are visibly there as a reminder, and it helps tons with this limited brain capacity of a human brain :)

One thing I've noticed lately though is that I'm progressively feeling less inspired about the to-do-list book. I don't particularly want to have a peek of what's STILL to be done, and what I still haven't accomplished. For there's a lot to be done, and the more I look at the book, the more it looks like there's no hope for me.

The problem with the work-related to-do lists is that the lists never end. When I get one thing ticked off the list, at least two or three new tickables appear. There's no joy in completing an action when there's thirty-odd more to be done, and then some.

It got to a point a few weeks back when I completely froze looking at the book. There was no point in trying to accomplish anything, because nothing could be accomplished without an addition of two or three more chores to the end of the list. And there I stood, not daring to open the book because for sure the french teacher would come out of the book and tell me off for being such a bad girl and not taking the responsibililty of completing all possible actions to-day.

And as I thought about it, it dawned on me.
The book was my own doing. I had invented all of those chores for myself. I had proper deadlines of about 1/10 of all of the chores (taxes do need to be paid and inventories made, that's not of my own choice, but even their deadlines are negotiable, if need be), and the rest were chores I had completely invented on my own.
Good things, all of them, I'm sure. Things to make the shop easier for the customers and myself to be in, plans on making the shop a better place. Cleaning, clearing, bringing in something new and establishing further the collection I already have. Making new orders and contacting customers. And had I been the owner of the local H&M-store, things I'd have no problem delegating to the immense amount of staff under my fingertips and got done in no time at all.

But as I am here on my lonesome, I can't possibly do 30 odd people's worth of work in no time at all. I can do what I can do, I realized. And that is a lot. But it's certainly not 30 odd people's worth of work.
So I needed to *do less*. Prioritise. Chuck away the book that gave me the shivers and try out something more manageable.

I downloaded the free Ommwriter -program to the computer and listening to the soothing sounds it makes made a list for this week. A list of four things to do. Four, and no more. And once one thing would be done, I would not add another, but look at it disappear for good. The list had things that would be helpful to get done this week, but if that would not be possible, I would not hang myself. I would not make another list until that list was completely empty.

My list for this week first list was:

*To get a certain product online that I've had in the live shop for a long time. It deserves a good space and time dedicated to it. And just that one product. Not the ten who are all calling my name at the same time :)

*To mail all the orders that can be mailed to the customers. This week, and not next week. Not because I have to, but because I want to be of help and of service. And to remember to thank each of the mailed customers separately for their time and attention. For they are who I'm here for, and they have trusted me with their orders.

*To wash and dry a newly acquired materials for another product at the shop. Not to get carried away with the project and try to finish it all in a day.

*To make orders to the manufacturers. This was quite a vague thing to be said, for ordering is something I have to do regularly, at least around this time of the year. But I had listed three companies on the list for this week.

It seems considerably easier to do four things than to do 30. And these would obviously go on top of the ordinary everyday things at work, so even four is quite plenty, for one person's week.

I'm encouraging myself (and offering you a chance to come a long for the ride) to do less, and by doing so concentrating more on the little things chosen to give one's attention to.

Completing the washing and drying made me smile a little. Waving the last mailed letter goodbye today made me feel even better. Somehow lighter. Not a single thing has been added to the Ommwriter list, but I've been watching the deeds disappear one after another. There's still some to be done, but there's still part of today and the whole of tomorrow time. There's *time*!

So I'm encouraging you fellow to-do-listers to try out the calm and quiet four-part list (instead of the usual there's-a-million-things-to-be-done -version) for one week.

Here's how:

*Find a nice writing atmosphere and space. I'm loving the calm of the above mentioned new writing space, and if it's something you'd like to try, you can try it for free.

*Write down 4 things that you think need doing. If possible, make them small enough, so you'll have time to concentrate on every thing you've planned to do. Forget the original to-do-lists for one week, and just go with this one.

*Explain to yourself, why you should concentrate on the four things chosen. Write down reasons why each of these these four made your list. Write down what good they will do and how it will help you and the world around you if you complete them.

*Complete the four tasks in your own time throughout the week. Make sure to breathe through doing so, and stopping to concentrate on whatever it is that you're doing. Make the moment last, and be reminded of the reasoning behind your deeds.

*As one chosen thing gets done throughout next week, watch the deed disappear from the list. Delete it thoughtfully, embracing the reasoning behind your original choice, and realising you're free of the stress it ever managed to cause you. Do not net new things crawl their way onto the list at least until it is completely empty.

*Marvel at the space you have just created, and marvel at the things you have just accomplished.

There's my plan for next week.
How does your week look?

A few is enough?

In this world of plenty options sometimes cause the biggest amount of trouble. Perhaps a wardrobe filled with clothes results in "I have nothing to wear". Maybe a fridge full of groceries results in you not eating at all because there's so many things you can't decide what to eat. What happens at our place usually is a book case full of CDs (or Spotify for that matter) results in "there's nothing to listen to". A pageful of things on your to-do list may result in you sipping your cup of tea and doing nothing because it's simply too much to be thinking about what to choose and how to choose.

Running a little dancewear shop means the world is open and full of choices. There are companies offering dozens of different types of shoes and leotards and tights and bags and everything money can buy, and to a little person like myself that is plain overwhelming. There's the everything new that's on offer plus the extra baggage of the stuff and belongings from the history, from the previous owner. Even if I had all the money in the world (which I luckily don't), the job of choosing would not be any easier.

About a year ago I grew tired of the skating tights of the shop. The collection was the heritage of the previous owner of Tanssiina, and to my eyes it was a mish mash of styles and sizes and colours that I could not deal with. There were about 9 different styles of tights for figure skaters alone, two colours of each style and seven different sizes to each colour and style. A plentyful of tights, which, when ordered, had to be ordered in packs of three. A quick calculation later I realised I'd need a fortune just to keep up the collection, which hardly anyone needed anyway. We are a dancewear shop after all, and are serving the local figure skaters, but with a fairly smallish and basic selection. The choice for the collection had been made without me, so at first I thought I was going to have to live with it and sustain whatever the previous owner had thought to be good. And I tried it for a good year and al half until I came to a halt.

As I sat down with my calculation of nine times two times seven times three times about 20-25€ (equalling plenty), I figured something HAD to be done. My shop and it's wee collection of skaters' tights would need someone to take responsibility for it and that someone needed (unfortunately) to be me. So I sat down with the collection and the knowledge I had of the local skaters and figured a scary and drastic change that I had no idea if anyone would be happy with. I figured I needed tights for rehearsals (thick ones), tights for competitions (thinner and shinier) and maybe, just maybe, something extra special (to make up for the loss of six extra models, to be honest). Not nine different models but essentially two, perhaps, and at it's most, three. I decided the tights that *deserved* a place in the shop's collection needed to be durable, well made, made in a place where I would know for certain how the workers are treated and paid, and made with the best possible materials. They would also have to be models that were not only needed by skaters, but would have to fit other moving people too (like the aerobics girls who use the shiny tights for their competitions). The cost would most definitely be more than the cheapest possible models', but I would KNOW what I'm serving and would only need to sell the best.

The collection of tights was reduced from that day on. I put all the old models on sale (and cried a little for I had bought them for full price), stocked up on the newly decided ones (and prayed the money that would come from the sales of the old models would pay for at least some of the newly acquired models) and have been sticking to the well decided models ever since. Only one of the nine models made it through to the new collection, and two new ones were chosen to cover up the loss of the rest. Now, almost a year later there's ten pairs of the old models left on sale, and the new collection is slowly finding it's place in the world. It looks like I'm the only one in the whole country to offer bamboo fiber tights for rehearsals, and our extra special shimmer tights are one of a kind too. The importer wonders about my choice of tights, for no-one else orders them and she has to specifically order my batch of tights all the way from Canada and they take time to order, but the collection makes me a happy shop owner. There are people, for whom the quality of the tights and the working conditions and environmental issues are important, there are people who care about the skins of their little girls who go skating with their tights right next to their sensitive skins. The collection is small, and it's early days for it, but the year has shown many times, that the direction is good and valid.

And the small skating tight selection has resulted in plenty of other choices for the shop too. One of my favourites is as simple as a pen. I've reduced the amount of ball point pens at the shop to one. There are two or three black felt tips for writing bigger stuff, but only one ball point left. And now that I put my hand into the drawer with the pens in it, my fingers find the one and only ball point in an instant. It is never lost. And every time I find the pen, the simplicity of it all makes me smile. I don't need ten pens. I don't need ten different types of tights. If I choose wisely, it might be enough to choose (and maintain) one, or perhaps two.

There's still work to be done, and the skating tights are definitely not the only area that needs careful thought and deep culling, but I'm seeing the good results in choosing one (or few) rather than ten in a lot of different areas of the shop. There's one type of gymnastics balls (six colours, but one type), one type of menstrual cups (three colours, but one type), one type of glittery tapes for the gymnastics hoops and clubs (12 colours, but one type), and they all have resulted in people finding the products more easily, because something in this world of plenty has already been chosen for them. And because the thought process behind the products have been thorough enough.

So even if the process of ending up with just a few is sometimes hard and takes up a mountain of thought, and the resulting few need all the care and attention you can give them, living with the few does make the world a little easier place to live in. It reduces stress for there's less to maintain and choose from, it gives you the possibility to be on top of the things you've chosen rather than letting all your stuff take control over you, and it makes you wiser because you have to think things through before making decisions. You'll know that with each desicion your collection of stuff becomes more and more toned to your needs and your priorities.

My next "fewing" for the shop will deal with the social media.
What's yours going to be?

Anjusha

Jewelry without jewelry 2

Nail art has proven to be a great hobby. It requires quiet time, concentration, learning something new every time and a simple play with colours. It does not require much - a few bottles of polish, and if you fancy, a thin brush and a pin or a needle. There are plenty of tutorials on the internet if you like learning on your own, and local salons sometimes do workshops that you can attend if you want to learn in a group and with personal guidance.

I have only started my hobby, so I don't count myself skilled at all. But I do like learning new things every time I watch a tutorial and try out something new.
I like online tutorials, for you can watch them as many times as you need and learn by seeing, you don't need to allocate a specific time for your hobby and you don't have to spend time going anywhere to get to your class.
It is a simple hobby that one can do with very little investment, and it makes one breathe, take new information in one piece at a time and gives the possibility for a quiet time concentrating.

The tutorial for these three different designs can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwqsPItRLwY&feature=share&list=PLoGiIe4TxmPR2XBcFNHpGUInxzgc2S_I0

While practicing Project333 I've found that decorating one's nails can be easily used to replace jewelry that would otherwise take up (sometimes too much) space in one's home and add to the everyday clutter in life. And I've completely fallen for the idea of jewelry without jewelry. This jewelry doesn't have to use up space in your home, you can alter it to suit your mood and style and occasion and make it fit every outfit and every situation if you please.

Some caution needs to be taken into account with nail polishes too. There can be too many of them, and the accessories that go with the whole nail art scheme. So I've decided to keep my colour choices scarce and only work with the few colours that fit the small box I have designated them. I'll stick to eight colours that all are somehow matchable. I have four now, so there's still space for a few. But above eight I will not go :)

Anjusha