Full Circle ~ Early Mornings

Ahh, early mornings! When everything seems possible and the time in the day seems endless. Just dropping in this morning to share some snapshots from the past week. Below is my home workspace - where the administrative part of the biz happens (and some beadwork on the side.)

The sunsets in the bay area have been beyond gorgeous the last few days. This shot is from my front porch in Vallejo. 

And below, a little tease of new work that is coming soon! So soon. I'm photographing my fall/winter collection next week (as long as all goes according to planned). The components below will become a new hoops design. 

That's all for now! I'm off to my monthly small business meeting later tonight. These meetings are always such a great motivator AND a great source of maker camaraderie. Happy Wednesday everyone!

Full Circle ~ The Little Things Make the Big Thing Happen

Mmmmmm, breakfast. I pretty much must have breakfast in order to start my day. It's a 100% necessity for me. And when things get super busy, even then, I still make time for it. I think we all have those things in our life that are non-negotiable, even when life is busy and you don't have enough time in the day for everything that MUST get done, let along slowing down to nourish yourself. While I might fall off of my meditation, or stretching, and god knows I haven't truly exercised in what feels like ages, I'll always make time for breakfast. 

The last two months, I've been working on setting up my wesbshop here on the Tangleweeds website. I knew it was going to be a huge undertaking, and I think it's something I'd been "meaning" to do for probably the last three years. I'm so so happy I finally took the time to do it, as I know in the long run it's really going to pay off. (I'm still keeping my Etsy shop open, so those of you who prefer to shop on that platform still have the opportunity to.)

One of the tricky things about running a small handmade business is that once you're up and running and taking in orders and things are busy, sometimes just maintaining everything feels like all you possibly have time for. Making time to do things that actually grow your business can feel extremely daunting. Because of this, I knew that I needed to do two things if I wanted the opening of the webshop to happen, sooner than a decade from now -

1. I had to set a deadline and stick to it. Now, this wasn't meant to be justification for working through the night, or having no life outside of work until it launched, rather it was a way of allowing myself to cut myself some slack. As long as the "bones" of the shop were good, and everything was set up and functioning in-as-much as was needed to allow folks to make purchases, then it was "good enough." If I didn't set a launch date and stick with it I could have fallen down the rabbit hole of perfecting, perfecting, perfecting. (Another good rule in small business, as it relates to pretty much anything: start with "good enough" and then shoot to make it even better.)

2. The Little Things Make the Big Thing Happen. Or, the title of this blog post =). Seriously tho, I knew that if I only had one hour on a particular day to work on the webshop, well, then, I better use that one hour! Before I even started on the shop I laid out a plan week by week, broken down into day by day, of manageable tasks. As the weeks went by I adjusted expectations accordingly. Breaking BIG goals down into the day-to-day of making it happen often times makes a BIG goal look a lot less scary. (And one of those little things that made the big thing happen was making sure I had breakfast everyday!)

That's it for now folks! I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend. I'm looking forward to spending time with a dear friend on Saturday, and then on Sunday, some time with my older nephew and my sister here in Vallejo. They'll be visiting for the first time since I moved here and I'm pretty darn excited to have them over. 

Changes Ahead for Tangleweeds

This year has been full of shake ups for me, and by extension, for Tangleweeds. There have been the obvious changes, like moving and the always evolving process and journey around getting older, but there have been more subtle shifts for me as well. About a year and a half ago (I think) I started up a small handmade business support group along with another talented lady (Kyla of Impressed By Nature.) This group has been such a morale boost for me, as well as a kick in the pants in realizing my goals. In part because of this group, I'm committing myself to making some big changes within Tangleweeds in the next year. 

One of the first steps on this leg of the Tangleweeds journey is going to be to commit myself/Tangleweeds to less in-person selling events, be they craft fairs, art and wine strolls, First Friday in Oakland, or other trunk shows and pop-up events. I need to free up my time more to allow the better development of the online and wholesale sides of my business, which have suffered under the heavy and constant demands of events nearly every weekend from April to December for the last fours years. 

I still plan to do events, I'm simply going to be choosier about how I decide which events to do. One to two events (maybe three if it's around the holidays or another really busy time) per month will be my max. This will mean mostly good things for you Tangleweeds collectors out there. I plan to start releasing more limited edition and one-of-a-kind (OOAK) pieces, and I plan to release new work online on a much more regular basis. 

As Tangleweeds has evolved over the years I feel like I've gotten a bit off track from what my original vision was for my business. I still am incredibly proud of everything I've put out to date and absolutely stand behind my designs and work. As I begin to pivot with Tangleweeds though, I will be discontinuing many of my current designs to make room for the new work to come. This will be a slowish process, so don't panic if there's a classic Tangleweeds piece that you've had your eye on for months (or years!) that you want to grab while you can. You'll still have plenty of time for that! 

Editing down my classics (or the "core" Tangleweeds pieces) will allow me to more readily release new, more limited collections on a regular basis. This part I am quite excited about, as you can imagine, and is a big part of how I hope to steer things in the coming year and on. 

Tomorrow I will launch a big sale in my Etsy shop for those of you looking to pick up one of my older designs. I will have a new section in my shop titled "oldies but goodies." This is the section you'll want to check for the designs that will be discontinued the soonest. I can't say exactly how soon all of these designs will be discontinued as it will entirely depend on my stock level for each piece. Most likely I will post again, here on the blog and on other social media, as the cut date for these designs draws near. 

At the heart of things, Tangleweeds will remain the jewelry business you've come to love: great jewelry for everyday wear with an earthy/rustic quality. Pieces that are unique and hand-crafted by me and my assistant. That will never change. 

To everyone out there who has supported me and Tangleweeds on this handmade jewelry journey thus far, a sincere thank you from the bottom of my heart. I hope you choose to accompany me on this next part of the journey as well!

Birthday Celebrations

Last week was my 35th birthday. It was full of flowers, cats, friends, good food, and time to just chill out. I'm feeling very grateful, if contemplative as I move into my 35th year. I recently picked up the book The Folded Clock (a diary-memoir of sorts) by Heidi Julavits and randomly flipped open to a spot ( I often do this when trying to decide if I actually want to buy the book). The spot I landed upon had Julavits reflecting on time and what time means to her now. As she exposits on time she starts to realize that the shortest period of time that really has any meaning to her is a month. A day goes by like a flash, a week fills up so quickly, but a month is where there is still some open expansiveness to what can be done, what can be accomplished. I am of course paraphrasing, but I definitely found myself relating to it quite heavily. 

That last photo is of Otis. On occasion he will sleep like this. I find it infinitely hilarious. It's like he's so tired he couldn't even take the time to lay his head down and instead just dropped it straight down the moment he curled up on the blanket. Now that the birthday celebrations have passed, I'm feeling a bit like this myself as I move into looking for a new place and preparing for an unintended move in the next month or two. Wish me luck! With rental prices continuing to sky rocket here in Oakland and the neighboring cities, there is a very real chance I'll be moving to the outskirts of the bay area. 

It's going to be an adventure. (I tell myself half-convincingly.)

Full Circle: A Jewelry Filled Week

This week is sort of a flurry of jewelry making. When you run a small handmade business there is so much to tend to that is not the actual action of creating your art or craft. It's actually easy for a whole work day to quickly fill up without a minute at the workbench. This week has been the exact reverse of that for Tangleweeds. Many of you took advantage of my last Etsy sale, there's been wholesale orders to ship, and Wallflower (in San Francisco) needs a re-stock (especially of these Dance earrings directly below.) Crammed into the cracks and crevices of my time not spent at the workbench has been time spent planning for the year ahead. . . 

So far this year's themes seems to be

1. learning how to more quickly and effortlessly pivot with my business (and in life in general)

2. taking the time to strategize and plan before I forge ahead with new ideas and goals

Just some thoughts on this sleepy Tuesday morning. Have a beautiful week everyone!

Full Circle : A Pastel Spring

Ahhh, Mondays! I know it might sound crazy, but I love Mondays. I love the potential that a new week brings. I'm either refreshed by a weekend off spending time with loved ones, going on small, local adventures, and tackling random projects or I'm revved up from all the great energy from my lovely customers and collectors who have visited me while I was vending at a craft fair or other event. 

That's not to say that everything is hunky-dory right now. There are things right now that are really driving me up a wall with frustration. But, ultimately, they are showing me how to live my lie and relax into it even when I can't control everything. Especially when I can't control everything. 

Looking over my photos from last week, the main unifying theme I was seeing was pastels! I am currently obsessed with all pale colors, and I think it's showing in my wardrobe, my displays, and the new wall hangings I've been making on a whim (see the second photo from the top.) Those wall hangings are hopefully going to make it into my Etsy shop in the next week or two. 

In the meantime, happy Monday everyone!

Full Circle: Take Time to Slow Down

Those of you who know me well, know I hit a bit of a road bump in February with my living situation. (Don't worry, all is well now!) During those tumultuous times I find it's even more important to take some time to just slow down. 

I'm gonna keep it short and sweet on this Wednesday. That photo of the natural dye books is hopefully a foreshadowing of new things to come for Tangleweeds. It's too soon to say for sure, but it's fun experimenting regardless! Happy hump day everyone!

Full Circle ~ Colors in Town

The last week was lovely. I think I'm starting to find more of my own rhythm with work and the rest of life now that I'm living on my own. It's tricky at times; I thought there would be ample time for everything, only for life to show me that time is still a finite resource. Sometimes the obvious lessons in life have to be learned over and over again =). 

from top to bottom:
1. a gorgeous aloe plant in my neighborhood
2. my cozy reading corner in my cottage
3. blue rosemary flowers matching the blue of my dress
4. some Swoops earrings in mid-production
5. out at Point Isabel for an afternoon stroll

I hope everyone had a great three day weekend (if you had Monday off.) My week is busy, but I'm promising myself that I can stop and slow down and even take a nap when need be!

Full Circle ~ Settling In

The month of January seemed to have the theme of "settling in" for me. If I wasn't busy at work with Tangleweeds, I was busy at home, hanging curtains, arranging books and tchotchkes on shelves, and overall simply learning how to best make a small living space work for me at this point in my life. 

I also had my first craft fair of the year this past weekend at the Treasure Island Flea. While it's not a hugely profitable event for me, it's a good event during the slower times of the year and I often meet people who are interested in some of my more unusual and OOAK pieces. Pictured directly below is one of those OOAK pieces that sold on Sunday to a nice English lady who was there shopping with her daughter. 

I hope everyone's week is off to a great start! Mine is full and busy with lots of work on the future of Tangleweeds wholesale, and a weekend full of fun plans on the horizon. As always, thanks for dropping in on my little world over here!

Full Circle ~ It's been a while

Oh, well. There went almost two months and not a peep form me on my blog! Those of you who know me know that I ended up moving in December. Between moving and running Tangleweeds, I just had to let a lot of things go. And unfortunately the blog was one of them. And this post is really just a short little tease to say I'll be back on the blog regularly again soon! I'm still in catch up mode after finishing up the last part of moving and wrapping up the last of the craft fairs. 

In the meantime I leave you with a little sneak peek of the things to come for Tangleweeds in 2016. . . Happy new year to you all!