Attempts to Get Organised!

With all the computer based work that I have been doing over the last few weeks/months, and then thinking about all that I wanted to do, needed to do, ought to be doing, thought might be a good idea to be doing in the near future, or that I need to be happening now before something else happens, or so that I can...., or incase something happens....Yes! My mind was a whirl on just about every level.  It would be easy to say I was worrying about everything....but I wasn't.  I wasn't worrying.....I just had too much whizzing round my head.  Too many 'To Do' lists, too much I was focusing on, resulting in me not actually doing anything the last week or so.

As one who is sensitive to nature and the planets, it would be easier to blame it on the Full Moon energy, which of course I did, but at the same time I had to acknowledge that I was perhaps trying to focus on too much all at once, and that I did perhaps need to narrow it down, or pigeon hole it.  

So I sat down with a piece of paper and a pen and I had a 'Brain Dump'.  I wrote down everything I could think of that either was or had been whirling around my head.  I could see that my mind has been so scattered, I didn't know on what to focus first.  Having written it all down, I could group up those bits that were connected.  Now you may wonder how could some one who is furloughed have so much on their mind.  Well to be honest, I have no idea when or if I will be returning to work.  A conversation with the big boss didn't tell me anything other than they weren't making any decisions about the future business model moving forward for the foreseeable future, so he couldn't say what would be happening other than they are trying to look after their staff.  30% of us still on furlough after 6 months. They seem to be managing quite alright with out us. Which does raise questions as to my longterm future, in my mind even if no one elses.  Because, despite what the Boss said, I am not reassured or convinced, and only time will tell on that one.  And in my mind I need to be prepared.

Anyway, I digressed.  So my mind has currently been juggling my online jewellery shop, CPD for my holistic therapies, awaiting my insurance for said therapies and Tarot, keeping interest in my tarot readings, what I will need to do PPEwise to start offering treatments and readings in person, ressurrecting holistic business, starting tarot business, resurrecting jewellery business officially, jobs and projects around the house, my desire to upcycle and sell old furninture, how to get some kind of income coming in before furlough pay might be reduced further, to do all of this before I am called back to work, or indeed how to get equal income coming in before and just in case I find myself unfurloughed and unemployed!!!  

The result of my Brain Dump being to assign days of the week to categories of focus.  That way I only need to focus on a specific thing 1 day at a time.  Not sure if it will work, but I shall give it a go. This week, and I am blaming the full moon energy for this, I have felt completely washed out.  I have noticed over the last couple of months that I am being more affected by the New and Full moons.  So this week I allowed myself to just be. I have done a few things, but not 'worked' as such, but I have rested and allowed my mind to slow down and stop feeling overwhelmed by the sence of urgency that I have been feeling lately.  And today has been the calmest I have felt in weeks.

So my plan is (whilst furloughted at least) to do the following, if only to give myself some structure to the week, rather than aimlessly juggling and dropping balls and achieving nothing: - 

Monday - Write in my journals, do my To Do list for the week, Meditate, Reiki, and any self treatments I may feel I need, and do housework and chores.

Tuesday - Tarot Tuesday!  This day will be for posting tarot readings and doing any readings for clients.

Wednesday - This will be devoted to all things relating to my holistic therapies, revision and building up my skills again, CPD, and when the time is right - giving treatments.

Thursday - All about the Jewellery - this will be my day for creating, and the very first job - to go and sort out the studio so that I can do this.  I have been putting it off, as I really want to see my exisiting stock selling, but I think I need to clear the energy from the studio and start creating again regardless.

Friday - This will be about Social Media.  Posting blogs and videos, going live, checking stats and promoting myself. 

Saturday - I shall have usual weekend chores to do, but will also give this day up to readings and treatments when necessary.

Sunday - Day of rest - nothing work or chore related at all.

And for anything else that hasn't been given a day of the week - it will just have to be fitted in where and when I can, but having organised my week I do feel much better and that I have regained control of both my scattered mind and some much needed structure.

And as today is Friday, I have created 4 videos (click here) showing some of my jewellery, and am posting my blog, so if I can keep to my schedule you can expect blog updates and social media stuff on a friday, ready for you to enjoy at the weekend.

So there we have it.  I can move things around as needed if I get up to date early on any particular day, but I now have a way forward which will hopefully stop me from juggling too many balls and dropping either them or my 'marbles'! 

Blessings to All

Jane x

Celebrating with a Happy Dance!!

 All my hard work over the last month or so has paid off.  It has finally happened.

"What!" I hear you ask.

Well after 9 months of waiting....I have finally manifested a sale from my Folksy Shop!!

So Pleased.  I was at Father in Laws last night when I found out.  I am sure he had no idea what all my glee, yelping, and high pitched excitement was about, and who can blame him.  He's 82 and as long as we don't interrupt his TV viewing he is quite happy, and all this technology is now beyond him, Bless him.  And I was interrupting his viewing with all my excitement and noise after all.  That said, he said all the right things of encouragement, even if he did look a bit bemused by it all.😃

Anyway, we arrived home and I rushed to find the purchased piece of jewellery and scoured my Folksy emails and website to find out what I needed to do next.  I was in a panic, the printer wasn't working, I had to go down the garden to a dark studio to find bubble wrap and jiffy bag, and it was a bit of a stressful hour.  Looking back, it was ridiculous that I got so worked up.  I have been wanting this since I loaded the first badly photo'd 17 items up back in November.  And now I was shouting at the printer, the cat, husband, like this was a bad thing!!??

Clearly Father in Law is not the only technophobe oldie in the family, but yes - I did get flustered and panicked by it all with it being my first online sale....until I pointed out to myself that this wasn't my first sale ever.  I had been selling on the market and at craft fairs for over 7 years, and the principles of the sale were the same - receipt, bag, give to customer = print receipt, package and post to customer.  What a Muppet I was. 😂😅😄

So apologies to the house energy, the cat, hubby and the printer for last nights version of myself.  I am sure future sales will be a much less painless and fraught, now that I have got the first online one out the way. I shall be more organised next time.  What did old Jones say in Dad's Army....."Don't Panic! Don't Panic!"...Note to self. 

So parcel was sent this morning, and I have finally finished loading the Sale items I have been working on the last few days, and I can officially say - SALE ON!!!

Click here to go directly to the Sale items.

Not sure how long the sale will be on for, and these are still all 'one of a kind' pieces, so once they are gone they are gone.  Some great savings though - as much as half price for some items.

Why are they in the sale I hear you say......these are all items that have either been in my stock a long time, or I am just wanting to make room for the new pieces I want to create, or I have just fallen out of love with them, or some are pieces I really like and just want them to find their forever home....or its a combination of all of that.  For whatever the reason, they jointly have resulted in my putting on a sale.

So there you have it....My first Sale.....on two levels - Folksy and Reductions.  Enjoy!

Blessings to All

Jane x

A Sense of Urgency.....

It has been a funny couple of weeks.  Since rephotographing all of my jewellery to get it all loaded onto my Folksy online shop, that is all I seem to be doing.  Resizing photographs, copyrighting them, loading them, adding the item description and size etc to the item, and so it went on....so now I have all 67 items on display in the online shop.  

Then I noticed the ability to link Folksy to Pintrest. This I did, and having done so spent another few days loading everything up on there too.  Looks good if I say so myself.

As if that wasn't enough, I then found on my phone that I could share the photos on facebook to Instagram.  So Guess What?!  Yes, I am now adding all 67 items to Instagram too.  I think I am about half way through.  I was hoping that I might be able to do it on my computer, but it seems it is something quicker to do on my phone.  I thought that adding it all to folksy with tags was bad enough.  Now everything needs #hashtags....and this is getting tiresome, even though I have copied and pasted into a note on my phone for ease, they still need adapting individually for each photo.  

Dont get me wrong.  I'm not really complaining.  I would just rather be making jewellery than all the online stuff.  But if it gets the word out there and helps to promote my existing jewellery, then once that is done I can crack on with the creating.  That's what I keep telling myself anyway.

And I guess the 'Sense of Urgency' is coming from the fact that I do keep making deals with myself.  Once I have uploaded on to Folksy! ....onto pintrest!.... onto instagram! ...must get it done before I get called back to the day job! ....will I get called back to the day job?! ....What if I don't get called back to the day job?!....What if it is both of us....?? (hubby and I both work at the same place and both still furloughed and both still waiting)......Must get it all done before we get called back!....Must get it all done and earning money before we get told no longer employed?! ...... and so the thoughts continue and the sence of urgency builds.

I think it is the not knowing either way.  The assumption that we are going to be called back at some point waning as the longer this does go on, this being furlough, the more we become engrossed in our lives and future plans at home, the harder it will be when we do get called back.  Yet at the same time, the longer it goes on, the uncertainty as to whether we will be called back increases, and so the urgency then becomes about getting sales of jewellery, getting my holistic insurance sorted, booking paying tarot customers in, getting my holistic skills back up to standard and booking clients in for that, sorting out PPE so that I can work on people rather than just doing video links for tarot and reiki.....Yes!  My mind is a whirl. 

I stay focused on each task, I write To Do lists each week to give myself goals, so that I am not just sat doing nothing worrying.....that isn't helpful at all.  Gotta keep the vibe high and believe in myself and my abilities and that whatever the outcome of furlough, it will be for my highest good, it will be for our best future, and it will give us time to get to where we want to be.  Basically, Everything is as it is Divinely meant to be and for my Highest Good.  And on that life affirming mantra I shall end.

Stay safe folks...and I'm not going mad at all....just focused and eager having finally got a plan for my future.  It will all happen when it is supposed to, and in the meantime I work toward it and trust that it will all manifest at the perfect time.

Blessings to All.

xxx

What Strange Times!

I don't think I know anyone who hasn't been affected by the current Pandemic of 2020. We have lost a couple of friends, but thankfully no family, not that that makes any difference. Our close friends are the family we chose, and so any loss during this pandemic is just awful and devastating. 

I have been furloughed from the 'day job' since March, as has hubby as we both work at the same place, and it has been intense. I don't think a day has gone by where we haven't known what we going to do or how to occupy ourselves. No lounging around for us. In fact we have probably busier in our own home than when we were working and coming home to it. 

Aside from the bedrooms, living room and dining room, the rest of the inside of the house and the 3 external doors have all been redecorated, spruced up, tidied up, to the point where I now feel like I'm living in a showhome.  Gardening has been done, and is still in process with loads more to do, due to the reduced garden waste collections, and hubby has taken to building garden furniture from old wooden pallets. So far I have a new garden table, two benches, a bench with back and arm rests and a footstool/low bench/garden coffee table.  He is now in the process of building us two garden Calver chairs.....or thrones as he calls them!

I have got back into the swing of meditation, and other spiritual luxuries that, pre lockdown and covid, I never used to have the time or energy to do.  Now of course I know why I needed to find the time to do it so that I had the energy for everything else.  And of course with all this time off, one cannot miss the opportunity to reflect, evaluate, and review our lives before this pandemic hit, what 'normal' we want to return to, and what we want our new 'normal' to be.  It has certainly been eye-opening, for us at least.

After all of that I have finally got to the point where I am wanting to review the jewellery situation. And there is a lot of stock just sat here. So I have taken new photos of nearly everything, and am in the process of updating the Folksy shop.  Once that is completely done, I shall then go and tidy the studio and start creating again.  So now instead of only 17 pieces in the shop, there are now 40, and a lot more to come.  That said, with all my 'law of attraction' workings over the last few months, I have managed to manifest a new carpet for the landing and stairs, which was a huge surprise 2 days ago.  I only went in the shop to check if the carpet we wanted was still available, knowing that we didn't yet have the money for it.....and there was something better and cheaper in the end of rolls section.  Couldn't argue with that so Thank You, Thank You, Thank You Universe! 😀🙏 Now I just need to lay it!!

At some point I am sure hubby and I will get the call to return to work, but as there appears to not be any rush to resume the physical side of the business yet, I guess we will bide our time here and enjoy it while we can.  We both recognise that this in itself is a luxury, despite the unprecedented, tragic and worrying times we are in, and so it is to be valued and made the most of for as long as we have the opportunity.

I very much doubt that physical craft fayres or similar events will be around anytime in our futures this year, so with that in mind, do take a look at the Folksy shop.  Here's the link below.

https://folksy.com/shops/janedelaceymunday

If you are local to Bedford and would like to view in person before you buy, or to pay and callect in person, please contact me.

Stay Safe 

Jane x