Flourish & Thrive Academy Laying the Foundation Volume 1

A letter to my 13 year old step-daughter, 2 year old natural-born daughter, and son-to-be:

Since you all came into my life, I have wanted to be a role model for you. I have wanted to show you how to live authentically, to be yourself and to follow your bliss. I have watched you grow, and felt you grow, and wondered to myself, can they see that I don't feel complete? That I am still striving to live authentically, while I struggle through my day job and try half-heartedly to follow my dreams by night?

Well, my darlings, it is time. It is time for me to step into the light and commit to following my bliss, so that you can proudly say you have a Mama who is doing what she loves, and making a living from it.

An opportunity has arisen with a wonderful team of teachers, called Flourish & Thrive Academy. They are offering a scholarship to their transformational course "Laying the Foundation" and I believe it is just what I need to take my jewellery business to the next level. It seems as though taking this course would help take me from a part time designer, who sells some of her work through Etsy and a few private shows each year, to a full time business woman who is creating custom jewellery for well-paying clients all over the world. A woman who is no longer held back by her part-time jobs or her tiny budget, but is able to get the highest quality stones from the best suppliers. A woman whose jewellery sells not only for its incredible beauty and uniqueness, but also for its healing qualities, so that she can be true to the name she chose for her business, almost 10 years ago: Intuitive Jewellery Designs.

Being true to yourself, following your bliss, living authentically. These are the qualities I want you to see and admire in me, so that one day you will also have the strength and conviction to do these things in your lives. This is what I want for you, my loves.

All my love,
Glynis/Mama

Creating while parenting

When I was pregnant with my little girl, I had grand dreams of being a stay at home mom, creating jewellery during my little one's nap times and selling up a storm on Etsy. I saw myself being uber-productive every day, and able to surmount the monumental task of marketing my business through various online venues, so that customers were lining up at my virtual storefront. This would create enough revenue for me to stay home from most of my part-time jobs, be with my sweet baby girl, and have a fulfilling creative career doing one of the things I love best.

Well. That was easy.

Needless to say, one year later I haven't *quite* accomplished what I set out to do. Nap times were far shorter than they were supposed to be, parenting was far more challenging that I expected it to be, and there were so many other things I had to fit in to my short days! Cooking, cleaning, changing diapers, feeding the babe, trying to get back into shape, going to appointments...all of these things took time away from my precious goals and left me flipping through other jewellery artists' Etsy pages longingly, in the few minutes of downtime I had every couple of days.

So what's a new Mompreneur to do?

Well, thankfully, as my daughter gets older, she is able to play on her own for good stretches of time. I am now able to use those precious moments to create a pair of earrings, or post to this blog, or create a new listing on Etsy. It's not as much as I'd like, but it's a start.

I'd love to hear from other Mompreneurs out there who have ideas about how to make home life and business life jive together! Got any tips?

Moving on up...

Despite several years of publishing posts on this blog, I still readily admit to not knowing at all what I am doing. I am trying to change that by posting more often and getting to know the Blogger interface to make this blog my own, but wow, lots to do in my non-existent spare time! Today I added an RSS feed to this blog (for the hordes who are following my every post...), and have some new posts planned that don't entirely revolve around my jewellery. Let's call it an experiment!

Trunk Shows

I'm gearing up for my first Trunk Show since before my daughter was born, and boy am I ever enjoying the productivity! I love putting a deadline on my creativity sometimes, because often I will end up creating some jewellery pieces that hadn't been on my radar. It's like I stop thinking and designing in my head, and just let my fingers create what they will. A refreshing change!

My first Trunk Show will be held at our home in North York, but I am looking for other opportunities to showcase my jewellery in the Toronto area. If you are interested (or know someone who might be), you can contact me through my Facebook page: facebook.com/intuitivejewellery

Christmas in July on Etsy

It's here! Christmas in July, which means big sales on Etsy! You will find all items in my shop are 20% off until July 22. So, grab a deal and enjoy some new jewels!

Christmas...!

Well, it's that time of year! No, it's not actually Christmas, it's Christmas in July! This will be the first year I'm participating, and I'm looking forward to seeing how much traffic the sale generates. It's not quite a site-wide sale on Etsy, but a lot of shops have sales, as generally it's quite slow in the summer. My sale will start on Thursday July 12 and run until July 22. Stay tuned for the details about discounts!

This could get Pinteresting....

So, like many people out there now, I am on Pinterest and loving it. It is a great way to spend nap time, when I have the Babe asleep on me and I'm just messing around on my iPad. I've also started posting some of my jewellery there, as well as fellow Torontonians' handmade work. If you're on Pinterest, you can follow me at http://pinterest.com/mamaog and I will follow you back!

Craft shows

So I'm looking into starting to get involved in the craft show circuit for the Christmas season this year. Hard to believe it, but I've never been in one! I'm looking at juried shows, so I have to focus on getting together a classy, clean booth set up. Lots to think about, so if anyone out there has suggestions, post your comments here! I hope to be an old pro by January 2013.

I also have plans to host a home trunk show, and perhaps work on finding a few ladies to host some additional shows.

Big plans!

What inspires me this spring...

I thought I would create a Treasury on Etsy that showed the colours and images that generally inspire me at this time of year: Spring Blooms

The main source of my inspiration comes from this beautiful photograph, which I have admired for months now. I would love for it to go up in the girls' room! This is the shop, Racetay, and she is Canadian as well! Love it.

New earrings...

 I've been busy during my sweet new babe's naptimes, and wanted to share some of my creations. Apparently motherhood is an inspiring state to be in!