Raige Creations

After a very active morning (a few weeks ago now...) - a 3 mile mostly walk with little jogs mixed in, 15 minute morning yoga routine, and a 30 minute yoga workshop (to help me step through Down Dog , which I can't do very well) - I sat there on my yoga mat deeply thinking. Thinking, " I am calm, it is a beautiful day really, and oh - a donut hole would be good!" and then I shared my desire for doughnut holes after all that good-for-me activity. I was struck first that I wanted to share such a thing. With whom, exactly, do I want to share these accomplishments mixed with signs of weakness? Facebook?? Really??? No, not really. I realized. I have purged my Facebook friends to mostly real friends and famlily (even if it is distant cousins I haven't seen since I was a kid and friends of whom some I haven't seen since High School, and creative friends that I have not met in person but feel a closeness with via venues like Facebook {which initself is quite stra...

Duct Tape. It should be on the list of greatest inventions. Why is it so great? Because you can use it for a seemingly inexhaustible variety of things.  I am not the first to mention such, nor will I be the last. I also cannot possibly find bunches of great stuff made out of or done with duct tape. Just do your own search and you will be amazed at the genius uses of the stuff.  No, today I will simply share a couple 'light bulb' moments in our house that involve duct tape. Very cool duct tape I should add. We each got one roll for Christmas from my ingenious sister, who wrote 'You can always use duct tape' on each roll. Got a binder that has seen better days? Duct Tape! Did those plastic thingy's at the end of your shoe laces come off? Duct Tape! Just a couple examples. I didn't get the chance to take a picture of my duct tape moment - using it as a guide on my sewing machine to mark where the wide bit fabric I had to sew had to line up.  I am sur...

The other day I got up early and saw the kids off to school, sat down at the computer anticipating a very productive day! Suddenly, it is 11am , and I had wasted 4 hours messing around on the computer.  I got some food (realized I was hungry after all that wasted time) and went right back on the computer. Oh, I re-sized a few pictures, networked, read up on some pertinent blog news (I found a great website for such things! click for link ). I read some unrelated things, as I always seem to get sidetracked, and of course that pesky FB game kept me busy for much longer than I realized too. Suddenly it was 2pm. Can you believe it? another 3 hours!!!   I know we have all experienced days like this. But this time I was so mad at myself! So much time wasted! I decided I had 2 choices . 1.  Embrace it! Enjoy the rest of the afternoon just rummaging around the world wide web. After all, I DID find a great new site, made a new FB friend, and networking always i...

We often forget ourselves.   Always busy working, creating, cleaning, grocery shopping, cooking dinner, taking care of others, the list goes on.... But what about time for ourselves? We always hear  'make sure take time for youself' ,  'don't forget to take care of yourself' 'pamper yourself' Lavender Seas Mud Mask Who has time for that? (See long 'to-do' list ) But really, it doesn't have to take a lot of time.  A little pampering can go a long way.   A quick spritz, a short application of lotion, using a special soap in the shower, slappin on a soft and luxurious lip balm.  Personal Smelling Salts Any one of these small actions will remind you  - you are important - take care of yourself!  Need some guidance?  Becky from RWestDesigns is where to turn.  She knows full well what it is like to be busy!  Not only does she have a family, and some extra little ones to watch during the day,  she runs the Sample Z Box ,...

Do you need ideas for how to celebrate your businesses accomplishments? House Mouse Confetti Birthday Handmade Card by Mama Dini's Stamperia on Etsy Do you want to know how different marketing strategies work? Do you want to hear how others are successful in their online ventures? Answered yes to any of these? Too many questions? Ok, enough. Go to IndieSmiles.com and see Part 2 of Celebrating One Year . Five online sellers continue to talk about reaching this milestone and offer some creative ideas and advice to others. What have you learned so far in your business? Any advice to share? Thanks and Congrats again to The Pine Cone Tea Cup , Aedan Seppe , The Scrapoholic , POP Embroidery , and Grandmother's House .

In preparing for my article, Celebrating One Year  on IndieSmiles.com , I had the opportunity to interview 5 hardworking online shop owners. One of these is Evi, from AedenSeppe  on Etsy. She is originally from Belgium, now living in the US,happily a WAHM (work at home mom). Robo Wall Art Her shop is filled with an ecletic mix of whimsical items made with a lovingly tender heart. You can see her inspiration must be her son, while she watches him grow up, and the craziness that goes with it. Her journey through her first year and plans for the next are here, mixed in with great tips and humor. What would you say is the most important thing you have done to get you to your first anniversary as an online seller? " First of all, DON'T STOP . It may sound simple, but often times you can get discouraged. Feeling like a tiny insignificant fish in a humonguous pond. Often times you start a shop, because you love to craft and somebody in your life said 'hey, you should try ...