Can You Control the Holiday Whirl?

It's the beginning of holiday time again, and as much as I love the parties, decorations, and the fun that comes along with it, sometimes it can be overwhelming, can't it?

There are extra shopping trips and errands to add in to our usual schedule; card and gift buying, wrapping, and sometimes shipping; special dishes to cook and bring with us to the holiday parties or events we attend. If you're the host/hostess of such an event, your home must be decorated and cleaned up and down.

Amongst all of the usual holiday preparations I am gearing up for orders from The Nancydraws Shop, stocking up on my supplies, finishing the artwork that appears on the cards and tags, and thinking of ways to spread the word out about my shop to potential buyers. Since I print the cards from my home printer, I wait until a new order comes in and then get to work printing them out, trimming to size, and wrapping them up for shipment.

So, aside from hiring a personal assistant, what are your tips for staying sane during this exciting but busy time of year?

Hello, July, here comes December!

As a rather laid back online retailer, I was surprised to see an e-mail today about "Free Shipping Day" on December 16th in my inbox.

Then again, every year I wish I had stared on my Christmas card illustration earlier! Maybe I should start sketching now.... I know that my 2011 card will involve another city scene, but that's all I'm giving away.

Merry Christmas!
http://www.freeshippingday.com/about/

New Goals

I have taken on some tasks for the fall to achieve more creative momentum, and so far things are looking good. I am in week four of Etsy.com's "Holiday Boot Camp." Each week, participants are given a business-related article or two to read and a list of shop-tweaking tasks to complete in order to get everyone ready for the online shoppers who will be browsing for unique and creative items on Etsy. I'm also working on a few new items to post in my shop. This past week we were asked to update our bio or public profile, which was helpful because it is similar to my other big fall goal: applying for the NYFA grant.

The application for the grant is going to be much more challenging, a 700-word resume and 200-word artist's statement is required, along with eight examples of my work from the past 5 years. Selecting the work examples is no problem; luckily I have more than eight images to choose from. I am planning on getting started on the writing next week, some kind of rough draft. I know I am probably the world's best expert on myself and my artwork but I think explaining that in 700 words is going to be difficult!