A New Beginning..

Welcome to my new blog… finally!! I have been in love with reading and browsing blogs for a long time now, and I’ve just finally decided to create my own. I hope you enjoy it!

2009 is a new beginning for me. I don’t know what it is; but I feel like I have been renewed of faith and inspiration in my life. I’m excited for what’s to come…

I’ve been working from home since around 2001, when my first daughter was born. I have built six websites, four of which are still open today. Because of the many websites, I was never able to focus my attention on just one and make it grow. I have a graphics website, a primitives website, a “company” website, a wholesale website… and I’ve had others. I guess you can say I was at a bit of a loss as to what exactly I wanted to do. But it was there all along, I just couldn’t see it. I always knew since a child that I wanted to be an “artist”; but I’ve had the guilt of not making enough money to contribute to the family. So, as a result I kept coming up with my “next bright idea”. They all were/are great ideas, but if I had just focused my attention on just one, I could have been more successful as an artist. It’s not to say that my businesses aren’t successful, because they all are in their own way… but it is very stressful and time consuming to have multiple businesses. Because of this, the artist side of me has suffered.

I’ve come to realize that all I ever really needed was my Rags-n-Tags website… my very first website. It focuses on the art that I love most: fabric sculpture. And, although I am in love with primitives, and always will be; I am inspired by bright, modern, and funky things too. Which is why I’ve decided to open Twiddle-Lee. Twiddle-Lee will be my “alter ego” website, where I can showcase any other crafts I make that aren’t primitive.

So, here I am complaining that I’ve built too many websites, and I’m building another. But, the difference is, this year, my resolution is to keep my focus mainly on crafting and being ME! To do this, I have put some plans in place to reduce my “business work”. For one, I will no longer be offering graphics services (although a select few projects once in a while would be fun!). I will be leaving Peddler Graphics up, but in time will update it to only include my graphic collections and contact info. I was tempted to just close the site; but I wanted my customers to be able to find me easily if they needed updates to their graphics. Yes, that means I am still here for you if you need me! :)  Create a Prim has got me thinking… for a while I was really ready to sell the business. I put so much time into it; I have no time for crafting or personal things. But, I love the website, and can’t bare to see it go; so I’m trying to work with it. I’ll hopefully be hiring a programmer to automate some of the things that need to be done. I’ll be reducing the supplies I sell, so there’s less bulk in my craft room; and less packing to be done. With these and some other changes, I hope to free up a lot of my time for crafting and doing what I love! If it doesn’t work out, I’ll have to move on to plan B and consider again the thought of selling it.

As for Rags Wholesale, I am still undecided. I started to build a new updated site for my wholesale goodies, but haven’t finished it yet - as I am now spending all my time re-designing Rags-n-Tags and building Twiddle-Lee. I think in the end, I will end up leaving it up, but only offering a select few items at a time.

So, hopefully instead of computer and business work, I will be crafting my time away like I wanted to all along!