I am truly thankful for all God has put before me - the challenges and the rewards. I am thankful that He has given me my faith, my family, and the talent and drive to create beautiful (and sometimes not so beautiful) artwork. Today was a wonderful morning at church and I have been able to make time this afternoon to catch up on group discussions, Etsy discussions, business development emails and watch a few movies in the process. For those of you who know me and are getting to know me, you know that if I could multi-task in my sleep, I would. I just have a hard time “not” multi-tasking. Even with the perpetual habit of multi-tasking, I have been feeling a little overwhelmed lately. Trying to accomplish so much in what seems so little time. I started to give you my “To Do List”, but I decided you could already relate and didn’t need (or want) to be burdened by my overwhelming need to do so much.
I will share with you that I have read and been involved in some wonderful discussions lately. I am a member of TAFA, the Textile and Fiber Art List. There are a number of us linked on LinkedIn and Rachel led us into a discussion this week on how we price our products. Great discussion on how we set our pricing and being careful not to under-price our products, and/or ourselves, and how hard this is sometimes. The timing was apropos because I had just received the weekly email from Etsy Success about using Product Worksheets to help with the pricing of product. I have already priced my products and do a lot research when I’m in the process and calculating my wholesale and retail prices. However, this discussion and online support from Etsy has me reevaluating my process and double checking my pricing. Reading and networking with the other artists involved with TAFA and Etsy is wonderful support and I appreciate both groups tremendously.
Honestly, networking with the groups I am involved with online seems to fall to the bottom of the list sometimes because I put more time and effort into producing product. However, as of today, I have decided to spend more time networking and I realize that as I do, it will help me with my production process. When we get so busy with our lives and the “To Do List”, it is easy to let our priorities become misaligned. So my friends, I encourage you to evaluate your “To Do List” and see where you are out of balance and how making sure your faith, family, community and work on in the proper order. Oh, and don’t forget, we have to get some exercise too.
Are you interested in TAFA? Here are the great links to the different venues TAFA has available!
TAFA - the Textile and Fiber Art List
TAFA Market
TAFA on Facebook
TAFA Blog
Happy creating everyone!
1 comment:
What a nice post, Jules! So reaffirming... Sometimes, I feel like I am networking with a big black hole, a void in the universe. But then, I look back and see all of the wonderful relationships that have developed online, many with people that I will probably never meet, and I think of all that I have learned and how I have grown because of them. We do have a lot to be thankful for!
It's hard to find a balance between creating and networking. But, to be truly valuable, both fuel each other. When you create and get your work out there, you have new insights to share. When you interact with others, it can give you new ideas for your work. Focusing too much on either one could make the other less interesting. It's really all about making that communal quilt where we are all sitting around chatting as we work, except that we do it online.
Thanks for plugging TAFA. It's all very exciting! We are moving forward and I can't wait until our new site is finished. It makes me so happy to see it impact its members in a positive way. Hope to see more of you in our various hubs!
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