keep on track!

Okay, so lately I've been thinking a lot about procrastination and keeping productive. Actually, I think about this all the time. Mostly I'm scolding myself for not staying on track or not getting as much done as I wanted to. There have even been nights where I am lying awake in bed, freaking out about how much work I have and actually getting up out of bed and going down to work for a couple hours. To keep this from constantly happening, I need to be more aware of my work flow and stay on top of my tasks. Otherwise I'll never get anywhere in life if I keep up this horrible procrastination tendency I have (not to mention no sleep). (I blame the whole procrastination thing on the artist in me...even though I know I shouldn't really blame it on anything.)

Recently I've come across some helpful tips from others who have successful small businesses. Starting your own business has never been bigger than now. You can find so much information on the web. For me being a one-woman business, it can be hard to stay encouraged and continue working even when I don't feel like it. When this happens, what really helps me get through these times is reading "success stories" from others out there, especially women. Or even just reading tips on how to be a better business woman. I never thought I'd actually be interested in the business aspect (creating things is WAY more fun than thinking about running a successful business) but it's a huge part of staying afloat. My mind is constantly in a whirl trying to think about all the different things I need to keep up with. It's not just keeping up with production (though this is vital and one I slip up on much too often), it's also keeping good records and paying quarterly estimates on time. Ahhh...so much to think about! Now to get to the point of all this... I wanted to put together a list of some places on the web where I have been encouraged. This way I can go back here and be encouraged when there's no one around to tell me to keep at it.

Some linkage...

• How Do You Balance It All?::Design For Mankind
• Self-Discipline::Design For Mankind
• Getting Beyond the Busy Work::The Boss of You
• Biz Ladies::Design*Sponge
• We Are Small::moop {via Make It}
• Quit Your Day Job::Etsy
• 5 for 1::Shanna Murray {via Hei Astrid}
  

This list will probably grow as I find more links. If you know of any good ones, feel free to share them!

some things i'm working on.

Some of these projects I'm not sure will work out. I'm just diving in and waiting to see what happens next. So far I'm quite pleased with the results.


{trousers from 1940 pattern.}


{wool 1930s bathing suit i'm taking a pattern off of.}


Tomorrow is April 1st. Don't let anyone fool you!
Be well.

p.s. sorry no picture of the hair today! i'm still using baking soda to wash my hair, but today has been "one of those days" and i didn't feel like showing the world a picture of crappy me. :) maybe tomorrow.

no-shampoo::end

Alright, so it's not necessarily "the end" for me, but it has been 6 weeks since I stopped using shampoo. Although I will admit, yesterday I cheated a bit and used this bar of soap (normally using it to wash my face) because I did something stupid and put oil (with a bunch of other essential oils...something I got at an organic website to help the scalp) in my hair. I think I used too much vinegar and it was drying my hair out, so Saturday night on a whim, I just took some oil (at least it smells good!) and rubbed it in my hair. Okay, well, that is all fine and good. But next day it didn't come out. I washed it with a whole bottle of baking soda/water solution and even some vinegar. I was frustrated, so I grabbed my bar of soap and soaped up my hair. Didn't get it all out, but enough. So yes, I cheated slightly. BUT, after doing this, I have decided I'm going to try out a shampoo bar next. I don't know that I'll ever go back to using actual shampoo, though.

Okay, so my review on the baking soda method... I liked it alright. My biggest problem is that my scalp did not feel clean. My hair was clean, but my scalp was gross. Some days it was better after using the vinegar rinse, but if I tried to use too much it would just dry out my hair. So I still feel like I needed something else. I don't know what. I think I almost liked just using conditioner better than the baking soda. Although I don't know that I really loved it so much to go back to it. The conditioner-only method is better for curlier types. So next time I go to the store, think I'm gonna pick me up one of these. I'll keep you posted on how it goes. Now if my hair starts drying out a ton again? Well, maybe I will have to switch back to baking soda a few times a week. At least this time I think when I use the shampoo bar, I'm going to try and limit my washings to a few times a week rather than daily. Oh man, this all sounds way more complicated than it really is. Oh how trivial I am. :)

The snow is melting (it snowed last Saturday...boo) and we are getting back to spring weather once again!!! Have a good one!

P.S. Sorry I didn't have a chance to take a picture of the hair today. I'll try to take one tomorrow so you can get an idea of how it looks. Really not a lot to show and it's not super greasy either.

girl night.

Make time for your girlfriends. It's getting harder and harder to do, but when it happens, oh how nice it is. We watched the original 1939 version of The Women. It's one of those movies you just can't watch with a man. They'd never understand. We were roaring with laughter through the whole movie. I'd say it was a hit.

Happy weekend!

hello.

Not too much to say. Keeping busy with work, sewing some clothes for myself and baking a bit. Spring is here and Summer is just around the corner. Life is good! I've got the rest of my life ahead of me...who knows what will happen next. I'm ready for anything really. For now I'm going to continue to sew and create things with my hands. It's what I love best.









More pictures on my Flickr.

no-shampoo on npr

Check it out.

they make me smile huge.

{via A Continuous Lean.}

thanks, deborah!

Deborah gave me a little blog award. Thank you! :) So to share the love, I'm listing seven other bloggers:

Ulrika Olsson Keramik. {i actually use google translator to read her blog, but i am always inspired!}

himalainen. {another blog i have to translate, but it's such a lovely blog with beautiful pictures.}

Liivian talossa. {i guess i read a lot of blogs that have to be translated, don't i? but they really are my favorite.}

abby try again. {i love abby's blog. her photographs are amazing and i love her sense of style. without sounding too creepy, i hope one day i can meet her.}

the habit of being. {i have to say, nicole's blog is one of my very favorites. her writing always make me think and i really appreciate her love of nature. another gal i'd love to meet someday.}

angry chicken. {she's always making something super rad. like her own underwear or deodorant and the most recent she has gotten into making butter. awesome! i use her recipe "cheat sheet" a ton.}

manteli. {i know i've mentioned her blog here before, but i love it so.}


{sometimes i'm a shy blogger, so i'm not going to follow the directions exactly. but if you happen to see your blog listed, feel free to pass on the award.}

tagged.

Thank you Aino!

{I filled this out a few days ago, but just now got around to posting it!}

What is your current obsession?
1930s-'40s working garments.

What are you wearing now?
jeans, plaid button down, blue sweater.

Do you nap a lot?
no. sometimes i take a little cat nap, but long naps make me feel horrid.

Who was the last person you hugged?
my friends rachel and annie, all together.

If you were a tree, what tree that would be?
it doesn't matter what kind, so long as it's big and old and beautiful. i love old trees.

What's for dinner?
yummy salad with chicken on top. and then i was naughty and stewed some apples, eating it over ice cream and sipping wine.

What was the last thing you bought?
vintage patterns.

What are you listening right now?
"billie holiday" by warpaint.

What is your favourite weather and why?
not hot, but not cold. i dislike rain because it puts me in a sour mood. i love a hot day only if there's a lake to jump into and a sundress to wear.



What is one thing you have always wanted to do or learn?
i would love to learn the banjo someday. that is one of many many things i would like to do.

What is your most challenging goal right now?
getting all the work i'd like to complete in a timely manner.

Say something to the person who tagged you:
hello, aino! i think you are lovely and you are an inspiration to me every day. thank you for opening up another beautiful world to me. let's have tea sometime. :)

If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where you wanted it to be?
i'm not really sure, but i would love to see what it's like out east with mountains. some beautiful old house in the woods. someplace i'd have to fix up, but it would have so many stories to tell. and i would have a garden. oh dream on anna, dream on!

Favourite vacation spot:
any place with friends. quite possibly in the woods and wearing funny 19th century costumes. ;)

What movies can you watch over and over?
oh there are so so many. mostly old movies. i adore "philadelphia story." i could watch it thousands of times.

What is your favourite tea flavour?
earl grey!

What are you reading right now?
"hope leslie" by catherine sedgwick

Where is the landscape of your mind?
yards of fabric and wool yarn (and cups of coffee).

What is the latest quotation which made you impressed?
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." -Mark Twain

You have one wish:
i wish i could go back in time.
--
Here are the rules:
1. Respond & rework the questions on your blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your own invention, add one more question of your own.

2. Tag eight other un-tagged people.

and i tag anyone who would like to do this! {so if you're reading this and haven't done it already, consider yourself tagged.}

you guys still with me?

I'm on week two of no-shampoo. It's going okay. Nothing super unusual, though my scalp does kinda feel gross. So I think I'm still going through the detox period. I'm thinking it takes me three weeks at least, not two. Hoping by next week it will feel a little better. Those of you who are doing this, hang in there!!! I know this is the time that it's the easiest to quit, but really it's good to stick with the full 6 weeks before you make up your mind whether or not you want to continue. It's not for everyone, but you'll never want to try it again if you stop now!



I've been drinking lots and lots of tea and coffee lately. Usually I'll drink my coffee in the morning and then drink tea all afternoon. Earl Grey is my choice these days. I go through a box pretty fast, so I try to stretch each tea bag and use it for two to three cups. {All this talk of tea is sooooo exciting, isn't it? This shows you how exciting my life is these days...} After finishing that huge project last week, I feel pretty good about work. I'm catching up on a lot of the smaller projects now or things I donated for historic land preservation last year. Finally getting all those completed. Man it feels good to be productive and COMPLETE things. I even had time one evening to finish a shirt I cut out for myself last year. Today I have way too many projects in mind. First I'm going to work some, then if I finish that, I'm going to sew up a tunic I cut out of some brown linen. I've almost forgotten about all the little projects that are half finished. I have so many. Anyway, enough blabbering on and on about my never-ending projects and to-do lists. Borrrring.

Hope you all are having a lovely weekend. Don't forget about Daylight Savings! I'm NOT looking forward to losing an hour of sleep. UGH. But I am kinda looking forward to that extra hour of daylight.

p.s. Tomorrow is International Women's Day (IWD) and some people are celebrating by taking off work on Monday. I'm not sure that I'll take off work, but we'll see. Either way it's a cool holiday. We don't hear about it much in the States.

Listening: CocoRosie.

it's good.

*Shape-note singing Saturday morning.
*Sewing all afternoon...
*Contra dance in the evening!
*Come home to sew into the wee hours of the morning.
*Sunday, wake up, make toast and coffee. Chill for about an hour or so.
*Sew sew sew sew sew non-stop until I thought I was going to die.
*Listened to MGMT for about 5 hours straight over and over again. (Freaking love it.)
*FINISHED project!
*Poured myself a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon (the cheap stuff).
*Chilled the heck out. :)
*Feels good.

How was your weekend?