What's wrong with me?

I've finished my designs. I know what I need to do next: forms, catalog, figure out terms, etc... why don't I just do it? I know it's not the fun stuff, but I need to do it. Am I afraid? Do I need to break it down so it doesn't seem like everything at one time?

Everytime I sit down to do it... I think of freelance stuff that's hanging over my head that I need to do. So I do other people's stuff first. I need to think of myself as a client because it's too easy to put myself aside... because it's me. I need to give myself a deadline like everyone else. Actually I should learn to put myself first so at the end of the day I won't feel like 'dang I didn't get to do my stuff'. Kind of like when you save money, pay yourself first before you pay your bills.

I think it boils down to me not being organized, procrastinating and a little afraid.

Trust no one?

We watch alot of Baby Einstein. Alot. We call it the baby mind control because our son just loves it. Anyway, I was reading about the creator of BE, Julie Clark on Ladies Who Launch. She took her great idea and became a super successful brand. One of the lessons she learned was to not trust anyone because somebody ends up ripping you off. I find that so sad but I guess it's business? It's one thing to be inspired by something, but to blatantly rip someone off? Ack

I've read that Big Card Company or Big Chain Store does it all the time. Why, when they are huge and could hire the best designers. Why not buy a license for designs? I don't know anything about licensing, it's probably expensive... but still there's gotta be a way where both parties can make money.

I've been reading about copyright issues and I feel bad for those involved. Then when I came across the article about the Baby Einstein creator, it just made me think about it again. When Huge Company rips someone off, it takes from designer's profit and a bit of their identity. We just want recognition for what we do and make a living doing it.

Happy <3 Day!!!

Hope everyone gets a healthy share of sugar today!!!!!
Happy Valentine's to all.

"4" theme

I've been tagged courtesy of shim+sons. Here goes:

Four jobs I've had in my life:
[1] summer camp counselor
[2] retail sales from shoes to Sanrio: myfave retail experience (unfortunately no stationery boutiques or I would've learned something)
[3] artwork cleaner at tshirt place
[4] graphic designer

Four movies I would watch over and over:
[1] The Matrix (first one)
[2] Edward Scissorhands
[3] Charlie & Chocolate Factory
[4] oh yeah......... Fifth Element

Four places I have lived:
[1] Vietnam
[2] Bay Area, CA
[3] Orange County, CA
[4] ...

Four TV Shows I like to watch:
[1] Grey's Anatomy
[2] 24
[3] Alias
[4] ...i guess i don't have time to watch much...

Four Places I have been on Vacation:
[1] Europe (Italy, France, Switzerland, Germany)
[2] Vancouver
[3] Vietnam (more like an adventure)
[4] few parts of the US (faves: maui, nyc)

Four Websites I visit daily:
[1] various paper blogs
[2] some gossip blogs (terrible i know)
[3] paperpreneurs
[4] yahoo

Four of my favorite foods:
[1] indian
[2] thai
[3] italian
[4] malt shakes

Four places I would rather be right now:
[1] eating dinner in a restaurant
[2] at a spa getting a massage (i've never had one yet)
[3] perusing a stationery boutique
[4] hanging out somewhere alone with husband

Bloggers I am tagging:
[1] a little hut
[2] paisley wallpaper
[3] erika
[4] for the love of paper

February already?

January was a blur.

I'm now finalizing designs and also adding a couple more at the last minute. Gee I thought I had enough but I dropped a couple of designs and 'saved' some for development at a later time. In the beginning I was greeting card girl, then notecard girl and now back to greeting card girl. Ugh. My sidetrack ways is slowing me down. I've neglected the poor website... at this point product is more important. Without product what's the point of a website.

Also I'm designing a CD project for a musician client/friend. Should be fun, but I feel like I have to top myself since I did her previous CD.

We're down to a one-car family. Husband no longer works at previous job so he had to give back the company car. We'll see how long 1 car lasts. So far it's been okay and we like the extra room in the garage.