Daydreams & ponderings

Shop is open!

2006-08-10T09:12:00.000-07:00

I'VE MOVED MY BLOG. From now on, my posts will be found here: Dear Monday blog
But I wanted to announce the opening of my site!!

It took only forever and a day, but it's finally open! What a relief! I'm excited and nervous at the same time about my site: Dear Monday

Use coupon code to get 15% off: 2851081206 (expires Dec2006)
I know it's a long number... just cut and paste! :)

moved!

2006-07-25T10:47:00.000-07:00

I was going to post later... but i've pretty much transferred everything over. From now on my new blog address is dearmonday.wordpress.com

Hopefully this new "home" will make me post more???? Also I still have to do a header but for the most part, it's up and running.

hot hot hot

2006-07-22T14:20:00.000-07:00

It's been so hot lately. It's always hot in July but this year it seems hotter. To top it off, we've all been sick. I think I got it worse than Little J and hubby. Nothing worse than being sick in a heat wave.

Nothing happening much on the stationery business side of things. Just prepping and finishing everything up. After I have everything in place... I'm considering a move of this blog. Most likely to wordpress. It's still free and you get to have categories. Yay!!! Not sure how much difference that'll make in encouraging me to blog more, but... I just like that it has categories, that way everything can be in its place. That's funny coming from me because I'm a slob. An organized slob. My husband always tells me I have so many piles. Wherever there's a flat area, there's a pile. LOL

BC 1st Friday: SKY

2006-07-07T00:03:00.000-07:00

This is the first time I'm able to finish something on time to participate in Inkfinger's Blind Contour 1st Friday.
If you can't tell what it is, that's a rooftop against a SKY (this month's theme). Color was added because it just looks better. :)

I'm committed

2006-07-05T23:55:00.000-07:00

I have on my website that the shop would be open late summer. yikes!

I had to give myself a deadline so I can hurry up and finish. I want to design again and get on with life. Right now finishing up the shop is like something looming over my head. No more wondering 'will they buy it?' or 'is it good enough?' Well despite myself, I managed to be about half way done. My next step is to take photos of the enclosure cards... I got so burnt out with taking pics of the greeting cards that I procrastinated. Photos are always a big hurdle, but it will get done.

Mostly just icky stuff on the 'to-do' list remains.

ugh SEO

2006-06-22T22:44:00.000-07:00

I'm learning/reading up on SEO and all that good stuff. I'm beginning to realize that to really do it properly... my webpages are going to look like crap. Sigh. It seems like you'd have to put so much information on your page. I've been looking at examples of sites that have been successful with using SEO techniques... and well... most of those sites look jam-packed with info!!

I'm a big fan of simple and clean. I like stuff streamlined. Hmmm... I better save up money for advertising. LOL

Just wanted to add where you can learn more about SEO. Lots and lots of good info. And alot of work if you want it done correctly.
http://www.gnc-web-creations.com/seo-optimization.htm

wait and see......

2006-06-13T15:35:00.000-07:00

I'm going to take a small break so I can concentrate on building an online site. I don't post that much anyway so it won't even seem like a break. LOL. There's a few cool (& cheap :-D) places I'd like to try advertising with or promoting with... but it just seems like a waste of effort if they are retail customers and they can't buy if they come to the website. So... taking matters in my own hands... not waiting on stores, not waiting on reps... I'll just change my focus, and hope for the best.

Things in the greeting card business is slow and some things are up in the air. I worry when someone has my info and pdf catalog and then doesn't get back to me unless I contact them. Are they competitors pretending to be a rep? Maybe I was too gullible... But I did ask for references. Ehhh I'd like to believe in the good of people and I'll assume they are just putting stuff together to present. Hmmm... guess I'll have to wait and see.

bright lights, sin city

2006-06-02T17:38:00.000-07:00

We've been back and well-rested from our little getaway to Nevada. We had a great time visiting with husband's family but it sure is good to be back home. I was able to get about 8-9 hours of sleep most days (that includes a nap) but I still felt beat. Maybe it was the heat, altho the weather was pretty mild. Maybe it was the lack of humidity.

Everytime we go to the Vegas area, we always think... 'damn, we can sell our house in CA and get one there and not have to work (for a while).' But... my family and most our friends are here. Plus the weather is nicer in CA. The thought of financial freedom makes it sooo tempting. Sure we daydream about it, then when it does get hot and we walk out into a furnace of 105 degrees we're brought back to reality.

From where we were, we can see the entire strip. It doesn't translate well into pictures, but this is a partial view.

finally air

2006-05-20T22:05:00.000-07:00

I'm coming up for air. It's like everybody I know just had a birthday. In the past 4 weeks there's been 8 birthdays, mine & husband included, and 3 for mother's day... just one more birthday which is my dad's and I'll be good for a while. Sheesh. I need to make new friends who aren't born in April or May! LOL

I finished up client's order of cards. Goodness I know why handmade cards should be priced accordingly because they take lots of time. There's not too much I can do except make sure to keep some stock just in case. I don't have to worry about that for now because I'm such a chicksh*t when it comes to approaching stores. HA! Just mainly concentrating on prepping samples to send out to stores and a few trade magazines. We'll see what happens. Things move pretty slow when there's a toddler around but mainly because I've got no skills in sales and chicken about it to boot. HA.

Wow this weekend the NSS starts. Soooo excited for all the paper people out there. Someday... someday!
I hope everybody has a great show. There's so much talent out there.

Happy Mother's Day

2006-05-14T12:53:00.000-07:00

To all the moms and moms-to-be out there... Have a great day and enjoy your families!!! :)

2 cheers

2006-05-04T22:54:00.000-07:00

Cheer 1: No ecommerce yet, but it's finally up: Dear Monday
A friend suggested to put a photo in the 'about' section but I don't have a recent one that's half way decent or that my hair doesn't look like tumbleweed LOL.

Cheer 2: Client I designed CD for made a sizeable order of my cards. That'll keep me busy for a bit. Good thing I ordered lots of supplies.

website is almost up

2006-05-02T23:58:00.000-07:00

yippee! I'm so glad the website is pretty much done so I'll be uploading in a day or 2. It didn't take long at all once I decided on what to do. It's really basic and it shows some samples. It is good for now and I can always make it better later. I just wanted to get something done! After this I'll be start working on the shopping part of it. Still deciding on if I want a separate site or same site. hmm...

Time wasters

2006-04-19T22:48:00.000-07:00

Yay. Today was the last of the doctor appointments. Well, it was actually the dentist but they are doctors afterall. I've been really bad about flossing so a few days before the appointment, I floss diligently and hope they don't ask me about it. I was told I have healthy gums and everything looks great. Whew. I got a new crown put in and was good to go. This counted as my outing for the day. Sad. LOL.

I've been procrastinating about the website. What did I do when I was procrastinating? Reading forums about the show 24. I've never done this but I've gotten obsessed with the show and I wanted to be with like company. There's only another 6 episodes left so then I won't need to do that anymore. Alias has started its last season tonight. It was once a good show, hopefully the final season will be good.

I know it doesn't seem like it, but I swear I'm busy.

I love Target but...

2006-04-14T22:38:00.000-07:00

they kill me sometimes. I'm gonna get depressed for a minute here. I went to Target for last minute Easter stuff and I perused their card section. Normally I kind of avoid it but some cute cards with fabric on it caught my eye. They have some of the most adorable cards! There's tons that look really elaborate if you were to do it by hand, and they were all reasonably priced. *sigh* Awhile ago I would've felt why do I bother making cards. But now I just think: mine are cute too and I'm not aspiring to be in Target. :)

At least with greeting cards there's not a huge price gap between chain store cards and boutique/indie design type cards. Most of the time, the price difference is a few dollars. Sure, there's cards out there for $50 a card, but that's so few. It's not like fashion where a dress could be $20 in a chain store versus $500 by a designer. Yikes.

Anyway, today my mom has the day off so she watched Little J. I wish I was able to do more creative stuff but I had to go to the doctors. I've had a doctor's appt once a week for the past 5 weeks. Geez I guess getting older is high maintenance. Plus I'm one of those people who (sorry TMI) never know when Aunt Flo's coming or if she's coming. I think Little J is a miracle. But thank goodness, after today, healthwise I seem to be *normal*. One more dentist appoint next week and then I'm done with doctors for a while... Unless... we want to have another little one soon, then I go back and see what options we have. I think we'll see where nature takes us and hope for another little miracle.

I've been neglecting the website because I've been having too much fun making cards. It makes me feel kind of crafty. I really like working with my hands, I wish I had more time. I'm looking at shopping carts again and really interested in the Zen Cart. I had my mind on Mals-e since it's something I could handle but Zen just seems to have more options. Reading about Zen and php and ssl and and and.... makes me want to cry... or do something unrelated like go look at a celebrity blog. hehe. I don't know what happened to my brain. When it comes time for a retail site, I'm leaning towards hiring someone if I go with Zen especially if I want to customize. First things first, I still need to finish catalog, preliminary website and I still have to reshoot the product photos.

To end on a good note, the client I did CD design for, wants to order some cards. Yay.

Just give me 2 lines

2006-04-09T21:51:00.000-07:00

This weekend I went to a film audition. A friend of my husband's is making an Asian movie... more like a movie for the Asian community. Since I'm bilingual I was asked to participate/help out. I thought I knew what to expect... but then I wondered is this for a role? is it for a voice dub? It turned out we had to kinda "act" in front of the camera. Crap. I'm all for helping hubby's friend but this is kind of embarrassing.

I get my Vietnamese lines and I REALLY have to study it because in front of strangers, it feels foreign. Anyway there's a really cute girl who looked like she's studying the lines too. I asked her 'Do you go to these things alot?"
Girl: "You mean auditions? ...yeah"
Me: "Oh, are you an actress?"
Girl: (shyly)"... mmm yeah, you could say that. Usually it's English speaking, it's very rare that I get called for this."
(I was trying to size up the situation here)

Anyway, I read my lines with 2 guys. 1st guy... he was so nervous but he was able to get thru his lines.
The 2nd guy... it was hilarious. The director had us read in English (yay!) and the 2nd guy could BARELY read his lines. Poor guy. So the director told us to switch to Vietnamese. The guy said he can't read Vietnamese. (Who told him to come down? LOL) It's not his native language and neither is English. The director asks what his native language was and 2nd guy says Laos and French. So anyway we finished up reading in Vietnamese. LOL

How did I do? Oh I sucked and I was nervous. But I must not have sucked that bad if I was asked to stay to read a couple of times. In my opinion I sucked... but I really thought it was fun. Embarrassing but fun. It's really hard to 'act' like I have the hots for this guy I'm talking with when the 'actor' can't read his lines and I could barely understand him. heeheehee

As for the girl I spoke to earlier... she read with a few guys too. All the guys got sent home after one take.

On my way out, I talked to hubby's friend. He thanks me for coming down to help them out. He wants me to be involved in one way or another, with a role or behind the scenes. (He always says stuff like this so it's not like I'll be given anything.) I told him it'd be cool if I had a teeny tiny role with 2 lines. This is faaaarrr from any Hollywood production but it would be NEATO to see how everything works and come together. I'm hoping everything works out for him and anyone else behind it.

I like blogging

2006-04-06T14:12:00.000-07:00

I don't do as much as I like, but I like blogging. I didn't think I'd keep it up this long. Although the things I write are pretty mundane, it helps me feel like I have a voice. Since being a mom, I've been home and don't talk much to people anymore. Except for my sister who has 4 kids (one more on the way), none of my close friends have any kids. So no one really 'gets it'. LOL.

Anyway, blogging is a bit of therapy and it helps me look at where I'm at with starting a biz. I've done more in the past 7 months about the paper biz than I have in the past 3+ years of planning for it. I think I took action at the most difficult time... when my son started to become mobile. What made me think I wasn't going to be chasing him around? LOL Anyway I'm going at slower than a snail's pace, but at least I'm going.

So right now it's website building time. Ok, without having to deal with a shopping cart, it's easier. But I still have to deal with that eventually. Depending on how sane I am at that point, I might hire someone. I think it's fear of giving control to someone else, I don't know. Right now though, I'm having a hell of a time shooting the cards. I want to photograph them because they are embellished. We'll see what happens after I play with the camera settings and lighting a bit more. Photoshop can only do so much.

I should get to know my neighbor

2006-04-03T22:15:00.000-07:00

There's a lady down our street who does custom invitations. I've never met her but I met her husband twice. The first time I met him was when we first moved in. He was handing out flyers for the annual 'block party' where all the neighbors get all social and have a big cookout in the middle of the street. We didn't go because we were out of town. After that they never had another block party. Back then he mentioned she was a graphic designer and designed invitations. I mentioned I was starting a greeting card biz (yeah, 3 years ago).

Well he and I met again just the other day when he came by to ask how we liked the painters who painted our house since they are painting his house the next day. (Isn't late to ask now? hehe) Yes, our lovely association sent us a lovely letter telling us we needed to paint our house. Anyway... the neighbor and I ended up having the same quick conversation as we did 3 years ago. This time though, he gave me his wife's biz card. I'm going to make it a point to get to try to meet her. I can't say I've ever seen her around though. But it's pretty cool that someone in the paper biz lives so close by.

It also got me to realize... I've been wanting to start this biz thing for 3 years now??? Yikes! I must've not been that serious before because if I was, I'd be a lot further along than I am now. Gah! If I had known then what little time I'd have now...... SIGH.....

Reached out

2006-03-29T22:00:00.000-08:00

Over 10 years ago I met Dana in NYC. A mutual friend encouraged us to meet, because at the time I was fascinated with NY and fashion design. And Dana designed for CK and Tommy H. Well I finally emailed her and thanked her for hanging out with me and showing me around the garment district.

I know it's a little late but it felt SO good. I tried to thank her years ago but didn't have the right contact info plus she was travelling alot. So there... I can cross off one thing that's been on the back of my mind for a long time. Who knows, maybe we'll be able to keep in touch every now and then.

1 stress gone

2006-03-25T14:13:00.000-08:00

I told Freelance company I don't want to do work for them anymore.

A few days ago I get a phone call. It's a rush fix that needs to be done. I said I'll do it when I get back since I'm on my way to an appointment.
Freelance co: No, it needs to be done now.
Me: No, I'm on my way out. I'll be back in 2 hours I'll do it then.
Freelance: No, we wouldn't call if we didn't need it asap. Can you just hear us out and see if it's something you can do?
Me: (silence.....) ok what is it?
Freelance: It's just changing one word from XXXX to Xxxx.
Me: (i'm such a sucker) That's fine if that's all it is... I don't think I have that file though.
Freelance: we'll get you the file. We're gonna have "Dorothy" send it over now.

I go to the computer while hoping Little J keeps being interested in Baby Einstein. Then I thought, if they have the file why can't they do it? I call back and said: Why don't you just make the change if you have the file?
Freelance co: .... (calls in Dorothy)
Dorothy: I can't put in form fields.
Me: If you have the file you don't need me.
Dorothy: But you have to put in the form fields.
Me: What do you mean? There's no form fields on that page.
Freelance co talking amongst themselves, then: ok, byyyyyyyyyeeeeeee!

Wow! LOL
Anyway... a few days later when I get a change for a job from 4 months ago I asked Freelance Co. to not send more jobs (not that I've been getting much). Pretty painless. But they did ask if that meant all jobs. Ummm... yes. LOL

I'm going to put the energy that I spent there, elsewhere. heh

Website and the ex

2006-03-16T22:11:00.000-08:00

Now I'm back to working on the website again. I'm not very familiar with Dreamweaver so if I don't work on it for a month or more, I forget how everything works. I'm a print girl so I have to switch my thinking when it comes to web. I'm going to get an informative site first while I try to do the shopping cart thingie. We'll see how it all goes. I wish there was 2 of me!

Totally off topic but.... There's been 3 instances when I've gone to pick up my husband and I find myself driving behind or next to my very first boyfriend's parents. I could tell their car anywhere because it's like a 1965 model or something. The first time it was like "woah that's J's dad and they still have the same car!" The 2nd time it was his dad and mom in the car, I almost rolled down my window and yelled "Hi Mrs. Dxxxxxxxx!!!!!!!" but I didn't want to give her a heart attack. Plus it might seem awkward. I'm thinking his dad might work at one of the churches in my area.

So strange to get a glimpse of them after all these years. Last I heard of the exboyfriend was around the time of our 10-year HS reunion. I ran into his sister and wondered if he was going. She said he was married and studying graphic design. Graphic design!? Funny when I went to college, he used to sit in on my classes and fall asleep. He worked graveyard so he could go to my classes to keep an eye on me. LOL He was never interested in design but funny that he ended up studying it. Hopefully he's doing something with it. Anyway, it's bizarre that I've been less than 10 feet away from his parents with the past 2 months.

Balance

2006-03-07T09:26:00.000-08:00

Client stopped by yesterday for last minute edits and drop off a a disk. It could've been done thru email and snail mail, but maybe she just wanted to stop by. Client is very pleased with the work, and I'm so glad that it's practically done... just some minor edits and it's off to be printed. She asked for the balance of the payment and I gave her a figure. I have a soft spot for musicians/artists so I do it for a "small business" price. To my surprise, she countered and paid me more than what I asked. I was like: "YES!" I've never had a client do that. The past year I've been so used to Freelance Co. chop my quotes down or ask me to lower my price that I think I'm almost brainwashed by it. So this was a very pleasant surprise. And it comes at a very good time as Freelance Co. is not giving me more work, which is fine by me. I think they have the traffic person do the art now. Once I had a question like how do you make a shadow show up underneath a box in a PS layer. (To be fair to Freelance Co. they did offer me her job, but I didn't want half my job to be trafficking/customer service. Plus I had a gut feeling telling me don't take it.)

Anyway back to CD client... she's hoping to keep me a little busy after the CD is released. She's starting a business herself and in a few years she'd want me to work in her company once she has established things. I said sure. Also the printer who is doing her project said if I'm up for it, he can send stuff my way. I said that'd be great as long as it's not all the time or a rush because I have an energetic toddler. He offered me this last time I did her CD, LOL. I wonder why I didn't pursue this couple years ago? Ehh even if nothing comes of it, it's nice to be asked. This time I'm on the fence about accepting work since I have Little J and paper biz... but if it's work with good people, I would reconsider.

I wonder why all this is coming up? Freelance Co.'s door is closing so another opens? Is this balance? Where is my position going to be in this paper biz I'm pursuing? Oh when I look at the whole big picture it's kinda baffling. I better go back to what I was just doing... cutting paper and ribbons and whatnot. I don't want to think too much or else I'll stop too long.

This might be the longest post I've written. That's because hubby's mom is in town, she got in yesterday. We were kind of surprised, but very glad she's here. She wants to help and play with Little J. We're greatful for that. Help with the baby is always a good thing. Woohoo.

All by myself

2006-03-04T23:10:00.000-08:00

Yes, I had 8 hours by myself on Friday. That's the longest I went without little J, ever. My mom had the day off so I dropped him off at my parents after I took hubby to work. I forgot what it felt like to do things without a little person hanging by my leg. hehe.

I had plans of all these things I wanted to do... but I mostly finished up the CD project. I finally received all the elements to do final layouts and client is coming over Monday. Now the CD needs to be done as soon as possible. Good thing I was working while I waited and thank god I had the day off because I spent more time than I thought I would.

The day literally flew by. When 4:15 came, I felt I was ready to just drop. Drowsiness just hit me suddenly like a brick. I hadn't had any sleep the past 2 nights because little J had the sniffles. But sleep will have to wait because I had to go pick up hubby. Sigh the sacrifice of having one car... it's not too bad. It outweighs the monthly car payment, if we were to get another car.

All in all, it was a productive day. I got things done. Packed stuff I sold on ebay to be mailed off, in no time at all. I also had a chance to list some lots on ebay too... Clothing inventory that I had in the closet since the baby was born. I used to sell on ebay but then the fees got too expensive and I realized I didn't like listing. What I liked was buying merchandise and keeping some for myself. LOL A bad habit. I'll leave the ebay selling to my sis-in-law... she does it so much better. Now it's time to get our closets back and just simplify.

If/when I make money in stationery biz, I'll hire a babysitter every now and then!

What's wrong with me?

2006-02-22T15:15:00.000-08:00

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?

2006-02-16T23:59:00.000-08:00

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!!!

2006-02-14T13:59:00.000-08:00

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

"4" theme

2006-02-08T10:42:00.000-08:00

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?

2006-02-01T21:32:00.000-08:00

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.

naps are so cool

2006-01-23T22:22:00.000-08:00

This is when I get a little work done. :)

The other night our friends ask us 'why do you want to have another baby?' Well... uh we'd like our son to have a sibling and um... Do we need a reason other than we'd like another one so we can just love him/her? It certainly isn't a financial gain to have a kid LOL. Another friend said we want one because babies gives off a certain smell that makes us want to keep reproducing. What? She read it in a scientific article. I'd like to read that article myself. That's the silliest thing I've ever heard. We know we only want 2 kids. If we sniff the next kid, it's not going to make us want another one.

They bring up good points: Do you want to go through it all again? Be tired all the time? Busy with no sleep?
I've thought about all that. At least if there is a 2nd time, I know what to expect. I would quit freelance company. And hopefully by that time, I've got stationery biz all set up so I can be a machine and work on a schedule. Everything is doable, it'll work out!

Standstill

2006-01-19T23:16:00.000-08:00

That's where I'm at. The supplies I ordered didn't arrive. One place their warehouse was closed the past 2 weeks so my order won't be mailed till next week. The 2nd place orders normally take 3+ weeks to ship. Normally? Should've read their shipping terms. I ended up cancelling since it's only color swatches. I doubt I'll order from them in the near future, so I won't need the sample swatches afterall. Luckily I found another company whose shipping is not nearly that long.

Dang. At least all this makes me really think about production. I've been making mock-ups with what I've got. For the real product, I better have all my supplies ready and resources on hand.

The website has been put on the back burner a bit. I'm also rethinking that. Instead of trying to put up a site with a store, I'll probably end up doing more of a informative site. And shop site to come later. It's just too much to do all at once. I'm trying to do what is necessary and trimming tasks to make it more manageable... at least in my mind.

I just trying to simplify and focus. It's not helping that '24' is back and they had two 2-hour episodes.

Admiring from the sidelines

2006-01-06T11:16:00.000-08:00

The NSS is coming up in about 4 months. It's exciting to read about it and hear others prepare for the big week. Too bad it's only held once a year and only in NY. Since I'm in California, to just walk it would still be expensive with airfare and hotel. I do hope someday to be there exhibiting. But that is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down the line. Sometimes I wish it was held twice a year, one in NY and another in LA or even Vegas. I suppose that might dilute the whole importance of the show and inconvenience buyers a little since they have 2 shows to go to. Ahhh well.

I'm sure there are ways for a paper biz to grow even without being at the NSS. For now I'll watch others prepare for their big week in May.

Here's to 2006!

2006-01-01T21:54:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

Okay... I give in to myself. I'll make some resolutions....
• Exercise (this is always on the list... and I keep it up for about a month)
• Be organized (always a struggle)
• Get to bed earlier (this is a new one!)
• Make blog prettier and stuff, or at least add links (I should complete this one)
• Get website up and get biz rolling (okay this one is a must)

And I hope this happens
• Get pregnant

Oh sucky sucky

2005-12-29T22:05:00.000-08:00

No, not the holidays. They were great. We spent time with my family, hubby's family came to visit. Everything went very well. Baby was very sweet and loved all his presents especially the big box that his Herbie Car Pillow came in.

Just sucks when I think I have a really great idea but when I actually create it, it's not as great as I envisioned. I just hate when that happens... well it would've been too much production work anyway. I've learned when you have to try extra hard to make something work, it probably wasn't that good to begin with.

Today I got a work table so I'll have a place to set things on. Leaving things on the floor is not an option anymore. And putting things away, when I'm not done yet, is counter productive. All in all, just prepping for the new year. Just when I was getting used to 2005, 2006 is practically here.

I don't make resolutions because I never stick to them... so instead I'll make a '2006 To Do List'.

How do they do it?

2005-12-13T23:42:00.000-08:00

I get inspired and I scratch my head when I read other people's blogs who have small businesses. Everybody seems to have their house decorated and some are doing extra handmade things for the holidays, etc etc. Dang. There are everyday Martha Stewarts all over. I don't know how some of these ladies do it all. It's great.

It makes me look at myself too. I think I think too much. I should just do it, whatever it may be. It doesn't have to be perfect. Time to make a list on what needs to be done and not just think of all that needs to be done.

I almost see light...

2005-12-06T13:16:00.000-08:00

...at the end of the tunnel. Yay. Still slooooooowly working on website and stuff. I'm so excited that I'm beginning to grasp the shopping cart thing. It seems like a piece of cake to some people, but dang, I don't know what's wrong with me. But I know more now than I did a month ago. That's progress. Still figuring web layout and making as easy as possible to navigate thru.

I'm also excited about these ten 13-yr-old girls starting their business in our neighborhood: The Baby Sitter's Club. When I opened the door, I thought they were going to sell magazines but they handed me their flyer and explained their business and it was like the sky opened up. HALLELUJAH. I haven't hired them yet, but it's just knowing that their just around the corner!! :) I also like that it's 2 girls instead of 1 when they're on a 'job'.

So I'm making progress. Very slowly but surely.

Lots to learn

2005-11-28T23:22:00.000-08:00

Oh I'm back from a mini-vacation. Spent Thanksgiving with husband's side of the family just outside of Vegas. It was cool to always have good food around and not have to do the cooking. Woohoo!

It was also great to have almost a whole week of chillin' and not being on the computer so much. When I did get on the computer though, I mostly surfed and researched taxes and shopping carts. Yikes... have I got a lot to learn. I used to think supplies are just a straight write-off. It wasn't until my sister-in-law told me about 'raw materials' that opened my eyes to a part of accounting that I never even wanted to think about. Ugh. If you use your supplies to make merchandise that you sell, it's raw materials... so that opens a whole different can of worms. That lead me to research about accounting software. Yikes those things cost a lot of money. Ummm... I think I'll do the old-fashioned thing... write things down in a notebook and then figure it out. Ay ay ay. As if shopping carts weren't already making my eyes widen, now there's tax issues to consider. Double yikes.

Uhh... back to happy thoughts. Thanksgiving... great food, great people.
And now it's back to business again. Gotta find where I left off last week. heh

Random blabber

2005-11-16T21:19:00.000-08:00

I'm really busy right now. I really should keep working, but ehhhh.... I need a break.

It's weird... but putting out a list of '20 random things' about myself has made me feel like I stepped a bit out of anoniminity (is that a word?). Reading about others' lists is fun too. Makes me smile about whoever I'm reading. If I wasn't addicted before, I am now. Maybe I'll stop being shy and leave comments on those I haven't yet.

My Seller's Permit came today. YAY!!!!!!!! Now I can send in my business license. I guess it'll just be write-offs I have, since I won't be making any money in the biz anytime in the near future.

Freelance client was trying to come up with an idea that I could do more work for the same money. Seems like they want a break in price if they're gonna send me more work. Hmmmm... I don't really want to do more work for less money. Of course I said no. They've hired new sales people, expanded into a new product... so I think they're doing okay. If they stop using me I'll be fine... if they find someone who'll do it for less, more power to them.

It's freaking hot, or maybe it's this room I'm in with the computers. It must've been 80 degrees earlier today.

Looking forward to next week. Visiting husband's family soon. This time next week, all I have to do is prep myself for a big meal the next day.

Hmm government workers...

2005-11-14T14:03:00.000-08:00

Well just one in particular. The lady at the BOE office told me the I'd get my seller's permit in 8 days if I dropped it off. It's been 10 days. I called today, seems like they still haven't even gotten to it. Daaang.

I saw Madonna's latest video. The woman is 47!
In some magazine she said 'if you do yoga everyday, you can have the body of a teenager'. For real? I'm gonna look for a good yoga dvd. I hope it'd help my mind relax too.

20 Random Things

2005-11-12T14:36:00.000-08:00

I was tagged by Paper Whore. So here goes:

1. I've always wanted to have my own product, do my own thing. I just didn't know what it was, but I knew it had to be creative. I hope stationery is the answer.

2. In my former life I sung in a rock band. Seems like a millions years ago... ehh not that long, maybe a 1000 years.

3. I need more confidence in business because I second guess my abilities all the time.

4. In above mentioned band, we had one of our songs in a C. Fe ldm an movie. LOL I've not even seen the movie.

5. I learned to read at 3 yrs. and knew multiplication 1x-9x by the time I was 6. Don't know what happened, it's been downhill from there... LOL

6. I eat avocados with sweetened condensed milk.

7. I came to USA xxx years ago on the last plane out of the old country... or so I was told, I just remember riding on a double-propeller military plane that looks like a banana.

8. I wanted to study architecture because I want to build my own house. Chose graphics instead, and still want to build my own house.

9. For the longest time, I wanted to get a boob job so bad. I thought if I get it between boyfriends, they wouldn't notice. LOL I've gotten over it and fine with myself now.

10. I don't eat red meat much. If I have a burger, often I don't eat the last bite.

11. I worked for a dot-com company in Hollywood for a year. We worked 12 hours a day, 7 days (6 hrs on sundays). Got nothing out it professionally, but got to know some awesome people. (oh yeah, Guilli ana Dep andi from E! worked there. She was their best spokesperson and was blond then. She wouldn't remember me cuz we were pretty invisible in graphics dept.)

12. I kidded my friends about naming my son Keanu. Now they call him little Keanu.

13. My husband and I had a long-distance relationship for 1 year. I was in CA, he was in WashDC. That's the same year I worked at dot-com company. No hubby isn't a CIA agent. LOL

14. I had to redo 1st grade but skipped 3rd.

15. I've always wanted to be a superhero. They may be tormented but at least they have powers.

16. I'm allergic to alcohol, therefore I've always been a cheap date. I break out in hives & turn beat red. I can get drunk, sick, hangover and then feel fine, all in 2 hours.

17. As overwhelmed as I get with having just 1 child, my husband and I would love another one. Call us crazy.

18. Sometimes I feel like a bad parent because I just want to take a break from it.

19. I like tofu as tofu. Don't make it pretend to be any kind of meat.

20. In HS there was a girl who wanted to beat me up. One time in PE I accidently slapped her on the butt REALLY HARD. I thought she was going to kill me but she never bothered me again.

And a random bonus: My husband thinks I'm a walking encyclopedia for hair bands. LOL I'm not.
Even though he thinks that, I still love him & my son more than anything. There, that's my touching thought for the day. :)

I will tag A Little Hut .

What pain? Weeeeee

2005-11-03T21:28:00.000-08:00

I just realized yesterday my right hand doesn't hurt anymore. It's a miracle! I had 'de Quervain tendonitis' which made it hurt to sign my name or make a fist. And my thumb was always easily knocked out of joint if I wasn't careful. The doctors told me it was carpal tunnel. Riiiiight. After 200 years of being on the computer, I know what carpal feels like. Anyway, I googled and diagnosed myself. I should've gone back to the doctor but months later a chiropratic friend confirmed it to be de Quervain.

Anyway, it took about 10 months, but I think it's gone! Knock on wood. It wasn't overnight, and there were some relapses... but the past week has been solid.

I still can't do a push-up like before, but I can sure use an x-acto! And in this business there's lots you need your hands for!

Yipee! Getting legit

2005-11-01T13:18:00.000-08:00

I did it. I finally filed a DBA/fictitious name. It wasn't hard at all and now I just need to get it published soon.
Also I dropped off my application for a Seller's Permit. I went down there because I wanted it processed the same day, but they were way too busy. Boooo! So I just dropped it off since I'm not sure when I can get down there again.

So I guess I'll have the business this year... not sure when the website will be ready yet though.
It's actually becoming more real. I have scary thoughts of will I be able to build a website? Will anybody buy anything? Will I eventually have stores to wholesale to? eeeek One day/process at a time.

Halloween was nice. We stayed home and gave out candy. Baby J's cousins all came over to trick-or-treat in our neighborhood. Next year he'll be able to join them.

Catch 22

2005-10-21T13:17:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I get to the point where I think I should just scrap the business till my son is a little older. The kid does not sleep. Now that he's finally sleeping thru the night, gets up anywhere between 5:30-6:30. Sometimes I can get him to sleep with me for a little bit more (depending on how early it is) cuz my eyes just aren't ready to open. He takes only 1 nap for 1.5 hours. Last week there was 2 days where he slept for 2.5 hours. Have no idea how that happened. Then he goes to bed about 8:30/8:45pm.

So I'm always tired. And I dont' want to take a nap when he's napping cuz that's precious alone time.

Yeah and I must be out of shape too (I know I am!). We were coming home from the park this morning and this couple who is about mid 40's with TRIPLETS walking waaaaaay behind me... then I hear them puffing behind me cuz they're gonna pass me up. They passed me up alright. The triple wide stroller walked right up the hill and I ended up waaaay behind them. Damn. I could not do this if I was in my 40s and they have THREEEEEEE. Damn. Oh and I wonder what they do for a living cuz I always see them out walking with the triplets.

Anyway... freelance client is giving me a bit more work again. At least I got done going thru the dreamweaver book. I couldn't have done that if they were sending me work.

Ehhhh, maybe I should just take a day and take a dang nap, and go to bed EXTRA early and no working. That's what I need.
I told myself I'll get a babysitter once I start the biz and hopefully get busy. But it's hard to do the biz with the baby. So that's the catch 22. I had forgotten about the subject of this post.

Busy with stuff

2005-10-13T12:16:00.000-07:00

I've been spending time learning Dreamweaver the past weeks. The chapter on 'tables' was killing me! Right now I'm only half way thru the book. Boy it's going to be one huge task trying to build a website. Shopping cart is another monster. I was just looking at Paypal shopping cart. Maybe I'll start with that.

I'm near finalizing my logo to something I almost like. Whew... no wonder I never did any logos for myself. It's so tough doing stuff for yourself.

That leaves no time to design cards. Oh well... there's a few designs I'm good with but just have to finalize. This small business stuff alot of work! heh :) oh and I should start thinking about all that paperwork I should be getting sometime.

It's nice being a slacker

2005-10-02T12:33:00.000-07:00

Yeah... I haven't been working on designs lately. I printed out some designs a few days ago and it gave me a false sense of accomplishment. So I took a break and slacked off. I watched new episodes of Smallville and Alias. Both were interesting and I am going to be suckered into watching them this season. I wonder where Alias is going with the *shocking* storyline???? Maybe this will be the last season I watch it avidly... supposedly JG isn't coming back? That's like the lead singer of a band leaving.
Good thing we have old-fashioned VCRs so we taped both shows while I watch Todd Oldham's Handmade Modern. (ooooooh makes me want to build stuff again.)

I've also been reading and researching a lot on PR, business start-ups, marketing. My eyes hurt and my brain is fuzzy. Have to cut myself from the internet a bit to design. Also, a web design company that I have been eyeing to someday build my site is totally backed-up and she also raised her prices. Bummer!! By the time I'm even ready for her, prices might be even higher since she's seems to be picking up lots of biz from indie companies. Good for her/them, bummer for me. I just have to get my act together faster. Goal is to have live site early 2006.

On tonight's agenda:
• Desperate Housewives (I've yet to decide if I like it, but yay for 40-somethings!!!)
• practicing Dreamweaver!

Time flies

2005-09-28T22:22:00.000-07:00

Woah. It's been a while since I've posted. Nothing new happening. Saw an episode of Desperate Housewives for the first time. heh. I don't watch much tv except for hgtv (Handmade Modern was pretty cool tonight; also LOVE Kenneth Brown), Alias (which isn't on right now), 24 (not on), rockstar inxs (over now). Hmm... for the 2 weeks we didn't have cable I was more productive.

I've just been designing and thinking away. I was telling hubby what's to stop me from filing papers and getting a business license this year? I want to get ALL designs done before I file anything plus there's only 3 months left in the year. Why bother? Well I think that's just me procrastinating. Maybe if I file it's gonna be more a kick in the butt for me to work faster. I just don't like forms and taxes! And since I freelance off and on, isn't that like 2 businesses? Ehhhhhh....

Anyway, I've printed out designs just to take inventory of what I have so far. I can see if I need more designs for certain occasions or if I need to tweak stuff here and there. I don't know why I don't do this more often. Cuz I'm cheap, I mean conscientious, and I don't want to waste ink on something that's not final yet!

On another note, freelance job is slowing to a drip. That's a blessing and a bummer. It's letting me have more time to design but no money to save up to put into 'the business'. That means instead of hiring this one company to do a website, I'll have to tackle dreamweaver again. I took classes on 2 different occasions and I still forget how to use that program. (Well 2nd time I was pregnant and didnt know it yet, so my brain was elsewhere.) It's just as well since in the beginning no one sees your website anyway.

So I've got lots to do still ... while keeping an extra close eye on baby who is climbing on tables and chairs now.

I just have to get over my fear and get official.

1st birthday and etc.

2005-09-18T12:39:00.000-07:00

My baby's 1st birthday was yesterday. Both sets of grandparents, some more family came and so did 6 of our friends who have no kids. I sure hope one of the couples decide to have kids, then they'll really know what it's like. heehee They don't realize until they have one. And babysitting is not the same. My husband loves telling "Jackus" couple about things that baby does to gross them out. Anyway, the bday party was really fun... we celebrated with baby's cousin since she is only few days younger. They both got to mush cupcakes. Cousin likes sweets but oddly the sweetness made Baby want to gag. Anyway, glad it's over with since I've been fighting this headcold I caught from husband. I hope baby doesn't catch it.

I'm glad we didn't go to the beach today with husband's parents. I think that would make my nose worse.

Instead, I'm motivating myself to do freelance job. Oh boy, I get to work with teeny tiny gifs that customer of client provides with a "beautiful" logo done in Word. Nice. Hmm and they have no text or content. Ooooh even better. I'll just end up doing my own thing, I'd go nuts fiddling around with micro gifs. That's what I do... try to turn poop into chocolate.

I'll do cards later on tonight. Haven't stayed up too late with this headcold plus I don't want to husband's parents to think I'm a nut always behind computer. If it wasn't for this cold, I'd be feeling refreshed with getting to bed ealier the past few nights. I'll make it a goal of going to bed 2 times a week by 11:30.

Get a move on

2005-09-10T22:16:00.000-07:00

I really need to get a move-on in my creations. My dear hubby is having a tough time at job so I better be more productive in this endeavor. Freelance is down to a trickle so I better figure out ways I can start making money. Problem with stationery biz is that ... it takes time. At least for me.

Personally I think if I had all my designs down, production would not be as big of a deal. I need quiet and alone time for designing. I could make production like an assembly line if I had all designs and materials in place. This is what I assume anyway.

Also, I need to focus on a style. I'm torn between 2 or 3 styles.
I initially wanted to do greeting cards, but realized it doesn't come as easily. My designs aren't necessarily occasion-specific. They seem to fall into the notecard category. And lately I've got a lot of ideas for gift tags/enclosures. Do people even buy enclosures?

All I can do is plod along. Things always look fresher when you look back a few days later.

Freelancing less... for now

2005-09-06T21:16:00.000-07:00

The place I freelance for hasn't given me new work for about a week now. I'm kinda glad and worried at the same time. When I get work, I'd have to spend my free time and nights doing the projects. So I was bummed that I didn't get to work on card designs. Now without the work, I can do my designs at night. I'm not complaining but just a little worried I'm not making money. I just have to focus on stationery and remember that the client isn't paying me big bucks anyway.

While we're on freelancing... I gave a quote for another company for photo retouching which I thought that was below reasonable. They either decided to have their in-house person do it or someone else do it for less. They could have countered. It's different if they were a teeny tiny company. Ahh well... more time for stationery. I'm better off anyway... My time valuable.

My baby boy is starting to take only 1 nap. Oh dear... have to start using my time more wisely.

Entering Blog-dom

2005-08-30T09:58:00.000-07:00

I finally have a blog!
Geez I don't know what happened but I had trouble setting up an account the other day. But today... it was no problem. I somehow screwed up creating an account so I didn't get the user name or blog address that I originally intended.

We'll see how long I keep this up. I had a LiveJournal once, I had maybe 5 entries and then stopped.

So what makes me think I'll write in this one? We had a baby almost a year ago so I thought this was a good way for family to see what's going on. Plus, I'd like to chronolize starting a stationery business... hopefully by next year. I was thinking this year, but it's nearing year-end and I'd like to get designs finalized first. But who knows.

I know a stationery business is not original. There's thousands out there! Many really good ones! I thought that they were so great that I didn't want to do something of my own. It's like why bother?

Now that I'm at home with a baby I wish I would've started way back when. I come from a graphic design background. Once the baby(ies) has grown, I don't want to have to feel like I'm starting over in graphics. I hope to have a business of my own so I don't have to look for a job working for 'the man'. Maybe it's part laziness. But it's mostly feeling like I have to compromise design to get to the end result. In the world of advertising, that will never change.

That's why I'm going to create my path. Or at least try.