I LOVE working for myself. Being my own boss.  Working when I want to, and not really having a goal in mind (unless I have a custom order, and even then, I have to intersperse that with some fun glass time).  No deadlines, no RULES.  Except the normal glass ones, like… don’t mix 104 (effetre) glass with 90 (bullseye) or 33 (boro).. or, don’t torch naked, don’t touch the flame, don’t stick hot glass in your eye.  You know, easy to remember rules. :)  If I want to take a day off, I don’t have to fake being sick or having some phantom family emergency (karma often kicks you in the rear there, anyway!).    Being able to explore being creative- whether I want to make beads, paint, or practice with the tat gun.  LOVE IT.  Can’t express that enough.

But there’s a dark side to working for yourself.  That fun creative time? It has a cost!  It’s called several things, and they’re all necessary evils.  They go by the names of: marketing, photographing, listing, packaging and shipping, accounting, purchasing (ok, that’s a FUN one!), and a myriad of other little things that just HAVE to be done if you’re a full time artist trying to make a buck.  Here’s my normal schedule:

Day one (whichever day I start on, it’s day one, usually a Monday):  Play with fire, melt glass, make pretty things that go in the kiln so I can pull them out later and oooooh and ahhhhh over them.  I show them to the kids and hubby who mostly appropriately oooooh and ahhhh over them too.  Pull said pretties off of the mandrels and put them in water to soak.  The next step is sometimes done the same day, so I’ll just add it here, but sometimes they soak overnight.  Clean said pretties of bead release with my handy dandy rotary tool equipped with the mighty diamond reamer!  Soak assorted beads in etching solution for a satin finish if required or desired.  Blow the holes out and polish off any release residue from rinsing.

Day two: 7:45 am, set up photo ’studio’ (a folding card table, two clip on lights and a gooseneck light with full spectrum halogen bulbs, a handmade white posterboard three sided box for light reflection, get the camera ready and get photoshop started for editing photos).  If I have sets, they need to be strung first before photos.  Take 6-10 photos of each bead or set.  Download to the laptop, examine for focus, color and composition.  Edit white balance, sharpen a bit, crop, add titling text for sizes- end up with 3-5 photos of each bead or set.  Finish up at about 2pm.  Log on to Etsy and get to work listing, describing, uploading photos, pricing, get it out there!  Finish up at about 4pm.

Day three:  Upload pics to Flickr, import them into WeLoveEtsy, go show off at the Glass Haven! :D  Post a blog about new stuff, send out newsletter with selected highlights of the listings with links and a little chatter.  Starts about 8 am, finish up about… noon, sometimes 1.  Answer emails and convos throughout the day about beads and custom orders. (not on EVERY day three, but often.)

Day four… I’M OFF!  Surf the net… knit… ok, sometimes I clean the house.

Day five:  Shipping. Print out invoices, seal sold beads in bubble wrap bags, print out address labels.  If I need them, I print out three shrinky sheets of keychains, cut them out, shrink them and put on key rings.  Or, it’s time to make more note pads (marketing! my links and a couple of bead photos are on them).  Print out templates, cut and fold, cut tiny paper rectangles and assemble matchbook notepads (yes, I save a LOT of money by doing my own promos!)  Package beads and promos with invoices in labeled bubble envelopes, drive to the post office and pay the man!  The day starts at about 10 am or so, and I finish just about the time my kids get home from school at 3:45, especially if I have promos to make.

Day six & seven… this is usually the weekend and it’s another day or two off. I might paint or knit, play with the tat gun, but I usually don’t torch unless I really have a great idea that I feel like I NEED to do.  If it’s during the week, I’ll torch.

Fun working for yourself, isn’t it?? :D  Yes, it really is.  Having fun at the torch really makes all the other ‘work’ worth every minute of it!