Quick check in...

I was excited about sleeping in this morning. Silly me, my back decided differently so I will just plan on napping later.

Had a very productive week over all even with my behavioral issues (lol) every time I felt myself losing my temper I went and worked on a project. Been doing a lot of papercraft this week.

Yesterday I decided to break in my new cutting mat and I completed a full gift tag set, repaired and then completely revamped a writing box and upcycled & rebound some leftover materials into a nice journal.

It was a hard week but it was a good one too.

Question of the Week #61

We have several financial and business questions this week from different members and some have asked to stay anonymous so I'm going to post the questions and a little information as to the background concerning these questions (but no identifying information).

Some of us get Medicare (USA) and are in that and other income based assistance programs. Without these programs we wouldn't be able to get prescriptions or even (some of us) have our insurance co-pay covered. There are both financial limits as to what you can make at both the federal and state level. If your part time income goes above a certain amount you not only lose the coverage from the assistance based program but have to pay back for all the coverage that was provided from the beginning of the year and/or have to pay for coverage out of pocket which is impossible on a fixed income even exceeding the part time income limit (the gap is huge).

So you can’t afford to let your income go above the limit for the state or federal plan.

Yet you know your stuff is good, and you would like to be able to sell it and you are kinda caught between the rock and the hard place.

Questions this week:

Has anyone faced the situation of wanting to sell what is created, but facing the restrictions imposed by income-based assistance programs?

Has anyone found a way to sell and stay under the limits or go above and succeed?

And if you are, please tell us,  how is it going?


And our second set of questions is about the business side of your business:

How does everyone run their business legally, with as little $ as possible?

Can you keep selling at shows, if you have more than 4 years straight losses?

How--with SS# and full name, or with Tax ID?  The IRS.gov lists questions to ask to see if u require tax ID, but says nothing about the 4 yr loss thing (2 accountants have said that), or selling at shows.


Looking forward to hearing your answers!


Please remember to submit your suggestions and questions to: spdychevy@gmail.com with Question in the subject line and we'll get your question up here soon!

Happy Monday to all :)

Short and sweet link to the PCASG Blog

Short and sweet link to the PCASG Facebook Group

Just another day in the trenches...

It's Monday and since "planning day" is traditionally Sunday and I didn't do it, I'm technically starting out already late this week. I didn't feel up to it yesterday----this heat wave is sucking the life out of me on these dead air afternoons so I moved "planning day" back until Monday morning, along with "Question of the Week" (which I did get posted in plenty of time).

Well it's early afternoon and I still haven't even started planning and the heat has descended with a vengeance. I'm not going to stress over it. My huge list of self-imposed tasks can wait while I enjoy life. Today.

Today I realized we are on the back end of Summer. Summer is almost over and there is so much I haven't done because of so much I haven't gotten done. I haven't sat around and enjoyed the sun, the weather, the smell of Summer, the beads of condensation on the glass of iced tea and the purely frivolous reading material... the enjoyment of the season has been put on hold by me because I haven't done so many things that all need to be done before the rain and cold seasons return. All work work work...but no play until done...wait, I can't do that. I can't be that way anymore because I'll never be done which means I will never play again...unless I change how I look at it all.

So this is what I decided to do today. I'm taking my planning notebook outside and setting it within easy reach and I'm going to do some things I want to do so I can have some fun. I want to eat dinner outside at my table like we usually do when the weather is nice but like we haven't been able to because of twenty million other things I have to do before the table can be moved to its "Summer" spot. I'm just going to do it. I'm going to enjoy my gardening efforts--- the tomatoes are just amazing and the peppers are going great guns too :) I'm excited to see the final color of the Cherokee Purples:

while I'm currently enjoying the huge flavor bursts of the tiny but oh so mighty tasty Early Girls:

and I can't wait to see how big the German Striped Tomatoes are going to get. Plus the basil, the lavender and all the other herbs that combine into this aromatic mishmash hodgepodge of an olfactory wonderland when I'm out there weeding, gathering and watering...sigh.... you know what...

I'm not waiting anymore. This post can be done and other stuff can wait...I'm going outside...see ya later! Happy (late) Monday!

Chaos Control

I know with all my posts where I'm talking about cleaning cleaning cleaning and exhausted from all that cleaning you'd think my house would be spotless right?

Nope.

It takes me a long to time to clean anything, I'm slow but I try because it's a never ending battle to fight the disorganization around here. I have areas of rampant chaos that I try to keep from bleeding into the rest of the house and I lose stuff all the time.

I'm not the only one who lives here so sometimes I'm afraid to set something down because I literally might not see it again for months or EVER.

Going through all this stuff lately has led me to two realizations: I have a lot of stuff. A bunch of art and craft stuff and so on...

But the other people who live here have even MORE!

OK, off on a major purge and donate mission and if they don't want to do that all they have to do is put it in their area and get it out of mine. So I can put mine away at least. Here's hoping anyway!!! :)

Question of the Week #53

So, this weekend we finally got to finish up the deconstruction of the antique piano that had been dumped in my driveway last November (and sat there covered up all winter after the rains set in early). I used my reciprocating saw (Christmas present) at length and have become very comfortable with it and what I can and can't do with it. It is a tool that is handy but I can not use it for long periods of time, I have to take frequent breaks while using it. In short, after waiting all this time it is a bit of a disappointment.

The antique piano was a bit of disappointment too. It was an antique yes, but the keys were celluloid, not ivory. I still saved them but I don't know what I might use them for as celluloid is highly flammable (so cutting them with the rotary cutter is out, LOL). The wood is a combination of mahogany, maple and spruce so I got some nice vintage wood but the harp was two pieces instead of one and the strings were rusty before the piano ever arrived in my drive way. It's been quite a lot of work for basically a little bit of nice wood, but I've gained experience and I might make a little bathroom cabinet and a little bookshelf or such out of the remnants. 

Have you ever had a tool or item on your wish list and then gotten it and after all the anticipation been disappointed with the actual performance of the tool or the item? What was it and how were you disappointed?

OK...Looking forward to hearing your answers!

Please remember to submit your suggestions and questions to: spdychevy@gmail.com with Question in the subject line and we'll get your question up here soon!

Happy Monday to all :)

Short and sweet link to the PCASG Facebook Group

Short and sweet link to the PCASG Blog

Question of the Week #52

I normally don't do much (or any) seasonal specific designs and I usually don't offer them for sale online if I do. (I posted about this at length yesterday, sorry if any of it seems repetitive.)

Usually any holiday specific jewelry or projects that I make are gifts, with a specific recipient in mind. An example is if a friend has a birthday in early October (and likes Halloween, lol) then I'll make them a gift they can wear for the holiday. Same with Christmas. With November I tend to make seasonal (Fall) themed jewelry rather than Thanksgiving but I'm sure you get the idea.

Now, that said...(lol) One of my goals on my 2014 list concerning my etsy store is to increase my listings and seasonal sales, specifically targeting the three commercially big U.S. holidays in Fall and Winter. AND make and offer some seasonal specific jewelry too PLUS all the fun vintage stuff we have been finding to list online as well. (Oh boy do I love the vintage holiday decorations! LOL)

From what I've found online it is generally considered best to start selling for the holidays at least 12-14 weeks ahead, especially for the Christmas season.

That would mean around September 16th for Christmas, around August 21st for Thanksgiving and around July 25th for Halloween!

I'm thinking that is pushing it a little too much to go all out (really? lol) but if I start listing holiday items low key with just a note or a reminder here and there reminding people about their upcoming gift lists...well maybe.

I chose June 15th for the start of my designing and crafting for the fall season but I am still working out listing dates and deadlines.

I just want to be ready and front and center when the holiday season hits full bore for once just to see how it goes and that takes a lot of planning to get to "do" the holiday season and enjoy it too. My slogan for my goal list (multi-year goal list BTW) has been "In it to win it" and so far it's been "try to get in it...try..." so this is a step IN (yay!)

Right now though I am enjoying focusing on the season I am preparing for and fully savoring checking off another goal on my list. 

I've got two questions again this week:

If you have a goal list, how are you doing on it? Care to share? :)

and

Halloween in June and Christmas in July...is anyone planning on major listing increases and/or increasing online sales this coming holiday season? It doesn't have to be seasonal/holiday specific, just more offerings as gift items etc.

OK...Looking forward to hearing your answers!

Please remember to submit your suggestions and questions to: spdychevy@gmail.com with Question in the subject line and we'll get your question up here soon!

Happy Monday to all :)

Short and sweet link to the PCASG Facebook Group

Short and sweet link to the PCASG Blog

Christmas in July means Halloween (and Thanksgiving) in June

I don't know if you've all heard the phrase "Christmas in July". I have but I have always associated with it differently than the definition found here on Wikipedia: Christmas in July

As to the "Christmas in July" article above, I really don't know much about it and that is not what I am talking about here.

I am talking about a phenomenon that used to exist in the world of periodicals and magazines. I don't know if still exists in this sped up world of easy push button desktop publishing but when I sat down at the end of last December to write down my wishes and goals for the coming year I kept thinking of this marketing preparation concept and how it could relate to increased online sales in my store.

I have been mindful of this marketing preparation because "back in the day" (about 10-15 years ago, lol) in the writing world, this is when print magazines were prepping their holiday features and spreads for the holiday editions. So if you wanted to pitch a Christmas article you needed to be pitching in May because you'd be writing in June for a July article and photo spread deadline. It was the same way with Thanksgiving & Halloween but of course plan even earlier.

I normally don't do much (or any) seasonal specific designs and I usually don't offer them for sale online if I do.

One of my goals on my list concerning my etsy store is to increase my listings and seasonal sales, specifically targeting the three commercially big U.S. holidays in Fall and Winter. AND make and offer seasonal specific jewelry too PLUS all the fun vintage stuff we have been finding to list online as well. (Oh boy do I love the vintage holiday decorations! LOL)

Keeping the "Christmas in July" preparation in mind I planned on designing and making some projects earlier than that to be finished, photographed, inventoried and ready for listing.

Checking the etsy listing length dates was another thing that I had to check and coordinate as I list a shipping deadline for each holiday about 5 business days in advance of each particular holiday. For instance, my shipping deadline for Thanksgiving 2014 (November 27th) is November 20th but the Christmas shipping deadline is a full 7 business days (December 16th) before the actual holiday due to the inevitable "mail crush" that happens to slow up the mail every year. I don't want seasonal listings (unless they are a holiday "overlap" such as Fall/Harvest/Halloween (some) and Thanksgiving) to run past the shipping deadline date. I calculate etsy listing date lengths so that I can tailor my listing end dates to the precise shipping deadline date.

What all this planning and preparation means is that June 15th is my kick off for designing, making, photographing and writing listing copy for the 2014 Holiday season...

If any PCASG member is interested in joining me in this silly adventure of crafting for Fall and Winter in the Summer, please let me know and maybe we could share our progress (or stumbling blocks lol) with each other.

So Happy Halloween in June so to speak :) I'm knee deep in black and orange and pumpkins this afternoon. Hopefully with more pictures and progress updates coming soon :)