Business, children & nesting!

We're having a bit of a lazy Saturday before going to see some friends later. It's been a bit of a mad few weeks...... I'm now over 38 weeks pregnant and I think at last almost organised! Well, as prepared as you can ever be when you're about to welcome a new little person in to your family :-)

It can be quite a juggling act...managing a home...the children...running a small business...but I really do love and actually need the variety of it all. It mostly works (or I'm learning to make it work) by keeping things very organised and very simple! I love being at home to look after the children and am fortunate I've been able to start this business with Mum instead of having to go back to my job as a PA in London. But it's really important for my own well-being to have something for myself. It really has so many benefits for me and means everything doesn't revolve around the housework and children!

I mostly try not to work around the kids. It just doesn't really work......I find although they don't need me so much as they're getting older and playing by themselves lots (they are 5 & 2.5), they notice immediately if I'm not available! Sometimes I can do something quickly... today I was able to finish sewing a boat and took some product shots! Woohoo! :-D

It's just as well I could get a little bit done as we are busily preparing for another of our readymade events which is taking place tomorrow night. We love holding the events on our Facebook page and they're a great opportunity to test the waters with some new designs. Plus a chance for our customers to grab some discounted end of line creations too. If you fancy popping along you'll find all the details at facebook.com/theseashackdesigns.

Lots to look forward to this week after our event - starting with my baby shower on Monday! It's the last week of the holidays which means precious family time :-) And then I'll be awaiting delivery of the final baby purchase I've made - a Bednest (co-sleeping cot) which is coming on Friday! (I've hyperlinked it in case you want any more info.)

Exciting times!

Gemma xx

Putting a price on our work

We love creating but the tricky part is placing a value on what we create.  (Yes I know we are not alone in this - we probably have most artists for company as well as anyone else who needs to set a price for their work or services!)

When you spend time doing what you love it's hard to justify charging for your time - we tend not to equate having fun with work! (Hmmm..... I can feel a whole other blog coming on - one of my passions is a belief that we can all choose to have a work life doing what we love!).   Most of us are happy to charge for the materials we use but how do you put a price on the creative process?    Realistically if we all charged for the hours we actually spend designing and creating - we'd price ourselves out of the market!  Setting prices has certainly led Gemma and I to many hours of discussions and angst!  There's a whole lot of other emotional stuff at stake here too.

The value we place on our work is intrinsically bound up with how we feel about ourselves   What do we feel we are worth?  What is the value we place on something we've spent time lovingly creating?  What does it say about us as as people? 

If our self worth is low we can be easily knocked off balance and left feeling vulnerable and uncertain - not the best state of mind when trying to put a value on your work. We may feel what we put out into the world isn't good enough (or as good as that created by our peers) and constantly strive to do better - which can lead to procrastination and perfectionism.  How can we possibly put an objective value on what we create when we are influenced these negative belief patterns?  Ironically, creative people often have a precarious sense of self worth.

Tricky isn't it?! Fellow artists and crafters will know exactly what I'm talking about.  We are indeed our toughest critics.

So here at Seashack we are aware of the role that emotions and thoughts about ourselves play and how they sometimes trip us up when we are trying to put a value on our work.  Our ethos is to look at the world with loving eyes - and that includes the way we look at ourselves as well.  So we do our best to focus on being kind to ourselves and valuing who we are, knowing that emotions come and go and eventually we will feel more balanced and be able to value our work more objectively.

Shirley xx