An Adventurous Life

The Adventures

Every week is an adventure. I share my adventures via images + notes, and you're invited to join in.
You can find all my adventures here, or follow along via email here.

Adventure Notes

This pie was delicious. I didn't have a pie crust made, so I left it crustless…and it was delightful.
I just started knitting Staccato, and several knitters have commented they want to join me. Let's have an impromptu knit-along! Just weet/Instagram with the hashtag #staccatoKAL to share your pictures + progress. You can see the yarns I'm using on Ravelry.

Not sure if you should sign up for my new class? Here's some questions to decide if it (or any class) is for you.
I'm in the new issue of Crafty, handing out advice on pricing! Super exciting! You can buy it here or your local newsstand.

MONDAY is my birthday! Yay!

Some very generous friends wanted to send gifts…only to realize that my address isn't anywhere. If you want it, just ask.

This week the adventure has taken me to Charleston, the Atlantic Ocean, one of the oldest living things in the country, the Appalachian Trail (and waterfalls), Asheville, and geocaching.
But not all adventures are physical. There are the internal explorations: of feeling small, brave, strong; of long conversations, late nights, new roads; of seeing your old town in a new way, of seeing your house as a guest, of becoming a team.

What are you exploring?
What adventures are you having?

What works (for me): How I used automagical emails to double sales

As I've been writing about automagical email series, I've mentioned a few times that I'm such an evangalist because they work so amazingly well for my business. But I try to be careful to not assume that because it works well for me, that it'll work for anyone else. So I've experimented with clients and students and finally feel (after first falling in love with it over a year ago!) really sure that it can work for a wide variety of makers and their people.

As I wrote about those clients and examples, it occurred to me that, in hopes of avoiding comparison, I've been avoiding talking about my own business. I have to be honest, I have a lot of resistance to telling you how great it works for me. Not because I don't want to be helpful, but because I do not want to give the illusion that everything is awesome and magical and that if you just did one thing your life will change! But it also wouldn't be fair or honest to act like I don't know what works, or that I don't have a favorite tool.

Although there is no secret of success, and you have to explore and experiment to find what will work for your business…there are tools and strategies that have worked for me, that you might want to try.

So before we go further, take a deep breath. Think about what you really love about your business and what you want from it, right now. Keep that firmly in mind as you read through what's worked for me, ok? Don't get distracted by the success (and I do consider it a success) or start dreaming that this will change everything.

What works (for me)

The one thing I've created, that generates more sales than anything else I've ever done, is my automagical series to my Starship Early Boarding list. In the two Boardings since I created it, registrations have doubled.

These emails introduce you to real members of the Starship, and tell their success stories (increased sales, met goals, emergency surgery fundraising, etc) in their own words. I also include messages about who the Starship is for, and examples of what we talk about in our weekly chats.

The series isn't a trick. It isn't magic. But it works because it answers the real questions people really have (Is this for me? Who does this help? How does it work?), and it does it slowly, over time, allowing the reader to think and reflect. And unlike writing regular blog posts, or tweeting, or even my usual weekly newsletter, I don't have to struggle with moments of self-doubt, writer's block, or feeling self-promotional. The email series just happens automatically…so even in my slow, tired, low times, it still provides a service to the people who already want to join. It doesn't convince or cajole or “sell”. It's real and honest and organized, so that I know they have all the information they need and they don't have to wade around their unasked questions, trying to decide.

It works because it's focused on the almost-ready buyer and it honestly answers their questions.

What questions could you answer for your buyers?
If you're a bit fuzzy about that, let me help. I've compiled lessons on how to be effective, along with worksheets that will walk you through determine what to write and what questions to answer, in the class Creating Automagic Email Series. It's only $39 until Monday.

Currently…

Every week is an adventure. This week's list was prompted by Ali Edward's suggestion. You can find all my adventures here, or follow along via email here.

Loving peonies

Writing everything I've learned by connecting with readers through email series

Sipping iced coffee with coconut creamer

Matching shoes and skirt

Editing all the ums and ahs, into clarity and zing, turning 20 minute videos into 5 minute videos

Anticipating my little brother's visit and our week of adventure

Planning a massive house-cleaning in preparation for a week off

Making my first handmade binding

Longing, oddly, to paint. For the first time ever, it just feels like I should be painting.

Hoping to join Flora's class

Bubbling with ideas for my next class with Diane

Join me?

Explorer’s Club of Book Lovers – May

Hello book lovers! It's time for the book club, but let's change it up!

Last month I picked two books, but we didn't have nearly as much participation as the month before, and I think I know why. Two books is just way too limiting, isn't it? I read a few at once, and I'm a fan of quitting whenever I want. So instead of just picking 2 books for us to read and discuss together, let's just make this a space to talk about everything we're reading.

I'll share (some of) the books I read last month and the books I intend to read this month. You can share your list of books in the comments, or we can talk about any of the books that you want to read along with me.

April's Reads

Icarus Deception.

Amazon | IndieBound | GoodReads

This book was a big YES to everything I feel about my own creative business, and the way I encourage creatives in their own. It directly inspired this post about the Only Work You Have to Do, whose discussion led to this one on connection…which led to these two posts about creating a path of connection for your customer.

Market Yourself.

Amazon | Goodreads

Yes, I spent a good chunk of last week re-reading my own book, to prepare for teaching a workshop on Artist's Portfolios + Social Media. The timing was perfect since Saturday was my Book-iversary! The book launched one year ago! (You can get a signed one here.)

Sunday Morning Quilts

Amazon | IndieBound | GoodReads

I read a lot of quilt books last month, but this was by far the best – both in the I-would-make-that quality of the patterns and in the friendly, chatty beginning.

May's To Read List

I had intended to read Contagious last month…but I had to return it to the library (someone else had a hold on it) before I got to it. But it's all mine now, and I'm one chapter in. What makes this book different from all the other ones about business and social media is that it is well-researched by the author.

You Can't Make This Stuff Up is all about creative nonfiction. What it is, how to write it, and exercises to get you started. Since creative nonfiction is the best definition I can find for what I write, and I'm working on a new project, I'm super excited to read this.

After hearing Father Boyle on On Being with Krista Tippet, I wanted to read his book. I strongly recommend the recording of their conversation. It's funny, heart-breaking, and is the very best I can hope for my faith.

Lean In. Eh, I'm requested this book from the library because I'm curious about what it says to women in the workforce. I've seen a lot of entrepreneurial types saying “You don't need to “lean in” because you should start your own business!“…but while I'd love for everyone to do exactly what they love, I know that's not a choice everyone has, in every situation. Until I read this, I'm not recommending it, because it has the potential to be completely annoying.

Last week my 14 year old brother called me up to say, “I just finished Divergent. It is BETTER than the Hunger Games. You have to read it.” We're going on a family vacation at the end of June, and since 14 year old boys are notoriously hard to have conversations with (without stabbing out my own eyes), I hope to be caught up with where he is in the series so we can talk about it. (Yes, I take recommendations from everyone. And I know we have similar taste (in movies and books, if not in video games.))

I’m an affiliate for Amazon + IndieBound, which means I get soy latte money if you buy through the links I’ve used here. GoodReads is a free tool for tracking what you read. I read all these books via my library, which I strongly recommend!

What are you reading?

Bravery outside the safe space

Ok, time for another un-awesome truth.

You know how I'm teaching 4 workshops in the next few days? Yeah, I'm nervous.

Although I teach all the time, I don't often hold in-person workshops. On top of that, the Western North Carolina Art Councils are not my typical audience. Usually, when you come to one of my classes (in person or online) you already know me. You come because you've been reading this blog, or my book, or you get my emails. You have an idea of what you're getting – a fast-talking, pink-haired, enthusiastic book nerd with a few too many pop culture references.

That's because, like I'm always encouraging you to do, I fill my business with my Right People, and I focus all my energy on serving them. That means I am pretty much always surrounded by people who both get me and like me. But at these workshops, students aren't coming because they know me, they're coming because they're HIA members and they want to learn the subject matter.

This tiny shift is monumental.
It means that, for the first time in a long time, I'm not already totally comfortable. I'm hesitant being my weird self. And the truth is, I debated with myself: is it better to focus solely on the self-selected Right People…or go outside my already-defined comfort zone and serve not-yet-my-Right People.

But even though I still have no idea how it will go, or if I'll fail miserably, I am confident that this is the right thing to do. I know I need to wade out into unknown waters and try something new. Even if I bomb, I need to show myself that I can take the flawed, enthusiastic self and be fully ME in front of perfect strangers. I need to trust that what holds true with us, here, in the safe spaces I've built (on the blog, email, Twitter, and the Starship), will hold true in the Outside World. That openness, bravery, and exploration work for me all the time, and that business help that centers on defining your ideal business speaks to everyone.

Oh, I still stand by my assertion that you should focus your marketing energy on your Right People, 100% of the time. You don't need to try to make yourself uncomfortable and scared. Life provides enough moments to be brave. But if an opportunity comes up for you to meet a whole new audience? One that you just don't know about yet? Take it. Try it.

What Brave New Thing have you done lately? Let's celebrate our bravery in the comments!

PS. Also, thanks to a tip from Alex, I'm using science to calm myself. I'm not nervous, I'm vibrating with anticipation! I'm not sweaty, I'm enthusiastic!

Signed books, live workshops, and HILARITY

Dudes! Yesterday's post has turned into a party, in the comments and on Twitter. If you're feeling sad or lonely…read it!

Today, I have just a few quick things I wanted to tell you about.

1. Signed books!

I have a few books left over from last summer. They've been sitting in my closet for months and just this week I realized – I could send them to you! Signed (if you like)! You see, when you order my book from my page, the publisher, or Amazon, it comes to you directly from the publisher. I don't see or touch those books. But I got a box to take to a workshop in Seattle…and I still have a few left.

So! If you'd like a signed book, you can order it from me with this link.
You're buying the book from me + I'm going to ship it to you myself, via USPS Priority Flat Rate envelope. It's $26.95 + $5 for shipping (US only, if you're international, I'll email you to adjust the shipping). When you check out, tell me if you'd like me to write something specific (perhaps it's for a friend?)

The pages are filled with little asides and reminders, to keep things interesting. The book is written a lot like this blog – in my voice and style and jokes – but just better organized and with a zillion worksheets so you can take what you're reading and apply it to your business. (People really seem to like it!) I have 8 books and when they're gone, they're gone!

Click here to buy a signed book

2. Workshops in North Carolina

I am teaching 4 in-person workshops in the next week, as a teacher with Handmade in America. I'm super honored to be invited to be one of their teachers, and delighted to hold my first workshop with them. If you're in the area and you want to come, you have to register ahead of time. If you're a member, the workshops are free; if not, each is $20 (or you can join the Council at the workshop). Each workshop is 2 hours long, and will include a lesson, worksheets and discussion. (I'll be teaching different workshops in other counties in the fall, so sign up here if you want to hear about them)

Saturday, May 4th at the Surrey County Arts Council
10 am – Noon Artist's Portfolo
1 pm – 3pm Target Market
To register: arts@surryarts.org

Monday, May 6th at Ashe County Arts Council
3pm – 5pm Artist Portfolio
6 pm -8 pm Social Media for Beginners
To register, please contact the Arts Council at (336)846-ARTS :: jane@ashecountyarts.org

3. Managing the growth of your business

Last week I wrote about post about how to handle those times of crazy-growth, when it seems we don't have space for everything we need to do, over at OhMyHandmade.

4. Hilarity.

If you're reading this via email, click through to laugh and laugh.

How to be (your own version of) Awesome

How to be (your own version of) awesome
I just read this post about “boho perfectionism”, and seriously, you need to read it. (Now!)

It reminded me of the OMHG twitter chat last week where someone asked me (and Jessika) something along the lines of

“How do you have time to be so awesome?”

I answered with the truth:

“Because I spend most of my time being NOT awesome. I sleep in, read too much, watch 8 hours of the West Wing in a weekend. When I do work, I try very hard to do my BEST work. Not to look awesome, or do what I think you want me to do, but to do the things that only I can do, the very best I can.”
So let's clear the air here, ok? Let me be entirely honest about how this pink-haired, plant-powered empire (ha!) exists.

**In order to have and do what I want, I have decided to not have and not do a whole whack of things that “normal” people do.**

I only cook dinner once or twice a week (Jay is an amazing cook, so even though I love it, I've turned the kitchen over to him). We rarely eat out (only once this month!) unless we're visiting family. I don't have a “home office”, so if I'm working at home it's at the kitchen table (which is in the only room – the “living room”) or on the couch. My usual “office” is whatever empty chair I can grab at Starbucks (the only coffeeshop in my town) or the library (next to the snoring-loudly homeless guy).

In other words, I'm not living your fantasy of the awesome business owner. I'm also not living “boho perfection” in any other aspect of my life, no matter what those vegan dinners look like on Instagram.

Sure, I do “healthy” stuff – I'm vegan, I'm training for a 5k, I strength train (love this app) and meditate/pray – but you know what? It's not for my health. And it's not because I'm particularly “good”. My veganism (which can be extremely unhealthy – did you know Oreos are vegan? YUM.) is compelled by compassion for animals and my complete disgust with factory farming. My exercise routine is entirely necessitated by my years-long mission to conceive children, without drugs or surgery. (Kate said this so well.) I meditate and pray because, well, I believe that's the best way to listen in to the Creator, to guide my life towards more love + compassion (and less stress + trying-to-control-it-all).

But none of this is a sacrifice. None of this is “good” or “disciplined” or anything. I live this way because I (am trying to) let my values inform my actions. My values are compassion, freedom, and exploration. But yours are going to be different, so your Ideal Life will look different. You have to find YOUR deep-rooted desires and then make decisions for your life based on that.

At the same time, none of this is sad or whiny. I wouldn't change anything – I want to live this way. But sometimes, when I see your beautiful living room, or adorable children, or organized studio, I forget a little.

I'm sharing all this because I want you to know – you can have a super-happy life, one filled with the things that matter to you.

But it might not look awesome from the outside. My mother-in-law is sad we don't live in a nicer place. My mom thinks I work way too hard. My high school friends all own their house, and we're years away from that.

But I alone am responsible for defining what I want, and then creating it. And (most days) I am deliriously happy. I am delighted with my life and the person I'm spending it with (and my dog!) and my business. Because it's mine. Because I get to have pink hair and wear pink shoes and snuggle.

I want you to be happy, to have what you want. And I want you to know that it won't come from lusting after someone else's business or life you see on blogs, twitter or instagram. The first step is to define what you want. And then make sure you're not being distracted by what you see in the comparison-chamber of the internet. And then look around: I bet you already have at least some of it. Your hair is great, your handknit shawl is beautiful, your business is beaming.

Let's agree together to change the nature of how we interact with the jealousy-inducing images. Next time someone (or their life or their business) is looking particularly “awesome”, look back around at your own life, not with comparison, but with gratitude. What are your values? What's your personal style? How's it reflected in your life, right now?

The Adventures

Every week is an adventure and I share the view, the path and the finds on Fridays, with an invitation for you to join me. You can find all my adventures here, or follow along via email here.

The Finds

The only thing I can focus on this week is praying for Boston. I wish I could do more, but what we can all do is donate to help the victims. Give here. If you're looking for some distractions, here's what I enjoyed reading this week:

I love this post about beauty and our cultural insistence (even in the Dove Real Women ads) that beauty is important to self worth.
I feel in love this with quilt.
And this one. I'm definitely making it soon!

Quilty Goals

It's Friday, when I share my adventures. This week, a peek into my quilting adventures.

If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter or Sulia, you might have noticed I'm a leeetle obsessed with quilting.

I even set a tiny little goal to finish 6 quilts this year. Since I had only ever finished one quilt, in my whole life, until I did the two Christmas quilts this year (1 + 2), this is a big deal. I let it percolate without any really planning, until I stumbled on the quarterly finish-a-long. Just what I needed! A way to plot my 6 quilt goal by breaking it up into quarters (you know I love that). So, I'm jumping right in. My quarterly goal is to finish 2 quilts by the end of June.

Let's meet the contestants.

#1. Emerald Isle

(NC, not Ireland)

This is a collaboration with my mom. A few years ago, before we went on a family vacation to Emerald Isle, NC, we decided it'd be fun to work on a quilt while we were together. Before we left, we each bought 1/2 yard of 6 fabrics, without knowing what the other bought. We only stipulated that they be ocean-y colors. We know each other's style, so we ended up with 12 fabrics that matched beautifully (some even from the same line!)

Pattern: None at all.

I convinced my traditionally-quilting mom that as long as all of our pieces were the same width, we could cut them as thick or thin as we wanted, so we just chopped up a bunch and then strung them together into 6 panels. The plan was to make one quilt, but it was turning out to be a really big quilt, so we realized that with some borders and sashes we could each take 3 panels and make 2 quilts – one for each of us! We picked different sashing and backing fabric + basted them while we were together last fall (2 years after starting the piecing).

Status: pieced, backed and basted, only needs to be handquilted to be finished. I'm 1/4 of the way through the quilting, and it goes fast, so this should be an easy finish.

This is one I really want to finish by the time we go back to Emerald Isle at the end of June, so I can take pictures of it on the beach.

#2. Red Hot

This quilt came from my obsessions with the #scrappytripalong quilts I kept spotting on Instagram. I would have loved to use scraps…but as a brand-new quilter with no studio space, I didn't have more than a few inches of scraps. But I did have a pack of fabric that Mom had passed on to me.

Even though these were large-scale fabrics, I decided to be bold and chop 'em up into tiny pieces (spreading out and breaking up the prints I didn't love.) I also did a fabric swap with Kloth and got rid of some of my least favorites, and bought a few 1/4 yards to add a bit more of what I love. I also had just ONE strip worth of three fabrics from this quilt and they provided great contrast to the more saturated blocks.

Pattern: Scrappy Trip Around the World, 5 blocks across, 6 down.

Status: Just finished sewing the back together last night! I need to sandwich and baste and then handquilt (I *might* experiment with free-motion machine-quilting this, because Elise makes it sound easy.)

#3. The Tradition

This quilt was not made by me. My mom took me shopping for the fabrics when I was 16 or 17 (I was really into blue + yellow, thank goodness I was out of my sunflower-fabric stage by then) and made it for my high school graduation. But there was a problem with one block, and this pattern requires a level of precision that easily frustrates. So away it went…for a decade. When Mom pulled it out (maybe a year or two ago?) I convinced her that we should sandwich and baste it together, wonky square or not.

She let me take it home with the promise to keep my cats away from it and handquilt it by the end of this year.

Pattern: Star Log Cabin. This one, I think?

Status: Basted and ready to handquilt.

#4. Blooms and Dots

This quilt only exists in our imagination, but when Mom and I return to Emerald Isle this year, we plan to work on a new quilt together. We're doing the buy-fabrics-seprately thing again, with the stipulation that they be pinks or oranges, in florals or polka dots. There's no way I'll finish it this quarter, but hope to have it done in the next.

Quilts #5 + #6 could be anything! In the world! I'm so excited to see what happens!

Whew!

That's a lot more quilting that I ever really thought myself capable of. But that's what makes it fun, isn't it? The challenge of doing something so much bigger than you imagined?

I feel like I should include some sort of dislcaimer here: I am not an Official Quilter. I don't really follow patterns, and I'm not concerned with perfection. I stayed away from quilting for a long time, because I don't really care about straight lines, but that seems to be kinda integral to quilting, ya know? But diving in, working only with materials I really love, without the pressure to do it “right” works for me, wonky seams and all. The most important thing is to have fun while making it, and snuggling under it when I'm finished.

As I wrote this post, I realized that a huge reason I started quilting is because it was something to do with my mom. We live miles apart and reconnect when we get together by DOING something crafty. As a kid, there was always sewing going on, and when I got married and learned to knit, I taught her right away. So quilting, especially when we each buy different fabrics and combine them, is an easy extension of this. I'm happy for the time we spend together (and lonnnnng discussions on what EXACTLY we mean by “pinkish raspberry”) and I'm thrilled to have physical representations of that time.

I really can't wait to finish and snuggle under these quilts!

Unrelated to quilting: Next week I'm announcing 5 open spots for flight planning. You can snatch one up before then, if you're snappy.

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