back to school blues

Etsy Buy Handmade apvintage

Today is my first day back to school after winter break.  It's been a strange break - illness, family stuff, house-related issues - and I've spent the last couple days fretting about how it hasn't been nearly as restful or productive as I'd hoped.  "Amy is so not ready" was my Facebook status update this morning. I feel like I need an extra week, maybe two, and possibly alone on an island somewhere (or maybe, since we haven't gotten any real snow here, a snowy cabin in the woods).  How could a month have gone by so quickly?

Then I went back this morning and took a look at everything I'd added to my etsy shop since December 1, just a few weeks before classes ended.  More than twenty handmade pieces, plus some vintage listings.  And there are more in the works.  I made the etsy mini above and realized that  things are starting to look more cohesive (that's the newest work).  I've also been actively promoting my shop, and my sales have nearly doubled in the last two months.  Finally, thanks to a lovely gift of little storage drawer units from my friend Alice and a metal cabinet from my husband (a cabinet I insisted I didn't want and that he insisted would be useful - he was right), my studio space is becoming better organized.

So, maybe my house is still a wreck, the laundry pile is way out of control, I never went to the gym, and I didn't cook as much as I planned to, but apparently I did not actually waste my time.  Which just goes to show that I remain my own worst critic, something I know but often seem to forget.  So, with a feeling of accomplishment and a promise to be a little kinder to myself in the future, I'm off to school!