Craft Fair Kauai Sis

One of my three readers reminded me that I'm due for a posting...that was two weeks ago.

I was busy sewing for craft fairs despite the fact that last year I told everyone I was quitting. I was serious about quitting for three reasons: my health, my business, and my brain. I'd had a horrific Back Attack in 2007 that I learned was primarily caused by being constantly hunched over a sewing machine. Anyone in the craft business will tell you that it's getting more challenging to turn a good profit with cost increases everywhere you turn (fair fees--Kauai Museum now charges $200 for one day--materials, airfare, freight) plus craft fair attendance has been decreasing. I was true to my intentions because I didn't purchase any raw materials for my crafts this year, just used what I'd accumulated.

Oh and about the brain issue. At this midlife age we're supposed to learn new skills to keep our brains functioning well and happily, I'm now taking care of that. True, we did buy a Wii system, but since February 2008 I've been working at a new job online that forces me to learn different software and internet programs and to write. After being on the internet for over 12 years, I'm finally getting paid to sit in front of the computer!

Interestingly, now that I have another job and have sold off a third of my clothing inventory, I realize that I don't have to give up my craft business. I now have another source of income, so I don't have to do every fair, and have less inventory to lug around. I'm enjoying the business again!

The moral of the story is that when you get tired of your work/business, it helps to step back, downsize, find another job, or just leave it for a while if you're able to. It's amazing how a shift in gears can ultimately lead you out of a rut. Last year when I decided to quit, I found myself discovering new ways of doing what I'd been doing for 16 years. Not just one or two discoveries, but at least a half dozen. I felt stupid for not thinking of these improvements much earlier, but now I'm convinced that I probably discovered these new "paths" only because I had changed my "map." In other words, rather than go about business as usual, I had changed my mindset, thinking I was going to close my business. Possibly it enabled me to see things from a different perspective, consequently seeing where improvements could be made.

Either that or some guardian angel put the ideas in my head just to show me how inefficient I'd been all those years before!! *LOL*