I have been on a buying binge...for fabrics for two quilting projects. I am so enjoying the matching of colours and textures, the design of the shapes and sizes and visualizing the finished project. That's right I am designing my projects. Let's not make this easy, like following a pattern that you know works and fits together. Let's go for the challenge of starting with a blank piece of paper.
I had the chance to visit a wonderful shop that sells quilting fabrics as well as finished quilts. They have their own original designs and the standard tried and true patterns that have been around for generations. What a wonderful place to spend a week, expensive for me to be there that long though. The shop of course is Shuttles and Seawinds in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia. They have a website and sell quilts and quilted products online and ship throughout the world. Great place, highly recommended for anyone in the area, or wanting to see some truly original designs. One full sized quilt is actually a map of Canada, bright, colourful and beautiful.
I am looking forward to a quiet hour or two to start my projects. Hard to get motivated with temperatures in the mid 30's (mid to high 90's for our US neighbours.
Showing posts with label business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label business. Show all posts
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Making a Hobby Pay
I have always enjoyed writing, scribbling my ideas and thoughts on a page, paper or electronic. I can't claim that it is financially rewarding...yet. But I am enjoying the opportunity to share my ideas and my thoughts.
Others I know have very successfully turned a hobby of many years into a lucrative career, maybe a second career after retirement from the traditional job. We often turn to the things we love doing and develop those into a stream of income. I have a friend who is retired, living happily ever after, and decided that she wanted to expand a passion of hers, creating beautiful artwork. She has taken rug hooking courses and waterpainting classes and is expanding her artistic activities. Something she didn't have much of a chance to persue when her children were young, her husband was building a career and she was developing her own career. Now is her time and she is loving it.
Will she eventually make money from this? Maybe, maybe not. But she is gaining enjoyment and to her at this stage, that is what she wants.
Others I know have very successfully turned a hobby of many years into a lucrative career, maybe a second career after retirement from the traditional job. We often turn to the things we love doing and develop those into a stream of income. I have a friend who is retired, living happily ever after, and decided that she wanted to expand a passion of hers, creating beautiful artwork. She has taken rug hooking courses and waterpainting classes and is expanding her artistic activities. Something she didn't have much of a chance to persue when her children were young, her husband was building a career and she was developing her own career. Now is her time and she is loving it.
Will she eventually make money from this? Maybe, maybe not. But she is gaining enjoyment and to her at this stage, that is what she wants.
Art or Science?
Today's business entrepreneurs must combine many skills: managment, creativity, time management, and people skills. Not an easy task for a small business owner who may find there are never enough hours in the day to complete everything (s)he would like to do.
Everything starts with an idea and then the successes come when the idea is developed into a plan. Business plan, marketing plan, succession plan, financial plan... I enjoy the fun of business, with all the warts and imperfections. This blog will be my sounding board for business ideas, suggestions, tips and questions. I will share what information I have and I will ask for help from my readers.
Is business an art, something that is unique and beautiful, or a science driven by logic and solutions? Or a little of both. I suggest to you that the huge success stories come from the people who dare to combine both the artistic and the science, the emotion and the logic and the attention to today's details and tomorrow's aspirations.
Everything starts with an idea and then the successes come when the idea is developed into a plan. Business plan, marketing plan, succession plan, financial plan... I enjoy the fun of business, with all the warts and imperfections. This blog will be my sounding board for business ideas, suggestions, tips and questions. I will share what information I have and I will ask for help from my readers.
Is business an art, something that is unique and beautiful, or a science driven by logic and solutions? Or a little of both. I suggest to you that the huge success stories come from the people who dare to combine both the artistic and the science, the emotion and the logic and the attention to today's details and tomorrow's aspirations.
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