Category: etsy seller

I wish I knew how to: Bloganuary Entry #4

Photo by Kaique Rocha on Pexels.com

Life is about constantly learning. I truly enjoy learning new things, and I seek knowledge, no matter how small. I love that there are so many ways to learn right at my fingertips, thanks to my friend the internet. Whether I’m learning a craft, a recipe, a computer trick, or a dance class, I feel like it’s good to be constantly open to learning.

I love finding random tutorials on pinterest, and I love taking advantage of online resources. I’m currently making my way through a Life Coaching course and hopefully I will finish that in the coming months *fingers crossed*, and I’ve done a few ecommerce courses over the past year that were really interesting.

But if I had to pick one thing that I wish I knew it would be that I wish I knew how to change a flat tire. Of course, there’s a million reasons why this is a good, practical, and important skill to have. I don’t like the idea of being stranded, vulnerable, or possibly in a dangerous situation over something that I could fix myself if I have to. Because tires rarely announce in advance that they plan to go flat, the sooner I know how to do this, the bigger relief this will be for me. So it’s on my 2022 learning list for sure.

But on a smaller scale, here three things I’ve learned to do recently by using online resources:

Fabric Stamping: I follow an artist on IG that uses random items to stamp fabric, and she then uses the fabrics to make bags. I have been mesmerized by her process and thought I could try something similar. So I looked around on pinterest for tutorials and tried my hand at it. Using some remnants from Joann’s, some fabric paint, a straw, and a plastic fork, I created these masterpieces. I thought this was fun, and it’s such an easy way to decorate a space. I also plan to try this on some tea towels. It could make a really cute gift idea, and there are so many different possibilities.






























Ceramics:  To stay sane during the pandemic, I definitely turned to crafts.  One thing I found cute and interesting was clay.  Trinket dishes, earrings, and wine charms…I tried them all.  I tried both air dry clay as well as clay that you bake in the oven.  Here’s one of the many tutorials  that I played around with and here are a few of my results.







































Beading:  I love making my own accessories, so when I stumbled across some posts for making beaded jewelry, I became obsessed!  And again, the pandemic caused lots and lots of time isolated in the house, so this was a wonderful creative outlet.  Several hundred dollars later (oy!), and I have bags and bags and bags of beaded bracelets to show for it.  Here’s one blogger that gives a good bracelet tutorial and below are a few of my results:







































What do you like learning?  What’s the last thing you learned or taught yourself to do?  







			

				

			
 justamarylandgirl10 Comments		

		


				
					


	


		
		
Quick Micropost

	


	

		






That look when your to-do list is long af but you know you’re gonna be aight. 

Y’all, I have so many things to do, but all I wanna do is drink iced coffee and watch indie movies. Being an adult is THE WORST! LOL. I mean…have y’all done your taxes?? Sigh…lol…

Please tell me I’m not alone! Anybody else be out here ignoring the real world like that actually works? Or just me? Lol.

I hate feeling like I should have everything together and just dont. I guess this is a different kind of imposter syndrome. Let me find my notebook and start writing my list. I have some work to do today so that I can enjoy my weekend. 

Happy Thursday, y’all! ✌
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#todolist #adulting #procrastination #thursdayvibes #overwhelmed #planyourwork #getworkdone #goalsetter #goaldigger #goalgetting #airbnblife #sunshinestate #kissimee #indiemovies #tubi #marylandgirl #impostersyndrome #wanderer  #myinstadiary #microblogger #microinflluencer #discoverunder1k


			

				

			
 justamarylandgirl		

		


				
					


	


		
		
DIY Mockups for My Business

	


	

		






From the “spring gone get whatever body I give it” files…

Happy Wednesday!

What’s the weather where you are? Yesterday in Maryland was hot and today is going to be even hotter! So ummm…about all that chocolate I’ve been eating lately…

I experimented a little more with taking pics for my tshirt mockups yesterday. And though I wasn’t spring-ready, I still knotted that shirt up and struck a pose…because who gone check me??

Do you use mockups for your tshirt brand? I do love the convenience of the etsy mockups, however I’ve noticed that there are very few that have people of color as models. And I feel as though my brand is too diverse for one model type. And hello…I’m black and I want black representation for my products. 

So…what’s a girl to do? I pulled out my tripod and got to work! Because sometimes you just gotta do it yourself, amiright?? I think I got a few good shots. Can’t wait to share them!





Here’s a little sneak peek of my mock-ups in action.




















I still have some work to do to perfect the pics and poses. I need to work on being conscious of light, shadows, and backgrounds. And I definitely need to work on facial expressions lol. But it’s been fun doing this and I feel like every time I try it, I get a little better. And even though this is the free method of acquiring mockups, and that’s hella dope, the best takeaway is that I have pics that I feel represent me and my brand without spending hours on etsy. And I just love that!





#diymockups #pocmodels #diversitymatters #repesentationmatters #minoritybusinessowner #etsyowner #etsygrammer #dropshipper #diyphotoshoot #smallbusiness #entrepreneurlife #blackblogger #blackentrepreneurs #marylandgirl #blacketsyshop #loveyourbody #tshirtbrand #shopifyseller


			

				

			
 justamarylandgirl		

		


				
					


	


		
		
My Response When I Feel Unfulfilled at Work

	


	

		






I reached out to a friend recently. The last few times we spoke, I felt like things were very one-sided. You know how it can go…you reach out, you keep the convo going, you ask all the questions, you get little feedback.  The convo follows a similar negative pattern each time you speak, so you say to yourself “ok, I’m not doing that again.”





But of course you’ll do it again.  This is someone you consider a friend.  And they are a friend for a reason.





Today I felt like I wanted to reach out again after a few months had passed since we last spoke. I kept the topic pretty light…anything new, recent home projects, funny stories, things like that. And I noticed it was a matter of time before we circled back to the same complain-esque type conversations. She hates work, work sucks, I don’t want to be there, I hate it there, etc.





So…I felt like…idk, some type a way.  This complaining, almost using the same verbiage exactly…has not changed in over five years!!!!  So as a friend, what can I do?  What can I say?  I asked the usual questions.  Have you thought about other jobs?  Have you thought about classes?  Have you thought about hobbies so that your time outside of work can possibly fill some of the work satisfaction voids?  And the response for all my questions were essentially a resounding “no.” As they always have been.





Now, I don’t want to seem like my life is SOOOO together or that I don’t suffer from the occasional negative work attitude.  But I realized long ago that I had some decisions to make when it came to my work-life balance and what I expected from my 9-5.  Is my job amazing?  Heeeelll no.  lol.  But…I have a few options.  1) I could find another job.  2) I could boost my qualifications so that I could move up or move around where within my current employer.  3)I could get over it.  Or  4) I could live so fully outside of work that I don’t place a super high level of importance on “job satisfaction.”  Those are the options I felt like I had.  Everyone may feel like they have different options, but those are the ones I decided that I had. 





But basically, it was unlikely that the job I had was going to change.  So I could either find a new job, change myself, or change my attitude towards the job.  





Ultimately, I chose a weird hybrid of those three options.  1) An opportunity to change departments presented itself, so I grabbed it.  2) I made connections and I sought out opportunities within my agency to grow and be visible, so that I could put myself into a position for promotions and mobility in the future.  And 3) I  investigated and implemented avenues outside of work to be my own boss, which ultimately changed my attitude towards my 9-5 job.  I wouldn’t say I feel completely fulfilled, but it rarely occurs to me to hate or dislike my 9-5 job.  I found other ways to find fulfillment, and I’m quite happy with them.





WHAT IS YOUR GO-TO RESPONSE WHEN YOU ARE FEELING UNFULFILLED?





One of my responses is to learn something. 





Nothing too heavy, just some quick self-learning type thing.  Like how to purge my closet in three easy steps, or how to make easy banana bread.  It almost doesn’t matter what it is, I want to immediately feel like I took an action to better myself in some way.   And quick learning usually does the trick.





Another thing I do is I immerse myself my side hustles.  There are SO many things to learn and there are SO many resources available when it comes to side hustles, I find something, read it, implement it, work on it…whatever.  To feel fulfilled, I typically  need to feel like I’m gaining control over something,…like I’m finding actionable steps that can lead me to a desired outcome, or like I’m learning something about myself that can help me cope with my current situation or make my current situation better in some way.





Here are some things I did that recently helped me when I needed to feel like I was taking action 





1)Listened to a few episodes of The Mindful Kind Podcast.  These are quick, 10-ish minute podcasts about mindful and intentional living.  I particularly loved her episodes about over-apologizing and how to take things less personally.  I also added a few more podcasts to my playlist.  They are such a good way to entertain and learn simultaneously!  Nuggets of knowledge that you can implement immediately…that’s my jam!










2)Tried The Little Red Window’s tutorial on making clay trinket dishes.  Ummm this is my new passion now and it has transitioned into keychains and earrings and wine charms and coasters and whatever I can think of…I’m feeling an etsy shop coming on!  Here is a peek inside my new ceramics studio (aka the kitchen counter…lol).















3)Worked on my existing hobby of making beaded jewelry, which is a nice compliment to the clay trinket dishes I’ve been creating.  So I’ve been doing them both as I have spare time.  Here is a bracelet/earring/trinket dish set that I made recently for my sister.










4)Researched and created new styles for t-shirts, including more cities, states, hbcu’s, and customization options.  If my main job isn’t fulfilling, that’s just motivation for me to rev the engine on my side hustle.  Here is a style that I launched recently that immediately started selling as soon as I put it in my etsy store.  If you like the style, let me know how I can customize it for you!










5)Downloaded and started working through some e-books related to my business, including A Guide for Procrastinating Bloggers by The Black Princess Diaries.  This e-book made me examine some ways that I procrastinate and helped me think of steps that I can take to avoid procrastination.  Ummm…needed that!!  I had some immediate take-aways after finishing the e-book!  










What do you do when you feel unfulfilled at work or in life?  Do you have any tips?  I’d love to hear them!







			

				

			
 justamarylandgirl