It was a production day today.  I wanted to finalize new cards for my Etsy shop and now they’re printed, scored, and printed!  I’m still working on packaging for labels, free goodies, tags, and stickers.  Can’t wait to wrap things up and then I’m going to start shooting with my DSLR for the first time for my Etsy shop.  Hopefully I’ll get to taking test shots tomorrow, the sun is supposed to come out so I’m hoping for a chance to get some good lighting!  I’m also thinking up some ideas for props to use with these new product shots, exciting!  Anyway, here’s a look at a new stamp I carved.  I think I’m going to use this either on the outside packaging or on the mini goodies envelope.

The weather here for the past couple days have been really gloomy, rainy, and cloudy.  Also, it doesn’t help that it’s already the last week of February!  I’m hoping by Friday the sun will come out, but until then here’s my mid-week weekly findings.

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I’m slowly learning to take breaks in between long periods of working at my computer coding until my eyes start to burn (hah, sounds great).  I think it’s really important in productivity for a few reasons –  1.  If you’re getting stuck and frustrated that probably means you’re thinking way too much and need a break from incessantly thinking, worrying, working, etc. 2. Taking breaks allows you to want to finish rather than get worked up about the project, deadlines, other projects, etc, it clears your head and refocuses your energy.  For me when I don’t take breaks I’m more likely to stress myself out, make more mistakes in the process, and get stuck on something for longer than I should have, which wastes a lot of time especially if you’re on a tight deadline.

Anyway, that’s my rant for the day.  Moving on to some pics of my random trip to the MET. I’m taking these from my flickr because I’m too lazy to resize them and re-upload them here, hah!

Also, I know I’m totally failing at this 365 Photo Challenge, but I think I’m getting better with my new DSLR! Which is what matters in the end, right?

Get good at discomfort. Avoiding discomfort is very common, but a big mistake. Learning to be OK with some discomfort will change your life.
Leo Babauta via Advice to My Kids

I found this blog post through Tina aka Swiss Miss and I think his words are simple yet powerful and brings us back to what really matters in our lives.  I’ve been in a lot of uncomfortable, unfamiliar, and nerve-wracking situations over the last half year, but they’ve helped me realize how capable I am of overcoming anything that comes my way, and I believe that’s true for everyone.  I think it’s so important for everyone to feel empowered and not feel stuck somewhere because they feel they can’t overcome something.  There will always be the bad with the good and we don’t always have to see it as ‘bad’, but more of a learning experience.  I’m slowly trying to train myself not to beat myself up over little setbacks, but learn from them and move forward.  “Take a larger perspective: will this matter in five years? Most likely the answer is no.”

The thing I like the most about freelancing is getting my errands done before the afternoon rush.  My typical morning errands are usually going to the post office to ship Etsy orders and going to the bank to deposit checks, and if I need to pick up food or misc things for the house I’ll do that too.  This month has been a hectic mess for me, so having this morning free was super nice and it was sunny today too!  I love that the weather after “Nemo” has been nothing but sun and not too cold, even though I haven’t really had the chance to be outside much.

Also, Happy Valentines Day!  I’m seeing a lot of hearts overload, but these made me smile: