Hello! I hope you’re enjoying a nice Memorial Day weekend!
I’m not doing anything special… 😀 Since I quit my regular job almost 2 yeas ago (!!), I don’t keep track of holidays very much any more, except for the big winter holidays. Dave is out of town this weekend (he comes home later tonight, thou) so I’m just enjoying peace and quiet.
Speaking of peace and quiet (notice my smooth segue? :D), I was on my mini sabbatical a couple of weeks ago.
(If you don’t know what my mini sabbaticals are, I’ve been taking every 7th week off since October 2015 to rest and recharge. You can read more about it here.)
I’d been feeling tired, unmotivated, and low-energy for a couple of weeks leading up to it and knew I really needed that time off.
I had a couple of work stuff and chores to take care of but didn’t plan too much else. Had dinner with a couple of friends but otherwise enjoyed my alone time, which is super important for an introvert like me! (Dave was out of town for work for most of the week.)
On Tuesday, I went to my pottery class. I had a few underglazed mugs that came out of the kiln so I glazed them.
I find glazing (putting the shiny coat once it’s fired once) to be the hardest part! I tend to lay it on too thick, I guess, and it tends to crack once it’s fired…:( I hope these mugs will turn out OK. (BTW, I talked about the joys and struggles of being a beginner on this blog post!)
On Thursday afternoon I block printed! My pottery instructor asked me to make a studio apron for her, so I’d been designing a new pottery-themed art for it.
It was more complicated than my usual design, and I loved how it came out! And she loved the apron 🙂
On Saturday, I vended at the Bastyr University Herb & Food Fair! We had such a gorgeous weather and had a great turnout!
Shows are a lot of work, but most of the time it’s worth it! This fair had a nice laid-back vibe, and the shoppers were super nice 🙂
And lots of cute dogs, too!! <3<3<3
The show was more successful than I expected, which is always a plus 🙂
Although my sabbatical was a bit on a busy side, I was so energized and ready to go by the time Monday rolled around. I was so focused and productive.
It confirmed my belief again that taking a regular time off isn’t a luxury for me or my business – it’s a requirement for my success and happiness!
If you’re curious about how I spend my sabbatical weeks, you can read my past sabbatical blog posts here!
Have a great week, my friend 🙂 Do more self-care!
xo
Honeyberry Diary 
Yuko, I always enjoy reading your updates about being a full time artist. I was thinking recently of your happiness project which was when I first started following you. Did you ever think about making a book out of it? Also I’d like to try block printing again. Are there any videos you’d recommend for beginners? Glad you had success at your latest art fair. I admire your commitment. 🙂
Hi Eileen! thank you for always reading my posts and encouraging me through my journey! it would be awesome if I can turn it in to a book – a lot of friends mentioned 365 day calendar, too – maybe it’ll be a product someday, but I don’t have the bandwidth to pursue that right now (it takes a lot of work and money to make something like that happen and be profitable). but maybe when my audience grows, that’s something I can look into… we’ll see 🙂 block printing is so much fun, Eileen! I’ve learned from Jen Hewett’s online course, and she’s actually taking registration for her next course (http://jenhewett.com/e-course/) check it out 🙂 it was an amazing course and definitely changed my life! xo
Thanks Yuko! I receive Jen’s email – I should try out her course. I know what you mean about bandwidth. I have so many ideas for directions I should go in, but have to choose just a few bc there isn’t time for everything.
Oh man, that’s like the hardest thing! Learning to focus on one thing at a time… I wish we could clone ourselves so we could do everything we want! 😀
Yes! That would be great 😀