It’s another “hybrid” week. We’re doing a two-for-one! It is blog post + e-mail time!
If you’re part of my newsletter, then you already know…
My Monday started with a bit of a panic! LOL.
The kids were on winter break last week. We had a great time and found a nice balance between work and play.
As our time off was coming to an end, I wanted to get everything as ready as possible. I was purging and organizing a ton this last weekend and it feels so good to see the refreshed areas. 🙌🏻
It felt especially nice as we prepared to get back into the school routine.
Hello smooth transition back to reality, right? 🥰
WRONG!!!!
As much as I wasn’t ready for them to go back, we were physically prepared. We made sure we were all packed up and ready to go for the return to school today…
EXCEPT I FORGOT TO TURN MY ALARM BACK ON!! ⏰😱
Oops…
When I opened my eyes, I realized it was NO LONGER BREAK, I panicked and checked the clock. I thought for SURE we had slept through at least one bus, if not both.
(Even though each day on break, I was still waking up at mostly the same time. I figured today would be the day we accidentally slept in super late. 😆 #murphyslaw)
Thankfully, I was wrong!!
We had 15 minutes before the first bus arrived. Yikes! But…
GAME ON!
I got right into the groove of packing lunches and making breakfasts while my oldest quickly got herself ready to go.
Off she went, and it was time to wake up the younger two.
Even with the initial panic, all three kiddos made it onto the bus and off to their respective buildings, lunches packed, water bottles filled, and a reluctant excitement in the air. 🙌🏻
Once they were out the door, I got right to work.
Reaching out to customers, brain-dumping in my planner, logging receipts, managing some social media items, etc.
As much as I wasn’t ready to send them back, it is such a peaceful thing getting to do all of this interruption-free. 🤷🏻♀️😆 #sorrynotsorry
I said what I said. LOL!
A layer of ice all around… and no power! ⚡
As we came back into our neighborhood on Friday, I told our middle child that although I’ve experienced a LOT of snow and ice in my time, I never saw an ice storm quite like the one we got hit with last week.
It was beautiful to see how the ice transformed everything. And there was this cool effect happening as we walked across it.
There were pockets of air trapped underneath the ice. When you’d step on one, it would morph. The kids loved trying to join the pockets of air together at one point on our outing.
They also did their best impressions of Elsa as she built her ice castle. Stomping on “their” air bubbles and bursting into song.
Helllllllooooo, silliness and fits of laughter before moving along!
I loved seeing their excitement as they discovered pretty treasures, slid all over the place, and worked together to conquer challenges. 🥰🙌🏻
As you can see, I also enjoyed capturing some of the beauty they brought my way…👀
Pivots
We lost power for most of the day on Thursday due to the ice storm. Thankfully, we have a generator that runs the necessities. Even still, it forced me to change direction for the day.
On Wednesday, I finished 9 test runs and was set to run all of those final jobs Thursday morning. That is until we had no power for the laser or for my computer. 🤷🏻♀️
It made me reflect on something so key in business. (and in life…)
Pivots are necessary ALL the time. They are something you need to learn to be comfortable with.
Sometimes, you’ll find them happening in BIG ways. It might be dismantling what has worked until this point and pivoting to a completely different model that will work better for your next chapter.
Sometimes it’s pivoting in little ways. This is me SO often!
It was definitely me last week. When I knew I wouldn’t be lasering those 9 items that day, or doing further test runs, it was time to focus on the things I could do.
I had to pivot, yes. But I still needed to get stuff done.
Sooooo, I made a lot of progress in planning ahead, working on editing social media items from my phone, brainstorming products, organizing more of my space, etc.
And then I threw caution to the wind, went on an icy adventure with my kiddos, and created some lasting memories. It wasn’t what I had planned, but it was perfect in every way. 🥰
I was able to get right back to it (lasering) on Friday, but for Thursday, I had to pivot and I needed to be ok with that.
A custom order for an item I’ve wanted to add to my collection.
You have had a sneak peek of the cardboard rendering of these tags before, but last week, I made an entire set that was commissioned.
Here they are with both layers adhered together, still needing some sanding and the finishing coat.
These lightweight, birchwood gift tags came out so beautifully!
This client reached out after the holidays, on the hunt for stocking tags for this next holiday season. We discussed if we wanted them to be a single layer or a double one. If they were a single layer, I would have been engraving the names and snowflakes.
In the end, the double layer won. 🏷️❄️
(But I will have BOTH available when the time comes. 🙌🏻 )
Since this is a product I wanted to create anyway, it worked out perfectly. The client will be prepared before the season even begins, and I’ve got one design checked off SUPER early! 😁
Another project I worked on last week was testing out some cotton t-shirts. 👕
I had someone reach out about doing 40-45 shirts for their family reunion this summer.
They let me know what color shirts they had in mind, I snagged one of each and got to work testing.
The more I work with fabric, the more I learn. It’s been cool to test it all out!
As you can see here, light-colored shirts just aren’t a viable option for this method.
However, the dark colors come out beautifully! I did a second pass on the blue, just to see how it would go. Turns out, one pass is best. But now I know. 😊
These uber-zoomed-in views aren’t the most ideal, but you get the idea, while the client’s privacy remains protected. 😉😊
Wrapping up…
This week is another FULL one in the studio and I am excited to get crackin’.
So many great things are on the horizon. It’ll be fun to share them with you when the time is right for each one.
I hope you have a wonderful week ahead and you keep chasing after whatever puts a smile on your face.
Thanks for putting one on mine. 🥰
Until next time…
P.S. If you’re looking to have me test out YOUR custom idea, don’t forget you can always email me here or you can fill out this form found on the website.
sonderlaser.com 