Taxes

I am going to drop our stuff off at the accountant today. Finally. I feel like I have been through a tornado or hurricane or some other equally traumatic event.

I am not good at "keeping books" or anything even remotely related to it. I got a C in my required college accounting class, and only because of a very generous grading curve. I think balancing a checkbook is silly. The idea of organizing receipts--heck, even keeping them in general--is almost as silly. So when you combine that kind of attitude with 4 months of receipts that were stored on the computer and lost when the computer died the second time and then add awful things like "inventory" and "cost of goods sold," well, it's a recipe for disaster.

I have spent many, many, many late nights trying to sort it all out. Nights and nap time are the only time for computer work, so it has taken me a good long while to do and so once again I have been mostly absent here. Sorry!

I'm starting to look into what program will be best for me to use to organize and track everything now that I'm dealing with inventory. Does anybody have any suggestions? Quick Books is an obvious option, but does anyone else have any recommendations for any other reallllly user-friendly programs for accounting-challenged people like me?

On a somewhat related note, I love the pictures I took of the honey bees on our apricot blossoms. The whole area around the tree smelled amazing for days and you didn't have to get very close at all to hear the buzzing of the bees as they started their important work of pollinating all of the trees in the valley. And somehow it seemed so fitting for my life lately. Busy as a bee...

Three sneak peeks

I mentioned yesterday that I have four different shops in the works. I have my letterpress stationery shop (Paper Ink Press) and my letterpress surplus shop (i.e., the stuff my mean husband says we don't have room for, aka I Heart Letterpress).

Then I mentioned that I have another Etsy shop that I opened this past May. I have something in the works for that shop right now, so I'll hold off on telling you about it until probably this Thursday or Friday.

And then I have this other shop. Well, it's not yet a shop. At the moment it's still mostly just a bunch of ideas rolling around in my head when I wake up at 3 AM and can't fall back asleep. But I'm slowly pulling the pieces of it together and sorting through my ideas. I had originally hoped to have the shop up and running by November 1, which then quickly became November 15. I had hoped to be ready for the holiday shopping frenzy, but then I had an honest talk with myself and decided there wasn't any way I could accomplish that while still maintaining my other projects and remaining even remotely sane.

I'm really excited about this new shop. It encompasses a lot of things I'm really interested in and passionate about. In the past I felt like I needed to just focus on one thing, but in reality I have so many different interests and I was always a bit sad that I didn't allow myself to follow up on some of them. That's how my latest Etsy shop first came up. It was the first small step forward in my attempt to branch out and do some things I really like while allowing me the flexibility to work at the kitchen counter while Lachlan hangs onto my pant leg.

As I mentioned yesterday, my latest Etsy shop has held its own so far, especially considering that I haven't done a single thing to promote it. And that gave me the confidence that maybe my ideas for this other shop will work, too. So now I'm following up on those ideas. I have big things in mind for this new shop, and I want to do things right. I hired a graphic designer to design the logo and all the business collateral, which is in the final stages of development at the moment. I also plan to really advertise and promote this shop, and because I want to do that in a thoughtful way, I probably will hold off on that--and the official opening--until next year.

In the meantime, I am hoping to have sort of a pre-grand opening hopefully by December 1 with a very limited offering of goods. I know how my mind works and I'll want several weeks to find my way with this new shop before I go whole hog with it. I'll also have some small items that will make great stocking stuffers, so I'm thinking of something along the lines of a small, limited time "pop-up shop" to make them available in time for the holidays. I'll certainly keep you posted on that, and on the general development of the shop in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, here are three small sneak peeks at a very small selection of things for the new shop. Confused? :)

Johnny Cupcakes

I've seen Johnny Cupcakes merchandise around, but I never imagined this guy would have a story like this. If you're in the Philly area, I'd be so jealous if you caught his talk tonight. And no matter where you live, if you've ever had even a teeny, tiny desire to start your own business, read his story. It's long, but it's absolutely amazing.