New Year Goals

I am not a "resolutions" person... I set goals. Sometimes they are accomplished, sometimes they aren't. Last year's list can be seen here; seems I've done all but number four (and instead of "a fresh coat of blue paint", my room got a full redo!).

This year's list:
1. Finish putting my room back together -- mostly I need to put my certificates, etc back up on the walls, put up my new polish racks, and put my new pedi chair together.
2. Find some kind of shelf to hold a small amount of retail items (in such a tiny room, there's just no way I can carry a large amount, but I want to sell oil, lotion, top & base coats, files, etc; small every day stuff that almost everyone could use).
3. Keep up on my Quicken ("balancing my checkbook"). This goes for my personal stuff, too... I'll go months without doing it, then cram to get it done.
4. Hit another nail event.
5. As always, take on more clients. I'm not going to put a number on it like I did last New Year's, but I will say this: Increasing your available hours slowly is the best way to build quality clientelle. Every school year, I update my hours based on my daughter's school & activity calendar. My eventual goal is to work 30-40 hours by the time she's in high school.

Interestingly, I can't think of any other goals I want to set this year. So, I will leave you with this: Going into my ninth year as a professional nail tech, I know I've come a long way. However, I will continue in my pursuit of more education & refining my skills... for as an artist, I am ALWAYS growing.

Santamas Came Early...

In case you haven't been paying attention to my posts on my business page, I recently revamped my print materials (product cards to go in with my gift certificates, completely redone brochures, and business cards with a slight change in contact info). I also opened a business checking account (to separate my personal stuff from my business even more than it is, and so I would feel more comfortable with using the SQUARE credit card device), & cleaned out my nail art supply kit. As I put everything away, I took stock of what I have, and what I want.

Have --
1. Vials of regular glitter.
2. Vials of irridescent glitter.
3. Miscellaneous tiny vials of chunky glitter.
4. Tubes of acrylic craft paints.
5. Ten paint pens.
6. A paint palette that holds 10 colors.
7. A baggie of paintbrushes.
8. A five pack of dotting tools.
9. A plastic case with 25 empty mini vials.
10. A book of easy nail art tutorials.
11. Glitter paints.
12. Many miscellaneous nail stickers & water decals.
13. A piece of mesh with a random pattern.
14. A tiny baggie of transfer/crafting foils.
15. Miscellaneous samples of pigment powders (plain & irridescent).
16. Small vials of colored acrylic powder.

So, I made a list, and went shopping. For the record, there is no "Hobby Lobby" nor any "Craft Warehouse" anywhere near me... I am limited to JoAnn Fabrics & Crafts and Michael's. I also will order stuff online, but only if I know they are a trustworthy site and have good stuff.

I ended up ordering:
1. 125 ft of 1" transfer/crafting foil (25 vials which each hold 1" X 5').

And, I ended up buying in-store:
1. A 12pk of ultra-fine neon glitter (almost as fine as pigment powder, but not quite).
2. Two size 18/0 paintbrushes (for detail work, like snowflakes).
3. A smaller palette (will hold six colors).
4. A 12pk of shimmery pigment powders.
5. A new piece of mesh with a diamond pattern.

Then, today, I spent an hour custom-blending pigments, and filling up all my empty tiny vials with pigments & glitters. A friend of mine is sending me a larger, heavier-duty piece of diamond-shaped mesh (so I'll have three choices for patterns), and another friend of mine is sending me some holiday-themed decals (I was running low).

I added a crafting rolling cart to my Amazon wish list (my current plastic kit is just to small now), and am very much looking forward to blinging up some nails!