List 45: things keeping me going right now

the last few weeks have been stressful. the next few months (aghhh!) are going to be even more stressful. as a small business owner not only do I make by hand every single item I sell, but I am also in charge of photographing products, packaging and posting orders, doing the accounts, blogging, tweeting, instagramming, facebooking, and generally promoting my company, replying to a million emails every single day, ordering supplies, managing stock levels, designing new products, wholesaling my items, doing craft fairs, designing promotional materials, editing photos, maintaining two online shops, and trying to have some sort of life inbetween these things. it's hard. sometimes it's harder than others. some times it's so hard I just sit down and cry because I've had 5 hours sleep in the last 3 days, and I just ruined a whole batch of wood shapes because I glued the wrong colour findings on them. I love my job, more than it's possible to explain. but sometimes I need something more than that to keep me going, to motivate me onwards. so here are some of the things that are keeping me going at the moment....

1. pumpkin spice lattes have just landed in UK starbucks - possibly the greatest day of my life

2. buying a new calculator that is heart shaped - practical but so cute

3. the fact that my bestie Emma is now only a 45 minute train ride away, and that she will happily and willingly trawl around a car boot with me at 6am  (LOVE this girl)

4. getting a free mixtape CD with the newest issue of 'Yen' magazine - love getting new music to listen to, especially when it's free!

5. random post from lovely people - Amy sent me the CUTEST handmade bookmark with a Kurt Vonnegut quote on it, and it literally made my day

6. reorganising my studio slightly so everything is a bit more streamlined and a little bit less cluttered

7. having an excuse to further expand my washi tape collection (they feature in a new product I'm working on)

8. new stockists around the UK who are selling some of my wares (I will be adding a stockists page to my blog and website very soon so you will be able to see if there are any Ladybird Likes stockists in your area)

9. wearing my new favourite t shirt from Finest Imaginary (it's so cute and super comfy, plus it has a BEAR on it) which was one of my only purchases from Renegade

10. getting my new custom made business stamp delivered and stamping everything with it - it's pretty awesome, I think it needs to be blogged about at some point!

11. snagging three series of 'The Hills' on DVD for £3 - I'm addicted to this show!

what keeps you going when times are tough? do you have any specific things you do when you are having a hard time? most of the things I do involve going out and having time away from my work, which isn't really an option at the moment! but I'm trying to give myself little rewards each day to keep myself motivated.