Motivational Monday!

It’s that time of the week again! New week! New start. New adventures, new ideas.

Being motivated is not easy especially in a time like this. Most of us are lockdown, away from friends and family, some not being able to work, some suffering from this horrible virus. It’s a time where really we feel we lost all hope.

Here are some ways that have helped me keep motivated and keep going even when I didn’t want to.

Write a list of goals you would like to achieve. Include a timeline to achieve them. Make sure to cross each goal off as you achieve it. This will give you the incentive to keep going as you achieve each goal you will be motivated to start the next
Talk to someone about your goals and get them to ask you about them. This helps motivate you because you know they will ask you, you will have to have something to show for your efforts.
Take up a craft or art or listen to music. By exploring your creative side this helps you relax and unwind. It gives you confidence and a sense of achievement. This in turn will motivate you to complete your goals and move on to the next one. This steps is an especially helpful one for me.
Give yourself an award for completing your goal. Once you have set your goal and completion date, set yourself an award for completing your goal. For instance once I finish writing that management report I will buy those new shoes I wanted. Setting rewards and rewarding yourself gives you the motivation to complete your goals knowing you will receive so in the end.
Eat well, get rest, do some exercise. Not eating properly or sleeping properly hinders your success rate. You will feel tired and defeated. This was a big factor for me. I was a big junk food addict. This left me feeling tired and feeling sick, in turn I had no energy to do anything. I switched to a low carb diet and started exercising. Now I can’t wait to get up and start getting things done. Sugar is a big factor in causing fatigue. You might get bursts of energy but then you will fall flat. A low GI diet will give you continuous energy through out the day and in turn this will make you be more productive.

Well the above points are all factors that have helped me. I hope they will be of help to you! Wishing you all a wonderful week ahead.

Vicky

August 30, 2021 0

Motivational Monday

August 30, 2021 0

Finally Finished!

It’s finally finished my #spinyourgrannysquareblanket

Check out the photos below!

http://instagram.com/vickys_handcrafted_designs

Spin Your Granny Square Blanket Crochet AlongPattern designed by: Kylie from @stitchedupcraft
Yarn: knitting room 8 ply acrylic Colours: Fuscia, Vanilla and Dusty pinkHook size: 4.5mm
#spinyourgrannysquareblanket #spinyourgrannysquare #crochetblanket #grannysquareblanket #grannysquare #grannysquares #grannysquareday2021 #instacrochet #crochet #crochetlove #stitchedupcraft #vickyshandcrafteddesigns

http://instagram.com/vickys_handcrafted_designs

This blanket will be part of a gift set. Stay tuned for details.

August 20, 2021 0

Work in progress Wednesday 11 August 2021

Is it just me or is this year flying by!

With Covid raging around the world it’s an anxious and stressful time for everyone. I hope you are able to keep safe wherever you are.

The one thing that keeps me sane during lockdown times is crochet. I get so lost in selecting yarns and patterns and counting stitches my mind doesn’t get a chance to wander and think of all the sadness in the world right now.

At the moment I am working on some blankets and baby accessories. I will have some items ready soon for a gift pack. I just got the boxes in today. I will show the preview on Friday.

Baby booties available soon in my Etsy shop

Above are a cute pair of baby booties. I still have to finish them but I love the colour and simplicity of the design.

August 15 is granny square day. I love to crochet continuous granny square blankets. They remind me of days of old. A beautiful traditional design that will last for decades to come. I am nearly finished the blanket. I am not sure of the name of this Caron cake but I love the blue and mint and white combination!

These are some blankets I crocheted. Some from patterns and some my own ideas. They are in various stages from completed to just needing a boarder to needing just a few squares to complete.

I love the variety of colours and the warmth they radiate!

What are some of your favourite go to projects to unwind! Comment below!

Thank you so much for reading my blog. Take care and stay safe.

Vicky.

August 11, 2021 0

My week that was….take a look at what I have been up to at Vickys Handcrafted Designs!

www.instagram.com/reel/CRpSu7onA7V/

July 23, 2021 4

END OF THE FINANCIAL YEAR – WHY WE HATE IT AND WHAT WE CAN DO TO MAKE LIFE EASIER FOR OURSELVES

Well here we are again. The end of another financial year and the start of the new one. I can hear you all crying into your coffee right now! Its a stressful time, a time where we rush to get everything ready and a time we realise we should have taken more care during the year.

I developed a very easy system to help me file and keep track of all our business correspondence. I want to share it with you.

I purchased some Arch lever folders from www.officeworks.com.au and labelled them with the information I needed. For me I needed a folder to separate our admin costs with our supplier costs. Also because we deal with a tonne of emails daily I needed a folder to file the ones we had finished with but still needed to keep in case I had to refer back to something.

Inside each folder I put a set of alphabetical tabs so that when I pay a supplier or admin cost I file it under that tab. For instance my telephone bill would go under T. etc. On the spine of the folder I also added the financial year. Here we go from July to June. Weird yeah I know but you get used to it.

At the end of the financial year I simply lift out the pages along with the tabs and secure with foldable clips. See photo below.

I use a scrap piece of paper to add information at the front so I know which files these are, for instance “Administration Expenses Paid July to June 2021” I then place the stack in an archive box which I also purchased from www.officeworks.com.au . I place the paper standing up by the spine with the clip side facing up. This makes it easier for me to grab should I need to look back on them.

As you can see from the photo above I also used some spare cardboard boxes we had laying around. I purchased the shelf from Officeworks as well so that I can add boxes easily as I need them. These boxes are fantastic as you can grab them, lift the lid off and look through what you need. They fit A4 size quite easily. I also purchased a half shelf (see photo below) so that I can use it as a work bench. From memory I think the shelves were $65 for the larger shelf and $40 for the smaller one. You will need to assemble them yourself or for an extra fee Officeworks can do that for you.

And there you have it, in a couple of easy steps you have archived your files for the year. Should you need to refer back to anything its all labelled and neatly put in the boxes. Next what I do is I put in fresh tabs into the arch lever folders so that I can begin filing for the next year.

Its an easy and simple system which doesn’t cost too much and you can tailor it to suit your needs. www.officeworks.com.au have a fabulous range of products to help you with all your end of financial year needs.

Thank you again for reading my posts. Next week I will show you a simple system I use to file my cash register receipts.

Take care

Vicky

July 6, 2021 0

Another lockdown……Another work from home day!

Slack App – https://slack.com/intl/en-au/

Again we are in another lockdown, stressful but necessary. Many of us are able to take our jobs home and work from our home offices or dining tables.

Lucky for us there is an abundance of technology to make our lives so much easier to communicate with customers, suppliers and fellow employees.

One of my favourite apps to use is Slack. Its easy to install on your computer and makes messaging with your co-workers effortless.

You can set up projects within the app and communicate within that particular project adding only the people involved so that your communications don’t get muddled up, which can often happen when writing emails back and forth.

You can have several separate conversations regarding different matters or include everyone in the one conversation if need be. You can share updates and other information to make project management and other work related matters run more smoothly.

Its definitely a favourite of mine and saves me so much time sifting through emails to find the right one to respond to. Check out the app in the Apple or Google play store. It downloads easily to your mobile or mobile tablet too. That way you can keep the communication going where ever you are. You can also create an account and link your devices. All in all its one awesome App.

Thank you again for reading my posts. I will highlight another of my favourite apps next Tuesday

Vicky

June 29, 2021 0

Throwback Thursday!…..

Can’t believe we are at the tail end of the working week again!

And what an interesting week it’s been! My work on the Aster Crochet Rug was featured in an Instagram post by Crochet 1 magazine! What an honour to be featured. I was so excited! Thank you Crochet 1 magazine! Checkout my Instagram post with all the details!

http://http//:instagram.com/vickys_handcrafted_designs

Today is also the day I like to look back on old photos of my work to see how far I have made progress.

These are some of my first Amigurumi projects. It’s definitely been a learning curve and I am enjoying more and more learning this art. If you love to crochet I suggest you give it a go. It’s fun to see these little creatures develop and when you get really confident in your abilities it’s nice to be able to design something new too.