Buttons out of control

I love to paint in miniature on buttons.  It is something I can do under my super magnifying lamp and I can get totally absorbed in doing it. Its relaxing and satisfying and I wanted to get back into doing it regularly.

  But I had barely painted for over a year and lost control of the whole process. Selling on Etsy really stretches my limits to stay disciplined and organized.

Just keeping track of an inventory of items as small as buttons was a challenge from the very
beginning.  I tried sectioned storage boxes, flat trays, plastic bags and they all left me frustrated.  But I finally found a workable solution.

This was a hanging earring organizer and it has worked really well. I can get 10-15 buttons into each pocket and find them easily.  The buttons don't get to this stage until they are posted on Etsy so you can see that I had very little inventory on line...pitiable little!
On the back side of this I have a hanging  shoe organizer with all the mailing supplies.

It's not that I didn't  have buttons...  I had little trays of  them everywhere in every stage if completion. Many were just drawn in pencil and others were partially completed.  I usually work in batches of five and would start a batch and get side tracked and start another batch.  I had literally stacks of trays of incomplete buttons.

Then I had trays of completed buttons just waiting to be put on Etsy which requires scanning, formatting, resizing, and the Esty red tape... all very time consuming.  They also need signing, shanks attached, put in tiny plastic bags and inventoried. 

Often I find a tray at some stage of this process and I can't remember just where or what I was doing with them.  Now I try to remember to leave a sticky note on the tray to help me.

Then there are all the odd piles that materialize while I am sleeping or in the shower.  There's always odd buttons on my desk and I can never remember how or why they are there.






And another pile on the upper left of  my painting

table..these are usually there because I am unhappy with some little detail and want to fix it... But I seldom remember what it was I was unhappy with by the time I get around to looking at the buttons.

I usually work in two or three batches at a time to use the same paint palette.  Here is a current batch of hummingbird in process.  It take about 5-7 days to finish a batch from sketching to sealing.

Then I have a pile in a basket from the last time I sold at a booth and they are still on cards.  I need to get them off and online.

I figured if I did nothing else for an entire week I could get it all under control again.  Well I did it for an entire week and now I am just finished the second week and realize that with luck and perseverance  I will be lucky to be able to accomplish this goal by the end of the year. 

I know you have noticed how often I admit I don't remember... I recently stocked up on sticky notes at the dollar store and am using them all the time now.  I have added a lot of buttons to the Etsy but have many more to go..  After the holidays stop by the shop and take a look. https://www.etsy.com/shop/olderrose  Once I get things back in order I can start painting valentine and spring motifs...

HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND FEED THE BIRDS!!