MEGAN AUMAN

Join the mailing list be the first to know about new jewelry and art, classes, and writing!

something new to listen to!

by 1 Comment


I’m so excited because Sarah Vowell’s new book, The Wordy Shipmates, comes out today! Some of my studio-mates in grad school turned me on to Sarah Vowell, and her previous books are some of my favorite studio listening. After fighting with my computer, I finally managed to download The Wordy Shipmates from iTunes. I’ve got to leave for a cross country meet shortly, but I can’t wait to head back out to the studio when I get home so I can start listening!

vote!

by 4 Comments

If you live in Pennsylvania, today is the last day to register to vote in the November election. Wherever you live, make sure you are registered to vote in this super important election!

And this is what I’ll be wearing on election day:


Obama necklace by Silvercocoon.

what I’m reading: good to great

by Leave a Comment


Lately, it seems like I’ve been reading a lot of bicycling related books, so I decided to switch things up and read something business related. I’d been thinking about reading Good to Great by Jim Collins for a while, and since my business hasn’t been going as well as I’d like, now seemed like the perfect time.

As I began reading, I had a hard time visualizing how a book about major corporations such as Gillette and Walgreens would apply to my little, one woman show. But it didn’t take long for me to start applying the lessons in the book to my own business. In fact, I found this to be one of the most relevant books I’ve read in a long time. So I’ve decided to break the book down step by step and examine how it relates to me and my business. (I won’t do this all in one post, it would overwhelm everyone!)

But first, a little introduction. The initial premise of the book is that “Good is the enemy of great.” There are so many good companies around that very few invest the time and energy to become great companies. By studying eleven companies they identified as “great”, Collins and his research team came up with a series of characteristics that set these companies apart. And these are the concepts that can be applied to companies, organizations, teams, and most any other group of people looking to make the leap from good to great. These concepts are:
-Level 5 Leadership
-First Who… Then What
-Confront the Brutal Facts (Yet Never Lose Faith)
-The Hedgehog Concept
-A Culture of Discipline
-Technology Accelerators
-The Flywheel and the Doom Loop
I’ll be using these concepts to examine myself and my business. Hopefully those of you running your own businesses will find some use in this exercise as well. (In fact, I recommend anyone running their own business run out and grab a copy of this book. You won’t be disappointed.)

I’ll be back tomorrow to take a look at Level 5 Leadership.

crafty bastards recap + complaints about crutches

by 1 Comment

No pictures in this post because I didn’t take a single picture at Crafty Bastards. Sad, I know. Thanks to everyone who responded to my last post, and thanks a million to my wonderful husband, who came with me to help out at the show! Oh, and thanks to the Crafty Bastards volunteers who helped out as well.

Sadly, I didn’t get to scope out the show, for obvious reasons. One trip to the port-a-potties on crutches was enough to keep me tied to my booth. But I really appreciate everyone who came by and shopped – you made my day worthwhile! I’m happy I decided not to cancel the show.

Now I’m home and exhausted, thanks in no small measure to my crutches. My foot may be resting, but the rest of my body feels beat up and sore. I’m also learning how difficult crutches can be if you’re a grown-up who needs to do things like grocery shop, clean, and laundry. I still haven’t figured out how I’m going to get my dirty clothes from my second floor bedroom to my basement washing machine. That’s not to mention that I have several wholesale orders to go out this week. At least I have a rolling chair in my studio…

HELP!!!

by 5 Comments

Well, the results are in, and I have an “incomplete fracture” in my right heel and am now on crutches. I seriously need some help for Crafty Bastards on Sunday! If there’s anyone in the DC/Baltimore area interested in helping me, I would really appreciate it. Please email me at meauman(at)yahoo(dot)com. I pay in jewelry.

crafty bastards is Sunday!

by Leave a Comment


Its cold and gray today, forcing me to bust out the fleece lined boots and making me not want to do anything. That’s not good, though, because…

Crafty Bastards is this Sunday! Rain or shine (lets hope for shine). Please stop by and see me in booth #49 – I should even have some new work if I can get my butt in gear.

Really though, I’m still in a pretty crappy mood. On top of the weather and my foot, I sliced my thumb chopping an onion yesterday (not bad, but enough to be annoying in the studio) and we have a groundhog that’s taken up residence in our back yard. I’m terrified of groundhogs, plus I have to make sure its not around when I take out Grizzly, or he practically pulls me off the porch to chase it. I’m really looking forward to Monday, when my to do list looks like this:
-sleep in
-go for a long ride on my new bike
-clean my house

Hopefully your Friday is happier than mine!

update: yakkay bike helmet

by 7 Comments


I finally got my Yakkay helmet in the mail yesterday, and I couldn’t be more excited. I absolutely love it! I think its super-cute, and much better than my current helmet. The helmet under the cover is super well made, with really high quality straps, and you could actually wear it without the cover. While I probably won’t be wearing it on long training rides, its perfect for running errands around town.

The biggest issue is that it is a little big. The helmet is only available in medium and large. I bought the medium. It comes with foam inserts that you place yourself to adjust the fit – mine fits well after putting those in, but if you have a really small head, this might not be the best helmet for you.

I ordered it from 50cycles, a British company. You can order directly from their website and they ship to the US.

a stressful few days

by Leave a Comment


I wanted to share this great photo by Elle Moss that I discovered on Etsy as a way to counteract what has been a stressful few days. In addition to the possible stress fracture in my foot, the battery on my laptop died. This is the second time this has happened in the three years I’ve had my laptop, and now I can’t use it unless its plugged into the wall until my new battery arrived. Plus yesterday, I spent 14 hours in a car delivering my sculpture to an exhibition in southwest Ohio. And Crafty Bastards is less than a week away, I have nothing done, and the things I’ve got to do this week are piling up quickly. I think its time to go do some yoga before I freak out completely.

On a happier note, I’m totally excited because I won Liz’s blog giveaway. I can’t wait to get my print!