Time Sure Flies

Looking over the posts from the last year I notice that I've been posting more and more on regular family things and not on being creative. This last year has been a challenge that way.

Most of our focus has been on the husband's pedal building, music playing and getting into school. Then there were bucket of other family matters. The last time I had a spurt of creativity was around the winter holidays. Until now that is. I'm getting myself busy getting ready for the holiday selling and craft show season. I have felt ready for sewing, birds sculpted and right now, between typing paragraphs (you know, to let the tips if my fingers recover in between) I'm working with wire to make bird feet to go in the sculpted birds.

There are a few things that I've been doing to stay creative this year. One is a daily photograph on Instagram (my instagram name is PeanutButterPie if you're interested in following my stream). I've been trying to incorporate a smallish diary type entry with each photograph and that is getting me to think labels and hashtags too. What I'd like, is to look at these together and see what patterns arise; what images really get me excited and happy and perhaps use them as a spring board for art projects or just to get my brain working.

I've also started to draw and paint again as you can see in the image below, there are a few of my quick watercolour sketches included on my instagram feed. And I'm gearing up for the Peanut's birthday party but this year it will be much more about baking than crafting as she's having a drama party at the ArtSpace for Children instead of a back yard party.

On top of that I've been working on a separate project that I have kept away from here. It's a guerrilla art project that you can read about on the blog; The Paper Heart Project which I've created just for it.

So I may not have been blogging here lately but I've been doing stuff. What have you been up to? anything you're doing that you are excited about? Share in the comments.

Birthday Season

It's creeping upon us.

I don't have any photographs to share in this post but there will be some coming up in the next post. I promise (I got my mothers day/ birthday gift yesterday and I've been putting it through it's paces; a lens attachment for my iphone that has wide angle, macro and fisheye options; I'm super giddy about all that) in the meantime I'll keep this post as short as I can.

Usually for all the birthdays we go to each summer I get all the same thing for each child we celebrate with, and I always give something art supply-ish. Getting all the same thing for everyone means that shopping is less of a hassle and if I shop at the right time cheaper. We've been on a pretty tight budget ever since the Peanut came on the scene and now with the Bean here and the Husband headed back to school we are even tighter in the budget department.

I go with art supplies because a gift of art supplies is different from what they'll get from the other kids and because beyond crayons markers and the odd set of watercolours; kids don't really get stuff that they can be creative with on a regular basis. That said; I do have some fabulous Mommy friends who stock their kids up often but a little bit of something new is always welcome and just what the doctor ordered to get the boredoms out of the house.

In the last few years our gifts have been:
watercolour paints and glitter glue
sketch pads and pastels
Buddha paper (paper that changes colour when wet but then dries back to normal) with paint brushes
and last year it was a packet of watercolour paper and water soluble pastels

I won't say what we're getting this year since party season isn't on just yet, but suffice it to say that it will hopefully help those creative minds get going.

Birthday season starts off with the Peanut. She turns six in eight days and we'll be celebrating on the following Monday. It's a long weekend here and Monday seemed to be best for most of our friends to join us. We're keeping it simple. The theme this year is Using Your Imagination and we figured the best way to do that was to fill our back yard with moving boxes and let the kids use their imaginations to build obstacle courses, hide in them for hide and seek and create towns, space ships and whatever else they can come up with. I can tell you now that it will probably be nothing like what I've listed here and most definitely better.

Each child will go home with a personalized paper doll with a selection of clothes to colour, collage and decorate as they see fit. I've got costumes of astronauts, cowboys, rock stars, pirates, fairies, ballerina's and just plain old being you clothes for them to make up for themselves. I'm pretty excited about them and thinking of adding something similar in the Etsy shop. I'm seeing some potential to get into a niche here and I'm having fun with it as well.

In other news my nephew had his second transplant on Monday. No news is good news as far as we are taking things. We've heard very little except the odd photograph and facebook status. He's off the breathing tube and has even had a stint in his Mommy's arms which I'm more than sure has done him a world of good.

We're still sending out all of our healing thoughts and prayers to him he's got a long way to go but he's getting there each day.

So what types of things do you like to get for your kids birthday gifts? Do you go the experience route and get a class for them to take, a night out to the movies or a play or do you stick with toys and books or (heavens forfend) clothes? Share, please I always like to know what works best for other people.

And Speaking of Something New

Last week I posted about working in a new medium. This week I tested some new waters myself.

When the husband quit his job he made the decision to apply for school and pursue Stomp Box making as a means of income. Since then we've been brainstorming about how to set him up to do just that. Part of that is setting up a blog for him to write and share YouTube videos of the boxes he makes. While we're getting that organized we've been pondering ways to decorate the boxes he makes. To add a little flair to them.

Getting the Peanut to put her super art skills to work has come up as had combining that idea with etching into the boxes. Both Ideas that I'm itching to get on. In the meantime I've transferred an already well used technique onto the boxes as well. On a test box I used one of my hand carved stamps to impress an image and a ghost print onto the sides of one of the enclosures the husband is working on. I quite like the effect and am pretty excited to keep on with the idea to see where we can go with it.

And Speaking of the husband's new endeavor he's written his very first blog post, Why not hop over and take a quick look?

Trying Something New

A Painting the Peanut & I did together

can be daunting. Especially when you go from working in a medium that you have become so comfortable working in, that the process is mostly a focus on bringing about your vision instead of learning the aspects of that medium and how to work within the medium to get the finished product that is in your minds eye.

For example changing your drawing medium from pen and ink to brush and ink. With pen and ink you draw using lines, crosshatching or scribbles for building up your shadows. After a certain amount of time you don't really think about where your pen tip is going how your marks are being made you just look at your subject and draw, or int he case of drawing from your head you just draw. If one day you decide to try something different and pull out a bamboo brush and a jar of india ink the process of drawing becomes a little more about using that medium instead of the medium as a means to an end. With ink and brush you start with light washes, working from light to dark, it's a slower process, the ink dries in a specific way and the look of the sketch is softer. if you are working wet into wet you get unexpected blends and unexpected hard lines where the wet areas have dried. The process becomes focused on the medium and you start to look at your subject differently. When that happens there's growth in your art.

Snapshot from my phone

Of course one of the daunting aspects is that what you're making isn't going to be perfect, that there are going to be less than ideal and unpredictable outcomes. The trick is to use the newness of the medium to let go of the finished project. Make the process the goal instead of the final piece; at least until you've gotten to really really know the medium. Of course that's not as easy as it sounds when you put it down in words. Creating something be it a drawing, a photograph, painting or sculpting is a personal thing. Becoming invested in what you are creating is inevitable. there's the time invested, the money that goes into buying the materials, the imagination and the effort. All those things put together make it almost impossible to give up control, to relinquish the desire to put what is being worked on up on a pedestal. A good friend just posted about this very thing on her blog. She put is so perfectly that I felt I had to address the same subject here.

Why? well because I made a decision at the end of last year that I was going to reintroduce myself to the basics of creating. You know, in between dealing with a busy Bean and a precocious Peanut. It's not always easy but to motivate me I've started following the Sketchbook Challenge and I've started photographing on a daily basis with an iphone. (getting past the camera has to be a camera mindset helps a little. My camera snobbery was holding me back, especially when I was worried about braining the Bean with my heavy SLR when she'd need to be picked up.) I'm more prolific with the camera right now but that's not what's important. What is important is that I'm making time to create and the process is more important than the final outcome.

Doodles from my sketchbook a la
The Sketchbook Challenge

Giving myself permission to make mistakes, push past them and go too far, to reign it back in and push too far again to go so far that there's no turning back, no fixing it. To let go. It seems like taking advantage of that permission is the greatest challenge. So what about you? do you sometimes find that you are holding on too tightly to what you're creating that you aren't letting it grow? I remember a drawing class where after a set amount of time we stood up moved to the next space and continued on the drawing that our neighbor had just left... I still cringe at the thought of letting go of my ownership of that piece of paper...

Looking Ahead

Another calendar page for next year. I liked how the crane shape was mirrored in the street light. I personally like to have a glimpse of what came before and what's coming so I've included teeny calendarettes with last and next months dates for easy reference. Another great feature of the My Memories Calendar option? That I can make changes to colour, size and all manner of options on one page and have all the calendars be the same with the click of a mouse. What are your favourite options for a wall calendar? Do you like to know when the moon is going to be full? When the next Stat holiday is? Please share in the comments.

It's A Date

Early Evening in Downtown Vancouver makes
a beautiful January calendar image

Still on a My Memories creativity binge. I whipped up this calendar page in about ten minutes; including interruptions in the form of the Bean playing with the toilet.  I haven't added some of the personal things I'd like to have on my calendar yet like the Bean's Birthday, the dates of the moon phases and highlights to remember inside the February mini at the top of the page but you get the idea.

If you missed my post reviewing the My Memories Software you can view it here.

If you'd like a chance to enter to win your own copy (worth $39.97 USD) follow the instructions in the widget. If you are having trouble seeing the widget please leave a comment on this post so I can fix any problems.

That Even Doesn't Exist!

was said to me in the disdainful tones only a five year old can produce (because it still comes off as adorable and you just want to squeeze her instead of have a stroke inducing fit of rage over the disrespect) after I told her that helping with her sister was the reason she'd won the Big Sister of the Year Award.

Truly, I've been amazed over the course of the last year and a few weeks at how simply wonderful the peanut is with the Bean. She helps keep her occupied when I'm changing poopy diapers with only a trace amount of nausea at the stench, she keeps an eye on her to make sure she's not getting into things that aren't bean Authorized bits and Pieces. And she plays with her. Without being asked. Add to that that I have not once seen her do anything on purpose to make the Bean cry and you see where I'm coming from.

Yes we've had a few episodes of acting out and playing for attention in all the wrong ways but we've also weeded out the whys and the wherefores and done our best to give her some Peanut only time with apologies for forgetting to do so when we've had to. But in the grand scheme of things I am so pleased with how blessed we are with the girls.

So back to the Big Sister of the Year Award; I laughed and smiled and told her she'd have to come and tell me she was all wrong about that when she got her certificate awarding her with the coveted prize of Best Big Sister of the Year. Still there was disdain!

I was told that when she didn't get a certificate I would see that the award just didn't exist.

Challenge Accepted:

 

My Memories Scrapbooking Software comes in Handy again! In about 5 minutes  I had the above certificate done and printed. She totally called me on the fact that I made the award myself but she also took my word for it, that the award exists based on the certificate. I love this age. Added bonus, I got my own Best Mommy of the Year Award later in the afternoon. glitter and crayon on the back of the school notice that we'll be scheduling a meeting with a speech therapist for the Peanut within the next few months. I did mention that I love this age right?

If you're interested in the Software I used to make the certificate visit my review/giveaway post here! there's plenty of time to enter!

My Memories

It seems that I'm at the point in my blogging travels that I'm being approached to test out products and tell you what I think of them. The upside? I get the chance to try out some new things and share what I think and what I've cooked up with the product with you.

Another upside?  This time around I get the chance to offer you a special deal on what I've tried out. And yet another upside? I also get to give you the chance to win something too.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Using an 8.5 x 11 sheet of card stock one of the beautiful free
paper packs from My Memories; a memorial card for my
Grandma's service coming up this May

My Memories a Digital Scrapbooking Company got in touch with me last month about reviewing their Digital Scrap booking Software. I received a copy of the My Memories Suite software in exchange for sharing the product with you, all my thoughts on the product are my own and have not been directed by My Memories. Just to be clear, I tend to look for the positive in everything I try out so unless something is absolutely terrible, completely unworkable I'll focus on the good, include the not so great and welcome you to share your experiences with me.

I'll be honest here, I'm not a scrapbook artist, so digital scrap booking software isn't something that I have ever thought about using.  I am however, a creative person and I have been known to pop into a scrap booking shop to look at papers for use in some of my projects and in some of my art works. There are some pretty amazing papers out there that just scream to be used in a hand bound book or to make birthday banners or pinwheels... I am an artist and a crafty kind of gal so the idea of being able to use Digital Scrapbooking Software for projects that aren't scrapbook pages; like photo books, or calendars was really exciting to me, not least because I've found myself with a new computer that won't recognize the versions of Photoshop and InDesign I had been using for the last few years on some of these types of projects.

Rather than checking things out beforehand (reading instructions, watching YouTube videos etc) I started blind with My Memories Suite just to see how intuitive it is to work through. And despite old Photoshop habits tripping me up here and there, I can happily say that it is very simple and easy to use, so easy that I'm pretty sure I could sit my computer challenged Mom or the Peanut in front of it and have them putting together pages in no time flat. 

The desktop is set up so that your tools are in more than one place, in palettes along the side, as icons along the top and inside the drop down menus as well, so no matter which way you like to work or where you are most comfortable looking for your tools and applications you're covered. 

If you don't like to start a new program blind, you can also make use of the abundant support My Memories  offers. For help and links to video tutorials on their YouTube channel you can visit their blog and online forums (which also gives access to a community of creative people to share ideas; a super bonus as far as I'm concerned since I'm a big believer that creativity breeds more of the same. Being able to share ideas, give and receive help from people in a community is so invaluable.) Product support at My Memories is awesome, My Memories has a blog that contains a wealth of how-to and tutorials to get you started as well as inspiration for your own projects. 

My Memories Suite includes a good selection of paper backgrounds, embellishments and options to get you started within the scrapbooking software. If you want  more (and you're probably going to want more), there is a fantastic selection of great digital packs ranging in price from $9.99 to free that can help you fill up your tool box. If you are looking for some specific designs and themes you can easily search the site for kits that will get you going on specific projects.  Browsing through I noticed a fantastic dinosaur kit Diggin' For Dinosaurs that would have been absolutely fantastic for the Peanut's birthday party crafts two years ago.

Using the papers and options available
with the My Memories Suite to create a
colourful and very personalized calendar

Getting a page together was as simple as dragging and dropping elements and photographs where I wanted them. My Memories Suite allows you to adjust the size, angle and placement of text, photographs and design elements for your projects. I was able to make custom designs from scratch as well as using the templates provided.  I was able to mix and match custom pages with template pages while I was testing out the software.  Because everything is customizable, even a template is going to be a one of a kind creation when you are done with it. I like to think about templates as a jumping off point and a shortcut to get where you're heading faster.

And then there are My Memories Suite Calendar capabilities! I can't tell you how many times I've put off creating calendars that use my own photographs and artwork because the idea of creating the actual month to month grid was too time consuming. The calendar feature in the software takes all that measuring and layout out of the equation, you can choose calendars with boxes or without and resize the grid to fit the whole page or a small part of the page and change the layout, font and colour so that each page in your calendar is either unique or exactly the same. Then we come to the personalization options that can be added to a calendar: Birthdays and anniversaries pop to mind right away written in just like the stat holidays are in the calendar you buy each year. If phases of the moon or other zodiac dates are high on your list to keep track of (Mercury Retrograde, Saturn rising into Virgo anyone?) these can be added too! And those special school dates? Plays, Pro-D's, hot lunches can now be right on your calendar too.  


As far as keeping everything organized for your projects, My Memories Suite collects everything that you use from the papers, embellishments to your artwork in a file folder so it's all at your fingertips. One more little job that gets taken care of. Putting all that stuff together where it's easy to find has been one of those little jobs that often gets unfinished now that I've got my hands full of the Peanut and Bean

So there are a lot of pluses with My Memories Digital Software:

• Super Support on the My Memories Website, Blog and YouTube Channel 
• Great Selection of Digital Papers, Embellishments and Wort Art to get you started within the software
• A huge assortment of additional papers and embellishments available for purchase for free and up 
• My Memories Digital Scrapbooking Software
• It's super easy to use
• Keeps your project organized for you
• There are so many options and possibilities

Of course with all the good stuff I've listed there are bound to be some negatives and I did experience a few things that I haven't taken the time to look for help with on the blog or in the forums (this is where the great program support comes in handy). There is an option when you are starting a project using a template to choose all the photographs you wish to use up front and have them dropped in at the beginning. Each time I tried to use this option while playing with the Software My computer froze up. This obviously could be a computer issue and not a software issue at all. In the end I was able to work around it and go forward with the projects I was working on;  so these issues aren't enough of a problem for a negative review. I'll also look into finding out the best way to use that option as I go along using the My Memories Blog and YouTube tutorials.


I'm just getting started exploring some of the other options that the My Memories Suite offers, like online albums that are interactive or feature music or narration (perfect for some personalized screen time activities for the Peanut). For now, ideas for projects like  a photo book of this blog's  A Thousand Words, a digital recipe book featuring some of the recipes I've collected and use most often, or a bedtime book for the Peanut and the Bean using some digital collage art are percolating. There's even an option for photo books that can be professionally printed in the software which means I could have a bound copy of one of those items to put on the shelf.

 
There are practically no limits to what I'd like to do and could do with My Memories Suite. The bonus here is that I'm brimming with creative energy and if there's one thing I like a lot; it is to be excited about creating.  

Now here's where you get to share in the excitement. My Memories is offering you a special $10 discount code to use in their online store to purchase the My Memories Suite. just click the My Memories banner below and cut and paste the Promocode: STMMMS25295 into the form when you're prompted to receive your discount. $10 off is a super deal!


   



And if that wasn't a big enough reason to be excited about the My Memories Digital Scrapbooking Software how about a chance to win a copy of the My Memories Suite? (If the rafflecopter widget isn't showing for you to enter refresh the page)

A Visual Diary

of how I've been feeling lately:

I've been building treasuries a lot lately, especially when the Bean takes up a little more time with her teething and solid food eating ways. When I get a few moments here and there but not enough time to really get my make on; I put together a treasury of images that fit my mood as well as my need to make something.

So now I share.
Click on the collection above to get a super view of my curatorial activities

Library, Laundry (like I'd not have any to do) and starting something new

As the title suggests I've got a library trip planned today, laundry and plans to start a new project.

What is this project you ask? Well it's one that I had on my list from last year and hopefully it's something that I can get done before the Bean makes her debut. Also it's going to allow me to brush up on my book binding since what I'm planning is to make a bedtime book for the Peanut of the Poem Wynken Blynken and Nod by Eugene Field.

It's a poem that my Dad used to recite to me when I was small and something that I want to pass on to the Peanut and the Bean. I've already done a painting for the Peanut's room but I wanted to also have a picture book that we could read and keep.

First on the list of things to get the book done is to decide the size of the book and decide how many pages so that I can cut the paper down to size. Not as simple as measuring and cutting since paper has a grain that makes folding along one side easier than the other, so I'll have to make sure that I keep that in mind when I pull out my paper. To decide on the number of pages for the book I'll be taking a copy of the poem and breaking it up into bite sized chunks, which will also break the poem up into illustrations for each page.

I'm excited about getting started on this in the new space and I'll be posting on my progress too.

What are you working on today?

5lbs

Yesterday I spent some creative time carving a few new stamps while sitting at my new worktable. Today we're headed out to the Nutritionist for what could be my last appointment with them and the countdown to D-day continues.

I'll also be working on Friday's post; another 5 question feature which I'm very excited about.

And the 5lbs mentioned in the title of this post? How much extra weight that the Dr said I'm carrying around in retained water.

and the hormones, they keep raging

Wow.

All the lovely comments on yesterday's post had my eyes welling up. Thank You.


Things are starting to come together in the workspace. The Husband spent a huge chunk of yesterday working on his stuff and I'm itching to get in and start doing some painting, even if the space isn't exactly how I want it to be it's set and ready for the creativity to flow.

That's one other side effect of being all with child, I'm feeling very creative and very much like I want to be exercising that creative muscle while I still have some wide awake brain cells. So today is all about getting my creativity on. Well that and having a nap...

Special Package

A while ago I came across a bunch of posts on some of my favourite blogs that were sharing some fabulous exchange gifts. I followed the links and found a few new blogs to follow (always a bonus) and some amazing inspirations. Now the exchange is the brainchild of Faerwillow over at Serendipity, Faerwillow has an exchange going on each month and this month's exchange is making a mystical mask for your matched partner, the deadline for signing up is November 3rd; and while I won't be participating I'm looking forward to seeing all the amazing masks that come out of the challenge.

Back to finding Faerwillow's blog though. All the packages that my blog land friends were receiving were full of magical little details and beautiful work that just tickled my creative funny bone. I love seeing other people's creations and always feel a little nudge to keep creating afterwards. (it's one of the reasons that I love picking up magazines like Somerset Studio and Cloth Paper Scissors.) So I thought I'd check out Faerwillow's blog and see what else she had on offer. It just so happened that my first visit to her page was also the day that she was celebrating her favourite number with a number of giveaways. I was one of the lucky first three people to comment on that post and automatically won a special surprise gift.

My package came the other day and I wanted to share my gift here. As you can see; Faerwillow has gifted me with a gorgeous handmade paper goddess and a glass ball for watering plants. I'll be adding my Goddess to our Yule tree. I can't wait to see her reflecting our lights. As for the watering ball I'll be on the look out for a beautiful houseplant to add some life and greenery to our living space. Something that I can keep in the living room full time instead of just until we transplant to the garden.

Today's a bit of a catch up day. I'm catching up on my blog list, cleaning the bathroom and getting some laundry done. Yesterday was spent at the Dietitian; we're still on track, blood sugars are still below the limits and the Bean is still growing at the proper rate. The only thing is that we'll be headed back sooner now that we're headed into the third trimester.

Circle 'round and I'll tell you the tale

of the first ever extreme makeover that turned a lowly scullery maid into a beautiful princess to send her to the ball.

Growing up we moved a lot, wherever we ended up living my Mom always planted a bleeding heart in the front garden. My Mom taught me this when I was a little girl and then promptly regretted it when I denuded all her bleeding heart blossoms to do it myself. So here we go How to tell the story of Cinderella with a flower:




take a full bleeding heart blossom from your plant (if the flower doesn't belong to you please ask permission first) turn it so that the bottom of the flower is facing up. this is the beautiful ball gown created by the Fairy Godmother.








Very carefully pull off the outer pink petals to reveal the magical coach. you can imagine the wheels turning as she speeds over the roads to get to the ball before midnight.















Every Princess needs to accessorise. Gently pull the heart shaped pieces apart. These two pieces are Cinderella's drop earrings.










And of course the heart of the story: Shoes. pull the center of the coach apart to make a lovely pair of slippers to fit on her tiny feet, notice that the slippers are perfect for dancing until midnight.







And in the end; none of it would have happened had there not been a magic wand to help create it.

Work in Progress Wednesday

I'm sure that I've mentioned here and there that I'm working collaboratively with the Husband on a new project that I'm hoping to list in PeanutButterPie. To be honest, it's been in the works since last fall when I finally went out and visited the local stained glass supply store. So what is this collaboration you ask? Sun catcher/ornaments made from sandwiching painted glass microscope slides.

Last Thursday I gave you a sneak peek at part of the process with the photo of one of the stamps I've been making as part of the process.

We've been working off and on over the months, perfecting our techniques and learning about what works and what doesn't work. For me it's been about figuring out how to create the look that I want, for the Husband it's been about solder techniques for glass (he has been doing solder work for bass and guitar stomp boxes for years now and offered to wield the iron for me with this project) So here's some of the work we've been doing together

Up all night and awake all day

could be the theme of the weekend for us. The Peanut woke up early (and I mean so early that it was still late) Saturday from a nightmare and crawled into bed with us and fidgeted and squirmed until the Husband left the room and went to sleep in her room. We were up nice and early Saturday then we repeated the whole process again last night with a wet bed in place of the nightmare. Add in a fierce windstorm and we were awake most of last night too and up this morning.

Also on the agenda this weekend was a lone trip for me to the book store and and afternoon to myself where I immersed myself in a new project with my x-acto blade, papers and glue and my latest 5 question feature... other than our sleeping issues it was a good weekend. How was yours?

There is a soundtrack

So I've seen a few blog posts around here and there and even back that way which talk about all the things that kids these days (that makes me sound like an old curmudgeonly cranky granny lady doesn't it?) don't get, appreciate or will never get to experience.

While there are a few points here and there and back that way that I can totally agree upon, the anticipation of going to the record store to buy a new album or camping out in a mall parking lot to get tickets to a favourite band's live show for instance, or having the cute boy who works at the record store/ticket outlet get you killer seats for your first live show because he has a crush on you too.... these are things that I have done and remember fondly and also things that the Peanut will never get to experience for better or worse...

One thing that I've been thinking about lately is how we now have the power to choose the soundtrack that plays in the background of our day to day lives. The rhythm of our steps when we walk is timed to the beat of the playlists sounding in our earbuds. Of course because if the Peanut listening to music wherever and whenever is tricky, I don't want to miss out on her thoughts and observations or even her requests (because when she asks for a hug, that's a drop everything kind of request) I sometimes make do with one ear bud in and the other ear free. I get the best of both worlds here; music that suits my day, mood or activities and a free ear to take in the sound of traffic, the birds and the Peanut.

So my life has a soundtrack wherever I go, and it's poignant and moving and sing a longable and makes the time go smoother. Right now my soundtrack is stuck on a combination of Nada Surf, Greg Laswell and (as always) Depeche Mode. What song is playing in the montage of your life?

Milestones should be celebrated

I've spent some time this morning going through some of my old posts and cleaning up my post labels and it's been a bit of work. I knew they were getting out of hand when the list of labels was way longer than the list of posts I've written. So I've chosen a handful of labels to help section out the blog. I'd love to have a custom blog with tabs to clean these things up but for now I'm doing this, a little at a time. I'm just hoping that I'm not clogging up your reading lists with old posts.

In a little under three years I've published over 300 times and it's been so much fun to do. And speaking of posting milestones one of the blogs I follow has an amazing giveaway to celebrate a handful exciting milestones both for her blog and her facebook page. Click on the picture below to find out more!

How much?

I've been busy renewing items in TMCPhoto on Etsy and making new things for PeanutButterPie. And then there's the shopping and browsing that has started to take over my time too. One thing I 'm noticing on Etsy is the serious under pricing of photographs in some shops. There are some very beautiful images out there for a fraction of the price that they could or should be selling for.

I guess it's the same old story played out everywhere. Someone under values their work and then the value of the whole market seems to plummet. I've so far kept my prices at what I feel my work is worth, mainly because I feel that up until now I've really undervalued myself in general and don't want to continue the bad habit. Equally, the whole point of selling my art was to make money at it. If I factor in the costs of printing, camera and equipment maintenance, my time and talent as well as the materials used for packaging, the marketing and promotion work put in and costs for listing items and the percentage that goes to the website the prices I'm listing at allow me to make a little profit that I can in turn use to make more photographs and other art pieces.

When I see $10 8x10 photographs listed, I always wonder how much these artists are losing by selling so low.

Making that first sale

At least I know that I'm not all alone out there. I've been on Etsy for a little over 4 months now and not a sale in sight for me. Not that I'm complaining. I'm not, really. I know it will happen soon. I'm confident in my products and in my marketing plan, low key as it is so far.

At the moment I’m just pleased to gain another heart for my shops or individual items and ecstatic for the increase in traffic to my shops. It helps that there are others out there in Etsyland (like the creator of the Etsy Item That caught my Eye, Amethyst Bonsai Pendant) waiting for their first sale. Reading entries in the Forums from these talented artists and participating in Newbie Labs, gives me the feeling that I’m not alone out there.

Plus each new view of the Lady Bug ATC or the Electric 3rd in series Photograph in my two shops; brings me one view closer to that fateful first sale.

Am I aiming too low? Should I be more worried about being sale-less? With the holiday season in the crosshairs should I be more active in my marketing strategies more of a barracuda with flogging my stuff? I guess I’ll be more capable of answering that question next year. I have grand plans for the next holiday season and expansions in my creative output all mapped out…

OK there aren’t any maps, just a light pencil sketch on the back of a take out menu. Ok I wrote them on the palm of my hand in ballpoint (stupid sweaty hands!) but I have plans. Holiday ornaments, 3D decorative items, stacks and stacks of holiday greeting cards all hand stitched or embellished with seed beads for that unique touch. Yup, big, big plans, and I’ll even follow through on some of them too.

This year my inventory is a little on the small side. My plans for holiday ornaments were derailed by lack of funds (who knew that having a baby would be so expensive? And do they really need to grow like that? I mean all of her pants just keep shrinking up past the ankles and she’s too young to be made fun of for wearing floods….) again I digress. Where was I? Oh yeah, lack of funds. And finding a reasonable supplier for some of the brainstorms I’ve had, turned out to be more difficult than expected. And the health scare at the end of August kind pf put a damper on things too.

Health scare you ask? Nothing to get worked up about. It turned out to be nothing serious but that’s a topic for another day.

So with one thing and another I’m moving slow, working on climbing up the learning curve and putting myself out there a little at a time. As I get more comfortable and confident I’ll increase the effort, but this year is all about the seeing what’s what and tucking that knowledge away for next year. For now I’m just moving one view at a time until I make that first sale.

Oh look someone new just hearted my shop!