Reflection and Projection

 Wow what a weekend!  I was able to sell all the medium sized Limited Edition Bird Print Journals that I had made.  This was a HUGE blessing!  I put lots of love and blessings into the books I make and hope that all that wonderful positive energy can be received by their new owners.  So on this wave of excitement, I would like to see if there are some more creative people out there searching for an outlet for their thoughts and ideas. You see, I currently have 15, YES 15!!, small sized journals from the Bird Print Series and the Houses series.  I would LOVE to find homes for them as well and so decided that I would extend a special sale just for those journals that would start now and end next week.  That's one week to pick up a very special travel sized art journal at an amazing price.  Instead of a %, I just went ahead and changed the price for the books to $10, YES 10!!, just for this week.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ON SALE JOURNALS

Painting used for the 

"There Goes the Neighborhood" 

Journals (on sale this week)

I've been feeling really overwhelmed recently by the amount of work I still have to get done before the craft shows this fall vs the amount of work I actually get done each day.  The imbalance is insurmountable (one of my favorite words). :)   I have been doing really well at not freaking out.  I still have just over 7 weeks left to work.  The thing that troubles me is that I think I am going to have to create a work schedule to keep myself on track.  This was something that Kelly Rae suggested as part of her incredible ecourse that I took a few months back.  Her example and explanation of how it could be done, while gearing up for a craft show, was inspiring and very enticing.  However, scheduling myself and creating checklists have always been uncomfortable for me.  Its totally against my nature to be motivated by my 1-5 things needing to be done today.  I love spontaneity and unknown, when things get too planned out, I tend to back out.  I have lots of friends who are this type of person (the scheduling, listing, planning, type of gal).  I can think of one in particular that is a master at it, and it is incredible to witness how productive and focused she can be everyday.  I wish I could have more ease about that kind of lifestyle, but it is a struggle for me every time.  

I will have to force myself to stick to a schedule, talk myself into moving to step # 2 instead of detouring to some crazy new idea that just popped into my head, and I will definitely abandon my schedule over and over only to sheepishly pick it back up when I realize that I am wasting time.  I know this about myself.  I've had 31 years of experience in trying to be more organized in times when it is needed (ie: academics, work life, baby sleep training, etc) but always end up falling back into a casual "go with the flow" attitude and behavior.  I will keep trying though, if nothing else, it helps to give me a ballpark idea of how much I need to get done, even if I dont get them done "on time" according to the schedule.  

"Finding Balance" Cover Art done by me for an Art Journal

print available here

So without further adieu, here is my 
"TENTATIVE" Art Production Schedule.  
(the word tentative makes me feel much better) :)

WEEK 1

1. Finish art block sets (5) - print artwork, cut papers, attach, cover with 3 coats poly

2. Make Art Necklaces (20) - print images, attach to glass, cut out, adhere to settings, attach bails and chains

3. Get (10) Journals done - print covers, attach to cut cardboard, gather papers, bind

WEEK 2

1. Make Art Journal Necklaces (30) - cut, sand, stain wood for covers, attach cover art, apply resin coating, assemble papers, bind, attach chain

2. Finish out finished paintings (6) - cut, sand, stain trim wood, attach to edges, check all collage/mixed media elements that they are fastened securely (secure any bowed papers/elements), add varnish coat, attach hardware to backs for hanging 

3. Get (10) Journals done - print covers, attach to cut cardboard, gather papers, bind

WEEK 3

1. Catch up on any/all list items from Week 1 & 2 that I inevitably did not yet complete .

WEEK 4

1. Make pinback button sets (30), make magnet button sets (20), make freebie buttons (250)

2. Create Art 2011 Calendar and have printed

3. Make painting for bookmark freebies, stamp logo on them, and cut out (200)

4. Make "trash art" wall hangings with Izzy (3) and finish out the ones we already started (3)

WEEK 5

1. Make rest of Journals needed (20 or so)

2. Catch up on items from Week 4

WEEK 6

1. Finish making art card sets (50)

2. Finish out all art journal ornaments (30) - cut cardboard covers, cut inner papers, print instructions, assemble book and bind, attach canvas squares with front image, embellish with ribbons and trims, make loop to hang from.

3. Make collage panels (30)

WEEK 7

1. Update all signage, prices, labels, etc..

2. Purchase shelving for tables, purchase dress form for jewelry, pegboard for collage panels to hang on (and hooks),  and all the other tiny things I cant thing of right now.

3. Print out all art prints, sign and date them, put in sleeves (100 various sizes and images)

4. Set up Mock booth

5. Assemble boxes for all items, label, make box with tools and supplies for show, gather all things needed for collecting $, get cash for change

6. Freak out a bit, because I have abandoned my schedule weeks ago and now my list for this week has 13 items on it ;)

Then LET THE CRAFT SHOWS BEGIN...

my booth banner

Have I overwhelmed you yet? I am already exhausted just typing it all out.  I am really really excited about all this though.  I have spent years jealously eying all the amazing art and craft booths at these same shows, wishing I could be one of the incredible artists behind the tables, displaying my handiwork, inspiring people, and making $ from the hard work that they alone had done.  It is one of those dreams that I always wanted to do in my life, and I am overjoyed to be inundated with work in preparation for it.

I'll let you know how I'm doing in my progress over the next 2 months.  It'll will be fun to see how jacked up I can make this schedule over that amount of time.  I'm off to start #1 of Week 1.  Wish me luck and send me prayers ;)

 

a work in progress in great need of an opinion...

You know how when you are too close to something you have been working on for awhile and you just cant tell if it is good or not anymore?  OOH I hate this experience! But for right now, in my own artistic process, I still battle with feelings of discontent in my own abilities and can often second guess or rework a thing to death.  So I am going to stop, take my hands off, and take a breath.  Let that negative spirit drain away from my space and invite constructive critique from you.  I would love some feedback on this idea, I've worked so many different ideas for it, I cant judge it's merit any longer.

(pic from weheartit)

I am currently trying to work out a design for a holiday ornament to sell this fall at the Craft Festivals.  My idea is to make a very small 3X3"  or 2X2" art journal (in the same style and heart as the bigger ones I currently make and sell on etsy) that could hang on a tree.  I was thinking that the little book would have a little message inside prompting the family to each sign the book and record messages to themselves (or each other) for next year.  Would this be appealing to you as a buyer looking for a family ornament this year?  What sorts of things you want to write in a little book like this with your family (messages to each other,  funny stories, christmas quotes, ...)?

Here is the latest artwork that I have created for the cover art.  Its a mix of collage, painting, and penwork.  I plan on printing it on material and sewing around each square attaching some antiqued looking trim, then mounting it on the cardboard book covers.

Your thoughts are incredibly welcomed!  Be Blessed Today As You Have Blessed Me :)

 



 

The Connectedness of Blessings - and a Give Away

Just last night, I was complaining to my husband that I felt artistically isolated now that we were back in our old home town.  While I am starting to make amazing connections through my blog and other internet social networks, I often feel jealous of other fellow creatives that have a physical connection with other artsy friends that they can spend time with, create art together, and inspire and support each other in each of their own artistic life journey's.  I wanted a bit of that here in my environment.  It was wrong to pout about it, but it was a weak moment, I'll admit.

image from stock.xchng

Then this morning, while gaining consciousness over a LARGE cup of coffee, I happened to check my email and found a message from a newly emerging friendship.  This was a person that I connected with over the internet 2 weeks ago and turned out that we knew each other as children through our home school group.  She was also a mom who had traded her creative and artistic endeavors for the journey of marriage and motherhood.  She, like me, was yearning to carve out a space in her life for that piece of her to re-emerge.  We have been emailing back and forth over the last couple weeks and I realized this morning that SHE was a friend, SHE was artsy, SHE was local, and SHE would get that side of me that HAS to be creative and HAS to make something beautiful that has nothing to do with being a wife or a mother and just being beautiful wonderful ME.  I feverishly wrote her back and proposed that we make some plans soon to sit in the same room and build this friendship.

 A Mixed Media Work In Progress...

At this same time, while finishing my breakfast in the living room with my husband and son, currently distracted with replying to said email, a new message notification popped up on my screen  "RE: YOU  Message: Are Special. I Love You. love, me (best husband ever)"  - if you are wondering, Yes, he really did label himself the "best husband ever" (and its true).  I looked up from the screen to see Him across the room, holding his fancy new phone, and smiling at me.

best husband ever, the day I married him 2004

After breakfast came a knock at the front door, it was our incredibly friendly neighborhood mailman.  This man is wonderful, cheerful, happy, loves to chat and get to know the people on his route.  We had not crossed paths with him since we moved back into the house, and then there he was on our porch holding a package.  After a few exchanged pleasantries and catching up, he paused and looked at my husband and myself and said very genuinely, "Welcome back to the neighborhood, folks.  We missed having you around this last year." I was so touched. 

Welcome back to the Neighborhood!

After bidding our postal worker a Good Day, I took the small package inside and discovered it was for me.  I had completely forgotten about an order I made from Amazon Marketplace earlier last week.  Really excited now, I ripped open the packaging and there it was, the used copy of Sabrina Ward Harrison's book "Spilling Open: The Art of Becoming Yourself" that I had scored for only $2 +shipping.  I had been craving this book for so long, as I am a HUGE SWH fan and find her to be very inspiring for my own art.  I fanned through a few pages and such motivational words flew at me begging for me to pay attention.

Spilling Open: The Art of Becoming Yourself

I was inspired and  my hands ached to create something beautiful. I grabbed up a lovely painting that I had started a month ago, but had to put on hold while we were packing up  and moving back into our home.   I had started working on her again yesterday, but there was just something missing to make it feel complete, and so I had put it aside again last night.  Now I put the painting back on the easel, my hands knew exactly what to do to finish it exquisitely.   An hour later, she was done, lovely, simple, and it felt so good.

Completed Piece - Detail

"Me and My Balloon" by Harmony

Mixed Media Painting on Mounted Canvas 2010

Later after lunch, I went out to the mailbox to retrieve the rest of the mail, and found several letters inside. Thumbing through some very ordinary and boring envelopes I found 2 letters for me.  I nervously opened the first one.  Hooray!! I had been accepted into the HUGE local Christmas Craft Show.  Then the second envelope in hand, I tore it open and "Hooray Again!!"  I was also accepted into a really big Fall Folk Art Festival.  

Me, being silly and excited, and some sort of holy presence next to me, 

also equally as excited about my being accepted into the craft festivals

How could I be so blessed, so loved, so accepted?

I feel inspired to bless someone else today too.  So I am taking all this positive energy and love from my Creator and His Universe and giving it back.  There will be 2 winners.  Each winner will receive one 8X10 print of my newly completed painting "Me and My Balloon".  To enter the give away please do the following by June 30th:

1. Promote this giveaway on at least one of your social networks (ie: facebook, blog, twitter, etc) 

2. Leave a comment below and let us know how you have been blessed recently. 

My First Rejection Letter...I'm Legit!

"We regret to inform you that we were unable to include you in the 2010 show...Please understand the selection process becomes more difficult as the number and quality of applicants increases.This letter should not be seen as a reflection of your talent bust as a reflection of the level of intense competition this year...we encourage you to apply for next year."

I had no idea that rejection letters could be so supportive and somewhat life affirming! 

They said it would come. Its part of the journey of becoming a selling artist. Just one of those predestined bumps in the road that you prepare yourself for beforehand. Over the last few weeks, I've been sending in applications for the local Fall Arts/crafts Festivals for later this year. Expecting that I would not get into all of them,  I applied to this one, and this one, and this one, and this one.


I've been reading and soaking up all the amazing information in this book, The Handmade Marketplace.  It has a WEALTH of information for people like me with creative biz aspirations.  The book really outlines the process of applying for, getting into, and running a booth at an art/craft show.  It also talks very frankly about the fact that everyone WILL get rejected in the beginning, learn from it and move on.


My rejection letter came yesterday.  I was actually expecting this one.  This is the festival that I applied to on a whim, because it's the biggest most prestigious show in my area.  It was a good exercise to go through the application process. I did have to fake a booth set up pic for them, since I hadnt even done the first festival yet!  They may have not thought that was the best representation for their show - the obvious inept one table set up.  I cringe at this picture now that I have actually done a real tent set up.  No wonder they thew my app out!  Anyway, I am crossing my fingers and saying my prayers for the other applications that are out there right now, being judges and scrutinized.  As much as I expected to NOT get into this last festival, I REALLY WANT to get into the others.  They are a better mix of arts and crafts and more casual, more suited for my style, my artwork, and my level of expertise in festival booth running.

I should know by the end of June, so send some positive thoughts my way!!

lessons learned, lessons to come...

ok so, first time doing a craft fair come and gone.  it was so much work to put everything together for this show, which was then compounded with the hours needed to set up, man the booth, break down, etc over the weekend.  Needless to say, i am exhausted.  All I want to do is sleep and catch up from the last two weeks of late night painting and early morning book assembling, but being a mom of a two year old comes first and so hello 8am wake ups and refusing to take a nap marathon play day.  This has given me lots of time today to reflect on the experience this craft fair.  I have been trying really hard to dwell in the positive.  There is a great potential to slip into the latter, as the festival was terribly run, poorly advertised, and the other vendors that I was told were all arts and crafts - turned out to be about 60% wholesale sellers of crappy manufactured items like knock-off purses and perfumes - it looked more like a county fair or street sale than an arts and crafts show.  Over the two days that I was there, we saw about 100 people come out - this after we were told from the promoter that 8-10,000 were expected.  Things didnt start out well for me either, I was running late for my Saturday 7AM set up, thankful we had prepped the tent, tables, and shelves the night before on site, then arrive to find my tent had bucked under the weight of the rain from the night before, bending one leg until the metal tore and rusted (can things really rust in under 12hrs?), the tables were turned over and muddy, and the shelves were swollen with water and coming apart (they were really cheap shelves).  My 6 hours of sleep was starting to make it all unbearable and I fought back tears as my sister, lovely German friend and I scrambled to repair, clean, and assemble everything before the festival opened to the public @ 9a.  The redeeming factor in all of this was that many of my wonderful Gainesville friends came out to the fairgrounds just to see me and give support.  It was a huge part of healing my disappointment over the weekend, and helped me see that I gained more than I lost. 

What I lost was just $, sleep, and time.  What I gained was valuable insight into what it takes to run a craft booth, set up in time, engage customers (the few I saw), fix issues on site, and improvise in meager conditions.  I did make a few sales, which was inspiring and exhilarating.  I have sold my journals before, but usually online or to friends, and it was a real treat to have a stranger love my work and want a piece of it to inspire them at home.  I met several wonderful people and had meaningful conversations about art, creativity, and the healing nature of freeing yourself from that inner voice that stifles our ability to experience true joyfulness in creating something from the thoughts we hold within.  So I really really want to thank those people who know me that came out to support me, those who just met me for the first time and encouraged me by loving my work, and most of to my family (and those who are like family) who stood beside me and lent a hand into the late nights getting my books finished, showed up to help me set up, run my booth, and break everything back down at the end of the day.  You all are so dear to me and I couldnt have done this without you.

Oh and one more thing, I signed up for a eclass given by this wonderful artist Kelly Rae Roberts.  She is a fellow creative, a well recognized, selling, and established mixed media artist, painter, and author.  She is offering a 5 week experience to gain all her tricks of the trade, inspiration, and community to help fellow crafters and artists wanting to make their work into a business find their wings.  It is a perfect fit for me in my creative process right now, and I am super excited about what I can discover along the way.  Here is her website for more info if you are curious.  Kelly Rae Roberts

Anyway, be well and may you find blessing and inspiration in your day!

My First Craft Festival!!!

I cant believe that the fest is only a week away.  Even though I know this wont be a HUGE turnout type event, I still feel obsessed with getting everything perfect for the show.  In addition to all the things I still need to get done before the set up next friday, I decided to turn an application in for the Gainesville Downtown Fall Fest just for kicks.  (Pretty sure I wont be accepted, but on the 1% chance that I do, I wanted to try).  This process took up a HUGE chunk of time this week, getting journals finished, setting up a mock display for pics, writing artist statement, blah blah.  So now I am on my last weekend (the time when I get the most help with my son and I am free to work all day) and I have so many things I want to get done that I dont know where to start.  Send the facebook invite out...yes, that is a good place to start.  Then on to more painting and creating, but first a cross city errand run (why do i always need to go to two places on opposite sides of town?)  Anyway,  so many good pieces were made last week, and I am excited to see what more I can get to this week before my set up on Friday.  Hope to see you there!  I am so excited!!

DONT FORGET:  Gainesville Family Festival @ Alachua County Fairgrounds May 22-23

a leap into faith and festivals

I decided to take on my first craft festival...  i know crazy, right?... and therefore have been feverishly creating in order to get ready for it.  I thought it would be a good motivator to help me through the creative slump.  So far so good.  I have had some really intense amazing creating moments, and some really crappy horribly blah ones, but some lovely things have come into existence in the process.  here are a few of my good moments...

They will be covers for my creativity journals that I will be selling at the craft fest.

If you live in the Gainesville area, please mark your calendars for the Gainesville Arts and Crafts Festival May 21-22 @ the gainesville fairgrounds.  I will have a booth there and would LOVE to see familiar faces.  I am bit nervous and a little stressed about it.  (may have taken on too much and am scared that I wont be ready in time, wont look professional, or my stuff wont sell at all!)  I know that it will be fine whether I am prepared or not, but sometimes its fun to get sucked into the drama of it all, dont you think ;)

I'll keep you posted on my progress.  I am trying out a new creation, little journal necklaces.  I have a few listed on my etsy site.  Check them out and let me know what you think. I am debating whether to make a few or a bunch for the festival.  Be well and at peace my friends.