The Token Post

It has been so long since I've written, that I thought I'd better check in so no one thinks I dropped off the face of the Earth! I am still here, just feeling overwhelmed, undisciplined, unmotivated to write.

I've had several things going on (or so it seems). Currently, I have some pieces hanging in a gallery at the Unity Center in Columbia, Missouri. It is so exciting to walk through that gallery and see half of it filled with my art.

The other half of the gallery is filled with fiber art by a woman named Janet Ghio. Her pieces are beautiful and amazing. You can visit her website at: http://www.janetghio.com.

So, I just wanted to stop by. Eventually I will have some photos to put up. Thanks for not giving up on me!

Another Two Weeks Gone By...

Well, I guess I'm on the two week schedule for writing in my blog. That is such a bummer, who want's to read a blog that hardly gets written in? It is very late and I'm about to fall asleep on the keyboard. I would hate to drool on the keyboard and electrocute myself. Not to mention that I would look pretty silly with computer key impressions embedded in my forehead.

Here is the Reader's Digest version of the past two weeks:

• Had an artfair which was held on Saturday, May 9th. Met some nice people, sold a few things and had fun.
• May 10th was Mother's Day. My hubby had taken the kids out of town for the night on the 9th, so I was able to have some quiet time. I ended up staying up too late, which is fairly easy for me to do. On Mom's Day, hubby and kids came home around dinner time, which was nice. They were very good to me.
• My 46th birthday was on the 14th. It wasn't an easy birthday, but I survived. I got to watch my boy play t-ball then after wards I got to go home and eat chocolate cake with chocolate icing.

I thought I could finish this post, but I'm wrong. I'm very tired. I'm sorry this isn't a better post, I'll be better next time. For now...sleep well, I know I will!

Confessions of a PLB

It has been almost two weeks since my last post. Gee whiz, it sure doesn't take long for a blog to become neglected. Thankfully I take better care of my kids than I do my blog (and that might be one of the reasons my blog is neglected)! :)

I didn't win the Blockhead Radio Artisan Challenge, but it was fun to be included. No doubt I will submit something again. I love to be included in things like the artisan challenge and the Thursday Sweet Treat. I hope to do more of those things in the future. Thanks to those who visited the site and thanks to those who cast their vote for me!

I was thinking tonight that I have entered into a place of pettiness that I don't like. It's one of those things I don't want others to know about me and it's something I don't want to admit to myself.You might know the kind of thing I'm talking about. When things aren't going your way or the way you think they should be going, so you start being critical of others, just to make yourself feel better. I don't know, maybe it's just me....

I'm feeling discouraged about the sales in my Etsy shop. I'm trying not to dwell on it, because I know there are still so many more things I could be doing, (that I'm not), to help get some shop recognition. Also, I hate it when people whine about not having any sales, it makes me not want to buy from them at all. I don't want to be the whiner.

When I'm feeling whiney about the lack of shop sales, I'm highly critical and judgmental of those who are making sales. When I see people on the front page who have sold millions, making things that don't apeal to me, I start making those noises of disgust...similar to a cat coughing up a hairball. And I begin thinking like a 5-year-old: "no fair! she got 100 sales and I haven't gotten any!" "My arts bigger than your art!" "My art could whip your arts butt in a New York minute!" "Yeah, I could have more sales too if my daddy all my work"!

Yuck, Yuck, Yucky! I don't want to be this petty person.

I am sincerely happy for people who are successful at selling their wares. I admire those who are good at marketing, who are business saavy and who have good customer service skills. I want to know them and learn from them. I also want to be supportive of others who have a passion for creating things. I certainly have gotten so much support from my friends and the online community. I wouldn't still be making things if I hadn't been encouraged by people on Etsy.

Does someone else's success take away from me in any way?

Do I have to be critical of others to cover up my own insecurities? No!

I guess I just needed to get this off my chest. Even though I probably didn't say anything that made much sense to anyone else, it helped me to write about it. Maybe now I can be more productive and do the things I need to do like: promote some items in my shop, work on some marketing possibilities and most importantly be an encouragement to others who might need it.

Thanks for listening.

Vote For Me on Blockhead Radio!

Woo Hoo! I'm really excited about this challenge because #1 it's fun, #2 it gets some exposure for my work and #3 I could potentially win some free advertising -which I need. If you want to vote for my drawing go to Blockhead Radio. Then find the Artisan Challenge, I'm in the 2d catagory.

I did do one foolish thing. I posted a drawing that I love, but isn't in my Etsy shop. When you click on the picture at Blockhead Radio, it brings you here...to my blog. So, if you're here and wanted to see my etsy shop it's here: www.sleeplessimagination.etsy.com.

Thanks for looking and remember: VOTE!

It Once Was Lost...When Will It Be Found?

As much as I love my craft cave (and I do love my craft cave), I'm still having a hard time getting organized. I've got things here, there, everywhere and it takes more time to find something than it does to do the thing I'm working on. It's very frustrating.

Tonight, like too many nights, I'm trying to find something. It's not something that is really that important, I don't really need it right now - it would just be nice to have. If I had it, it might make things a little easier, maybe help me plan ahead. I've been "tripping" over it for weeks now, as I search for other things, but now that I want it it's nowhere to be found.

I've looked in all the logical places. On my two desks, in every bookshelf, on the computer desk, the office supply cabinet...I've even looked in places that aren't so logical: under the futon, in the guest room...it's nowhere. What do you think I do? I start all over again with the two desks, the bookshelves, the computer desk and the office supply cabinet. And I do it again...and again....

I've wasted a lot of precious time looking for something that I don't need now and I'm starting to drive myself a little crazy. I have a stubborn streak, so now it's not so much that I need this thing, it's that I should be able to find it. There's a point to be made here. I know it's here, why isn't it where it should be? It's like I'm trying to prove something- I'll get you, you stupid little thing, I'm going to find you if it's the last thing I do! (insert maniacal laughter) My heart is racing, I'm sure my blood pressure is elevated and that stinkin' voice in my head is just yappin' it up, chiseling away at my self confidence: you're never going to find it in this mess; you really need to clean this place up; you know that you are wasting time looking for this, why don't you just give it up.

Oh-shut-up!

I've heard it said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results. I would totally agree with this statement. The problem is, sometimes when I'm looking in the same place for the fifth or sixth time, I do find what I was looking for. It's like I'm being rewarded for being insane, so I keep doing the same thing, expecting a different result and getting it!

Now, one of two things is going to happen. I will either give up and work on more important things and hope the thing will turn up. Which it probably will when I'm looking for some other lost item. Or I will go buy a new thing, come home and the thing I was looking for in the first place will be sitting in plain sight. Then I will have more of the thing than I could possibly use.

I have big dreams of being so organized that I can sit down to do a project and not once have to get up to search for something. Every supply will be at arms length, I won't have to stand up, or dig under papers, or look through piles of "treasures" to find what I need. It will all be right there, in front of me. I guess I'll just have to accept that until I change what I'm doing - and clean my craft area - I will be spending lots of time running like a hamster in a exercise wheel, looking for things that aren't really that important to begin with. It seems like I should find a better way to use my time!