Some Are Born With It, Some Are Not...

Everyone is born with gifts and talents. Thankfully, everyone has something different they are good at. Think how boring it would be if we were all the same and if we all had the same gifts. It might also be kind of dangerous. If all people were like me, who would run the Emergency Rooms, the Stock Market and other intense things that involve high drama, quick thinking, and blood? I'm glad God made people who want to (and are good at) work in hospitals, be leaders, teach gradeschoolers (junior high schoolers and high schoolers), run the country, preach, design faster computers, develop better sewer systems, etc. I certainly have benefited from all of these things.

There are other "callings" that I wish I were better suited for like being a singer/songwriter, ballet dancer, farmer, Martha Stewart (or anyone else who is incredibly talented with all things domestic and has made big bucks showing others how to be).

Alas, I am not those things. I am also not a business minded or money saavy individual. This poses a bit of a problem since I think I want to run a little business with my art work. I can accept that I'm not a ballet dancer, nor will I ever be one, but I really want to succeed at business. So I keep making silly mistakes that someone with a business mind would never make. For instance, not charging enough shipping for something I'm selling on Ebay. Or not knowing how to get a fair price for an item I'm selling (not just on Ebay). I'm trying to learn from my mistakes and trying to take advantage of resources that will make me smarter. Until then, I guess I'm going to be giving Ebay buyers some pretty darn good steals...uh, I mean "deals".

Conquering Fear - On a Small Scale

Do you have those things in your life that you really want to try but are letting fear or worry hold you back? I have lots of those things. Most of them are quite silly, but I let the fear or worry keep me from doing them anyway.

For years I have wanted to make my own books. Small books, big books, beautiful, wonderful and creative books. I bought several books about making books. I've checked out books on book making from the library. I've seen wonderful hand made books on Etsy and at art shows. But I was always too afraid to try making one myself. I thought they would be too difficult to make and take too much time. A few weeks ago, I made a few small books that I put together and hand stiched to include in block printing kits I put together. They turned out kind of cute, they were fairly easy and I was happy with the result.

Last week, Artlandish Gallery offered a workshop in traditional Japanese bookbinding and I was privileged to attend. The workshop was taught by artist Sonya Nicholson who did a great job of breaking down the steps to building a book. (Check out some examples of Sonya's work here).

I really love the way my book turned out and it was not as difficult as I had always imagined it would be. Isn't that the way with things we fear? Mostly, they are never quite as bad as we build them up to be? The other thing is, that since I was able to finally make something I had always wanted to make and I liked the result, I felt very happy. I still love looking at my beautiful book and dreaming of a whole new avenue to release some creative energy. As if I really needed another thing to add to my list of things I love to make! Oh well! :)

Here are some photos of my first book made with Japanese bookbinding:
 

Adding to My Etsy Shop

One of my weaknesses is that I allow myself to be overwhelmed by tasks that I haven't even attempted yet. I think of something I want to do and instead of believing I can do it and use my energy to get the job done, I waste time telling myself the many reasons why I can't do it. Almost always, I end up either not doing anything at all or procrastinating until it's too late to do anything.

My business suffers because of my procrastination. I pretty much ignored the fact that I have an Etsy shop for most of the Spring and Summer. I would log in, look at my stuff, roll my eyes, then log out. All the while telling myself how I really needed to get in there and dust the cobwebs off so I could add a few things and make my shop presentable. I really want to have a cool shop. One that is successful. Really, I do. But I get caught up in believing it's an impossible task and I just end up feeling bad.

A couple of weeks ago, I changed my avatar, my banner and worked on some of my photos. I changed my banner for this blog too (which still needs work) and today I actually added 7 new items. That's SEVEN! Not only did I add that many new items, I now have 25 items total which added a second page to my shop! It may not seem like much, but to me, it's huge. The other part is that the 7 (yes, that's SEVEN) things I added are not paper crafts. They are totally different than anything I've ever listed before. These are my babysteps.

I think it helps to look to others when I am feeling defeated or overwhelmed and I don't know what to do. One person (a fellow Etsian) who is an inspiration to me is Jessica Doyle. She is a wonderful artist who works her butt off and is very successful. I follow her blog and follow her on Facebook. I like reading her daily entries because she seems very organized and she's really good about sharing information. When I see her successes as a result of her determination and hard work, it makes me want to get my own rear in gear. I'm thankful for Jessica and people like her, who share their struggles, insight and processes. It helps me learn how to be more focused and more hopeful about seeing my dreams come true.

Do you have a blog you like to turn to for inspiration?

I Did This Instead of Sleeping...

Everyone in my family has had some sort of ailment in the past week. I'm just getting over mine, so I should really be sleeping. You know, getting rest so I can get healthy, letting my body rejuvenate so I don't have a relapse. Instead, I spent time carving eraser stamps! I've found that this is what really relaxes me lately, especially if I like the way the designs turned out.

I've been working on getting some things ready for an art fest I'm doing with my friends on Thanksgiving weekend. It's kind of an overwhelming task because there seems to be so much to be done and not really enough time to do it. Carving stamps helps me be creative, without having to commit too much time. Besides, I'll be able to make tags out of some of these and sell them at the art fest!

Working to Make it Better

I've been telling myself for quite some time now, that I'm going to work on my Etsy shop and other aspects of my tiny little business. I've been avoiding my Etsy shop like the plague because it seems so overwhelming, the number of things I want to do. But I'm just trying to focus on taking baby steps.

I changed my avatar and banner and added one new item. I will probably have a few more things to add, but need to take some photos first. I've been spending some time in the forum, reading blogs of sellers I admire, participated in Tim Adam's Webinar and have refused to give up after not doing so well in a couple of art/craft fairs.

Two really nice things that have happened lately: someone is in the process of buying one of my mixed media collage pieces and I sold 24 cards to the Unity Center so they could sell them in their bookstore. It's always nice to make a couple of sales.


The piece below is the one that is being purchased. It's called "You Are The Only One". It's one of my favorites, but I'm glad that it will have a new home.