From Mess to Best

I tend to put off organizing projects. It always turns into a huge “looks like there was a struggle here” mess. When I do decide to delve into a major revamp of my little world, I go whole hearted into it. 

So yesterday my plans were to list my new jewelry on my Etsy shop, but when I came into the studio I had the energy and drive to do some organizing. 

This area is used for art and paper crafting. The cart by the table

was a 50% off purchase from JoAnn and I really like it. 

It has all my paint, sketch books, markers and crafting papers.

I did bring in a smaller folding table to do all my art projects on. The glaring white top wasn’t a happy look for me so I decided to grunge up the top with alcohol ink. This was a gamble but I felt it would be a good look. I put the ink on the table surface then smeared it with a plastic glove like you do dishes with.

This area is used for packaging up sales for mailing. 

I also keep a few photo props on the shelf under the table.

Those are my antique sewing machines on the shelf.

I took the big plastic folding table out and now I'm using this small

wood table for the computer. This was my computer table for a 

good while till I moved one of the craft show tables in here so 

there would be room for my Cricut. 

I have put the Cricut into retirement till

I decide if it's a keeper or needs to find a new home. 

I have my Etsy mail scale and jewelry tray on the filing cabinet. 

This is where I price my jewelry, post it to social media and

add items to my Etsy shop. 

My bench didn't change too much, just more sorting and organizing

my materials as they come in and grow to need more space. I did

replace my lighting a few months ago when JoAnn had a sale on Ott Lites. 

These are much smaller but put out a lot of light. 

So now each section of this little room serves a purpose and has been streamlined as much as possible. I do have a lot of craft supplies. I "need" them cause I never know which direction my creative efforts will take. 

I might decide to use my mixed media supplies in jewelry or my wire in a fiber art design. So it all needs to be accessible. So that is the problem - too much stuff in a small space. I have a 3 bedroom house and 2 bedrooms and parts of the garage are full of crafting supplies and tools. Yes, I’ve gone over the normal limit and into crazy crafting overload on materials. I have no problem with it either. 

Olivia isn't too happy with the smaller computer table. 

She still has a perch by the window for bird watching

with a comfy blanket. She needs to be right in the middle

of near everything I do. Yes I've spoiled her bad. 

When she jumps up in the middle of the desk or bench

I just stop and pet her. Then when she is happy again

she goes to play or nap. Alls good.

Home Alone

I've read a few postings from people about how they are dealing with being confined in there homes with their families. How to keep their kids busy and about how to deal with working for home. 

Not seeing as much on how to spend these days with no one but yourself. (nothing personal Olivia) I know many people live alone, and these days will test our strength. I am lucky that I don’t have to look too hard to find plenty of things to fill my days. At the beginning of “stay at home”  I did go threw a lot of anxiety. It overcame my daily life. As the weeks passed it did become a little easier. I'll admit of being afraid of getting sick. So staying in most of the time is best for me. 

I can't say "My house is cleaner than it's ever been", or I've completed several long term projects. I seem to be just floating threw my days with no firm plans each morning of what I will do. I figure it's ok for now. Etsy sales are very low and I understand that so the need to make more jewelry is gone. Now I just fiddle around and play with it when I want that creative outlet. 

"Is it over?"

watercolor pencil, ink

I have also been drawing a lot. That really takes my mind off everything and keeps me from wandering off into worries that can’t be fixed by thinking about them. Keeping my mind busy is my best direction. 

Craft Droid 

watercolor pencil, ink

 Monster

watercolor pencil, ink

Of course I’ve been watching a lot of tv. I draw while I’m watching some shows, but I can’t get a lot done while watching a really good show I’ve not seen, like the Mandalorian. I’m sure watching this will create even more interesting drawings. Several of the creatures and aliens are on my list to draw already and I’ve just started the series. 

Do what makes you happy and try to stay at peace. 

My Creative Process

Adding Patina to Metal and Clay

I’m one of those people who take the scenic route to develop different techniques. I check out the usual suspects for inspiration. Mostly Pinterest, with a dash of mindless wandering on line. I do really like to experiment. You can stumble across combinations of materials and techniques that I wouldn’t even know how to look up on line. So when I get a new product such as a medium to create a patina on metal, straight away I play with it. I try different surfaces and try to apply it in different ways. After I get a sample of how this looks on say 3 different metals then I experiment with different overlays of different colors, or applying the patina differently.

You can use so many different products to add a patina and I want to try them together to see if they blend. What happens when they are mixed. Just trying everything that comes to mind. Play!

So here is one of my favorite mediums and it works great on almost any surface I’ve tried. Alcohol Inks - and my favorite are the Tim Holtz brand. You can find these packaged in sets of 3 at most craft stores. They will most likely be hanging out in the paper crafting section. I get mine at either Hobby Lobby or on line. 

   

I keep all my inks in a box on top of my work bench. 

I have the blending solution and glaze there also. 

There are also places on line where you can buy just one bottle This Etsy shop has a good selection        https://www.etsy.com/shop/MarkerPOP  

You might want to wear gloves if you get messy. I just scrub it off afterwards. As much as we are all washing our hands now it may not matter. I am a messy crafter and think little of having blue and green fingers.

Here is a shape of baked Sculpty clay before and after applying the inks to the surface. I like to add mine on top of each other quickly while the base layer is still wet. It’s magic to what how this develops. 

This is a one color clay in a bright green with just one color of brownish ink applied and then quickly wiped off and only left a small amount on the surface. If you only want the ink in the lower or recessed areas you will need to seal the clay prior to adding the ink. I suggest using the sealant made by Sculpty for best results. Let this dry prior to adding the ink. The excess ink will wipe off better if this is the look you want. Here on the green leaves I wanted it over the whole surface. 

This Sculpey glaze is wonderful. Before I found it I must have tried 10+ things and none worked. They left the clay item sticky and it wouldn't ever seem to dry. You can use lots of other sealants on metal thou. 

Also here is an example where I used the inks on a very textured surface and pulled a paper towel over the surface before it dried. This left a little on the surface but most in the lower indentions. I love this look. 

Well go play with some inks and I’ll be talking

about a few of my other favorite patinas in the next few posts. 

Olivia said to remind you that you might want to keep a small fan on your work area to keep any lingering chemical smells away from you. This will be more important with some of the other materials I will be using later. None of these are kid safe, so keep them put away from little fingers grasp. Setting up a little area in the garage works great too. 

Home and Happy

I am one of the few people who will never be bored or get cabin fever staying at home. As long as I have a phone I’ll never get lonely. I have everything I need to stay productive and happy inside these walls. Here is where my comfort zone is perfect and my anxiety is kept at a good level. My home is my safe spot. Thou I have to admit that this virus has added to my anxiety quite a bit. I did go out to the grocery store 3-4 days after the official announcement was made that this is serious. Thankfully I didn’t need any paper products! The stores still had everything I needed. I was quite shocked at the photos I saw on line of people buying 12 gallons of milk or 8 family packs of toilet paper. What is this, Y2K all over again. I didn’t stock up for that either and it was all fine. This sadly will not be all fine for many people. I am not in a high risk category myself, but worry for those I know who are. 

We hold hands when I'm reading or watching tv

Social distancing isn’t a new concept for me being an introvert. So not seeing another person for days is quite normal. Who ever thought that would come in handy? 

When I have gone out I’ve made quick trips doing only the buzz in and out of the store. I’m saving money by not buying spontaneous items which were almost always junk food or sweets. So now I’m at home with no cookies! I hope the fig newton stock will recover. 

My assistant at the jewelry bench

I am at ease being at home. I have several hobbies and they will keep my days filled with creative happiness. I love to read and had just gotten a few used books from on line. I do have my Etsy shop which I’m sure will really slow down but that is fine too. 

If I do have sales all I have to do is walk to my mail box. 

Quite time at night watching tv

So I know how lucky I am. I thank God for my life very often. 

My life has not been any easier or harder than most people. I do however want this part of my life to be slow and easy. To get up each morning and just do what I want as many days as I can. For this I am very grateful. 

So enjoy the simple things in your life and take time to relax. 

Try to push anxiety away and take a deep breath.

Most of all please help each other all you can. 

Someone near you may really need your help but can't ask for it. 

Keep in touch with your family and friends. 

Sewing Room Almost Done

When I moved into this house 3 years ago I wasn’t sewing as much as I used to and I had more furniture than I had room for and chose to have the 3rd bedroom as a sitting room/library. That room had my mom’s living room furniture and lots of sentimental keepsakes. Then along comes Olivia. She was just 1.5 years old and pretty much still a kitten and into everything. So the door to that room was closed and it was as if it did’t exist. 

New years eve with Jack’s help all that was changed. The treasured lamps I lived in fear of breaking were boxed up and the other furniture was repurposed and moved. So we have a empty room just waiting to become a sewing room. It’s taken me several months to get to this point but it’s ready to use now. 

I had all my fabric stored in this closet already, but just reorganized it to make it easier to find those favorite little bits. 

 A metal rack and a bookshelf squished into this closet just fine after all the closet hardware was removed. Two other machines live in here till they are needed. They are both specialty machines. A needle felter and a Baby Lock Sashiko.  

My fabric cutter was still out in the garage, but it has returned and has a special place now where it’s easy to use. 

The cutter sits on this pretty reproduction of the Tiffany Dragonfly table

that was designed to go with the lamp. It holds the machine securely and has

plenty of room for all the die cut supplies 

I have room now to have the sit down long arm and the regular sewing machine open all the time. Even got a new chair. So everything is in one room. I took the Phaff to the shop and it’s all cleaned and ready to play. 

So now it's time to get my zen back and enjoy once again my fingers dancing with soft fabrics and yummy textures. I am going to finish the 30's little baby quilt top that was started about 5 years ago first. I also have a stack of hand pieced 12" squares that Jack's mother had done. These are ready to be made into a top. Just need to figure out a sashing and border colors. 

So here begins of a new source of artist expression. I'm sure I had plans for at least half the fabric I have. Those memories are gone and now new ones can take their place. With this passing of time I have changed and who knows what path my fiber arts will take now. 

Oh and Olivia said remember to keep that closet door closed

or your beautiful fabrics will become a cat bed!

I did shows for 7 years and then started slowing down and invested more time into my Etsy shop. My shop is a baby and needs constant care. I often say if I were better off I’d hire someone to write my copy and get those listing completed. I’m pretty sure I flunked out in copy writing and when I started this I didn’t even know what SEO was.

The first thing I did when I decided to reopen my Etsy shop was to think about my business plan. What did I want from my business? How could I reasonably go about getting where I wanted to be. I chose to be humble and not expect much.

We all have limitations that will weave into this important first step like vicious weeds in your garden. Some can with time be removed, some will continue to come back. 

I set out to make a realistic list of the issues I foresaw in the beginning. You can’t see them all and I didn’t worry about that. First my income was small and I couldn’t invest very much into my business. I’m sure this is common with most home based businesses. You aren’t getting a salary but you still have to support yourself and your little baby business.

There are a tons of people selling jewelry on Etsy and at shows. I felt I had to go in a direction that made my heart happy, but I was pretty sure wouldn’t be the best or fastest at making tons of sales. That is I chose to make unique jewelry - not for the everyday person. To complicate matters more I didn’t make duplicates. 

If you make 20 earrings the same you can zip threw the last 19 in no time. You don’t have to take time to design/select materials. Also if you do unique you often don’t have 20 of an element. I still knew what I wanted to do and haven't regretted it.

I started off being so cheep I printed my own business cards, but that ended shortly when I came to my senses. I do still print my own price tags. Most jewelry makers I see at shows use a small store bought tag which is fine. I chose to make a 1” sq tag with my logo on the front and price and inventory number on the back. My logo is on my earring cards too. 

Every event I go to I have at least 4 people say oh I remember you (tapping on my business card stack) - were you at the such and such show? Yes, I was! I think my jewelry is memorable, but there is so much out their maybe it’s only unique to a few. The logo thou that I’ve put on everything is getting remembered. I also have hand outs at the shows and I use them as package stuffers for my Etsy orders. They have my full contact info and a print of my artwork on card stock. They can be used as book marks. These get picked up a lot. I tell customers take one for your friends. I have 6 different designs. 

In another life when I was a graphic designer I always told a client that your business card spoke for you when you weren’t there to speak for yourself. I still think this is a good way to look at your logo. If you could tell a perspective customer about you in one glance what would that be. I like a nice clean simple logo. Nike and Apple nailed it. So keep it simple and design something you can live with for a long time. Changing your logo every few years is confusing for shoppers. I keep my booth display near the same and it's remembered. Nothing fancy as you can see. 

Keep it simple and plan well

That's our motto. 

A New Sculpture and the Sketch Book Project

At Christmas Jack gave me a sculpture he did and I was so pleased. I asked him where did you get the idea for this. He looked at me kinda funny and said it’s one of your drawings. Oh well so much for my memory. This is a special gift I will treasure always of course it was made just for me and from one of my drawings. So special.

This did get me thinking about my stack of sketch books I had laying around. So how to minimize this stack of books into a much smaller collection of my sketches? 

Here are the only hard back books I had. One had almost no drawings

 in it and the other was 3/4 used. So these will be the home

for all the other drawings from the multiple little spiral bound books laying about 

I gathered a few of my mixed media supplies and started 

ripping apart all the spiral bound sketch books.

2 days later

So now every drawing I have done in the last 15 years that I wanted to keep is in those

2 hard back sketchbooks. I used old sheet music and scrapbook papers to cover old drawings I wasn't too fond of. 

Even thou I try to keep my ideas for jewelry or other projects out of my daily sketch book sometimes that isn't handy when I want to sketch something out before the idea runs off into never land. So my sketchbooks end up with a lot of different things in them. They tell a story of what was going on in my life at that time. I try to date everything, but don't always. When I looked back over these drawings it brought back a ton of memories, that had more to do with the time I drew the drawing than the drawing itself.  

Enjoy each day and keep close to your heart what is

really important in your life. 

God, Family and Friends

and a good comfy box

Getting Stuck Inside Your Creativity

Yesterday Jack came over and we spent a good while sitting at the kitchen table playing with polymer clay. Jack makes sculptures and I mostly make elements for my jewelry. I’ve played around with polymer clay for years but have never put a lot of time into learning new techniques. I do see wonderful things created on Pinterest that I would love to know how they are done. It’s one of my jewelry tools along with metal work and wire wrapping. I really need to increase my skills in all of these. 

This is one of my favorite things to do with clay 

is create these "Royce Rocks". 

They are my faux stones I often use in my jewelry. 

Several new clay molds came in the mail this week and I'm looking forward to using these. I've never used molds before. 

I’ve taken almost no classes, which I often regret. I’ve always thought of jewelry as a hobby and didn’t want to invest a lot of money into it. I understand now that this was a mistake. I have learned a lot on my own but sometimes you just need to peek inside someone else's creativity to get a new edge to your craft. 

So I want to set aside time for just practicing techniques. I’ve all but stopped putting metal into my jewelry. Not really sure how or why this came about. It takes time for me to work new things into a routine, but I must make time to hone those skills. 

I have become a bit bored with what I am making and that’s not good at all. I have a hard time making multiples of a piece, but making everything unique slows me down. I’d like to find a middle ground. 

I have a lot to work on. I have plenty of time and materials. Now to just push myself to do what I need to do. I’m sure after I get started and make a few things I’m proud of I’ll feel more enthusiasm to work more and push myself more. 

My sewing machine is back from the repair shop and now that it’s home and in it’s new area I look forward to getting back into quilting and fiber arts. I really enjoyed that and want to bring it back into my life. 

Mission Impossible

I’ve been making jewelry since the late 80’s and along the way I became very addicted to the craft. I still draw almost every day. Drawing will always be a part of my life, but I’ve never thought of it as a money maker. Thou I have had a small success with my sewing note cards on Etsy. 

I’ve always designed my jewelry to be something I would want to wear. Something a little off center and maybe a bit larger than some people might wear. That’s my style thou. I like rustic, earthy tones with an over all look as if the piece was dug up at a dig in some far away land. That’s all good and I really enjoy it. 

I know I have to design for other tastes. I fear this is where I often fail. I don’t put the same amount of joy into items that aren't my style. Not the colors or elements I love the look and feel of. Beyond my likes lies the out of the comfort zone designs. These pieces normally take a bit longer to make. They don’t seem to fall in place. Thou I know they must be done. 

I’ve always loved doing craft shows. I so enjoy the face to face with people. Talking to them about how each piece is made and any little story linked to it. I’m introverted big time, but once I relax talking about my jewelry is very easy. 

Over these last years their have been major changes in weather (yes global warming is real and the earth is round). I’ve also noticed it’s getting harder to unload the car, set up the tables and sit all day in that heat. Well I’m not a spring chicken anymore, but I just refuse to give up. I think the tables and props getting heaver over time is less a problem that the darn heat. 

Notice the fan on the shelf of my chair

The last show I did with a friend, was really hot. We looked at each other sweat dripping off of us as we folded up the tent and just said why. Almost together we said cause we enjoy it. 

So I guess it all boils down to what makes you happy. 

Just wondering thou if I’m that hot how does it effect the shoppers? Do they say "Oh I'd love to go to that show, but it's so hot"  I have stopped going to one of my favorite shows in Nashville because of heat and the parking issues.

So where is the happy spot? I want to continue to do shows as long as I can, but 90 degree plus is not workable for me. I over heat and turn an interesting blotchy red before I can get the car unloaded and stay that way till I get back home and out of the shower. At that point I usually fall over and say I can't do this anymore, but continue on. Yes I accept this mission. 

So lets go make something that brings us joy 

You are special and you are loved

Keeping It Organized

The last thing I do each year is look over my inventory sheets and save a new version for the new year. Some old designs will be benched, which means I'll take them apart and they will become just bits and parts again.  Every once in a while one that didn't sell might have been a personal favorite and it becomes mine. It moves from the sales case to my jewelry box. 

I don't really mind taking my jewelry apart,

it is almost refreshing. I guess it's a way to release it. 

I also review my supplies at the first of the year. Sometimes it seems I have such a huge amount of supplies. If I overthink that then buying new beads etc. carries some guilt. I recover from that pretty quickly thou. I just must have a good supply of yummy, beautiful things that make me want to create. Some times just looking at a bead makes the entire design spring to life in my mind.

I see all my crafting supplies like this. The closet full of quilting fabrics, the piles of art supplies. They are make me happy and fill many hours of my life with joy. I have a friend who said she might just like collecting craft supplies as much as crafting with them. 

I do have to have my supplies pretty organized thou. I've had people make fun of my bench and the way I keep it, but it works great for me. I'm not saying it always looks like this. In the middle of a creative spree it's a hot mess trust me. Then I have to stop and try to get it back under control. The last time I did major organizing it looked like a bomb went off in here and took a full day. I try not to let it get that way often. 

There are lots of these fishing tackle boxes on the shelves above my bench. 

TIP If you buy these at a craft store you will pay a good deal more 
than you will at the Walmart fishing dept. The quality is as good or better. 

I normally use all the dividers that come with one of these boxes.
I do have boxes for larger beads, and they stay together.
All elements stay with their friends, metal in a box as is glass.
Semi precious has several boxes, they are separated by size and type.

One thing I've had a harder time getting organized is the completed jewelry. I've always just put it away in a sales case after it's photographed, tagged and added to the inventory sheets. Anyone with better ideas please let me know. With a normal inventory of 150+ it's not a quick thing to find the watch pendant that just sold on Etsy. I wish I had room for one of the big old paper cabinets. They cost a fortune too, so that won't happen. 

For now I put all the trays from the sales case on the kitchen table take a photo 

then place them on a letter size layout and keep the printout next to my computer. 

Haven't been drawing too much this past week, 

but I did finish this little drawing. Ink and watercolor pencils.

Olivia and I need to get back to the bench. 

Have a great creative day and

remember you are special