Category: Artwork

Any and every kind of artwork I do.

Sold my artwork ❤

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I sold a 5×7″ print of my little pseudodragon! ❤

I also sold a small tote with him printed on it, too ::beams:: There is very little profit margin, but it gives me warm fuzzies knowing a couple of local people have my artwork. Family gets a lot of compliments using it, but I haven’t sold one by word of mouth yet.

Tried to work on more artwork this evening, but using Photoshop is still a painful experience, I find, and set it aside. ::sigh:: I’ll get there. Found an interesting looking book to add to my collection. It’s always a bit of a love/hate feeling to buy another reference book, when half of it covers the same basics every other book covers, just to glean a bit of new information.

Took a class and made this cute little bracelet the other day…

With Strange Things Emporium being vendor (event) based and online only right now, I expect sales to be slower. I really need to buck down and start photographing my jewelry again, but I’ve been lacking motivation. My work space needs a complete overhaul, and I get so lost :( There is a gallery at The Forks that might take my higher end items, but I need a substantial body of work (aka photographs). As fun and beautiful as they’ve been to make, I stopped focusing on them due to lack of sales… therefore I have few to photograph. Perhaps I need to return and refresh my memory on the style they carry; see if that inspires me. Finding the energy for everything is just going to get harder because…

Thursday is the last day of school! (yay! say my children!)

Summer is such a challenge.

I want to do so much with my girls, but in reality, working nights saps all my energy, leaving so much to be desired. During the summer I feel like such an abysmal parent because of it. The girls are very understanding, but it’s hard on them, too, being housebound while I nap. I am hoping this year, I can plan our afternoons better, and take them on picnics, or go exploring. I have a car now, which is an improvement over prior years. ::grins::

Friday we’ll kick off summer holidays with a trip to the movie theatre, and view Despicable Me 3. I’m sure many other parents will have the same plan, but it will still be fun. ::smiles::

See if I can get another recipe posted up. Now that my jar is free after making limoncello, I can make yogourt ::laughs:: Not for the faint of heart… it needs to culture for 5-8 hours. While I’m at it, I’d better make baguettes, too.

Back in a few days, I hope ❤

 

Viking Knit

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So proud of myself <3

I’ve wanted to make this for quite awhile!

Viking knit requires – in its simplest form – a pencil, and extra wire to form a jig.

When I first stumbled across this weaving technique I thought, “Fantastic! Who doesn’t have a pencil at home?” That didn’t work for me; I could not stabilize the jig no matter how hard I tried. I have since read that an Allan key held in a vice is another option, but by then I’d already purchased a Lazee Daizee.

While I found it worth the cost, it is certainly one of those “your mileage may vary” situations. I advocate attempting this wire weaving technique with household items first; it is always rewarding to make something yourself, and more-so when you can save money in the process! ::smiles::

~~~~~

In just shy of two weeks, my darling girls have their dance recital. Dragonet auditioned yesterday for RWB’s Dance Ensemble under Musical Theatre. It will be interesting if she is accepted.. already she wants to take a fifth class. Four is challenging already! ::laughs:: Of course, her sister would like more dance classes as well.

Last week was their school recital; everything for them is wrapping up!

~~~~~

As you may be able to infer from the lovely photo, I have a high quality camera again. (Yay!) Once things settle down in the next couple of days, I’m going to have to work hard to photograph and relist items. The plug-in I fell in love with for WordPress is easy to use, which is fantastic(!), but with ease comes cost… I think I may have to start from scratch and try again. ::deep breath:: Hopefully I will find the winning combination.

Until then, be good <3

Goodbye Etsy, Hello World?

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Words cannot explain how excited I am!
(Honestly, I’ve been trying for hours! ::laughs::)

It would be silly to abandon Etsy after printing 200 business cards with my Etsy store listed, but Etsy is not working for me right now, as I last mentioned. I’ve wanted to host my own items here from the start, to be honest, but have not known how to go about it. Well, I’m excited to say I’ve found a lovely plug-in for WordPress that will grow with me. Free, robust, and lacking a few nice, but non-essential items in the free column (A redirect after purchase would be nice to have, but its absence is not a deal-breaker.) From what I’ve seen, it loads a little slowly, but when it does, well, you can see for yourself ;)

For today, I have one listing, but I like that I can grow it at my pace, without overhead. Once I have my storefront rebuilt, I can consider porting my listings back into Etsy. Even cooler, what I have listed here, I can sell from Facebook. Mind blown.

I’ve never seen that before!

One caveat: Facebook doesn’t let the app show for mobile browsers, but I’m still game to try it. ::grins::

This week’s goals will be to help my friend at her shop by taking photos, and itemizing my own items for sale. (Bonus, if I can make these two goals overlap?)

GelMoment's light teal nail polish, named April In Madrid
GelMoment’s April In Madrid

My GelMoment kit arrived today and I have to say I’ve been bitten by the girlie bug. ::sticks tongue out:: Not only do I love teal, but I’ve had ideas brewing for bracelets, and I am excited* at the prospect this will make my photos stand out.**

*(there’s that word again :p)

**(I’m really starting to sound like a broken record, aren’t I?)

Maybe Friday, expect a recipe from me? I’m open to suggestions. ::grins again:: I would almost kill for suggestions. ::laughs:: What’s a girl got to do to get notes around here?

Ah well. Friday I shall dust off my apron and see what I come up with.

Let the wagers begin.

April In Review

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Hey, sorry to be so quiet.

Nose deep in Horizon: Zero Dawn, which has been glorious. (It has been ages since I’ve played video games.) I like their spin on how society might rebuild in a post-apocalyptic world. It’s also very neat trying to place what year it must be, based on the mishmash of present day remnants and future tech that are equally alien.

Craft show on Saturday was a bust, unfortunately. It’s hard to compete when almost every single vendor is also selling jewelry. There was some interest in my earrings, but I didn’t sell any of them (or any jewelry for that matter). Kind of discouraging, but sales seemed slow for everyone (slow foot traffic, equally poor sales for my neighbouring tables).

However, I have a lead on hosting my own craft sale(!). I’m hoping to scope out the location later this week, and decide if this is viable. The advertising has me a bit stumped, and due to location, it will definitely need advertising. As usual, cross your fingers for me!

Otherwise, I’ve been waiting ages for my second GelMoment kit to arrive. Apparently their sales were so popular in March that it caused a several week delay on order fulfillment. I’ll try not to be too boring about it. ::laughs:: I am excited because it should jazz up any jewelry photos for FaceBook/Etsy. (Whenever I can solve my camera problem, unfortunately).

Speaking of Etsy, I’ve decided to let my listings lapse temporarily, as I have not generated a single sale in months. Part of that is not sinking a fortune into buying listings (no new listings equates to lower visibility), but when listings receive a lot of “likes” and never a sale… clearly I need to make some changes to jump the gap from admirers to sales. The whole thing needs an overhaul, from prices to the listings themselves. (For example, I have elf ears to wear in photos, too! ::grins:: And with my hair down they look pretty realistic, so I’m excited for that.)

Meanwhile, this entire month has felt very much like a waiting game. Wait for my jewelry and soap making supplies in the mail to arrive… Wait not-so-patiently for the Note 8 to be released… can’t even run Instagram on my current phone, so no way to cross-promote my work. What fun is that? ::laughs::

KeyCon is approx one month from now, and I now have the option to display my jewelry at two vendor tables. O_o I had made duplicate earrings for KeyCon and Strange Things Emporium, but now that she is going to be a vendor, I will have to divide and conquer, so to speak. The duplicates I made will have to be set aside, and I’ve got just under 4 weeks to create awesome and better things.

I keep telling myself I want to post more recipes on here. Not to the degree of Julie & Julia, but I always meant that to be a semi-regular corner around here. Guess that means I should cook more often, eh? ;)

I suppose that boils down to less talk, more action. (Which ironically, will lead to more talk!) I think part of the issue is attempting to hold daylight hours with my family on my two nights off… I get nothing done the first night because I end up crashing early, and then spend the next 14 hours sleeping instead of being productive on my one full night away from work. (I am not joking, nor is that healthy.)

And thus, April melts away… so here’s to a more interesting May!

Spring Seedlings (of a different kind)

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No photos, because my piddly phone is acting up, but I made my first seed bead bracelets. ::cheers:

I don’t know how to tie off the ends properly… but that’s a minor technicality, right? (Work for another day.)

It’s nice to make something new, ::grins:: perfect or not.

As for seedlings, I’m never very good at raising seeds indoors in February, but the garden has finally thawed out, and I can go in and start cutting back my raspberry canes, and tossing out all the dead plant matter. I need to get more dirt trucked in too, somehow. Bring up parts of my garden bed… Didn’t get to garden last year, and I’ve missed my plants and the work.

Nothing much else to chatter about. Was just excited and had to share :D