If you build it…

Life is such a frustrating mix of ups and downs, starts and stops, mixed signals, and confusing messages.

And trying to determine if starting a creative business is doable is just like life.

I started off on this creative journey with no real plan. I just wanted to see what would happen. If any doors would open, if a clear direction would present itself. Somewhere along the line, the idea of selling my work again began to appeal to me.

But every time I think I have a plan, it turns out to be a dead end.

My jewelry line went nowhere, and now my mixed media art seems to be following suit. I can’t seem to find my audience. This is new territory for me!

When I had my store, I had an instant audience. My customers could see and touch everything, and most often, whatever I put out, sold. Now, having to rely on photographs, I have no idea if my lack of sales means my stuff just isn’t what people are looking for, or, the method of reaching people, isn’t reaching the people who would appreciate my work. Or, it’s possible it just isn’t any good! Hahahaha! I just wish I knew.

Now I fully admit, I have not gone beating the bushes for customers. I haven’t done any shows, I haven’t approached any stores about carrying my work. I was hoping that with internet sales, I would not have to do that. It’s just not my strong suit.

Creative journeys are seldom without  their challenges and that is what I’m facing now. I am feeling discouraged, but, it IS part of the journey, so if I’m going to “keep it real” I need to share that with you, as well as all the cool stuff.

I have no answers yet. I love mixed media. I love making art. And I REALLY would like to sell it (as opposed to having it stacking up around here!) But I have yet to figure out if I have it in me to put in the work it looks like it will take to make it happen. I sorta thought this was like “If you build it, they will come.” Doesn’t look like it’s true in my case!

I may end up deciding that being creative for my family may be the direction I need to go. Maybe there is a way to use my mixed media interest in my scrapbooking. I don’t know! (picture me whining…)

Any way, I’ll keep you posted as my crazy life unfolds. I promised it would be a wild ride!

“Being” May Not Be For Everyone

Okay, so here I go…just a little skitzoid again.

Yesterday I was musing about about the possibility of learning how to just “be.”

Today I realized that it is just fighting mother nature. Some of us are “be-ers” and some are “do-ers” I’m pretty sure that I fall into the “do-ers” camp, no matter how attractive the “be-er” idea may seem at times.

That’s not to say that one is any better than the other, just different.

Somehow I let myself fall into the trap of thinking that “being” is a calmer state of mind. That by allowing yourself to just be, you cause your mind to quiet, and somehow are better able to be in the moment. And for some people it works. But not for everyone.

I am pretty sure I was made to “do.” Trying to quiet my mind and just “be” is an effort in futility that leaves me more distressed than I was when I just let my mind go in ten different directions and “do.” I am much more “centered” when I am accomplishing something that can be physically measured – knocking things off of a to-do list, finishing a project – “doing” something. All the lovely thoughts in the world cannot replace that feeling for me.

So, I need to just get over it and accept what I am.

The truth is, I’ll rest when I’m dead.

As Close As I Come To Just “Being”

We spent the morning on a little hike from up above Emerald Bay at Lake Tahoe to Eagle Falls – not glorious falls like in Yellowstone, but nice. The trail was very well kept and had tons of places for Hannah to do a little rock climbing, but not too steep for Bea.

Once again I took a ton of pictures. I have to laugh at the things that catch my eye, but that’s okay…I take them more for me than anyone, and I like my goofy subjects.

I’m getting better at candid shots. The family seems less put-upon when I’m catching them from a distance and they don’t have to “smile pretty.”

But sometimes, you just have to pose.

It was fun to just sit and enjoy the family…

Even Mr. Tattered and I had a few sweet moments…

If I had been by myself, I would have sat on a high rock and had a good think, but alone time isn’t something I have much of. So, I dilly-dallied as best I could, took a lot of pictures, and came as close as I could to just “being.”

Hmmm. Just being. I think I might like to try it sometime.

Bodie State Park

It wasn’t on my list of things I was dieing to do, but Mr. Tattered had wanted to go for ages, so, since we were only a few hours away, we decided to pack a picnic lunch and head out.

I’m not sure what I expected, but it was certainly not what we saw!

Bodie is a preserved ghost town, a visit back into the gold rush days. What remains is but 5% of what the town was in its heyday…a bustling town of 10,000, full of the worst of the day – badmen, 65 saloons, daily murders, but it is just amazing.

It is VERY “tattered ‘n worn” so, of course I just loved it. I took nearly 200 pictures, mostly of textures – everything from bricks and wood to wallpapers coming off the walls and lots and lots of rust!

But for the purposes of this post, I’ll show you a variety, and again, let the pictures tell the story.

I have sooooo many more. I most certainly need to do something special with them. Some will become scrapbook papers, and others will hopefully make their way onto canvases!

I’ll leave with a very tired little girl…

I Admit, I’m Addicted…

Let me start by saying that it’s not my fault. Well, not completely anyway. I have an addictive personality, always have had, and I think that is something you are born with. It may even be a distant relative of OCD.

My addictions and obsessions are numerous, but fortunately none of them are to anything terribly harmful (okay, I guess it depends on your definition of harmful!) T.V. shows, art supplies, garden decorations, shoes, kale chips, goat cheese…you know, dumb stuff.

And of course, now, the internet – Facebook, my blog and pinterest in particular.

I was slow in getting to my internet addiction. I had e-mail, and used it for research from time to time. Then I started political blogging back in 2008, when Talking Points Memo hosted reader blogs. I thought My Space and Facebook were ridiculous wastes of time. Before long I noticed I was on TPM a LOT. Well, actually, I didn’t notice it, Mr. Tattered did, and he was less than impressed.

Then TPM shut down the reader blogs, and those of us who had been on there regularly wanted to stay in touch, so we joined Facebook, and things sorta downward spiraled from there.

Before I knew it, I had signed up for an art business class, hooked up on Facebook with a bunch of crazy ladies who turned out to be kindreds, and here I am hyper-ventilating over the “potential” prospect of being away from the internet for a weekend! And it turned out I don’t have to be, so it was wasted anxiety.

Several of my kindreds suggested I just step back and take a technology break for the weekend and just “be.”

My pulse rate started rising immediately. I don’t think I know how to just “be.” Worse yet, I don’t think I even WANT to know.

Maybe some day. But not today. And tomorrow isn’t looking too good either.

A Little Play Time!

We took a day off to play today!

The State Fair is drawing to a close, and the weather was cooler, so we decided to go.

It was a wonderful day, full of great memories.

I’m going to let the photos tell the story!

…and so much more. Yeah, great times!

Ya Gotta Laugh!

I have found that humor can really help almost everything…

The last 2 days I have posted about being crazy…crazy for signing up for a new class, crazy busy with all the projects I have on my plate at the moment.

But I didn’t really mean crazy in the mental health sense of the word, ya know? Just kind of a nutty, bizarre sort of way.

Well, until today.

Today I saw a plaque that had me laughing so hard I had tears running down my face, and I wanted to share it with you.

I would submit that you could also substitute “creative business” and hobby!

Now I’m wondering if I have gone over to the other side, and am, in fact, insane! Well, I guess I’m not REALLY wondering, but it does make me laugh. And that I can laugh about it probably means I’m okay!  Hahahahaha!

Now THIS is What Crazy Looks Like!

I am going in so many directions right now!

I am making a concerted effort to finish up a bunch of projects, and since “out of sight is out of mind” for me, I have to keep them all out where I can see them.

Fortunately, the biggest project is on the computer, so IT doesn’t take up much space, but the rest? Oh, my!

I am still working on my own decks for the Inspiration Deck project – I SHOULD be done, but I succumbed to the temptation to finish off the backs, so they are back out on the table, along with the bin of cards that have been sent in.

I have three separate scrapbook projects going (yes, Meegan! your album is one of them!) a LONG overdue wedding album, a Yellowstone album, and a Disneyland album, and that’s not even counting just regular day to day photos!

 

 

Then there are the canvases for Bea’s new bedroom (she just gave up her toddler bed and is in a big girl bed, so Mama is redecorating!) I’m taking the existing canvases that don’t match and am painting new ones to match her “hoo hoo” (owl) theme with butterflies and bees thrown in for good measure!

And these are just the projects that are on the FRONT burner! You don’t even want to know about the ones stacked up behind them! OR the ones that are still in my head and just aching to get out!

I’ll keep you posted.

What does YOUR crazy look like?

A New Class (or like I wasn’t crazy enough!)

Well, I’ve succumbed to the temptation of another class!

I was minding my own business chatting with my girlies on line, and one (who shall NOT remain nameless- Ms. Lambert!) brought up a new Brave Girls Class. Then Ms. Barutha pipes up that she already signed up, and next thing I know I’m $75.00 poorer and signed up too! The Brave Girls Art Class starts September 4th, and I’ll be a part of it.

Melody Ross is the head Brave Girl. I met her briefly when I was at The Creative Connection last year. She was big in the scrapbook world back in the day, and now heavy into Mixed Media and healing through art. I have to confess I have a bit of a girl crush on her.

If you aren’t familiar with Melody, you really need to check out the Brave Girl site. She does an e-mail with inspirational thoughts that are so wise and incredibly creative, called “A Little Bird Told Me.” She has been through sooooo much, and come out the other side smarter and better than ever before, and now shares all she has learned with other women through her Brave Girls Camps and classes.

One of these days I’ll go to Brave Girls Camp, but for now, I’ll be happy with her class.

I’m Blissin’

It’s been awhile since I participated in Liv Lane’s Friday Bliss List Blog. I never seem to remember on Friday, and I feel bad coming in late. This week, I’ve decided that in my effort to pay more attention to the daily wonders of my life “better late than never!”

I got to spend a LOT of time with the girls this week. Mama had training all week, so I had them for 5 days, unlike my usual 3-4. One day we were out in the backyard, and were treated to a swarm of dragonflies passing through. It was so cool. There were probably 30-40 of them buzzing around!

A nice surprise came in the mail. Well, it wasn’t really a surprise, I knew it was coming, but I sorta forgot about it, so it was almost like a surprise! I ordered a necklace from a special friend, Kris Binsfeld a few weeks ago. Her jewelry line has been picked up by Creative Co-op, so having an original is a real treat for me! Anyway, it arrived, and I love it…

We had a visit from from friends up north. We hadn’t seen them in months, so it was nice to spend some time together and catch up. They hadn’t seen the house yet, so I actually got it tidied up.  I know it must seem like a funny thing to feel blissful about, but I really like having the house “company ready!” I just wish it wasn’t so hard to keep it that way!

And we watched a couple of nature shows on the bears in Alaska. Again, may seem like a funny thing to feel blissful about, but we LOVED seeing the bears when we were there in 2010, and are looking forward to going back next year. We’ll never get as up close and personal as they did in this show, but it truly warmed our hearts…I mean hot lava kinda warm.

Hope you took time to notice the bliss in your week, and if you have time, come on over and see what others are up to at Liv’s!