The Learning Curve

So, back to The Best Laid Plans. To do for this week, in no particular order:
1. Almost everything from last week's list.
2. Learn about Meta Tags. What they are, why I should have them, how to use them.
3. Study Timothy Adam's advice.

20,000 Beads Under The Sea

According to Greek mythology Amphitrite was the sea personified. As Poseidon's wife, Amphitrite's offspring include seals and dolphins.

I finally finished Amphitrite's Garden and just in time for it to be successfully auctioned off at a gala event last night. About 20,000 beads including lapis lazuli, crystal, aventurine, freshwater pearls, copper, sterling, mother of pearl, paua shell, Czech glass, many, many size 8 seeds and several hours later I am very pleased with how it turned out. A substantial and lush piece Amphitrite's Garden makes a bold statement.


Although this piece will not, indeed can not, be duplicated the style will be offered for custom orders in the buyer's choice of colorway and theme.

Artist Feature

I found Diana Brennan today on Etsy. Well, actually Diana found me looking for blog ideas, in turn I found her shop, D. S. Brennan Photography.

27-year-old Diana is a native of Rhode Island where she and her husband are new homeowners. As a graduate of the University of Rhode Island with a degree in Environmental Science and Management she works as a Wetland Scientist (that sounds interesting).

Following Annejulie's work on DeviantART led Diana to Etsy, where she set up shop on her birthday in 2007. Diana chronicles her new work on her blog.

I asked Diana what motivates and inspires her:

Well, one might say I'm obsessed with photography. Even when it's stressing me out, I love to take photographs and work on them... I can't stop! I'm motivated by my friends and family, who support and encourage me. I'm inspired by nature, architecture, and music.

Diana believes she will one day make a living with her art and looking through her shop it's easy to see why.

Really Red

Ok, so I have about 300 yards of fabric but when a customer asked for red I had to go shopping. Look what I found! I love, love, LOVE these fabrics together.

The Best Laid Plans

I am a list maker. A huge list maker. I spend way more time planning and listing than I should. There is something about the sense of accomplishment that comes with crossing something off the list. So here's my list for the week:

Finish Amphitrite, pictured in "Work In Progress below. The event that it is being donated to is Saturday!

Finish up the 500 or so marble magnets that are in various stages of completion. I need them for a craft faire on April 5.

Sew, sew, sew... I hope to have 20 outfits done for the faire on the 5th. Would like to get through these fabrics in the next few days:

Balancing Act

Whoever said "build it and they will come" couldn't have been a crafter. I'm struggling lately to find a balance between actually creating and promoting my creations for sale. What a great tool the internet is and isn't it awesome to be able to share your work worldwide!

But remember when crafting meant creating then doing the craft show circuit? Now we create, photograph, edit, post and list, promote, promote and promote some more, package, ship, track, leave feedback, and hope we've earned a repeat customer!

So, let me know if you have found that elusive balance, for now I'll keep "building it", they will come, I'm sure. Sometime...

Comfort Food

I don't really like to cook. I used to, but not so much anymore. When I do cook it's generally not something too healthy so it's just as well that it doesn't happen too often. I do make some really yummy mashed potatoes, but the the cholesterol will practically stick to your arteries just reading this.

Scrub up some plain old russet potatoes. I feed a houseful of testosterone bearing individuals so I do about twelve potatoes. I peel half of them, this is my concession to the one or two of my guys that don't love the skins. Dice them up and put them on to boil. While the potatoes are cooking, mince a couple cloves of garlic and pan-roast. When the potatoes are fork tender put them in a colander to drain. I toss a stick of margarine into the pot while it's still hot, then dump the potatoes back in on top of the margarine, toss in the garlic. Mix just enough to melt the margarine and distribute the garlic, then add one or two cups of shredded cheese. I use the cheddar-jack that my market carries. Mix again to melt the cheese. Next add a container of low-fat sour cream- I know the low-fat seems a bit silly at this point, I just like the taste better than full fat. Mix again and mash as much as you like, I leave them a little lumpy. Enjoy.

ADHD or Diversity

I'm pretty sure I have crafter's ADHD. I started digging into the piles of stuff today, trying to bring it to some semblance of order. Things were moving along well while I refolded and stacked fabrics. After that- not so well. Trying to sort things into logical categories is proving to be a challenge. I must have tools and equipment and materials for a hundred different crafts.

There is the fabric of course: regular and fleece and flannel and quilted and some fancy ones. Then there is the yarn: the regular and the cottons and the fancy ones and the little spools of fancy fibers for my jewelry that I could also crochet or knit if I were inclined. The glass, flat for mosaic and wire wrapping, rods for lampworking, marbles for magnets. The polymer clay, the modeling clay, the paper clay. The acrylics and oils and watercolors. The Crayolas and pastels and colored pencils and watercolor pencils and markers. The paper and embellishments, plus all the stuff to make more paper. All the stuff I bought thinking I would make kaleidoscopes. The nuts and bolts and washers and o-rings for jewelry.

And I don't even want to think yet about the beads...

Spring

According to The Old Farmer's Almanac:

"The word equinox is derived from the Latin words meaning "equal night." The vernal, or spring, equinox is the point at which the Sun appears to cross the celestial equator from south to north, signaling the beginning of nature's renewal in the Northern Hemisphere."

...the beginning of nature's renewal... I love that.

The Maze

My guys are starting to get a little tired of the maze through the house- it's still there. Birdie is having fun with it though. I'm hoping to get it all confined into neat stacks instead of piles on Friday. We'll see.

Overwhelmed

I got tired of moving boxes stacked on more boxes to get to other boxes to find what I need in order to be creative. So I started hauling those boxes and things out of what I fondly call my studio and piled them on the dining table, around the dining table, on the kitchen counter, in the entry hall, in the living room...

How Did I Get Here?

I have no clue what I am doing here. Every one has a blog, figured I should too. I don't know what I will do with it but I'll figure that out after I figure out how to make one.