500 Blog Posts and A Giveaway...

Hello Dear Blog Readers,

I hope you are all enjoying your summer so far!

I am back from my little break away from my blog and I have many things to share with you all...sadly, not all of them are positive, but in my usual fashion, I am finding lessons to be learned! This may be a long post, so brew up a cup of tea or coffee, and get cozy for the news ahead...

Challenging Struggles

You may have noticed that I took an extra week of time away. I wish I could say it was for more relaxation, but it was anything but relaxing. I have been dealing with a series of challenges and struggles which is not exactly conducive to a restful summer holiday - to begin with, the hard drive to my dear boyfriends computer stopped working!!

We thought it had broken down completely, but we are currently in process of sending the hard drive to a data retrieval company in the hopes that we will be able to retrieve all the data that is stored on the drive: documents, pdf's, photos...my goodness, the photos!!!

I had been saving many photos to use in future blog posts and now I will not have access to them for a long time to come, if we can retrieve them at all. And then there is the brand spanking new artist CV I created mere days before the hard drive froze up on us!!

Something told me to save it to one of my flash drives, but I didn't do it...nor was I saving any of my numerous photos:

My fun and colorful flash drives for documents and photos - I actually carry them around with me ALL THE TIME so I had no excuse for not saving my work/photos...

I am hoping for the best that my dear boyfriend and I will have ALL our data retrieved for us in due course, but it is hard to think of all the work we have both stored on the computer that we might not get back...so I try to put that thought out of my head!

If this incident were not challenging enough, I took on a challenge that seems to loom ever bigger with each passing week - I signed up for the Lilla Rogers online course "Make Art That Sells".

This course is filled with great information on how to get ones artwork into the markets we are studying in the first module: bolt fabric, home decor, children's book illustration, wall art, and gift.

These are all areas I have an interest in. However, I had not anticipated that I would be swimming in a sea of advanced graphic art designers, which I am not. I have very little in the way of Photoshop or Illustrator skills and there is no time to learn enough in those programs to get my style of work on par with my classmates.

It has been daunting to see the work produced by these great, experienced and highly skilled graphic design artists and I just can't help from comparing my work to them.

My humble hand painted design for home decor tableware - a plate with the artichoke for my motif and lettering done with help from my dear boyfriend who is more graphic design skilled than I am!

I know the 'comparison game' is a big no-no and I rarely do it, but seeing how inadequately I am skilled for this class has been a real eye-opener...yet I am learning a LOT about how these markets work and Lilla Rogers is one of the most encouraging instructors I have encountered, after my book binding instructor Wendy Poma! Watching Lilla's weekly videos (as well as other interview videos I found) makes me want to meet her! I just know she is a kindred creative beast =-)

The course involves weekly assignments and trying to utilize my skills and style of artwork for this online course has been challenging when I see the amazing creations being made by my fellow students, some of whom have already been getting work in these markets! During the second week of the course, I had to make the decision to keep to myself for the remainder of this course and no longer interact in the class Facebook group in the hopes I can keep from feeling discouraged or losing any more of the "Identity Capital" I have built up for myself, over my many years of creative work...

Identity Capital

I came across this great concept of "identity capital" while watching a TED talk with Meg Jay, PHD. Though her talk was aimed at 20-somethings, the concept of identity capital resonated very strongly for me and I think it is something we all work at, all our lives.

I found a link to a blog that discusses the work of Dr. Jay and the concept of identity capital - I think this quote sums up the concept well:

“Identity capital is our collection of personal assets. It is the repertoire of individual resources that we assemble over time. These are the investments we make in ourselves, the things we do well enough, or long enough, that they become a part of who we are. Some identity capital goes on a resume, such as degrees, jobs, test scores, and clubs. Other identity capital is more personal, such as how we speak, where we are from, how we solve problems, how we look. Identity capital is how we build ourselves – bit by bit, over time. Most important, identity capital is what we bring to the adult marketplace. It is the currency we use to metaphorically purchase jobs and relationships and other things we want.” - Meg Jay, PHD

 (underlined section by me for emphasis)

I love this concept, especially since it is something I have instinctively been doing, without realizing that there was a name for it...and knowing about this concept helped me come back to myself while struggling with my creative inadequacies.

With this concept firmly in mind, I took time away from the weekly assignment to work on things I AM highly skilled at, such as working on some alterations for a friend, completing a book binding project to give as a gift and making a special piece of art (all of which came together quickly I might add!):

Artwork in progress - I will eventually share the final finished piece here

Working on things I know I am skilled at helped me regain my sense of 'identity capital' as a creative artist. Though Lilla's course has been highly challenging (and a little discouraging) the course has taught me a lot so far and I'm barely into the third week! However, the biggest lesson I have learned so far is this:

I am not a graphic art designer.

Having this knowledge helps me face the remaining weeks in Lilla's course and I will continue to learn as much as I can and find a way to use the information I am gleaning from this workshop as I continue to make my way in the world as a self-sustaining, self-employed artist.

There are other challenges I have dealt with in the past few weeks, such as being a vendor at the Silverlake Art*Craft*Vintage Fair and making very little money, but I will save that 'Lesson Learned' for another day!

In the meantime, I think it's time to celebrate the fact that I have posted 500 blog posts!

Time for a Giveaway!

I have some creative goodies to give away to celebrate my 500th blog post...

Here is the breakdown of goodies:

brads, snaps, sticky bead embellishments

 ...clear rubber stamps by Tim Holtz...

...decorative ribbons and tapes...

...Jolene's Boutique holiday embellishments and epoxy bubble embellishments...

...black glitter alphabet stickers...

...sponge brushes for creative gluing projects...

And the lucky winner with receive all these goodies in a fun colorful bag:

How can you win this bounty of creativity??!?

You will have the opportunity to enter the giveaway 2 times:

1) Leave a comment at this blog post
2) Like my new Facebook fan page and leave a comment there as well!

You must leave your comments by 12:00pm Sunday June 23 so the winner can be announced by Wednesday June 26. This giveaway is open to ALL, near or far!

BTW: there will be another giveaway to celebrate 4 years of blogging the following week, so be sure to stay tuned for that!

Many thanks to all my wonderful blog readers for taking time from your busy lives to read about my adventures here. This blog has been the means to meet so many wonderful bloggers, from near and far, and I am so thankful for the community that has been fostered here. Here's to 500 more blog posts!

Blog Post #499 - On Work(shops) and Rest...

Hello Dear Blog Readers,

I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful weekend! I had fun attending the Renaissance Pleasure Faire with my dear boyfriend and I wore a chemise that I had recently re-dyed in a navy blue color...which had previously been dyed a deep periwinkle color! Here I am in my Ren Faire garb:

The chemise and skirt made by yours truly; the bodice is a Ren Faire purchase...

I seem to be surrounded by the color blue lately, which is not a usual go-to color for me, but I think it must be surrounding me for the calm and RESTFUL qualities it is associated with, some qualities I feel in need of these days...

'Then it's work, work, work, all the time...'*

I have been doing a LOT of work and hustling to launch my creative career, and much of the work I have been doing is looking into various possibilities for generating income, such as teaching workshops...

Student creation from my "I Am" a French Fold Book workshop, which turned into a party event!

I began teaching workshops from my home due to the fact that many of the craft venues that usually hosted such workshops began to close down before I could approach them with my ideas. Also, from  my experience in Orly Avineri's fabulous art journal workshops, I know first-hand the cozy intimacy created by in-home workshops...however, it's a lot of work to launch a workshop series and to be honest, it's been very slow going, with very few of my workshops actually being held due to lack of students...but NOT from lack of interest!

 I had no students for this fun, creative workshop, though there was some interest in the project...

I decided to look into my local community college, remembering they had a catalog of continuing education for adults. I was delighted to find that the office was still in the same location and I met with the manager of the department, who explained a few basics for submitting an application. I made an appointment to meet with him in person so I could show and discuss the work I do and the workshops I offer.

Now, I had a wild idea that I should have samples for every workshop idea/outline I had ever created, which was not a smart idea, since I discovered that I have 15 workshop ideas I have written up over the past three years! I came to the conclusion that my plan of action would be bringing samples of my creative work, such as my art journals and fabric scrap book, and then inform the manager about the workshops I've hosted so far, with samples to show. This meeting took place last Thursday...

The manager was intrigued with my work and samples, especially my mail art postcards. I brought some old samples, then decided at the last minute to make a new mail art postcard, using one of my personal values on it:

The manager was quite taken with the idea of a mail art postcard workshop, especially one that uses self discovery exercises for uncovering personal values. He also liked the French fold book workshop I created:

He requested that I submit proposal applications for the two workshops to try out in the Fall catalog and these applications needed to be submitted within days of our meeting since the due date for all applications was May 20th.

Luckily for me, I already had the outlines and descriptions of my workshops ready to go, but I was asked to submit a resume and I knew that my old office job resumes would not really work in this case, so an artist resume was needed...and I didn't have one!

With the help of some links from Glenda, of the blog Pilgrim's Thoughts, and a few searches of my own, I managed to cobble together an artist resume, or CV as they are often called.

I am proud to say that my first community college workshops have been submitted!

I will not hear back until late June or July, but I feel very good about this accomplishment. It feels like a big and important step in my creative career.

Now, I feel ready to take a bit of a break and that will include this blog...but not for long!

Time for PLAY!

The Memorial holiday is fast approaching and this would be a good time to take a little vacation from all my hustling and hard work. I can use the time to play in my art journals:

 I still have to finish coloring in the lovely doodles made by fellow journal-ers from Orly's workshop!

...continue with the cleaning of my cluttered home:

My work table as it usually looks...though it was clean enough to see the table top for about 24 hours last week!!

...catch up on the assignments for the two online workshops I'm participating in: Of The Heart** and The Botanical Journal:

 It's Peony Season again and just in time for The Botanical Journal - YAY!!

 

...and sew up a few things like some aprons or some summer skirts...or maybe a new recycled t-shirt dress from this batch of t-shirts I recently prepped for cutting into a garment:

And of course, the next blog post will be my 500th blog post, so a giveaway is definitely in order! I can certainly try to use some of my 'playtime' figuring out what to give away here at my blog - maybe a specially hand-crafted item or a slew of art supplies I am no longer using...I'll be sure to have it figured out by June 4, when I return from my little break.

In the meantime, thanks for stopping by my blog! Be sure to stay creative and be sure to stay tuned for the upcoming giveaway!

* - Can you name the movie this quote is from??? ;)
** - You can still join the workshop and its open for a whole year, which means lots of time to catch up =)


PS: I am working on figuring out Bloglovin since Google reader will cease to exist in June - I should have a widget so you can follow me there soon!
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The Inspiration Card Deck I Received!

Hello Dear blog Readers!

I finally got my Inspirational Card Deck in the mail, made up from all the many participants in Jessica Brogan's fun and fabulous swap!

I just HAD to share some of my favorite cards from this deck with you! Not all the cards had artist info on them, but I will include the blogs/websites of the cards that did:

Card made by Red Dancer Studio

Artist Unknown - love the quote and colors of this card though!

Check out this amazing card:

When I first saw it, I was scratching my head, until I removed the rubber band and discovered...

This card is really a jointed paper doll!! I was AMAZED!! And of course, I love the quote =-)

Artist Unknown - I would LOVE to thank the artist of this amazing card!

Card by Nichole Rae Design - I do love typography =-)

Another fun 'interactive' card with a special note you pull out from the pocket...

Card by Cat at 365Being

I wish I had thought of that!! Maybe I will try it in the next swap...

Card made by Dawn Gold in England - no website/blog

Pink, red and buttons - LOVE!

Card made by Diana D Darden - love the quote!

Are these cards FABULOUS or what??!?! I am so happy to have received so many wonderful little pieces of art in my mail box...

Remember there are 52 cards in the deck, so there are a LOT of amazing, creative and inspiring cards in this deck that I received!! I wish I could share them all with you here, but that would take quite a few blog posts ;)

In the meantime, I'm trying to figure out where to store this lovely little collection of art. I may use this old cigar box I've been trying to find a use for...

The lid never really closed all the way, but I began to fiddle with the hinges the other night, and I may just collage the box and hinge the lid with some ribbon scraps instead...

I'll be to sure to share how it comes out when I get around to decorating this cigar box, whenever that happens...

In Other News

I mentioned in my last blog post that I have a meeting to discuss teaching my workshops at a venue close to home. Well, today is the day I meet with a manager for extension classes at a local community college to discuss the possibility of teaching my creative workshops. This college is VERY close to my home, within walking distance, and it would be a GREAT opportunity for creative work. I would be able to reach a larger audience for my workshops which would be fantastic! I've been working on a few extra samples to pitch to the manager when I meet with him. I'll be sure to update you all on the outcome of this meeting in my next blog post next week - wish me luck!

I added some fun little art books to my Etsy shop this week. It is a series of books using wax resist, stencils and pale watercolor washes for the book covers:

They are sweet and fun little pocket books to use on the go! You can find them in the Book Arts section of my shop =-)

I will reach 500 blog posts in the next 2 posts!! I think a giveaway is in order, though I'm not sure what it would be...maybe some extra art supplies I have decided I won't be using..? 

Whatever the giveaway will be, you won't want to miss it, so be sure to stay tuned!!