Friday's Featured Artist - Aquariann

I don't remember when I first stumbled across Aquariann's shop - but I instantly fell in love! Not only does she do fantasty work, but she uses bright colors that are to die for :) Now to let you get to know her a little bit for yourself...

1. What type of art work do you do?

My style is very inspired by comic books and animation, so I use Pigma Microns by Sakura to line my work and Prismacolor pencils to color it in. Almost every thing I draw has pointy ears or wings or both, so I'm comfortable using the term "fantasy art."

2. How did you get started doing art work?

I've wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember, and art just came along for the ride and kind of borrowed the wheel. In elementary school, my friends and I used to make up hordes of characters to write into a young adult series. However, I spent way more time drawing the characters and their situations than actually writing about them - a realization that occurred to me much later. It wasn't until college that it dawned on

me to seriously try drawing - thanks to a new addiction to anime and comic books, the discovery of modern fantasy artists such as Amy Brown and Jessica Galbreth, and many art history classes where I got to drool over the beauty of 10,000 years of work.

3. Do you do any other crafts?

I can knit a mean rectangle. Someday I may try to advance my skills past the basic stitch, but right now I'm happy knitting scarves, cozies and arm cuffs. It gives me a reason to continue to buy mounds of pretty yarn I don't need. Plus, it helps me feel more productive instead of simply watching tv.

4. Is there a story behind your shop name?

Aquariann is a combination of my sun sign and middle name. It's become my sexier, more exciting alter ego.

5. What's your favorite piece in your shop right now?

That would have to be Mimi Lu, my most recent drawing! (http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=Shop&op=listing&product_id=417457) Who couldn't adore her sweet toy poodle face? My friend occasionally brings her over to play at work and I couldn't resist pulling out my wand and turning her into a fairy as a gift. It's the first time I've done a pet portrait, and I hope to do many more - starting with my miniature schnauzer Coca Monsta, as she's already very jealous.

6. Where do you sell your work?

I starting selling online back in 2006, thanks to the wonder that is Etsy. That shop is still open at http://aquariann.etsy.com, but I am currently only listing my most popular items there. All the items I have in stock are now listed in my ArtFire shop at http://aquariann.artfire.com.

7. Do you blog?

Very poorly, at http://aquariann-art.blogspot.com. I have so many ideas for entries, but rarely ever actually sit down to write them. By the time I make it home from my day job as a graphic artist for a newspaper, my brain is zombie mush.

8. Are you on any social networks you'd like to share?

Yes! I mostly frequent squidoo (http://squidoo.com/aquariann), facebook (http://facebook.com/aquariannArt) and twitter (http://twitter.com/aquariann), but occasionally can still be found on deviantart (http://aquariann.deviantart.com), flickr (http://flickr.com/photos/aquariann), livejournal (http://aquariann.livejournal.com) and myspace (http://myspace.com/aquariann)

9. Do you watch or listen to anything while you work? If so, what?

Ever since I discovered the FUNimation channel, I've been tuning in constantly. It's a 24-hour anime network. How brilliant is that?!

10. Tell us one random fact about your self *wink*

I have naturally long nails and can bend all the joints in my fingers so it looks like I have witch hands. Freaks my boyfriend out, but it comes in handy during Halloween, my favorite holiday. Yay!

FFEST in Pink and Brown!

Thank you Angelque Creations for featuring my necklace in this lovely treasury!

A different type of Crafty Work

The last couple days I've been working on a different type of crafty project - I've been working on decorating my apartment! That's right...I'm finally putting my pictures up!

This is what you see to the left when you first walk into my apartment, they aren't hung crooked, I just took a crooked picture :P My cousin painted them as a present for me!

Day one was putting up the clock and a few small pieces. Day 2 (today) was getting the big pictures put up with the help of my evil twin and brother, and a few more small pieces. Tomorrow (Day 3) I plan on doing the rest of the small pieces and working on cleaning. Then, once things are clean, I'll take a bunch of photos! I plan on doing a "virtual tour" of my apartment on my other blog (http://ajedismusings.blogspot.com) so keep your eyes peeled over there.

It's been really nice to get my pictures up! We did get a few pictures up at the last apartment, but we never did get fully settled in there. Here, we are truly settling in, and it looks like we'll be here awhile.

I have been working on my normal crafty stuff as well. I actually didn't get much sleep last night, I woke up at 4:30am for some bizarre reason, and even though I've tried, I haven't been able to nap today! So I've done some knitting (the scarf is 11 inches!), made myself a hemp bracelet (I'll show it in my next ADD post), and started on my piece for the current Etsy Bead Weavers challenge :) The only thing I haven't done is cross-stitch...and I think I'll work on that some after I'm done posting this and checking in with my teams...

Yes, I'm ADD, and an over-achiever...

Tuesdays Tips #15

Wow - I haven't posted a Tuesday's Tips all month! Sorry guys! Things have been soooo busy that I haven't really had the time and energy to put into doing one of these. Which is sad, because I both enjoy putting them together and I enjoy the response I get from them!

Do you love treasuries? Do you love finding your in one? Do you love putting them together and showing off the lovely items you found? Well...if your answer was yes to any of those...do you know about Craftopolis?

Craftopolis.com is a wonderful tool for Etsy sellers. As you can see from my little screen shot there are 5 different sections. In the first, the "Treasure Hunt," you can enter your shop name and it will automatically tell you if your in a treasury or a t-west! I LOVE this feature! I used to sit down once a day and go through the pages looking for those little stars that marked that you were featured. It took too much time though, and it could be disappointing when I went a long time with out being featured. This way I can check on my shops, and it only takes a few seconds!

The "Treasury Clock" is also a great feature. It gives you a count down for both the main treasury and t-west for approximately when they will be opening. It's been awhile since I've made a treasury (too busy and I keep forgetting) but my friends who make them regularly swear by this feature.

The "Gift Guide Search" functions just like the "Treasure Hunt," only this time you can find out if your in any gift guides! I must admit I rarely remember to check this feature. I've never been in a gift guide to my knowledge and for some reason I just kinda assume I won't be! I guess with that attitude I probably won't be right?

The next section is called "Shop Lovers" and it gives you a quick and easy way to find out if your shop has been hearted recently and who by. I tend not to check this feature very often, but then again, it's been a loooong time since I kept track of my shop hearts! Since Etsy considers contacting people who've hearted you as spam, I don't really see how it does me that much good to pay too much attention. Now if I could contact them without fear of reprisal from Etsy...it would be a great networking tool!

The final tab is "Advertising." I haven't done any advertising on Craftopolis yet, but the rates seem really reasonable and I might just give it a try at some point this holiday season because it is a high traffic site! If I do, I'll make sure to let you guys know how it goes.

Crafty ADD Update #14

What a week! Last week was a whirl wind of crocheting and making jewelry to put in my consignment stores. It's a relief to be done with the blanket! I already showed it once, but since this is my ADD post I'll show it one last time :)

Crochet

I wrote a post about my crocheting marathon already - but I do have something to add! Every one loved it at the party. The best part was little two year old Billy's reaction to it though. "It has holes in it!" Fe's response? "That's so we can find the baby!"

It'll be a little while before you see any more crocheting projects from me. I decided to toss my original blanket I was working on. There were WaY to many mistakes in it! So I'm chalking it up to a learning experience and I'll use the remaining yarn for small projects. For now I'm going to do some knitting though :) Once I'm done with the two knitting projects I have lined up though ...

Knitting

I had started this scarf once, as I was waiting to start the baby blanket, but I had to pull it apart and start again cuz I made some mistakes and I don't really know how to fix it other than to tear it all out! But hey, in the last couple days I've managed to knit it back to approximately where it was before, so I'm not worried about it!

Cross Stitch

I started filling in the brain! This was the first project I picked up again after finishing the blanket...and then I haven't picked it up since. Yesterday was mostly lost to crafting or I'd probably have more done on it. It's fun to add in the color!

Jewelry

I'm working on (among other things) making a series of bead woven earrings to put in my main consignment shop. This is the first half of the first pair! I made it this morning and I'm hoping to have enough time to make the second one before I have to leave to run errands and get my tooth pulled this afternoon. We'll see. I also have to fold the laundry when it's done and take a shower once I have clean clothes...

Showing off Bead Work...

...And not just mine! But we'll get to that in a moment :)

I've been planning since last mont to make a special piece just for breast cancer awareness. I even got started on it at the beginning of the month! Then I ran out of beads... BUT I've finally finished it!

I have a new bust for my necklaces! Now I just need to work on a real light box so I can get brighter and better pictures...

Anyway, this necklace can be found both on Etsy and on Artfire and will be dedicated permenantly to Breast Cancer Awareness. This will be the only item in my shop left dedicated to Breast Cancer Awareness after the month is over. 50% of it's sale will go to the Susan G. Komen fund.

Now to show off my friends! Christina of Good Quill Hunting put together an incredible You Tube video of the members of our Bead Weaving Team. It's long - but worth watching!

Crocheting Marathon

I'm a brand new crocheter. I've made half of one other blanket...that I put aside when I discovered that my cousin was going to have a baby! I started working on this blanket about a month and a half ago. I was getting approximately one row done a week, which I thought wasn't that bad, until I realized towards the end of last week that the blanket was only half done and that the party is....TODAY!

Over the last week I've crocheted approximately 6 squares a day, and then attached them. I also had to weave in all the ends for those rows. I'm not picking up a crochet hook for at LEAST a week after this little marathon of mine :P Actually it'll be longer than that because my next yarn project is a scarf that I'm knitting...

The Completed Blanket

Folded Up

Raindrops on Roses

"Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens..." My Raindrop earrings have been featured again! Thank you Vitrine!

Thoughts About Consignment :)

I started working to put my work out there "in the real world" via consignment shops last January. I've blogged about it once or twice since then, and I thought it was time for an update again, because I've put in a lot of work on them this week! The shots in this post were taken quickly last night, so they aren't all as high quality as I usually shoot for.

Last week I was able to check in on both my consignment stores. I knew that at least one of them needed restocking and I already had a small supply made up. The owner of that shop was having a rough day though, so instead of restocking and getting paid then, we arrainged for me to come back this week.

The Stock I Already Had Made Up

The good thing about that was that it gave me time to make up even more bracelets! It was needed, because I had sold quite a few things, which I'm not going to complain about! So over the last few days I made up 2 more strand bracelets and 3 memory wire bracelets for that shop.

2 Strand Bracelets

I'm also going to need to make up a bunch of earrings to go in that shop! This is what I currently consider my "main shop." It's a bead store and its where I've made the most sales so far. A few months afterI put my work in her shop they moved locations, and now they are right next to a clothing store, so people often buy clothes, and then go over and buy jewelry at the bead store. Works out perfectly!

3 Memory Wire

The second place I currently sell my work is a hair salon that is owned by a friend of my mother-in-law. I haven't had anywhere near as many sales there as I have at the bead store, but my last payment from them was much better, so I'm feeling hopeful. It was a large enough payment that I can afford to buy a new display to put in that store, one that will look more professional, and that I can put more inventory on. I'm hoping that the combination of a more professional looking display and more inventory will help increase sales at that location. I'm headed out there tomorrow with a couple bracelets I made yesterday to increase my stock.

For the Hair Salon

Going forward - I'd like to expand and put my work out there in more places. Between the fact that I live in a fairly large city, and I do a wide range of work, I should be able to put my work in multiple shops with out competing with myself. I want to take a few high end pieces in and see if I can get them on display and consignment in a bridal store. I also would like to find a venue for my hemp work. I have a few ideas for that. Those are my first two goals and we'll see where it goes from there! I'll keep you updated!

My Work in the Real World

As an artist it's always fun to see my art work out there in the real world! I always love it when I see one of my family or friends wearing a piece I made them. Every once in awhile I get pictures from my customers too!

I met Selana a few months ago. I'm not sure if we met through some one on plurk, but that's where we've gotten to know each other! Our first transaction was a trade where I got some awesome yarn from her shop and she got a hemp necklace.

Then Selana asked me to make her a custom set of hemp jewelry. It was a lot of fun to come up with! We ended up with 5 pieces, a necklace, two bracelets, and and two arm bands. The goal was for her to use them with a shawl for a costume so that the shawl would attach to her arms like wings. It worked out perfectly! This is the Selana and her lovely outfit - and my hemp work!

What a Day...

It's been a long day - but you don't really need to hear about that :P Suffice it to say - I'm tired! So this is going to be low on words and high on pictures!

Both my Mom and I made it into this treasury!

Thanks Cheryl :)

You know the drill here - tell me your favorite

piece out of my recent listings - and get

and extra entry into my Top Commentators Contest!

Crafty ADD Update #13

I know some think that 13 is an unlucky number - but I have lots to show off this week so it must not hold true for me! So let's get to it.

Crochet

I realized a few days ago, with panic, that the baby shower is NEXT WEEKEND! I sat down and figured out how many squares I had left, how many days (leaving time to wash it once), and how much that means I need to crochet a day. I have to crochet and attach 6 squares a day! Now I've put in that kind of time on bead weaving many a time, but never crocheting!

Fortunately I'm right on track :) In the last couple of days I've crocheted and attached 16 squares! I have two more done since I took the pic this afternoon, and I have two more left to go to finish up my goal for the night. I know I can do it!

Cross Stitch

Not much progress from last week - but I've finished all the grey outlining! I won't get much done on it this week either...well at least not until the baby blanket is done! Then again once the blanket is done I'm going to need a serious break from crocheting....

Oh yeah, that's what knitting is for :P

Jewelry

I usually don't have a ton to show off in the jewelry category because I don't list everything I make in these updates - usually it's just whatever my WIP is - or maybe a special project that's not going on-line. Well this week I still have tons to show even with that!

The two hemp bracelets are a custom order for little twin girls for Christmas! I'm excited - because I love kids - and I love twins! So I'm thrilled that I got a chance to do this. I just wish it hadn't taken me so long to get the hemp color I needed. Fortunately I had an AWESOME customer who was very understanding!

The memory wire bracelet is what Meri ordered with her Gift Certificate from my Top Commentators contest. I love how it turned out! She loves woodsy things, and liked the look of memory wire, so this is what I came up with for her. :)

I'm back partcipating in the Thursday Sweet Treat weekly theme! This weeks was "In the Stars." Fortunately I recently bought those cute star beads, so coming up with a piece for this week was easy! I also need to restock my consignment store - so that's where this one is going! Of course, if anyone is interested, I can easily make another one for any interested customer.

I just have to show these off too! Even though these Bright and Cheery Disc Earrings are listed on Etsy and will be showing up next time I do a spotlight on my recent listings. Why? Because I'm excited about them! LOL

I've only made a few things with circular brick stitch so far. A pendant for my "Aztec Treasure"necklace, and for a pair of earrings called "Whirl of Colors." Both of those simply used seed beads. For these earrings I branched out a wee bit more and used a larger bead for the center and several different sizes of seed beads - and it went together like a dream! Look for more pieces in similar styles to be showing up in my shop over the next few months.

What's Next?

Well, like I said a good majority of my time this week is being devoted to crocheting. However, both my consignment shops need to be restocked as well! And I have an order that I need to work on tonight to adjust its length so I can mail it when I go to the post office tomorrow.

Did I mention my grandparents are also in town?

*whew*

I WILL get a good photo of the blanket when it's done to go up in next week's ADD post. I'll also try to get some shots of my consignment pieces and either give them their own post or put them in next weeks ADD post. In the mean time - lets hope my fingers don't fall off!

Thank you!

I was featured in another treasury! Unfortunatley I was so busy and focused on different projects this weekend that I didn't get around to blogging about it until after it has expired :( Fortunately my friend Cheryl was also featured in the treasury and she got a snap shot of it! Woohoo! Thanks Cheryl!

Big thanks also go to Angleque for including my Rain Drop Earrings in her treasury :)

Interview with Every Day Living

Today's Feature is going to be a little different. For starters, I'm running it on Saturday! I ran a gazillion errands yesterday and then had a migraine in the evening so I wasn't home long enough to put this together and put it up!

I met Tim when a mutual friend of ours (Sharla of Beaded Tail) told me that he was featuring etsy sellers on his blog! I contacted him to be featured, and that got us talking. He agreed to be interviewed for my blog...and the rest is history!

Oh, and he did feature me a couple of days ago, you can find the post here: "Creative Gifts from Rose Works Jewelry."

RWJ: How about starting off by telling me a little bit about what you blog about and why you blog?

Tim: I guess the main reason I started blogging, was to try and maintain some semblance of sanity in my life. You see, I’m a stay at home dad and I also home school our kids, so you can guess how much outside contact I have with people…none. So, during one of my travels on the Internet, I came across and interesting site, which happened to be a blog. I had never even heard of the term before, but it sounded like something that would be fun to do, so I did a little more research and ended-up on Blogger (well, it IS free). I then got myself a book on html and css and taught myself just enough coding to get myself into trouble.

As to what to blog about, well I started to write about my experiences as a stay at home dad, but after about a month I ran out of ideas, so I though it might be fun to post jokes and funny pictures. That lasted about another month before I got tired of posting other people’s work and not doing any writing. Besides, I started blogging to write, right? Now, although the main theme of my site is about my journey with losing weight, I usually just write about whatever is on my mind.

RWJ: Do you mind if I ask what lead to the decision to be a stay at home, homeschooling Dad?

Tim: This was a straight monetary decision. My wife and I had already decided that we wanted one of us to stay home with our children. When my wife found out she was expecting, we had a huge decision to make. I was currently working for the State and my wife was working for the Federal Government. Even though I had been in the position for over three years before my wife got pregnant, the insurance company considered it a pre-existing condition and would not cover it (They stated that any condition under five years is considered pre-existing. Please don’t ask me to try and explain this “logic”), which meant we would be stuck with the entire $4,000+ bill. On the other hand, my wife’s insurance, through the government, would cover 100% of the doctor and hospital bills. This decided the matter and, when our first daughter was born, I gave-up my job and have been home with them ever since.

As for the home schooling, our eldest had been in private school for four years (our youngest for three) and we could just no longer cover the costs. My wife and I asked them whether they wanted to go to public school or be home schooled. Well, they decided to learn at home, so I did some research and found that Virtual Academy is run through our local public school system. They supply the computers, books, and any supplies needed for the lessons. They also have teachers who conduct online classes in various subjects. Since this is affiliated with our public school system, our kids must meet State standards in attendance and they must pass State standardized testing.

RWJ: Very cool! I was home schooled so I'm well aware of some of the advantages that can go alone with the experience. What gave you the idea of featuring etsy sellers?

Tim: This last spring, my friend over at the BeadedTail gave me the idea when she began featuring the works of several sellers each Friday. I decided that since I have no talent, it might be nice to try and help those that do. The people in the Etsy community have tremendous talent and although it may sound strange in this day and age, I truly like to help people. Now, I know I don’t have the best site out there, but I figure that any extra exposure can be helpful.

RWJ: Is there anything you've learned about blogging that you'd like to share with other bloggers?

Tim: Beyond the usual SEO tricks and tips, I would say that if you are just starting out, blog because it is something YOU want to do. It can be very frustrating when you first start out, because more than likely, there will be very few people stopping by. I understand from personal experience that it can get pretty depressing when you pour your heart out on a post and nobody stops by to read it. Try not to get too discouraged and just keep writing, because the audience will eventually come. Also, just be yourself and let your personality seep into your writing. This will allow people a chance to get to know you better, which can also help you build a loyal reader base.

Next, enjoy yourself. Don't get frantic about posting every single day. Yes, it is important to update frequently, but don't let the blog take over your life. Don't lose sleep over not having anything to write about. The best thing to do in these situations is to walk away and do something else. Believe it or not, an idea will come.

Lastly, I would also suggest that you become involved in various social networking sites. Visit other blogs and leave relevant comments on posts that interest you. On those sites you find particularly interesting, leave your relevant comments and bookmark the site, so you can return to it later. Become involved in the blogging community, because you will meet some fantastic people.

RWJ: Thank you for sharing with us Tim!

It's Time to Stalk the Stalkers!

I've talked about my lovely Stalkers Guild on Artfire before. Normally what we do is behind the scenes. Each week we pick a shop and promote them like crazy! And then tell them after we're all done ;) We're all about promoting and networking and helping each other :) I love it!

Well right now, we're giving YOU the chance to Stalk US! That's right! We're doing a Treasure hunt! There are a lot of great prizes being offered including the one below...

So head over to the Stalkers Blog and enter the Treasure Hunt! You won't regret it :)

Getting stronger means...

I've been getting stronger! I haven't had an asthma attack in 3 days. Now that might not seem long to you, but the fact of the matter is that for most of the last year and a half I've had at least a minor asthma attack every single day. Which, as you can imagine, has been massively frustrating! I've had a few good periods where I temporarily got stronger, but I've always crashed again. Right now I'm trying to be hopefully that this good period is going to last! I've been gradually getting stronger over the last few weeks and I'm trying act as if its going to last. I still have bad days, but that's to be expected.

So what am I doing? Good question.

Well, don't worry, I AM trying to pace myself. I'll work for awhile and then stop and read a chapter or two in whatever book I'm on because it's just about the most relaxed I can possibly get :P

Other than that...

There are a lot of business things that kept getting put off because I just didn't have the energy. I need to catch up on entering receipts and invoices for one thing. I'm also working on doing an overhaul on my inventory. I'm going through piece by piece, checking the listings for typos, and marking which pieces I need to take more photos of. I'm also going to be re-evaluating prices on a few pieces.

Monday I got through one bag of earrings. I'm not sure how many that is (I didn't count) but I have four bags of earrings to go through! I'm glad I started this project because I found quite a few minor typos to fix!

As for crafting, I'm focusing on the baby blanket for my cousin, but I'm also working on other things from time to time. I have two custom orders to work on in the next two days, but neither of them should take me very long. I'm mostly doing the crafty stuff at night right now because I'm being all "business like" during the day :P

Oh, I'm also looking into doing more bazaars! My last one was a flop, but I have a different one (maybe two) that I'm going to try next month. At this point I'm going to try to do one or two a month and keep building up my strength and stamina.

And of course I'm still listing and promoting items on-line! In fact I have a whole bunch to show off. Tell me what your favorite pieces are (and why) to get an extra entry into my top commentators contest!

The Etsy Bead Weavers are Super Charged!

This months challenge was super-power jewelry! I had some ideas but not enough time to even start working on them. Fortunately the ideas are still there and might develop into some pieces in the future! There were 15 artists on the team that DID have enough time to put together their great ideas, and it's time to go vote for them! Go to the Bead Weavers blog and pick your favorite!

I have some ideas for this next months challenge - but I don't think I'm going to be able to work on them. More ideas for notebook I guess! Since my priority needs to be the baby blanket for my cousin I don't think I'll have the time to develop those ideas this month, but ya never know!

Crafty ADD Update #12

Last week was really busy getting ready for my bazaar - but I still got some crafting done!

Crochet

I'm officially half-way done with the baby blanket! This is going to be my main project for the next couple weeks, because if it isn't, I won't have it done in time for the baby shower! That would just be sad eh? I think I can do it if I focus :)

Cross-Stitch

This pretty much got abandoned all week as I prepared for bazaar, but I put in some time on it last night and this morning! Almost done with the out lining on the brain and then I'll fill it in :) I think this is going to be my last book mark for awhile, I have a bigger project in mind for a wedding next summer, but you'll have to wait until this one is done to find out about it!

Jewelry

I'm getting SO CLOSE on my piece for Breast Cancer Awareness! Unfortunately I ran out of delica's :( Since I originally ordered them on-line I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to get them here in town or if I'll have to order more on-line. I'm also not sure when I'll be able to figure it out. *sigh* I might not get to finish this during BCA month! Oh well, I have a lot of other small ideas I can work on, but it's still frustrating. At least I was already planning on dedicating this to BCA permanently - so it will still be a fund raiser even after the month is over!

Always an Experience

Yesterday was the first time I've done a bazaar in a long time! My health problems have prevented me from signing up for any since the beginning of summer. Then, a few weeks ago, I received an invitation to participate in a bazaar sponsored by Dream Givers. I was really nervous, but I've been getting a little bit stronger, so after talking with my Mom, I signed up!

Mom and Her Display

The bazaar was from 9:30-5:00 at the Vancouver Ballroom in downtown Vancouver. It turns out that the ballroom is owned and managed by an old acquaintance of mine. I didn't get a chance to talk to him, but it was one of those "small world" moments!

In another "small world" moment, there was a gal there who had been at the only other bazaar that Mom and I have done in the area!

My Main Table

Now the sad thing about the bazaar is that it was pretty much a flop. We had very little foot traffic, and Mom and I only had one sale each. Which means I didn't even make my booth fee back. The good news is that Mom and I had a lot of fun talking and we made some interesting connections! Plus...one of the ladies is interested in buying one of my bead woven necklaces ... so if that happens I'll be really excited!

Main Table - Center

I did spend quite a bit of time talking to two different ladies, Meg and Alison, and I'm hoping to connect more with them in the future! Meg is a fellow etsian, and you can find her work at www.megscreations.etsy.com. She specializes in gourmet soups, cookies, brownies, and dips, all in packages with easy to read directions! I was really tempted to buy one of her soups, and if the bazaar had been more successful (ie, if I had made more money) I would have bought the black bean soup!

Main Table - Left Side

The other lady I talked a lot with was named Alison. She's an Avon lady and you can find her avon at www.youravon.com/aeberhard . One thing that I'm really excited about is that she told us about a bazaar coming up next month that's at an apartment complex, and it's only $10! I'm really hoping to go to that one. It'll be a shorter day which I need. And at only $10, if it's a flop, I won't have lost much!

Main Table - Right

I did learn that I'm definitely not up to a 9-5 bazaar yet. It was just waaaay to much. I did pretty good right up until the end. But I was feeling really sick by the time we began tear down. My current plan is to look for shows that are shorter days (like the apartment show) and keep working on building up my stamina so that hopefully I'll be able to do the full day bazaars in a few months or so!

My Side Table

The good news is that I'm not anywhere near as exhausted today as I thought I'd be! I am tired, and very sore, but I can sit here and work on things, and I was kinda worried that I'd be curled up on the couch! Or if not curled up on the couch, sitting here trying hard to breath, but I'm breathing just fine!

Mom's Display

So all in all, it wasn't a profitable day financially, but there are a lot of good things to take away from it. Some new friendships, the success of making it through the day in one piece, and some connections that may lead to great things in the future! Moving forward and moving on!

It's Bazaar Time!!

That's right, in half an hour I take off for my first bazaar since early this summer! I'm really excited, nervous, convinced I've forgotten something important, and in general just running around like a chicken with my head cut off. :P

All three of my shops will be in vacation mode until...well...that depends on exhaustion levels. If I'm still riding high this evening I might go through all pull all the items that sold and reopen. If not...it could be tomorrow or even Monday before they all open again! It all depends on how hard I crash.

So wish me luck! Great sales would be nice, but I'll settle for moderate sales and staying healthy all day :P

Which, btw, we do have a bunch of strategies in place to manage any of my health problems that might come up, and my Mom will be with me so I won't be alone :D Just so ya'll don't worry :D

And I plan on taking a BUNCH of pictures and blogging about it :D When will I blog? Well...again...we'll see how my energy is afterwards :P

Featuring Made by Melissa

Melissa is this months Featured Etsy Blogger, and she agreed to let me interview her! I had a lot of un getting to know a little bit more about Melissa. She's a team mate I hadn't really had much of a chance to connect with before now, and we have a lot of the same interests!

1. What type of art work do you do?

I make beaded jewelry and I crochet

2. How did you get started doing art work?

I started making jewelry at a very young age - I remember playing with my great aunt's old broken costume jewelry when I was only 5 or 6 years old. Every day I would string myself a new necklace and tie a bow with the string around my neck. I thought I was so gorgegous!! LOL!

I started crocheting when I was about 13. A family friend taught me the basics, then a few years later another family friend taught me some more. The rest I picked up from reading patterns and looking at finished pieces made by other people.

3. Do you do any other crafts?

I bake for holidays and special occasions, I also make photo albums for my son every year (ok, so I only made one so far, and I am way behind on the others, but in my head, I claim that I do it.)

4. Is there a story behind your shop name?

Nothing! Its pretty simple. I'm Melissa, and I made the things in my shop. I often wish I came up with something more catchy or creative, but I don't think its worth it to change anything right now.

5. What's your favorite piece in your shop right now?

Can I cheat and pick two? I love my Halloween Star Baby Blanket - http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=32046675 - its my new favorite blanket pattern and I am having a lot of fun with it. Olivia Octapus is my other favorite item right now - http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=30125270 - she was so much fun to make and I've had that yarn in my stash for so long and never really knew what to do with it, then suddenly, I thought, a red and pink striped octapus would just be so much fun!

6. Where do you sell your work?

On Etsy and at local craft shows.

7. Do you blog?

Yes, I do! http://madebymelissa.blogspot.com

8. Are you on any social networks you'd like to share?

Certainly! Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/madebymelissa;

Facebook: http://artist.to/madebymelissa/

and Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/madebymelissa

9. Do you watch or listen to anything while you work? If so, what?

Not usually, it all depends. If I am alone, then I can blast the radio or watch some NCIS reruns. If my little man is around, then I crochet while he watches whatever he is interested in at the time. I actually, get a lot of crocheting done during baseball season and with the playoffs coming up, I see myself staying up late and crocheting until the games end!

10. Tell us one random fact about your self *wink*

This one always seems to shock people - I do not know how to ride a bike and I have no desire to learn. My father pushed me to learn to ride, I had a nasty fall that resulted in my mother picking rocks out of my elbow and knee and decided that I was done with it.

I've been featured again!

I can't tell you how tickled I feel whenever I find myself in a treasury! It totally makes my day. And today was one of those days I really needed a pick me up :) Thank you so much to both of the lovely ladies who featured me!

It's Coming...

By SFBeads

My Orange and Black Chain Link Bracelet

Simply Love

by Love Clay

My Blue Agate Bracelet

Panic Averted

Right now I have a delicate balance I'm trying to maintain. I've actually been feeling pretty good, and so I've been trying to exercise whenever I can. Why? Well I'm over weight because of the medications and my health problems, and with all of my health problems the doctors say that exercise will help. Which is ironic because, while exercise may help my health problems, my health problems also tend to prevent me from exercising! It' a vicious cycle. So when I'm strong enough, I try to exercise. I have some stretches the doctor told me I needed to do for my back, and then I also try to go for short walks.

Exercising is great, but it takes a lot of energy ya know? I've been pushing and doing it anyway though! The only problem is that my energy is at a premium right now. I have a bazaar on Saturday that I'm trying to get ready for after all!

I haven't done a bazaar since the beginning of summer, and I've moved since then, so there's a lot of prep work that needs to be done! My stuff for the set up is no longer all in one place, I need to make sure every thing's marked right, and all that other fun stuff. There's a fine balance here too. I have x amount of things that need to get done by Saturday, but if I push myself too hard then I'll make myself too sick to do the bazaar!

So, trying to balance all of this (and other normal life stuff), left me ready to panic last night! Especially because I worked all day yesterday on various business things, and I was exhausted last night! Lying in bed my mind was racing with all the things I still had left to do. Then I realized a couple of important things.

1. It's ok if I don't get all my products photographed before the bazaar. All I have left unphotographed are earrings, and I KNOW I have more earrings than will fill my display, so I don't need to have those earrings for the show on Saturday.

2. I plain old have more stuff than I need for the show. I have at least 150 items (I don't have an exact count) and when I did my bazaar at the beginning of summer my displays were full. I've made quite a few things since then! So, I don't have to worry about getting all my untagged items tagged and ready. If I do, great, but if not? It's not like I don't have enough to sell! I do have a few untagged items that I would like to have out, but it's not a huge deal.

3. Yah, I'd like to do some work to get my displays a little nicer and all that, but until I know that I'm going to be doing more bazaars I really shouldn't spend the money anyway. I am going to go buy a few more velvet necklace displays for my high end items, but I'm going to get that done today, so nothing to stress about there! Those are cheap too :)

Figuring out all that means I'm no longer panicking! Yes, I still have stuff that needs to get done (making some signs, getting all my supplies in one place) but I have the next three days to do it :D And if any of that other stuff (photographs, labeling) gets done, fantastic, if not, no sweat.

My mantra for the week? *Breathe, don't panic, it's all going to work out!*

Crafty ADD Update #11

I was planning on putting this post up yesterday, I really was! But I sat down at my computer after working on many other projects (getting ready for my bazaar!), and then my hubby came home... Isn't it amusing how hubbies can totally derail your plans? LOL

Crochet

I still have 5 rows to go...and the party is on the 24th! Yah...I gotta get on it :P But...considering I have the bazaar this weekend I figure I can focus on it more after the bazaar :)

Cross-Stitch

I'm having a lot of fun with this bookmark! I think the brain is developing nicely, don't you? Don't expect to work on it much this week, but I've said things like that before, so who knows?

Jewelry

Ok, I know that it's a little hard to see, but the beads are really light so it's hard to photograph! The color is called "pink lemonade." It's the beginning of a necklace I'm making for Breast Cancer Awareness. I'll do a 50% donation from the sale of it to the Susan G. Koman fund, and this is the one piece I plan on keeping as a donation piece after BCA month is over. :) Hoping to get it done and on-line this week. I want to have it at the bazaar :)