moment of your time

You may or may not know that I'm currently a member of Etsy's first Community Council, a small group they put together of sellers and buyers from various categories and years of experience. (I might just be older in Etsy years than some of the admin, hehe) They've been working to get us to test a new tool, the long awaited ability to rearrange the order your shop listings appear. It's not bad. But if it were up to me, some more changes would be made first.

Acting as your temporary community liaison, (can I get a badge, please?) I want to give you a chance to get your voice heard. (Feel it's only fair I share the power.) I've put together a short survey, with a few questions regarding rearranging your shop, based on what is and isn't present in that function at the moment. There's also a spot for you to give me any other ideas on the subject.

Note that I am NOT an admin. The Community Council stint will likely only last a few months. This survey was put together by me, unaffiliated with Etsy, but I do intend to share the findings with the appropriate admin.

Thanks!

Click here to take survey

ThisNext:: Paper*Cakes

Vintage comes through in the...clutch. (pun intended)

Hehe. Blue is one of my favorite colors and this little asymmetrical ditty is just adorable.

From Paper*Cakes.

As always, if you want to follow my picks between Tuesdays you can check them out here or subscribe.

Phase Two

I've moved on to the next step of my project. Thank you for the encouraging comments and compliments. I treasure them. This is a huge personal challenge that has gotten my family involved with my crafting. It's pretty sweet.

Unchartered territory from here on out, folks.

*bites nails to the quick*

ThisNext:: RedPanda

Ok, this is awesome! I'm a sucker for wire-wrapping, right? But this is chainmaille wrapped. Cabochons, (the fancy name for the big focal stone seen here) are mesmerizingly pretty. I like to touch them when I go to the beads store though I have little clue to work with them. This is a beautiful idea, using eudialyte, a stone I hadn't heard of until I saw this piece. Love it!

From tweetpal and Etsy friend, redpanda.

As always, if you want to follow my picks between Tuesdays you can check them out here or subscribe.

WB- People!

What have I been up to? Why, crafting on my secret project of course. I made 5 little people out of paper, using a technique called quilling.

The first one took most of the day, the other four I finished the day after. I got the basic idea from a book, but I tweaked that and made up my own styles and patterns from there. Once I'd figured out the process, I was a machine. Usually I have to warm up to my creations. These I loved instantly upon completion. I did take a group shot.

Also, my brothers are gone for most of the week. Our church has a youth retreat every year. This year they both went. I realized, while taking out the trash which is normally Bro1's chore, that we'll soon be on our own. We'll have to do for ourselves the things that are shared among the three of us. Felt I should thank them more. (Our trash can is a green mammoth.) Yes, I got all sentimental and sappy. (sigh) But I haven't been an only child for 20+ years. It's weird. We're kinda dull, the parents and I. Can't help but think that when I'm away, I'm not missed as much as they are...they're so loud.

Post Picture: The coolest of the people I made. Wasn't sure if I should make 4 or 5. One of my tweet pals said 5 and instantly this idea came to mind. I might have a crush on him. I think it's the arms.

Blurble 7.16

I'm really enjoying this summer weather. It's not very hot so the humidity is bearable. When it's not raining (and it's done lots of that) it's very pretty.

Still working on my secret project. Hands are very covered in glue. I thought I could finish constructing the various pieces in one week...last week. I also thought that I could strip the paint and wallpaper in my room in a month. That ended up taking about 8 months. Lots of paint and wallpaper. I'm not a good estimator of how long it will take to get things done. I'm hoping this won't take that long. I hope to have construction down this week. Hoping.

Passed 10k tweets on Twitter. Not sure what that means...besides that I tweet a lot. You can follow me if you would like.

Post Picture: A picture from my trip to Elizabeth Park.

ThisNext:: romiceramics

These are fantastic. I have mad love for ceramic/porcelain/clay artists. And paper is a favorite material of mine for crafting. These are a smooth blending of the two in this rocking set of vases.

From romi ceramics

As always, if you want to follow my picks between Tuesdays you can check them out here or subscribe.

WB- Busy

This weekend was fun, a nice little diversion that I did need. Perhaps I enjoyed myself too much, getting back into working on projects seems tougher today.

On Friday, bro1 got fired. That's wasn't fun, but it wasn't really a surprise. It wasn't his fault, not in our biased estimation...or in that of his peer-level coworkers. It was a retail tragedy. But to celebrate our common joblessness, we had lunch together at this little diner down the street. Little diners are such culinary gems. Scrumptious food on the cheap.

Then we went to the movies. We never go to the movies, I think the last thing I saw in a theater was Evening. (gag) So this was a big deal to us- me, the bros and the dadperson.

Saturday I rode my bike around town. For exercise. (holla!) I've been trying to be more active. My clothes were getting tight. I've been at it a week and have noticed a difference in how I feel. Endorphins...what a rush!

I worked on my project, generated lots of scraps. I think I've saved every scrap of acid-free cardstock from every project I've done since I was about 15. All in a ziploc bag. Amazing.

Sunday was church. Then fireworks at a nearby town's annual celebration. And I forgot my camera. Because I'm that awesome. I think this little girl next to us fell asleep in her father's arms. I want that skill. We were right under the display! Fireworks are cool.

Hope this doesn't sound entirely like a 12-year-old's journal. Weekends are generally lazy as all get out. This one was more memorable.

Now...back to work.

Post Picture: One of my secret project photos. I have two pieces done. One halfway, another about 1/4. I think I might need to make some people. Not sure, yet. And a plane...maybe I need a plane.

Difference

Wow, what a difference a day makes. I was all happy in the previous post about my project. This morning I woke up with a sense of dread and panic. A thousand thoughts of doubts raced around in my mind. I can't do this. It's impossible. It will look like crap.

I kept thinking about my 4-H project, though. Back when I was 15 and made a 3-piece outfit in about 2 months. That was crazy, my parents later told me. I didn't think it was. I didn't know...I just wanted to win a ribbon. Haha. I tried to apply that logic here. It took a while but I'm beat the doubt for the moment. We'll see what happens when the action I'm clueless about starts. hehe

Now to figure out how to paint the world.

Post Picture: Pieces of the secret project puzzle. :)

Secret Ops

There's a contest. I want to enter that contest. Asked some questions, read some blog posts, I have a loose plan and am going for it.

I'd been quietly craving a new project for a while. Working on elpy is enjoyable. Every once and a while the urge to create something entirely new takes over and I've found it's best to go with it. Can't be very specific right now, but as things become available I'll share them...or I'll make you sweat and wonder. hehe



The project is bringing me back to my first love: paper-crafting. I use to make some pretty crazy things for school assignments (paper guns that did kinda shoot when you squeezed them, a cannon that shot with the aid of rubber bands, moses and the red sea, a pueblo town out of old cartons). It's also affirming that I will always be crafty, which I have struggled with accepting and wondered how long it would last.

I'm in a happy place right now.

Post Pictures: Some of the pictures I've taken of my progress. Nothing really specific, just kinda artsy. Rebel XS, I love you, I promise to learn how to work with you better.

ThisNext:: ccdoodle

I like long shirts. I like striped shirts. I like this shirt.

Happy July!

One of a kind from super-cool Hawaiian designerccdoodle.

As always, if you want to follow my picks between Tuesdays you can check them out here or subscribe.

WB- Flora

The fourth was spent quietly with family. I sanded some more magnet blanks. (not sure if my family might not be happier than I am that that's done.) We made hamburgers and fries and ate like kings...who didn't know how to count calories. hehe

On Sunday I went with a friend back to Elizabeth Park's rose garden. I forgot my UV filter but managed to get a few nice shots. Then we met up with some other friends and people I knew once upon a time. I'm seeing I need to be with people more. I like the hermit artist life, crafting away and posting it to the 'net. But socializing is important, too.

Post Picture: An unedited pic from the park...inside the little gallery they have.

Happy Independence Day!

America turns 233 today! Somehow, there are no fireworks in my area until next week. Odd right?

Anyway, hope you all had a great day! :)

July

For some reason I understand that June was over but didn't make the connection that July was starting. Maybe I was thinking we had a second June? Anyway, it's been a while since I've done a monthly post. Would like to get back into that, making up goals for the month and just keeping tabs on where I am.

Here are two goals:

Get the remaining items transferred to: http://elpy.etsy.com

Lose 10 pounds.

Gotta start somewhere. There are more things that I would like to do. I've brought back to-do lists. Function better with lists. Just making the lists is therapeutic.

Here's to a hopefully great month! :)