The Upswing... Now Stay UP Swing!

I have just returned from mailing my ninth and tenth Etsy orders. Yes folks that's right, I have now entered into double digits with my sales! It seems a bit pitiful, but for me, the last couple of weeks have been good for me as far as my shop and sales go. Granted most sales have been to friends and family, I still count it as a small victory. How shall I celebrate? A bottle of champagne? Better make that a five dollar bottle of Brut then. I don't intend to talk myself down here. My custom orders are still steady, and my home sales are steady too, as well as incoming craft show invitaitons. It's the magic of an Etsy sale that has me wanting more.

This last winter, I have been trying my darnedest to make my Etsy shop the best it can be! I bought mannequin heads and necklace busts. I have taken so many pictures that my computer is starting to cuss at me in the all too familiar random bursts of stalemate. I have gone to the critiques and the labs, the forums and the team meetings. I have re-listed and posted new items almost daily. For all of this I have very little to show. Frustrating? Yes. I feel like it's all going to be worth it though. I have always lived by the mantra that the harder you work the more benefits you will reap. I feel like the recent upswing in interest in my shop and my designs as well as a few sales, is a taste of what I can achieve. I want an entrée though, no amuse bouchée here.

I will go back to my picture editing, my packaging, my daily scroll through all of my internet outlets and I will diligently go forth. I can see how far I have come and I can see how far I still have to go. Maybe my next goal will be ten sales a month. That seems reasonable. I think I can, I think I can, I know I can, I know I can. Toot toot!

The Powers of Sunshine

Yesterday was the first day of Spring! It was also National Earth Day for those who didn't know. The sunshine has been out in full force the last week or so and my spirits have lifted like the frost off the ground. The air still has a nip that reminds us that a last dip in temperatures could bring us snow again, but right now I could care less. My bulbs are starting to push their way upwards, except for the ones that the dog and cats have dug under and those are trying to grow in the direction they have been left in. Yesterday, there were two mother deer with their two babies in our neighbor's yard. We live in a city mind you and around a busy part of town. My daughter immediately pointed out the Mom and the "dad" and the babies. It was at dusk so the moment was quite surreal.

I have been inspired to create. I want to make beautiful things. I want to release a winter's worth of pent up emotion and thought. I have been dreaming designs and find myself drawn to my workspace even before my eyes can focus in the morning. I don't sit down, I just look. Sometimes I give a once over to a piece I created in the wee hours of the night before, just to make sure the glass of wine I had while making it didn't impair my judgement of style.

I am battling the inner pull of whether to create art or work in the flower beds that need attention. I need to do both, but find I get neither accomplished to the extent that I desire. The yard is partially cleaned and my jewelry and such is in a state of partially realized creative moments. Today, Sunday, may be the day I am pushed to do both. The television is not on cartoons and my daughter is already poised to run amuck in the freshly thawed, soft earth of the yard. With the man being stabilized in front of the latest madness of March I may find another pair of eyes is just what I need to focus mine on getting the art out. Here comes Spring! The balancing of moods and the magic of muses.

Starting Something New

So here I am in the blog-o-sphere. I have stepped out and into an unknown. I used to blog a lot when I was pregnant. I blogged about how to handle going to a music festival while preggers and about the joys and pitfalls of starting a family etc. This blog, will focus on my creative side. I make jewelry as a more professional art, but I do it all. I paint, sew, decoupage, flower arrange, home decor, paper craft, woodwork, garden, and anything that my creativity can engulf. I hope to make this blog a positive outlet for myself and my work so please bear with me while I spruce the place up!

Hugs and kisses to you and those you love.

~Kelley