Knitting in Lucerne Valley, CA

 Spring has arrived at my home in Lucerne Valley. In spite of the chickens trying to eat these daffodils when they first sprouted, they've managed to bloom.

Moonrise in Lucerne Valley CA

 I'm enjoying the perfect weather before the blasting heat of summer arrives. We have a very short spring here. And it is still winter according to the calendar. I bought a red pear tree to plant as well as 2 olive trees. The olive trees are different varieties and will cross-pollinate each other. The label promises more and better fruit if you do it that way.

I think this photo will be a good reference for a future painting.

The sunsets here are often spectacular.

Northern Lights Cowl folded in half.

 A nice knitted cowl to stave off the cold.  With much of the U.S. still covered in snow, I'm sure someone out there needs this so it is going in my Etsy shop.

Pretty cowl (neck scarf loop) to keep the chill off.

 The cowl in it's normal width.  Hand knitted in acrylic yarn. The name of the yarn is Northern Lights.

A view of Lucerne Valley, CA at sunset.

The view from my front yard.

I hope some of the Joshua trees bloom this year but I don't see any buds yet. They have huge white flowers.  They don't bloom every year and we didn't get much rain this year.

Outdoor Crafts Or Not

I went outside to do a load of wash, and it was so beautiful. Dead still, blue skies, sunshine. So I brought my crafts outside, set them on the table, and went into the laundry room. By the time the load was done, the wind was gusting, the blue sky was covered in clouds, and there was a chill in the air. When I came back from putting the clothes on the line, the table had blown over. I fixed everything, and was crocheting a snood when the wind hit. The ball of thread was in a Ziploc bag.  But the wind bounced it on the ground, the thread ball came out of the bag, the notes went blowing across the yard, and it took me 5 minutes to find the plastic bag, which had fetched up against the front fence. So now I'm back in the house. I still have to hang up 2 blankets when the washer stops, but I think I'm done with outdoor crafting for the day.

Clouds Blowing In

Bye Bye Blue Sky

Red Snood. A snood is a hair net.

Punkin Cat Ghost Gourds for Halloween

The wind wasn't cooperating today but I did get 4 Halloween gourds finished, except for the protective spray coating. But it's definitely too windy out there to spray. But I want to show you anyway, in case you want me to save any for a reserved Etsy listing.

A kitty with blue eyes over a smiling jack-o-lantern.

Kitty with a pink tongue over a smiling Jack-o-lantern.

Mousie on back of cat pumpkin.

I saw the ghost idea on Pinterest, but came up with the cat punkins all on my own.

 I love to make each one different.

Gourds

Tuesday we had a big adventure. We drove all the way to the Welburn Gourd Farm in Fallbrook CA for the last day of their 30% off sale. Seems the place was packed on Friday and Monday because of the Labor Day weekend, but we practically had it to ourselves today. We had to pick up canteen and bottle gourds for a commission.

But my project was to get mini gourds to make santas for my Etsy shop. The first batch I picked were cheaper than I thought so I still had five dollars left to spend. For slightly more than that, I got 7 more gourds. It was a blistering hot day and we don't have AC so by the time I got home I was too tired to do much. Basically I zoned out in front of my computer. But tomorrow I will clean up the gourds and get started. I'll also post photos of the gourd farm. It's 2 AM so it will have to wait for tomorrow.

We had lunch at Subway in Menifee on the way home, mainly so we could sit in the air conditioning for a bit. We happened to have a bag of cans and bottles to recycle, so we turned those in first and it paid for most of our lunch. I have a high school friend that lives in Menifee now.  I didn't know where Menifee is so I didn't get to go see her. I haven't seen her since I graduated in 1976, or maybe I did at her wedding soon after. One day my sister found her on Facebook. I imagine she was at work anyway. We've been meaning to get together for about a year now.

Right now I really need sleep, so goodnight.

Straightening Out My Etsy Shops.

Tonight I worked on two of my Etsy shops. The older one is called Pigglewiggins and the newer one is called Hypnotic.  Etsy has changed so much and has so many new features, they I had to update a lot of  parts. Even my address was out of date. I renewed a few listings and plan to add new stuff soon. Since I moved, I have to do a visual check to make sure I still have the items I'm listing and they aren't still packed away somewhere. Lucky most of my creations won't break; its just a matter of finding them, and making sure they are ready to ship to their new home. Some of the bigger items I had to give away because there was no room on the moving van. So I need to make some new gourd items. Paintings rarely sell (unfortunately) and I didn't give any of those away, so I'm sure I have all of those stored in my closet. I may just break down and sell them all at a yard sale, or I may relist them on Etsy. So if you remember anything you were dying to have, make me an offer. Canvas paintings sometimes cost a lot to ship so keep that in mind.

Zentangle by Fayme Harper

Go Make Crafts. Fill That Shop. Sell Sell Sell.

I need to take a deep breath, calm down and make crafts. I admit Facebook can be very depressing at times and too much negativity can make it hard to work on crafts. I have so many friends on FB and someone is either losing a loved one, dealing with disease, or facing insurmountable problems. My heart goes out to all of them and I feel sad and helpless many times.

I wish I could buy things from all my friend's Etsy shops and likewise I wish they could all buy from mine. Of course that would be easier to do if I actually put things in my Etsy shop. Many people have turned to bartering and that's fine but it doesn't pay the bills.

So why am I rambling when I should be working? Off I go.

Is life beating you down?

Tangible Daydreams & Selling Craft Booklets

I fell in love with this blog today http://tangibledaydreams.blogspot.com/ called tangible daydreams. She must be a kindred spirit. I saw her felted juggling balls on Pinterest and I make felted juggling balls too. So I went to her blog and it turns out we have many of the same crafty interests. So I followed her blog and look forward to seeing more on it.

Today I tried to make part 2 of my doll making video but then my boyfriend sold something and we had to race to the hardware store for a box big enough to ship it in. Now he's boxing it up so he can find out how much shipping is going to be and let the seller know. The seller only wants it if it's under $30 to ship, but it's heavy so it looks like we are going to eat the rest of the shipping in order to make the sale.

And heavy winds are predicted this afternoon and for the next day so I don't want to take all the little parts out right as the winds pick up. And it's already starting to get gusty.

As we unpack, I'm finding a lot of old crochet &craft pamphlets and booklets.  So I looked one up on BING to find it's out of print. Originally $6.50, one seller got $7.50 for a used one and another person has a used one for $12.99 on Ebay. So I'm thinking of scanning all of these, then selling them. Kind of like having my cake and eating it too and freeing up room in the bookshelves. And when my boyfriend's grandmother passed on at 95, I got a bunch of hers as well, which are surely worth something to somebody. I only hesitate because I hate the tedium of listing things on Ebay or Etsy. Dealing with people who want the moon for nothing make selling things a PITA sometimes. But considering how my income has gone down greatly in the last five years and expenses keep rising, I may have to just bite the bullet and do it.

Sunset Bunny

Since its too windy to work outside today, I decided to work on my Etsy shop instead. I still have more to list, but if I do too many at once, I start getting the descriptions all mixed up. So I thought I'd quit while I was ahead. I've added new owls and bunnies. The sunset bunny is my newest favorite. If you've never tried embroidery on felt, it's a delight to work with. It's also a good material to teach young hands their embroidery stitches. For about $3.00 in California, you can gift a young stitcher with enough felt, thread and buttons to get started.

Hooting Around

These are the two owls I made today. I'm experimenting with different shapes of owl bodies.  Which one do you like better? In the top one the sides of the head are straighter. In the bottom one they are more rounded.

I haven't listed either in my Etsy shop yet. I just haven't had time. But your opinion will help me decide which direction to go with these in the future.

Outfit For Winter

Since I moved to the desert I had bigger things on my mind than putting outfits together. So today I decided to remedy that by putting together a winter outfit. I hadn't planned on a purple and black theme but that's the way it turned out. I'm also wearing the new ankh I just got from Etsy. Even though I'm only going to the laundromat today I miss dressing up, so I put on my new pink lipstick. I've never had a winter in my adult life, so learning how to dress is a challenge. I want to be warm without looking like a hobo.

 A hat I made on a knitting loom.

Vampire ankh from Etsy

Purple and Black Outfit:

 Skirt: Holy Clothing

Blouse: Walmart

Sweatshirt: Walmart

Ankh: Etsy

Hat: Self-made on knitting loom

Beaded Felt Heart Pins

I'm at the library trying to fit a week's worth of Internet work into the 3 hours a day the library allows per person. In other words, I get to come here 2 days a week (if I'm lucky) so I have 6 hours worth of computer time, which may seem like a lot to some people, but considering I usually use the Internet 8 hours a day; 6 hours a week isn't much at all. And if there are no computers available at the time, I won't even get that.

So I got two beaded felt hearts listed on Etsy. I got them both done in about 30 minutes at the library, unlike the hour and a half it took me to do one listing yesterday with my home dial-up connection. The library only allows computer time in one hour increments, then if no one is waiting it gives you 15 minutes more at a time. Ugh.  Right now every computer I can see if full. And this one kicks me off in 10 minutes. So I better stop typing and post photos.

Beaded heart with fresh water pearls and gray French knots.

I finished the top heart today and the bottom one a few weeks ago. Both are for sale in my Hypnotic Etsy shop.

Tiles I found in my yard that I'm saving for a mosaic project.

Etsy on Facebook

Tonight I started beading a new arrow felt pin. Or it could be used as an applique.  It's the first time I've tried this design. So far it is green felt with green and yellow beads.

I also tried putting my Etsy shop on my Facebook page. I tried 2 different apps but neither one worked. Other friends I know have beautiful pages on Facebook and sell things from their Etsy shops and I feel like I'm missing out.

Starting a New Doll

I was at home working on dolls but the construction workers were using a tile saw right above me. At least I got my new clown doll listed on Etsy here. Then I packed it up and got a lift to the library where I am loving the peace and quiet. I worked on the latest doll. It doesn't have a personality yet. So far it's just a beige/orange head and body. The witch doll is on hold until I get some black yarn for her hat and hair. Then I should be able to finish her in about an hour.

Beverly the One-Eyed Girl

I decided to make today a work day and finished my doll and got it listed on Etsy. https://www.etsy.com/listing/105269058/beverly-prim-style-folk-art-doll-ooak I named her Beverly because that's where I got the parts for most of her.  The blue velvet neck trim is vintage from Goodwill. It takes a  long time to sew a doll by hand, and not much less by machine, because the only part you can do by machine is sewing around the body parts. So even at $40. I'm not sure I'm making a profit. That's the way it goes with arts and crafts. Lots of love but not much money.

Back view.

Beverly with her one good eye.

Me holding her when she's all done.

Beverly shows off her hip hop moves.

Getting ready for "So You Think You Can Dance"

Etsy Has a New Biography Page

I'm really excited about Etsy's new About page. If you have an Etsy shop I highly recommend you make one because it's fun. And useful. And has photos. Here is mine so you can see what I mean. ABOUT You can tell the world all about how you do art and why you do art. Now I need to figure out what I want on my other 4 About pages. I think maybe I will give Etsy another try

Nate Berkus Features ETSY

Nate Berkus often plugs Etsy and today he featured the Etsy offices with some behind the scene looks. Over a billion dollars in gross sales. I just wish more of them were from my shops.If you missed it, here's a link: Nate Berkus Etsy sure sounds like a fun place to work. I love the personalized phone booths and desks. Nate also plugs some specific Etsy shops. I hope they are ready for the deluge of orders.

I would love to have my own craft TV show.

Marketing Crafts

It's 7 AM and probably too early for me to be hashing out marketing strategies, but I think I should start putting an hour a day exclusively into marketing. Things like listing new items on Etsy, Zazzle, Cafe Press, Bonanza, and Zibbet. I've really let that fall by the wayside.  I'm like many artists in that I'd rather paint, sew, shop for supplies or research new crafts than I would writing ad copy and trying to steer buyers in my direction. I do market things on Facebook and Twitter, but I don't really see much profit in that. Of the millions of things people could possibly buy why would they buy from me in particular? And hard sell never works. People just get annoyed and annoyed people don't buy things from the person that's annoying them.

Working on a Painting With Fun Shapes

I'm getting ready to go out of town for 4 or 5 days. I don't really want to lose the great flow I'm having with my artwork, but I need balance in my life too and that means participating in family events.
I picked a hard painting today.  Lots of small intricate shapes to paint  After hours of working on it, my hands died and my eyes burned and my shoulders ached, so I had to give it up for the night.  It's going to be interesting to see if I can manage to paint while on my journey by train and on the road. I can only take minimal supplies with me. I'll let you know how it goes when I get back.
I'm obviously not going to be able to do my new Etsy shop grand opening today at 1 PM. I'll be at the train station. Oh well, best laid plans.  I had to push back the date to Dec. 15, 2011.  That way I'll have a few days to work on listings once I get back home next week. I'll have to write descriptions and do photos and so on. And I realized my scanner won't hold a 12 x 12" painting. It's too narrow.  So all the photos will have to be done with my digital camera. I had hoped to open on the first and catch some of the Christmas shoppers.  Oh well, can't win them all.  See you in a few days my faithful readers.

Etsy Chat Bites the Dust

Etsy chat is dead and gone. Here are some of the screen captures I did.  I was in two different chat rooms. Someone tried to open about 24 chat rooms to crash the system, but it stayed up until about 5:15 EDT.

For many people, Etsy helped them make sales, meet friends, keep up with Etsy changes, blow off steam, and relax from their family duties. Many were angry, hurt and shocked that it closed.  A big chunk of them joined Zibbet so they could use the Zibbet chat room, which has a NING format. It's the end of an era. Most of my shop views over the years came from Etsy chat.

If you need me, I'll be on Zibbet chat under the name Zelena of Vespertine, and also on a new Ning group called Artistry United, and on Facebook of course and my usual haunts.

Leaving Etsy

Lately I've been debating if it's even worth it to stay on Etsy. After struggling all these years, the only shops that seem to do well are the ones that sell consumables like soap and incense, suppliers, and vintage shops.  Artists rarely make the best sellers lists on Etsy. For time invested in listing items, taking photos, writing descriptions, and other associated hassles, I've seen very little return.  Lots of compliments, but you can't pay the bills with compliments. And it's just such a burn out to put your work there and never see it sell.