Being an artist is very challenging

So as of today I have at least 4 online shops, one of which I have a featured Artist (Crazy Bob at buddyschild on Etsy) and I have been away from here too long. As predicted the subtle movement from 2015 to 2016 has been trodden with the realization, maybe I am trying to do too much! (say what?).

In 2015 I began to post painting I have created or recreated from internet postings as practice paintings in acrylic. I use them mostly for Michael's painting classes I teach here locally in Camarillo, CA.  Each class is a therapy session, washing my brain with pure art related thoughts. The release is

Last open House
at Michael's

astounding. Near my desk is the advertisement postcard from a recent playing of "Rocky Horror Picture Show" at the West Wing Drive-In, Santa Barbara, CA.  Painting for me is like watching that movie over and over again.  "...life is fleeting,...", oh, do tell, I feel this feeling all too much these days.

My 1st FREE Painting Class at Michael's

(stop & smell the roses).

Working and Painting and Teaching Painting or Drawing classes, has been a great release for me as well as creating paintings to gaze upon. I tread lightly on exposing my work on display for my day job, as being a local artist, well I have enough challenges without upsetting a boss.  They prefer me to focus on them when I am there, however, this has been a problem for a very long time with me, focusing on their business and not mine. (hm-m-m-m)

Which takes me back to the start of this blog, doing too much.  Plus I thought about the distraction of the greatest tool ever, my phone. I can play connect the dots all day while I chant about my next sale and how to get there.  Yesterday walking the dogs, I envisioned the flyer for the Paint Parties I have started.  Then there are the vending shows I want to show up at, to sell and pass out said flyers; then I want to make paintings and coloring books for kids a show happening in April I may be able to attend and present stuff for sale. (hope).

Me & Lee Meriweather
at Comic Con 2015

Snacks at my computer make for an issue with crumbs, leading to cleaning time, marketing, creating, publicizing, finding more jobs, do the job on the table...and the list bleeds into another list to keep it all straight, until another list combines the two previous lists. (Shutters and sighs).

However, I am happy, happier than I have been for the 59 DAYS OF WINTER SO FAR. (breathing). My finances are toasting into lack of funds world as I tip toe thru paying my bills, yes being an artist is challenging.

So off to pick up a paycheck, chant again for students, more painting time and letting the creative juices keep flying at me as they have been in the last 3 hours and then some here and there before. Be creative, it is all we have as adult children. #ImBornTo Art. #Love2Paint #BeAwesome #Paint

Snowflakes Are Special.

The unique symbiotic relationship we have to the snowflake is that, like the snowflake, no two snowflakes are alike and neither are we.  Our fingerprints is what make us special. But I like snowflakes.  They are beautiful as well as plentiful this time of year.

And there you have it, the reason Etsy exists.  Those of us who have recognized our talents, have built a store out of the brick and motor using Etsy's foundation and the people who come to our stores, visit and see what a special snowflakes we are, to all of these people, I suggest you  wish them the best in holiday cheer.

As we enter into the holiday I suggest all of us take to the airwaves and suggest a solution to the holiday solidarity of gift and holiday cheer.  Suggest people to go to the little shops built by artisans, like myself and see what the snowflakes have to offer.  

We are special.  We have committed a goal to ourself and that is to float and support and to shine in the midst of this holiday season as we close out our year.  I wish us the very best.

We are little snowflakes and we are special.  My goal is to shine in the light of each and everyone of you.  Go with your snowflake and enjoy the ride with Santa, Kwanzaa, Hanukah

, and every other spiritual giving and thankfulness you embody, life is short as is the light of a snowflake.  Don't burn in the sun, shimmer instead!

Photo by JP Denyer

Denyerdesigns.com

Buddyschild on Etsy

Promotion: Should you be spending the $$$$ or is there a better way to Promote?

Do you use the "promote " section on Etsy? If you do then read this :

*ATTENTION* *WARNING* *HEADS UP* - 
THIS EFFECTS EVERYONE ON ETSY!!!!! 
Here's etsy's new promotion and how they automatically raised your advertising budget without your consent. There's yet another loophole that even I missed, that they're gonna screw you for $30. a month without you even knowing it. There is a setting, HIDDEN, that has promotion set to automatically turn on when you list a new item. You have to manually turn this off, or the second you list a new item, they start charging you $1. a day to promote it, EVEN IF you have already turned promotion off. Go to your dash board. Click on "PROMOTE". Click on the gear wheel in the upper right corner. Choose "ADVANCED SETTINGS". Here you will find evidence of their dirty underhanded money making scheme, and can turn it off by unclicking the box that says "YES, PROMOTE NEW LISTINGS". We all need to send a message to etsy and let them know just how unhappy we are with their dishonest new policies. The more people the hear it from the better. They need to hear that this is unacceptable!!!!!
****************

I woke up this morning to find the above posting message shared with me from my mom, co-author of our book, "Be An Etsy Store Owner" and she sent it to me from the group,"Etsy Treasury, Items  And Promote Sharing" . THANKS GUYS YOU ARE THE BEST!

I felt an immediate need to share, however the power went out in my neighborhood last night. An idiot (according to the me) ran a red light and slammed into a parked utility truck only to burst into flames and cut the power to the neighborhood of just under 5,000 homes!  Me in the middle of a freelance job too; now what? (No deaths or major injuries so it is ok to call the person who cut my power an idiot)!  Silver lining, stars, lots of stars!

Well, after reading this post, running off to work was my plan, however not before warning my new friend in winning the sales battles on Etsy. She and I met up over a Team Conversation via Etsy and have been talking back and forth sharing our learning curves in the Etsy world. Please go visit her shop (smile), she just inheritied a whole bunch of "vintage" stuff and her friend is going to be sewing a whole bunch more new stuff, so I am here to stomp a bit for her shop!

Oh, and my Mom, doll that she is, is also going to do a local Christmas Sale Event soon -- (November 8th in Canoga Park, CA) with the people in her neighborhood.  She is doing much to get the word out about this Holiday event.  Her jewelry items, well, she makes them all by hand, all of them and at 87, she is quite the creative one - learned all my tricks from her! Taught my mom a few myself over the years, like how cool Etsy is, which she joined several years after I did!

And I should send a shout out to my sister, since this post is all about PROMOTION, so "Hey sis, here is a shout out to your shop, hope it brings you good luck!"

Buddy is a Chia Pet!

So how does one "Promote" their shop when budgets are costing us a fortune?  Simply put, talk about your shop.  The power of word of mouth is one of the strongest tools you have to sell you and your stuff, much stronger than any other way to promote and it is well known, TALK IS CHEAP!  I have seen restuarants that were so over the top fun to sit in and eat, only to close because of the talk surrounding the eatery.  The power of the Team is in the heart of the story.  The best form of advertising is to talk about it.  This is where you can do the best you can to PROMOTE your Etsy world.  

• Facebook
• Pinterest
• Tumblr
• Stumble Upon 
• LinkedIn
• Craigslist
• EbayClassified
• Twitter
• Zazzle

The above list is a very short list of places to start your  SOCIAL MEDIA campaign and all of them are key to advertising and you need not spend a dime!  Working the social media world will also sharpen your writing skills.  So get out there and start talking about your Etsy world.  Make your Etsy life happen and stop spending money on things you don't need.  From what I have learned over the years working my freelance business, an advertisement has a very tiny percentage in sales returns, very tiny - like 2% - that's right - 2%!!!! So learn how to talk and make every word you use count, make a new contact out there.  You have a talent, but no one is going to know it if YOU do not TALK about it my friends.  Good luck and spend your money where it counts, with words and pictures.

Oh, and Happy Halloween - this is Buddy in his costume for 2014 - isn't he cute? 

Passion Part two: I saw on Etsy today a thing about Teams

What I day I have had. Went to my day job per usual, however I was able to take my dog Buddy, who is my personal muse, with me and we had a great time!

I get home, relax a short bit and boom get hit with a scam attack on FB, Face Bookers beware, they are hacking your friends - almost got me too, but my spider antenna is dull to somethings and sharp to others. Trust me, if ANYONE says to you "Can you keep a secret?" this is the first thing you do not want to do.  Why would anyone, who is a friend, want you to keep a secret? But I digress....

So con artist attack, gone, check!

I go back to business as usual, check the stats for my Etsy accounts, try and figure out why I can't sleep and hope my guardian angels continue to watch over me to protect my artist life.

I read the first part of a blog on Etsy about teams.  It's good and inspiring.  And it talks about the essence all artists, entrepreneur's and generally every person who walks this planet shares in, which is passion!

I breathe passion as a form of nourishment.  This has lead me to discover the added benefit of teams on Etsy and has got me to thinking about teams in general; are there any local to my neck of the woods? Yes, maybe, I don't know.

I am, metaphorically speaking now, working from inside a boat, most often by myself.  I am Captain, Flag Raiser, Chief Cook and Bottle Washer when it comes to my "evening job" activities, you know the drill and being a responsible person this makes my balancing act of struggling artist a very big challenge.  The Etsy Teams opened up a door to my small, "boat mentality world" and I discovered teams really do help little boats like mine to handle larger waves and grander shades of sunlight.

Think about this, how often do you see a winning team?  Even the single person who catches the winning pop fly, had a team helping with this final victory.  Teams start with family, branch out to friends, then the smattering business associates who pop in and out during a life cycle and surprise, you discover Teams on Etsy.  This is the basic way I found teams on Etsy.  It wasn't something I really thought about until now, however there is passion in these teams.  They are Etsy Members who network together and find ways to empower each other into bringing the life force of teams as a real form of support for your business!  After reading the first section on the blog, mentioned earlier in my blog, I realize need to do more (there is always more by the way).  I need to look further into finding any Etsy people closer to me than the people in the teams I belong to now.

Please do not misunderstand me, I love all of the teams I have joined, they have been a great inspiration to me and have caused me to start this blog.  However I think I also need to find handicraft people, also on Etsy, who are closer to me geographically and can help in supporting our passion in a very proactive way as suggested in the blog linked in this blog. Are you with me so far?

The purpose of teams is to support the passion, drive the engine to be passionately successful and stay on track with what is the core element of our passion - which in my case, is to be creating more and fulfilling the responsibility parts of my life with my creations, not my day job, so I can create more and know the responsibility part of my life is being taken care of by my passion.

You see, right now I am awake, writing this blog, talking to you all and not feeling a wee bit sleepy when I should be zonked out asleep, as Buddy the dog is, lucky dog.

Look for teams with like minds as your passion.  Easy enough to do - just go to the top right corner of your Etsy page, where it says "You", then click and hold. Scroll down to "Your Teams", even if you don't have teams, I am hoping it will take you tout suite to where you want to be to find a team to your liking!  If not try this: I think it is a link to the Teams search section on Etsy (crossing my fingers it is):

• Home ›
• Community ›
• Teams

From there, locate the spot in the picture here - as seen

in your Etsy browser and type in what key words (in the lower search bar section - look carefully at my picture) who you think will attract like minded people to you in support of your passion.  As in all things, dip in with just a toe, don't go cannon balling into the team pool.  Each team has rules, as do all things in life and these guidelines help make the support you seek a better path for all who are there for your passion and their passion.

So keep on swimming Etsy buds, be the little trains that could and reach for the stars, for there is plenty of stars for all of us who were born to live out a life of passion, without nets to hold us back!

I just love passion!

Passion: Part One

Passion.  It is the strongest motivation I have and why I am on Etsy.  I cannot deny that since I was a young child, my personal passion has grown each year and when Etsy entered my life, I felt I had walked through a door and could invite the world to share in my passion.

My passion takes me in many directions, another aspect to Etsy I like.  For Etsy is filled with artisans of multi disciplined passions and each has their inner motivations to bring what they do best to others.  I work at a day job doing creative design work, a field which allows me diversity so I am never bored. As each project germinates and is completed, a new job awaits my creative design skills.  There are mundane times to my day job and this is when my inner mind drifts to things of magical whimsy.  It may be a dream, a problem I need to solve or it may be an idea that has taken root in my life and will not let go until I cultivate it to completion.  Drifting into my passion is a way of my life and I utilize every moment of every day with thoughts about what can I do with this minute?

All have been taken by the Responsibility Troll so I must leave this arena and tell the Troll I am not worthy for I need to go to replenish my minutes with hours at the day job.

Part two tonight, I hope! - see you later alligator!

Hanging out a shingle: Life on Etsy

Yes, 2009 was a good year.  I learned about Etsy and I learned I too could share with the world my talents.  If you are an artist, who makes handmade items, Etsy is a great place to start your first step to opening your own store.

What is the most important thing about your shop?  Do you think it is the items you sell? Well yes, but think about this for a second…pretend if you will, you are in your car driving or walking down the street, what draws your attention.  For me it is the shop sign or the name of the shop.

This is called your "Hanging Out A Shingle". Or in some cases it could as simple as a business card.  A very important step and there are a lot of elements connected to it.  At Etsy it is your banner.  Banners have a Name, many stores add a few details, called a "Tag Line" and of course the ART!!! Always the art.  Your business card, if this is simpler for you, is just as easy, however you need a phone number, a printer and the other things I mentioned in creating the banner issue.

Here are some examples of Banners I have created.  There are artisans on Etsy who do create banners and complete packages for sale, so you can purchase ready made banners and business cards if you like.

Feel free to shoot me a question if you have one, gotta run myself, life in the Etsy lane is calling my name.  Happy trails.

Long ago and far away, I heard about Etsy

It was 2009 and I was at my boyfriends place.  There, a young girl was talking about how she had sold a felting item she had made and kept using this word "Etsy".  About ten or eleven years old, she was conversing with her cronies and I had to ask her to spell the word, as my business woman ears were intrigued by her simple happiness of success and I was looking for an outlet to sell my original project designs.

Later on that evening, at my home and glued to the keyboard for my computer, I discovered Etsy and set up a shop.  My early baby steps at learning the ins and outs of online sales was through my favorite store named, Buddyschild.  Fast forward to today, I realized I have written a book about how to open your own store on Etsy  (co authored with my Mom), I have six different Etsy stores, one is Bea Brilliant , a craft supply outlet store for craft supplies I have collected over the years, which desperately need new homes, and a huge desire to expand my universe, thus this blog.

I love Etsy.  I think for all of the avenues one can take to showcase their handmade items, sell craft supplies or offer vintage items for sale, the people on Etsy are very interested in coming together in support. It is a great way to test the waters for new sellers of handmade items.  Because I have been in business (graphic design, packaging and illustration) for over 35 years and because I believe in random acts of kindness, team work and high levels of happiness, the idea of writing a blog popped into my head about my experiences. with my online stores. So there you have it, the germination of another creative seed in a world that has shown me, every oyster has a pearl.

Come join me in my new adventure, I will be writing about all things Etsy, promoting products, shops, clues on the ins and outs of being in business and definitely sharing all that I can. Because I am also a Halloween Lover, I love to promote all things silly & fun. Pictured here is an item I made for those who love skull clothing! Until we meet agin!