So Many Ideas...So Little Time

It's been crazy busy lately. Either that or it's just taking me an awfully long time to get anything done. Actually I think it's a combination of the two. My chronic fatigue has kicked up big time in the last couple of weeks. I'm trying to scale back and conserve energy but, in the words of Oklahoma's Ado Annie, "I'm just a girl who can't say no!" Well, I'm working on it...getting better at it, but still a work in progress.

One good side effect of working on conserving energy is that I've been able to make a few pieces of jewelry I really like. The process just takes me to another, more peaceful, place. I know that when I'm feeling overwhelmed, I just need to pick up some beads or clay and I'll feel better. Here are my latest creations:

Barnacles Bangles and Necklace



Aztec Bracelet

One very exciting thing happened for me last week. I logged in to my email and checked out the latest edition of Beading Daily and, lo and behold, there I was! A while ago I had sent in a response to a request for music inspired jewelry pieces. My friend Mary and I had designed and made pendants for the 60+ members of our choir. She had shown me her design for a treble clef pin and I had the idea of attaching two treble clefs, reversing the orientation, and then we had SS for our phenomenal women's choir, Shout Sister. We are led by the very talented Juno award winner Georgette Fry. The selection of music is quite meaningful and special, and when our voices come together we seem to transcend the daily grind and all things seem possible. Here is an example of the pendant and earrings I made myself:

Ask and Ye Shall Receive

Yesterday I was bemoaning the fact that as yet I had not made any online sales, with the exception of my very supportive sister. I just felt that as an artist I needed a little validation. Well, I logged into my Etsy account last night, and lo and behold I had made an honest to goodness sale! I am sooo grateful. That really gave me a boost.

I spent the majority of last night working on updating the Clayamies website. I'm a real newbie in the webpage design business so it's taking a while for this old brain to figure it all out!

On the personal side, having had a pretty rough couple of days, my New Years resolution to swear off sugar took a beating. Of course there was dessert and chocolate to be had at Easter dinner. Normally abstaining has not been a problem for me, but I had a little what the hell come over me and scarfed down quite a bit of chocolate! I hadn't had so much as a crystal of sugar since December. Oh well, as they say, one day at a time. I really do believe that, like alcohol, sugar is real poison to me.

Today I'm off to see a movie with the girls, and then it's back to the books to get ready for my classes this week.

Here's to asking and receiving!

Just Clayin Around

Well it appears that I've become a little lax in keeping up with my blog, so here's a little update. Last night I spent the night in the Sleep Lab. It's really a misnomer, as with all those wires hooked up to you, flow sensor up your nose, and straps around your chest and belly, you don't get a heck of a lot of sleep! I hope they got enough data to explain why I've suddenly become an ultimate fighter in my sleep and that they can tell me a way to fix it.

I've been working mostly on the items for the clayamies spring flower swap. I think I've got the kinks worked out of the design now. Another batch is in the oven as I write this.

This promo thing is really eating up a huge amount of time. I've been trying to get myself on any search engines and free advertisements that I can. There are endless opportunities, but it sure takes a lot of time. I think I'll treat myself to a break from that this long weekend and do some serious jewelry making instead!

I've promised a jewelry set for the Girls Inc. silent auction, and I really want to make them something special. Maybe I'll get inspired this weekend!

Is There Anybody Out There ?

Yesterday it was Hi-Ho Hi-Ho Back To Work I Go. The kids in my class were still pretty wound up from their March break. I'm sure they'll be more settled today. We are doing experiments today and tomorrow, so I know they'll enjoy seeing all the pretty colours formed in the chemical reactions.

I've volunteered to take over maintenance of our Clayamies website, so in the last week I have been figuring out FTP and trying to work with some free web design software. I went to see the computer teacher yesterday and he set me up with Dreamweaver so that I can learn how to use it and eventually set up a website for my class. Dreamweaver is MUCH better than the free one. Any problems from here on in my students will be happy to help me with. I like having them teach me from their areas of expertise. I find it helps to make them more receptive to learning from my expertise.

The computer teacher also showed my how to add my url to google so that I can increase the chances of jewelry shoppers finding this needle in a haystack. While I was at it I signed up for Google Adwords, so I'm optimistic about increasing the traffic both here and in my etsy store.

I participated in my first online chat with my Clayamies group last night. That was fun. It's great to be able to meet like minded people from all over the country. There are some extremely talented artists in the group. Check out:
http://www.gerascottchandler.com/
http://www.artware.ns.ca/
www.picturetrail.com/beadcomber
http://www.wandashumdesign.com/

Last night I worked a little on the flowers for our current Clayamies swap. I should have more time later today. I know I've mentioned that I LOOOOOVE beads, but did I also mention that I LOOOOOVE clay?

I LOOOOOVE clay!