CRAFTS :: Searching for my creative spark...

I was posting a previous blog post (POLITICS) and quickly added a small note about my problems trying to make art at my Art, Crafts, and Recycling page at Facebook.  Now I am here, listening to my playlist at YouTube and thinking I will share another blog post about my creative challenges.

It amazes me how hard it is to find space to do my projects, how easily I can be distracted by the computer, the Internet, and all my online activities... except the ones I really need to do.  I know others fight these battles, but they are new to me.

What can I do to overcome these assaults on my dreams?  

I'm not sure.  

Making ART is new to me.  I haven't done a lot of serious practice with it... just spurts here and there.  I was an "Art Major" in high school... it mattered to me in my young years.  It just wasn't a "job" I thought would make money I could live on.

Now, looking back, I see some things that could have changed a lot of my hard times and made them a different result in my past... and where I would be today.

No one really knows how their life might have turned out if they chose a different path at certain places in their lives... we always imagine the best possible result, but there is no way to know for sure.

So we try to "warn" the kids who still have their future ahead of them.

I have some art memories I kept from one time I sat down in my van (as a homeless person with no gas parked in the desert) and started to see what I could create with the paints I had.  I look at them when I can.  They remind me I have potential.

Now, when I want to actually SELL something through my online spots, I sit down and look at a blank page.  Then I put it all away and try to find something less threatening to do... like the dishes or the laundry.  

I did go on a faith travel sometime before the desert event.  I tried to stop at churches and sell small pieces of art I had made - to pay for my gas and food needs.  I don't think I even remember what I painted anymore.  

Prior to these recent art efforts, I didn't do much with my creative talents.

I am getting to the point of just letting the paint fall on the pages I have and posting them with the phone listing option I currently can access.  Once I get going I KNOW I will begin to make and post more.  Getting that process going is my challenge.  Right now.

I suppose I am venting, looking for some kind of internal relief.

I know what I need to do.

I have to force myself to actually get it done.

If I find my way through this, I will try to share it with you.

Pray for me.  I need to overcome my small, small, small budget.  :-)

In Christ,

Deborah Martin

work2gather.us

and more...

CRAFTS :: Getting busier and feeling the pinch of poverty

 I'm working on my goal to post more often, so this month I am trying to make at least one post almost every day.  Every day is too much of a commitment, so almost every day gives me some flexibility and takes away that "failure" issue.  :-)  

Today I want to share some of the things that I have been working on in my ART and CRAFTS efforts.  I noticed it has been awhile since I was here.  I have been doing a lot of supply gathering, thinking about what I can sell, what I can make and ship easily, and lots of details that go with my online selling quests.

I recently purchased a UV Light and some UV Resin to try out.  That is next on the list of things to do.  I understand that UV Resin dries (cures) very quickly under that UV Light, but stays liquid until you place in the UV Light.  I also understand that the layer of resin you use in your projects have to be very thin.  These are some important differences between 2-part epoxy resin and UV Resin...and the kind of project you are doing will let you know which kind to use.

I am in the learning and experimenting phase with resins.  I don't know what my final choices will be for selling products made with resin.  I have tons of ideas to try... and I have to find the space to make things out of resin.

Last month, I think it was, I tried painting on a stretched canvas.  I was surprised at how different it is.  I used acrylic paints that I had available and started a flower design.  I still have lots to do on it.  I am thinking I can gesso my canvas to use it again... as I practice.  I don't know if that will work for long, but we'll see.  :-)

I need to set everything aside and focus on one thing at a time... somehow, housework and paperwork get all my attention.  And the internet. 

One exciting thing that I started last month was getting my designs into products that are manufactured by others... like Vistaprint, and Moo, and other places like them.  Below are two products I can share graphics about.

This is an updated version of my CHOICES design, but I had it made into refrigerator magnets.  I like them.  I'm working on getting this design produced.  (This version has my author and contact line.

This design turned out much darker than this photo... so it isn't good for selling.  I had it created on "paper coasters" to see what it would look like.  I like the idea of creating designs on these coasters.  I'm working on what to do next, trying to find out what designs would be better.

I also created ONE window cling to see how that might work.  I used this design for it ::

I LIKE IT!  I will eventually create more designs for this format.  I put window clings on my fridge and other smooth surfaces.  I think I first had them on my metal filing cabinet.

My biggest hesitation is trying to find the best design options... And it may have to be ADOBE's suite of products.  They require about $60 a month to subscribe.  I also need a better computer system, and printer, and other equipment.

This is one reason I started my PATREON page... to see if I could find funding options beyond my approximately $400 retirement income.  (https://patreon.com/DebsRetirementPlan)   If you can afford $5 a month, I would love to find your name on my membership list.  The $5 tier is my General Support tier, and the benefit is keeping up with all my tiers via updates.  This tier will let you explore my other tiers and help you decide if you want to support a different tier in the future.

I am working on making POSTCARD designs at Printful, too.  My first one is below.  Getting better designing options is part of this product quest, too.  I guess we need to remember this is a (the rest of my) lifetime quest, so it's an ongoing process.  Money is the key... getting more of it to invest in my supplies and equipment and working spaces.  :-)

This postcard design is the discount item at my ETSY shop this month... https://etsy.com/shop/work2gather

CHRISTMAS  is  NEAR !!

That's about all I am working on these days... beyond life needs.

How is your Christmas crafting going?

What kinds of things are you working on?

PLUS, share any tips you have for selling at Christmas and building your retail options every year.  :-)  Thanks for any ideas you can share.

In Christ,

Deborah Martin

work2gather.us

and more...