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...

3 APR 2015 :: Creating permanent directions

I don't remember all the things I wanted to share when I entered my post for yesterday, but I may remember them as I work on this one. Today I have been busy creating and revising my own forms to keep track of the important goals I have. I am learning what information helps me to improve my efforts and, eventually, my sales and income.

As I work to create a permanent foundation for my shop and other online sales activities, I am discovering information that will help me build a better income.  Hopefully, I will live long enough to enjoy the fruit of my efforts.  :-)


Deciding what to name my ten Etsy shop sections is one of the permanent foundations I am working on.  I have already committed to nine of the ten section titles I am allowed with a single Etsy shop, and need to find the best name for the final one.  I have also toyed with the idea of splitting my efforts into two shops, but decided to wait and see which of my products sell the best.

Below I have listed the titles I have decided to keep ::

• Personal Writings
• Art Original & Prints
• Beads & Jewelry
• Fabrics & Yarns
• Recycled & Upcycled
• Kits & Patterns
• Ornaments & Collectibles
• Food
• Digital Delivery

These titles cover pretty much all of the craft areas I want to be involved in at some level.  My problem is Christmas.  My online (retirement) sales goal was to create the largest part of my yearly income with collections of Christmas ornaments.  I also want to find products for Valentine's Day (Love), 4th of July (America), and Earth Day (recycling).  Almost every day has an event focus of some kind... I don't want to become overwhelmed trying to create sales options for all of them.  I don't know how much I want to focus on Christian holidays and events either.

Other parts of my shop development efforts are creating a variety of products for each of my shop sections, and having those products fit into different price categories from $0-10 to over $1000.  I don't know which ones might sell better than the others, so creating a variety will help my chances of finding the right item with the right price for potential customers.

My goal to create 25 new listings each month is another part of this development effort. One of the forms I was working on today is a way to record the details of my listings in one place.  I can already see where more improvements need to be made with my current listing group.  Once I fix these problems, I can begin to create my new listings.  I have been gathering supplies and making lists of the products I want to make first.  I hope to make a huge dent in the 100 listings I need to have to catch up with my goal by the end of April.

Using my goals notebook, recording my activities, planning my strategies, reading and learning more each day, gathering supplies, making workspaces, and thinking about products to make  --  these all contribute to my long-term income goals, to permanent foundations that will grow as time passes.