Treasuries from January 15th through 21st, 2012

Copious thank-yous to the following Etsians that included my work in treasuries January 15th through January 21st: GalleyWestStudio, recreated1, DreamJewelry17, FrouFrouFelt, Obsidianrain, JudithGayleDesigns, WoodlandTrinkets, MaybeMedieval, twistedpixelstudio, engineerandthegypsy, Modred12, VisualEyesCosmetics, AccessoryShowcaseNY, VirtuosoVintage, BelovedU, roagui, M1dnightDreary, vintagestampjewels, cecrafts, Marie Francoise Gironnet, realfaery, moschapeau, Nezihe1, alleya, and KaleidoscopeHearts.

Crazed week...

I'm going to take a break for a a few days from Etsy/blogging, likely until next Sunday or Monday. I have a few things on my plate right now (in no particular order):

-My partner's ex died last Monday and, while I'm not directly involved, my partner had power of attorney and has coordinated tomorrow's funeral/taking care of her estate. He's understandably a bit worn right now.

-I'm in last minute freaking-out headspace before this weekend's convention.

-Changes at my day job, which means adapting to new structures.

-Trying not to give in to the creeping crud flu that everyone seems to be coming down with. Alas, I cannot work in a hazmat suit.

I will be back. There will be wit. There will be shinies. There will be treasuries. Really.

A couple of quick and inexpensive salvaged fixture rehabs

As I've previously mentioned, I'm vending at Midwinter Gaming Convention next weekend. In preparation for this, I'm doing an assessment of the booth fixtures I have and figuring out how to display everything.

I'm always looking for objects that I can repurpose, not only for my shinies, but also for use in displays. While I do have a few of the standard black velvet-covered-intended-for-jewelry-display geegaws, most of my fixtures are found items. (Technically, a few of the velvet bits are salvage too, since I bought them at a mall jewelry store's going out of business sale.)

A while back, I found this clippy stand that I believe was originally intended for pictures. It's a bit over 2 1/2 feet tall (depending on how the wire tentacles are arranged) and I snagged it from my local Goodwill for $2.99.

While the chrome finish wasn't bad, I wanted it to look a bit more steamish/vintage laboratory. I painted the base and wire arm socket a matte black and wrapped the upward shaft in a coil of 18 gauge copper wire (Since I knew this was going to take a lot of wire, I used the inexpensive $2.99 for 25 feet wire from Menards. I'm glad I did, since it used precisely the whole package.). I think I might also add either an etched brass plate on the base or use a metal label frame to give it even more faux science flair. It'll make a great holder for some of my X-ray image necklaces.

Remember a few weeks ago when I wrote about hitting the after-Holiday clearance sales for recyclable items? These enameled metal cans were among this year's spoils. They're about 12 inches tall and were $2 each after an 80% markdown.

I'd bought them to serve as stanchions/pillars to elevate part of one of my displays closer to eye-level. While the "before" picture shows them upside down, they're very sturdy right side up too, so I decided to decorate them that way. I still had quite a few of the medical quackery ads left over from my torso project, so I decopaged the cans with the paper scraps, then added a layer of sealant.

They're also a great size for packing smaller items into/creating protected sections in my big tote boxes when transporting everything to and from events.

Treasuries from January 8th through 14th, 2012

Much gratitude to Heymes Baltic Amber, Engineer and The Gypsy, DoSymphony, This Time Next Tuesday, Hannah Ash, Steampunk Surplus, Silver Lining Kreation, DreamJewelry17, DoBatsEatCats, Kein Schmetterling, Aseyeseeitlal, BragginRightsBath, Gourmet Handbags, RainyDazeDesigns, Nightsvision, Arlene’s Boutique, lannarfelt, Bonnie’s Sew Crazy, newDawncreations, Kasandra's Designs, Carol Toepke, Idyll Wyse, Black Ant Beads, p1xie, Eden Gallery, Etchythings, Virtulyglass, Made for Me by Oaklie and Leslie Rhoades for including my work in the terrific Etsy treasuries that they had curated this week!

Walken in a Winter Wonderland

It's Monday. I'm awake. I just created an Etsy treasury about Christopher Walken. What else do you need to know?

Treasuries from January 1st through 7th, 2012

A big thanks to Inbar Jewelry, Lean Dog Pottery, The Old Barn Door, Lilac Cottage Cards, Fleur De Lis Jewelry, Ed Kidera, Jodi's Craft Emporium, Will Rockwell, Keys To The Kingdom, Roagui, The Green Haven, JetTat Designs, Engineer and The Gypsy, Double A Stitching, Shoesstring Cottage, Sibel Jewelry Design,  Heyme's Baltic Amber, Jude's Hand Spun Yarn, VonlenskaVintage, By Blackbird Designs, Ottoline’s Oddities, Fringe and Flourish, Polyester 10, Erelivent, Art by Liz K Zook, and La Muerte Dulce for including my work in the Etsy treasuries that they had created this week.

I used the CraftCult treasury widget creator to make clickable snapshots links of each of the 29 (!) treasuries below. (The widgets are usable on a variety of different blog platforms and websites, and are a great way of sharing treasuries that you've created or been included in.)

Goals for the year

-Do 10 events/shows in 2012. Every year, I try to branch out of my comfort zone just a little bit more with showing off my work. In 2010, this was participating in an artist alley at a convention and competing at the state fair. In 2011, this was doing panel discussions at a convention, vending at a convention, and vending at a mainstream show.  My goals for this year are to do an art show at a convention that requires more than just an hour or two of travel (Convergence in Minneapolis) and the art show at World Con (ChiCon in Chicago).

-Really learn PhotoShop. I know how to do some photo editing, but I really want to learn more. I have grand ideas…but I need to figure out how to make these happen.

-Blog at least once a week. This will not be hard. I have a list of about 20 topics at the moment that I’d like to write a post about and this list will just increase as the year goes by. I just need to make time to do so, because I actually really enjoy blogging.

-Complete at least one Etsy treasury a week. I really slacked on this in 2011. I had good intentions and even tried to do a treasury a day in March, but the time and motivation sort of faded away. I’m even more doleful that I didn’t keep up with the treasuries that I was included in. I was included in literally hundreds of treasuries last year and am ashamed to say that I fell short on cross-promoting these or sometimes even properly thanking the other artists that created them.

Here's my entry for this week. Now I just need to get it together 51+ more times this year...

-Post in and maintain my other shop, MoiraCoonRedux. I have stuff in the shop, but not much and I seldom even mention that I have this shop. I have many-many things that I really need to sell off, both supplies and vintage bits, so I need to get off my duff and get them posted/promoted.

-Play with my blowtorch more. Enough said.

-Increase my blog circulation to 500 followers and my Facebook fan page count to 2000 fans. I know that I could always go the “add me and I’ll add you” route to make these numbers happen, but I’d rather have readers who actually like my work and writing. I’ll have the blog posts and I’ll stay active on FB anyway, so I’m going to do more submitting to craft sites and posting in FB groups under my fan page to attract more readers.

-Stop procrastinating about posting items on Etsy. Did you know that I have dozens of pieces that I’d made for events this past autumn that I STILL have not posted? I’m justifying this right now since I want stock for a show in a few weeks, but really…that’s a poor excuse. After Midwinter Gaming Convention, I need to take the time to photograph and write copy for EVERYTHING. 

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What are your goals and objectives for 2012?