petite pendants

  

I have some catching up to do.  If I'm going to meet my goal of posting something new every week, I will need to post something extra this week.  I've been busy creating, but the whole point of that goal is actually finishing things instead of leaving things unfinished.

Last weekend I finished six petite pendants.

These pendants are less than one inch tall - much smaller than the pendants I've painted in the past.  In fact, they're strung on embroidery floss in these photos.  

I decided they would also be the least expensive pieces in the Mirthmarket.  I have only a limited quantity of this size of circles.  They will be a special, once-in-a-while, limited edition offering.

I love working small.  I like these pendants and look forward to making more!

pendant update

It had been way too long since I've put something brand new in the Mirthmarket! I've posted some of them here, but I'm totally excited about these barely-an-oval pendants. Creating them is fun - they're a bigger surface than the rings I paint, and flatter - so I am able to get really detailed with designs. I'm loving the experimentation with color, too. And I love the process. Each one starts out pretty much the same, and then they find their own design.

a few things...

i am moving in slow motion today. i've been working on photo editing to list some new items in the Mirthmarket, which i've neglected a bit lately as far as new content.

i'd like to give my blog a new name and it's time for a new banner, too. name ideas, anyone? i think this blog has had about seven or eight titles. i'm not great at naming things.

i visited friends this week, which was really nice. i love it when i visit with friends i haven't seen in months or years and it feels like no time has passed at all...even when there are now children running around whom i hadn't gotten to know until now.

i bought "mylo xyloto" this weekend on cd. no itunes or spotify for this one. i miss the excitement of waiting for a big album release and then going out to buy the brand new cd, looking through the booklet to see if lyrics were included, reading the thank yous, etc. the actual cd is decorated with a cool, colorful spiral. listening to it all the way through for the first time, i wondered for a split second what music critics would think about it, and then i thought about how it doesn't really matter what music critics say. what matters is how much the music becomes a soundtrack to your memories.

something new

I just posted a new pendant - a different size and shape than before. What do you think?

It's been such a good Labor Day weekend - I saw friends, I saw "The Help" (loved the book, liked the movie too), slept in, made a recipe with an eggplant for the first time, painted a bit, and relaxed a lot.

I also started an altered book project using some discarded baby board books that had been donated to our school's library:



I've never made an altered book, but for the past nine or ten years or so, I've been wanting to make one. It's been so fun to delve into the world of mixed media, and I'm certain that I'm going to keep along that path. At this point, the books are completely black with gesso. I may have painted over some photos of babies inside pumpkins and bunches of hydrangeas. I'm not quite sure what I want the books to be about, so I'll think on it some more.

I just think the photo opportunity above was cool.

The weather was cool today, too...on Saturday it was 100 degrees here, and today (Monday) I think the high was 67. I love that!

Have a pleasant week.

back to work

school is in session so i am beginning to update the shop again. it's very exciting - i need to change it every once in a while to keep it interesting. there may even be a new banner by the end of the day. i even made a new blog banner, with a temporary title, that i will probably change in a month. titles are difficult! this one suits me and my words for today.

speaking of banners, look at this:the new design for etsy shops! at first i was a bit alarmed, but i think the changes will be good. although, the shop announcement thing that was originally announced seems like a nuisance, it isn't even showing up here in this example. i am usually not inclined to read shop announcements, anyway (sorry everyone) - especially the long ones! my current banner would probably work with the new layout, but i am ready for a change anyway.

as mentioned before, i have finally built up my flickr page to the point where it has actual content and not just a few random photos. i mainly did this to give photo access to my nieces and nephews (who requested the ability to post photos elsewhere online), and i kept adding photos after realizing i love looking at particular photos all at once. i love the mosaic effect of sunsets and things i've painted, and the fact that i can arrange these letters of the alphabet (i know that not every letter is there, though we photographed every letter on a trip into downtown mackinaw city.)

i have not forgotten that i want to put 100 items in the shop (at the same time) before this year is over, so i must get back to work.

update

two custom projects finished, one to go...

one more school year is over.

may is usually a time of such overwhelming busy-ness. this may has been no different. i've been steadily making it through, but obviously blogging less.

when i feel too busy it helps to take my camera outside and take pictures of nature in the moment. it's so calming.

i have some new rings in the shop. what do you think?

A little bit crafty...

I was a little bit crafty this weekend, and updated the shop. I added the Easter egg pendants and five new rings, bringing my total items to *60* for the first time ever.

Besides that, I have been intermittently watching the Olympics, putting together a shelving unit, and taking care of my needy beloved dog. My weekends have been mellow lately because the pace of my weekdays has been non-stop. I am often a fan of quiet. I am a fan of sleep, too.

The snow is finally starting to melt away and the brutal icicles are almost completely gone. I have never seen icicles as long as those I've seen this month. Scary. Icicles are dangerous. Do they make anyone else as anxious as me?

I mean, seriously:


Icicles are beautiful, though...even if I dread walking under them, or beside them when they're four feet long.

Finally, this song was going through my head tonight - I have no idea how that started. I have listened to about 100 songs today, and this was definitely not one of them! Beware of clicking on that link...it may go through your head, too. :) I found this auditory sensory overload today, too, which should erase any song from memory.

Have a marvelous week!

more words about rings with trees on them

I was featured on the front page a few days ago...and the ring *sold* the same day.

I painted at least ten tree rings after that. they're not all in the shop yet.

I especially like this one:
And just to take the focus away from rings and trees (because item-talk has been dominating this blog lately, and because you should see this), take a look at Kal Barteski's blog, where she has been tracking her daily preparations for an art show that is sure to be amazing.

pendant progress!

My friend Heather said to me over lunch yesterday, "I think you should branch out, and make some pendants".

I'd been thinking about this before, enough so that I'd bought some wooden discs and bails a few weeks ago. I just hadn't started on them. Any branching out I'd been attempting before consisted of beads, and those attempts still haven't gone anywhere.

Pendants are a much simpler step to expanding the offerings at the Mirthmarket!

There are two in particular that I really enjoyed making. I just finished listing them. I'd love to hear what you think!


There are two sizes I'm currently working with. The pendant featured above (the silver tree) is about 1.5 inches in diameter, and domed so that the edges are narrow. It's much flatter overall than the smaller pendant below, which is 1 inch in diameter, and more reminiscent of the shape of Mirthmarket's rings.


I believe there will be many more!

Weekend update

Tonight I updated the Mirthmarket with a few new rings, including these:
This weekend there was a wasp in my hair and a ladybug on my shoulder.
I went to a jewelry party and visited Jackson's room.
I sat in a suite at the Pacers game and ate nachos.
I went to another party after that - caught up talking with another friend while eating lemon cherry cookies - I am really, really not a party girl. I am more of a have-a-conversation-with-one-person-and-eat-cookies-girl, so that worked out.
I went to the movies and saw Michael Jackson's "This is It" - I'm glad the film was made - so many people worked to create such a ridiculously elaborate production. There were short films, a mechanical spider and bulldozer, pyrotechnics, costumes...it was over the top!
This weekend the sun was shining and it was warm.
This tree looked like this:

I hope that you have a wonderful week.

what i did on my summer vacation, part one

for a few weeks each summer, i spend time in northern michigan. it's been a family tradition spanning five generations, and it's part of most of my favorite memories. to make up for the drought in blog posts for this month, this is the first of several recaps of this year's vacation up at the lake.

What I did on my summer vacation: I painted!

This should be a surprise to no one...I will slowly be updating the Mirthmarket with this assortment of rings. (Except for two, because I let my awesome niece Gretchen choose a few to take home):













I am experimenting with the stone background on some of these listings. The lighting was too good not to try it.

Another project was something I'd been thinking about for a few years. One of the most vibrant, fun, and tasty restaurants I know of is the Roast and Toast in Petoskey (I adore Petoskey, Michigan. I really do). The Roast and Toast has really awesome food - especially the Lake Street Salad and the Triple Berry Bar. Also, they have about any special coffee or soda concoction you can imagine. And, they have a magnet wall, which often features a collection of little poetry word magnets. I really like those...but they aren't very colorful. So, as a gift to this lovely establishment, I painted a little set of wooden word magnets, and left them on the board before dining on a delicious Garden Turkey sandwich. Awesome niece Gretchen is posing in front of the wall in the photo below.













Magnet close-ups:
























Before I finish for tonight, it must be noted that no trip to Petoskey is complete without American Spoon sorbetto. This year I amended my usual Blood Orange/Lemon treat with some Red Raspberry.


















So good I cannot describe it.

keeping up with the etsians

i am busy with custom baby projects. i know quite a few ladies who will be giving birth this summer...and there is at least one more new baby in the world (i don't know this baby) who is getting a present soon that was painted by me.

these projects, plus my "day job", have left little time for etsy lately. very very little.

i posted a few new rings in the shop last weekend. someday soon i will extend beyond rings and branch out, but moms and babies cannot wait for that. i have noticed on the etsy forums that several sellers are puzzled at the lack of views, and i have noticed, too. if not for the incredibly quick glimpse under newly featured items, no one would even know they are there.

so i have also read, and heard, that etsy sellers need to spend their time marketing. twitter when you have new items, create a facebook page, join byhand.me or open up a shop on artfire, relist, relist, relist, celebrate etsy day and let the world know that etsy itself exists (oops, i didn't do that), and the list goes on. it's exhausting to think about, and at this point in the story, i would rather spend that free time painting.

the one thing i have done is purchase an ad on craftopolis. it was nice, and i'm fairly certain that a lot of people found the shop because of that ad.

sellers, i want to tell you how i find shops: through treasuries (especially the front page featured treasury) and through the favorites lists of people whose work i admire.

not twitter, facebook, byhand.me, artfire...not even through the newly listed items that i hope to be discovered on.

that's why i love getting shop hearts!

i know people have to see me to "heart" my shop, and i'm going to work on being seen. really.

but first, i am giving my energy and attention to these custom projects. and that's why the mirthmarket is taking it easy right now. no pressure.

enjoy the week!

Away too long!

I've been feeling low this weekend, and just finished a tiny shop update that has left a slight feeling of accomplishment. From this point forward, this post is dedicated to happy things!

1. Since I last wrote, I now have over 100 hearts in my shop. Hooray!

2. I have been etsy stalked - the first time I have been featured in a blog other than my own. Cool!

3. I painted a new ring that I'll be listing soon...totally a departure from the other rings, and not likely to become the next wave of Mirthmarket merchandise (Mirthandise...ha ha, no...), but I really really like it!














It's a little singing bird! What is he singing? You decide.

4. Tonight is The Best of Amy Poehler on SNL. She has had some amazing impressions (Sharon Osbourne) and characters, but I think my favorite is the manic little messy-haired girl, Kaitlin. She was so excited about everything and I found that hilarious..
Sometimes I wish that all of SNL's sketches were online. (My sketch choices would probably be very different from the ones available.)

5. Today was beautiful and warm and I smelled flowers in the air. Nice.

Have a lovely rest-of-the-weekend!