Artful Adventures

I won!!

 
There's a reason for showing these pitiful blank journals, all journals that I've nmade with visions of me filling them up faster than I could make them.  Journals with "stuff" hanging outside the edges, bulging with the tidbits of my life and lots of art.  Well, it didn't quite work that way:)  I try, I really do, but nothing ever really clicked with it, and I never made it a habit to actually sit down & journal on a regular basis.  That's all changing now-finally-read on, it'll all make sene:)  Whenever there's a drawing or raffle or anything, I give it a shot, but seldom, if ever, do I win.  Well, I just broke that streak!  Remember a short time ago, I posted about a drawing being held over at MMCA?  The prize that was being given away was a month of an LK Ludwig's online journaling class, round 2 of her Point & Shoot journaling class!!  I participated in the October round, and wrote about it here, loved it, learned a lot, and was planning on taking the next class anyway so it was perfect.  Now I'm learning tips & tricks, no special equipment needed, just some time, and that I can do.  Here's my poor journal that I've been working on for several years, that's one sad looking journal!  But soon, I'll be posting those filled to the brim kind of journals that I've loved for so long!  There's still plenty of time to join in, just go back up & cick your way over there:)  And a huge thank you to Debbie Overton for coming up with the idea of the drawing and for digging into your own pocket to pay for it!
 

Another Celebration!

Turns out that my birthday last week end, was shared not only by my "birthday sistah", the one & only Annie Lockhart ,if you ever meet her, you'll love her, but be prepared for her practical jokes-I still owe her one!  The date also marked the 5th anniversary of MMCA, which started out as, and continues to be, a group of artists brought together to share their collective knowledge, exchange ideas and techniques, as well as mentor each other.  The group has grown over the years and branched out a bit, quite a bit!  It now offers a Marketplace so that anyone can set up shop to sell their art, and a blog that offers interviews for us to read, free images to use in our art, and everything in between.  The most recent interview was by Sheri Gaynor, it's a great interview, as they all are.  I've got Sheri's book, and recently posted about it, so I was pleasantly surprised to see her interview-made  it a good day for me:)  Now that I think about it, I should let you know that if you care to join us in the Marketplace, there's been some changes-the best one is that you have the option (there's several payment plans to choose from) of not spending any money up front!  Just apply (all the info is on the front page of the Marketplace), let Debbie build your shop page while you create, and not pay anything until you sell something-good deal with Christmas looming ahead!  The MMCA group itself, like any group, you can participate in as much or as little as you'd like-my favorite kind of group, life gets busy sometimes!  But pop in, check us out, meet some new friends, say "HI" to some old ones, and you just never know what's going on-like right now there's a drawing for a month long class, LK Ludwig's Point & Shoot Journaling class.  I'm in the class this month (and LOVE & it!) recently posted about it, you can find it here.  Hmmm, I got a lot chattier than planned, and threw out a lot of "linkie love"-so click away and enjoy:)

Want to win a free E-Book?

Then you'd better be quick:)  This past week, the MMCA Marketplace posted another great interview, this time with Kelly Watson of Womenwise Marketing.  She just released her book, "Small Business Blogging Blueprint: Your Step-By-Step Guide To Building A Blog That Skyrockets Traffic And Sales".  The drawing will be tomorrow, Oct.13, all you have to do is go the Marketplace Blog, read Kelly's interview, leave a comment, and the lucky winner will be pulled from the names of those that left comments.  Quick, easy, and the interview is fantastic besides!  Win-Win situation if I ever saw one!

An invitation----

As I've mentioned before, I have art for sale on my own shop page, within the cyber walls of MMCA Marketplace, a very cool online business set up to help us artists get as much exposure as we possibly can. The Marketplace is accepting new applications, so if you're thinking of looking into a new & different online venue, read on, go check it out, and see what you think!

 Invitation to Join the MMCA Marketplace

You've been hearing all the buzz lately about the up & coming MMCA Marketplace, and now we'd like to extend an invitation for you to join in on this exciting online marketing venue. If you are an artist who is committed to producing quality, original art, we welcome you to apply for membership now while we're doing an open enrollment.

Applicants are judged on quality, style and value to ensure that our Marketplace can effectively represent you, and so that we can offer "something for everyone" who comes to the Marketplace to shop. We strive to represent those artists who are devoted to their work and are constantly refining their skills. Artists accepted into the Marketplace will be coming together with the current members, adding to the already widely varied background of styles, mediums, and pricing, making it possible to offer our clients quality art in the medium of their choice.

While our standards are high, our membership costs are not. Benefits of belonging to the MMCA Marketplace include:
•Your own shop page including your branding logo and short bio
•Local, Regional and National Press Campaign
•Website, blog and contact links listed on shop page
•20 images with short product descriptions with Buy Now buttons
•Featured Artist rotation on Marketplace Blog

Some of our more recent promotions are:
•We made headlines in local, regional and national publications
•Our artists participated in a gallery exhibit in Central Pennsylvania
•We advertised in a nationally published magazine

To accommodate various budgets, we have three membership options. If you believe you belong with us, please consider submitting an application.
Marketplace Application

New Jewels

 

After what seems like forever, there's finally some new art to share.  Six new necklaces to be exact, that are listed over in my shop at the MMCA Marketplace online shop.  I was going to wait for my new DVD from Sharilyn Miller to see if I could quick learn some new techniques to incorporate into these, but it got hung up somewhere in Minnesota, most likely due to a snowstorm.  But it was fine, I used a few new to me techniques from this DVD instead, and now I can concentrate on learning more for the next round.  But first I need to get away from the jewelry for a little while and get back in the studio & sling more paint.  I hadn't worked in that room for a week or so, and when I walked in there the other day, it actually felt welcoming, I'm hoping this is a sign of good things coming! 

 

These past couple of months I've had such a hard time concentrating on making art, at first because I was worried about this blood clot, but I can't control it, so I'm trying hard to not think about it, whatever happens, happens.  But being blasted non stop by the media about this recession makes it difficult to think about anything else.  Yes, there's the option of turning off the TV, not watching the news or reading a paper, but it's not enough.  A good friend of mine is losing her business, and foreclosure proceedings have started against both her business property & her home.  Another friend's husband lost his job before Christmas and neither one of them has been able to find full time jobs.  And we just sit & watch our hard earned 401k shrink at an alarming rate.  And I'm sure that you all have similar stories & experiences, and it breaks my heart to see these bad things happening to good people.  So what do we do?  I say we try our best to keep a positive attitude, hope & pray that this starts to turn around and keep people in their homes.  The good news is that most of us have such a stash of art supplies, that we can keep working, creating beauty if for no other reason than hoping it'll bring a smile to someone's face.  We can keep working to get better at what we do, move forward, and someday soon look back & say we did it-we survived!  So lets have some fun, create, share, learn, and hang on for dear life. 

A little of this, a little of that----

 

Now THIS is the way to a girl's heart to open a box that arrived in the mail to make ordering tools fun!  This was the first time I'd ordered from Wired Up, and it won't be the last!  Whenever I've ordered tools, they all come the same way, brown box filled with normal packing material and tools in some sort of packaging.  But I've never had them come in pretty organza bags before, plus they threw in a free gift just for ordering.  That's the kind of customer service that'll keep me coming back for more and will gladly spread the word.  I recently ordered Sharilyn Miller's DVD, Ethnic Style Jewelry Workshop and was once again totally wowed by the information given and will be spending hours with it, just like I did (and still am) with the first DVD I purchased from her, Tribal Treasures Bracelet Workshop.  So much so that I just ordered, and am patiently waiting for Bohemian Bangles Bracelet Workshop.  The great thing about her DVDs and her book, Bead on a Wire, is that the techniques shown can be used in a variety of ways and on many different jewelry pieces, information that you can take and make it your own, something that's very important to me.  After I finish up the necklaces I have started now, watch for some subtle (or maybe not so subtle) changes, it's time that I get adventurous, spread my wings and fly a bit.   

Speaking of flying, even though they seldom fly, we have never seen so many turkeys around as this year, they're everywhere.  These happened to be in the field that adjoins the clinic where I'm going to get blood drawn way too often.  You know you're going to the doctor's too often when they recognise the car turning into the parking lot, and have the paperwork ready when I walk in the door so that Sarah, the lab tech, can quick draw blood & send me on my way.  Last time I went the clotting factor was right on the money, now if it would only stay there.  It's been all over the place, way too high, then way too low, always managing to miss the mark.  Which means I have to still keep a low profile, continuing to follow their don't get excited, stay calm, don't go anywhere, don't raise your heart rate or blood pressure instructions, until they get it right.  It's so boring that my mojo took a hike and took every creative bone in my body with it!  But the good news is, my mojo is sneaking back in, and I can't tell you how relieved I am about that!  Listen closely, you'll hear a giant sigh of relief:)  To help get back into the swing of things, my friend Tammy gave me some good advice about sketching, which I'll share some of in the near future.  You can always count on Tammy for good, sound, no nonsense advice.  And if you're not reading her blog, you should be!  And speaking of blogs, head on over to the MMCA Marketplace blog and read the newest in a series of guest interviews, this one by Linda McCloskey, you won't want to miss it!  Here's a little tidbit from the interview that should get you running over there right now, seriously, right now!.  Linda says: "Never give up - never trust that inner self when it tells you that you don’t have talent - TALENT COMES FROM PRACTICE.   If you love art and involve art in your everyday life - talent will come" .  Those are some words to live by, and I just may write them on my studio wall!   There's still lots to tell, so for today that's it, stay tuned tomorrow for more, I'll get caught up here on my blogging yet, it just may take awhile!  In the meantime, it's still winter and the birds are still posing nicely for us outside our window-hope you're not sick of bird photos because there are plenty more where these came from:)