Monday, September 23, 2013

Like A Well-Oiled Machine

Happy Monday!

My birthday weekend was amazing. There's nothing quite like quiet time for creativity, family and friends, good food, a new (to me) favorite seasonal beer (shown below) and cake!



I spent yesterday (my official birthday) gathering up ideas for new mosaics while doing some dot paintings on a few ATC cards. Each measure 3.5 x 2.5 inches and will be available in my shop very soon.

"Castle"

"Funky"

And I pulled out a few ceramic button sized pieces an online friend donated to me a few weeks ago and painted cool designs on them. I'm still not sure what I'll do with them now but they will go on a mosaic or some piece of art I've yet to create. That's how I roll. :)


Although I love it, it's that crazy time of year when balancing life and art becomes a bit more challenging for me. Those who have read some of my posts here know I help with the fam - watching the grandchildren and helping with general things like cooking and so on. We all live together in a big happy mess and I am so blessed and very grateful to be here!

But I also like to work on keeping my shops current and cohesive (a big problem for me because I have a very short attention span) and on new mosaics and other crafty things. I'm even considering adding another site to the list to share my things. I haven't gotten all of the ones I have up and running smoothly. I won't open another until I have those settled but I will do it - I like to try new sites and often find a new set of online friends to share new things with.

I'm bringing back the posts I used to do relating to Featured Shops that I find here and there to do what I can to share the love of new shops and favorite items I find in home decor and art. Those will start on October 3rd and run each week, either Wed or Thurs until the end of January. I'm looking forward to sharing some favorites I've found with you all here again.

Because I have to find balance where ever I can, like a well-oiled machine (hence my title for this post), each day will be dedicated to something specific, Monday through Friday. Weekends are devoted to my time in my crafty space. I try to do minimal marketing on those days. Keeping a subject for each day will help keep me focused on it and free up some time that I need for life around me. In theory ... I know only too well how, in keeping with the above mentioned metaphor, even a well-oiled machine needs to be shut off, tuned up and cleaned.

The posts this week should be pretty much staying the same with sharing what I've done each day in the studio and new things on Etsy.

Next week I'll be starting the new posts, dedicating each day to one specific thing. My line up is tentative and a few things will be new but below is how I hope it will go. Life happens, so it might change and my wonky computer is still wonky. So that may be a factor too.

Monday: Promo Blast! (new items in my shop)
Tuesday: Theme Tuesday (decor items I find appealing mostly relating to trends)
Wednesday: In The Studio (mosaic and crafty fun) 
Thursday: Featured Shop (both Etsy and Zibbet shops will be featured)
Friday: Picture Day (a new favorite photo, either mine or someone else's that I find in my search for pretty things)

During the holidays, there will some posts not included or switched around. I'll play that one by ear. Online shops go on vacation, etc. I do know fun happens here a lot, so I am open and willing to receive any and all things as they come!

Stay peaceful,
Cindy, Earth Mother Mosaics