Wednesday, April 9, 2014

In The Studio

It's been a slow week and the internet has been spotty, so there's a chance blog posts might not always arrive each day for a week or so until we can find the trouble.

However, this week I did, finally, get the 2 baby shower gifts made! They both are waiting for grout.

Wooden Peg Hanger Flower in Pink
Once grouted, the exposed wood will be painted dark brown, which is the color scheme for the newborn sharing space with Mom.

Wooden Peg Hanger Butterfly
This one is not getting painted. I think the wood looks great as it is.

Each are 5 inches in diameter and the last ones I had in my stash. I had 3 of each purchased years ago. I'm happy I had them in my pile which is getting smaller. I have mixed emotions about that! I still have more than enough to keep me creating for a while. I guess that sense that I will HAVE to make another butterfly peg hanger within the next day or so has me believing I must have more. However, the business budget has a lot of dust bunnies in it and not much else, so I'll have to find some other things to make should that thought cross my mind soon.

Yesterday a friend of my daughter's stopped by and talked to me about Etsy. He is starting to make tables from old wood and wanted to get my opinion on how to set up a shop. I am so happy he did, because I love Etsy and shared what I knew about the community and the way to run a shop. He asked me if I sold a lot and consistently. I told him straight up: NO. But I thought it was the best venue for him since he wanted to start selling online. And when he get's up and running on Etsy, I will share his shop here.

In exchange for my advice, he brought some clear panes of window glass, all used from the construction company he works for, that he salvaged from the dumpster with me in mind. These will get cut into small "bite sized" pieces about ATC size (traditionally 2.5 x 3.5 inches) and I plan to put stained glass on them to see how they hold up. If it works the way I think it might, I will share the results when I can.

Since the internet may come and go, when it goes, for the rest of the week, I'll be working In The Studio on birthday gifts, a cookie jar, grouting and so on. There's a lot I can do if I'm not promoting, marketing, networking and it's good for me to have a break from all that once in a while as it burns me out rather quickly.

I'll be back soon with lots of fun things to share from In The Studio.

Support Independent Artisans, Designers and Crafters for your gift-giving needs all throughout the year. Thank you!

Stay peaceful,
Cindy