Weekend Wrap-Up

It's been a great week! I spent a lot of time this week introducing my blog and mosaics to new people who are part of the month long Ultimate Blog Challenge on Facebook. I think writing a post every day is something I'll only do during the challenge because I truly like having the weekends to concentrate on the creative process and the fam. Not in that order. And too, not much mosaic fun happens when I am at the computer and I miss it. I do a little something during the week but because I am living with my daughter and family, my schedule is dedicated to them first, always. There are days when I just blink in the general direction of the latest project and wish I had the time to play. Weekends are my favorite times to do that and I have to do it in order to have new and fresh things to share.

What this challenge is doing for me is getting my new format a more solid footing. Because I changed it to dedicate each day to something specific, it helps me keep track of what I want to post about. I even write a few posts ahead of time, which is good to do but not always helpful for my Featured Shop posts. I had most of them written the last time I did them and found many items I shared had sold or the person had taken all their items out of their shops. I'd spend time scrambling around trying to find new items to share or would skip ahead and do the next shop on the list. Talk about stress! Sheesh. This time around, I work on each post for a bit over the weekend and add to it during the week. If an item sold in the Featured Shop for that week, it is easier to replace. Whew.

And again I have to say, how thankful I am to have a new computer so that I can do all of these things! I'm feeling so very blessed and beyond grateful. A month or so ago, I wasn't sure I would be able to share anything at all when the old computer started going "belly up".

I have 2 "thank you" gifts to make and send out to the folks who wanted one when they donated to the computer cause. I'm kind of excited about getting them completed and sent out because I am so very thankful for their support. All of you deserve something but many said no need to send one, just know they wanted to help.

I also should thank gofundme.com for making it easy to set up a donation site and sharing it. I highly recommend using it should you need extra help with anything. Many use it for help with unexpected hospital bills or for the chance to gather funds together to head out on a new adventure. It's also used to help many people in need who have no where to turn. My site is still up even though I have the computer, I hadn't met the goal I set for it. I'm leaving it up until the beginning of next year. If anyone still wants to donate please know going forward the money will get saved and donated to a worthy cause I find on the site. And if anyone donates at the Reward Level, you will get a "thank you" gift from me no matter what. Awesome, right?!

I have a great support system with my online family and I love you all. I am sending many virtual hugs to you! Thank you. xoxo

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Below are a few of the new items listed and renewed on Etsy. Have a look!

A new decorative pillow has been added with the holiday theme in mind.

Christmas Star Decorative Pillow Cover

There is also Blank Note Cards using this same Christmas Star design. Perfect for gift giving or using yourself for the upcoming holidays.

Also, a few folks like to give custom made items this time of year. My Mirror Gazing Ball and the groovy Crescent Moon that I have dubbed "Vincent's Moon" (inspired by Van Gogh) are most popular around this time of year. Keep in mind it takes 3-4 weeks to get these made up for you, so give yourself the time you need to order.

6 Inch Gazing Ball - Made to Order

Crescent Moon - 6 Inches - Made to Order

I've listed a brand new item in my shop this week. Drum roll, please!!! Tote Bags! Tah-Dahhhh. Here's one of my favorite photo prints shown as a tote. Don't you love it?!

Poplin Fabric Tote Bag - Available in 13, 16 and 18 inches

ACEOs (art card editions and originals) or ATCs (artist trading cards) are new for me. I've seen many and know many mosaic artists who make some magical mosaics using the ATC sized cards. It seems to be a challenge for me still but I'm just warming up with dots on a few of them and making them into Fridge Magnets. I definitely will be making some mosaic ones soon; these are so fun to make!

Fridge Magnet ATC - Castle - Dot Painting 2.5 x 3.5 Inches

 Stay peaceful,

Cindy, Earth Mother Mosaics

Weekend Stuff

Normally I leave the weekends for family and crafty stuff exclusively, but today I wanted to let you all know that thanks to your donations and kindnesses through gofundme.com, I've gotten a new computer tower. This will keep my business flowing, even with fussy internet connections as we have at the moment (not my computer's fault after all ... whew ...).

The bad news is because of the internet wonkiness there might be times when I'm not saying hi for a day or two or four until the net stuff gets figured out by someone other than me. But the good news is, while I'm away, I'll be taking photos, creating art and building fun things so you can see what I'm doing when everything is figured out and I'm back online.

brandy new operating system - yay!!

This new tower came with a new keyboard and mouse (bonus!) and I've already decided the old mouse would look great as a mosaic and the old tower would be awesome as a mosaic stand for perhaps a gazing ball I've yet to create.

Those that have followed my blog posts for a while know I will not waste much of the old things just because they no longer function in the same capacity as they once did. If it's got a cool shape to it, it can become whatever I'd like it to become as a piece of art. There's a lot of potential in these "no longer useful as they are" items.

I've actually popped off keys from old keyboards in the past but they are very difficult to work with. However, I will still pop the ones off that I can from this one. And the board itself may become something else too ... time will tell ...

It's been a roller coaster for me with my computer and I've taken you all along with me. Feeling the need to share is part of who I am. I'm glad you all stuck with me. I appreciate you all. And send much love to you for your help.

The fund raiser is still open because I hadn't met the original goal and some think it would be a good idea to keep it "just in case" something else takes a nose dive relating to the new computer, such as monitor or speakers. I am not comfortable with this and actually never was comfortable with any of this from the start. But ... because I've been so up and down with everything (should I or shouldn't I?) I've decided to just do nothing about it at the moment. That is always the best thing for me to do when I am undecided about anything.

What I am thinking is to use any donations received at this point towards another gofundme user on the site. Pay it forward. Always a good thing.

Thank you all, once again, from the bottom of my heart for being here with me and helping when you could, however you could. Those that contributed have all gotten a thank you from me this morning through the site and now I'm ready to make a few "thank you" gifts. Woo-hoo!

Have a wonderful weekend. Enjoy it!

Stay peaceful,

Cindy, Earth Mother Mosaics