In The Studio - Wednesday

A few weeks have passed since my last post and I'm not much more settled in than I was then, truthfully. I seem to be mostly in hibernation mode for the winter. I've been handing mosaics to the fam to be placed here and there. I'm grateful to have a place to share my mosaics and in a home that appreciates art so much. It's a wonderful thing!

The Mosaic Muse is sleeping peacefully, slowly stretching her wings, not yet ready to wake up.

The Camera Goddess is wide awake however. I've been taking photos of the area around me, mostly from the porches and am so pleased with the results. I LOVE it when the Goddess is awake!

The weather has been either cold and/or very wet from rain and my bones are just as happy staying in a warm space.

I've been considering what to do and how to do it in this room so I can maximize the space I have available to me. I won't be able to do much or what I see in my head until I've paid off the debt I started the fund raiser for. That will be close to summer time in May or June.

But I am still going to mosaic; as I already feel a slight tug to order more glue since it never made it here with me. I will be working on the fund raising rewards soon so that requires gathering a small amount of cash in the next few months to get the supplies I need to make those. I only need a few things which is great for the budget. I'll be using my bed, a box to hold the glass and other fun things I like to use when I mosaic and watch Netflix with a kitty purring at my feet.

Just because I don't have the dedicated studio space set up, doesn't mean I'm not dedicated to creating. I recently found my doodle pad and a pencil, so I am drawing a little bit. Woo-hoo!

Mostly I'm resting, still looking through boxes that line the hallway toward my room. Not even a small portion of boxes I showed here in the last post when I was packing up have made it to me yet. Those, I truly hope, made it to storage and weren't left behind.

I've had to give up a lot during this move. Just stuff, but still ... my stuff. Pretty sure those wonderful old mosaic stained glass windows I made were left behind due to time restraints and not having the room in cars and vans that were used to transport all of our belongings from one place to the other. My kids, bless their hearts, did what they could to get me in a safe environment and settled enough to be taken care of but I had to let go of so much. I'm in mourning, understandably, for the art I am missing and will be very surprised if I see most of what I am missing ever again.

Art ... so much art ... supplies, clothes. They tell me a lot is still in storage and safe but they don't know exactly what. When I ask about a specific thing, they don't really know if they saw the box, if it got into storage or if they had to leave it behind. I believe this is the Universe's way of telling me to truly start over, fresh, one must cut all ties of the past. Once I am at peace with the loss, I can continue to create new art and feel the renewed excitement once more.

The fam as a whole is now starting to get settled themselves here in our new home and blending in with the rhythm already established by family already living here and who opened their home up to us. What a blessing.

It's been a nice adventure so far, a welcome one. I like learning that I'm not the only elder, no longer alone in my dreams of an artist's life and finding kindred spirits in the young ones as well as the ones older than I am. We've all known each other since before my daughter had my grandson and got along really well. Now we are together every day and have started a few new traditions. One was creating a talking stick and a Gratitude Jar.

Photo credit: Siobhan Comisky

And with the New Year came some new opportunities, with a new job for my daughter's fiance, whom I refer to as The Big Man in his field of expertise --- something he's been struggling to find for almost a year since he was laid off. And night school is continuing for my daughter and of course she's still working too. It's a struggle for her ... makes it hard for her to raise a family, work and be in school, but she's done it so far and I'm very proud of her for it all.


We are all getting the nurturing we need. I only see bright skies ahead for everyone as a group and individually. I'm happy I have food to eat, companionship when I need it, quiet time when I need it, comfort of hot/cold running water. The basics are taken care of and the creative spark will continue soon once more, I'm positive.

Life is good!

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

Stay peaceful.

Cindy, Earth Mother Mosaics
 

September Sales Event Starts Today!

Happy September!

I've been recuperating from a recent illness and taking some time off to allow the muse to rest and rejuvenate.

The g-kids are all back in school now and the pace here at home is a lot slower during the day. There are actual long periods of time where there is NO sound at all. It's amazing.

While I was resting, I joined a group on Facebook. The CREATIVE CRAFTWORKS Group is a collective group of handmade artisans. I've just joined and already feel part of their family. It's a wonderful feeling!

The vendors (myself included) are having their monthly Sales Event and I wanted to share the info with you here.

Running from this afternoon, September 8th at 4 PM EST until September 10th, this Sales Event is pretty cool. If you use Facebook, please consider joining the group and visiting the event.

Here's some items that will be for sale created by the vendors in this group.

And here's my contribution!

It's always a great time to shop for someone special or for yourself because you're special too!

Head on over to the Facebook Group and join in the fun!

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

My Etsy Shop To Re-Open --- Coming To You Soon!

Taking some time off this month to reflect and not do much work has been good for me. I really needed to stop and make some decisions about my online presence. And I really, really needed time to recoup from a visit to the Emergency Room due to a bad bout with Vertigo! I'm much better now, but have decided to just relax and enjoy this time away from the madness that creating and clogged up ears due to sinuses/allergies can cause. It's good to recharge the old creative batteries once in a while. Wouldn't you agree?

To take stock in what I'd like to do for my online business from this point was necessary too. What did I want to change? And how did I want to once more grow and flow? I definitely still want to have a dedicated studio space and workshop next year but as far as online business ... what did I want?

First order of business: I decided to re-open my Etsy shop. My 62nd birthday is September 22nd and I think it would be awesome to open it during my birthday week but I'm not sure how that will work out just yet. It's a goal and if it doesn't work out, I'll shoot for October around the same date. After being away for an entire year, I'll admit it, I still miss Etsy!!!

When I decided to close it in 2015, I was hoping for more than Etsy could give me. I was comparing myself to others' shops and trying to do what they did to make sales and it was exhausting. It wasn't me or what my journey was all about. Honestly, I tried everything everyone else was doing and nothing worked for me. I had sales, I offered promotions, I joined every team and shared every item on every social media site I had. Daily for 8-10 hours a day for months. I gave up in frustration because I just couldn't afford to keep it open if I wasn't making any sales. And I was being taken away from the creating part which is a necessary part of my life. I denied my creative muse the outlet it needed and I suffered in all ways because of it. I was in bad creative shape at the end of 2015!

Now that I'm a whole year older and maybe slightly wiser, I realized the things I loved the most about Etsy besides making a sale (always a thrill!!) are still there. I used to LOVE making and being in Treasuries and that feature hasn't changed. I'm happy about that. I enjoyed chatting with team members through Etsy Teams once in a while. They are still available should I want to join in. Etsy changed a lot and as far as I can tell, they are still different than they used to be. But the things I loved about the site have not changed. And I missed that.

My focus on making money from my art has changed. I enjoy selling my work so much and enjoy even more the responses from customers when they receive what they ordered. But what makes me create mosaics? It's because I love what I do.

At the time I closed my Etsy shop, I couldn't keep it open without making sales. I used the money I got to ship items and keep listings renewed. I had no budget. Once sales stopped, I had no revenue to keep it open. That situation will soon change when I start receiving retirement benefits at the end of November. Keeping a light load of listings on Etsy is another thing I will surely do to keep myself within budget because although I will get a monthly stipend, it won't be much until the debt I mentioned in many other posts through GoFundMe is completely paid off (estimate of April 2017).

Knowing that the basic things I loved about Etsy are still there, means I will be welcomed back and will once more enjoy them. Even though I might not make any sales, I also might. And everyone who asks me where I sell my work online ALWAYS says: "Do you sell your things on Etsy?". Now, or soon enough, I can once more say: "Why, yes! Yes, I do!".

I'm not leaving any site where I now sell my work. Etsy will be in addition to the other wonderful sites, including ones I haven't yet tried. I like to find new sites to share my work on and have many I don't promote just because there isn't much different on one site as another. It's mostly the same things on many sites but the people on each site are different and their art is different as well. I like that. Finding new people on each site I sell my mosaics on has always been the most fun. For me, it's about making the art and sharing it. I had forgotten that when I tried to do what others did to make sales. I had forgotten that I make mosaics for me first because I love what I do. I've always said, if I'm not having fun, I wouldn't be doing it. I forgot that for almost an entire year!

I will always make mosaics whether they sell or gather up dust on my shelves. If you like what I create, that's awesome. If you want to buy what I create, I'm always grateful as it will help keep listings active. But it's now not the most important thing. It never really was, but I allowed myself to get caught up in an ego driven race that ultimately I could never win, in any case.

I've been blessed with a gift and I will use it in the best way I can.

I'll keep you all posted on when the shop is officially open once more. Also, those who sell on Etsy now, if you belong to any teams you think might be awesome for me to give a try, please feel free to share or ask the Team Captain's to send me a request. I would love to find some new people to share my work with and get to know them and their shops as well for future treasuries. Thank you!

Meanwhile, check out the banner! It's kinda classy, don't you think?!

In The Studio - Wednesday

A little grouting happened this weekend. I always love to see the final results, of course, of my efforts but sometimes as I start to clean off the grout, I can tell just by looking at a small section, that it is going to be amazing.

Such was the case here with this mosaic stained glass plate.

This is about the point where I started to smile with happiness at the results.

After the first cleaning (2-3 more to do) and already it is gorgeous!

This plate is available for sale and will be placed in my online shops if no one snatches it up first! I love it, so if it stays with me for a while ... I'm okay with that.

I grouted the funky crescent moon I made using dish shards.

I haven't yet gotten a hanger on the back, but once I do, I'll take some photos and get it listed.

I worked on the 3 inch glazed pots. I have to say, glaze and grout do not like each other much and it's always a bit of a struggle (sometimes a full blown war!) to get the grout to stay put. This time, I won the battle and I'm happy with the results.

Each sold separately.

2 sides have swirls, 2 sides have waves.

My daughter handed me a few wooden wall sconces to put some mosaic magic on. That always makes me happy when people gift me with more substrates because I always find a way to use them!

Patiently waiting for some mosaic goodness!

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