oh the good ol' new wave days

I'm sitting here, catching the end of "Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains" on TCM. What a blast from the past. I haven't seen this movie since 1984 or so, and it brings up so many memories. God to be 18 again, that thin again, and live thru those times again. Sigh.......

Another movie that speaks to me "200 Cigarettes". I swear it was like someone had taken a slice of my life at the time and made it a movie. Well, not just MY life-but 'our' life at the time-the new wavers and punk rockers.

ok, enough walking down memory lane for one night.

sleepy girl

Today was a mostly unproductive day. I woke up at 8 but couldn't really get out of bed until 9. I felt achey and really tired. I took a Vit B pill to try and get some extra ZING, but it didn't work.

I did finally rise, got ready and went over to the Artist Xchange to dress my jewelry display cube. I got to meet the manager Catherine today and she is a real sweetie. There have some amazing stuff in the gallery, especially some mixed media work I am dying for!

I didn't stay there long but went to the 99c store. NOT a THING in there I wanted or could use sadly. Sometimes I can go in there and spend $50, other times zilch. I spent about 45 mins total in the inner Mission and couldn't take it anymore and had to leave. I felt like I needed a shower by the time I got home-ugh! It has gotten so much grungier over the past 4 yrs. I use to go all the time, but now only if I really have to.

When I got home I took Bettie out for her walk and by the time I got back I was just exhausted. Not how I wanted my day to go. At 3:30 I said "lets lay in bed and watch tv while I ice my foot", by 4 I was out and woke up at 7:44ish... There goes my day LOL. By the time I woke up Rob was home, had made dinner and was just starting to eat. I don't know whats going on-maybe I'm fighting off something, maybe pms, maybe fibro? I just know that I hope I feel energized tomorrow!!!

Work it Wednesday 7 tips to weather the rough economy as a jewelry artist

Asymentrical Egyptian Revival Earrings

Todays Work it Wednesday (really a marketing monday post) is about getting through this rough economic time, or at least keeping your head above water.

I've been seeing and reading alot about people quitting making jewelry because they aren't making any money right now. I can't judge and say whether thats a good thing or bad-not my call to make. I will say, IF you don't want to quit, you don't have too. You do have to grow a thicker skin and work a little more creatively to make it thru the lean time.

Here are seven tips to help you keep your head above water.

#1: Are you promoting yourself? Sometimes people promote alot, then get a ton of sales. Thats a good thing, but they get so busy selling, they forget or don't spend the time to promote themselves then wonder what happens when sales fall off. You have to keep putting yourself out there, even if you are the hottest thing going right now.

#2: How to do #1? Put yourself everywhere you can think of. That includes all your social networking like Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, Lovli, etc... And add people back! Networking is KEY. Not just for sales, but for support. Sometimes the only other people that get your frustrations are other artists. Slip a couple of business cards in any order or destash ebay sale you make. Do a promo swap with others-send them your business cards and add theirs to your packages. Leave one everywhere you can - coffee shop bulletin board, doc office table, etc....Hand one to everyone you meet.

#3: Look for alternative places to sell. Perhaps doing Esty as well as your own site, or approaching local stores and doing local fairs. Also, set up a website, not just a blog, Etsy, Artfire or Dawanda to sell your work. Jean Campbell at Beading Daily had a great post last week about launching your own website. Its really not hard, I promise!

#4: Have faith. Easier said than done I know. Remember that this slump is only a temporary situation. Don't dwell on the problem but focus on a solution.

#5: Since workloads are slower, its a great time to allow yourself to try something new in your work. Always done polymer clay but never got around to learning how to beadwork a bezel around your clay cabs? Now's a good time. Curious about wirewrapping but haven't had the time to devote to it-now you do. Not only will this take your mind off sales, it is expanding your creativity which will ultimately expand your sales.

#6: Barter with others. Love someones handsewn skirts but haven't got any money-ask if they will trade you. You can do this with alot of people from other artists, to graphic designers, massage therapists, hair dressers, just about anyone. I know of a massage therapist who trades her work for credit on her Veterinary bill. You won't know if someone will trade, unless you ask!

#7: Promote others. You heard me, promote other peoples small businesses. If you found someone who makes great soap-tell everyone you know, or web surfed and found an amazing jewelry artist-tell everyone about their work. Basically this is a "do unto others, as you would have them do unto you" type of thought. I personally like to think that whatever intentions I send out to the universe, return to me. So, if I am cheering others in their success, others will cheer me too. What goes around, comes around so why not put out happy successful thoughts.

I think it boils down to making a conscious decision to find solutions rather than be bogged down by problems, to weather the storm with a positive attitude, surrounding yourself with other artists and maybe a whole lot of chocolate ;-)

Feel free to post any tips you have too! I'd love to compile a list then make a Craftgossip post with the suggestions.

I really meant to do a Marketing Monday post yesterday.....

Hydra in the Heathers Necklace

But it never happened. I got sucked into reading online stuff, taking photos then listing destash stuff on etsy, updating my website, resizing photos, etc.... I wasn't being lazy, other things just took longer than I expected. I will get one up, hopefully tomorrow. I'm getting alot of emails asking if I am going to be doing any more of them.

Later in the evening, I went to hang out with my friend Michael. We had dinner, drinks and lots of catching up. I didn't get home until 1am, although I could have talked for alot longer (poor Michael!). I wish I could see my friends more often, they all live everywhere but SF.

I've also been reading alot about CHA, and sort of wish I had gone just for the comrarderie. Seeing the pics of all the girls having fun, and reading Twitter posts makes me wish I had gone. But I want to go to Cardiff, this summer so I need to save money rather then spend it.

I'm also trying to figure out Facebook too. People seem to LOVE it. I like Twitter a bit more I think.

Book Review:Fabulous Fabric Beads

Fabulous Fabric Beads: Create Custom Beads and Art Jewelry by Kristal Wick

Paperback: 112 pages
Publisher: Interweave Press
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1596680776
ISBN-13: 978-1596680777

I have to admit, I was intrigued when I saw this book. I thought to myself "Could you really make interesting beads with fabric?" Happily, the answer is a resounding YES!!!!!

Kristal Wick is a fabric bead goddess, combining scrapbooking, beading, fiber arts, and mixed-media techniques to show you how to create 30 gorgeous beads from rolled tubes of fabrics like muslin, silk, and even ribbon. And she doesn’t leave the fabric alone, there are lots of ways you can alter whatever fabric you have and make them even more lush. There is also a number of embellishment techniques to add even more zing to your beads. It’s another great way of recycling fabric scraps that would have just gone into the trash otherwise. If you are a crafter, you more than likely have everything you need to get started right away.

The book starts with explaining the materials and tools you will be using to make the fabric beads. Then it goes on to all the ways of creating a variety of surface designs. There are lots of clearly written instructions on how to make the beads easily as well as how to cover inexpensive wooden/ plastic beads too. A chapter on Fabric Bead projects follows with projects to make earrings, bracelets and necklaces. Finishing it off nicely, the gallery section at the end has even MORE fantastic fiber eye candy.

This book is great and makes you think outside of the box when it comes to beads. I find it really inspirational.   I want to use this as a springboard to see what else I can do with all those scraps of fabric I keep saving.  I hope the author comes out with another that shows even more ways of working with fabric and creating unusual and beautiful beads.

Fabulous Fabric Beads is a book you want to look at over and over!

Weekend in Review

"I left my heart in San Francisco" Wanderlust Vintage Map Pendant

Today was sunny but SO cold and SO windy! Bettie didn't want to go out for her walkies, and who can blame her? Here she is, bundled up in a sweatshirt from her Aunt Bella. I think she looks like a little sorority girl in it, isn't it just too cute?

I've been a busy bee, taking tons of photos and working on them. Why does that take so long? Maybe because I take about 200 photos per shoot?? I have stuff to list and have been updating the Etsy shops and website slowly as I go along. I love creating, I don't like photo editing and listing so much, but it's got to be done.

I have also been busy on my art my exhibit at Redux Gallery in March. As usual, I have a stack of things "gestating", waiting for this, that and the other to be ready to be born. I wish I had a space that I could fill will all kinds of cool stuff, but I only have a small totebox and a few plastic shoeboxs of treasure. Living in SF, means not having storage space so you just do what you can. I'm not sure how many pieces I want to make yet, but I'm aiming for 10-12. I've got more than that started of course, but they aren't all cohesive, so I need to wait until closer to shipping time to figure out which are going and which aren't.

There are lots of giveaways and sales going on this week I've noticed. The One World, One Heart blog event is back. I meant to join it, but haven't yet...hopefully I can join in the fun this week. Melissa at Strands of Beads, is giving away some GORGEOUS jewelry, click HERE to get in on that. And for all the knitting girls out there- Shannon Okey is also having a massive giveaway of $50 to yarn store of your choice or $50 of hand dyed yarn from her website, a signed copy of her book and ALL of her patterns! Jessica has put some of her soap on sale to make room for new ones. They are only $3 each on her Etsy shop or website. I am pretty sure I read a few more, but can't find them just now. When I do, I'll post and share the love.

Please help all these ladies by spreading the love and letting others know about their giveaways. Be sure to enter yourself too.

I know I sound like a broken record.........

but I really can't believe another week has flown by, and its the end of JANUARY already!
I've had a productive weekend, but first-this weeks Bead Bloggers.

• About.com Jewelry Making How are your 2009 jewelry resolutions going so far? Are you staying focused? Take this quick poll and see the results tabulated so far.
• Art Bead Scene Have a few art bead pieces you'd like to enter in a contest? ABS has a list of the current competitions accepting entries.
• Carmi's Art/Life World Carmi makes a fun denim ribbon corsage in under 30 minutes!
• Carter Seibels for Divali Glass Jewelry A double dose of Divali Glass Jewelry: The Winter Sale starts on Saturday! And Carter is now selling her loose beads on Bead Trust.
• Jennifer Jangles Blog Jennifer shows off her new packaging for some of her beads.
• Jewelry & Beading Jamee Jones shares her gorgeous Hawaii-inspired jewelry!
• Snap Out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! Jean flips for a jewelry book inspired by the Impressionists!
• Strands of Beads Melissa gets inspired by a quote from Pascal
• The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton Andrew talks about and shares a little bit about his obsession with opalescent glass. Get a sneak-peek at his horde!

Bead Book Giveaway!

I am giving away 2 of Katie Hacker's beading books over on CraftGossip.

Katie gave me an interview and two books for giveaways to a lucky CraftGossip reader.
If you’d like to win a copy of “The Need to Bead” and “Born to Bead” books, leave a comment on there with why you feel “the need to bead” or why you think you were “born to bead”.

I’ll pick one lucky person at random on Jan 31st! Feel free to repost too!

Where did the week go??????

I have NO idea......WHOOSH, there it goes.
To be honest I don't even remember what I DID this past week, but I am pretty sure I was somewhat productive. This is what happens when I don't write out my daily goals list!

I listed some stuff on Etsy, sorted through various stuff and made piles to get rid of or sell. I organized my work area a bit more, cleaned off a portion of my work table that is now messy again, spent Wed making resin pendants and a few more lovers eye pieces as well as crafting a few things too.

Today it took me all afternoon to photograph, resize and list 7 pair of New Earrings that are now in the webstore. Tomorrow I need to photo a bunch of necklaces and resize/list those. Time flies when you are busy.

I also realized yesterday that a number of book reviews I wrote up for CraftGossip in Dec, went POOF and are just gone. Where I have no idea, I checked yesterday when I was going to write up a review for Strands, by my girl Jacqueline Myers-Cho. They never posted and do not exist. So aggravating, dang web glitches!!! So I re-wrote the one for Fabulous Fabric Beads, and will have to do the others ASAP and a few new ones ASAP.

I'm also doing Jewelry Artists Mini Interviews on CG too. I think it will be a great way to learn a little bit about alot of different people.

Bead Bloggers

Some great reading this week on the bead bloggers!!!

About.com Jewelry Making Jazz up a necklace with a unique focal point or add it to a simple chain for an instant necklace. Pendants have lots of possibilities, and Tammy has some projects to get you started making them.

Art Bead Scene Do you have a book inside you but not sure you could work with an editor? Consider self publishing. Take a look at the lovely results from one beadmaker who did!

Barbe Saint John - New Jewelry from Forgotten Artifacts Barbe reviews Junk to Jewelry & Vintage Redux books

Bead&Button magazine Ann Dee, editor of Bead&Button Magazine, invites beaders to enter the Bead Dreams competition.

Carmi's Art/Life Carmi stuffs some yo yos to make a fabulously light necklace!

Carter Seibels for Divali Glass Jewelry Carter looks back at Divali Glass Jewerlry designs come and gone, and sees the similarities in her creative style over time.

Jennifer Jangles Blog Jennifer shows off what's new for Valentine's Day at Jangles.

Jewelry & Beading Stamping and beads? The best of both worlds!

Katie's Beading Blog Beads, Baubles & Jewels is back for its fifth year. This week Katie shares what's coming up in the new season. Check it out!

Strands of Beads Give your found-object jewelry a new twist by using cute Japanese trinkets

Beautiful Day

Custom Wanderlust Vintage Map Necklace-"Kyoto Dream" for Rita Bellanca

This weekend was MUCH better then the week preceding it. Sure there was a couple of annoyances, but overall it was LOADS better.

Today I had an appointment with Artist Xchange gallery in the Mission to show them my work. I haven't been there in at least 3 yrs and its a gorgeous space with some REALLY amazing artwork. In particular there were some large mixed media wall pieces I'd LOVE to have. They are now representing me=WOO HOO! I have 16 pieces there, about 1/2 of them brand new. I need to figure out some small earring displays for the cube ASAP.

I also stopped by a boutique where my work would fit in PERFECTLY. I left a card and will contact the owner next week. Its VERY close to the gallery but since my stuff is vastly different from each other and all one of a kind, it should be a problem with competition. I wanted to go to a couple of more stores but my foot was stabbing throbbing and I just hobbled to the Bart and came home.

Sadly my bleeping left foot is going full throttle with the pain. Walking was fun (rolling my eyes) today, let me tell you! I kept it in the night splint all day yesterday and it was fine=until I started walking. My podiatrist wants me to do physical therapy before he will consider surgery-which irks me. I've been stretching, icing, wearing the splint and do the exercises HERE and no response.. sigh...Also, our co-pay is $40 and going to PT twice a week for a month is hard on the wallet. Making me depressed, don't want to think about it anymore LOL

I need to make a better presentation when going to shops. I have been using the jewelry cases, but they are bulky but don't really hold enough of my necklaces. I have a couple of ideas swimming around my head=I need to put down on paper and figure out.

Tonight, icing the foot and making more stuff!!!!

Is Mercury Retrograde again?

Can I have a do over week?? Please? The last few days haven't been so fun.

The new and expensive keyboard, dang Staples is expensive. I have to get an ergonomic one because a regular (aka cheap)one hurts my wrists and hands after a while and I get tendonitis.

The culprit Nephthys which made the new keyboard possible. Here she is looking innocent and swearing she was framed.

Today, I was supposed to meet a new friend for lunch. 20 mins to find something to wear. Most of my dresses won't button over my chest now. ugh! Then it took 20 mins to find one shoe that I wanted to wear. It never fails the ONE pair of shoes I want to wear on any given day, I will only be able to find ONE of them.

So shoe found then I looked at the bus schedule and planned it so I could leave at 11:15 and get up there by 12:15. Well the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry-I missed both a bus and train by seconds, so had to wait for the next ones 15 or 20mins respectively. Then get on one, wait 5 mins outside the embarcadero tunnel. Ride it to Montgomery and its Noon-WTH!!!. Schedule says next J train in 8 mins, but 15 minutes pass and no train. At this point there is NO way I am going to get to there other side of the city and meet up so I call and apologize for flaking out and say I just can't make it. I HATE doing that, and especially 15 mins before I'm supposed to meet someone. I feel really bad about it and hope she doesn't hate me too much or doesn't want to pursue a friendship.

So then I figure since I'm downtown I could meet Rob for lunch. I call and tell him I'm at Montgomery, he says meet him at Sansome but with the streetnoise I thought he said Sacramento-so he heads off one way and I go the opposite direction.. UUUUGGGHH! So we turn around and find each but can't find anywhere to sit cause its lunchtime. We go to Starbucks and they are out of sandwiches except for goatcheese and Mushroom-my worst nightmare. So no lunch for me either......Have a latte, hobble to the bus (because my foot is throbbing of course) and wait 25mins for that bus to get home. Sigh.....I want to go back to bed and start the day over.

I hope everyone is having a MUCH better day than I am!

apologies to everyone

I apologize to everyone sending me emails the last 2 days. I can't answer them.

My cat threw up on my keyboard yesterday. morning I THOUGHT she missed it and just hit the edge of the keyboard drawer..but no-ALL thru the keyboard. Rob thought he could pop it open and dry it out/clean it when he got home. Can't get this one open, so he will bring a new one home from Staples tonight.

All my email goes to the desktop, I can't open it on the laptop-so I promise to answer emails later tonight.

Cats-gotta love them.

Book Review:Vintage Redux & Junk to Jewelry by Brenda Schweder

Vintage Redux: Remake Classic and Collectible Jewelry

I posted a review about Vintage Redux over at my jewelrymaking blog on Craft Gossip, but will recap here because its such a great book and because I also got "Junk to Jewelry" from the library this weekend (Borders didn't have it of course!) and I love it too!!

I want to send an email to the author Brenda Schweder asking if she will be my new BFF. I think we'd have a GREAT time making jewelry together, and we'd be bad influences on each other by encouraging each other to pick up stuff from the street or being thrift shopaholics!

You can pick either book to read first, but you'll be happier if you just buy them both. Junk to Jewelry focuses on using found objects to create jewelry, while Vintage Redux has some of that but focuses more on using vintage bits. After you read these books, you are going to be asking everyone you know to give you all their broken jewelry and stuff in their junk drawers like I do. Ms. Schweder has a real gift for combining things you wouldn’t think would work together but do!

Everyone has a box or drawer full of broken jewelry, single earrings, hand me downs, etc Come on admit it, we ALL have stuff we just can't bear to throw away, even if we don't like it. Read these books and you'll be glad you kept it all, you'll digging through all your stuff and making fab new pieces!

If you are a bit squeamish about tearing apart something for fear it may be valuable, the Vintage Redux starts with a chapter ”What is vintage, Really” to calm those fears . That also has a section on cleaning, repairing and storing which is helpful. It then moves on to “How to ReDux”which talks about what makes jewelry up to date.
The first project is a restringing project, which eases you into making something old new again. Then the book is then broken into 4 sections: New Order Redux, Unexpected Redux, Heirloom Redux and Inspirational Redux. The New Order Redux section is vintage jewelry remade into new pieces. Unexpected Redux is all about using vintage found objects into jewelry and accessories. Heirloom Redux is all about working your heirlooms into jewelry without altering them by drilling or cutting apart. And the Inspirational Redux section is the gallery section of lots more eye candy including my favorite “Fob Nobbing”. This book really makes you think creatively about using all that stuff stashed in drawers and jewelry boxes.

Junk to Jewelry: A Step-by-Step Guide to Using Found Objects in Jewelry You Can Actually Wear

"Junk to Jewelry" starts off with "Not lost but found. What to find and where to find it" as the intro. LOVE IT!!!!   She then shows the reader how to use a wide variety of objects in her projects.

 The projects are broken into 12 sections: From the Hardware Store, From the Jewelry Box. From the Office Supply, From Urban Digs, From the Junk Drawer, From the Sportsmans Lodge, From the Toybox, From the Sewing Basket, From the Game Table, from Soldiers and Campaigners, From Mother Earth, and From the Classroom. Over 30 projects in all!!

There are some CLEVER things in this book, and she makes even the lowly humble rubberband look good!!! A couple of the projects I really loved are the "Alotta Pull" the cover image and "Sharpener Image" pin in particular, but its hard to pick just 2 and not 22 of them!

I think everyone would find inspiration in these books.   I recommend both of these book as mandatory for any mixed media jewelry artist.

Marketing Monday - keep on keeping on

Today's Marketing Monday had me going over and rewriting the cover letter to approach out of town boutiques/galleries. I haven't gotten alot of responses of late, so I hope that by reworking my introduction letter (along with the lookbook) will turn around that response rate. And no, I haven't finished the look book yet...Why? Because I need a few more images before I can finish-and I'm having a devil of a time finding them. Tomorrow I WILL find something to work though, I'm itching to finish it!!!!

Marketing Monday Tip #2: Friends are important.

I've also been feeling a bit down with marketing thoughts, and today I got a great email boost from my friend Lisa Vollrath. She is such an amazing business woman, and someone I really admire and adore. As an artist or small business owner, it's really important to have friends who are successful , supportive and can help you see thru the fog. She has a couple of great sites you should check out: Two Ten Studios is her webstore full of all kinds of creative goodies like collage sheets, kits, books and more. Go Make Something is her site with a TON of cool projects, printables, challenges and instructions. If you need to know how to make something, LOOK HERE FIRST!!!! Need to know how to make your own book-its there. Curious about how to age something? No problem, the info is here. Want to make a fake airline ticket for a scrapbook-she tells you where you can do that too! Add these sites to your creative bookmark folder too.

Do you hoard, my little packrat friend?

Cyber Granny Assemblage - Sold

Are you a hoarder? I am, and for years I was happy with it. I LOVED having a big room full of stuff, finding more stuff, collecting stuff, etc.... But as I kept moving to smaller and smaller (and more expensive each time!) places to live my packrat hoard has become a source of stress rather than joy.

I've pared down ALOT. Not collecting vintage hats, purses, teapots, china, clothing, etc.....but I've barely bared down the 'creative stash'. I don't knit, so why do I have nearly 100 pairs of knitting needles??? Not sewing as much so why keep all these scraps. I did get rid of 5 leafbags of fabric scraps when we moved 5 yrs ago believe or not!!! If I'm not using it and not going to use it in the next year, do I REALLY need it or am I holding onto it because of some lack mentality? I'm a big believer in seeing the macro in the micro and vise versa-what is my enviroment saying about my inner landscape? Its saying "CLEAN HOUSE COME QUICK!!!"

Like Cyber Granny, my motto is "and I will!!!! I will let go of physical things I don't need this year and allow better/more useful things to come in. I will be happier knowing that things such as these beaded beads I made 9 yrs ago are getting used rather than rolling around in a drawer. Things should be used, not stuffed away forgotten gathering dust.

And here's this weeks Bead Bloggers Links!

• About.com Jewelry Making Since many of us are trying to get our jewelry studios organized this year, Tammy collected some excellent ideas to help out jewelry designers and crafters of all kinds.


• Art Bead Scene Art Bead Scene's January Challenge is Inspired by Irises. Enter a piece of jewelry and win free beads.


• Art Jewelry magazine Jill's teaching at a retreat; check out the information.


• Carmi's Canvas Flower Bracelet Carmi has a short demo using the new Sticky Back canvas.


• Carter Seibels for Divali Glass Jewelry Carter looks forward to the exciting year ahead and shares some photos from her time away from beads.
  Jennifer Jangles Blog Gather some New Years inspiration from the Jangles Blog.


• Jewelry & Beading Cyndi is hosting an educational blitz this month, and she's wondering if you know of classes she should add to the list.


• Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! Book Review from Jean: Add some sparkle to your New Year with Crystal Chic, a super pretty book by Debbi Simon


• Strands of Beads Looking for new shopping opportunities? Melissa suggests visiting your local rock shop!


• The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton Andrew creates a buying guide of skull related beads and pendants.

PSA-Calling All Students!!!

Just a heads up for those going to CHA or the Tuscon Gem Show - The Impatient Crafter Margot Potter is teaching two sensational classes at CHA and the Tucson Gem show.I sadly won't be going to either of these but if you are, you should take her class!!! Here's the 411!

Am I too dark??

Atlantean Charm -NFS

As I am going through pics of jewelry to use, I'm wondering if I am coming off as too "dark". My favorite pics are the jewelry with bones in them. Most of my color schemes are dark metals, dark colored beads, and themes like unrequited love, vampyres and things that go bump in the night.

Memento Mori Mourning Earrings

I personally have never thought of my work as scary at all, but maybe it is to some? I've always thought of it as bittersweet rather than being fascinated with the macabre. What do you think?

Pick your Poison-Sulfuric Acid Necklace

Have you looked at your own work recently and wondered if it comes off totally different than what you picture? Theres an exercise that you can do if you are unsure, you ask 10 people to write 5 words that they feel describe about your work. I think asking people who aren't good friends will give you better results.

Marketing Monday - marketing materials

Marketing Materials - This past weekend I've finally hunkered down and started working on my lookbook/linesheet/tearsheet/catalog/press kit material as well as some new labels (above). I've hesistated working on it because I wasn't quite sure WHAT to do or how I wanted to do it. But too many places have asked for one so I made it one of my new years goals. Luckily Jennifer Perkin posted on her blog how she did her new Naughty Secretary Club look book. If you are thinking about doing one, read this-Jen rocks!

Also a bit of synchronicity-today Alyson Stanfield posted on her ArtBiz.com blog a post "Create a brochure for your art". It is a really good article, so be sure to check it out as well.

As I was working on it I realized I needed/wanted some different jewelry images. Tomorrow, I'll be setting up to take photos for that because I want to finish it this week.

Bead Bloggers

Back to work tomorrow-Marketing Monday. For tonight, here is this weeks bead bloggers!

• About.com Jewelry Making Tammy takes a look in her jewelry box and picks out her top 10 jewelry projects for 2008.
• Art Bead Scene ABS Editor Cindy Gimbrone shares her favorite post from 2008. Junk Envy!
• Carmi's Art/Life World Carmi makes some felt bundles for rings!
• Jewelry & Beading Cyndi is wondering what the best advice you every received is...
• Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! When beadist Kim Miles comes up with some new ideas, they are always fantastic! Check these out!
• The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's famous poem, The Raven, Andrew creates a shopping guide to raven and crow-themed beads and pendants.

New Years Intentions

I've spent the last few days, thinking about goals and intentions for 2009. I love this vintage card and felt its meaning was very appropriate=the baby new year wiping the slate clean to start all over again.

2008 had its great moments and some utterly dismal moments, but over all I think I moved ahead in many ways. Its my intention that 2009 will be awesome and I hope the same for each of you as well. I wrote out a long list today of alot of my intentions/goals/desires for the year. Many of them aren't worth mentioning here (like get rid of clutter, clean more, etc...) but some of the bigger ones are:

- Be healthier physically. That entails eating properly, more organical & local, and moving my body more. Dance classes are on the list

-Get more business accounts, press, do more shows and network with other artists and uplifting people. That requires spending more time on researching, applying, etc....

- Do more things for "me", such as sew more, socialize more, spend more time doing daily meditation, reading, taking classes just because, etc....

- Be more proactive in putting myself 'out there'. Apply to more galleries, shows, magazines, etc.. and let people know so they can tell me about opportunities. I missed out on SO many things in 2008 that I want to kick myself over.

- Take help when others offer it. I've always felt selfish taking help but alway willing to give it to everyone. This year I allow myself to give and take help.

- Focus on good things, be positive and surround myself with the same. That means-less complaining, less gossip listening, more positive thoughts, etc....

I think its gonna be a great year and I'm so excited to see what comes of it!