Having fun finding all the treasuries my work is getting chosen for. Very cool, helps my ego, too. LOL

Okay, gonna try again. My work is in another treasury. WooHoo!

Been searching free advertising opps today. I'm not sure what I'm getting into but I think I have successfully joined:
Stumbleupon.com
Craftgawker.com
Craftcult.com
Plumdrop.com

There are more I plan to look into but I still haven't digested all I need to know about these four. I'm keeping up with Facebook, this blog and the 24 some teams I can post on at etsy. I'm wondering if I have a capacity on promo sites. I suppose time will tell. Right now it's fun to look into everything. Will the needs of the promo outweigh the needs of the studio?

Not only did I finish three boxed gift tag sets, I finished the photo shoot, scans and editing the images. It has been a long day. This is my last hoorah for Monday, but here's some of the images I took today.

I have spent the time this weekend to learn a little more about blogs. Notice I found a widget for my etsy shop. Now, I'm thinking about other things I have seen for blogs. It's totally addicting.  

It's Sunday night and I'm going to work on some gift tags this evening. Just about done with three new boxed gift sets. Off to work!

Okay, I'll try another method. Here goes...done. Figured it out. This is five of the small paper batik/polymer clay collages I have made the last few years. They evolve from the moment my eye is caught by some paper batik scraps on my work table. I just let the composition grow from that point. Each collage represents a moment in my studio. Whatever inspires me at my work table at that time is what the composition is. It's very relaxing for me. Maybe I should title new ones with that moment the spark flies like
"3:21pm, 9/23/2011".

Midway through my day and thought I would try to post an image. So, I'm in experimentation mode. I'm gonna try to post a new art collage. Here goes.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/82396282/mixed-media-collage-art-embellished-with?ref=pr_shop

What a day, right/ I put awhile into starting an etsy shop for Mom. Finally gave up and wrote etsy support. I spent the rest of the day reading and researching. I want to learn how to make this blog everything it can be. Most importantly it's a challenge.

I know now that the simple and captivating act of learning puts me in my element. The whole process interests me. I've been paying close attention to just how visual my learning style is. Possibly visual to a fault.I'm going to call it a day for the internet. Ciao

I listed a new paper batik:
www.etsy.com/listing/82220728/mixed-media-paper-art

I've been reading "The Spiritual Reawakening of The Great Smoky Mountains" by Page Bryant. A co-worker gave me a copy with great enthusiasm, some time ago. Anyway, I learned about a spiritual belief, now myth, of the  concerning the "Little People". "The Little People, at least those that still remain, are divided into three different types: the Laurel People, the Rock People, and the Dogwood People.

The Rock People are reported to be mean spirited, the Laurel People are benignly mischievous, and the Dogwood People are good samaritans. With that on my mind, I created a treasury from etsy of polymer clay art dolls from the woodlands. I had to wonder just what kind of little person each of them might be. I'm going to try to post it, at least, I hope the link appears. Check it out, it'll make you smile...and wonder, mean, mischievous, or good?

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/NjgwMDM3MXw3NTQ0NDUxMzc/polymer-clay-ooak-woodland-faeries-and?index=0

Wed. Sept. 21, 2011

Last night I had my idea for yesterday's post. I decided I needed to make a cheat sheet of all this new web activity...cause I can't remember addresses or numbers anymore. I collected my materials meaning all the scraps of paper I've written urls on. It was a significant pile. Okay, this will be a good thing, except it was 12:30 am. I thought I was feeling tired...duh. Right? I thought to myself that I couldn't ignore my needs anymore. I went to bed and I'm here writing about it now. Still gotta eat and get dressed.

I will probably always be challenged by my health issues and I'm getting better at it. There is a part of me that is still very young and dismisses my body's needs. Now I understand I can think like I'm 28 but my body is on it's own schedule. I am grateful to have that insight...the alternative is so dead.

I am charged with creating an etsy shop for my 86 year old mother. Most of you know her as "Mom". I wondered why she was crocheting an orange afghan, she usually has a baby or wedding she is making an afghan for...but orange, really? She came to me with a beautiful orange afghan with a bold, big white letter "T" crocheted in the center. I took pictures cause I have been posting her activities on my personal Facebook page. That was last week. Yesterday she told me she wanted to use "Dee" for her shop and was curious if I had posted her afghan yet.

OOOh, I get it. She wants an etsy shop...o boy...just as I am figuring it out for my self. So today, besides grocery shopping, I will be creating "GreatGrammaDee's" etsy shop. I'll post that when it is done. Mom does beautiful work and I'm excited that she will be working on more projects cause she'll have her shop! So it begins.

I'm resurrecting this blog, it remains ultimately relevant to where I've been the last few years, and where I'm at today. I will be posting about being in my studio everyday. It's the dream I had, as an art student, of one day getting to work in my studio everyday. It was seemingly a simple dream yet I had no idea of what the journey would be, then. Now, I have a little better idea. I remain steadfast on my path and the journey continues to amaze and excite me.

I am going to be teaching myself all the blog stuff (finally), y'know links, slide shows, dancing bears and who knows what I will find. So there will be experiments and tests in this learning process I will share with you. Maybe that should be a warning.

I spent my summer learning about and making polymer clay beads, and reading about online venues. Plenty to talk about on that research. After three weeks of study and preparation, I ultimately opened my shop on Etsy:

www.BillisPaperBatiks.etsy.com

LOL! Now that you know, we're in this together! Later!