Conquering Fear - On a Small Scale

Do you have those things in your life that you really want to try but are letting fear or worry hold you back? I have lots of those things. Most of them are quite silly, but I let the fear or worry keep me from doing them anyway.

For years I have wanted to make my own books. Small books, big books, beautiful, wonderful and creative books. I bought several books about making books. I've checked out books on book making from the library. I've seen wonderful hand made books on Etsy and at art shows. But I was always too afraid to try making one myself. I thought they would be too difficult to make and take too much time. A few weeks ago, I made a few small books that I put together and hand stiched to include in block printing kits I put together. They turned out kind of cute, they were fairly easy and I was happy with the result.

Last week, Artlandish Gallery offered a workshop in traditional Japanese bookbinding and I was privileged to attend. The workshop was taught by artist Sonya Nicholson who did a great job of breaking down the steps to building a book. (Check out some examples of Sonya's work here).

I really love the way my book turned out and it was not as difficult as I had always imagined it would be. Isn't that the way with things we fear? Mostly, they are never quite as bad as we build them up to be? The other thing is, that since I was able to finally make something I had always wanted to make and I liked the result, I felt very happy. I still love looking at my beautiful book and dreaming of a whole new avenue to release some creative energy. As if I really needed another thing to add to my list of things I love to make! Oh well! :)

Here are some photos of my first book made with Japanese bookbinding:
 

Adding to My Etsy Shop

One of my weaknesses is that I allow myself to be overwhelmed by tasks that I haven't even attempted yet. I think of something I want to do and instead of believing I can do it and use my energy to get the job done, I waste time telling myself the many reasons why I can't do it. Almost always, I end up either not doing anything at all or procrastinating until it's too late to do anything.

My business suffers because of my procrastination. I pretty much ignored the fact that I have an Etsy shop for most of the Spring and Summer. I would log in, look at my stuff, roll my eyes, then log out. All the while telling myself how I really needed to get in there and dust the cobwebs off so I could add a few things and make my shop presentable. I really want to have a cool shop. One that is successful. Really, I do. But I get caught up in believing it's an impossible task and I just end up feeling bad.

A couple of weeks ago, I changed my avatar, my banner and worked on some of my photos. I changed my banner for this blog too (which still needs work) and today I actually added 7 new items. That's SEVEN! Not only did I add that many new items, I now have 25 items total which added a second page to my shop! It may not seem like much, but to me, it's huge. The other part is that the 7 (yes, that's SEVEN) things I added are not paper crafts. They are totally different than anything I've ever listed before. These are my babysteps.

I think it helps to look to others when I am feeling defeated or overwhelmed and I don't know what to do. One person (a fellow Etsian) who is an inspiration to me is Jessica Doyle. She is a wonderful artist who works her butt off and is very successful. I follow her blog and follow her on Facebook. I like reading her daily entries because she seems very organized and she's really good about sharing information. When I see her successes as a result of her determination and hard work, it makes me want to get my own rear in gear. I'm thankful for Jessica and people like her, who share their struggles, insight and processes. It helps me learn how to be more focused and more hopeful about seeing my dreams come true.

Do you have a blog you like to turn to for inspiration?

I Did This Instead of Sleeping...

Everyone in my family has had some sort of ailment in the past week. I'm just getting over mine, so I should really be sleeping. You know, getting rest so I can get healthy, letting my body rejuvenate so I don't have a relapse. Instead, I spent time carving eraser stamps! I've found that this is what really relaxes me lately, especially if I like the way the designs turned out.

I've been working on getting some things ready for an art fest I'm doing with my friends on Thanksgiving weekend. It's kind of an overwhelming task because there seems to be so much to be done and not really enough time to do it. Carving stamps helps me be creative, without having to commit too much time. Besides, I'll be able to make tags out of some of these and sell them at the art fest!

Working to Make it Better

I've been telling myself for quite some time now, that I'm going to work on my Etsy shop and other aspects of my tiny little business. I've been avoiding my Etsy shop like the plague because it seems so overwhelming, the number of things I want to do. But I'm just trying to focus on taking baby steps.

I changed my avatar and banner and added one new item. I will probably have a few more things to add, but need to take some photos first. I've been spending some time in the forum, reading blogs of sellers I admire, participated in Tim Adam's Webinar and have refused to give up after not doing so well in a couple of art/craft fairs.

Two really nice things that have happened lately: someone is in the process of buying one of my mixed media collage pieces and I sold 24 cards to the Unity Center so they could sell them in their bookstore. It's always nice to make a couple of sales.


The piece below is the one that is being purchased. It's called "You Are The Only One". It's one of my favorites, but I'm glad that it will have a new home.

Block Party

Yesterday I facilitated a group of 8 women in a linoleum block printing workshop. It was held at Artlandish Gallery in Columbia, Missouri and it was really fun! I met some nice people, had a few laughs, saw some great designs. But the most fun part was watching as each person saw the first print of their carving on paper. It was truly amazing. Lots of "ooos and ahhhs" going on in that room.

We also carved some plastic erasers for some really cute hand made stamps. I was inspired to carve out a small lino block last night before I went to bed. Here's how it turned out:


I'm happy with the way it turned out and can hardly wait to print some different colors on cards and make some prints for framing.

I've been working on carving a few stamps and rubber pieces. It's very satisfying and there is the element of immediate gratification. I can carve a quick stamp in a few minutes, make a quick print then go cook dinner (or whatever thing I need to do). I can squeeze making hand made stamps in any part of my day! I'm soooo addicted. Here are some of the stamps I've made: