PRO-ACTIVE

Une révolution pacifique se prépare sur DaWanda...

Guettez ces logos, ils devraient apparaître début novembre.

Ne manquez pas de visiter la section "BIENVENUE" du forum.

Vous avez tout à y gagner...

Bonnes courses de fin d'année à tous !

We few, we happy few; a band of sister designers is planning a peaceful coup on DaWanda...

Watch out for these logos in early November.

Do visit the "BIENVENUE" section of the French forum.

You won't regret it.

Happy holiday shopping, Everyone!

A tiny step for me...

Well, at least, there is this one customer that values my work— myself!

I made these yesterday.

Yes, they look very simple, but yes, I was rummaging among my baskets of goods for quite some time before I could find just the right gems (2 different kinds of facetted garnets) and the right wire (thin, 18 k gold— courtesy that potential customer than never even wrote to say "Thanks but no thanks...").

And then they had to be shaped just right.

I wore them all day today— sorry no photo so far— and they felt perfect.

They're cute as studs, simple as can be— I just want to make more of them!

Merry-go-round - What's my next Chapter?

Jump on our merry go round and join a group of artists/crafts-women from around the world as they link hands and tell you a little bit about their lives in craft.

Do look up the answers from the rest of this band of crafters (links to your left).

If they haven't posted yet, remember we all live in different time zones and check again later...

This month's theme:

What's your next chapter?

Well, precisely... I don't know.


I guess that I'm in a sort of rut.

It's easy for me to find excuses for not creating anything at the moment, what with all the work I have to do at the moment for my day-job.

And I'm happy to have all the excuses, because I'm still struggling with the "business" aspect of my creative activities.

Part of it is fun—getting a new look and the business cards that go with it. But as I have already "paid my dues" in another (interesting, by the way) job, I don't take too well to the "compromising" part of it.
Yet, it is sometimes tempting to "make what sells".
So, at the moment, my favourite technique, in order to resist this temptation, is not to make myself make anything unless I'm excited about it.

All the while, I'm never very far from that notebook in which I doodle ideas that need experimenting with. Probably why one of the things I've been working on is learning about handbinding techniques. Very much like crosstitching— while completely engrossing, it allows the mind to ramble on.

I also look around a lot, and keep collecting materials, as original and beautiful as possible.

I also fantasize that something I have made attracts fiery enthusiasm... In someone who is not my mother or my best friend, I mean.

I already know about drudgery, and I am no wannabe artist. I want to be, and stay, passionate about what I make.
So, even though everything seems a bit blurred right now, it feels more like a sort of holiday than an actual rut, after all. I need the time— I take it.

Help Sammy get well with Etsy sellers

Sammy the beloved Kitty of fellow Etsian twostraycats has sustained serious injuries inflicted by an unknown human abuser and must undergo expensive surgery. In an effort to help her out with these medical bills I am pledging to donate 50% of all sales (excluding shipping costs) of this shop until the end of September to help contribute to the Sammy fund. I hope you can find something you like for this good cause, in my shop or in any of the shops listed below.

Look up this thread on the Etsy forum for more info and updates on Sammy and on the shops with "Help Sammy" donations going on:

TwoStrayCats.etsy.com Sammy's family

MoLStationery.etsy.com 65% of all MoL book sales and 75% of all graphics sales. plus matching donations by 50%

chicadolly.etsy.com & faeriegood.etsy.com 25% of all sales profits this week

GenuineArticle.etsy.com & GenuineArt.etsy.com 50% of the proceeds from both of my Etsy shops

glasscircus.etsy.com 25% of my sales

aztek721.etsy.com 50% of any photo sales

Adornyourself.etsy.com 15% of all sales this coming weekend (Sept 18-22) excluding shipping charges

Dearange.etsy.com 100% of the purchase price of Fancy Wearables (as seen on Sammy and Koru)

LittleJumpingBeans.etsy.com 40% of all the sales from shoes this weekend

deersprite.etsy.com 10% of all sales (pre-shipping) until the end of September, off the REGULAR price. If you mention "Sammy" in the message to seller, I will also give you a 10% discount - but Sammy will still get the 10% of the original price.

TaraFlyPhotos.etsy.com profits from print sales of "The Letter" and "Mr. Darcy"

WindandHoney.etsy.com 15% of sales this month

laurart.etsy.com 15% for each sale. I'll donate an extra 5% if the customer mentions in the note how they've helped shed light on this animal in need, via Twitter or blogging.

meherio68.etsy.com 50 % of all sales from now on and until the end of September

Sybillinart.etsy.com 50% of the sales of any of my cat related items

ASecondTime.etsy.com 100% of the profits from the sale of these two items in September
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=29349803
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=29350384

LuminousDreamDesigns.etsy.com 100% of the profits from the sales of her print until next Friday: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=30684781

thebeadedhound.etsy.com 10% of sales for the rest of the month

greytdogz.etsy.com the proceeds from the sale of Custom Pet Themed Digital Photo page. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=25607442

rayneedeigh.etsy.com 40% of all sales before shipping will be donated to Sammy

Nouveau visage - New face

Alors, qu'est-ce que vous pensez de ma nouvelle bannière et de mon nouvel avatar ? Ils sont basés sur une gravure ancienne chinée au printemps dernier : des sirènes et une émeraude...

So— what do you think of my new banner and avatar? They were created out of an old print I unearthed at my favourite antiques fair last spring— a print showing mermaids and an emerald...

Merry-go-round -Summer

Jump on our merry go round and join a group of artists/crafts-women from around the world as they link hands and tell you a little bit about their lives in craft.

Do look up the answers from the rest of this band of crafters (links to your left).

If they haven't posted yet, remember we all live in different time zones and check again later...

This month's theme:

SUMMER

Summer is my season.

Summer is when I can live during the day instead of of working in the day and living my own, real life at night.

Summer is when I enjoy life— things, moments and people.

Summer is a time for new skills and spectacular skies and plants. And fruits.

Summer is for seizing the day.

Summer is when I am alive. Really. Not just for show.

Follow up on Inspiration

Here's what one of my scribblings defacing the lovely Muscha notelets turned into.

Better than any of my drawings, I think. Especially as it is modelled by the lovely, fresh hand of my lovely, fresh niece, Hortense...

Once more, inspired by the Thursday Sweet Treat blog: my Moon River ring.

Suite du message précédent qui traitait de l'inspiration. Un de mes gribouillis portait sur un projet de bague utilisant certains des matériaux accumulés récemment.

Le résultat est beaucoup plus sobre, et je l'adore. En toute simplicité et juste entre nous, bien sûr; ;-)

D'autant plus ravissant que le mannequin qui présente la bague est ma délicieuse nièce, Hortense.

Inspiré par le thème de cette semaine du blog Thursday Sweet Treat, ma bague Moon River.