A Brand New Blog

Hi everyone, I know many of you have been asking where I went...well at long last I have started a new blog.  You can find me at:

Engaging Enropy

The Silver Lining

Yes I know it's been a while again since I posted.  I was busying working through the holidays, and then company came.  But we were about to go on to 2014 and I was READY!  I had plans, and ideas for new pieces and a new layout in mind for my website....it was going to be good.  I was going to start off the new year with a bang!

Life has a funny way of derailing your plans though.  It started because of shopping out in public I am sure.  I got that nasty flu that was going around this year.  Surprisingly R got it as well.  He never gets sick.  Then for the next 5 weeks we passed it back and forth.  I would think I was finally over it and bam...the next day sick again.  After dealing with that for so long, naturally I developed a severe sinus infection.  Such is the way of having flu and allergies.

One morning a few days into the new year I woke up and my ear was leaking a thin liquid.  My headache/sinus pressure had reached an all time high.  I struggled through the day and finally about 7 at night it had gotten so bad I thought my head was literally going to explode.  R was working late, it was freezing cold outside, but I bundled myself up and drove to the closest ER.  They said from the pressure in my head, I had "perforated" my eardrum.  That is a nice way to say it burst.  The next day the other eardrum followed suit.

They referred me to an ENT.  I went to him a few days later, and truly disliked this man.  He was one of those doctors that doesn't listen to you.  I don't like that.  It's my body, I know what is going on and maybe you will too if you listen.  He said he didn't think I had a sinus infection, but that I clench my jaw at night.  Really?  So what is this water leaking from my eyes and ears?

Anyway a CAT scan and an appointment for allergy testing later, I was less impressed.  I had told the man several times I had severe allergies that at times incapacitate me.  On my last visit he asked me if I had considered the possibility that I had allergies....um well yeah since I told you three times...please listen to me...

Last week I was scheduled for the allergy test, but I woke up the morning before and brushed my teeth.  I had a strange premonition that my crown was going to fall out....and by golly later that night it did.  So instead of allergy testing I made an emergency run to the dentist.  My regular dentist...who I truly adore, he is such a good dentist...was out of the office so I saw the other one.  I hadn't previously met her, but she was quite nice and through the course of conversation I discovered her husband is a doctor who specialized in allergies.

I now have an appointment with him.  Apparently he is supposed to be quite nice, a very good doctor and wonderful at giving shots.  (YAY!)  He also has a program to desensitize you to what you are allergic to over the course of one day.  ONE DAY!!!  From what I understand it's not the most pleasant day, and it's very long but I can endure it if it takes away the misery of many days.  They have a nice room set up for it too, to try to make it as pleasant as such a thing can be.

So through all of these things....something good has come.  Hence the silver lining in a very dark cloud.  I have always maintained that miracles are not about what happens, but the timing of what happens.

Clearly this difficult road I have been on has led me to this place.  I am in great hopes that this works.  It feels right somehow even though I have not yet met this doctor.  I guess I just know it in the same way I knew my crown was going to fall out.  Perhaps soon I shall be functional again and can get things made, and the house cleaned and all the things I need to do.

I have a feeling blue skies are finally on the horizon, but for now....my head is throbbing and I need to take my allergy meds and go to bed.  I shall try to keep you updated on my progress.

Even though I am a month late, I hope you all have a wonderful and prosperous new year!

Hugs, K.

Flutter And Flowers

Bears and painting!  Website update soon!

Hugs, K.

More Flowers And A Bear Sneak Peek!

Just another painting...and yes a new bear FINALLY coming.  This one is a 10 inch bear too!

Yesterday I was filled with such incredible joy at just creating things.  How I have missed it.  Off to dress a bear!  

Have a beautiful day!  

Hugs, K.

Wild Flowers

I painted some wild flowers. This will be my first ever painting offered for sale. It's 11 X 14, acrylic on canvas. $115, including US shipping. If you would like to have the very first one....e-mail me!

1. 
   

    Hugs, Kelly

Water Lilies

I am still painting.  I saw some water lilies in Denver this weekend and I was inspired.  It may not be Monet, but it was fun and I kinda like it!

Hugs, K.

Getting Closer...

I think I am on the right track maybe...but tomorrow it's all about bears!

Painting Again...

Well I have managed to use a little more wild abandon, but...I still need more work!

Starfish

Long ago when I was in college I used to paint.  Mostly water color, but I was quite good at it.  

That was a long time ago!  

Recently I have rediscovered my love of painting but I am not good at it any more. I got it into my head that I wanted to paint a starfish.  I have no idea why.  I just did.

Now that it's done I have realized something interesting about myself and my work...I need to let go more.  Things are too centered and too meticulous.  I think painting should have a wild abandon sort of element to it.  I guess we won't be selling this one.  

I need to find that free and wild part of me.  I rather suspect I need to find that part of me with the bears too.  I have known I have been too meticulous and restrained for too long.  It's that constant struggle to let things evolve naturally and yet have perfection.  Those two things don't go hand in hand.

It's really no wonder artists drive themselves crazy!

More paintings and bears to come...stay tuned.

Hugs, Kelly 

Simplifying Your Life

If you are like me, you have probably seen magazines with articles proclaiming that you should simplify your life.  There are books written on the subject, friends have said they were going to do it.  But I have to be honest with you...I never really knew what that meant. 

Life is complicated, how does one simplify it?  If you read those magazine articles or books or even talk to your friends...it can be any number of things.  Maybe it's about organization. or maybe it's about cutting things out of a busy schedule.  For one friend years ago it meant not dating so many men at one time.  

Today I ran into old navy to return something I had ordered from their website.  I am not sure who designed the dress, but it was clearly meant for woman with a size F bra or something.  Really strange.  When I was there I saw a pair of navy blue sneakers.  I had no idea I wanted navy blue sneakers til I saw them, and then something just clicked.  I thought I can wear these with so many things...jeans, shorts...you name it.

After I left Old Navy with my prize in hand, I had to stop for a few groceries on the way home.  As I was going in, I saw a girl wearing a little sundress with black sneakers.  Now I have to tell ya that is not a pairing I would have thought of, but she looked adorable.  I wondered briefly if it was a fashion choice or if she just didn't have much in the way of shoes.

Suddenly it clicked...the way to simplify ones life is by cutting down on the choices, whatever those may be.

I have been sorting and cleaning lately...we had a huge fire here recently, and I took bags of stuff to Goodwill.  I figured it was a good time to do it with so many people in need.  As I look around my house, I realize I have a long way to go.  I need to get rid of a lot of stuff.  Not all of it physical objects either.  

I was talking to a young man I know the other day, and he told me that one evening in the recent past they had an absolutely spectacular sunset.  He said I wanted to watch it as it faded, but I had to force myself to focus on it.

I thought about that for a long time after.  Sometimes I have to force myself to focus on things too.  Not unpleasant things.  I realized we also have too many choices now of where our attention should go.  TV, computer, books, cleaning, work, friends and family wanting our attention at any given moment.  Those last things are very important.  But so it taking a few moments to enjoy a sunset.  There is something very simple and beautiful in that too.

One of the choices I have made however is to come back to my blog.  I have been away, making very few posts for nearly a year...the same with my bears.  

I want to simplify my life, and in an odd way blogging has always helped me do that by organizing my thoughts and allowing me to focus on them and read them back to myself.  In the mean time I will be getting rid of the clutter in my closet, my house, and my mind!

I hope many of you are still willing to come along for the ride!

Have a wonderful, safe and happy 4th of July!

Hugs, K.

Reading The Fine Print

 

Sometimes I wish I could make everything I own.  Most of the time I wish the world was a better place.  I remember a time when it was.  Although I supposed scam artists have been around as long as there have been people.

R and I received a set of sheets for Christmas.  Last week I decided to use them.  The label as you can see says 1500 Thread Count 100% Egyptian Cotton in big bold letters.  

Now mohair has a cotton backing, and I have a LOT of cotton clothing because I have so many allergies.  So I am familiar with what cotton feels like.  As soon as I took the sheets out of the package and touched them I knew something was wrong. They also had an odd chemical smell.

  Thread count is how many threads are woven into a square inch.  Cotton is a natural fiber.  In order to have 1500 cotton threads woven into a square inch the sheets would be quite heavy.  These were the thinnest sheets I had ever seen.  In order to get a thread that thin, it would have to be some sort of a synthetic.  Cotton spun that fine would break when you tried to weave it.

But I put them on anyway, R was tired and ready to go to bed.  A little later I laid down for a nap.  I erupted in INSTANT hives all over my body.  I got back up and pulled the packaging out of the trash.  I read the entire thing.  

The small letters read "Compare the comfort and soft touch as a" 1500 Thread Count 100% Egyptian Cotton Sheet set.  Then more small letters read "Sheets are made of high strength yarns that will stay soft and wrinkle free for years go come"

Now here is the scary part...no where on the packaging or the label sewn into the sheets does it say just what those yarns are made of!  So I did some research online.  One possible answer was petrochemicals!!!  If you aren't familiar with that, it's exactly what it sounds like...a derivative of petroleum.  Not something you want to sleep on.

After R got up I yanked them off the bed and right out to the trash they went. 

In my research I also discovered that the cost of these sheets is quite low.  Far lower than actual 1500 thread count Egyptian cotton would be.  

So I urge you...if something seems too good to be true, it is.  Read the fine print!

Learning To Love Something & A Sale

I am happy to tell you that I am finally healing.  If you didn't know what was going on, December 1st I fractured a rib.  Then I had company...then I got the flu for three weeks...followed by a sinus infection.  That's why there were no bears for Christmas.  It was heartbreaking.  I have ALWAYS done bears for Christmas.  Actually I didn't get to do much of anything.  R even ended up finishing decorating the tree.  It was sad because I love all the things that go with Christmas.  Things happen, what can you do?

Ok so on to the post:

Do you ever wonder if those weird little things you do are just unique to you or does everyone do them?  They are usually those things you don't ever think to discuss with anyone.  You have no way to know.  I am going to tell you about one of my weird little things.  I am curious if I am alone in this.

So it went like this...I was at the mall, in one of the high end anchor stores.  I saw a small handbag by Patricia Nash.  I love clutch bags.  This was leather...yes, I am sorry I love leather.  Especially Italian leather.  It was a great size, the style was perfect, and it was distressed.  I wasn't sure about the color though, it was pretty vivid.  And I knew it wouldn't go with anything I owned.  Especially my shoes.   I like my shoes to either match or at least compliment my bag.   The tag claimed it was pink.  But not really...more like if pink, orange and red intersected.  Nor was I keen on the price.  I put it back on the shelf.  I kept browsing and found some nice things I liked, but I kept going back to the little clutch.  Finally I bit the bullet after being drawn back to it 4 times and bought it.

I got home, looked at it and thought...what did I do???  This has to go back.  I tucked it carefully back in the bag with the receipt.  But somehow it never did.  It has turned out to be one of my very favorite bags of all time.  

I have done this with several other items in the past.  So my question is...have you ever done this?  Bought something you weren't sure about it and discovered you love it, and use it a lot?  

If so, how does this happen?  Do we learn to love something because we make up our mind to, or does our conscious mind try to override our subconscious?  Clearly some part of me knew this was a good thing that I would use since I kept going back to it.  Why didn't I know right away?  Is it just me who does this?  I would love to hear your thoughts on this.

Ok now for the fun part...since there were no Christmas bears, everything on my website at www.blondheart.com is going to be on sale for 40% off until the 15th of January.  If you would like a piece please just e-mail me with your paypal e-mail address, and I will send an adjusted invoice.  The sale is first come first serve. No lay-away, sorry.   Also this will be the only sale all year.  I am going to be going in a little different direction.  Take advantage of it while you can, there are lots of nice pieces available that would love new homes.

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas, and a prosperous new year! 

Hugs, K. <3 br="br">

~*~ Green Ghost Pumpkin ~*~

One of my lovely regular customers asked me to make some bigger pumpkins for her this year.  While I was at it I also decided to make a "Green Ghost" pumpkin.  I had seen one years ago in Martha Stewart's magazine and really liked it.

It's available on my website at www.blondheart.com

Hugs, K. <3 br="br">

Halloween Studio Tour

 

I have three brand new pieces available at the Halloween Studio Tour you will have to click the link to see what they are....*winks*

Happy weekend! 

Hugs, K <3 br="br">

Letting Go

 

Last week I went out to check my mail and discovered a very large toadstool in my front yard.  It was about the size of a baseball.  The next afternoon when I went to get the mail, it had nearly doubled in size.  It's amazing how fast they grow.  I meant to take another picture of it, but I didn't get around to it.  

I wondered how big it would get.  Of course my fanciful imagination began to run away with me, and I started thinking about those giant mushrooms in Journey To The Center Of The Earth. 

On the third day I rushed out filled with anticipation to see if my toadstool had grown again.  Instead I found that it had let go of it's hold on the earth and was laying in the street.  As I carried it to the trash so that it wouldn't be picked up by a dog or small child, I felt a momentary pang of sadness for what might have been.  I had grown attached to this funny little toadstool. 

The next day I went out, and much to my surprise two more toadstools had grown in it's place.

Last January I decided not to make the usual New Year's resolutions.  The kind that inevitably fail shortly after they are made.  Instead, this year I made only one.  I resolved to get outside my comfort zone and take risks by trying new things.

When I made that resolution I was mainly thinking about work.  Little did I know at the time that it would be on a much grander scale.

As you know I tried this weight loss program that my doctor recommended.  While I have recently plateaued, I have lost a fair amount of weight so far.  I also have come to understand why I couldn't lose the weight.  That turned out to be a priceless gift, not only on an eating scale...but also I let go of some psychological baggage I didn't even realize I was carrying around.

I also tried new things work-wise.  I was pleased with the results.  I know I haven't made anything new in a while, but there are new things coming soon.  This summer was more about focusing on my personal needs.

Lately I have been sorting and cleaning things out.  I have taken many bags and boxes to Goodwill.

Letting go of things can be difficult.  Whether it's things we have collected over the years, clothes that no longer fit or bad habits.  Even ideas can be hard to let go of sometimes.  We allow ourselves to get stuck.

Even when it is hard to let go of things, we have to do it sometimes.  When we do, it's amazing what we allow to grow in it's place.

1/3 Off Sale

 

I am offering 1/3 off of anything on my website at www.blondheart.com through Wednesday at midnight for my blog and facebook readers.  If you would like something, please send me an e-mail (using the link at the right) with your paypal e-mail address and I will send you an adjusted invoice.

Enjoy!  K.

Love Big

 

Yesterday morning about 3 am, I had decided to go to bed early.  That's early for me anyway.  I finished what I was doing, I brushed and flossed my teeth, washed my face and slipped into my night gown.  I decided to check my e-mail real fast.  

I saw a breaking news announcement on the home page about something horrible that happened in Aurora.  I didn't really read it, but instead I turned on CNN.  I sat watching in disbelief as the horror unfolded.  Aurora is just a shade over an hour away from me.  In fact I had been in Denver just the day before.

Even though sometimes my posts are from a removed, casual, spectator point of view...I have a deep and abiding love for humanity on the whole.  All people, everywhere.   I am not sure that always comes through, but it's true.

What I saw broke my heart and reduced me to tears.  The fear, the lack of understanding, the unspeakable horror of it all...it was so overwhelming in those hours last night.  I prayed fervently for the victims and their families.  I prayed that Colorado could be spared any more tragedy.  We have had more than our fair share lately.  I prayed that we could find some sense of it all.

Today I was on a forum I frequent.  A teenager made the comment that they didn't understand what the point of living was if the planet was such a horrible place where these kinds of things could happen, and you couldn't even feel safe going to a movie.  I immediately responded.  Teenagers have a tough time in this world.  I told them not to think that way.  There are still so many good people in this world who do good things and care, and the best thing they could do is be one of them.  But never think that way.

This child's words haunted me all day.  I wondered if she was ok, if she had someone to talk with about her feelings and fears...someone to help her through it.   I wondered just how many people are uncaring?  And how many people feel this fatalistic sense about the world?

A while back someone who has a lovely public persona made it abundantly clear to me in private that they didn't care one bit about other people...people they knew and people they didn't.  They live their life solely for themselves first.  I was shocked at their attitude. At first I was a bit angry.  I thought how can you be so unfeeling towards others.  But then almost immediately I felt pity.  The greatest disservice they do is to themselves.

When people commit acts without thinking of others...whether on a small intimate scale, or a very large frightening one like last night...the damage they do reaches farther than they can ever imagine.  But then I suppose they don't care.

It can leave us wondering what the point of living on this planet is.  You don't have to be a teenager to feel this way.  You can be any age, with any life experience behind you and still feel bereft, frightened and confused when these things occur and people have these attitudes.

But we have the power to combat it. 

A while back I saw the picture of the locket shown above on Pinterest.  I did a web search to find that locket.  I had to have it.  I did find it...it was made by the lovely Liz Lamoreux.  I immediately bought it.  I am a firm believer in loving big...it's the only way I know how to do it.

One of the best things we can do is look beyond ourselves, and LOVE BIG.  Love your family, your friends, your community, and humanity on the whole.  Love strangers.  Love enemies.  That one is a tall order.  It won't bring back those that have been lost to tragedy, but you never know...if you LOVE BIG, it too might have a farther reaching effect than you can imagine.  I have said many times on this very blog, and in real life that we live on a small isolated planet, if we don't take care of each other...who will?   I don't expect anyone to be perfect or never have an off day...or even to never be less than kind to someone who doesn't deserve it...trust me I have those days, and I have done it too.  But try to show by example that this world is still worth living in.  The best way to do that is to overcome and love a little more, show compassion, and even when you aren't inspired to, LOVE BIG!

I hope you all have a safe and wonderful weekend.  And just so you know it...I love you all for taking time to read what I write!

K. <3

Three Years In The Making

Three years ago I planted Hollyhocks.  Finally after all this time they have begun to bloom!  My Grandma always had those in her garden when I was a kid.  I just wanted to show them to you!

Also I wanted to tell you I will be away this week.  See ya when I get back!

Have a lovely week!

Hugs, K. <3

The Remains Of The Day

 First of all, I want to thank everyone who took time to call me, send me e-mail, and post to my Facebook page.  This out pouring of love and concern from you all really has meant the world to me especially since R has been out of town working, and I just wanted to say thank you.

Also I want to assure you that at no point so far (knocking on wood here) have I personally been in any danger from the fire itself. 

I think if you have a TV and turned it on, regardless where you are in the world you have probably seen some type of coverage of our fire.  People have told me from France, England, Australia and even India that they have seen it on their news.  The one comment that people keep making is how widespread it is.

Yes it is, however I want to take just a moment and put that into perspective for those of you who are not familiar with Colorado Springs.  I am sure you have seen that 32,000 people have been evacuated so far.  That does seem like a lot, and it is.  But we have roughly half a million people living combined in the city and the smaller outlying areas.

Also as of this morning over 18,000 acres have burned, but the majority of that is unpopulated forest.  Only a very small section of town was burned.  Which does not in any way minimize the loss we experienced, but it was all north west of interstate 25, and the vast majority of the city is east and south of that part.  So don't think that the entire city is on fire, it's certainly not.

I won't lie to you though, things took a very real and intense turn Tuesday afternoon.  We were all very nervous and scared.  We had winds of 65 mph blowing east which brought the fire back over the crest of the mountain and straight down into residential areas.  It happened in roughly 45 minutes according to the estimates I have heard.  I believe it too, because the gigantic cloud of smoke was on top of my neighborhood so fast.  We don't have any word yet on how many homes were lost.

 What we do know is that no one was hurt, no one is missing, and the evacuations have been amazingly orderly and well executed.  Also the Red Cross, Care and Share and a whole variety of other agencies have stepped up to help us and be prepared.  The animal shelter is taking pets in so that people don't need to worry that they are being cared for while they are evacuated.  There are also places for larger animals to be cared for while their owners are displaced.  People are getting on the average of about 8 hours pre-evacuation notice, so people are having time to grab a few things that can't be replaced, important papers, photos and essentials.

As of right now, we have over 1000 fire fighters on the ground, planes and helicopters in the air and a convoy of military bulldozers arrived last evening to dig trenches.  While that sounds like a lot, it's really not.  Plus many of the fire fighters came here after battling the enormous fire two hours north of us for a couple of weeks.  They are dehydrated, exhausted and dealing with extreme, record setting temperatures on top of the fire.  Despite all that they are doing a phenomenal job.

President Obama is coming  Friday to declare us a federal disaster area.  We have already been declared a disaster area, but being declared a federal one will bring us more aid, which we desperately need.  They are estimating it will take until July 16th to get the fire contained, and how long after that it will burn is anyone's guess.  It's currently at 5% containment. 

People in the city are really doing their part to help, there are tons of shelters set up in schools.  Businesses have turned offices into bedrooms...it's truly amazing at how everyone has stepped up.  There is literally no room at the inn either, hotels both here and in Denver are practically full to overflowing.  So hopefully that helps you a little bit with putting it all into perspective.

As for me, Tuesday really was pretty rough.  The smoke cloud, which I heard an estimation was billowing 30,000 feet into the air set directly down on top of my neighborhood almost 20 miles away from the fire thanks to the wind.  At about 4-5 PM it was so thick it looked like night.  I had an asthma attack, which I have not had one in over 5 years.  I had to go to the urgent care and have a breathing treatment, and they gave me a script for an inhaler.

I could see the flames of the other side of town burning after the cloud dissipated.  At that point it was moving so fast, and we really didn't know if the fire was coming our way or not.  Luckily it didn't cross the freeway.  I was home alone, R has been working in Utah.  Normally I am good in a crisis situation, but this was pretty tense for me. They had the freeway closed for a while, and I was nervous R wouldn't be able to get home today.  But luck was on our side and the freeway was open and pretty clear, so he made it home safe and sound.

Yesterday morning I had settled down and was about to go to bed when I saw something laying on my porch.  I picked it up and that's the photo you are seeing above.  Of course after I picked it up and photographed it they said on the news a half hour later if you find any of this stuff to not touch it because it could be asbestos or some other toxic thing, but I threw it away and washed my hands right after so I am sure I am ok.  It still scared me to think something could reach all the way to where I was and made me think about blowing hot embers, which is such a danger.

So until they get the fire contained I will be praying for no wind and lots of heavy rain which we desperately need, and that it does not turn and make it's way back into town.

Social Networking

First of all I want to tell you all that we are doin ok here.  The fire is still going, but we are hangin in.  No one has been hurt and no structures have been lost as of yet.  I have been posting updates to my Facebook page if anyone is interested in that.

Now on to the post...actually today I am going to repost a post I made 4 years ago because it still holds true.  There has been some discussion about using Facebook and Twitter for selling.  While there is nothing wrong with that, I do it too...I want you to keep in mind it's called social networking for a reason, so if you want to mix the two, I don't see a problem. Also keep in mind as you're reading we weren't using Facebook yet.  So here is the post I made 4 years ago:

"I have a no soliciting sign on my door. Lots and lots of sales people tend to ignore it and ring the bell anyway. It never occurs to them that maybe there is a larger reason behind that sign than just not wanting to buy something. I am a day sleeper. So nothing annoys me more than having a pushy sales person at my door who not only ignored my sign but also woke me up. Do you think that results in them getting a sale? No. Never.

I view my computer screen the same as my door. If I wouldn't let a person into my house through my front door for any variety of reasons why would I let them into my house through my screen?

As I have mentioned before I have my things for sale on my website and Etsy. (I edited this because two of the sites are no longer around.)  People talk a great deal about promoting their shops on these sites. They want to know how other people do it. I read these a lot. I have even tried a few of them with little or no results. I also see them saying they promote their shops to their friends and families. Really? No REALLY? I have mentioned these sites as a whole to my friends and family and told them what to expect from other sellers by looking at them, but I don't promote my own shop to them. They already know what I do for a living. I don't know about you, but if my Mother wants something I made I give it to her. She is my Mother for crying out loud! The same with my friends, if they insist on paying anyway...I certainly don't send them to an online shop so they can go through the entire check out process, pay for shipping and I can give Paypal a cut. If they did that to me I would find that really strange and think long and hard about their friendship.

Many people don't think the site is responsible for promoting us, I don't see why not...I am giving them a cut of my sales or a listing fee. They have just as much obligation to promote me as I do them. They are making money every time I promote in the simple fact that a new customer will most likely be a return customer because they aren't going to just stop at looking at my shop in most cases. They are going to look at lots of shops and items for sale and probably in the end they are going to buy something else on top of that initial purchase.

So what about the rest of the world at large? What is the right way to promote to them? We have Twitter and our blogs and all sorts of places to network. But imagine if you will for a moment...an insurance salesman in your neighborhood. If he rang your doorbell every day or even several times a day to try to sell you some insurance would you appreciate that? Would you just finally cave in and buy something? And if you actually did, what if he kept coming back day after day to try to sell you more?

Where did we get the idea that non stop hammering was the way to make a sale? I suppose in some instances it works. But I don't think I would sleep very well knowing that is how I run my business. Coincidentally since I have stopped almost all self promotion the past few days I made a sale last night...go figure!

I suppose my perspective might be a little different since I did shows and sold to shops and advertised for 25 years before moving my business to the net. I was used to the regular sort of selling where I make the effort to show up and the customer makes the effort to come and see me. It was mutual agreement.

I saw a video the other day of a man talking about social networking. He said he expects to make 0 dollars from Twitter. (This would also apply to Facebook now.)  He views Twitter as a party where he meets people. Once he gets to know them he invites them to his blog which he equates to his house. In his house he has personal things and also things that reflect what he does for a living. By getting to know people and make friends they find out what he does and they are more likely to mention it to someone else even if they are never going to make a purchase. I thought this was brilliant. It's the way I like to do it. I post pics of what I have just completed because I like to look at pics of other people's stuff and I think many of them do too. I also think it's a good way to keep a back up record of what I have made and when. I post a link to where they can find it and I have links on the sidebar to where I sell my works. If you want to go look you can. If you don't...no pressure. I clearly want to support these selling venues because if I didn't I wouldn't have shops in them. But ultimately I am in business for myself because I want to make sales for myself. I do occasionally post a link on Twitter, but I would rather just chat with people a bit on there than post link after link after link. That gets old real fast.

I find in the long run I have made more friends and more sales in the end by doing it that way. Maybe that's why they call it SOCIAL networking and not SALES networking?"

So back to the present, in conclusion here, I just want to remind you that Twitter, which I no longer use because it became nothing but endless links to people's Etsy shops and other venues, and Facebook were originally created as ways for people to socialize.  It's great that we can use them to show off what we do for a living.  But I don't think people should be using these for nothing but selling.  I know when I have a Facebook friend that does nothing but post links to things to buy...they are gone.  I unfriend them. I did the same thing for the brief period I used Twitter.  To see nothing but endless links to work is boring.  You don't have to spill your entire personal life onto the screen either, but mix it up a little on these sites.

I think it's really important to have a free standing professional presence elsewhere online where you do nothing else but sell your work.  From the other side of the fence, as a collector I have never purchased anything from Twitter or Facebook.  I like seeing what people make, but I don't want to send a message and hope I can buy that item if it's still available.  I want to go to a website that has a buy now button so I can just buy it and be done with it.