Happy Earth Day!

It's a little late in the day, but never to late to pay respect. I think I could of said it tomorrow and it would still be love payed to this great planet we live on. Thank you planet for letting us live on you. I apologize for the damage that I have done as well as others have, because of the lack of education handed to us to prevent it. I can say that a good majority are trying to do better, nothing will make up for the loss but thank you anyway for all that you give to us, the plants the animals, the beautiful sunsets and the rain and everything.

Multi-tasking Away!

I can't really pick one thing to do for an extended period of time right now. I'm trying to do everything all at once. I'm enjoying it very much. It's been awesome to not have a life consuming job. I can't get enough of being able to finally get back into everything that I love to do, and be able to focus on just that, with only small interruption. This is my chance. I'm glad to see that things are going in good order too. I've been focusing a lot on reading about buisness. I need to get together with my mother to get a buisness plan on paper. I just signed up with google analytics, so I can watch what kind of traffic is going through my shop. One of the major things that I need to be focusing on is my buisness card. I for some reason keep putting that off and I shouldn't. I'll get to it, I promise. I didn't realize how much of a social life I didn't have while I had a job. Probably because my job was most of my social life. I mean I still do hit up show, and I love to go out and have fun, but there aren't too many people worth having fun with anymore, well atleast most of the people I know. Maybe I'll end up meeting some new people that are fun to hang out with and will be an actual friend instead of a pretend friend (a friend that is friends with you to in some way just benefit themselves). I want to go back to school....really...really...REALLY bad. I need to look into that. Maybe I can just become a full time student, take out a student loan. I don't know yet.

 So I'm about to make something new! With the new supplies that I got earlier this past week, I'm going to make a bracelet and a ring. Today also brought about another idea, and that was to make anklets. I put on one yesterday that my aunt had gotten for me YEARS ago and I realized how cute it was. Well, I wore it all day and today while I was playing with it, I realize I had lost the charm to it (sad face). My awesome boyfriend and I tried to look for it, but I gave up considering how small it was and I have NO idea when I lost it. I told him I could just make something to add onto it to make up for it and there came the idea of making and selling anklets. It just started running through my head that I need to offer some cute yet lower priced items for those beautiful legs out there. What a perfect time to do it too! With all the shorts, capris, skirts and oh so cute dresses, that is exactly the perfect thing to wear. Not to mention the fact that all I see for most of the summer is flip flops and sandals, so no socks = bares skin that needs some adornment. I've got everything out to do all three, I'm trying to decide which one to start on. I've started on all except the ring. Oh, I wanted to show off some pieces that I made either on commission or as a gift.

Labradorite

Labradorite

Gold Stone

Gold Stone

Howlite

Howlite

Citrine

Citrine



On top of all the jewelry, I'm knitting. Like I've said in previous posts (I think), I want to get handspun yarn and knit headwraps. I then want to promote the shop that I got it from and in return they could do the same. I think it's a great way to cross promote. I know that people are always going to be down for that. Plus, some of those people on etsy have a wonderful color selection, and I can always find something that I like, especially when it comes to color combination. At the moment I am looking into getting the combination of yellow and grey. Yellow is my favorite color for right now. What I mean by that is that is that I have color phases. I will have one color that I am crazy for and want to buy shoes, clothes, and other things in (for right now) yellow. Yep.

So, be on the look out for new things coming into my shop on etsy. I think right now all the proceeds from my sales are going to go to supplies and saving up to get back into school. So, buying an item is going toward a great cause...EDUCATION! Back to work, which consists of trying to make three different things and knitting while on my break. Don't forgot to stop by my shop and help my education cause!

Wonderful!

Today was just awesome. My boyfriend had the day off cause it rained. I got some good sleep. I also go something awesome accomplished today. That accomplishment was mailing out the Red Bull Music Academy application. It was cheaper then I thought it was going to be as well. Although the lady who took care of me was super rude. After I had finished up with paying her, I went and grabbed a passport application, I then proceeded to go back and ask her a question about it. Then I asked her another question and she looked at the guy she was about to help like she was extremely annoyed with the fact that I was still trying to ask questions. It was like a "jesus, that girl is rude, I can't believe she's trying to ask me questions while I'm trying to help you (the guy she was about to help), and she could of asked me this while I was helping her" look. I can't believe how people act sometimes. I apologize for the fact that your job gives you the knowledge that I don't have and need to find out. Rudeness.  The rest of my day was awesome though. I went to Micheal's and got some more art supplies. This is what I got the day before yesterdy, yesterday and today: spring ring clasps, hidden knot barrell clasps, end caps with loops (exactly what I need for my leather chords), wire twister (I need a coil wizard next), clear stretch stringing chord, soft illusion chord, 26 gauge black wire, 12 gauge black wire, ring mandrel (FINALLY!), a 3D necklace stand (so needed for my pictures), white wire (I couldn't believe I found some, and for 1.50 for 40ft, cause I could barely find any online and it was 20 bucks which includes shipping for 150 feet. I got 160 ft for a little over 6 dollars!), paint brushes, prismacolor black fine tip pen markers (LOVE these, my others have dried up), 2 1/2 inch mini cavas and 5 inch easel (2 of each in a pack), earth and sky color worsted weight yarn, grey with specks of yellow bulky weight yarn. long 8 gauge knitting needles, a little dish with an orange design (it was a penny and it can hold beads for me), and a little memo pack that was a dollar (I can draw mini pictures and get little frames and sell them for 10 - 15 dollars, I want to get another set cause I didn't realize that the outside initial was not on the paper and there were other colored boxes that I liked and again they were only a dollar). I love art supply shopping. Now all I need is bigger storage drawers. I like those plastic drawers you can get at Walmart. Definiately need a bigger set for my underwear, socks, and pj bottoms too. So now I'm getting back into the art groove after a week of working on that application.

That application was crazy. It was 16 pages long and definately had questions on there that took me days to actually get to a point of feeling comfortable with my answer. It wasn't just your basic simple questions. I went to that art show last Friday and I was talking about how I was about to turn in that application. He said he heard it takes a day to work on, I gave him a shocking look and told him that I had been working on it for a week. Go to http://www.redbullmusicacademy.com/ to check out the application. It had to be post marked today (April 4th), and it was just that. If I had heard about it sooner, it would of been sooner, but yeah. I'm glad I found out so close to the date, cause I really put my mind into the application and made sure to get it done. If it was sooner than that, I probably would of put it off and never got it turned in. I'm glad it's done with, Im ready to focus on the other stuff I want to do. Wish me luck everyone! I hope I get to go experience that, it would be so super amazing. My friend thinks for sure that I'm going to get picked. He's awesome for that one. We'll see, they let you know either way if you got picked or not. Here's to getting picked.

So I can't believe that I found that white wire. I've been wanting some for so long, but I couldn't find any in the stores, or so I thought. The last time I went to Hobby Lobby they didn't even have the wire section set up all the way, so I didn't know any better. I can't wait til I get to use it. I'm not gonna rush though, I want to wait til I get to a rock that calls out for it and that could be whenever. At this point though I'm going to try something new and that's make a bracelet. I was trying to wrap a stone for a pendant and it just wasn't working out. I guess I wasn't feeling the energy of the stone properly. I honestly don't think it was time for me to do that one anyway, cause I just picked it on the basis of reading about it being one of the more popular stones that people like to wear. I need to go through my stones again and really let the next one call to me, instead of trying to do the popularity thing or whatever else. I will never do that again. I need to keep with my routine of how stones pick me and let me work them. I will though use that stone that I was just talking about to try and make my first bracelet. I've also got that ring mandrel now and again FINALLY! My boyfriend makes these beautiful rings (shown above) and I always wanted to make some, but I wanted to be able to size them correctly for sale. I honestly think he needs to go into buisness with me. I got a bunch of compliments the other day when I was wearing that. It makes me wish I had the freakin buisness cards too. I SERIOUSLY need to get that goin, because that is probably what's holding me back from sales. I can sit here online all day and try to promote myself, but I know word of mouth, in real person time is going to get me better sales. It'll happen. I honestly need to start working on making my own layout on photoshop or some program. I guess that'll be my next important project, since I'm done with that application.

I am starting on a new headwrap. I couldn't pass up buying that yarn today. The brown and light blue just looked so amazing together and plus I've been going through an I like blue a whole bunch faze. I go through these color fazes where I want to wear a certain color more than others, right now it's yellow and blue, but not necessarily together. I almost bought yellow nail polish cause of this. Anyway, I also have that grey (charcoal it says on the package) yarn that I just bought as well that's going to make another wonderful headwrap. I am making ones for myself and then I think I'm gonna start on making ones to sell. I still REALLY want to buy handspun yarn and make ones from those and sell them and promote the seller as well as have them promote me. It could bring in buyers not just only for my headwraps, but also for the pendants. I'm trying to think really smart about this. Right now I'm eye-ballin some grey and yellow bulky weight that looks like it would make something pretty for someones head, but I'm gonna wait to buy that stuff. I'm excited about a new headwrap -virtual jumping up and down with joy-.

Well, back to work. I've made a mess of my art area and need to tidy it up a little bit. Then I actually need to start working and finishing other projects since that application isn't anything I have to worry about anymore. Hooray for awesome days. Tomorrow is going to be another one! I can feel it. Positive vibes for all! :D

Coming Closer to Finishing

I didn't really do too much yesterday. I fell asleep early on in the morning and slept all through-out the day and well into the night. I haven't been sleeping like that lately. I've only tried to get minimal amounts of sleep to be able to get in multiple projects. It enjoy keeping myself busy, especially with things I enjoy doing. I do get side-tracked though if I try to over multi-task. Today I'm going to try to maintain some single project productivity.

I need to focus on this application just a tad bit more than anything else. I need to have it mailed out by Monday or else I'm cut off from the deadline. I think I need to just sit here for a couple of hours and put together my demo. If I get that out of the way, then there is not much else to do except finish a few more questions up and go to CVS for the pictures. I will have to do the picture bit on Saturday, it will be the best time I can do it. So off to setting up the perfect demo...............

My days always start late

I didn't think I was going to get up today and do anything. Sunday I was suppose to post my new pendant and do laundry and work on my application and I did none of those. I instead just slept and slept then ate and then slept some more until about 12 in the afternoon today. I forced myself up to let the dog out, but then went back to laying down until about 2 when I forced myself into doing laundry. I've fully picked myself up now and been starting to again work on things:

My pendant was posted tonight finally! You can check it out here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/71021270/stunning-snowflake-obsidian-pendant-with. I'm definately proud of this one. I feel like I just keep getting better with each and every piece that I make. I've already picked the stone for my next project and will be starting on that as soon as I feel like I'm caught up on one other thing that I have to have finished by this weekend. I've decided to try to do something more for my customers too and that's to add an information packet with the pendant that they are buying. It will give them information about the stone they are wearing, just so if anyone asks about it. It's also good to know the power that one of those stones holds and especially how it can benefit you. I've also given people the option of getting 20% off if they follow me on any of my sites such as facebook, twitter or tumblr. I just remembered that I need to take pictures and post some of the feather pendants. That might just have to wait til the end of the week.

That application is the thing I want to finish. I need to start putting my demo together over the next couple of days and put my tracklist down on the application and for the copy of the cd. I still need to go to CVS for a passport type picture and to print out another picture of myself that needs to be sent in with the application. I'm ALMOST finished with it, my main focus should be the last couple of questions on the application and demo demo demo. I need to also call my buddy up and ask him a few questions about everything, just to make sure I've got all my eggs in my basket.

In other news I've decided that I might expand my shop into other things such as knit headbands. I love them, especially love making them. There are tons of shops on etsy that people have handspun some awesome yarn. The color choices and all that are just great to pick from and it can help promote those shops when I link the buyer I used the yarn from. That's definately something I need to take on. I want to also this week get my pictures done for my buisness cards. I NEED to do that. My step mom keeps asking me about it to give to her clients. Well, I guess I have a list of things I need to start to write down and do. On another note I can't wait to go to this art showing. It's on both Friday and Saturday downtown @ 1429 Fletcher Ave. Indianapolis, IN 46203. It's called Voer Art. The show is called "Immortals" and on every first Friday they have a showing. Indianapolis always has art gallery openings the first Friday of every month. So if you're ever around and not busy and lets not forget in the city, go downtown for some beautiful local art!

Wow, this is gonna be a week.

I guess it had to start at some point.

I knew at some point there was going to come the time that I would need to start a blog. I guess this is the perfect time. I am in a position where I am trying to tackle multiple aspects of my life that I didn't really get too much of an opprotunity to play with in the past couple of years. Now I have the freedom to be able to deal with everything I love to do. I can also do it all at once, not just one thing at a time over a period of time and then on to the next thing for another period of time. Here are some of the things I'm doing at the moment:

I've been working on filling out an application for the Red Bull Music Academy, in which if I get picked I will gain the opprotunity to collaborate musically with 29 other people. My friend said with everything going on in my life that this is not something I should pass up. So as of 2 days ago I am still going through this 17 page application to then later putting together a demo to be sent in with it. I only have until April 3rd to get this done, it needs to be post-dated by the 4th.

I am also currently trying to post new pendant in my shop: http://www.etsy.com/people/SurroundingElements. I just finished a pendant that I will be putting up for sale later today. Note my post about that on tumblr: http://surroundingelements.tumblr.com/post/4130505804/snowflakeobsidian. I am in the groove of making new pieces and also posting some other feather pendants on there to give my customers a little bit of choice. I need to start using my flickr account to post pictures of works in progress which I'm going to take pictures of when I start on my next piece. I want to be able to connect with people when it comes to my work process. I also at some point hope to create tutorials that can help future wire wrappers get started and moving into what could become another awesome creator.

With everything else already pumping I figure I might as well get back into my other artist aspect that I enjoy. I have drawn a little bit here and there, but not enough to really satisfy my needs. I'm at a point that I would like to start a group where a few people and I give one another ideas that force us into the drawing process. For instance one day one person makes up a theme and picks and animal and we have to draw and or paint things in relation to those subjects. I could really use a group like that now. I found out that a couple buddies of mine host an art showing on the first Fridays art showings downtown that I could potentially be given a showing at. I would need to step up my game and get some art rolling first though.

Hula hooping has not been regularly done for the past couple of days. Actually I haven't done it for a week. With my brain trying to settle down and get ready for job hunting and taking on all these other activities that I've listed above, it's been put on a back burner. I will pick it back up again once the weather goes back to warm. I think that is mostly why I haven't hooped.

Well, I think that should be it for my first post. Wow, that was refreshing. I think I'm going to enjoy blogging.