Something of Me in Every Photo

One of the things that was the hardest to learn was taking good pictures. Using props. Good light. Taking the time to make them perfect. In the end, sometimes you can see my shadow.

Literally. Shiny stuff picks up my shadow, no matter how hard I try. Oh well.

I use my personal decorating bits for photo props. I love birds and have quite a few to pick from.

I’ve even “stolen” a few things from my mom to use.

I may have been a somewhat unwilling student, but in the end, I see pictures everywhere. I almost wish I could really do photography full time.

See more of my pictures in my shop www.flourishingagain.etsy.com

Sorry to be so long!

I’ve been away for a long time. So much has changed. Major surgery on my back and out on sick leave for 2 months. It was so hard, using a walker and not being able to hardly take care of myself or to be independent. It happened overnight with all the finess of a car accident and still leaves me reeling sometimes.

Right before that, I pulled together all my shops under the Etsy shop www.flourishingagain.etsy.com I sold little under the the other shops, including one I didn’t sell any at all. What a waste of money, but now I know.

Sometimes, I feel so lackluster. Do I want to continue with this venture? Am I just depressed about how thrown off my pace I feel? I work in fits and spurts and try to feel inspired for new projects. There is this part of me that hates listing new items, just a dread I can’t understand.

I’ve put up quite a few new listings, still lots of paper. I told a friend a few days ago I shouldn’t be surprised I ended up working with paper. I have enough books to prove I loved paper in the first place!

So, we’ll see.

So Many Things to Do and Say

So I may have intended to do my next post about the new gift tags I have been making but other things have been on my mind.

There has been a request to put together a large order to send overseas. Yeah money! Boo sourcing new things, not using what is in stock.

I am sending off for my sole proprietorship license from the state, a big step for me.

I have been suffering from a lack of confidence as well. I want to make beautiful things that appeal to many people, not just me. The lack of sales for the things I make is rather discouraging. I did recently sell some quilled items, which was thrilling. 5 of them to California. But all my other sales are for commercial items, paper punches and the like. It can be depressing to feel that others can’t see the beauty in the things you make and feel that investing their hard earned money in your product is worthwile.

I will continue to make items by hand and attempt to sell them, but the rude reality remains. I just try to keep telling myself “It doesn’t matter what other people do, it’s what YOU do that matters.” I have tried to apply that philosophy at work (I hate slackers!) and for my business. I know I wouldn’t have gotten this far already if I did what everyone else does.

So, chin up! I know I can do this. If nothing else, I need to get the ideas out of my head so I can get some peace and quiet.

The first picture is my quilled ballet dresses listed on Etsy. I made them awhile ago but the new background seems to really work for them. I got the music paper from my mom. She got the vintage find at an antique mall.

The second is an accidental piece of art from my “photo stand”. I have a sofa table in my living room covered with foam boards and fabric where I take my pictures. Before taking any pictures, I usually work like crazy for a few days making products and stack it there so nothing is misplaced or damaged. I had stacked some props on the table and the ribbon was on top. When I was ready to take pictures, I couldn’t believe how beautiful and perfect it looked. The ribbon is listed on Etsy as well.

Hope to see you at my shops! www.flourishingagain.etsy.com www.fancyflourishes.artfire.com www.zibbet.com/fancyflourishes www.fancyflourishes.dawanda.com

Clearing out the cobwebs-Clearance Paper Punches

There comes a time when everyone needs to move on when something isn’t working. Such is the case with my border paper punches. I have decided to start clearing out the stock by putting most of them on clearance. They are sale priced to go! I have had some of these punches for over a year and am tired of seeing them collect dust. So my loss will be someone’s gain. See my shops www.flourishingagain.etsy.com, www.fancyflourishes.artfire.com, www.fancyflourishes.dawanda.com, and www.zibbet.com/fancyflourishes. Every shop has something on sale and some of the best sales are on the Etsy site. Stop by for some great deals!

My latest work

The downside of loving paper is that crafting with it sometimes means cutting it up! There are some gorgeous pieces that the very idea of cutting them into 4 x 5 inch pieces puts dread in my heart. Too ruin such beauty!

So, to deal with this difficult problem (and the growing stacks of paper in my apartment) I have started to make some larger pieces, like the Paris love pretty in pink piece shown here. I started with a piece of chipboard recycled from packaging at the pharmacy my mom works at and layered the cardstock over it. The beaded trim was added to the back of the paper and the heart punched paper piece was added over the top. I added the torn, cream paper over the top edge after stamping the corner pieces and glittering them. The medallion is a stamp that I heat embossed and fussy cut out.

After I got that far, I decided the main paper body needed something more.  So I covered the pieces I had already put on with scrap paper and put a stencil by Tattered Angels over the edge and sprayed it with coppery distress ink by Tsukineko. I added the seam binding ribbons and metal brads last, braiding the ribbons loosely first.

Quite a project and a wonderful result for a first attempt at something larger than the cards and gift tags that I normally make. I have some more ideas about using other beautiful papers I can’t wait to try and am altering blank composition books as well. I feel an increased boost to my creativity after this new avenue has opened!

Crafting with my Mom

Tags we did together

My mom moved in with me a few months ago. My youngest brother finally left home and she had an empty nest in a tiny Minnesota town and a job with lots of personality conflicts. So she got a new job and we decided to live together to save money, and she  didn’t want to  apartment shop. Don’t blame her.

We have always been a thrifty and crafty family. I grew up with clothes that were often handmade and many gifts were made, not bought. We are carrying on the tradition to this day.

My mom has never done any papercrafting but I think she might have the bug. I was crafting at the kitchen counter one day and she asked to try the project. She made 2 tags, the far left and middle in the picture, with a little help. It was fun to work together and give advice on creating a small project after watching her quilt and sew for many years. We were very pleased with the results, although where they will go is uncertain. Most of the fun was just watching her fall in love with this fun hobby, especially after I got a homemade valentine she made a couple weeks after we did this project. We bounced ideas of each other about colors and embellishments, what glue would be best, everything. She will go back to fixing and distressing discarded furniture this summer but will never forget the fun of these tiny crafts.

Hello world!

Seems with all the gushing about social media, a person has to be involved to get noticed and get those 15 minutes of fame. I do have 4 shops, one on Etsy.com, one on Artfire.com, one on Zibbet.com, and one on Dawanda.com. My Dawanda site: http://en.dawanda.com/shop/fancyflourishes is a UK based site in an attempt to reach more people in that part of the world, not very successfully yet. On Artfire: www.fancyflourishes.artfire.com I get the best deal for selling, but don’t get the most sales. Trying to figure out how to change that. Zibbet is somewhat like Artfire, but newer. www.zibbet.com/fancyflourishes. Etsy.com: www.flourishingagain.etsy.com offers the biggest volume of traffic and sales, and costs the most!

I love papercrafting and selling items to help people create the special vision living inside their minds. Harder than it sounds. I’m hoping I can show some beautiful paper art and maybe give some how-to advice as well. Hmm.

Thes guys are a sample of some of my favorite work, quilling. They are listed on my Artfire shop.