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Previous Blog Entries Aug 2005

Monday, September 19, 2005 Non-Beady Related Thoughts Turns out Blackie didn't miscarry that last pregnancy... she's in our and the neighbor's backyards with her two little black fuzzballs (about 2 months old now) running around... all three feral as can be. She still comes to the front door, though, and meows to be fed. We wonder when she'll stop weaning the kittens and bring them around for hard food... if ever. The hockey season starts in two weeks, so this coming weekend will be my last free weekend. I had horrid, stressful, "sci-fi/horror" dreams last night... totally bizarre... TOTALLY! Friday afternoon, September 30, 2005 So… I started to write an entry last night, got interrupted, and then left it at home when I came to work today (yes, I'm shattering the delusions that I'm a full-time artist… let it be known to all that I have a full-time day job)… now, where was I? Oh yeah, so I guess I'm starting my entry over, which is the ultimate irony when you hear what my muse for today is. ARGH! Beady-Related: This past week, I haven't been able to hit the couch (my work space) until after 8pm, so rather than embarking on any HUGE HUGE projects or designs, I decided on earrings. Not the kind of earrings I make to go with necklaces or bracelets… those are freebies. But earrings that would be worthy of listing on eBay (I prefer not to list items under $25 online because it's often not worth the effort for such a smidge of profit… by the time you account for photo taking and editing, listing and data-entering, then listing fees, selling fees, PayPal fees, etc). So when I make a more elaborate pair of earrings, it generally takes not just my pricier beads but often a lot more time (mostly wire-wrapping). So let's say I finish one earring in 45 minutes. Then I look at it and go, "Yeah, that was a lot of fun… but I don't want to do it AGAIN… I want to move on and design something else!" Sigh… You see, I'm the say way in other areas of my life too. I try to pretend it's not a personality flaw, but I'm betting it is. I just loathe treading over familiar ground. Egads! When I go on walks, it HAS to be a circle. I don’t at all like going to one point and then turning back and returning the way I came. Blech! Maybe I make one-of-a-kind designs, not so much to be unique and have customers realize they have something special that no one else can ever possibly have… but because I just can't stand doing something I've already done! How ignoble. So anyway, back to this solo earring yelling at me to make its mate… hm… oh, and another thing. If you have to have two matching items, then you get to do the tedious stuff… like measure and count and try to emulate an already finished thing. Ick ick ick! That's so terribly uncreative. And so, here we go again with me sacrificing business sense for creative sense. I know more people want jewelry unlike what I make… that following my creative bliss means appealing to a much smaller crowd… but apparently that's more important to me than making a fortune (or even being able to pay the bills). And I'm not upset about any of these decisions. I love what I do creatively. I am perfectly okay catering to a tiny portion of the jewelry-wearing public. ? Oh, the end of that story was that I made a couple of pair of asymmetrical earrings last night. I'm sure I'll update the blog eventually on their success or demise, but for now… I'm okay with it. So that was my epiphany… figuring out why I hated creating elaborate (symmetrical) earrings… it's because I hate repeating anything… going over ANY familiar ground. That's also why I don't do more of one of any design (necklace, bracelet, whatever).