Creative Today

Here's something I love to do. I go to the craft shop...either JoAnnes, AC Moore, or Michaels, which are all local. I have no particular plan, and I just go to look, think, dream, and plan projects I may or may not ever take on. I pick things up, think about them, put them back down. I admire new products and think up new ways to use old ones I am familiar with. I did that today. I came away with a great idea and a plan for a new line of pendants, which I started working on tonight.

Taking the plunge...ordering shipping supplies

Today, I realized as I packed an Etsy order, I handwrite my return address on all packages. Well, although it's no big deal, I think a label would be, prettier I guess. So I went to VistaPrint, picked out a nice one in pink and red floral and ordered 200, added 250 free biz cards because my address has changed, plus I bought KiraSlye.com and I want to start using it, and paid a whopping $10 for the total! You really must check out VistaPrint.com, especially when you just want to try something on for size, like the labels.

For my regular glossy business cards, I love Gotprint.com and have ordered from them many times.

And here's a bonus- I order great little (tiny) 200 lb test boxes from uline.com- they fit inside a padded, or even regular, 6x9 envelope. At first I thought I would just send the box, but it is 4x2 inches and the postal lady told me it could get "lost" under the other mail. She suggested I put it in a larger envelope- and the strength of the little box allows me to do that. Plus, now the shipping cost of most of my little packages is under $1.50! So, I am under $2 for total shipping cost.

Creative Every Day

I joined the Creative Every Day challenge a few days ago. Yesterday, I kept a promise to myself to visit with a friend from the http://SEFPCG.com- South East Florida Polymer Clay Guild, of which I am the VP. So. My friend Carol, who loves fairies, and missed our meeting the day I brought some of my fledgling fairy sculpts to our general meeting, has been wanting to see them ever since. I, on the other hand, know that she has a huge collection of Genesis heat-set oil paints, plus a crazy home studio. Her children are grown, so her crafting room has taken over part of her house. Plus, she has a bright purple fairy-themed bathroom. Well, you learn lots about people when you make the leap from casual-acquaintance to "come on over." I always equate friend-making with dating, I think it's funny. So anyway- she has two cats and a DH who, after talking for a while, I found has the same musical preferences as I (classical, with a bent towards the string section) and a collection of Celtic Woman CDs (he let me borrow for my ipod) and not one, but two violins- acoustic and electric which I was allowed to hold and caress. I have been wanting to, but hesitating from, learn the violin for a while now. You see, I always saw playing the piano as a strategic nightmare- you can exactly carry it to a party. My piano resides in my school's music department right now, as the condo we moved into this year left no room for it, and the music dept. needs it more than I do. But holding that little blue electric violin got my juices flowing. We'll see.....

But, onto my visit with Carol. She likes to make fabric dolls, plus she beads and does clay. Her dolls are lovely. I told her we should collaborate to make a mermaid- I love fabric dolls but have NO interest in sewing the bodies. She, on the other hand, is quite good at it. So, we're thinking about it. Before I left, she gave me a piece of slate and permission to scoop as much Genesis paint onto it from her collection as I wanted. So, I made myself a nice palette, which I will take a photo of sometime soon, and resolved to make her a fairy in return. Sometimes gift-making is what I need to light my fire. It can be hard for me to create "just because." I entered this year's challenge to challenge myself to create for me- rather than to sell, give away, or some other cause. It's my personal challenge to get away from the practicality of needing a reason to create something.