Look What I Made – A Commitment to Craft

If you read my post on Wednesday you would have seen me make my commitment to completing 3 books by September .

This is part of an all encompassing plan for my Freestyle Life. The resources available via the World Wide Web (apparently the typing of  www dot is no longer necessary) are pretty amazing.  I’ve realised that you don’t have to spend a fortune setting up a web site, nor do you need to be an expert in the craft in order to produce a good looking site and have it do some snazzy extras.  Just some extra reading , or watching a You Tube video.  I recommend this one by Tyler Moore I used a different Responsive Theme but all in all it made the whole journey a lot less daunting.

I have, until now, resisted the urge to create a “list” (an email list for marketing/promotional  purposes) mainly due to the niggly feeling of the whole “hard sell” vibe to them.   Which I think goes along with my muddled feelings about money.  Perhaps it also goes with my afore felt self doubt. Not imagining that a “list” of people would be interested in my creative journey.  Who am I to expect people to want hear what I have to say?  Slowly, I have come to know the truth of Marianne Williamson’s often mentioned quote “....As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”  Always worth Tweeting.

 Whilst I have admired many lifestyle coaches over the years I have found myself turning away from them as they seem to enjoy more commercial success.  I’ve seen it as a kind of selling out.  Lissa Rankin highlighted a talk on facebook this week by Sera Beak which in a way went along with my feelings on the subject.  However as I have moved along my own creative and sharing path I have found a new point of focus.  In order to maintain this creative and enriching life it is necessary to create an income.  Surely the ideal way to create this income would encompass the sharing of this creative knowledge.  Back to Marianne “And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.” In order to shine times are a changing and it may be necessary to go ‘a little’ commercial.

And so I am creating a list in order to share the light and share my journey along this creative path, the first stage being the 3 books.  You can add your name to my list, firstly I’m planning on sending out a more detailed update of the writing process that will only be available here.

For Me Made May ’14 this week I wore a piece of my Ribbon Jewellery each day.  It’s bringing up lots of ideas for new pieces and helping me find what works and does not, in a way this is bringing in the market research I never really done first time round. 

May 5-10 Me-Made-May'14

Looking at what others have been doing (great Pinterest pics here) I am feeling the urge to make an outfit before the end of May.    Off to check blogisphere for other creative magic making this week over at Handmade Harbour and Jamie Ridler’s Studio.

Namaste

Catherine

Show Your Work - Focus on What You Want the World to See

'Show Your Work' by Austin Kleon

“Show Your Work” by Austin Kleon, I had this on my Amazon Wish List for quite some time and devoured it in one sitting when it arrived after the publish date.  I saved writing about it till today for a number  of reasons.

The Process for the 'New Header'

Firstly, today I start my weekly Wednesday blog thread, the main theme for this is ‘The Spectrum of Mindful Living.’  (The banner shown is a mock up because the final one isn’t quite ready.)  I’m following Austin’s advice here and ‘sharing the process’ because waiting till you’re ready kind of leads to nothing getting done.

“Show Your Work” is a book written by a man who ‘walks the walk’.  I felt like I had followed this work through it’s not ready stage, it’s development and it’s final release into the world and enjoyed every step. 

This is a book of “10 ways to share your creativity and get discovered”.  And each way commends the virtues of showing your work whether you think it’s ready to go “out there” or not.  In fact it brings a whole new meaning to the concept of “ready”.  And as much as your work may be your life it is about sharing your work not your life, sharing processes, and unashamedly tooting your own trumpet.  Tooting your own trumpet by sharing your love for what you do, not by hitting the ‘hard sell’’ option.

I loved the concept of ‘the Vampire Test’, summarised in the quote from Derek Sivers “Whatever excites you, go do it. Whatever drains you, stop doing it.”  It's a Tweetable

This was such an easy and  enjoyable read full of great stuff, some of it you already knew but  a gentle reminder is always worth having, and some you knew but hadn’t quite thought of it ‘that way’.

Like “Steal Like An Artist”, “Show Your Work” ends with a plan to take forward and my reason for not writing this post before now.  There’s a page to show your work on.  I’ve now filled mine in and ‘show’ it here:

Puting it out there for some accountability

The mindful bit about today’s piece: Focusing on doing what you love makes more of it – and I’m committing to completing 3 books for September: 3 ways of telling one story – a novel about a girl finding her focus, a ‘non-fiction’ about finding your focus and a craft book of mixed medium art with ‘how-tos’ and lots of lovely pics.

All with a Focus on Mindful Living.

Remember We really do ‘get more of what we focus on’.

Namaste

Catherine

Imperfect Perfectification

When I say ‘look what I made’ this week, my ‘mades’ have been around for a while.  In keeping with my pledge to wear a fashion garment or accessory made or transformed  by me throughout May.  This week I chose to wear some of my ribbon jewellery; Thursday I wore a cream necklace and bracelet; Friday I wore one of my favourite creations a black and brown chunky link necklace; yesterday I wore my multi-coloured link bracelet and Sunday I had a lazy day and stayed with my jammies so no garments or accessories for Sunday.  I’m looking forward to cracking out some different pieces this week.

My first few days of Me Made May '14

In uncovering these pieces I was conscious of having had them in my Etsy Shop for quite some time – and without an Etsy sale.  I closed my Etsy shop toward the end of last year.  There were a number of reasons for this, not least of all the lack of sales.  The reason for my lack of sales?  I’m not really sure. This MeMadeMay journey has already brought some answers and given me some modifications I can make both in products and marketing as I move forward.

What I do know to be true is that everything happens for a reason.  And as my print says – mine is not to question this truth but to believe and grow.

 I have surrendered to this truth and got on with the growing, and look forward to revealing just how much here on Wednesday as I introduce my new, using what I’ve got and adding texture, venture.

Until then I’ll be checking out all you creative folks participating in Me Made May and checking in at Handmade Harbour and JamieRidler’s Studio to see what Craft Therapy you have all been indulging in.

Namaste

Catherine