Frittering - Er, Make That Twittering Your Days Away...

To best understand where I'm coming from in this post, I highly recommend reading "Techno Twit and the Digital Suicide Attempt" posted in April of 2008 (It'll help - well, maybe :o) I really couldn't say why I did it; I shouldn't have (really) but I did. I signed up for Twitter. Why? I dunno - temporary insanity perhaps? Personally, I think the umpteen blogs, communities, cliques, groups, promotional sites, advertising sites, retail sites, networking sites, centers, albums, (yadda yadda yadda) I belong to should be more than enough to do already. AND let us not forget our very own twenty something page website (click here to go see it) I so stupidly opted to do FROM SCRATCH (to save money that we did not have) and now MAINTAIN (to save more money that we still don't have) for our not-for-profit farm. Attempting to promote the shops and our site, I signed up for something that looked helpful only to find there was another something to sign up for that came after it. It got to the point that I had to start jotting them down on a handydandy 3x5 index card to keep them all straight, then had to transfer it all to the front of a 4x6 index card when I ran out of room. Do I need to follow up with obvious? I am, of course, now on the back of that 4x6 index card and eyeballing some notebook paper (as said 4x6 is almost full on both sides :oP

I gotta wonder, though, about this latest craze: Twitter. The first thing you're asked upon joining is, "What are you doing right now?" Of course me being me said, "I'm typing this stupid sentence on Twitter..." Or words to that effect, anyway. It's a little on the voyeuristic side of life, isn't it? Why do you care what I am doing right now? Are you that bored? Why do I want to know what you are doing right now? What do I care? PLUS; if you want to be obnoxiously pickyabout it (and apparently I do), whatever I say I'm doing "right now" on Twitter can't be what I'm doing "right now" because "right now" the only thing I'm doing is typing on Twitter. So, now that I belong to this ridiculous group, does that make me an "official" Twit? When I type what I am doing now (but am no longer doing, about which you should not care) do I then become a Twitter-er?

I will very likely leave this site to go to that site to say what I am doing now (but am no longer; about which you probably will not care). Other than creating an immediate need for Tylenol, is there a point to this post? I seriously doubt it, but you know what? I don't care :o)

4 - Finding That Ever Elusive Happy Medium...

I think the first issue here would be to determine precisely what that statement means. Now that I have allowed my creative self to emerge, I probably need to strike some sort of balance between work, creativity and family, don't I? Of course being a perpetual smart-alec and sitting here reading the words "happy medium" conjure some entertaining definitions to go along with the meaning of that particular phrase. It could be a perky palm reader, for example; or - since it's relevant - I can declare a pencil as my personal "happy medium". Well, using it does make me smile most of the time....

Is it just me or does everyone assume that they're the only one with a specific problem? I logged on to Ning the day before yesterday to see that another FAM had posted in the forums asking for advice on what to do when your husband starts complaining about your involvement in your crafts/time spent on Etsy. You're kidding! I thought that was just MY husband doing that (see what I mean?) Of course I was morally obligated to respond with a bit of cheer:

See me scooch over to make room for you in this here boat (because guess what? we're in the same one!!) I also work in a school system, so soon to be summer (thank goodness!) and I too find myself "stuffing" my creativity anywhere I can fit it. To make you feel a tiny bit better, my DH was laid off about 2 months ago and is temporarily ALWAYS home :o he's now beginning to grumble about Etsy himself....

So even though it's not a solution exactly, I vote we start right here -
"Support group, party of two"
Of course we should definitely order something from A Sugar Affair's shop (and it's gotta have chocolate in it) to have at our first official meeting...

What really surprised me was the number of posts after that - there are a whole bunch of us! It's nice to know that you're not the only one having technical difficulties with a specific issue; of course no one had a solution to her dilemma as they were all suffering from the same problem, but it sure is nice to know you're not alone. And what is it that you do when you have a group of people all suffering from the same issue? Well this was my suggestion:

As unofficial acronym queen, I vote we just get a yacht, load up on the chocolate, and - because this is starting to sound more and more like a support group meeting, I'll make a motion we go for a "team" anonymous group and call ourselves E.A.T. (Etsian's Anonymous Team) which not only meshes with Etsy, it covers the chocolate issue too....hahahahha :o)

Interestingly enough, in the past few days since that little group discussion of ours I somehow managed to become so completely eclipsed by my own creative monster that I pretty much ignored my poor family altogether. Hmmmm, I wonder if I'll find that balance someday - probably not. Although I have pretty much worn myself out, I did produce some nice additions for my shop:

First up were the magnets. Why? I don't know; apparently Sebastian didn't have a clue either, but we had a grand time :o) I've only posted one set thus far, but of course made lots more (I found an empty spot on my dining room table...tsk-tsk, can't have that, now, can we?)

Okay, empty spot on dining room table - check! Now then, what was I supposed to be doing again?? Hmmm.....

Oh, I know! I can't believe I forgot about them. I wanted to finish some of those Pink Ribbon ACEOs I was working on for Breast Cancer survivors/supporters/ survivors in training (a.k.a. those till in treatment). So I did some of those too....

My very good friend Suzanne was having a terrible week at work, so I thought it might cheer her up to have a sketch of one of her photographs. I chose a gorgeous shot she took of a heron (wouldn't expect something with such gangly legs to be so regal looking, would you?) I think it's safe to say I surprised both of us with this pen and ink :o)

Oh, wow! I just remembered that the pink ribbon charms had come in and I wanted to make some BC bracelets...

and of course in addition to these four are a number of others (all different), and then there were the earrings...

Oh yeah, the "Siblings" sketch I was working on; slipped my mind. A pair of African Antelope that I finally finished. They looked so cute curled up together in their little hidey hole, I just had to draw them. The common name for these little guys is "dik dik", so of course I named them "Dik Dik and Jane Jane" (haha :o) I really thought that when I got through with these two I could keel over somewhere, but I remembered those charcoal pencils I just got...

I dubbed this one "On the Line" as this little fellow was indeed sitting inside a pair of jeans on a clothesline. There was some additional relevance in there, however; my creative benders this week seemed to have crossed the line. Maybe one of these days I'll be struck with brilliance and actually find that ever elusive balance. I'll be sure to let you know if I do. In the meantime however, I have a custom order for some graduation gifts I'm supposed to deliver tomorrow. I believe it was 7 of my origami "stacks. Funny, I'd forgotten about that....

3 - Techno-Twit and the Digital Suicide Attempt

Okay, kill me now please - it's taking too long doing it digitally. I was most of the way "around the bend" when I started the Etsy stuff and I have now discovered precisely what lies waiting for you around said bend. It's a cliff. A nice, steep, don't look down cliff that drops off into a technological void from which there is no escape. Where did all this stuff come from???? And why the heck does it seem like everybody has known about it forever? We're talking absolute old hat here, and I'm wearing earmuffs.

I've learned to download, upload, and reload but seem to identify best with overload. I've googled then goggled at the deluge of information I'm expected to wade through (385 billion matches for your request...Yikes!) I've Flickr'd (mostly like a dim bulb); Stumbled then fumbled and totally bumbled; I've blogged (hey! I get that one, it's like writing :o) and now it would seem I Squidoo. Do you? Let's not forget Facebook; signed up? Yes. Figured out? NO. I'm set up on Ning, linked to a ring, even learned how to ping (if I need to test my connection).

So why exactly am I DOING all this stuff? Because it's supposed to help me promote my Etsy shop and increase my traffic. Of course what I have actually managed to get up and running is basically invisible. Um, hmmmm...is it just me or is advertising your shop on an invisible billboard pretty much an exercise in futility? Maybe one day I'll get it all figured out (you know, on the free laptop they give you to use at the nursing home). Maybe.

I know there are FAMs and fellow Etsians out there in cyberspace at these places, as a few have actually found me on Blogger and Flickr - of course I haven't actually figured out how to find anyone else yet. I'm not even sure where I am exactly. Don't worry though, cyberself discovery is on my list of things to do (it's the one in 2 point type on that neverending roll of Charmin). I think I'll do that now, actually. Right after I check out something called "Indiepublic". I wonder what that's all about...

1 - My Camio -or- Jen's Creative ADHD Monster is Out!

My creative monster is officially out of the closet. It wasn't my fault, well not really. In a manner of speaking, the blame rests entirely on the fact that I've had cancer. You see I was an art major in high school and pencil sketches were "my thing". Of course such things were only for fun and not a responsible choice for a career (starving artists and all that). So when I finally became that responsible grownup, I closed the door on my creative self, and although I've done some crafting over the years I had it completely under control.

I'm sure you noticed the tense there; was, as in past, as in not anymore. I work in a school system. Generally this allows some time during the summer to learn something new to make which was then used for gifts (my justification, if you will). Over the years, I've learned to crochet, make candles, do calligraphy, make jewelry, scrapbook, and make candy, among other things. Everything was going well, right up until last year that is.

I had reconstructive surgery last summer. Being fairly young at diagnosis (40) and active, I opted for reconstructive microsurgery using straight tissue (so I could keep my muscles where they belonged, thank you very much). The only downside to this decision was a much longer recovery time, which meant I would definitely need something to do...

I had seen some craft pages on the Internet dedicated to the art of teabag folding a.k.a. kaleidoscope origami and was intrigued. This seemed an excellent way to pass the time during my recovery and would mesh well with my other crafts as gifts so I decided to give it a try. The closest I can come to a coherent explanation (and specific details remain unclear to this day) would be to offer this analogy; it was like cracking open the door to the closet holding my creative monster - just a little. The results were most unexpected; the door blew completely off the hinges, squashed me flat, and now my creative monster is on the loose and running amok all over everywhere.

I am still me (I think), but now possessed by creative benders that often strike without warning and trigger a mad scientist mode where I run around muttering to myself incessantly. I'm pretty sure I'm scaring my family. I don't understand what happened, not really (it was kind of sudden). It seems that I am now almost constantly overwhelmed with the need to create things, all OVER the place. I've even started sketching again, and I was scared - really scared to try. It had been so long, what if I lost it? What if I just couldn't do it anymore? But cancer has made me realize that life can be much shorter than we expect, so don't waste any of it - ever.

So here I am, my creative monster pinging off the walls and the results of my benders all but piled to the ceiling. My current thought? If I create anything else we're going to have to MOVE :o)

2 - Wysi-whatsit????

So now that I have all this stuff, what am I going to do with it? I started selling some cards informally. Not much, just a few here and there. The nice thing about the cards I make is that they're acid free. This means that not only do you get a cool card, but if you scrap you get a nifty embellishment for your page. Selling a few cards here and there was nice, but I needed to sell more. Even with good insurance the medical bills were starting to get pretty scary, so I added some candles to my "wares". Next came the jewelry, then the origami framed art.

Wysiwigs (pronounced "whizzywigs") is an acronym. It's the name I've given to my Etsy shop. I just love acronyms; I make them up on a regular basis purely for my own entertainment. This one sprang from "wysiwyg" which is geekspeak for "what you see is what you get". In the event that someone had already staked a legal claim to the original acronym (and because I really don't think I'd enjoy prison), I used that one for a springboard of sorts and coined my own. It stands for "what you see is what I've got smile : )". At the time, I'd never even HEARD of Etsy - I was simply under pressure to come up with a shop name on the fly at a craft fair. What can I say? Shall I just plead sleep deprivation?

Turns out that Wysiwigs was the perfect name for my shop. I started using origami to make my kaleidoscope cards, piddled with more origami in some vintage artwork, then started folding all kinds of other things. My Etsybuddy encouraged me to put some of my existing sketches in my inventory as cards and prints. Then I went completely off the deep end and added some brand new sketches. I didn't realize how much I missed my sketchbook until I picked it up again. Go figure. Truth be told, I was actually afraid to pick it up again. What if I'd lost it? What if I couldn't draw anymore? While I'm not expecting to go into a hall of fame anytime soon, I think it's safe to say the Lord blessed me with some talent. Maybe that's why I was so afraid I'd lost it; because I was wasting it, wasn't I? But I picked it up again anyway and I think it's still there. A little rusty and dusty perhaps, but there. Maybe I'll just let you decide for yourself. Then again, I might get my feelings hurt that way, so maybe you shouldn't tell me :o)

Etsy, in case you're not familiar, is a wonderful place to shop. It's basically a site for "all things handmade", although they do offer some supplies to make things as well. Even if you're not interested in my shop, it's definitely worth a look. Hmmm... fabulous shops, no lines AND polite people - I bet I know where I'll be doing my Christmas shopping this year!

Guess that's pretty much it for now, but if you're still rolling your eyes over Wysiwigs, then perhaps this is not a good time to tell you I sell Fridgiewidgets in my shop...