One of my photos is featured today . . .

on this blog:  http://the4inone.blogspot.com.ar/2012/04/bubbles.html

Bubbles # 50 blue & yellow

Pretty cool huh?

They found it at my Etsy store.

Many thanks to Mariana & Paula from the Etsy shop Branda

New Year New Ideas New Life

A friend of mine gave me this sign as a gift and I just love it.  I’ve always been a fan of New Year, almost more than of Christmas.  While I realize that I’m writing this seven days into this new year, it’s not for lack of the new ideas and other new things I’ve experienced and begun to execute in the past seven days. 

Our Christmas this was year one of new technology (a Kindle Fire for me and an iPad 2 for my daughter – hooray!).  Of course that brings with it a learning curve, and since I love learning new things, it was a great opportunity to dive right in.  I downloaded my first two book that very night. 

Our Christmas vacation, the first of its kind for us, was lazy-lounging-foody-restful and actually made me anxious to go back to work in a way.  Other than entertaining my sister and her boyfriend on New Year’s Eve and staying up past midnight (I think this was a first for my asleep-on-the-couch-by-8:30 husband) and one big event I’ll get to in a minute, it was a Christmas vacation of gluttony and sloth.  I loved it. 

In a recent post I mentioned that our cat, Ocho, who was 4 ½ years old, was hit by a car and died.  It happened just before Thanksgiving.  We all cried about this.  He was a huge member of the family and we missed him like crazy.  After some time had passed, I began to think about a new cat.  We missed having that life in the house, someone to greet you when you got home, someone to race up the stairs after coming in from the rain and jump on you in bed – with a mouse in his mouth.  Now that’s love. 

So the big event I mentioned before is that after I had mourned the death of our beloved Ocho, and as part of the healing process, I believe, I began to research Maine Coon Cat breeders in the state.  Although Ocho was a stray, we fiercely believe that he was part Maine coon.  His personality, that more of a dog in a cat’s body, his desire to “help” with everything we did, his “hanging out” with us around the house, was not typical cat, but it was typical Maine Coon behavior.  They’re even known to retain their “clowny” kitten playfulness throughout their lives. 

So to honor the first, we got two.  A male and a female.  The male was what we sought out and the female was just too pretty to not take her.  Her name is Belle and his name has yet to be decided.  I gave my daughter the naming rights on the girl and she’s been studying French and was looking for something that meant “pretty” so “Belle.  The naming rights for the boy go to my husband, for whom this was a surprise.  He hasn’t made the call yet.  Now we have these two little beings in our lives.  Fuzzy, rambunctious, purring little beings. 

On to the new ideas section of this post; these are some of the goals I wish to accomplish this year:

1. Develop a new website for my photography work – one that targets a more commercial, more fine art market to sell my work on a larger scale.
2. Learn how to create mixed media art using my photography, collage material, paint, whatever is on hand and works, and bring my artistic development up a notch.
3. Create a cohesive, intentional marketing effort to get my work out there. 
4. Get back in shape and feel better about myself – yeah, I know, everyone does this at this time of year – but I mean it . . .
5. Make this a year of art shows and person to person sales.
6. Put more effort into my Etsy and Ebay outlets to sell my work. 
7. Go to 7 places I’ve never been; 3 outside of the state of Maine.
8. Publish an article – in print – and get paid for it.
9. Create an email marketing plan and write regular newsletters.
10. Invest in new equipment, mainly upgrade my computer, but also consider getting a new lens and perhaps an iPad for presentational purposes.

To this goal, I like to create some incentives, something I can go back to to be inspired to move on, to refresh my brain.  I like doing collages.  I clip inspirational sayings, words, photos from all kinds of sources and create a spread that highlights the direction I want to move.  Earlier this year I did one with words that flowed from the present space I was in into the end result I was hoping for.  Recently, with the new year, I did one with the words and images of the goals I have for the year.  The above photo and below are some of the parts. 

Check back here often;  I will continue to post examples of this and the other work I’m doing as well as updates on how these kittens are faring in our home.  By the looks of them in this photo, they’re doing pretty well so far.  

Introducing a new product: Glass cutting boards - Functional art for your kitchen

I’m very excited about this new product.  I have been looking, and will continue to do so, for ways to use my photography in ways other than prints for your walls, photo greeting cards, and to jazz up my blog here.  I’ve found a source – www.artibly.com that allows me, or anyone, to create unique glass cutting boards using photographic art.   Here are a few that I’ve currently got for sale on my Etsy and Ebay sites. 

Spice up your kitchen with a custom-imprinted rectangular cutting board! Custom cutting boards are perfect for home chefs and restaurant owners alike. This functional, sanitary, and heat-resistant glass cutting surface is ideal for slicing, dicing, and mincing in the kitchen. This beautiful tempered glass cutting board has a grain texture on the surface. Includes self-adhesive rubber feet.

Any image in this store can be used to create your unique cutting board. I can even include lettering or custom copy. Would make a great housewarming, wedding, or hostess gift. You could invite guests to “Meg’s Kitchen” or inform visitors that they could be the next to be “Chopped”. Just indicate, in the notes, which image and sentiment you’d like. I will confirm and send a proof of the design before creating.

THE DETAILS:

Close up of cutting board top shows grain texture surface.

Image is printed on the bottom of the cutting board. Opaque printing surface allows image to show brightly through glass.

Use as a cutting surface. Tempered glass resists stains, odors and bacteria. Board makes a unique serving platter for hors d’ oeuvres. Artistic additions to any kitchen or wet bar area.

Cutting board is safe in most dishwashers, but we suggest board be washed by hand.

Keep out of direct sunlight. Board left in direct sunlight may fade gradually over time.

Board is about 7.9" high and 11.8" wide.

Radius corners are approximately 1.2 inches.

Board is approximately .16 inches thick.

Self-adhesive rubber feet are provided to prevent slipping on countertop.

Talking about Etsy.

You know how it can happen. For years friends tell you about someone and how you should meet them and you kind of blow it off like, yeah yeah I’ll do that sometime . . . tomorrow . . next week. When by chance you finally do meet that someone and you wonder how you ever lived without them.


I’m not talking about a person here. I’m talking about Etsy.

For those of you unfamiliar with Etsy, it’s www.etsy.com, and it’s a creative marketplace for artists and crafters to sell their work and share ideas. It’s a community of people online who work with their hands, their heads, and their hearts. Okay, that’s a little corny, but these people really seem to care about each other, their crafts and the potential of the enterprise.

Being a creative kind of person myself, once I was on the Etsy site, I just got sucked in. There are painters and knitters, quilters and metal smiths, jewelry designers and soap makers. And there are photographers like me. I looked around at the stores that others had set up and decided to give it a shot. I uploaded some of my images, wrote up descriptions, researched pricing and listing strategy, and hung up a shingle. I’ve already had my first sale and was thrilled. To see my store, click here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/ccotaphotocraft. Bookmark it so you can come back and check it out as I add more work.

Just in the few weeks that I’ve been operating this store, I have browsed and adored some of the items available. I’ve put quite a few of the stores and work into my “favorites”.

And I bought stuff.

I really couldn’t help myself. You would do the same thing in my shoes. I know it.

In the spirit of giving back for everything I’ve learned in the short time I’ve been a part of the Etsy neighborhood, I thought I’d showcase some of these items here.

My first purchase was this bright and cheery shoulder bag from Heart2Handbags. I just love it and can’t wait to start using it. I really liked Amy’s little personal note inside. Nice touch Amy. Such a wonderful change from the mass produced bags I had been looking at. So fresh and lovely, I just had to go back to her site and buy a small cosmetics bag to go inside of it. Check out Amy’s shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/Heart2Handbags

Next I found myself searching for a cool scrabble tile necklace. I wanted something to inspire me to create every day and I found it at PrettyWhimsical, http://www.etsy.com/shop/prettywhimsical. It came in such a nice little bag it was like getting a gift from a friend.

My daughter’s name begins with the letter “N”. For reason, she has a difficult time finding N stuff and when you’re a tween, that initial is important. So I went on an Etsy search for an N scrabble tile necklace and found this fun and sassy letter N for her. I found it at Mytwinscoops, and here’s the link to her store: http://www.etsy.com/shop/mytwinscoops. Bet you’ll find more fun and sassy stuff.

And the last of my first shopping adventures on Etsy was at the site of XOHandworks. I loved the blue of these earrings and have a sweater that needed pairing. Here’s the link to the shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/XOHandworks. She does some wonderful pendants with sections of map inside that I loved, and along with my earrings, I got an added bonus gift of this button with the section of map where I live. How cool is that?

I’ve done more shopping since then and will show off my purchases in a future post.

I’m having fun learning from these artists, and understanding how it works. I’ve joined some teams and have been participating in forums. I’ve linked it to my Facebook page and actually, just yesterday, started a Twiter account. I am learning about marketing and promotion and how treating others well really does have an effect on your daily life. I’ve always believed in karma but the community on Etsy is giving and encouraging and I hope that I can contribute even a bit to the general good.