October54Gallery On Etsy

Tuesday - BESTeam Mosaic
weekly shoutout to the dedicated workers that like to help other handmade artists...

October54Gallery on Etsy... Today's dedicated featurer of other Etsy artists from the Etsy BESTeam is Anne of October54Gallery on Etsy. She is also a fellow POE Team member, being a very talented photographer and I have to say I am so impressed by her style of photography. Be it Fine Art or Abstract in form, October54 knows how to capture the beauty in nature or our urban surroundings. It is the use of light and shadow that has impressed me the most in the collection of monotoned photographs listed in their Etsy shop, that is captured in such a way it makes the photo's seem extremely zen and peaceful to me! She describes herself as being a proud member of the community of Etsy, and a lifelong passionate artist that likes to look at the world with ever changing perception. A true artist in the works I'd say, her work is beautiful.
I have included 6 of my favourites from her store in the mosaic below but i must insist that there is so much that I would have loved to have included, so it's well worth visiting this store to see what else is available!

And October54's Blog... Is a wonderful place to find out more about the other artists of Etsy and this dedicated artist likes to focus on the handmade community with enthusiasm! Each post is a heartfelt read, and well worth checking out. you can visit October54's blog here!

All items are clickable and will take you directly to October54's listings...

AglaeaDesigns

Friday Finds... AglaeaDesigns


This is my 21st interview of the amazing not-so-well-known artists of Etsy!

Hi everyone and Happy Friday!
A bit later than usual today but that would be my fault as I was very last minute asking todays seller for an interview (being as my memory is rubbish and I've spent most of this week being preoccupied with other things as you know!), and I am so grateful to her for managing to get me the interview along in time for today considering she herself has recently had a baby and I can only imagine how tight time is probably right now!
Kelly of AglaeaDesigns is a very talented photographer that I stumbled across a while ago and found myself falling in love with each and every photo I looked at whilst browsing her shop. there are some really inspiring talents emerging in the photography world and I think Kelly has this incredible way of handling her final result for each picture. The images are so dream like and soft, and the fact that she offers gocco prints, and jewelry with her work printed on makes browsing so much more of an experience on each page :)
I'll be quiet now and let you enjoy her interview! Congratulations on your little baby Kelly and thankyou again for taking part today!


(Just click the images to go direct to the listings)







-- Tell me a bit about you! (Name, Age, Location, and give us a random fact whilst you're at it.) Kelly Preusser, 31, Garrison, NY
random fact: I just had my first child 6 weeks ago, a daughter, Aurora Faye and I am loving not working and spending time with her!


-- What is your business about then? My business is mostly photography prints but have started to include photo pendents and handmade cards.


-- How did Etsy come into your life? I just stumbled upon Etsy one day while cruising the web and fell in love with. After a little while of browsing and purchasing some fabulous items from other members I thought, 'hey, I should do this too!'


-- Are you working a day job too? I do have day job, although I am on maternity leave right now. I am a graphic designer and currently working at a printing company where I am the production manager.



-- How long has the artist in you been 'unleashed' for? I guess I have been an artist my whole life. I always was more interested in taking art classes rather then academics while in school. When I was a teenager my uncle gave me my first SLR film camera, which I still have and use. He was a photographer himself and taught me a lot and really sparked my interest in the field. In college I took tons of different kinds of art classes and my interest grew more and more. I just love all forms of art!

-- What has been the inspiration behind your business? My inspiration comes from my life - all that is around me. I live in a beautiful area, have great friends and now a gorgeous daughter who inspires me everyday.


-- If you could describe your products in three words, what would you tell me? pretty, life, color

-- What would an average working day for you be like from dawn til dusk? Well when I was working I worked my day job from 8 to 4, during the day I would check up on my Etsy shop, renew items, check in on forums quickly. When I got home I would continue to do the same, along with listing new items if I had them or working on editing photos until my husband came home from work. Then we'd hang out, eat dinner, watch LOST when it's on!! Then I might hop on the forums again or browse what other sellers are listing before bed.


-- What's your favorite material and techniques to work with? Cameras of course! I have a Canon digital SLR but also use my film cameras still, along with a Holga and a Minolta SLR. I have started a collection of vintage cameras in various stages of working order. I then use Photoshop and Lightroom for editing the photos. I like playing around with different editing techniques and textures on my photos, just trying different things until I get a result I like.


-- What is your ideal vision for the future for you and your work? I'd love to just be able to continue to do what I enjoy. My Etsy shop isn't that successful right now so I'd love for that to take off and maybe do some street fairs, art galleries, and whatever comes my way.

-- Away from work, what do you like to do for fun or to wind down? Right now I just love hanging out with my daughter, getting to know her and her getting to know me - it's just fantastic!

-- What are you likely to search for on Etsy? I love looking at other photographers work, there are so many great artists here! I usually search using pounce - it's a great way to find new work, I can get lost in it!

-- Any last words? I hope everyone enjoys my shop and finds something they love!

ellyolsen

Friday Finds... EllyOlsen


This is my 20th interview of the amazing not-so-well-known artists of Etsy!

It's Friday! So that means a lovely interview for today!
It's not often I find new artists to Etsy that happen to be photographers. The hot topic in terms of catagory always seems to fall within jewelry making and crafts! As much as it's wonderful to find talents in all faucets of one's field of speciality, I always hope to find the odd new painter, illustrator or photographer because I think these are the catagories that probably struggle to gain a voice on Etsy the most with it being such a vastly craftbased scene. It's just always so nice to find something that you yourself take pride in as your own primary talent because of the familiarity when it comes to talking about it with eachother. I guess it's the same kind of feeling when talking to anyone that specialises in the same thing you do yourself, and not wholly restricted to the new talents! Yet as you know it's the new talents I like to give a heads up, mainly because we all have to fight that battle starting out on Etsy, and most of the time we don't even realise that promotion is the key to getting noticed!
So today I want to focus on the photographic talents of seller EllyOlsen a nature photographer and what I'd have to describe as a fine art photographer, as her work is absolutely stunning! Visiting her store is like entering a virtual botanical gardensm, everything looking so crisp, bright, fragrant and colorful. Even some of her more abstract pieces take you into another world full of texture, surrealism and absolute beauty. Definitely check out her store... and read on for her interview :)


(Just click the images to go direct to the listings)







-- Tell me a bit about you! (Name, Age, Location, and give us a random fact whilst you're at it.) Elly Olson, 26, New Berlin, WI. Random fact: I'm super short standing at only 5 ft tall. This past summer I started embracing my height and wore flats for the first time :) Now I am constantly wearing sneakers and all kinds of shoes and sandals with no extra height!


-- What is your business about then? My business is about photography prints and I'm going to be adding handmade magnets, keychains and necklaces as well.


-- How did Etsy come into your life? A coworker and his wife have an Etsy shop and their stuff is amazing. I don't care about making a profit on Etsy, I just figure that maybe someone else will like my photos as much as I do and will want to put it up in their home :)


-- Are you working a day job too? Yes, I work full time at the corporate office for a large department store chain. I work in their marketing department.


-- How long has the artist in you been 'unleashed' for? I'd say I have always been an "artist". As a young girl we didn't have much money, but my dad said if ever I wanted something that was art-related, he'd purchase it for me. My dad is very artistic and I think that's where I get it from. I've always been into photography from the time I had my first camera. I think when I started taking more trips is when I really 'unleashed' because I wanted to make sure I was capturing our travels as much as possible so when I returned home I would always have those photos to remember our time away.

-- What has been the inspiration behind your business? Just seeing beautiful things in nature. I really take in my surroundings and embrace all that there is to see wherever I go. I remember being in Lake Tahoe and along a hiking trail me and my husband climbed these huge boulders to look over the lake and it was just nice to take all the beauty in with him. You realize how much there is in life to explore.


-- If you could describe your products in three words, what would you tell me? Photography, Nature, Colorful

-- What would an average working day for you be like from dawn til dusk? I get up at 6am to start my work day and arrive home around 4:30pm. I check my Etsy throughout my workday and also when I get home. I find things to 'heart' and also play around in the forums. I make dinner for my husband and myself and we catch up on tv shows we like to watch together. I'm usually on my laptop off and on throughout the night messing with my photographs. I really like enhancing them in post-processing software by adding textures and adding filters.

-- What's your favorite material and techniques to work with? Of course my Nikon DSLR camera :) I currently have 2 lenses that I switch out, but am pondering getting myself a true macro lens. I also love developing my pictures using Lightroom and a little bit of Photoshop if need be.

-- What is your ideal vision for the future for you and your work? I would love to build up my library of images and in a couple of years do some street fairs. I also have my photographs displayed at an Art Gallery shop and am curious to see how that goes for me. Other than that, I will continue taking pictures because that is what I love to do!

-- Away from work, what do you like to do for fun or to wind down? I love being outdoors no matter what I'm doing. I enjoy going out on our boat during the summer months and our snowmobiles during winter months :) We also try and plan a couple trips throughout the year and check out some place different each time.

-- What are you likely to search for on Etsy? I really only search for supplies. I find most of my favorites though by using the pounce feature.

-- Any last words? I hope everyone fancies my shop and finds something beautiful there that they could see hung in their own homes :)

Sunday - Coffee And Cake!

New And Relisted Listings on Etsy - Click an image to visit the corresponding listing

Another late one I'm afraid! More than likely on time for most of you across the water, but here in the UK it is now 2.20pm and so far today all I have achieved is a scan of a fake wall for my other half, addictive checking of my newest Treasury and mouldy courgette clippings... Although I did get an amazing photo of a bizarre bug earlier. He's going into my queue of edits... All in all it's been a slow day of a slowing mother. Seem to be getting increasingly tireder as the minutes whip by me. Nevertheless I have an article to write! Today we'll discuss the well known social networking site, http://twitter.com/.

Networking PART 2 - Twitter If any of you have braved this leap in the world of marketing, I think I'll have a lot of nodding heads when I say my first encounter of the networking site almost floored me with fear. I'm sure my first tweets were full of clumsy related banter of the sort actually... I think the most intimidating thing about Twitter isn't so much what the hell you need to do to make it work, but the idea of whether the millions of people at your disposal would give you any consideration. I'm sure you will have discovered as a newbie, not many people will begin to follow you if you haven't mastered the new power in your hands! I have to say though it's pretty easy to work out in terms of tweeting. Once you're set up, you can visit the homepage to "tweet" to your hearts content, as long as the bites of your mind are 140 characters in length. You are able to check personalised messages layed out on the right of the page, which also have this character limitation, and you can also find out who is tweeting about you and what they've said by visiting the @"yourtwittername" link above your messages. To view only your tweets, just click on your profile at the top navigation, and to view your followers tweets, just go back to the home link. Easy as pie.

But how to make yourself known? Well the trick really isn't to find whomever you feel like in the world, but to target your audience via relevent keywords. There are loads of third party style sites that run these "myspace" - like trains for people to jump on and gain followers. This works... you get loads of followers via these methods don't get me wrong! but to be fair this isn't good if you expect all of your new follower gain to share an interest in crocheted teapot covers, or baby hats; whatever it is you're trying to give some attention... Not everyone on these trains share the same interests, and may only want to have a large follower gain, and won't necessarily follow you back if you follow them (try and keep your follower ratio between 1:1 and 1.2:1 - following to followers. It'll keep things consistant for you in terms of Twitter follows).

However, you have fabulous sites like http://twibes.com/ which connects to your Twitter account and allows you to join "target" groups for you to post your specific tweets to people that will definitely have an interest in your stuff. For example, I am part of the photography and Etsy groups and I regularly post tweets on there when i update my store, knowing that both Etsy users and photography enthusiasts will find them and more than likely look at them. Compared to just any old person. The beauty about Twibes is you can also allow your tweets to go through Twitter aswell so your tweets will blast themselves into 2 venues, which is more exposure at the end of the day. Bonus. I'd recommend everyone to join it if you're serious about using Twitter.

On Twitter itself, the best way for you to get people to notice you like I say is to make sure your tweets include relevent keywords and if you can, link to your store, or items etc. If users search for particular keywords that you've used, you can bet your tweet will pop up infront of them if the timing is right, and if you have a link they'll check it out. Baring in mind that loads of people will use your keyword too so just like Etsy, it's a case of being bumped down the pile as time goes on. If you're lucky and people like your tweets, they will more than likely "retweet" (RT) your post which means they're offering further exposure of your tweet. That is simply forwarding your tweet with RT @"yourtwittername" at the start of it (like with me - @moonangelnay would direct the tweet at me, like emailing in a way), so people know who is being retweeted and the person being retweeted will be aware of your gesture :) An example that i've used today is.

"check out the beautiful new fine #art and #abstract photo prints on my #etsy store! http://bit.ly/fyZIt"

So anyone checking out any words in my tweet will probably come across it and may or may not follow me, check my links etc... If they retweet it on their own profile it'll look like this

"RT @moonangelnay check out the beautiful new fine #art and #abstract photo prints on my #etsy store! http://bit.ly/fyZIt"

So keywords! make them relevant to what you're about! Now another great thing you'll notice on twitter are the use of # or hashtags. This is a popular way to catagorise trends to follow. You'll notice my example tweet has a few. Notice how they are very specific. #Art, #Abstract, #Etsy... if I had more room I could have included #Prints and #Photo but that's excessive. There are tonnes of hashtag trending topics. I wouldn't go overboard with it though. There is an invisible etiquette to hashtag use. I had someone complain to me once that it's only supposed to be used to promote other people, yet many people say that it can be used how you like and you see it being used in alsorts of ways all over twitter. So far I havent come across anything that suggests rules for it, considering that I don't think twitter made up the idea. I think it's a to each their own thing. But it's nothing to be afraid of. When it comes down to it, hashtags are very good at narrowing down trends to catagories that many people will use or search for and as long as you dont go nuts with it, it can work with your tweets nicely. If you don't like it, don't use them. I have noticed that regardless of the hashtag, your keywords will fall within the trending topics anyway.

Some people get infuriated at the 140 character rule when it comes to wanting to share links. It's easily overcome by sites that offer link shortening. http://bit.ly/ is my favourite as like Twibes, it can link to your Twitter directly and you can post straight from it. You can also monitor your links and post them again if you want, without having to go through the process of typing or copying and pasting the original link again. You'll notice an example of a bit.ly shortened link in my example tweet. If you follow it, it leads you straight to my Etsy store, as promised in the tweet. Perfect.

So that's all there is to it really. Other than that i'd suggest posting your twitter links around to share in the Etsy forums, link to it (even via a widget) on all of your pages, blogs, social network profiles etc, and make sure you keep your tweets interesting! Don't always go on about your work. You're artists, not machines! Just like in the blogging world you can meet great people on Twitter, and being personal and tweeting about everyday things, or interesting things you have found, debates, news etc will keep lots of people keen on what you have to say!

OK! So thats that. Wow its 3.40pm where I am now. I thought I'd spend longer on this but I'm glad I can get it out now for everyone! Don't forget to Google Connect with me, to keep updated on my blog, and if you're on twitter, come by and follow me on mine! Just search for @moonangelnay or click here http://twitter.com/moonangelnay.

I look forward to writing my next networking article. Don't forget tomorrow is my first treasury like feature for my blog! Monday Magic! Otherwise come back next Sunday for part 3 of Sunday Coffee And Cake!

moonangelnay xxx

Balloon Head

New Listing on Etsy - Click image to visit the listing

hello! Yes I know it has been a few days... man it's been a knackering two days but I have quite a bit to talk about. Next Monday and Friday as you know I am introducing my new features for Etsy sellers that are at around 20 sales or under, and had a fantastic response to requests on the Etsy forum about it! Already I have slots filled up for Monday Magic and I'm compiling an interview for a fab seller for Friday Finds! It's going to be great, I'm really excited about the introduction and hope that it does well to drive traffic into their stores. I know how hard it is to do that whether time is your enemy or lack of marketing knowledge. But next week I'll be blasting both posts around my individual communities on the web, including the likes of Twitter, Indie Public and Facebook, which should most definitely help a bit if not a lot! I have a lot of faith in Twitter for marketing and I intend to expand on the reason on my upcoming Coffee and Cake article this Sunday. So keep an eye out for that post as it's part two of my marketing series!

So yeah all in all I have achieved something for once! Lol!

Now, my fatigue... would you believe is completely about paper? LOL I have spent the ENTIRE week fussing over paper, i swear until 2am each night. As you may know already I am introducing my own line of ACEO, 5x7 and 8x12 prints to my Etsy store, in a choice of Archival Matte, 100% Cotton Rag, Satin Lustre or Premium Glossy paper. And I have my beautiful new printer to thank for that. I'm just so excited that I have not been satisfied with any old paper, as the last thing I want is for people to have my art adorning their walls or desktops, and for something bad like fade or moisture runs to damage them! So yeah... archival paper... weeeeeee!

Now another thing i want to introduce in a short while are greeting cards, note cards, calenders and gift tags. I'm quite excited about this, and doing my research today has made me even more enthusiastic at the prospect. it's going to be a fab way (as will my ACEO prints) to offer bundles of my work at lower prices, and value for money is something I think we all think about in times like the present! So this is something I think will be great for customers that want to purchase my work but would like to spend less. And despite being stationary I won't compromise on the paper! Nope, it'll still be archival and of the highest quality coupled with the pigment inks I use. BUT... As I'm still updating items in my store with new descriptions, and have a long list of ACEO's to list, plus new prints to make... it'll be a little while before I can devote time to it. But DEFINTELY in time for christmas, you can expect my high quality and stationary for yourselves or as gifts to hit my store :D

Work aside, I've also been trying to devote more time to the family. The other half is recovering from his cataract operation for the next few weeks so my son has been in his element squealing the house down with joyful noise (although I don't know if the neighbours would think that LOL). It's been none stop since mummy explained last week about daddy's trip to the hospital! He's "doctor" Yukio this week. So far he's been more of an entertainer, like getting his hairy troll puppet to do the can-can, and putting cups on his feet... oh I can't forget him prancing about in my hat and shoes the other day... I don't think we've really been able to contain the laughter since! Particularly as he dressed himself... seriously! I HAD to take photos LOL! But yes It's been hard not to want to get involved in the fun so part of me has been very easily distracted for the past week, even though I have had the opportunity to work. I have been mind you! Just with the odd distraction. But yeah... work and fun leads to a sleepy mum! So I'd better crack on! I may not get a chance to blog again until Sunday but hopefully I should do! Until then :D

moonangelnay x x x

My New Lover!

New Prints in store NOW - Click each photo to visit their listings on Etsy

Before anyone jumps the gun, no I don't mean a real live human lover of that kind. I'm a very good person! No, I today have aquired a new printer.... and OMG... I can't wait to set it up. Nope, I havent set it up yet, as unfortunately its nearing midnight and I'm not quite certain yet of how noisy it's gonna be. If it's anything like the other halfs printer I may have to dig into my handbag for my earplugs. (Yes I carry ear plugs in my handbag... what? LOL!)

Not only that but I'm a sleepy head so thought I would blog first... maybe check Etsy again... and my treasury... possibly recheck my emails. Well yeah at this rate it'll be tomorrow before I'm in bed so you get the picture :) But yeah OOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I'm excited. For a coupla reasons besides being a complete geek. The big one is that I should be able to offer prints up to 8x12 in size for less international postage and the 10-28 day wait would be slashed to 5-7 days. I normally use a professional photo lab to print my work as it's of the UTMOST importance for my prints to be of the best quality and for longevity that they are printed properly. Well... my sparkly shiney new printer has just that capability now including the guarantee (this comes from the manufacturer not me) that the prints will last for 100 years stored in an album whilst retaining it's amazing quality and crispness. This is a process that I have been longing to be able to control myself as I'm not entirely comfortable with the million year wait for my prints to get done (even if it is well... most of the time), as well as not knowing what will arrive in my hands before I send them on to customers. Someone needs to tell the lab techs to check these photos before sending to omit errors which is why I proof my prints before sending them (hense the possible 28 day wait. which so far has never happened but I have had to complain for botched prints before!). Now at least for my most popular sizes I can have 100% control of your prints and my sanity :) So this is great for me, and the quality will be extreme! I only wish I could have afforded the larger one but that is my goal. Baby steps.

Now... I didnt write about it yesterday but I will today. I earned a blog award a couple of days ago from worthburning! I'm super chuffed about it although it has meant that I am now obligated to pass it on to 15 or so other amazing blogs (not incinuating that mine is amazing!). That portion of paying it forward I think may have a delay but I am pleased that I can pin it on the right of the blog somewhere and know that someone somewhere in the world actually thinks that I'm not insane! Or maybe they do that that's the point LOL!

Anyway! Gotta run, tomorrow I want to talk about what I planned to today, but you know, kids, then late nights, stroking printers, the usual :)

Moonangelnay xxx

Think Thinking...

ALL NEW ETSY LISTINGS. CLICK EACH PICTURE TO TAKE YOU TO THE LISTING IN MY STORE! :D

I've had the chance to do a lot of that lately. Not so much time, that's still stressing me out but I have managed to lift a fair weight off my shoulders by discovering a few things that have helped me get this marketing thing down a little better, and also in the process given me some wonderous ideas!

I made a FAB treasury the other day. I actually made it into the top 5 before it expired. I'm hoping my newest one is just as good. I may post a pic of that in a few days. But it made me think about this blog and what I can do with it. There is nothing really of value on here for my readers unless you like to hear me chat rubbish all the time, but I thought about my journey so far on the marketing train, and also where I am with Etsy and figured it'd be a great opportunity to share my discoveries and tips whether they are my own or great articles I've come across once a week to help other "new" or low sale etsy artists drive traffic into their stores. I'm very excited at the prospect of doing this as I want to be able to give more than just whether I've had a coffee that morning or not LOL! You get me? I don't see how it's fair I do all this work and not share it as ultimately the whole point of Etsy to me besides selling handmade is the communal aspect of it. Everyone helps eachother on there and I want to do my bit, and make a feature of it weekly now that I'm in a position to document what I've done trial and error wise and let you guys know what works and what doesn't when it comes to getting your name out there. I am JUST starting to make sales now because of what I'm doing and who knows maybe it's just that time of year, but I really do believe that the numbers suddenly rishing into my store has a lot to do with it, whereas before the past 3 weeks (thanks goodness for the other halfs holiday!) I would skip across the room if just one person managed a 5 second glance at my homepage in a day. I can totally feel for anyone who may be in that position, and if you want to work at a home business it's the most devestating and motivation severing thing in the world to have your hopes shattered by lack of traffic. It's hard work but I have done a lot of experiementation (still am doing) and I think so far what I'll share in the coming weeks will take people further step by step and hopefully work some magic in those empty stores.

Another thing I am planning to do soon is offer advertisement slots on my blog although this is still in the making so details will have to come later!

Ah, and especially for the Etsy newbies or under 10 sales people I have a special plan for you all which will also like my weekend help articles, be a weekly occurance. More details about that on Sunday with my other announcements :)

So yes! Sunday will be my first article day. I am going to call it Coffee and Cake, as that's all you need on a relaxing Sunday morning whilst browsing the net. I look forward to it!

Whilst im at it, here are my recent photography prints to Etsy. Enjoy!

From Day To Night

I seem to be cursed with this whole time malarky. Lol! I tell myself all the time about how much more efficient I will be after letting the wee hours anxieties form long lovely lists of plans for my future days. But I seem to get plagued with distractions (although they are necessary some of the time), then lo and behold I end up behind with my endevours. Today at least I'm slightly more relaxed about it, but I think that is more of a succumbing to the inevitable (no Naomi you cannot play the grand creator and MAKE time... not literally anyway). Ahhhhhh *that is a sigh I promise*, the joys of a mothers schedule! Well despite not getting absolutely all of what I hope to achieve daily done, I have at least catalogued a few new pieces to stick onto my etsy store over the next few weeks. I'll be playing nurse / "single mum" next week as my other half is having an operation and is on strict orders to take it easy for 3 weeks after. Which means I need a plan of action for keeping my son from bouncing off the walls for at least the first week so his father can get a good rest! So the ultimate full time action will be on the cards which sadly means I'll be cutting back on my beloved etsy work to cater for the boys needs.

I've planned ahead and have lots of goodies to share daily with everyone. It doesn't take a bajillion years to list on Etsy. It's the marketing that slows up my days, so treasuries will probably have to get cut (maybe not though), as will my hunt for the ultimate advertising tools. I should hopefully be able to continue blogging although they may be a little shorter and more scary due to impending bald patches (oh how will i live without my Etsy!), and i think a tweet here or there may get slipped past the little one without him noticing :)

All in all earlier this week had been about planning, so the stress levels were high, and I had been in a bit of a dark place... so to follow suit some of my recent work had taken a bit of a darker turn. That doesn't surprise me in the least. My style changes CONSTANTLY. I'm not a conventional artist at all really, I don't know why but I find it very hard to keep my style consistant yet I think it adds character to the fact that I lack it LOL. Contradiction and a half! It's the same with my fine and abstract art aswell. My photography has metamorphised now into something that I can now consider part of my being and not something I search for through a lense. I have total comfort in how I express myself through it so like I say it doesn't surprise me when each piece is as sporadic in style consistancy as i guess i am in moods LOL! i promise though that the work that is coming just as interesting. Becoming more light and wonderful (as has my mood the last few days lol!).

Tomorrow which is Friday the 17th of July my Etsy treasury "LAVENDER DREAMING" will be ending at around 9pm GMT London time so if you get the chance to check it out, please do! It's my best line of picks yet!

So I'd better show you a selection of recent uploads to Etsy. They are below! just click the titles if you want to see the listings directly :) All the best my dears!



Mandala Fire No.3 5x7 Abstract Fine Art Photography - By Moonangelnay



Rose Gold 5x7 Inch Print - Creative Fine Art Photography By Moonangelnay


A Walk Through Life 8x12 Inch Print - Creative Fine Art Photography By Moonangelnay

Vintage Bloom 5x7 Inch Print - Creative Fine Art Photography By Moonangelnay

My Ramblings... Plus An Etsy Update :D

Apart from today, I've been pretty busy tip tapping away on my computer. Today I was busy elsewhere so I didn't exactly break away from things but nevertheless, I have been doing a lot to help my mini empire along! (I wish... lol). Some people must think I'm mad, looking after my son full time AND trying to work from home, which takes up all of my other time and currently for zip whilst I'm still getting started. But I want to make it work because I believe I can do it and I have my son to think about. Nothing else to it. The other half was seriously saying to me today "oooh in the short term if all goes well, you can treat yourself to luxuries and go out etc...". This is assuming I'd be earning consistantly! But I just CANT imagine really giving a damn about going out when the opportunity arises. I don't know if it's the same across the waters, but in the UK (or at least with a lot of people in this country) it's so disturbingly vital to most to go out, get paraletically hammered, suffer the consequences the next day, then do it all over again on a regular basis! Is it weird for me to want to spend my money on enjoying myself without looking like a buffoon, with narcotic or booze fuelled confidence, and a monster hangover the next day? I don't see why it's "the thing" to do. I'm 24 and people seem to just expect it of me but I really do think that I can enjoy myself much more, remember what I've done in the process, and more than likely feel pretty good in the morning just by doing something random like I did a few weeks back as an example, and get myself my provisional motorbike license! LOL! There's a thrill for ya ;-) I have my son to think about like i say! and my life... even my dignity... man there are some horror stories about! I mean I'm not tee total, nor a saint, and to contradict myself slightly I do think that it's ok to have a drink now and again, but I'm just not a party animal anymore and definitely cannot do the things I used to do! I'm old already lol!


Anyway... a few days ago I updated on Etsy... so check out the new photography! :D

Blue 8x12 Inch Print - Creative Fine Art Photography By Moonangelnay $25

Peace Garden 24x36 Inch Gallery Wrapped Canvas Print - Creative Fine Art Photography By Moonangelnay $345

Twilight Rose 8x12 Inch Print - Creative Fine Art Photography By Moonangelnay $25


Romance 8x12 Inch Print - Creative Fine Art Photography By Moonangelnay $20

That's it for tonight I think... Knackered, and another busy day tomorrow awaits! Hope everyone had a happy 4th of July over t'world like :-)

xxx

Back On Track!

It's taken a while but I'm back at the relisting shizzle on etsy... and boy do I have loads of expired listings! Not only that but a month or so back I decided to change the watermark on ALL photography listed in my store as I started to think that it was detracting from the actual print image itself, due to it's boldness! So as time has so cruelly passed me by in the grand flash that it has, I have had to find moments here and there to correct my watermark on each and every photograph. But it has slowly been coming together and I think I am almost there. The thing that has driven me nutso the most has been the "expired listings" because unlike the normal listings that you can edit in your account, the expired ones can't be edited until you have relisted them which is TERRIBLE because as soon as you relist something, it becomes as fresh as a daisy for the world of Etsy to see and the last thing I want them to see is a dirty great big watermark that blinds them with it's monotoned presence on my work! Yes, I can edit it as fast as my hands can whizz across my desk, but the downside (other than my shite internet connection) is that once I edit it, it is no longer "viewable" on Etsy, and that also means the tiny timeframe that it would have the most exposure being a 'recent' item would be snuffed out by me needing to remove it for editing.... ARGGGHHH!!! lol! So in summary, I have given up on caring about frikkin exposure (which really stopped me in my days worrying over how to combat the issue), and I'm just relisting and editing immediately. In anycase my current work is slowly reaching a satisfactory presentable standard on Etsy. Here are the 3 most recent ones.

Branching Out 8x12 Inch Print - Creative Fine Art Photography By Moonangelnay $25

Off Color 8x12 Inch Print - Creative Fine Art Photography By Moonangelnay $25

Cluster Of Stars 8x12 Inch Print - Creative Fine Art Photography By Moonangelnay $20

So those are my recent relists! I have also relisted all of the crocheted baby ties that I'm sure you'll remember from a previous blog. You can check those out too if you wish. Happy shopping!

xxx

A Terrible Two! In The Nicest Possible Way :)

Whilst I'm waiting for my camera to hurry it up uploading 444 files onto my PC, I thought it was about time I caught up with the world of blogging. Or I guess it's the case of the world catching up with me lol! In any case, those of you that have been keeping an eye on my last posts will know why there would have been a delay this weekend just gone. My little boy Yukio turned two years old, and I can honestly say if there's anything terrible about it, he's been doing it for a long while already! Lmao! Hopefully we've been getting the tantrums in early, so shortly we'll have an easy ride of this apparently temperamental milestone lol!!!

We had a lovely weekend. I wish I could say that my weeks of planning and overspending (by at least £60 I reckon) were worth it for his Tiger party, but the last thing any of us expected was to be let down at the last minute by a lot of invited guests. Despite the month advancement, despite messages all through last week, and even a last minute check on saturday before buying an extraordinary amount of food to keep everyone fed. I couldn't believe my eyes when the texts started coming in, and felt worse when I couldn't express how I felt over it (Lately I just don't feel like there's any point to me doing that anymore...It's frustrating how it's ok for everyone else to). I can only say one message made absolute sense to me, with her lil baby being unwell and I've already chatted with my friend about that, but everyone else has pretty much let me down for pretty pathetic and annoying reasons.

I've not slept for about 2 weeks through trying to fit planning around work (and this is with knowing who was coming... the lot was based on the headcount). 2am-ers all the way for such a long time including the night before cooking for the confirmed guests, coupled with the usual full time mum thang, a friend of mine passing away, the most busy schedule I've had to cope with alone (other half was working) since I was in the best and most active job of my life, multiple family members being extremely ill ranging from angina to cancer including one surgery that was yesterday (better check on my brother actually), and still I managed to make it all happen as I don't see the point in halting movement in life because of circumstances. I can't really do that because I have my son to think about and when you're a full time mum to an energetic toddler, the last thing you could do is let them down by letting life get you down. That doesn't make me a strong or more capable person, but I can't afford to let my emotions or fatigue take over when I have things to do. But considering so many people let me down at the last minute, loads of excess food is going off with the heatwave, loadsa party games i bought (including the coolest tiger pinata) didnt get played, I'm feeling pretty much like a mug for believing that people would think the same way I would do. Co-dependancy creeping back into my life probably, but on a practical level I really don't see how hard it is to get on with life when you flippin have to. And believe me I've been through enough and going through enough to know what it's like to suffer inwardly, yet I don't let it stop me. Otherwise I'd be letting people around me down by expecting them to pat me on the back and try and understand it all. I don't want people to understand my problems, it's not fair to expect that, it's the reason I don't bother going on about them anymore! You just get on with it don't you? Personally, regardless of how I may feel I do try and do what I can when I say I will. I haven't always been like that mind you, but nowadays I'm a little more thorough than I was before I had my son. I wouldn't say I push myself to the limit, but I do think that when things need to be done, they need to get done unless something awful occurs. Moan moan moan. Well it doesn't matter, regardless of how I feel Yukio still had his little girlfriend over and enjoyed his day mowing the lawn... all day... lol. It's a shame that the party games are all still in packages and the one's I prepared are sitting staring at me across the room, but I'm chuffed my dad's generous donation of a bouncy castle went down well with Yukio and his little friend.

The best part of the weekend though was taking him to meet Thomas The Tank Engine in Thomas Land yesterday at Drayton Manor Theme Park. Wow... I don't know what much else I can say about that! I managed to take what feels like a million pictures, and despite the stoney look on Yukio's face he had the best time ever I reckon. He LOVED it when he could see Thomas coming to pick us up to transfer our behinds to another part of the park. But everything about it was incredible. The staff were brilliant with the kids, waving at them and being all smiley (which is hard to come by in this country I swear), the rides were spot on in terms of entertainment for the family and being gentle enough for the little ones, and the Thomas Themed shop just has to be the biggest load of commercialised madness I've ever come across... whatever you can think of... with a Thomas theme... man I shoulda taken some pictures of that! Doh.

Anyways! That really cheered me up! I was close to tears a few times watching Yukio's little face throughout the day. He's going to be a little adrenaline junkie like his mummy ^_^ LOL!

So all in all... great coupla days. Like I say depite the let downs, I'm pleased one of my friends and her kids could make it and my friends without kids could do, as well as my mum and Elric's too. It was a lovely sunny day in the end, and the BBQ was great! At least we don't have to buy party stuff for next year with the overspend!

Right. Time to catch up with my Etsy Shop. Until next time x