Russel White

Sorry to have been away so long. My Grampy passed away, and I've been down. Haven't been crafting much. He was always a goer and a doer, and whatever he was into he got the rest of us into as well. For a long time it was snowmobiles. He and my grandmother had two camps on a lake here on The Island (that's Mount Desert Island to you all "from away") and when the snow got deep we would all pile up the dog sled with our gear - extra clothes, rum, ice skates, whiskey, x-country skis, mixer... you get the idea - pile our selves on the snowmobiles and head of, usually blazing our own trail, through the woods to camp. It was a long ride. We were bound to have at least one breakdown, or someone would get stuck... it's a big island... but somehow we would all eventually get there. And then the party would start. All the other people into snowmobiles would see the chimney smoking and say "Russel and Mary are out, lets stop in.". The adults would pile into the camp to nosh, and us kids were free to do whatever. We could shovel off a skating rink, use the snowmobiles, and even race each other. We could ski, snowshoe, all that winter stuff. And we could pop into the camp when we were chilled, for some hot chocolate. We didn't mind the drinking. Most of us would say our parents were the nicest, and most likable, when mildly drunk, and in company.
Then snowmobiles got boring. They were too expensive. Not enough people could afford to do that any more... and so my grandfather got a boat. Pretty soon my father was cleaning up his lobster boat every weekend, outfitting it to be a picnic boat, and we were off to sea. We picnicked on remote islands, and explored. We went to the lobster festivals. We camped out, and it was allot like snowmobiling, in that the same crowd would see us out, and join in the fun.
Thinking back, the best moments of my childhood were largely due to my grandfather. I can't thank him enough, and will always miss him.

...and Yet Another Basket

Here's another basket I've finished lately. It was an older basket and once had dried baby's breath in with the blue berries, but it was long since crumbled away. So I gave it a scrub and tried it with shells. Not only was I pleased with the basket again, but I took some workable photos too.

A Tisket, a Tasket...

So, I think this one is done, and I'm quite happy with how it turned out. I'll be putting this one up for sale (unlike the last one which I gave away as a gift). Not sure what to ask for it though...

Confused Keyboard Bogs Blogger!

I didn't think I needed a new computer. So what if it geared down like a Model-T going uphill when I asked it to do more than one thing at a time. So what if people paused to warm their hands in the heat coming out of the back. And what if it was a little slow, I'm a patient person... Well, my SO decided the time was nigh and viola!

Man! The road since there seems surreal. I feel like Alice, just popped out of the rabbit hole. I've grown to love Vista, but we had a rocky start. It was sort of an arranged marriage, and neither of us took to the other at all in the beginning. I couldn't install my favorite programs (until I looked up directions on how to install them on Vista). It crash dumped 2 or 3 times a day. But worst of all my keyboard wouldn't work properly.

It all worked out in the end though, and my new computer and I have grown to love one another beyond mere superficial attraction. And I am certain one day it will let me install W.O.W.

Some Day My Prints Will Sell...

K... I have been crafting some, but lately I have been so inspired by what I can do in photoshop I have spent more time on art than any thing else. I have made a store on QOOP, which is very fun. You can make cards, cups, canvas prints, framed prints, books... tons of stuff. And I think my pictures deserve to sell... but the world seems to be saturated with images these days, so I wonder if I am just spinning my wheels with this. Any way, I can't resist showing off some of them, so here you go:

An Apple-head a Day Keeps the Doctor Away.

Well, maybe the witch doctor. I just love these little guys! Did you notice the shrunken head guys in the Harry Potter movies? As you can see, I have been busy carving; trying to save as many as I could before they spoiled.

Tony's Woodwork on Shopit.

They Call it Flickr, Flickr, Flickr... huh?

*to the tune of Flipper*
Sorry, I just had to. That one line so describes my manic life since the New Year kicked in. I flittered over to Webs, then here, to Flickr, to Etsy and eBay, to Deviant Art, Shopit, and QOOP. I have been a busy little bee. And now I am begining to feel frazzled. I need to back up and get organized. I need to make a list!!
Let's see... Sites I Need to Maintain, and How Often They Need What: 1, 2, 3... yes, I think that will do.

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! One and All.

Lacking a town crier, how does one spread the good news: our genius has come out of the closet; our light has emerged from under its bushel; our goods are for sale! Well that's really the difficulty isn't it. Especially on a budget of $zip.

The art of salesmanship has changed. We no longer bundle our wares onto our donkey, and trek to the local village, there to quarrel with other vendors for prime sidewalk space. I don't even own a donkey. We have the internet! And so do millions upon millions of other sellers, and buyers (never call me a glass is half empty sort of girl)...
In a way this is a good thing, since most people gave up donkeys, and since a small village is also a small potential customer base. On the other hand, now we need to really work to get noticed, or find a nitch. For instance I soon saw that there were just oodles of doll makers on line, but... there aren't so many Applehead doll makers... One of the keys to getting noticed is to make your product different from what every body else seems to be offering.

The other thing I have done is to join sites like this, with huge followings.. Blogger, Deviant Art... and sites of local interest, such as Maine Made, a Maine government site promoting the things Mainers make. This has kept me pretty busy, but it is new, and stimulating, and I am finding myself filled with energy and inspiration. Not to mention making new friends. Why, I am just opening doors right and left, and I have no idea at all where it will all lead. If you notice a sparkle in my eye, that the reason: why.

I am an artist. I can make about everything in the way of crafts, given the materials. My Mother and Grandmothers taught me how to sew, knit, and crochet. They taught me quilting and embroidery. I took wood working classes, costume and stage design, and advanced art in high school. I recall making seashell decorations on driftwood with my Grandmother, Charlotte, when I was about six, and how proud I felt to always see the one I gave her on her wall, when I went to vissit. I recall a weekend I spent with her, my parents gone on holiday, and how she sat me down witha TV tray and three Christmas ornament kits (the kinds with all the needles, and seqiuns and pins). It took me all weekend to make those devilish things, but she didn't hear a peep out of me (that was certainly the point all along). And I still have them. My kids think they are great, and I think you could find pictures of them online at Deviant art, on my daughter's home page. There is no doubt, the payoff in self esteem, and good memories is priceless. Unfortunately crafting itself is an expensive hobby. That is part of the reason I would like to start selling my creations.

I have gathered allot of supplies over the years, still I used the best of my seashells making three mirrors as Christmas gifts. And so, the day after Christmas I started looking for a way to replace them. I'm out of work, so I only had about a $hundred to spend. Soon enough I found that even wholesale prices were too high. What I needed was bargain basement prices, or a local store that carried a good variety. Alack and Alas, there are no tropical shell stores in Maine. Walmart has pretty good assortment bags, but not what I needed this time. I knew my best bet was eBay! Well, the shipping stank, but I did find some of those legendary eBay .99cent bargains. Okay, it is a little insane to have payed twice in shipping what I already payed for the shells, but... I needed to. And now, if I can sell my mirrors, I can say it was all justified.

So, after much consideration, here are my new shells:

Pictures, Pictures, Who Has the Pictures.

Well, now my website is operational, but I have a problem: I gave away most of my craft projects as Christmas gifts and was so rushed I forgot to get pictures. I only took pictures of my wreaths. So now I have to track down family members and beg (not that everyone in my family even has a digital camera, or computer, for that matter). *Sigh* And you know how it is when people ask you for pictures. Somehow it always ends up on the bottom of the to-do list, usually staying there long enough until your conscience will let you forget it entirely. Such is human nature, though I am still hopefull that my family will prove me wrong, and in fact prove themselves better than I usually am.
And then there are the pictures I need to take. All of Tony's bowls, and vases, boxes, tops and platters, that I have scattered all over the house. Well, one step at a time gets the job done, as they say. 1. Find the tripod - check. 2. Find a well lit spot - check. 3. Set up the white backdrop - check (after allot of fumbling around with tacks and such). 4. Gather everything I need to photograph - check, though I have since found five more things that I missed in the first two sweeps. 5. Set up camera - check. 6. Turn on camera and find out the battery is in need of a charge, and the memory stick is full... *sigh*... Wake up daughter and borrow her camera... well, you get the picture (yes, a very bad pun). But at last SUCCESS! My computer is still choking on too much Photoshop, but I have pictures, dozens of them, and many worth looking at. I can embellish my website with pictures of things I actually have, to sell, for real money$$$. I can put a slideshow on my blog! Of course these things are things my SO made, I personally don't have anything to photograph... because I gave away all my stuff!

My Brand New, Shiney, Free Website!

The hardest thing about starting something new, like a business, is you never know where it will lead you, and how it will change your life. That, fear of the unknown, keeps people from taking those first steps, or at least that's how it is for me. I don't want to fail. I don't want to wade through the complexities of things I don't know anything about, like taxes and laws. But I really do want to make some money doing what I love. So, I gathered up my courage and typed into my web browser "free website hosting". Voila! Second up on my search was Webs.com. (First up was one of those nasty links that give you links in exchange for the privilege of also viewing their many adds - skip that one). Telling myself: "you can do this", I clicked on Webs.com and dove in. I suspected there would soon be a hidden cost, but I was wrong. They really are free, even if you are a business. And easy! I didn't have to figure out how to link up to Paypal, or put in a shopping cart, all that was done for me. It took me maybe four hours to make my listings and upload my pictures, then it was done and I was off in another section of Webs submitting my site to all the major search engines. I can't recommend them highly enough. And when it was done I felt so big and brave - that is a feeling I also highly recommend. So if you are at that place where you want to but are a bit uneasy, be big and brave like me, and just do it.

What Do I Want to Do When I Grow Up?

That is a question I have asked myself all of my 40 something years. The answer, of course, is 'something I love'. So what do I love? Well... stars and seashells, moss, trees (especially mossy trees), art, flowing water, fairies and good books... you get the picture. I love stuff that doesn't have much to do with earning a living. So I kept my day job. I was an RN. And I told myself I ought to pick up painting again. I do have a talent for it, but perhaps not enough; and there are so many others who paint, and who have the training... . I told myself I ought to finish that book, but it is still a masterpiece in the making. Meanwhile my back, worn prematurely old from lifting patients, and turning patients, and generally too much responsibility, quit on me and I had to give up that oh so reliable 'day job'.
I could have gone on welfare, but I didn't. I have a gem of a SO, and I want to make my own money. But most of all, I don't want state or government people dictating any part of my life. So, Christmas looked like it was going to be lean, until I took out my crafters hat and started making things. Working when I could, and resting when I had to, I made wreaths, and other things. Everyone was so pleased, and I was too (I am my worst critic) that my New Years resolution was to set up an online shop and start selling my crafts.

Wish me luck.