Time Enough For Love

In my last post, I left you with a treasury created by a fellow Etsy seller. In this post, I will leave you with one made by me.

I recently joined the STATTEAM (Self Taught Artists Treasury Team) on Etsy, and like many of the teams there, they host a weekly treasury challenge every Saturday. I had never done one of these challenges before (though I've created many a treasury), so I decided to try it out.

The treasury had to meet certain requirements - namely, it had to include listings from a specific number of team members, including two featured artists, and it had to be centered around the inspirational word of the week. This week, that word was "time." Easy peasy for a Time Traveler, right? (I'll probably be talking a LOT about the Time Travelers Team on this blog, so stay tuned.)

The requirements made it a little hard to remain cohesive, but I'm pretty happy with how my treasury came out. I settled on the title, "Time Enough for Love," based upon the classic science fiction novel of the same name, by Robert A. Heinlein. I got to pull in all kinds of vibrant colors, lots of hearts, and a lot of clocks and other steampunky goodness. Let me know what you think... but more importantly, visit the treasury, comment on it, favorite it, click on a few items, whatever... the more people who do that, the better my chances are of being a finalist in the treasury challenge!

Like An Artist

There are so many things about which I want to post right now!  It seems that I rather quickly got over my blogging hangup, doesn't it?  I'm finding that this is a great way to share and work through my thoughts on life, art, and crafts, not to mention ghost koi and pop culture!  I still owe you guys some background on myself, a full explanation of my obsession with Santana Lopez, and that discussion of Pretty Little Liars that I promised in my very first post.  Not to mention that I'll be showing off my Bollywood yarn soon, as well as some Halloween and Christmas items from my shop, and that I want to talk about some of the fabulous teams I've joined on Etsy and the awesome people that I've met there!  I've also hit upon an entirely new art form that I've totally embraced, as both a creator and a collector.  Two new art forms, actually...

But alas, all that must wait, for I must to bed.  My sleep specialist says that I need to stop blogging late at night and go to bed by at least 2am.  So for now, I will leave you with some eye candy.  A few days ago (or maybe more), I uploaded an amazing metal collage piece called "Darkness at the Garden Gate."  I'd worked on it for quite awhile, and there are only two in the world... the one in my shop, and the one I kept for myself (hehe.)  The supplies likely won't be available again, so I consider this a one of a kind piece.  Anyway, a few minutes (!!!) after I posted it, it was featured in this stunning treasury by soycomfort..  She even named the treasury after my necklace!  I can't stop looking at it - sometimes I could swear that the treasuries on Etsy are the real art form, and that the rest of us are simply providing the raw materials.  When I get a feature like this, it actually does make me feel like an artist, if only by proximity to other ones.  I hope you enjoy this is as I drift off into dreamland... till next time...

Hard to Give Up

This morning I got a fabulous surprise.  I woke up to a shout out from a fellow blogger and Etsian, Michaela of Buttons and Yarn Oh My!  A couple of weeks ago, she'd bought a skein of my handspun yarn (one of my favorite ones, at that!) and she had some very kind words to say about it, and about handspun yarn in general.  Thanks Michaela!  You can check out Michaela's shop at www.buttonsandyarnohmy.etsy.com.

Handspun yarn is very hard to give up.  There's just something about it.  The process of spinning is so tactile and so tangible, not to mention so time consuming, that you really grow to care about the yarn.  There are skeins that are like a beloved pet to me, that I would never give up.  With others, I just want to see the yarn in the hands of someone who loves it.

I'm sure that artists of every type experience the same separation anxiety that I do.  I know firsthand how hard it can be to give away a knitted garment or to sell a piece of handcrafted jewelry.  I can't even imagine what it must be like to sell an original painting or sculpture - even if your living depended upon it.

So I'm wondering... for those of you who create original, one of a kind art or crafted items, how do you deal with giving them away or putting them up for sale?  Does the sale make it worth it, or do you miss your item later on?  Or is it enough, as with my skeins of yarn, to see it in the hands of someone who loves it?