So, I am doing The 100-Day Project Challenge again; my second attempt at this creativity "habit building" exercise. You can read more at the above link; or just choose "a creative thing" to pursue for 100 consecutive days... and then use #the100dayproject as one of your first three tags so others on Hive and other social media can find you!
Today is Day 2.
One of many Heart Stones photographed today
"Even the longest journey begins with a single step," or so an old truism states. Sipping my coffee this morning, I realized that today feels like a Monday because yesterday (Monday) was a public holiday here in the USA, on account of it being Presidents Day and the inauguration and all that hoopla.
Today will be a busy day because "the rest of life" has to be tended to before I can get around to anything creative.
Realization of the day: I'm taking this more seriously than I have in the past. If better results do not ensue, it certainly won't be for the lack of sincerely trying!
Second realization of the day: I tend to be a "do it, and leave it" person, as I discovered that I have things listed for sale based on a template created (and not uniformly updated) TEN YEARS ago.
Today's Creative Endeavor:
I was going to put a bit about photography here — because that is creative, in its own right, but decided it really belongs in the next section.
On piece of "Busy Work" that does bear a mention is that I should be able to finish coat stones today IF the temperature rises a little. The temperature in the garage needs to creep up to near 50 degrees (10C) preferably... and early mornings after a light frost is not that!
But I did managed to paint a small stone today, in spite of everything else... the green "Heart Chakra" stone pictured above.
Minding the Store(s):
Biggest thing for today is going to be the sales listing photography for the Heart Stones. Thankfully, it's a sunny day today so I was able to use natural light, which always yields the best results!
Product photography is remarkably time consuming because it is much more than just "take a picture of each item."
Each stone is shot from multiple angles; then they have to be post processed, meaning trimmed, re-sized, color corrected and the files re-named to match the stone's unique ID. And we haven't even gotten close to listing anything, yet!
So I got a little bit into the scope of updating my stores, and realized that I need to create a physical "checklist" or I would just end up getting lost (and frustrated!) somewhere in the early stages of this whole process.
The composite used for the Etsy listing
Which, of course, is how "creeping elegance" has a way of slowing me down. In this case, about 45 minutes' worth of really thinking through every step of the process, creating a spreadsheet accordingly, adding all my categories and then printing out a paper copy of the 3-page list to keep by my creative workspace, as I get on with this.
But it was also an object lesson in how not being organized is often the bane of my existence!
Next, since the heart stones are first on the agenda, I went to Etsy and made sure the template that will be used to create the sales listing was completely "clean" and up-to-date.
Indeed, there were some small bits and pieces I needed to improve and get rid of. Also taking the time to check appropriate tags, given that the original template was created many years ago before I knew some of the things I know today.
Then I created a new template for selling multiple units of the small "Pocket Hearts" from a single listing, using "varitions" to circumnavigate the issue of "basically the same, but each one unique."
This stuff is monstrously time consuming to set up, but hopefully easier, once it's in place.
Social Media Musings:
Time runs away from me.
I had all sort of grand designs, which all drowned in all the photo work I did, along with a trip to town to mail something, along with all the other stuff... as I mentioned elsewhere, it's all very time consuming.
Final Thoughts for Today:
In the middle of doing my update work on Etsy, I get a notification that my fee bill is past due. Much the usual results.
"Sales: $0.00; Expenses: $15.20."
I MUST change this paradigm, because it's really discouraging to watch...
I appreciate you coming to visit and please do leave a comment if you feel so inclined!
Thank You!
If you enjoy painted rocks, do check out The Hive Rocks Project and help spread the word about Hive, while also being creative!
Because I am trying to make some semblance of income — a part time living, even — I now add this footer to all my posts, in the hope that someone, somewhere, might decide to take a further look at my work, and perhaps consider supporting independent art.
Thank you, in advance, for your consideration and support!
My Alchemy Stones Patreon appeal
Alchemy Stones web site and blog
Regardless, your upvotes and comments are always appreciated!
Thank you for supporting independent art & creativity!
2025.01.21 AS-TXT-308/278