Me: Why I do start 9830840293092 projects at once?

My daughter: Because you like trying to kick your own ass.

I think I’m going to have to put that on a shirt and wear it every stinking day.

In prep for the FleaMarket Team’s weekend flea market, the new treasury for their seller’s sale is up! We’ve been allowed to show you who is up for grabs right now! Below are the shops that will be opening this “buy and replace” treasury (Sep 28-29, 11) to create the list for the Flea Market (Nov 1-2, 11).

You can go over their now and buy to be placed on the list!

And now we’re back to almost all Twitter updates as posts.  I’m slipping…. again.

Actually, a lot has happened.  My daughter graduated from high school and moved on to college.  We moved her into the dorms, but we still see her often since she works near home.  We have brunch on Sunday, which gives us a chance to catch up.  She misses the quiet of home sometimes, but I’m sure she’s enjoying more freedom.

Someone shattered the passenger side window of her car and rifled through her glove box.  Didn’t look like they took anything.  Luckily, she’s smart and didn’t have anything of worth in her car.  She got it fixed and then the door wouldn’t open so she had to take it back.  They didn’t get all the glass out of the door before they put the window back in, but it works now.

I was sick off and on this summer, so I have a lot to catch up on.  Every nook and cranny of the house needs cleaned especially since we’re getting the house ready for a guest in October.  We’ve known her for about 12 years now and this will be the first time we get to meet in person.  I can’t wait!

The yard is a mess, so we’re trying to make it look nice again.  I’m sure our neighbors are thanking us already.  Pulled all the dead sunflowers from under the window and I plan on replacing them with either mums or irises.  I miss my lacy irises.  The plain ol’ yellow ones have pretty much taken over everything.  I think I might be able to get some of the lacy ones from my mom.  I’ll have to ask.

I’m back to putting things up on CafePress and actually added a few products to Zazzle.  Rushing to get the Halloween art and photography up on Zazzle before its entirely too late, so that’s what I’m working on now.  I’ll be posting on that as I get things finished.

I’ve started reading every night again and I’m trying to turn it into a habit.  Even if I only read for 5 minutes, I make myself read every night.  Maybe one of these days I’ll actually finish this huge stack of unread books.  As for writing… I haven’t gotten back into the habit yet, but I write here and there.  I’ll be trying to turn it back into a habit starting in October, with a break for our visiting friend, so hopefully Nano won’t be such a shock to the system.

Speaking of Nano, I think I figured out what I’m going to do this year.  I’m hoping the early decision bodes well for how it will go.  Gives me plenty of time to think about where I want the story to go and to get a little research done.  I think I’m starting to get a little excited about it.

Last year, I said I was going to post time-saving meals for Nano and didn’t get around to it.  This year, I’ll link to some recipes posted on the Community Cookbook and try to get some more posted before Nano arrives.  I’ll probably repost the Nano tips from last year, too.

Enough babbling… back to work for me!

Currently reading:

Apparently, I decided I didn’t have enough to do, so I needed a few more websites. I recently re-launched Crescent Moon Haberdashery as a blog to showcase my CafePress store. I’ve been selling products with photography, artwork, and graphic work on CafePress for years and will soon be trying my hand at Zazzle as well. Crescent Moon Haberdashery is also featuring some beautiful jewelry from Aether Designs.

My mother and I have looked for a way to share recipes and finally decided, after searching for and not finding a solution we liked, that we might as well share them with everyone. Thus, I launched Community Cookbook a few weeks ago. It’s still a work in progress, but hopefully I’ll get the bugs ironed out. I went for an actual community setting and it isn’t working quite the way I would like it to. The name might change, but Community Cookbook works for now. We have a couple of recipes up with many more to come in the future.

After I feel like I have Crescent Moon Haberdashery and Community Cookbook well underway and help Jane with The Diary of Jane, I’m going to re-launch Macabre Manor. Macabre Manor has needed a lot of work for a long time and I hate to go the blog route with it, but I don’t think I’ll ever get anything done with it if I don’t turn it into a blog. Hand editing pages is so 1990′s, right? I’m still unsure I can make it do what I want, but I’m going to try. I can never make Macabre Manor what it once was, but I can do something with it… when I figure out exactly what that is, I’ll let you know.

In the meantime, this site will become my master feed as it were and my writing blog. I’ll be cross-posting things here from the other sites for the time being, except for the cooking site that is. I might make a post with recipes that have posted for the week, but I’m not going to post all the recipes both places. If cross-posting everything stops making sense or becomes too much, I’ll stop, but for now almost everything I do will still be on this blog. Why? For people who want everything but don’t want to visit tons of sites to get it.

As for the podcast, I gave up on it a long time ago. I wanted to podcast, but the more I tried the more I figured out that I didn’t really have anything to talk about. Maybe some day.

Recently, I made a couple of bracelets with tutelage from Kimi of Aether Designs. One of them was for my mother-in-law for Mother’s Day and she seemed to really like it. Thanks, Kimi!

And here they are! Bad phone pictures though…

This is the bracelet I made for my mother-in-law. She loves butterflies, so I based the colors off a light blue butterfly with dark fringe around the wings. I don’t know if that vision really comes through, but she liked it and that’s what matters most.

The holes in the center of the large bead in the middle (blue cats eye) were a little big and the seed beads kept sucking up inside the middle bead, so I was constantly fighting to keep the seed beads where they belonged. I still had a lot of fun making this piece.

This is the bracelet I made for myself. It sounded a little boring when I was trying to describe it, but I think it turned out very pretty. It matches just about anything, which I was going for.

I plan on making some more bracelets soon and I’d like to learn how to make different pieces. I never thought I’d like beading, but I’m really enjoying it. I’ll post pictures when I finally make it down to the bead shop so I can make more.

Aether Designs makes bracelets just like these in whatever colors you’d like, so if you like these bracelets order one from Aether Designs today.

I started more projects than I can possibly keep up with. More updates in Part 2 if I don’t spontaneously combust first.

I’m at 5213 words so far, so I’m right on task. I’m working on getting ahead over the next few days. There will be several days around the holidays that I doubt I’m going to be able to write much, so I’m trying for a decent cushion here at the beginning.

I turned my Twitter updates back to daily since I won’t be posting as often, but might be tweeting a bit more. Last year, updating the blog with tweets during NaNo seemed to work pretty well.

Everything else is on hold for now. If you’re participating in NaNo, I’m Kryson if you’d like to buddy me. Write like the wind everyone and see you at the finish line!

Acceptance. In simple terms, accept who you are. If you are an artist, let yourself be an artist. People try to force you to “grow up,” to give up your dreams, to do whatever it is they think you should be doing while your inner artist is screaming. Don’t let people tell you that your dreams are wrong, bad, not worth pursuing. In the end, it’s your life and your happiness that’s at stake. Do, be, create and surround yourself with supportive people.

I’ve had to walk away from more than one situation and friendship because I was being told what to do with my life, but there’s another aspect to this. I’ve often tried to be what I’m not. Writing what I thought people wanted to read, forcing myself to start projects for the sole purpose of approval when it wasn’t what I wanted to be doing. Doing things with my life that other people wanted me to do. It’s important to write and write what you’re itching to write. Placate the artist and it will let you write other things, like blog entries for example.

Back to simple. Write because you want to and what you want to. Allow yourself to suck. Don’t base your success on approval from others. Don’t base your success on a paycheck, size of a paycheck, or lack of a paycheck. Create and be rewarded by creating. If you’re in this to get rich, turn back now.

Lots of talk about movement and exercise. I agree that movement, getting out there and walking, running, horseback riding, and the like can help to break those blocks, solve plot problems, and be inspirational. I’ve come up with a storyline or two and solved a plot problem while walking, but I hadn’t thought much about it. The weather here doesn’t always lend to walking and being comfortable enough to free the mind. Sweating profusely and shivering uncontrollably do not do much for thinking anything other than, “Hot, hot, hot!” or “I’m turning into a momcicle!” I have to look for other ways to exercise or other places to walk. Maybe I’ll become a mall walker, but only if I can convince myself I have the self-control to not spend money while I’m there.

Dangers of the Trail and Workaholism presented more information on blocks and how we use them. Food, alcohol, drugs, work can all be used to further block ourselves. I can relate to using food and work as “excuses” or “blocks” to writing. More than once I have turned to food trying to escape from creation. Junk food clogs the brain, makes the gears turn more slowly if not stop altogether. Work is an easy escape. There’s always more work to do and if you can’t find any, a creative person can easily invent more.

Why make these excuses or use these blocks? As petty and insane as it sounds, if I actually create something I might have to show someone and face possible rejection or ridicule. While I know I can’t please everyone, one rejection holds more weight than ten approvals. It’s something many creatives suffer from. I know I’m not alone, but it feels very lonely. It’s hard not to take rejection personally, especially at first.

Creative droughts were discussed this week. I’ve gone through my fair share and I completely agree with the author that they do end. If you do nothing during the drought, it does take longer for the ideas to flow again like water.

Some suggestions to keep going –

• like The Artist’s Way suggests, do your morning pages (brain dump) every day. Keep writing something.
• Write something completely different. If you write horror books, write a children’s tale. Allow it to suck.
• Do something else creative: paint, draw, take photos.
• Partake of other’s creativity: visit an art museum, read a book, watch an indie movie, go to a musical/opera/play, find a new and interesting indie musician online.
• Talk to another creative. They often have stories about their own droughts and how they moved on.

Competition was another topic for the week. I’ve watched more than one friend, associate, acquaintance fly by me at the speed of light accomplishing more in a short period of time than I have in years. I’ve been jealous more times than I care to admit. That jealousy has caused me to waste more time and energy causing me to delay my own goals. Jealousy can be crippling and isn’t worth wasting time over. It’s easy to say, “Be happy for them and get back to your own work,” but actually doing it can be hard. When you start to get jealous, use that emotion to egg you on instead of letting it block you. “If they can do it, so can I!”  Again, easier said than done, but worth a try.

(to the tune of I Feel Pretty)

I feel icky
Oh so icky
I feel icky and sickly and bleh

The difference between a blocked artist and a lazy artist was first up this week in The Artist’s Way. Lazy is pretty self-explanatory, but a blocked artist actually isn’t lazy. Just because an artist is blocked doesn’t mean they aren’t expending tons of energy on fear, self-loathing, self-doubt, regret, jealousy, and so on. I’ve personally spent a large amount of time on all of the above, so I guess I can stop calling myself lazy now.

Creative U-Turns was another thing I could relate to this week. A creative u-turn is when artists sabotage themselves. As an example, I thought I had an agent for a time. After discussing what this agent was doing, several colleagues told me I was probably being set up for a scam and to walk away. I talked to the agent and he was indeed setting me up the way they described and I ran away with my tail tucked between my legs. I was hurt. I felt used and unworthy because I didn’t recognize the signs.

A couple of weeks later, an opportunity practically fell in my lap. Instead of jumping on it, I decided to continue to brood and lick my wounds. I wasn’t sure I could trust anyone and I wasn’t sure I trusted myself anymore. Instead of doing a little research to find out if the deal was legit, I turned it down. I scoffed at the idea. Turns out it was legit, of course.

Another example, a short story I wrote was offered publication if I made a few changes. I didn’t even contact them back. I was afraid, but I have no idea why. Afraid of success? I don’t really think so. I think I was more afraid that this one editor was insane and would be the only person in the world to actually like my piece. I remember having a vision of the magazine collapsing after publishing my piece because everyone hated it that much. As if I really had that much power.

The next section, Blasting Through Blocks, was designed to help to identify anger, resentments, and grudges. For some people, simply identifying problems can lead to resolution. When you actively write down these resentments, they can instantly seem childish, unwarranted, and silly.