Sunday, August 30, 2015

The power of consistency.



Hello again! Yep, you guessed it another blog. Today I want to talk about a topic that comes up a lot for me. This is probably my biggest struggle as an artist and business owner. It's something that is VERY important. To most people it either comes super easy to them or is a big problem like me!
Want me to just tell you already? Fine, it's CONSISTENCY! 
Booooooooo.

Ughhhh my nemisis. Consistency is so important blah blah blah. As an artist is it really important to have consistency with your art. I feel this is especially true for artists who promote themselves online or social media. (aka me) Why is consistency important, you may ask....well here it is! 



(I loved video. He seems so genuine and his words are perfect for today's blog)

Consistency is important because people want to easily be able to recognize "who you are as an artist" and your products. If you are inconsistent, people might getting distracted or confused and leave your site. I know because I do this when I look at other Etsy shops. Unfortunately, I know that my shop is currently inconsistent. I am working on this as my top priority. My images first and foremost NEED to be consistent. Especially for a shop that has multiple types of products. I think if you only sell soap you can have some variety to things because your product is consistent. Since I work with so many mediums I need to have consistent photography. 


Why do I struggle with consistency so much? Well...I haven't mentioned this in the blogs yet but I love astrology! My gramcrackers is an astrologer and she has taught me the ins and outs of being an Astrologer. Phew! I am glad I brought that up....look forward to much more astrology talk from now on! Anyway, I believe that a big part of my struggle with inconsistency is my GEMINI nature. Gemini's have many strengths like being a jack-of-all trades. With this they tend to be good at everything they try but get bored with things very easily. I KNOW this is how I work. I might do a watercolor one day and the next be into my wood burning. It keeps me interested and as long as I actually finish my projects I can continue to jump around!
             How can I become more consistent with my art? I think routines are key. Setting routines might be hard at first but once you stick with them, after a certain amount of time they will become habit. Today I went to the Rustbelt where my space will be for the DIY Art Fair and walked about looking at other artist's shops and seeing their styles and set-ups helped remind me how finding my "style" for everything I do with my art and shop helps make consistency more natural. Coming up with a simple logo and using it for everything even price tags was one of the best ideas a saw. 
           Well today's blog was a little difficult for me to try and write. It's hard to address something you might consider a weakness. I know it's an important topic and addressing it makes it easier to work on it. Consistently Consistent from here on out! What kinds of things to do struggle with in your art? Do you have any suggestions on easy ways to find consistency within my Etsy Shop? Let me know your thoughts!  

Until Tomorrow - Dream Away
Samantha Menzo
Cloud Nine Studios


Etsy Featured Item of the Day:

Buddha . The Mind is Everything, What you Think you Become . Ring Dish . Yellow Moon . Star . Jewelry Dish . Celestial by - neCeramics



Song of the Day:

Wax Tailor - Que Sera 



Color of the Day:
Benjamin Moore Scuba Green 2046-50

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

What if you were seeing color for the first time?


Imagine you are having a conversation with a blind person. They have never been able to see anything and you have the job to describe and make them understand what color is. How do you do that? How do you begin to describe the color pink? How about orange? 


This is something I thought about SO MUCH as a young child. I don't know why this was such a recurrent topic that ran through my mind. I definitely think it is an odd thought for a child to think about but I have always been fascinated by color and how each human being perceives it. 



Being an artist, color effects everything I do. I have posted a blog previously on how colors can make people feel certain ways or think about certain things. What if you were blind or color blind? How could this effect you as a person?  If I couldn't see color or even some of the shades of colors I know I would be a different person. 



I am someone who loves and is effected by color so much to the point where I have a bag of colored pens at work and everyday I come in and sit down and decide what color I want to write with. Today I picked Dark Blue probably because I am wearing a dark blue dress and felt like I connected with that color today. (Color me crazy but that's how I am!)


   If you are like myself and can see color vividly and are not colorblind I hope this blog and the images and videos incorporated in it help to remind you that you are blessed with an amazing gift. If you are colorblind I hope you get excited for what the future might bring for you and the world that you see! Color is magical and taking a second to be grateful for the small things you make take for granted is what it's all about! 

Until Tomorrow - Dream Away
Samantha Menzo


Etsy Featured Item of the Day:

Colorful Felt Wreath - Vibrant Colors - Party Wreath - 14 inch wreath - Party Decoration - Colorful Door Decoration by- JameandJacqsCrafts



Song of the Day:


OneRepublic - Life In Color



Color of the Day:
Nightingale


Tuesday, August 25, 2015

DIY - PAINT BRUSH CLEANER (Made with hot glue gun)


It has been a weird couple of days but also an AMAZING couple of days. My love took me away for a night to the west side of Michigan with another couple. We stayed in an amazing castle and saw my favorite band Lake Street Dive. It was a magical two days and I felt very inspired and in love.


Since I have been away all weekend I wanted to use my last day off to really get things done in my studio. I entered the room this morning and felt SO OVERWHELMED. There were things everywhere. I have started so many pieces and each are different mediums. I just couldn't get my thoughts together so I decided it was time to clean and reorganize everything.



I started by getting all the random trash out and creating more space. I felt cramped and anxious and now I feel free! I had also been putting off cleaning a ton of my brushes that were just sitting in old mineral spirits. I was actually convinced I had ruined all of them because they had been sitting there for so long. I remembered this great idea I saw and decided to make one of my own!


I understand that this video was made for make-up brushes but it works the same for paintbrushes. I made one on a metal tray that I had left lying around. It works so well I wish I had more brushes to clean. I not only saved every single brush I don't think they have ever been this clean. It took maybe ten minutes to make and if you are an artist with deals with paintbrushes of any kind I DEFINITELY recommend making one of these.


ANYWAY! Now that everything is clean and has a place I am going to organize my inventory on paper which is something I have never done before. I want to do this because like I already mentioned I keep starting all these little pieces for the DIY Art Fair but not finishing them and I feel all over the place. I want to know exactly what I have and how many of each so I can focus on what I want to have for the fair. I know as of now that I probably need to at least DOUBLE my inventory which is terrifying but I know if I can just get my thoughts straight I will make it happen.



Before I left for the weekend adventure I did however finish my lovely little Alice in Wonderland inspired Watercolor piece! Sometimes I make pieces and I think "oh, that's cute.....moving on" but every now and again I make something I love and it might be vain but I CAN NOT stop looking at it. I really want to make more pieces like this and get prints to sell but I feel like I need to stick with what I can do for the fair for now and after this month dive a little deeper into my watercolor ideas.


So that's all I have for today. I really want to get to work in here now that it's cleaned up but I wanted to make sure I blogged since I couldn't while I was away. I hope you all have a wonderland day!

Until Tomorrow - Dream Away
Samantha Menzo




Etsy Featured Item of the Day:

USB flash drive 8 GB, kawaii blue cat, cat with constellation big dipper, back to school , cobalt cat usb flash by - CloverPower


Song of the Day:

Garden Sessions: Lake Street Dive - "Look At What Mistake" - Radio Woodstock



Color of the Day:
 BENJAMIN MOORE CORLSBUD CANYON 076

Friday, August 21, 2015

Why everyone should be coloring.


When is the last time you remember coloring? Not drawing, doodling, or painting, but actually coloring in a coloring book. Well I'll cut to the chase...I colored last night and it was AMAZING! Coloring is the most calming and grounding thing for me besides meditating. Speaking of meditating......


I believe coloring is a form of meditation. So for all of you out there who want to meditate but have tried sitting with your eyes closed and felt unsuccessful at clearing your mind, TRY COLORING! You can go as easy as a color by number so you really don't have to think or step it up and get a more detailed coloring book with beautifully detailed images. Just sitting down, relaxing and staring at a page and the colors will definitely put you in a meditative trance. Don't believe me?! Give it a try!



Thursday's are very important days for me. Every week I spend time over at my grandma's house aka gramcrackers. She's my best bud. We normally talk and drink tea together. For the last couple of months I have been working on finishing a large wall mural for her but it got too late for me to work on it so we decided to color. 


My grandmother LOVES to color. It is something her and my papa use to do when they went down to Gulf Shores Alabama on vacation. They would sit together and color. He used colored pencils and she used markers. She still enjoys this very much even though he has now passed. She has been sick for about a week so she has really been in a coloring frenzy! I took her to a local craft store and helped her STEP UP HER COLOR GAME! We got her fun new markers and some more advanced coloring books. 

(Gramcracker's new marker set for under $15)
(Gramcracker's new coloring books! More advanced than color by number and under $15)

Here are a few great coloring finds I stumbled across on ETSY! Check out these wonderful coloring books! Oh the possibilities are just endless. There are little ones and detailed ones and buying something on Etsy helps support small businesses! 


Don't know what to color with? Here are also some really great things found on Etsy to color with. You can buy more expensive markers like Copic or use great wooden rustic colored pencils! Check out the links below for the wonderful Etsy products to take your coloring to the next level!






ANYWAYS! She worked on her color by number and I took one of the more advanced books and tried blending some of the colors together. We stuck on some meditation music and just relaxed into the pages of our books. You don't have to put on meditation music any music will do! If you want to sit in silence you can do that as well but music makes it easier for me to really relax and smile.

Kevin Braheny - Galaxies


Coloring can make you feel free and child-like again and is an easy think for people to do to awaken their creative bones! Even those who consider themselves "can't even draw a stick figure" people, can color. In fact those who do recognize themselves as not-so artistic should really be the ones getting on the crazy coloring train! Free yourself people! 


Until Tomorrow - Dream Away
Samantha Menzo


Etsy Featured Item of the Day:

Bracelet from colored pencils by - carbickova


Song of the Day:

Feist - The Water


Color of the Day:
Inner Glow by Benjamin Moore



Thursday, August 20, 2015

How to prepare for holidays on Etsy!


Good Afternoon everyone! It's my favorite kind of weather here in Metro Detroit Michigan.
Yep you guessed it....Overcast and gloomy! I am working on editing images if a few special wine bottle pieces that will be going up on my Etsy shop!


I started painting wine bottles a few years ago when I didn't have a space to really paint or make art in. The wine bottles didn't take up much room and I could finish one pretty quickly because I didn't have much time when I was working and going to school. 



Trying to sell items online can be hard. It helps to take advantage of the holidays with making themed items for them. Wine bottles was a fun and easy way for me to do this! The thing that I have realized is that making items for the holidays takes a ton of time! 


So I have come up with a system that helps me prepare! First I got a great calendar and put it somewhere I will look at everyday. Next I went through the calendar and marked each holiday with some sort of highlighter or marker. 


Then I turned back 1 month from a holiday and marked that day with a due date for getting that holiday work up online! That way I will have a whole month to promote my items! Who is going to buy a decoration the day before a holiday? It wouldn't even get to them in time! So putting them up at least a month early will really help with actually getting sales! 


After I went from that date and turned it back another month! I marked all of those dates in my calendar so that it is a reminder for starting to create products for that holiday! Nobody is thinking in August that they should start making Halloween products but this reminder date will help give you enough time to create products without too much stress!


It's exciting starting holiday items so early! It gets me in the spirit and since it's still summer and I am already thinking of fun fall festivities I am really pumping myself up for the new season! Everyone complains about stores putting out holiday decorations so early but I enjoy seeing it. 

Well today's blog is kind of a short one I will try to have tomorrow's be a little longer, but I hope this helps some of you properly prep for a successful holiday online store! 



Until Tomorrow - Dream Away
Samantha Menzo


Etsy Featured Item of the Day:

Jewelry Organizer Wood Wall Hanging Display Holder Necklace Earring Storage Jewlery Organization Frame With Shelf FREE SHIPPING by - DivaDisplay



Song of the Day:

The Temper Trap - Soldier On



Color of the Day:
BENJAMIN MOORE GARDEN CUCUMBER 644



Wednesday, August 19, 2015

5 things to remember when you feel like you're falling behind.


Look who it is! It's me the slackiest slacker on the world wide web of blogging! Oh man guys and gals I really haven't done anything with the blog in three days! See I miss one day and BOOM three days later here I am. All or nothing kinda gal......What's that?.....You forgive me! Great! 
You are the best.

These past few days I made a mental promise to stay away from my studio for the most part and spend more time with my boyfriend's two kids. They will be going back to school soon and I have been hiding away working on pieces for the DIY Art Festival.


I did manage to get a little time in the studio for myself and started a fun watercolor piece themed from Alice in Wonderland! It is going to be very dainty and girly with flowers! I love it already. What do you think so far?!



Even though I started a piece and worked on a few others I still can't help feeling like I have totally fallen behind. I have this feeling more than I realize. Behind what? My expectations? Due dates? Have you ever given up doing something completely because you felt you were too far behind for it to even matter? I didn't choose painting as a major in college until two years in because I felt that since I never took any courses in high school I would be so far behind everyone else that why bother. Switching was one of the best things I ever did! 

So are you feeling behind? Do you feel you're stressed because you can never get ahead of your laundry? Do tasks at work keep piling higher every time you finish one? Feel like your business will never succeed because so many just like it are already so popular? Have a new blog and think will this ever take off......wait....oh how silly of me I am getting off topic.

Here are 5 things to remember when you feel like you are falling behind:

1. Take a breath and enjoy life. You only get one.
I have mentioned before what taking some time to meditate and breathe can do for you. If you haven't heard....it does wonders! If you feel like you are falling behind you probably have some anxiety and stress along with that thought and closing your eyes and breathing can help wash that away. It will make it easier to continue on with getting those things caught up and back to normal without the pressure of guilt and even depression!

2. How did you get here?
Is this the first time you have felt this way or have you been in this position before? What lead you to feeling so trapped and helpless? Take a step back from the situation and look to see how you could have avoided it, if at all. If you could have avoided it, let yourself feel disappointed (BUT ONLY FOR A SECOND!) You have to acknowledge your feelings. Then move on! Get up and try again better next time. If you find that you couldn't have even avoided getting to the point you are at....then make like Elsa and LLEETT ITT GOOO!

2. You are further ahead then you think!
Ever look back at a stressful time and think....why was I so crazy I did great! I think 9 times out of 10 when I think I am behind I really am ahead! I guess this depends on what you are feeling behind.

..if it is you're own goals then you might want to reevaluate your goals or the manor in which you are trying to reach them. BUT, if you are feeling behind "others" or some sort of "work" I bet you will look back on today and say that you really were ahead of the game.

3. Need some reassurance?
Sometimes I think I am like Gretchen Rubin and need a ton of gold stars. Reassurance can so important to people (especially artists) that they create this sob story in their heads when they don't receive it enough. I am guilty of this. If I am not getting enough good feedback I can make myself feel like I am falling behind. When someone gives me a gold star and recognizes my good work I feel a lot better. So what I need to learn is that I need to give myself a gold star whenever I start to feel behind. If you have trouble with this like I do here is one free golden star just for you: YOU CAN DO IT! WOW WHAT A GREAT JOB YOU HAVE DONE SO FAR! DON'T WORRY ABOUT EVERYTHING ELSE LOOK AT ALL YOU HAVE ACCOMPLISHED! 

4. Just do the best you can do.
All you can do is the best you can do. Odds are you are doing just fine. If you can say you are putting 110% into everything you do and are still feeling behind, then you might want to think differently. 



There you have it! Just remember life is about having fun and love! I hope today's blog makes you feel a little more at ease and you can forgive me for being absent the last few days. Oh and I almost forgot! Gues what came in the mail today! My brand new business cards! Take a look and let me know what you think! 


Until Tomorrow - Dream Away
Samantha Menzo



Etsy Featured Item of the Day:

Pinback Button, Magnet, Mirror, or Bottle Opener by - PinMeDown



Song of the Day:

Fun.: We Are Young ft. Janelle Monáe (ACOUSTIC)



Color of the Day:
Glass Slipper