I’m determined to take these two sad, sad tables and make them purdy.
Doesn’t help that it’s hotter than the sun in Charleston and I’m on a utility strike.
BUT I am determined to finish these projects and maybe a third. Or one of these and the third.
Gonna earn my showers this weekend 😉
Planning on DIY tutorials for them both as well ☺
Wish me luck!
http://www.artsyshark.com/2014/11/11/is-social-media-really-the-key-to-selling-art-online/
Well written article revolving around social media for artists.
Seems like there’s a million articles like this, more geared towards small
business, but this one strikes me.
Might be the comparison of social media and sex.
Enjoy!
Until next time…
Jenny Eva
Southern Nights Design
I didn’t think it was possible, but I think fate just intervened to inspire. At a thrift store.
Over the past few weeks, I have been mentally drained. Physically drained. Just drained. Bronchitis, other physical issues, stress, family problems, and just plain brain fog have plagued me for the past month.
I was even drained of inspiration. Artistic, entrepreneurial, even domestic inspiration was just gone.
My workstation has looked like a ghost of ideas.
A ghost town. And a can opener.
On Monday, I convinced myself to go to the thrift store to get some jeans. Yes, I totally wear thrift store pants. One’s in good condition anyway. I draw the line at under garments and full shoes. Foot sweat…eww. Thrift sandals are game. But I was in dire need of pants, mine no longer fit. (Yay for weight loss!)
So of course while I’m at my favorite thrift store, I have to browse at least, it’s in my DNA. I ended up picking up a couple of picture frames, and a coaster. Just one coaster. I have a weird obsession of collecting random, awesome coasters. Geez, I keep getting off track of the story. ADD in full effect today apparently.
I walked by the furniture section, and saw this lonely table. It doesn’t have a top, but I was drawn to it. I looked at it for a few minutes, but couldn’t think of anything that I could do to it to bring it back to life, so I paid for my things and left.
When I got home, I couldn’t stop thinking about that table.
I looked up some ideas on “DIY table tops,” but nothing really caught my eye or my skill level/price level.
Then I thought, “Hell, I could just glue a big piece of glass on the top, from a picture frame. Maybe mosaic it or something. I could do that.”
So the next day, I went back to the thrift store, hoping the table was still there. It was, but I still didn’t pick it up. I don’t know if it was a lack of confidence or just the fact that I still didn’t quite know what I was going to do or how I would do it.
An hour of browsing later, I said to myself, “If no one has snagged that table yet, I’m just going to get it.”
It was still there. So I paid my $3 for this thing and took it home.
I decided to look through my collection of unused frames to try to figure out my glass idea. The first frame I picked up fit perfectly. WITH the frame. And looked amazing.
I found some contact paper I hadn’t used and replaced the photo inside with the design. With the frame placed atop the $3 table, it was perfection.
20 minutes, a $3 table, an old frame, dollar store contact paper, and a hell of a lot of glue brought back this gal’s inspiration.
I think sometimes if we’re in a rut, even if we fall behind for a bit (or a month), we just have to start working again. Just start moving again – get the brain blood flowing. Take a chance on something, even something small, even a $3 table. It just might work out.
The $3 table that gave me my mojo back.
Perfection.
I originally wrote the first half of this poem in 2008 on a whim. My sister and I were posting what we now call selfies onto MySpace, and the words just came to me. Four pictures, four lines. I may try to get back on MySpace to see if I can get in and find the pictures, but it’s irrelevant right now in my mind.
Over the years, I have tried to complete the poem, but was never satisfied with the result. I think the longest version has 16 lines, and I was going to use it as a song. Still might, but it wasn’t right for the poem.
Then, she got married.
I love her husband almost as much as I love her. He gets us and accepts us. Darkness and all.
If any couple will stand the test of time, it is them. I am chronically single by choice, but seeing them together and the relationship that has grown between them has changed something in my mind. Still not wanting to be in a relationship just to be in one, but I know that I eventually want that bond.
For their wedding gift, I made them a collage (see my Portfolio for the picture). When I was finishing it up, I realized I could also finish the poem. I scribbled the poem onto the back of their collage, and titled the poem and the piece, “Dear Soulmate.”
The darkness of my being,
Intertwines with her soul.
The smiles mask,
A story untold.
The darkness of his being,
Interprets her light.
The smiles concede,
The story unfold.
It is finally complete.
My 3 year old niece spent the night with me this weekend. I wanted to introduce her to one of my passions, so one of the toys we picked up on the way to my house was a painting kit.
She painted pictures for her little sister, and her parents, and then I asked her to paint something for me.
I gave her a fresh sheet of paper and she started painting. Then she hesitated and looked at me with her big blue eyes and asked, “What colors do you want?” I responded, “Paint whatever you want to paint.” She looked at the paper and hesitated again. “Do you like green?” she asked me. I repeated, “Paint what you want to paint.” She finally did, and then put the painting on my end table and confidently told me to hang it on the wall.
I’m reliving this moment in my mind and now asking myself whether I’m “painting what I want to paint,” or painting what I think others want.
I’m not quite sure of the answer, but I’m going to keep asking myself this question until I do know for sure that I am always “painting what I want to paint.”
Until next time…
Jenny Eva
Southern Nights Design
Note to self: Get a friend to take pictures next time.
My Etsy shop has very little visitors and I’ve only made one sale (and it was my step-grandfather, does that even count?) so I’ve been doing lots of research on marketing, apps, promotion, etc. After looking at quite possibly 100 websites/blogs, I was lost. Not to mention the majority of promotion is not free, and with a lack of sales I’m not quite set on spending moolah without a solid business plan, gain/return, whatever, etc.
Then, randomly at work yesterday, a light bulb must have appeared above my head because this idea just lit up
Take pictures of yourself looking hot with your merchandise.
Seemed like an easy enough idea…
Not so much. I began running around my house, putting on make-up, picking out an outfit, thinking of location ideas, all while sweating in the Charleston heat. Even after turning the AC down, I was STILL sweating. Being a photoshoot director, photographer, artist, and model all at the same time and without a tripod is exhausting.
Some photos turned out great, and hopefully will generate some commotion for Southern Nights Design, but NEVER AGAIN. My next promotion will not involve sweat!
PS – Very impressed by my still immaculate ballerina posture. See Outtakes below for proof.
Until next time…
Jenny Eva
Southern Nights Design
Southern Nights Design 