Who Are You?

Who are you?

This was the headline from a recruiting firm who send me an occasional e-mail.  Today's was a pitch to make me feel better, believe more in myself and to stay strong in the face of overwhelming diversity during the wane of the August days. The writer wrote "…what's stopping you from becoming…" and then I was to fill in the blank with the usual excuses he suggested, things I put before myself to make achieving my goals longer and farther away than today.  Then once I read the list, the writer countered with "…who will you decide to be tomorrow?"

So in his words, "…these fading days of summer…" I will share with all of you who I am, as I became this person many, and I mean many years ago, long before this writer inspired me to share what I felt is a private affair, my life.  My gal pal will be pleased to know, the thing I created in my mind those many years ago with her, about people like myself.  She and I are people, who in the face of daunting situations and overwhelming odds, are know as the UNIQUE SQUAD, and she and I are a very big part of a small group of Unusual, Nice, Individuals, who Quite Uniquely do Everything needed to stay ahead of the rest of the crowd and still create an invaluable contribution to life.  

She has chosen a very hard profession, she is a family counselor hearing the most horrid of stories, I have accepted my life path, which has it pitfalls too, as it is the life of an artist.

We share our woes privately with each other in a place that is safe for us to cry, scream and feel safe with our disappointments so we may return to the world as William Wallace, a man more commonly known as "Braveheart" and one who fought for truth and honor among his fellow man in spite of known and unknown odds.

I am brave.  I am willing to continue as I always have, however as I grow a year here and there in my life, age has slowed down my stride, not my vision nor my passion.  My gal pal and I bolster each other to stay strong, to believe the path we were given is worth traveling and getting up in the morning to face our days of living in our dreams.  We are brave and we have big hearts, ones we share willing to those who need our love and our strengths.  And we do not rely on excuses, there is no one to save us but ourselves.  We accept the help of those who share our triumphs and lovingly accept their offers of help to achieve the long term goals we still seek, because we love these people as much as we love ourselves and the paths that intertwine our lives and stories. 

So, I have always been the person who I was supposed to become and I believe in me more than all combined.  I wavered once, long ago and far away, and it only lasted a day, until I looked at my life from the point of view as if I were a woman living in the old west.  This type of woman would do what ever it took to survive when an unordinary woman had to survive the challenges of being alone in the world of the new frontier, the Old West.

So as I continue to become, I now alter my path as I see fit, to reach the lofty goals I dreamed of when in my youth and still dream the impossible dream.  There is no one but me to say "No" to me, but me, this I have always believed.  Those who know me, know this is true.  And I say thank you to those who are with me now, for I still believe the dream for me and for them.

UNIQUE SQUAD, such an awesome phrase and still is, welcome aboard!

This weeks entry to Illustration Friday's Contest word of the week!

I have connected with a group of very talented illustrators and am trying really hard to stay consistent in adding an entry each week for their weekly Illustration word of the week. Last week was "Freeze" and you can still see this entry here at this web site.

I certainly have a pool of drawings to pull from as drawing is the main theme in my life.  I have always drawn and felt most at home with drawing.

Presented here is a drawing I drew back in the 90's, as part of a children's learning rubber stamper tool. This was used as the cover for the learning booklet, which would accompany a set of alphabet stamps and stamp pad.  I call the illustration "Sam" and I remember just sitting down one night and drawing him.  The illustration of Sam was part of a concept product, as I remember, which I designed and conceived, however it was drawn so many years ago, I may be wrong on the conception of the idea, this may have been more of a team effort with the company I worked for as they did stationery products for kids.  The product is "Stamp 'N' Learn" and provided the parent and their child a way to learn words by using rubber stamps.  Product never took off, however that is another story.

So now, I am using Sam for more than a portfolio representation of my drawing capabilities and sending Sam in as my illustration entry for the word "Teacher",  Illustration Friday's word of the week.

Packaging on Etsy

When faced with a challenge, I am pretty quick to respond and while this is not any different than any other challenge, I have hesitated as much as I have explored what the challenge means.  "Packaging" on Etsy, this is the challenge I face.

Originally I looked with the help of the search bar on Etsy to see what packaging was to the stores that sell on Etsy.  I did not really find what I was hoping for, which was highly creative boxes and containers, mostly I found people in the market of marketing their ability to sell a "how to design your own packaging package" via CD disks and the instructions are found on the disk.  I guess you buy the design, add your own store name to all the parts and pieces and viola, you have a branded look.

Find at http://www.Etsy.com/shop/buddyschild

Then I added a word to my initial search, the word "box" and was able to narrow down my search, finding more of what I have grown to know as packaging.  Later this same day, I went driving and felt inspired by my thoughts, a common occurrence for me, designing while driving that is.  I realized as a Packaging Designer in my "other" career, I have in my Etsy Store a kit, which allows you to make not just an Art Journal, but a Box sized to fit the Journal where you can keep it safe.  Made from recycled materials, the purchaser is encouraged in the instruction provided in the kit, to personalize everything, Journal and box, as part of the Art Journaling process.  This was a project my best friend and I came up with a year ago for therapeutic purposes and I posted the item as part of my online Esty Store products.

Mulling over this thought as I drove, I decided to expand on this project, to create hand made boxes, then create kits for others to DIY with the parts supplies from my hand made creation, all parts included, then also making just the instructions at a nominal cost for others, again allowing the very creative members on Etsy to put their own spin on a hand made box.  Blogging about all of this is the fourth key to my journeyed challenge, "Packaging on Etsy".

Fast forward to today, I click on the Flicker link for Etsy Success Blog and discover a whole new world, Sellers on Etsy who are taking into consideration the product they sell must have a unique presentation when the buyer receives their purchase in the mail.  For a person like myself who is in the business of presentation and has counseled others on a sellers presentation, I realized I have not established a true packaging  "brand" for my store products for a couple of reasons, I have not sold very much and the cost of shipping of my pieces are often a make or break it when it comes to making the sale.  Extra added pieces (i.e. special packaging) will add weight to a package and raise the shipping costs of the product ultimately.

Some of the packages I have sent in the past, always have one business card, I prefer to include two.  Hopefully the recipients will keep the card(s), go look at my other websites noted on my business card and talk about my store to their friends.  So far I have not heard through the grapevine that a buyer got a friend to buy the products in my store, at least not yet, so hope does still spring eternal.  I  have personalized each package with a gift, some got stickers, others a pencil, something I feel works with the sale because it is a way of saying thank you, as well as providing a short but handwritten note saying thank you, this is always a must!

Now with this challenge I face, I am re-thinking about the creative counseling I provide to my clients to whom I suggest the making an effort to create a memorable experience with their buyers.  When a client receives their package in the mail, opening this package is as important as the purchase itself.  My Etsy Store is not really that much different than a store in a mall and my customers will appreciate my Etsy Store more with personalized packaging from my heart to their home, just like in the mall when they carry their purchases out of the store to their car and into their home.  It is all about advertising and marketing and memories.  I have more work ahead of me and it has a beautiful horizon for me to chase after!

Something new in Blogdome

My world is to create new and every expanding avenues of my work, I am fortunate to find new paths for me, this one is called Illustration Friday.  This is a group of illustrators who are provided a single word to which illustrators submit an interpretation of the provided weekly word.

Illustration Friday is on Facebook too, a place I liked after I found them via a Google search I did yesterday, that's right, I only found out about them yesterday!

This weeks word is "Bounce".  I missed last weeks as I got busy and was unable to submit my entry, but I like the one that was chosen to best represent the interpretation for the word "Lonely".

So here is my submission.  Come back next week to see a new submission for a new word.

Fun and empowerment, this is what is on my menu every week helping me to move forward!  Thanks for stopping by.