Happy Saturday! Easter! Being alive!
Firstly check out my latest drawings if you missed them! The cup cake lady, Mew Berry, console boys! Show them some love. :3 Now back to our regular journal post.
Well, I figured I update again about my business/crafting progress! Last night I tried sanding and buffing my latest clay creations. I heard it makes anything you make look 10 times better with out glazing it. So I decided to try it and it worked out pretty good.
You know those hats with cat ears on them? Well, I made three of them. One a bunny, cat, and an otaku hat. Here’s a before and after picture.
Now that two of them (cat/otaku hat) has been sanded and buffed, I loved them even more. They have such a nice soft shine too. It took like 20 minutes each to buff them on my pants leg and a random rag in the kitchen.
I also decided to try to take better pictures of my crafts. I notice in the share kitchen in my house is great for taking pictures of my crafts! The room gets filled with natural sunlight and really brings out the detail of my pieces. Usually I have to brighten the pictures in Photoshop so it won’t look so dark but now, I don’t think it will be as necessary.
Everyone knows how important it is to get your name out in the internet crafting world right? So that’s why I signed up to numerous sites and blogs! Of course I haven’t even posted my first entry posts in those blogs but I’m getting there. I want to think up some nice topics first. Here is the list of places that I just signed in.
Live Journal
Blogger <- been had that blog but I’m planning to change it.
Twitter
Form spring me
Hmm, I just realized how many sites I’m in overall (beside what’s listed). I didn’t think I would have so many ever in my life haha! I still have to fill out the basic information for the ones I just signed into. XD
Did everyone have a good April fool’s day? I didn’t, I was so grouchy that none of the jokes and stuff meant anything too me haha. It was funny but my funny bone was broken that day. (That’s what happens when I get no sleep at night) XC
Lastly, I just made a challenge, The Otaku Battle royal! I invited like tons of people, so don't be surprised if you got an invite. Go check it out if you can.
That’s it for now. Thanks for coming and reading! See you soon.
Howdy Howdy!
Good god it’s been a long time since I was last active here. How is everyone doing? Is everyone okay? :0
What the hell was I up too you say? Well I just met up with an old friend of mine name Joe. He’s awesome and it’s like we never skipped a beat! He’s also into business so he going to help me out with mine. He said I should wait a bit till I’m a bit establish to open the shop up and everything and should focus on networking and such. He also said I should wait to give my charms for free as prizes too, which is a bit disappointing since I really liked the idea and wanted to keep my promise. He said that early businesses go through a lot of changes so I shouldn’t be so hard on myself. Soooo I the shop will still be closed. It doesn’t matter much I don’t have the money to support it the way I want too anyway. So I guess I will just focus on more light hearted things like
my TMM stuffs and just having fun here and DA.
I’m sorry that I just stopped commenting and the like for about three weeks, I just was having fun catching up with him. He’s so fun and he is good at cheering me up when things are down! I wuv him :3
I didn’t post in any of my worlds for weeks and I’m sorry for that too. I’m going to post in it and make it come back alive again! Oh yeah and if anyone notice I just made a shugo chara fan club. I notice that I really didn’t see any so I decide to make my own if anyone want to join and post anything shugo chara related there go PM me. I still have to make a banner and stuff. So yeah….
Oh yeah, I made thrid place in "make me a male mew contest". GO ME, and congratz to everyone who won. :D
I’m backz yo.
For realz. :3
Warning this is three pages long but with a good morel :D
Howdy and hello! Its Yours Truly here with her not so daily updates!
How’s everyone doing? Good I hope. Me? It’s been a bit of those rollercoaster periods of my life mostly emotionally but I’m back on track again ready to get things started! I’ll go through it all.
In the last few weeks I’ve been debating the whole charm thing. Mostly of it going up in smoke like it will never work kind of thing, especially the fact that a lot of people make them much better then I do. I tried to make a cake with the frosting and it looks okay but messy at the most but not like I was Edward scissor hands haha.
I thought to myself “this looks like crap, but I know I’m learning so don’t be so hard.. But I want it to be right now. How do those people make there’s so good looking? I know no one starts perfect EVER but I want this to work NOW. I want to be good NOW. So I can sale these NOW and make money NOW so I can be can live out my dreams NOW, even though people say that its journey of getting there but I say fuck that. I want it NOW, NOW, NOW. Get were I’m going here?
It’s so hard being concerned with being the best now because you only get stressed out and that’s more then a pain in the ass. Life itself give me enough grief, I don’t need my hobbies that’s suppose to be fun giving me stress too.
So that was the seed of it. Fun times
I think I mentioned that my older sister was starting her business. I didn’t say any details about it since she wasn’t really telling anybody about and it was in the works. Now it’s doing well, she makes her own lip glosses. All natural, and in pretty colors. I and she made the very first ones and they came out great. The thing I really want to point out is that the ingredients that the retail lip glosses have are bad for you and sink into your lips/body. My sister doesn’t have that. Its like home made bread from scratch vs. bread from a big company that puts all kinds of shit in it that you can’t even pronounce. Anyway getting to the point my sister’s is doing good and my mom sells the glosses at her job to her co workers.
This made me think “what the hell am I’m going to do sell this stuff besides the internet? Is my stuff going to be a hit too? I don’t have all the skills of those really go ones or the equipment? “. But I reminded myself that this was my learning period. I’m using this time to learn more about business so don’t freak, you’re not in the starting line yet. I just can’t help myself some times but to worry. If I don’t think about it now I will in the future, etc, etc, emo, emo.. I try to not get myself into this twisted mind set, but I’ve been a glutton of punishment these days and forget to stop worrying about things that don’t even effect me yet and enjoy myself.
Then my mom had gotten her income tax and my sister brought more things for her lip glosses. My mom wanted to help me too of course and even asked me about using the money for hosting a real website for my store. I and my older sister talked about it a few times but nothing official. At that moment I knew I wasn’t ready for that, I haven’t even sold one charm yet and If I were to get a real website I want to know that my charms can sell. My mom told me if there was anything I needed to help launch my business she would give me the money. But actually I didn’t really know what I really wanted at that point. If anything I wanted a new game for my poor DS. I explained this in an earlier post, which I only had one game on the DS since I got it which was years aka eras ago. Not to mention my PS2 died when I was really depressed and angry, I needed something to do something positive and completely fantasy. I told my mom and she understood completely and gave me here debit card to get a game for myself and her. That’s when I got “the world ends with you” and “big bang mini”. I love both games and it was something I needed to help relive the stress, anger, and depression.
Even though I didn’t feel as bad about the whole charm business I still didn’t know what to do. Then my said that she would give me 100$ for my disposal. Weeks went by and just looking at the charms on the internet I just wasn’t feeling it. I damn there didn’t want to deal with it anymore. I didn’t want to feel this way either. I wanted to feel inspired and make charms but the mojo was gone. So then I just gave it a rest just in case it was like an artist block or something.
During all this I’m always searching tutorials on charms or anything I can make on my own with low cost materials, on the internet, books, whatever I’m there. The ones I’m most excited about was a magnet book marks and hair bows and accessories. During one of my trips I got a really good beginners sewing book for ten bucks. I want to learn sewing so this was perfect for me.
Then I was on the computer thinking about all this and decided to look in my business journal to read what I wrote down why I wanted to start charm business. Long story short I just want to do something made me happy. Something that live off of one day without working at a crappy job or struggling to pay the bills. Really gave me some insight of the deeper meaning of the whole thing, but I was still wondering if this charm business was the why to go. If the mojo was really gone for good? Should I try something else completely? I STILL have the 100$ but if I was going to spend it, it was something my heart was into.
Then I start looking at other kinds of homemade crafts and jewelry. Things like ribbon chocker’s and lace arm cuffs. Also simple things I can sew together like arm warmers, hats, ties. More branching out of just charms but other things that I can just as easily make and sell. So then I start making a list of things I need to make everything I wanted. I was making progress but I still wasn’t at 100% percent like I wanted.
Then about a week or two ago just I looking at more crafts and jewelry the one simple thought came to my mind.
“Why don’t I just draw designs of my own jewelry?”
Now the killer in this statement that I did sketch out some charms (less then five at different times) like last year but never sat down and draw/planed out a design. I’ve probably said to myself I want to do a cake or food item and picked some colors that I liked and tried to make one. But when it came to more jewelry and accessories I never designed any. I would see something I like and say to myself “damn that’s cool I want to make that!” and then think of what kind of things I would need to make it and/or worry about if I was able too. Instead of simply just designing something of my own style and how I would make it rather then how SHE did it and being wrapped up on her end. All the negative stuff, the things I can’t control.
I was so into the NOW thing that I didn’t seem to get this concept. WHY? I don’t know… I guess that being human in this world. So caught up with things that you can’t control or NOW that you can’t see the simple things that can get you THERE.
Now here comes the quote of the day. This was said by a brilliant women.. my older sis.
“Sip a Nantucket and just say fuck it” XD
Or in other words… Just chill, don’t stress, go and relax, do something that you can easily unwind you. It might save you many brain cells that you can use to process relaxing better and gain the insight that you need. And to never give up and the rest of that crap we’ve been hearing since forever. It’s the road getting down there that you have to learn to avoid.
To wrap this up, when I did went upstairs and draw out designs a freak’n ass load of ideas came to me. I almost couldn’t keep up. Cool, simple, awesome, designs. Finally, I was blessed by the craft and art gods. They must love me because I’ll been getting spikes of inspiration like this sometimes then fall from cloud nine then to do it over again some time later
Anyway...
I took the money and got a lot of stuff that I needed on sale including a book on jewelry making for kids and teens. I finally had a chance to work with the camera and can take real pictures of my charms. I feel renewed and hopeful again. I hope this feeling stays this time. Forever. I can really start over.
I’m done. Just one part of my life that’s been in the works.
School killed me this week. A Final project and a final exam one coming up next Friday. I have three days off so major yay.
I hope you enjoy yet another life speech on how it’s like to live though life lessons thrown under you.
God damn I hope this is my last life time… :|
Good night and all a good life.
Hey guys!
Sorry that I haven’t posted any art or commented as much in the last week or so, I’ve been busy thinking of new things and organizing ideas. By the time your done reading this journal you’ll definitely be as exited as I am about them!
As far as the charm online store I feel like that I opened it prematurely, I think I need to gather more information on business and getting my name out there before I can just “open a store” XD. My sister is in to business and knows more then I do. She is also is starting a business and is in the same kind of boat as I am (she didn’t open any stores though ha-ha).
All and all I think I need to sort of start over and start fresh. Read more on the subject and on myself, to really understand everything so I won’t hit any major walls or pit falls and to let this new journey as joyful as possible. So for now the store will be closed, but I will still post up my creations and if anyone wants to buy it they can. As for as making charms (stock/inventory) and placing them for the sole purpose for people to buy them, that will be put on hold for a while.
But when’s there death there birth! I’ll be making mini comics about the mascots in The Candy Sanctuary! Think it’s a good way to keep the world active besides the charms, and I think it would be fun to make. I have to draw out the two other mascots too. I have there basic design in my head all I have to do is to draw it out.
I’ve been lacking in the art department for over a week thinking over all the new ideas and business plans, not to mention school. I’m always beat after school and pretty much scrapped drawing for the night. It will sure pay off and I’ll get to work tomorrow pronto!
My second plan is a TMM club called “Café mew mew”. I think I touched on it last post but I organized the details about it and really excited about it! I made sure that it’s unique then the rest of the traditional TMM clubs. I want it to be a place that people can come relax, to get help with there mew drawings, designs, etc, and most of all to have fun! I also put a twist on the “contest” instead the club will have “fashion shows” where I’ll pick a theme and everyone can draw an outfit to that theme. To really pump it up the prizes will be my hand made charms for free! Like mew pendants, heart earrings, weapons etc. I also have other competition ideas in mind too! I have other things that the club will offer in the list below since I don’t want you guys read a huge block of wordsXD
Here are some the things my club will be offering:
• Character intros- You can post a sketch a possible fan mew and get comments and/or advice on it by me or the rest of the members of the club or just post it there if you don’t want to submit it to TheO.
• The café help line- You can seek advice to how to improve your character like the bio, costume, back-story, weapons, mew names, etc.
• Tutorials and resource discovery- I will post tutorials and guides how to make a mew (including my own). I’ll post pictures of poses, bodies, reference pictures, etc made by me. I’ll post links around the web of great stock pictures, inspiration, character development, drawing information, free Photoshop brushes and tutorials, etc so will never hit art block again and stay inspired!
• Mew repair- If your mew needs a full revamp, needs work, or you just hit a road block that you can’t go over, and you can submit your mew to get a design repair/option!
• Fashion shows- Hold themed fashion contests for members to have a chance to win custom jewelry from me!
• Fanfics/ Mini stories- I’m really debating this one, there are so many other clubs that offer fanfics that I think it would be kinda useless for one more club to have it (but if you guys want it that’s fine) D:. The mini stories would be short stories about my mews (not the sweet collection ones) that I really don’t pay much attention too anymore or wanted to do more with but way to busy to do it.
I really want this club to be about helping the artists (those who draw TMM and those who don’t) on this site. I also think it will bring the artists around here together more :3. I always wanted a club like this but I never thought I would have the time or be 100% commented to it. I think it wasn’t the time but I ready for it! >:D
Tell me what you think; this club is gearing towards the members!
Last but not least my plans in the art direction!
While asking myself questions in my business state of mind I’ve notice that I love designing things. Like logos, web graphics, websites, clothes, and lap top skins etc. I also want to sell those designs too in the future. So in the mean time I decided to gather as many blank templates as possible. I was so excited downloading them all and seeing other peoples designs on them I wanted to burst with creative energy! I’m so set and ready and I can’t wait. Today was my last day for school this week so the next three days will be nothing but creating starting with the café mew mew club.
Soo…
Ready, Set, DESIGN! >;D
P.S I'm sorry if I missed any contests that I say I would enter D: I forget things easily if I don't write it down or remind myself for days!
Man, there are so many ideas running through my head right now…
It’s like a flicking through channels without control…
I’ve been planning a lot of things lately. I realized how out of control my energy has been with my charm business. Not like I’ve been making poor decisions but planning things out. My sister recently got into making her own business (I won’t say what ) and a few days ago I was hearing her talk about that she needed a business plan.
That sparked something in me because I’ve been in a confusing rut with the charms. What to make, how to make it, how I’m going to marker them etc. Then to add my untamed energy with my near anxiety nature of doing things right at the minute attitude I’ve been stressing myself out a bit. I had to sit down and tell myself to calm down, take a breather, read some yaoi and think things out.
When I really had time to step back to look how I was doing things and how it affected me I knew mapping things out was the best thing for me since the latté drink. I realized that I’m better with putting things down on paper and listing down the things I’m going to do instead keeping them in my head. I forget things, get caught up with something that I found out about, and the other stuff get shoved in the corner of my cranium where they won’t see the light of day for about 48 hours. I need sticky notes on the inside of my eye lids to remember that I can see. :P
Anyway, for about a week now I’ve been putting things down that I want to do. What kind of charms I want to make, What kind of jewelry I want to make, What animes I want to make charms out of etc. I find it so relaxing to have all make thoughts on paper so I don’t have to worry about remembering them all. I also want to make illustration of what the charms are going to look like and how I’m going to make them. The one problem I had with since first time making the charms are the ideas. I have all this clay in front of me, this freaking huge brain that has been making ideas for 19 years and I can’t for the life of me think about anything to make really. But when I sit down away from it to think about what I should make it comes much easier.
It’s so crazy because at least with a paper and pencil I can start drawing whatever and come up with something by the end of the drawing process. Not so much with the clay. It’s so much you can do with the clay and you can create ANY thing you want. However I do have to give me some slack because I am new to it and the ideas will come faster when I work with it more.
Yeah, planning things out is the way to go for me instead of trying to be spontaneous. I was thinking that I was too careful and I should be a little more off the handle with things. Screw that. I HAVE to think things over; I have to give time to myself process things so I can see the possible pit falls or possible rewards in the matter. Thankfully I haven’t exercise that impulsive way of handling things with more important decisions. I hate having to learn things the hard way.
So with my business plans coming along I’ve was thinking of starting a Tokyo mew mew club. Yes, I know what your thinking, not another TMM club that you can post fan fics and the like. Don’t worry, I know there has been a bloom of TMM clubs out there but I’m set on making mine stand out and helpful to artists of all kinds. I’m going to save my ideas for it later since I hate typing long journals.
That’s just something that you can look forward too ;D
Till then!
P.S
I have been noticing people visiting my page more and I want to say thanks! It means a lot!
