Saturday, May 22, 2010

The Difference



So the other day Ava had her friends come over to our new house and they took part in helping with one of the stages of Nato Botto Art's creation process, packaging.
I had one of the girls punching holes in the earring cards after I had written the prices and collection name on them and another girlfriend put the earrings on the cards.
"Wow" $25.00" "That's a lot of money for a pair of earrings. You can buy some for 5.00 at Walmart, Target, Forever 21" or whatever highly commercialized store she was referring to.
This is when I felt compelled to give her a lesson in what all goes into creating the final product, how much time is spent in production and how little people get paid in other countries to create the earrings bought in such commercialized stores.
So what is in this process...Well lets go back to the beginning...Inspiration...What does my heart say? It wants to make some jewelry for people to wear and feel happy, creative, energized, loved, focused, confident, whimsical, flirty, sexy, elegant, etc. :)
So begins the next step..
Gathering the supplies, hunting down all the components needed for these creations to be brought to life. This can be a long process because I'm not just going to buy any old bead, finding, etc. I am going to find just the right one...Then the wait begins, the wait for the stuff to come in the mail..
Oh boy the mailman, yay! Next process begins, stocking the studio, putting all the supplies away in an organized manner for creative efficiency, so I don't make a complete mess of the place trying to find unorganized supplies. "Creativity is messy" that's a name of an fellow Etsy seller, her name is right, it can be messy which is why having a perfect place for everything to go makes cleanup A LOT easier.
Next step...Designing, having an idea for a collection is a great way to start. Like this last jewelry making session I had a few headline collection names I was going off of, Blown glass creations, flowers, funky fun and spring mint to name a few. Once a design starts usually I create a few styles off that original idea.
The next process begins... For us Etsians we have to take pictures of our work to sell so off our creations go to a photo shoot....Next process please...Photoshop/editing/sizing photos to fit in our store layout then ready to be listed in our store...Each item is carefully categorized, priced and described for all to see..But that is not all..Packaging, our products are then carefully/artfully attached to packaging to be sold not only online but in boutiques...So then what? Product is then brought to these boutiques to see if they would like to sell them in their stores..On top of all that there is invoicing to be done, taxes to be filed, etc and the process just begins and ends over and over again..But its all a wonderful journey..

Just Sharing the Process :)






The process......I am very grateful that I love the process, but sometimes I get impatient because the creative flow is so strong that I find it hard to juggle all the ideas I'd like to do. But upon observation I have come to find that one of the reasons for that is because I am "worried" that I may forget or lose that idea "wonderful idea" that just popped into my head.
The prevention, the key to not worrying is to have faith in yourself, be in the now, and focus only on what you want "in the now" and you will always know that if you are in that state, in the now, the idea that you are focusing on is an answer to your prayers.
Then deeper still is what does your heart say?
So lets put this together...To be in the now is to ask yourself "What does my heart say?" Follow it, have faith in it and know it is an answer to your prayer of "What does my heart say"
There is something about the energy from the heart that never ceases. It flows infinitely and if we tap into it, into our heart energy we will always be energized and always have all we need and can ever share.
I was thinking again today about The Crystal Project and what it is that I love about it so much.
It's a personal message, chosen or created with love by someone following their heart, in hopes to spread that same kind of love to another. I love how each message is discovered by that certain someone who was drawn to it or even so someone who placed it where it was needed to be discovered. I like the idea that someone is taking the time to say "I care" in a playful way that just feels good.
I really think that not only spreading kind messages into our communities can make a difference but also connected to the crystals with their different energy vibrations they can help to amplify the love the messages are trying to spread. I also believe that placing crystals in areas where there has been negative energy in the past they can help to cleanse and recharge that space in a positive way bringing about peace, harmony, creation, abundance, love.
It's all done with love, for love :)

Thursday, May 20, 2010

New Studio





It's been a while but I finally have a space to call "Studio". Yay!
It's amazing how much energy I feel from this inspirational space. Genie feels it too and KNOW that fun things are to come from us, "Baked Fruitcake"-Creations full of the fruitiest ideas baked with love by some peeps following their hearts. That's US! Yay! Thank you Genie for all your help in creating our new space and Thank you honey poo, Sekou for believing in my heart. I LOVE you babe! So here is it....Before and after pictures..I hope I can find the before, giggle..Oh and also know the space is still not completed fully. We have an awesome curtain to install (we have to sew it first) that goes under our work bench where we make our Pixy Pocahontis creations and jewelry.

The Crystal Project




This is a little late in coming but better late than never :)
"The Crystal Project", it's like hiding easter eggs for kids, like giving freshly picked flowers from your garden, spreading joy where ever your heart takes you....... I have been enjoying gathering various inspirational, motivational, loving quotes for the last year or so now along with writing my own and this idea came to me one day. The idea of how I can share these wonderful words with others that might brighten someone else's day, life, or just encourage one to keep on following their heart if they are already on that path. You know....Like little signs.
The idea is this...To tie little tags with quotes on them onto various crystals and stones that can be dropped, placed, hidden in areas around communities. Like leaving little good luck charms for people to discover and bring a smile to their day. I love it! It makes me feel so good doing it. One day at mastermind my friends and I spent a couple of hours working on some together and then we released them out into the world. We dropped them in hospitals, outside grocery stores, pharmacies, bus stops, parking lots, newspaper stands, tables at coffee shops, you name it. I wanted to share this because I think it can make a difference in the happiness of the world, even if it is just these little stones I think they could brighten a day:) Please anyone, feel free to copy this idea and bring it to a community near you too! Together we can all make a difference.