Mary Richmond Design

Ads on Blogs

How do you feel about ads on blogs?

I don't like them. I, in fact, don't usually return to a blog that has ads on it.

Of course many people, myself included, started their blogs to bring their work farther out into the world. I didn't think of mine as a big ad, though. I thought of it as a way to share my work, my process and my thoughts on the whole art and business thing. As I've gotten more and more involved in blog land I have to admit that blogs seem like such personal little spaces, full of personality and spirit and I guess I hate to see that cluttered and confused with blatant commerciality.

As I write this I'm thinking of all the hard core business, marketing and financial blogs there are out there and how they are jammed with ads. As you might imagine I don't visit too many of them more than once. I feel a bit overwhemed and oversold to, if you know what I mean.

One of the things I really like about blogging is that it feels more like sharing than selling. I'm tired of all the marketing, advertising and selling, selling, selling we are being bombarded with every day, aren't you?

How do you feel about ads on blogs?

Saturday Clothes and Other Things

I love this tree hanging out over the water. All year long it calls to me. In my younger days I would have climbed out on one of those big old branches and watched the world go by. I call it my Huck Finn tree, especially in the summer when it is draped with green and holds all the coolness of the forest in its leafy limbs.

It's Saturday after a long and busy week at work. Being with the kids all week was great and now I'm glad to be at home for the day to catch up on all sorts of errands and tasks. I have a list as long as my arm but none of it is too taxing or difficult and besides, it's Saturday! I fully intend to take some quality goof off time.

Do you remember Gordon Lightfoot's song, "Saturday Clothes?" That's what I'll be singing to myself today as I go about my business. I think I even have it on a CD somewhere in my car.

Speaking of music, the last two days have been so sunny and warm that I dug out an old Jimmy Buffet CD and sang along with all those fun old songs. I was never a parrothead but there's something about a Jimmy Buffet song that just makes you want to kick back, enjoy the sun and well, maybe have a marguerita....

What will you do on this fine Saturday?

A Week to Beat

After weeks of cold and wet weather that felt a lot more like winter than spring we have had an absolutely knock out, wonderful, warm, sunny week here on Cape Cod. This picture shows you exactly what it looks like here--not green yet at all! But the pink blur is the pink of buds so there's a lot of hope in the air. It's also school vacation week here and as part of my job I am one of several naturalists running a week long Vacation nature adventure sort of camp. We have the kids all day and each day has sort of a theme, though with nature being what it is and spring being what it is, we sort of go with the flow and the teachable moment.

I've been having a blast. If you stop by here regularly you know that's not too unusual for me but this week has been a totally fun, standout week. The kids in my group have been ages 7-11 and they have been the most awesome, incredible, smart, funny, lovely, wonderful kids I've had in a group for a long time. If you work with groups at all you know that every group has its dynamic and well this week the dynamic has just been terrific.

We had a close encounter of a box turtle kind yesterday. The turtle was an older lady who probably had come out of hibernation in the last week or so. She was pretty feisty, though a bit thin and we brought her back to the nature center to get weighed and measured and checked for notches which would tell us if she had been captured before and where and when.

We also found tiny painted turtles and a baby snapping turtle. These little guys most likely had stayed underground over the winter and had just come up to greet this new world. The tiny painted turtle was named Lucky by the kids.

Baby turtles are very tiny, about the size of a quarter, and they are often snatched up by larger animals as a tasty snack. This little fellow was in the jaws of a large bullfrog when he was spotted. The frog must have decided the shell was too hard and spit the little turtle out into the mud. One of the kids ran over and grabbed the little turtle before the frog could change its mind and they all agreed on the name Lucky before the little guy even opened his eyes. I had to admit it seemed to fit.

The little snapping turtle was found in the mud and leaves at the side of the same pond. This little guy was dubbed Long Tail. Adult snappers have strong, thick tails that help them navigate and stay stable underwater and you can see that even the babies start out life with this advantage.

After everyone got to examine all the turtles we let them all go and hoped for the best. I didn't tell the kids that the statistics for baby turtles aren't exactly in their favor but once they get to be well seasoned like our old lady box turtle there's not much in the natural world that is very threatening and they may live a good long time.

One of the nice things about having kids in an all day program is that you can do things at a pretty relaxed and enjoyable pace. We had been catching tadpoles and fish and checking out crayfish and dragonfly nymphs when we got the idea of making our own boats and racing them. Most of the kids had never done this before so I knew it just had to happen. One cannot have a true childhood if one has not made their own little raft or boat out of twigs and leaves, after all!

These are two examples of our fine fleet. Some boats tipped over as soon as the hit the water and had to be redesigned and revamped but others floated perfectly the first time out like the one in the foreground here.

This isn't a great picture but you can see our little boats floating with the current and the little bit of wind.

We walked to the bridge a bit farther down the way to see if any of the boats might make it that far. Alas, they did not but on our way back we were able to spot many of them and most had gotten pretty far before getting tangled in the bank or stuck on a branch leaning into the water.

Today we walked some more, looking for tracks and signs of other animals. We stopped to eat our snacks and indulged in a little tree climbing before going on our way.

It's just been a delightful week. My story and my pictures don't do it justice but hopefully you've had a moment of fun with us along the way.

What have you been doing this week?

A Big Thanks to Littleput Books!

I've been so busy this week playing outside with all the kids at Vacation Nature Camp that I have been remiss. Littleput Books, a fellow seller over at Etsy posted about my bunnie this week and you might want to check it out here.

If you love handmade books (and I know some of you do because I know who you are ;-) you've got to check out this shop. Her books are just amazing. Wait until you see the sets of tiny books! She also makes great jewelry.

You can read more about how the books are made and also how her line of jewelry is done on her blog here. This little shop on Etsy.com is not so little! Littleput Books has sold thousands of items through her online shop. She's also a huge mentor in the Etsy community, helping new artists and craftspeople learn the ropes with lots of great insight and marketing information.

Thanks, Littleput! I feel truly honored!

Balancing Art and Commerce

It's an interesting thing to try and balance making a living with being your best creative self. I find that most women artists get divided pretty easily into two camps.

There are those who do their art for love and those who do their art for love AND money.

I find that line is usually quite easy to define. Those who claim they do it for love alone have another source of income. Those who do it for love AND money need to make an income. Pretty simple.

For a long time now I've been trying to find self supporting women artists both in my community and online. I have found a few but mostly what I've found are women who either subsidize their own creative work with a full time unrelated job or women who are supported by either a spouse, partner, family, trust fund or inheritance. It's discouraging to be sure but out of a hundred women artists I've talked to in the last year less than 10 could support themselves on their art and only 2 could support a family of 4! Do men do any better? Probably the numbers are a little higher because we still take men's art more seriously in this country but they probaly still come in at less than 10 percent. We also allow men to unabashedly think about commerce. We still want women to be talking about how heartfelt their work is and how often they do yoga and contemplate their creative muses before we allow them to mention money.

It's no wonder young women artists are so conflicted. We older women artists are conflicted and give them mixed messages all the time. We want them to be successful. We don't want them to be all about the money. We want them to follow their hearts. We want them to do their work from their hearts. We don't want them to be too businesslike or calculating. We want them to do better financially than we have done. We want them to have it all. But not too much...We want them to go for it...but not to sell their souls. And we give them no guidelines. Most of us don't know what guidelines to give them.

There are a lot of unresolved feelings around art and money, creativity and commerce. It's an ongoing struggle for many of us and until we can talk openly and honestly about the conflicts we ourselves are feeling we are not going to be very good mentors for the young ones coming along behind us. They seem to have so many options and opportunities we didn't have and yet the messages we are giving them are still being dug from deep dark closets of fear and inhibition.

I've been thinking about this a lot over the last few days and know that I have always felt conflict about this and that I have very mixed feelings reading and listening to a lot of what is going on in the world of art marketing, especially with young women. I think it's time to get clear, to examine my own true thoughts and feelings about this conflict. Maybe then, I, too, can move on to a clearer space about creating and selling my own work.

What about you?

A New Week

I apologize for my weekend rant. I think I've been feeling moody and restless and unsure and it all came bounding out like some old barnyard dog.

This week is a teaching week and I'll be busy with kids. We'll be taking long walks down to the beach, through the woods and field and we'll go exploring around the pond.

What are you up to this week?

Young Artists and Craftspeople Seem Different Than We Were....

I've been spending a lot of time over on the Etsy forums lately and it's very interesting to listen to the young artists and craftspeople. Many complain constantly about the lack of business yet seem to have done no research whatsoever before "going into business."

Very simple questions get asked all the time that are at first amusing but then sort of annoying. There is so much good information out there in the form of books, websites, podcasts, workshops, classes....pick one!

And maybe that's just me. I am a researcher and homework doer. I am always reading about business and marketing and art and craft and how it all rolls up together. Back when I started my tile business I read about taxes and deductions and how to write a letter to a new account and how to keep track of my expenses and my income. I read questions about these things every single day. Over and over again.

There are also lots of wholesale questions. Most seem unaware that there are simple standards that are easy to learn. You don't undersell your retailer and you don't compete with them, either. Doesn't seem like rocket science but apparently it is a new thought to many.

Today there were two conversations going on that got to me. One was about someone who was late delivering something because she had a death in her family. My goodness, the majority were all about getting the money back right now! What has happened to compassion? Have these snippy folk never had a death in their family? Wow--I was shocked by the response, frankly.

The other was about whether to get paid up front or to bill when you sent out an order. This one made me feel old. When I started you always billed and got paid within 10 or 30 days. Not any more, I guess. People were insisting on at least 50% up front or payment in full before shipping. Boy, I wouldn't be in business if I had done that or if I did it today. And I've never been stiffed. These young people are all about getting their money and getting it now. Some seem to be doing great but others are having a hard time finding stores to do business with on their terms. Of course they are.

I guess this shouldn't really surprise me and I'm not really sure why it urks me. If you buy on Etsy or Ebay you know all about feedback. These same young people that want their money right away are also all about leaving negative feedback if a customer cancels an order. It makes me laugh. Haven't they ever changed their minds? Returned something to a store? But when it's their shop--whoa! Whole different story. One young lady was incensed that someone had put an item of hers in a shopping cart and then taken it out without buying it. She wrote about it on and off almost all day long! This customer should be banned! And about 100 other writers agreed with her! Hang the customer that changed her mind! Ban her from shopping! Give her negative feedback! Really??? Wow.....they practically had this woman drawn and quartered because she didn't buy some little trinket!

Don't get me wrong--lots of the young sellers over there are fantastic. They're smart and cute and make great stuff. Many are savvy and quick to help anyone and everyone else new to selling there. Most are trying to see whether or not they have a shot of becoming self supporting selling their handmade wares.

Just don't get in the way of their money making!

I'm feeling like an old has been hippy.....

How about you?

Mother's Day Cards listed on Etsy

Here are some of my cards made up for Mother's Day!

Today is the 7 year anniversary of losing my own mom so it was fun to do this while thinking of her. She was always my biggest fan, even when she was suggesting how something could be done differently or better. She always thought I could do anything. Moms are good like that.

Anyway, hop on over to my Etsy Shop if you would like to order some cards. There are still some prints to benefit breast cancer research left, too.

There are messages inside each card...

Ready, Set, Go! For Next Year, That is....

Yay! Taxes are done!

Ok, so I know some of you did your taxes ages ago. I started mine a while back....but now they are done and sailing around in cyberspace waiting to be checked out by whatever magical little tax bots there might be.

And now it's time to start thinking about next year's taxes. Like how I should be filing quarterly on my writing income! This is a good thing because it means I actually have writing income!

Woohoo!

Back in the Saddle

Sometimes a girl just needs to take a break from blogging. Nothing new or interesting, really. I've been working, daydreaming, writing, walking, reading blogs, playing on Etsy.....the usual.

One day last week my youngest daughter (who is 24) and I went to Boston to see the lizards and butterflies and the science museum. It was a beautiful sunny day, much like today and we had a wonderful time. We did absolutely nothing productive, just had fun.

Some of the comments and emails I've received lately have been about my need to take time for myself. This makes me laugh, snort and giggle.

People, I am probably the best take time for yourself person you'll ever meet. I have always taken time for myself. I read, walk, goof off and visit with friends every day. I get a lot done in a day but I also have a lot of down time, lazy time, just be with myself time....in fact sometimes I may take a little too much down time....the piles of things undone around me are a bit of an indicator of that.

Oh and the taxes. I guess I really should finish them now.