Happy Earth Day!

"New Growth" by Primal Painter

Happy Earth Day!  Every day should be a day to celebrate this beautiful planet that we call home, but it's awesome  to have an official day of recognition.  What a great way to raise awareness of how important it is to respect, nurture and regenerate the Earth rather than abuse, exploit, and treat it as if its disposable.

In honor of Earth Day and Good Friday, I wanted to share an awesome Artfire Collection that I was proud to be a part of.  It was curated by  Pretty Gonzo .  She makes pretty earrings at an incredible price and has some cool vintage items.

This Collection is called "Symbols of Renewal to Celebrate Easter."   It's full of all kinds of different symbols from different cultures.   Such a great concept! I really love symbols and things that have meaning.  Go check it out if you have time, Pretty Gonzo writes a nice introductory to it that doesn't show up here.

Symbols of Renewal to Celebrate Easter

Curated By: PrettyGonzo

ArtFire.com

Unique Gifts

Have a fantastic Earth Day and Good Friday!

Laurie

Synchronicity and Life Purpose

"Going With The Flow" by Primal Painter

I've been a big fan of James Redfield for years who wrote the  Celestine Prophecy series of books. If you haven't read the Celestine Prophecy books, they're centered around synchronicities, spiritual insights and awakenings. I don't have his latest book, "The Twelfth Insight" yet, but I'm going to order it today.

I'm also going to start reading the series from the beginning because it's been a few years since I've read it. A movie came out a few years ago called the Celestine Prophecy, but unbelievably I haven't seen it yet.  I'm  going to see if our video store has it, and will be getting it as well. 

Why all the excitement about James Redfield?  Well, I got a notice in my email, that a James Redfield had followed me on twitter.  What?!  Surely not THE James Redfield!  But it was!!  I went to the link from his latest tweet, and below is what I read.

Global Prayer Project sponsored by James and Salle Redfield

Beginning on April 14, a predicted second phase of Unity Consciousness is due to enter the world according to the Mayan Calendar and other prophecies. Again, this deeper spiritual consciousness is something that we can feel personally and see operating synchronistically in the outer world. Remember, this Unity Consciousness, called a 9th wave of divine creation by the Mayans, is predicted to come into our perception in a series of in phases. The first phase, called a Seeding phase, began on March 9 and was characterized by the expansion of the democracy movements in the Middle East and a new emotional empathy with those suffering from the shocking earthquake in Japan and the economic turmoil, especially in the US. The second phase, due to arrive on April 14, is called the Germination phase.


Obviously, this new consciousness is what I have been calling the Twelfth Insight, and I have pointed to the necessity for all of us to "Tune in" or open up to the emerging energies of this spiritual consciousness as though we are -- as the Mayans suggested with the names of these phases -- cultivating a consciousness within ourselves like a farmer would cultivate a plant. This week, let's offer our prayer and visualization toward enhancing and uplifting this process. Join us as we seek to bring the arrival of this new consciousness more readily into public awareness in a way that transcends the fear, pain and anger so many are holding onto.


Wow, how very synchronistic!!  I got a crazy wave of goosebumps when I read this and also when I read other articles on their website CelestineVision.  In my last post, I compared the awareness of my life's purpose to a cutting from a plant with no roots, but finally feel as if  I' ve sprouted  some roots.  According to the Mayans, March 9 (my daughter Andi's birthday, how synchronistic!) was the beginning of the Seeding Phase, and April 14 begins the Germination Phase. Maybe a seed is what I was, not a cutting, but I was close! 

Another strange synchronistic date for me is December 21, which is also a Mayan prophecy date, the big one, which some have misinterpreted as being the end of the world but in my opinion is more along the lines of the beginning of a new level of spiritual consciousness. 

On December 21, 1984, I was the victim of a very brutal attempted murder and rape that took place in my own house while I was in college. I repressed the memory of the rape for 17 years (it happened while I was unconscious from multiple head and brain injuries), and when it finally bubbled to the surface nineteen years later, I thought I was going insane. 

This incident is what triggered me to seek out help.  I was led, very synchronistically I might add, to getting my Reiki degrees and learning about energy work.  Maybe I'll write about that story some day, it might be good for me, although will undoubtedly be disturbing for readers.

Also, I ran across one of my old notebooks from years ago where I had "Lightworker Studio" written all over the page. Wow, trippy. Maybe I'll change my biz name to Lightworker Studio and start to live my life like somone who believes, like someone who's sprouted roots, rather than someone who just says the words.


So anyway, I'm a little blown away.  I wonder what will happen today?  Expecting synchronicities is how to keep them coming, according to the Celestine Prophecy.
 
"Live every moment of every day with awareness and intention." I think this will be my  new tag line that I'm going to repeat to myself over and over so I don't doze off again.

 
Have a good one!

Laurie

A Revelation.....

"The Activation" by Primal Painter

"To discover the truth of our own vision, we must take action by remembering our tools and putting them to work".

I was cleaning up the debris littering my computer area and ran across this quote that I'd written at the bottom of a piece of paper.  Unfortunately, I didn't write down whose quote it is.  I wish I could claim ownership of it, but surely I  didn't come up with something so profound!!  Finding this particular quote at this particular time is one of those synchronistic "the universe will show you the way if you stop being so freakin' dense" moments.


The thing that struck me about this quote was the use of the word "tool".  Several years ago, I had gotten  my Reiki II Degree which means I can practice distance reiki in addition to  hands on healing. (I don't claim to be a healer, but I can channel healing energy from the Source to the recipient or attune an object or place so that it emits healing energy.)  One of the phrases that was used frequently in my classes was toolbox... "put this in your healing toolbox".

I became fascinated with energy work, no, maybe obsessed is a more accurate word.  I learned all kinds of alternative healing practices like EFT, chakra work, Therapeutic Touch, cutting cords, biofeedback, tons of stuff.  I have a very impressive library of alternative healing books. After about two years of fun, learning, and healing, I got distracted with some really hard-core bumps in the road that led to a "black night of the soul" that lasted for four years.  Dark times, dark times. 

I started to emerge into the light again about five months ago.


When I look at my Etsy shop and see the category of the things that have sold there, the writing's on the wall.  I mean, come ON! How much of  a sign do I need?  I've only sold seven things there, but get this....five, FIVE of those seven things have been chakra and healing wall sculptures and paintings.  Below is the latest one that sold.

"Clearing the Chaos"

I'm ready to buckle down and really solidify my focus and intention on the creation of art that can be used as a tool for healing and transformation.  I've been doing that to an extent, but it's been in and out, wax and wane, mexican jumping bean brain, just a cutting, no roots.

I believe I just sprouted roots. Live every moment with intention and awareness, no more mexican jumping bean brain.

Wake up, Laurie, be who you really are.   And who would that be?    A Lightworker.

Wow. Where did that come from? I had to look up the definition of lightworker to verify what it means. The following comes from a really awesome article by Doreen Virtue.  To read the whole thing (it probably applies to many many people) click here:

"Lightworkers are those who volunteered, before birth, to help the planet and its population heal from the effects of fear. Each lightworker is here for a sacred purpose. Very often, however, life on earth with its material focus creates a form of amnesia in lightworkers. They then forget their divine and perfect identities, and also their abilities to miraculously help the earth and all living creatures. When lightworkers forget their true identity and purpose, they feel lost and afraid."

I got some serious goosebumps when I read this article after writing this post.  That usually means truth.

Fascinating place, this universe we live in.

Have a fantastic Sunday!

Laurie

Artfire Daily Collection

"Spiraling Up" by Primal Painter

I've felt strangely verbally stifled for the past few days.   I think it has to do with the creative process kicking in and that seems to negate the desire to do computer related left brain kind of things.  Creativity is very nonverbal for me, it's abstract and in my head,  my eyes, and my hands and doesn't have much of anything to do with words and certainly not links and other crapola. Actually, when I'm embroiled in a creative frenzy, the computer seems like a chore and me no likey chores. 

Also, it's spring for cryin' out loud!  I have a garden to get ready to plant, phlox to transplant, red tipped photinias and Heavenly Bamboo to plant, yard to mow, flower beds to clean up.....Bizzeee bizzeee bizzeee.

I love my tall purple phlox.  They get green early, stay green late, have beautiful aromatic flowers that last a long time, and spread like crazy.  I transplant some every year to different parts of the yard.  I may have to name my place Phloxville....Welcome to Phloxville, Where Purple Rules....  (Wow, strange mental meanderings, maybe I should have stuck with the verbal stiflement! lol)  Did I mention the smell of the lilac bushes that's permeating everything right now?  How could I possibly focus on computer stuff with that wonderful aroma in the air?

 

Have you heard about Artfire's Daily Collection email they're sending out....daily?  It's pretty cool, actually.  You have to sign up to receive it (there's a button at the top right of this post where you can do that) and you'll be assigned a number.  With each Daily Collection, they're awarding the person with the matching number a $100 gift certificate to spend in any Pro shop of their choice.  It's pretty good odds, I'm thinking

If you're a collection maker, now would be the time to get one made.  Think of the exposure if yours got chosen for the daily email.  Wow!  With Artfire, there's nothing saying you can't include your own items as opposed to Etsy where it's frowned on.  I haven't been there long enough to know if people actually include their own things very often, but I think it's a great idea.

Here's a cool Artfire Collection put together by Richard from Prankearts.  It's called 'Blue Dreams"

Blue Dreams

Curated By: Prankearts

ArtFire.com

Indie Design

Pretty isn't it!  I love blue!  Thanks to Richard from Prankearts.  Be sure to check out his Artfire Studio, he does some really beautiful impressionistic style paintings.

Later,

Laurie

Artfire's 45 Day Success Guide - Days 11 and 12

"Metamorphosis" by Primal Painter

I'm still  working on Artfire's 45 Day Success Guide. I've gotten several energy art prints listed in my Artfire Studio,  and also in my Etsy Shop, but I'm still short of having the recommended number of 40 things listed according to day nine of the guide .......40!!! Holy cow, that's alot.  I'm starting to think that a big key for success is having a high number of things  listed.

I've managed to get 21 things listed, so that'll have to be good enough for now.  It takes quite a bit of time to list things I've noticed, even on Artfire.  Having duplicate listings on Etsy requires that the titles and descriptions be 30% different from each other or google will ignore one or the other of the listings.  So for those of us who have shops in both places, give one of those duplicate listings a different title, and write a new first paragraph.  30% is quite a bit more than I was expecting to have to change. Gah!

Also, something else I discovered, on Artfire if applicable, list multiples for your items.  Apparently, when you re-list an item, all of those links and SEO that have built up over time disappear and  you have to start over from scratch.  So listing multiples will keep your links alive for a long time, and that's a good thing. I'm wondering if frequent re-listing on Etsy loses your links and that's why google search percentages can be lower on Etsy. Re-listing helps with on-site category searches, though, but I'm starting to be suspicious that the Etsy re-listing strategy isn't google friendly. 

I'm on day 12 now, although I groan loudly at the requirements for social media and may not do it.  For me, twitter is easier than facebook, just a quick little blurb and you're out.  Artfire and Etsy both make it easy to do. Facebook seems like a popularity contest that I'm losing......and I don't like to lose! 

At first when I was doing the facebook thing, I was spending way too much time on there, commenting, shout outs, link love, and I got a ridiculously high number of shop views and hearts.  No sales, though, and I was spending quite a bit of time there for no sales....time that I should have spent in the studio.  Plus, you have to keep up the effort or you'll lose people's interest.  It can turn into an addiction, I think.   I understand how it would be beneficial though, and I'll probably try it again at some point.  

Now Etsy is starting to be more like facebook every day!  Have you noticed that now there are "like" buttons on your etsy pages? Geeze..... 

Here's a little summary of days 11 and 12:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day 11


Your Daily Checklist

Five New Products listed in your ArtFire Studio  (good grief!)
Three Posts on the ArtFire community Forums   (I'll try....)
Three Tweets sent from your Twitter Account   (I can do that.....)
Two Posts on your Facebook Fanpage Wall    (Oh maaaannn, nobody will even notice)
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Day 12
Social Media Day Two

We encourage every seller to maintain both their ArtFire blog and an offsite blog (with different material). While this may seem overwhelming, but committing to two blog posts a week (one on each blog), will provide you with the benefits of being an active blogger and keep your readers coming back as long as you post regularly.

(Two blog posts a week, one on each,  that doesn't sound too bad......)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Your Daily Checklist

Three Posts on the ArtFire community Forums (We'll see...)
Five Tweets sent from your Twitter Account   (5 tweets now?  Gah!)
Two Posts on your Facebook Fanpage Wall   (noooooo)
One Blog post on your offsite Blog  (Done!)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you go to the Success Guide  there are all kinds of helpful links for each day plus more in depth  suggestions.

Well I'm off to tweet something,  maybe I'll post something in the forums, (I'm not sure about that), and I may drag myself kicking and screaming to facebook.  I think I'm nervous about getting addicted to the popularity aspect and then feeling up or down based on the number of comments, impressions, likes....  I even read somewhere that some people are getting facebook depression because they aren't getting noticed like some of their peers.  That saddens me.....

My success at following the success guide doesn't seem to be too successful so far!

Have an awesome day!

Laurie

Saturday Laughs

I've decided that today is a day for funny videos.  (Not one business link or business keyword in sight! Yay!)  Uh, can you tell I've acquired a bad attitude towards the whole internet marketing thing?  Maaann, so unfulfilling and just  a total drag.  I'm afraid spring and summer weather will keep me away from the computer quite a bit.

My day started off by walking outside barefoot to take in this glorious sunny warm weather, and promptly stepping in chicken poop. Gah!  So I thought, maybe some funny animal videos are what's called for.

Monkeys are so cool.   I mean, wouldn't it be fun to live and swing in the trees!?  On the flip side,  I don't think it would be that fun to throw poop at each other.  Although, maybeeee... (staring off into space imagining myself throwing my own poop at someone........EWWWWWW!)   Yeah, that would be gross, just had to make sure.

Now dogs, how awesome would it be to have the life of a pampered dog!  They've got it going on and I  like that they can be mortal enemies with the neighbor dogs one day, then do a little butt sniffing and wa la! truce!  Too bad humans couldn't solve their differences that way....(staring into space imagining feuding humans bending over to sniff each other's butts.... ewwwwwww!)  LOL, Ok, maybe not, just had to make sure...

Kitties, how I would love to be a kitty, sleepin' all day, oh yeah!  Sometimes I see our kitties at the neighbors house, getting fed special treats no doubt.  They come around when they want to and go off on big adventures whenever they feel like it.  And in the spirit of a poop/butt oriented post, they're neat and clean and bury their poop. 

I remember when we first got our pygmy goats, they were about eye level with the chickens at the time.  I was out in the shed petting them, and our cat Sugar comes creeping up to check it out.  One of the goats took a step towards her and she sprang about two feet straight up in the air, held there for a second, and somehow projected herself sideways about 4 feet!  It was like watching the real life version of that cartoon with Snagglepuss.  Remember this?  "Heavens to Murgatroid! Exit, Stage Left!" lol....I'm probably the only one old enough to remember that cartoon....Maaaann!
Have an awesome Saturday!

Laurie

My New Strategy

"The Beginning" Digital Abstract Energy Art by Primal Painter

I'm going to start putting the new things that I've listed on Artfire here in my blog complete with links, blah blah blah, all that SEO stuff.  I've decided I really need to make a push to generate sales because I'm tired of treading water (oh and I'm broke).

For someone who's really laid back, I can be very competitive.  I seem to have lost that competitive oomph for the last few years, but there was a time when it was a driving force for me.  Of course, after achieving the goal, I would get bored and have to start from the bottom with something else.  Hopefully that won't happen this time, but yesterday, I was excited to feel  that little defiant surge of "if other people can make x amount of dollars per month, so can I" attitude.

There are two main things I'm going to do.  First, I'm developing new products. The funky art pendants which I'm making with mini wallet sized prints of my digital energy art are really cool and affordable.  Plus, I'm incorporating my prints into ready to hang wall art.  I'm not talking frames and mats, I'm talking airbrushed embellished wood "mats" to enhance the presentation of the print in an affordable way. 

I don't know about other people, but I'd be more inclined to buy prints that are ready to hang as opposed  to matting and framing them myself.   I'm thinking that presenting them differently from the other prints out there might set mine apart.

Second, I've decided I'm going to try Artfire's 45 Day Success Guide.  I'm not the most self-disciplined person in the world, so I thought maybe if I announce that I'm going to do it, I'll actually stick to it.  Gee, wouldn't that be novel! 

The first week is mostly getting your shop set up and a getting a few things listed, so I got to jump to day 8 which is about writing in the provided blog.  (Really?  Another blog? Oh maaannn.....) Actually, they say that if nothing else, just write an introduction post about yourself and your artwork,  plus include a link to your main blog, so I guess I can do that. 

Melinda, from Inspiration Earth did a feature on me a few weeks ago, and I was thinking (with her permission, of course) that I would use excerpts from that interview as my introductory post, providing links to her blog and  her Artfire shop  Inspiration-Earth.  Melinda's questions were so insightful and thought provoking for me, she really was the trigger for me pulling together my intentions into written form. Thanks Melinda!

Another important thing that was mentioned in this success guide, is how important it is to get as many products listed as soon as possible.  That way, your products will be indexed by google much faster and will show up in a google search.  This is different from the Etsy strategy of listing one thing here and one thing there in a futile effort to be seen at the top of the listings (for a whole, what? 5 minutes if that?)

Other important strategies, tweet your listing, post a link to your new listing on facebook, put a link on your blog, add it to stumbleupon, kaboodle, and something new called pinterest.  I haven't actually checked out pinterest yet, but I've started doing the other things.  Oh and post in the forums three times a day. I tried that yesterday and got Nuthin'...no views, no nuthin'!

So we'll see how it goes.  Such a beautiful day today, maybe I should wait to start everything tomorrow.....oh nooooo, get a grip, Laurie, remember the word "BROKE."

Have an awesome day!

Later,

Laurie