Studio kitty napping on the job

I went to ship out an order the other day and found studio kitty Karma guarding the pile of boxes.  How kind of her.  The problem is that she was napping on the job.

I have the proof.

She looks like she is dutifully pulling off "occupy shipping boxes".

Yes, firmly entranced in her job.













Wait....wait....reposition.

Yes, better view.  Now I can see those who want to break up the "occupy shipping boxes" movement.








Hmm.  Will have to ship out tomorrow I guess.

My cat Karma

I've gotten a few emails recently inquiring about my cat Karma.  For those who aren't regular followers of my blog, Karma is "my personal assistant".  She tends to supervise the jewelry making and usually selects the winner for contest drawings.  She is doing well, but I try to keep her away from the resin jewelry making process.  Cat hair in the resin ruins the whole batch.  Yuck.  (and it has happened)

One of Karma's favorite places to sit in my studio is in the window in front of my soldering bench.  The window is almost always up (to allow good ventilation) and she likes to take advantage of it.  While she was sitting there, I went to grab the camera.









By the time I got back, she was doing a "kitty yoga" routine on the floor.  She gets dirty hanging out in the studio, but I like having her there for the company.  She's also a good sport about my kids tormenting her.  She would love to come to the Downtown Festival and Art show this weekend, but, alas, pets aren't allowed.

The business of making art

In my ideal world, selling my acrylic and resin jewelry would be like the Field of Dreams movie.  "Build it and they will come."  Alas if it were only that easy!  Having a successful artisan jewelry business requires active participation on my part.  I just can't simply make handcrafted jewelry and expect people to magically know to find me.  There presents the quandry.

Balancing the business of making contemporary jewelry and marketing contemporary jewelry is not easy.  I tend to get stuck on one or the other at some point.  Over the past week, I have been on a creative tear and find that I have to beat myself to follow up on emails and phone calls.  Perhaps it's because artists go through mental blocks too (at least this one does), so when I'm on a good creative track, I hate to give it up.

I write this blog post as motivation to help me find the right balance, which some days, is easier than others!  Okay, back to the studio.....