freebie friday!

to celebrate the first of the series of friday's child, i feel loving and extra giving!  how appropriate!  

to the first person who posts a comment on this post:

i'm offering a free 5x7 print (not the original, sorry) of your pet's portrait!  

i'll post the results in a new post when it's finished and sent off to the lucky winner!

there will be more give aways like this on fridays so stay tuned!

visiting victoria BC - from my desk

we're popping in to visit victoria BC for our first virtual tour in the "far to go" series.  

this was an easy pick for me as i grew up in this beautiful city.  it's located on the west coast of canada on vancouver island and is the capital of BC.  it's been dubbed "home for the newly wed and nearly dead" because there are a lot of students and retirees.  i left in 2001 and haven't been back yet for a visit.  i miss the ocean and the glorious summers there.  what could be better than a view of the ocean with mountains in the background? 

oak bay beach

it's an artist friendly city and hosts plenty of markets and wonderful shops both downtown and in the great little neighbourhoods around town.  

fan tan alley

market square

there are also all kinds of bike trails and beautiful places to take walks.  

galloping goose trail

beacon hill park is a truely beautiful place to spend hours pick nicking or sketching.  totem poles scatter the grounds and the parks is host to the world's largest one piece totem pole!  

i'll be heading west this summer for a cousin's wedding in edmonton so my husband and i plan to rent a car and head to the coast for a good visit.  i can't wait to show adam around.  we may have to visit victoria again on the blog...

victoria BC, a very inspiring place... and now i'm homesick!  

thanks to all the sites i borrowed images from!

send me suggestions!

if you have ideas for places or artists to feature on thursday's far to go series, leave a comment or email me at crazybliss@gmail.com

the problem with artists

this post is from my blog last year.  i think it's a good one so here it is again...

i love other artists and get so much inspiration from their work, attitude, methods and history. i love learning about how they work, what inspires them and how they see the world. in turn, i love sharing with other artists how i work, what inspires me and what makes me tick. if i can inspire someone else to express themselves through art, i am a happy camper.

the problem with artists is... the threat of competition.

i recently went to the blues fest here and visited the artisans after the show. i saw a wonderful local glass artist who did incredible jewelry with a similar feel to my bubble bliss pendants. i was chatting with him, asking some questions about his art and complimenting his work. after asking about firing temperatures because he wants to make a kiln, my husband adam mentions that i'm also an artist and points out my pendant hanging from my neck. instantly the gentleman stiffened and was very hesitant to answer any more questions. it made us sad to have made him feel so uncomfortable. it's a scenario that's happened to me many times when other artists feel i may be a threat, especially at art shows.

so here's my outlook on art and competition:

no one likes being copied directly. uniqueness is something most of us strive for, especially artists, so it's a bit of an intrusion on our personal space when we see someone else emulating what we call our own. this was something i struggled with as a wee one trying to establish who i am. no matter how much people said "copying is a strong form of flattery" it still bothered me to be copied.

as i grew, i realized that no matter how much someone copies me, i'm still unique in my whole package. each of us is made up of a unique recipe of experiences, outlooks, personality, skill etc. that no one can possibly produce the same results given the exact same project and materials.

to practise this growing up, my equally creative friend, cara and i used to play a drawing game. we would get one of our moms to write a list of 50 objects or actions on a piece of paper then cara and i would draw a scene with each of the objects incorporated. we'd do the drawing separately and then see what the other came up with when we were finished. it was always so interesting to see how we interpreted the same project. we would complement each other's creativity and mention points of inspiration for the next project. we gained a lot from each other by sharing ideas and techniques that worked for us. today, we still have incredibly different styles.

as a full-time artist in business, i completely understand trade secrets and have a few of my own. using unique supplies or tools, personalized formulae or programs - they're important to your edge in business.

i work really hard at researching supplies, experimenting with tools and various media, using different techniques to achieve special affects. combine all of this and you have me, crazy bliss. i am confident that no other artist will use the exact same combination of any of the materials, techniques, imagination and tools to achieve the same results. there is very little i will not share with a fellow artist in business.

i get a lot from the artists who are willing to share. i try very hard not to ask questions that intrude on trade-secrets and am respectful if they don't want to share something specific. i've gotten so much inspiration to do my own variations of other artist's ideas that end up looking nothing like the original. i've ended up with a very nice circle of artsy friends as a result of sharing and i love seeing what everyone comes up with from common ideas.

of course it makes my heart skip a beat when i see something VERY similar to a piece i've done but as i mentioned a few posts ago, attitude is everything and i just keep my nose to the art table and keep doing what it is that i do that makes me me. even if someone copies me outright, eventually it will adapt into their own style or they'll fall away all together. feeling threatened takes a lot of joy out of the art experience for me.

the world is a big place and it's a nicer place when we share and encourage rather than feeling threatened.

that's my view and i'm sticking to it!

bringing grace back

wikipedia says:

• social graces are skills used to interact politely in social situations. They include manners, etiquette, deportment and fashion. Traditionally, these skills were taught primarily to young women at a finishing school or charm school. The popularity of social graces has waned over the last century, but has recently experienced a resurgence with an emphasis on business etiquette and international protocol.

so why are social graces making a comeback if the popularity had waned for so long?  because they are important communication tools! who wouldn't benefit from that?  (and besides, vintage is cool, right?)

social graces are guidelines and social rules used to foster amiable social and business relationships, regardless of individual  backgrounds.  they facilitate awareness of others in social and business settings so we become more gracious, less selfish, and better able to handle any situation – particularly the tough ones.  

i think social graces are worth bringing back!

what's in store for 2009?

it's 2009 and crazy bliss is gearing up for an eventful year.  whoo!

we're doing it right and writing a formal business plan for 2009.  what a lot of work that is!  whew!  i'm almost done and i have a clear vision of this year's events.  we'll be discussing the importance of business plans and how to use them in detail on saturdays.

we've got many new goodies ready to go that will make their way to the etsy store shortly.  recipe cards, note tags, gift tags, new magnets and postcards!  look for some of the new releases next monday.

we're also working on developing a new line of products for release throughout this year.  we've got a wonderful print broker who's helping us come up with some affordable, environmentally conscious fun products that you'll love.

i'm branching out from the cat world - that's right - and have been painting dog portraits as long ago requested.  i'll also be doing some wildlife portraits this year to add to the collection.

we're working on the official crazybliss online store site.  we can still be found at etsy but with so many new products we felt the need to have our own site to display the items as we wish.  we hope to have that rolled out by march and you'll all be invited to the online grand opening.

and finally, in the last quarter of 2009, we'll be relocating the crazy bliss headquarters to waterloo ontario!  my husband is doing a PhD project there for 3-4 years and i thought it might be nice if i joined him...  since we're an online business, we're flexible and thus will follow him on a new adventure!

so it's going to be a very busy year and i'm excited to share it all with you here on the blog.  

new year...

new blog!

happy new year to all; i hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday.  i can't believe it's 2009!

so with a new year and a new blog, how about some new themes?  this year i'll be writing articles with themes inspired by a very old and familiar folk rhyme.

monday's child is fair of face - 

putting our best face forward, crazy bliss new releases and updates

tuesday's child is full of grace - 

one must always be mindful of social graces... even if it is to break them

wednesday's child is full of woe - 

cures for the crazy bliss blues

thursday's child has far to go - 

we'll be cyber-traveling to far off places in search of inspiring artists, shops and destinations

friday's child is loving and giving - 

appreciation freebie friday!  love and gifts to the crazy bliss community

saturday's child works hard for a living - discussing the joys and headaches of running a creative business

the child born on the sabbath day is bonny, blithe, good and gay - 

time to celebrate the love of craft and do something bonny and different!

so i hope you'll join me again in 2009 for a fun, face paced, crazy bliss year!