Are we all, just a little bit {creatively} mad?!

I originally saw this wonderful article on a website I love called ‘The School of Life’ and it touched such a creative nerve, that I just had to share it with you all!

Why is creativity often linked to ‘madness’ and why do creative people cause so much frustration to everyone around them?

Why do they keep going to extremes?

Why can’t they just be like normal people?

Highly creative people have unique vulnerabilities and sensitivities – ways of thinking and temperament that need to be understood and managed – for them to not only stay creative and productive but also stay healthy.

The creative mind is wired with the ability to feel with great depth and passion.  Creative people often experience the world in a way we call skinless – as if they lack the protective shield and instinctive filtering that we normally use to cope with the barrage of sensory information that comes at us all.  Without good strategies for managing this hypersensitivity, instead of creativity – the result can be a plunge into the emotional depths.

Along with skinlessness and rapid fluid thinking, creative people often have natural highs and lows, of mood and energy.

Rather than trying to live a normal or balanced life creative people can learn to embrace the highs and lows – and begin to see their lives as being like the tides. The challenge for the creative is to learn how  to navigate the tides not struggle against them or get stuck.

5 Principles For Living With A Creative Mind

1. Affirmation

Creative people need a lot of encouragement. As confident as they may seem, they are also full of doubt. Affirmation helps to buffer the skinlessness of the creative person. It needs to be at the forefront but it also needs to be real. No fake compliments please.

2. Permission To Fail

Unless you are willing to fail you will never be creative. Much of the creative process involves exploration, discovery and a willingness to “go where no one has gone before” – so although failure does not equal creativity – failure and learning from failure is a part of navigating the tidal creative life.

3. Fear Kills Creativity

Creating an environment of anxiety does not promote creativity. Fear automatically inhibits the fluid nature of creative thinking – to make us focus on a threat. While you might think fear is a great motivator, it only motivates certain kinds of responses. Originality is not one of them.

4. Room to Explore

Creative people need room to explore. An essential part of the creative (fluid) thinking process involves the search for new ways of seeing things, or new connections between old things. This often comes from what seems like ‘random’ activity like going out to new places, and seeking out new experiences. Don’t discourage curiosity.

5. They Need To Belong

Creative people need a community of like-minded types because they can often feel like they don’t belong. Creative people tend to be quite tribal . . . musicians like to work with other musicians, dancers with other dancers and so on. Find a tribe. 

Image courtesy of  Yasmeanie on Deviantart Picture.

Exciting happenings just around the corner

I have some very exciting news to share with you about what ‘Rock Ribbons’ has planned for early in the year!

As you know up until now everything in both my Etsy and online store has been designed and handmade by yours truly but in 2013 things will be changing ever so slightly! You’ll still be able to purchase all your ‘Rock Ribbons’ favourites in both online stores. But I’ll be expanding out the brand to include a few of my very favourite finds, that I know you’ll love (as much as I do) from artisan and fine crafts people in Turkey and Morocco.

Those of you that know me personally, know that I have a real passion and  interest in Persian, Moorish and Ottoman art, craft and design. I have been searching tirelessly for the right craftspeople to ethically source and work together with ‘Rock Ribbons’  to showcase their beautiful handmade objects.

From early next year (2013) I will be including two new product lines that are tried and tested during my world travels and in my own home. Beautiful natural and versatile, 100% cotton handwoven pestemal hammam towels which are handwoven and dyed with natural plant dyes and the colourful hand stitched long lasting Moroccan leather pouf/ottoman.

I’m very excited about the craftspeople I’ll be working with and having both these great products in store. The pestemal hammam towels will be available in January 2013. The moroccan leather poufs will be coming early 2013 and I am going to try something very new (for me) called crowd funding. This is where I might need your help (please and thank you), I will be launching a ‘Pozible’ campaign in January in order to create funds to purchase a larger wholesale order of the leather poufs from my trusted agent and skilled artisans contacts in Fez.

I’ll be posting more ‘Pozible’ campaign details closer to the date and over next few weeks and I’ll be explaining to you why I think these two products are so great!

 

Ombré, mi amore.

‘Hhhhooommm Bbrrraaayyy’, {breathy voice} just the word itself sounds alluring and intriguing. Ombré is a French word meaning ‘to shade’ and is often used to describe a dip-dye effect given to fabric in which the shades of color graduate from light to dark. The most sophisticated look is based on a monochromatic color scheme but three different complementary colors can also be combined like in my new range of lightweight scarves. The look is all about color, with the feeling an artist has dipped and shaded the colors by hand. This simple dyeing or playing with colour technique lends itself to all types of garments and fashion accessories and I’ve even transferred the gradient effect to ‘Rock Ribbons’ satin ribbon woven cushions. 

Looking around my store its easy to see how I feel about colour and ombré, its ‘mi amore’.

BrisStyle Racecourse Road Christmas Markets Roundup

Friday night was the second to last markets for the year and ‘Rock Ribbons’ was at the BrisStyle Racecourse Road Christmas Markets. It was a great night out with Christmas carols, lots of wonderful handmade treasures and so many lovely people who stopped by at my table. Many thanks to Helen, Belinda and the great team at BrisStyle for all the behind the scene work and organising yet another great market event.

Last market event of the year is the spectacular BrisStyle Twilight Market in King George Square (Brisbane) on 14th December.

This special Friday night event will create a festive lantern lit celebration of local independent art, craft and design around the Lord Mayors statuesque Christmas Tree and Pantomime stage. Along with over 100 local artisans specialising in soulful, stylish handmade, a host of Christmas parade performers will sprinkle their magic throughout the square.

Make your way up to the scenic deck above the square for more market stalls and the best view in Brisbane of all the festivities. With a café, restaurant and bar below, you can kick back to the sounds of Brisbane’s best jazz musicians, providing the perfect festive soundtrack to a Christmas shopping night like you’ve never experienced!

Support the local community this Christmas by shopping ethically for gifts with a unique Queensland twist at Brisbane’s HOTtest destination for everything handmade under the stars. So Brisbane based peeps, pop it in your iPhone diary and I hope to see you there!

The Magic of Colour

Twice a year for nearly twenty years, Pantone, the global authority on colour, presents a range of colours that influence designers and artists all over the world. These are the most prominent hues for fall 2012 and you have probably been seeing a lot of these colours in the stores at the moment. I really look forward to seeing the new predictions from Pantone and are influenced by their beautiful colour predictions, with the accessories and home wares I create for my own store.

With an unexpected mix of darks, brights and neutrals, they cleverly manipulate reality to transport consumers to an enchanting place, free from the stresses of everyday life. “By playing to consumers’ practical side with versatile neutrals, and boosting their confidence with bold, spirited hues, this skillfully balanced palette has something for everyone,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute.

As the season transitions from the heat of summer, Bright Chartreuse, a vital yellow-green, pays homage to a typical spring shade and creates a bridge into the cooling days of fall. Reminiscent of bright green foliage, it provides a perfect accent to every color in the palette. Like the name implies, Pink Flambé is a delicious, vibrant pink with a bit of heat to it. Pair it with vivacious and enticing Tangerine Tango for an ongoing retro feeling.

Or, to bring a calming element to the mix, combine these vibrant warm tones with Ultramarine Green, a deep, cooling blue-green. Ethereal Rhapsody is a grayed-down purple that also encourages comfort and serenity with its quiet, muted tone. Honey Gold, a mellow, burnished yellow, suggests the soft-muted tones of sunlight to brighten a fall day.

Pair it with sensible and strong Olympian Blue, a patriotic blue that will surely make its way into fall and winter athletic apparel. Rich and robust, French Roast is a tasty, sophisticated hue that is a great alternative to the black and charcoal basics typically worn in the fall. Other staple neutrals include elegant and versatile Titanium, the quintessential cool gray, and Rose Smoke, a veiled rose tone that pairs well with Rhapsody and Titanium.

How to make money on Etsy

Etsy is the ideal marketplace for artists to sell their hand-made goods. Here are tips from many of the site’s profitable sellers on how to boost your visibility and number of sales.

Last year, Etsy sold $180.6 million-worth of goods. The Brooklyn-based team behind this online marketplace for handmade crafts is helping many sellers profit handsomely by offering them a platform to sell their merchandise. Some aspiring entrepreneurs have even quit their day jobs to pursue their Etsy “store” as a career.

In April 2010, the number of items sold on Etsy totaled 1.3 million, and the statistics have been increasing exponentially since its inception in 2005. Though Chen and other profitable Etsy sellers believe the site isn’t for everyone, they offered these tips to help you boost both visibility and number of sales on the popular website.

How to Make Money on Etsy: Be Different

Etsy currently boasts 400,000 active sellers, which they define as individuals who have sold goods on the site within the past year. With such a high volume of goods for buyers to choose from, it’s crucial that the product is high quality and most importantly, unique. 

Ryan Aydelott and Josh Saathoff, owners of the Etsy store Isotope, have sold almost 9,000 of their quirky t-shirts on the site since they joined in June 2007. They too stress the importance of having a different product that really stands out. “Find a niche, even if it’s rather esoteric,” says Saathoff. “Don’t try to cater to everyone. From a design perspective, whenever I try to design for a specific audience it doesn’t work.”

How to Make Money on Etsy: Killer Photographs and Detailed Descriptions

Like any e-commerce site, Etsy buyers are generally purchasing items sight unseen. They’ll be shelling out money for the product before they get the chance to try it on, touch it, or smell it – which means photographs and product descriptions need to be spot-on.

Elle Greene, who runs AustinModern, a Texas-based vintage furniture store on Etsy, says photography and descriptions are a crucial part of her business. In Greene’s experience, catalogue-style photos, which may work well on some sites, aren’t met with much success on Etsy. “Etsy is very focused on photography. I’ve learned more about editorial-style photography from my experience on the site than I could have ever imagined.” 

Greene says photo and prop stylists frequently peruse the site and look for not only a beautiful photograph, but also as much information about the product as possible. AustinModern’s descriptions include the product’s dimensions, weight, materials, condition, history, and more. Greene must have the right idea – her pieces have been featured in magazines like Elle Décor and Architectural Digest.

While many Etsy sellers can’t afford to hire professionals to shoot their products, there are a ton of great resources on the site itself. Etsy’s blog features sections like “The Seller Handbook” and “Your Shop 101,” in addition to hundreds of forums that provide sellers with photography tips and tricks. Some sellers even recommend bartering goods in exchange for the services of a photo-savvy friend or Etsy member.

How to Make Money on Etsy: The Art of the Listing

A lot of strategy goes into the way items are listed, how often they’re listed, and the number of items an Etsy store has at any given time.  

Ryan Aydelott of Isotope says that the item’s title is of the utmost importance. When an item is listed, it can be marked with up to fourteen search ‘tags’ that allow the item to be searchable for potential buyers.  “The tags have to be relevant. If you try to cast a huge net, you get bad results, but when you’re very specific and descriptive, you’ll have better luck,” Aydelott says. In his experience, shorter titles are better than longer ones.

Elle Green of AustinModern agrees. “Rather than naming the product, such as calling a hand-crafted peice of jewerly the ‘Elizabeth Ring,’ describe what the product actually is,” she says. “Think about how people would be searching for it. There are so many incredible things on that website that are not being found just because of the way they are named.” For example, a good title might be ‘Purple Gemstone Ring Set in Sterling Silver.’

Both Greene and Aydelott say that the number of listings, and how often you list, really depend on what type of product you’re selling. According to Aydellot, having 50 to 100 items in your store at a given time is optimum. “Statistically, people browse through two to three pages of listings (each page features about 20 items),” he says. “So 60 items is about all you’ll have the chance to get their attention with. If you don’t give them what they want within the first 60, you’ve lost them.” Sellers have also found that if you only have a few items in your store, people won’t stay to click around.

Greene says that the way Etsy’s search function is designed, the most recently listed items show up in search results first. “If you listed something three months ago, it will be at the very back of the search results, even if it’s the exact thing that someone is looking for,” she says. Greene tries to list two or three new items each week, though that number might be more ideal for a furniture store, than say, a jewelry designer.

How to Make Money on Etsy: Get Involved

Many Etsy sellers find it beneficial to become a part of the Etsy community. Chen receives a flood of messages from eager new sellers every day asking for advice. She says that the majority of questions she gets can be answered by simply browsing though the forums, blogs, and threads on the site. Aside from offering a wealth of useful information, forums and blogs help new sellers gain exposure to their peers. 

There are even self-organized groups of sellers, or Etsy “teams,” that are formed based on geographic location or a common interest. They facilitate things like taking out joint advertisements or attending local craft shows, and also provide sellers with a sense of community. Here are a few examples ‘Down Under Street Team’ (DUST) and BrisStyle Etsy Street Team.

Aydelott and Saathoff, in addition to thousands of other Etsy sellers, say their Etsy experiences have been incredibly positive. “It’s a great springboard and an incubator to test out a concept. Small crafters are going to learn customer service, business management, photography, and so much more,” Saathoff says. “It’s truly an entrepreneurial bootcamp.”

This article first appeared in Inc. Magazine May 11th 2010 and is written by Lindsay Silberman