Sense Diary ~ Riddle: We Have Five of These.

     If your answer to the riddle was "senses" then you are correct!  Keeping a sense diary is all about putting the five senses we have been given to good use and these days, we are fed with so much media that I wonder if we stop to smell the roses like we used to?  Do we marvel over the awesome cloud formation in the sky while we are taking a walk in the park, or when we go to the grocery store, do we notice how the grocers display their produce?  


When we are going about our daily tasks, everything can seem common and mundane, but statistics and probability prove that's just not the case.  You can go the same place every day, see the same people everyday, and eat relatively the same meals every day, but there's always something new to notice when you force yourself to see, taste, hear, touch, and smell everything differently than what you're already used to seeing, feeling, hearing, tasting, and smelling. 

from Pinterest

This week's assignment is about finding something uncommon in your everyday tasks and heightening your senses. This will expand your creativity after incorporating it into your craft. I have a feeling that the most creative people look at the everyday things much differently than most people do and that's an amazing thing to know.  Plus, it gives us all something to reach for - coming up with more original ideas and concepts that can help us be more prolific with our craft as well as help grow our business. 




This week's sense diary assignment:


Pick at least three things you do every day or every week and try to notice something you have never noticed before, using all your senses... 


This doesn't mean you have to taste a tree when you're walking in the park, but maybe feel the bark, smell it if you don't care who may see you... and record your observations - the sounds you heard, things you tasted when eating a sandwich that you might usually scarf down because you have to get back to work, etc.

You can record these things three ways, or you can use all three.  Sense diaries are all about what you want to include and how you want to include it.  So you can make a list, write a paragraph or two, or you can make a sketch of the actual thing you noticed.  


Don't forget to have fun... even though I am using the word... "assignment."  *gulp*  ;-)

Sense Diary - Making the Diary Yours.

I hope everyone had fun staring at an object every day and then describing it! I thought it would be awesome to get everyone started on something like that before really getting into any detail about what makes up a sense diary/artist journal.  I decided to take a journey through the internet to search out other artists' journals so those who haven't ever started one can get a little more of an idea on how to approach this tangible way of recording ideas and inspirations on a daily basis.

This stack of journals is a perfect example of how you want your sense diary to look like - you want the journal to look like it's yours.  So now that you've filled some of the pages of your journal, it's time to turn the outside into a reflection of who you are.  What does your favorite room in your house look like? What's your favorite era in history?  Do you have this song that you always have stuck in your head that you actually like the lyrics to? These are all things that you can draw, paint, write, paste pictures of that will make your journal uniquely yours.  Plus, it might actually make you want to pick it up everyday to add something to the pages inside.

* A very important thing to remember:  Everyone who is creative may not draw or paint, or write poetry, but something in you makes you love to create whatever it is that you create, so while keeping a sense dairy may be more difficult for the non-visual artist, I want to challenge you to try it out and not worry about the result - it's all about the process and about bringing out more of how you think and what you see.

So that is the only assignment for this week... isn't that rad?

Some tools to consider (and to get your ideas flowing):

Your journal, of course AND...

- Tape - you can definitely use the pretty tape, or masking tape...  (sometimes I end up drawing on the tape, so I usually use masking tape)
- Glue Stick
- Markers, erasers, watercolors, ink pens, calligraphy pens, pencils, white out pen, crayons, colored pencils, pencils, etc.
- Stamps, stencils, ink pad
- Tissue Paper, newspaper, graph paper
- Images from magazines, photocopies, wallpaper, etc.
- Sheet music
- Ribbon, string, thread, etc.

And anything else you can think of!

I will actually be collecting images of these to share in the next couple weeks, so take your time and I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with. As time goes by, the outside of your sense diary will most likely have just as many layers as some of your entries on the actual pages themselves.

Sense Diary ~ A Closer Look.

I am so thankful to have had such amazing art teachers when I was in college and there is a specific teacher (I will be sharing a blog entry featuring her work in the very near future) who inspired me to stretch my imagination and allow myself to draw outside the lines. It's about 13 years since I was going to community college and this year I felt the desire to return to jotting down ideas/inspirations/challenges into an artist journal, but not just an artist journal -  a sense diary.

Keeping a sense diary involves taking the concept of the artist journal a step further, where the artist not only sketches ideas that are milling around in their head, it's a record of making more intentional observations of mundane, everyday things... to always be seeing something different, and taking a closer look to see what makes up an object, or how things change from day to day.

Every week I will be sharing different artist journals/sense diaries from my own diary, other sources online and will be posting a challenge each week that will require keeping your own sense diary that you can write in, draw in, paste magazine clippings, pressed flowers, etc. but there will always be an underlying theme for the week.  I think keeping these diaries will stretch your imagination and help you create with a much larger revelation of everything that surrounds you.

I started my first entry by going through some magazines and finding textures and colors that intrigued me.  I love Anthropologie and was drawn to this gorgeous display so I pulled out parts that my eyes were particularly drawn to and wrote down thoughts of those things.  I also attached a little drawing I had intended to use for a locket, but it didn't work how I wanted it.   I like being able to keep a record of some things that don't work because they may work again some other time when working on a different project, or they may spark an entirely new idea.

This Week's Challenge - Sense Diary for 4/25-5/2:

Pick an ordinary object from your house and place it somewhere where it won't be disturbed.  Each day, observe and write down all that you notice about the object.  Think of everything and don't leave out things you might think are silly.  The small things matter just as much as the larger things.

So go purchase a brand new and fairly large sketchbook (which brings about good excuse to go out and buy one of those, right?) and have fun!  See you all next week! 

A Passion For Packaging

Photo by Galejade

Speaking as not only a seller on Etsy, but also a buyer, I never forget about how beautifully or creatively someone sent their handmade items to my home. It makes me all the more excited to open the package and see what's inside. It’s definitely an art in itself and reveals a lot about the artist and how much care they put into their craft.

This attention to detail is something that makes the buyer aware that there’s an actual person on the other end of the purchase. I always think to myself as I am opening the package, “Aww...this person’s creative little hands put all these cute stickers on the box, took time to write up a personal note, and look, they put a cute little freebie in their too!”

There are many talented Etsy artists here and I thought it would be super fun to not only share what I do, but to also share what a couple of other artists from this team’s special touches to packaging are.



There are so many ways you can send your packages off, the possibilities are pretty much endless and it’s just an awesome way to build up the customer’s anticipation - no matter what time of year it is, it will make it seem like Christmas time! - So much fun!

I personally love to send my jewelry off in Natural Kraft gift boxes. Since my shop is full of eclectic pieces, I try to match the style I decorate my boxes with the style of the jewelry and that way I will hopefully be appealing to that particular buyer’s sense of style. Sometimes I use stamps or stencils, and other time I like to find interesting sections of magazines cut those pieces and paste it onto the lid of the box. Then I find a really funky color for a more modern feel. Other times, if I happen to have more time, I like to draw on the boxes in hopes that the person will be amazed and then they will run over to their computer to send me a message requesting a custom drawing! Okay, maybe not that so much, but it could happen, right?

Here’s a closer view of the hand drawn boxes I will sometimes create:



I like trees a lot, so I tend to draw them on my boxes a great deal.

This is just one of those things that add a little extra somethin’ nice and I really do believe that this will make a customer come back - as long as what’s inside is high quality as well.

Galejade makes this amazing jewelry and I simply love her choice of packaging for her pieces. It’s clean, classic, and simple, yet gorgeous! And look at that little bird, so cute!

Photo by Galejade

Her cute little box is then put into the pouch shown in the photo at the beginning of this post. I love the color combinations she has chosen.

Her packaging works so well with her jewelry and that’s so important. It’s shows the customer that you know who you are and how to present yourself as an artist.

Photos by Corrnucopia

Corrnucopia has a shop full of wonderful vintage items and loves recycling used boxes where she opens the boxes up and retapes them - what was once old, is new again. She then wraps up her lovely item (like the adorable vintage hair clip that you see pictured above)
in colorful tissue paper and Wraphia. I love the little tin she holds all her supplies in.

* * * *

Some DO's and DON'Ts

While it’s really fun to put together a pretty package to send out into the world, there are just some things you shouldn’t do when packaging:

Don’t send something that smells like smoke. If you’re a smoker, try to find a smoke free environment to pack everything up. It can make or break any future sales coming from your customers and they will let you know in their feedback to you.

Don’t send candies or anything edible unless it’s someone you already know. This may just be my own thing, but I always feel uneasy when a seller sends wrapped candies in a package. Do send cute little stickers or a little drawing, or even better, a coupon for a discount!

If one of your customers has specific requests about gift wrap and leaving a personal note, do it with professionalism as if you were getting the gift yourself. You don’t want a birthday wish written on a gum wrapper! (some people might, but let’s assume that the majority doesn’t) Make it pretty and maybe print it out if your handwriting looks like chicken scratch. I know mine looks like that sometimes.

The Personal Touch



Customers love getting hand written notes and this is the perfect time to show them how likable you are! It's also a great time to take advantage of giving any care instructions so they can keep their items they purchased in the best condition possible. I love adding my odd sense of humor to the care instructions that I send when I have sold one of my hand painted rings.

* * * *

Resources

I found some really awesome resources, so here’s a couple links to get your creative juices flowing:

Etsy How-to

Etsy Success

Wanda Wen

Source

I want this Wanda Wen's book so very badly. She has the book linked in her blog, which is such an inspiring blog. I am posting one of her entries, but you just might way to peruse the rest of her writings because they are awesome.

Soolip

Photo by Galejade

Now it's time for some DIY! So get over to your work stations and get out your pretty ribbon, fancy tape, stickers, stamps, yarn, stencils, paints, pressed flowers, stamps, markers, magazine clippings, and put a little more of your artistic self into your package!


Author: Jocelyn Pryor "flowerleaf"