ETSY treasuries!

Once I figured out how to do it, I absolutely love making treasuries on ETSY.  It is so much fun browsing through all of the beautiful art that ETSY has to offer and then curating my own little art show.  The only problem is there are so many treasuries, that it is pretty difficult to get any exposure.  So... I thought I would share some screen shots of my last few treasuries here!  I also thought I would give a quick tutorial for those of you who haven't yet become addicted to creating your own little miniature online exhibit.

Step One... log onto your ETSY account and go to the poster sketch tool.  This is a great place for you to set up and play with your images.  You don't need to save anything, all of the images that you choose will be uploaded automatically.  It is a very easy site to use.  Simply choose your images and put in the listing ID and voila- there it is.  You can simply use your mouse to drag and drop images anywhere that you would like.

Step Two... Once you have opened up the poster sketch tool, you are going to need a theme ... either a subject matter theme or a color scheme.  Color schemes tend to work best- and from what I can tell, they are more likely to be chosen for a front page.   Once you choose your theme, simply search ETSY for your images.  Because so many people make treasuries based on color, all of your ETSY listings should have the colors in your photograph listed under your tags.  And remember, you can fit more than one word on a tag.  For example- "blue, green, gold" can be one tag.  ETSY doesn't really allow you to put in more than one of your own pieces in any given treasury.

Step Three... So, you have your poster sketch completed.  Go to the bottom of the page and click the copy button for the listing ids.  I then paste this in a word file and move each id onto a separate line so it will be super easy to copy and paste.  If anyone knows of some other way to get the items from the poster sketch tool to the actual treasury... please let me know!!!

Step Four.. Go to http://www.craftopolis.com/    This site will not only let you know if your work is currently in any treasuries, but it has a nifty "Treasury clock" that will tell you when the next treasury will be opening.  Treasuries only allow new entries when the number goes below 222.... but once it goes below, they usually let in a number of treasuries at one time (which is why the number goes way over 222).  This is a totally great website!  I don't think I would ever get a treasury without it.  So, when the arrow gets into the red and it says "Opening soon." you need to be logged onto your ETSY account, and click on the "click here for treasury button" on the craftopolis site. There are two treasuries... the main treasury & treasury west.  You can only be in one treasury at a time.

Step Five... You are logged into your etsy account and you are now waiting for the treasury to open.  DO NOT REFRESH YOUR SERVER.  I spent a long time refreshing, and by the time the site would upload, I would have missed my chance.  It will automatically refresh itself.  You should be scrolled to the bottom of the page where it says "treasury is full"... when the time is right, a space will open up and you will be able to type in the name of your treasury.  You can't change it later, so choose wisely!

Step Six.. Copy and Paste your listings into the boxes- and you are done!  ETSY frowns against sending out notices to people that you have included them in your treasury.  They think it is kind of like spam.  I do notify a few people, just because I would want people to tell me... but be careful.  If you send out a bunch of e-mails at one time, your conversations will be cut off. 


Now you are on your way to making Treasuries and discovering new favorites!  Hope this is helpful:-)  It has been raining cats and dogs here - so I haven't been able to photograph my last painting.  I hope to get it uploaded this week, and I also will have a little giveaway too!  Have a beautiful week!

Parenting...

So, this schedule of working all day and my husband working all night has been feeling more than overwhelming.  It is hard to be my best when I am tired, overworked, and know there are a million household chores that need to be done... and all I want to do is make art.  Having children is unlike anything in this world.  There is nothing that can cause me to run the  gamut of emotions in one day.  At one moment I can get so angry with my daughter for doing something very three year old like, that  I find myself needing to take a time out... the next moment I look at her and I am so overcome with love that I am weeping  What a mess mothering can make you.
I taught parenting classes for years before having children.  I thought that I knew it all.  I didn't know anything.  I didn't understand how every child is different  and how a one size fits all parenting model doesn't really work.  I was going to be a sling wearing, breast feeding super mommy- whose children would never watch television or play with barbie dolls.  My daughter hated all slings.  (I spent nearly 500 dollars on different models trying to find the right one- she would arch her back and protest loudly in all of them.)  Breastfeeding was extremely difficult- and it took everything in me to be successful.  Caya loves television- and without television, I would never get any laundry done or be able to make her a meal.  Mind you, I am still very careful about the amount of television and the type of television that she watches- but still, I understand that flexibility is really what parenting is all about.  Oh yeah, she loves barbies too.
     We went to the library today with a very good friend who is also a therapist.  Caya didn't want to leave the library, so I whispered in her ear and she said, "okay!" and held my hand as I led her out of the library.  My friend commented on how nice it was to see that I could reason with Caya.  I admitted that I bribed Caya with a chocolate animal cracker I had in my purse in case of emergencies.
    It will be fun to learn more about Leo.  Thus far, he loves slings and took to breastfeeding immediately.  His temperament is calm and cool and the one thing he loves more than anything is his sister.  She can make him laugh like no one else.  Hopefully, he will also like animal crackers.

And the winner is...

 I used the random number generator and of the 150 entries... # 74 won!  

So, congratulations to Tina of  Ready, Set, J.E.T & Kaotic Krafter.  I have sent an e-mail out so hopefully I will hear from her soon and send off the goodies.  If I don't hear from her within a couple of days, I will select another winner.
It has been so much fun giving away something, that I think I want to make this a monthly occurrence.  I will try to have something posted the first of each month, and do a giveaway at the end of the month.  What fun!  So far, I don't think I won anything, but I found so many amazing websites and artists that I feel like a big winner!  Thank you so much Lisa for such a great event!

Caya and Leo

   This has been such a hectic week!  I did start a new painting loosely based on my daughter. She asked for a painting of a mermaid- we will see how it goes   I posted my first pass at her face above.  The painting will be 10" x 20".  I just love that size canvas.  It is small enough that I can complete a painting quickly- and such a lovely proportion.  I love to begin my paintings with a black canvas. There is something about the metaphor of bringing something out of darkness that appeals to me.   I feel like it adds a level of drama that I can't always get when I start with a white canvas.  Does anyone else feel that way?
   On an interesting note, this week I found out quite by chance on the internet, that my grandfather's name was Olegario and his nickname was "Lio".  I never knew my grandfather- to be quite honest,  I didn't even know his name.  He died before I was born.    What is so interesting about this is that my son's name is Leo.  What is even more interesting is that my daughter's name is Caya (named after my grandmother, Cayetana).  So my children are named Caya and Leo.. and my mother's parents were named Cayetana and Lio.  Weird.  What is also odd, is that my mother had completely forgotten that her father's nickname was Lio.  Anyway, it made me feel very connected to my ancestry on some psychic cosmic kind of level.  Okay... I better get to bed.  My 4:00 am feeding is just around the corner!

Counting my blessings

My first week back to work is almost over.  I think I have been surviving fairly well.  I am lucky in that I can come home to breastfeed for lunch- and my day is over pretty early.  All in all, it could be a lot worse.  Tomorrow, the children I work with will be attending the Special Olympics basketball tournament- so that should be fun.  So, I am just trying to hold on to the positive- and let go of those feelings of sadness that I was so stuck in last week.  When I went back to work after my daughter was born, it was hard- but not this hard.  I don't know why things feel so different with my son.  Maybe because he has been such an easy little baby.  I have been so relaxed and happy.  I have made tons of art.
  The story of my daughter is an intense one of longing and disappointment and finally triumph.  I tried to have her for so many years.  And after a long struggle with infertility- I was able to get pregnant with the help of some amazing IVF doctors.  She was my first miracle.  For any of your who have undergone IVF, you know that it isn't an easy road.  You spend thousands upon thousands of dollars for the mere chance that you might get pregnant.  My husband and I decided that we could not do it again.  So with great sadness, I thought my daughter would be an only child.   My siblings have always been an integral part of my identity... I was so sad at the thought that she would be without that experience.  And then, last year in January, when my daughter was two years old, I became pregnant.  At age 42, I gave birth to my beautiful son.  My second little miracle.  Life can be pretty wonderful.
   So... I am back to work, and although I can sit and feel extremely sorry for myself- I have been amazingly blessed.  I am trying to stay in relationship with that notion about myself.  That I may not be rich, or get to stay home, or have a job that I love, but I am blessed beyond words.
Ps.  I promise that the next blog entry will be more happy upbeat and full of art!