What you can do on this Blog

Not limited to the following:

1. Read about the art making process, how to market yourself as an artist, gluten and dairy-free recipes, books and random topics. Start reading by looking under the Index or Archives, which is in the far right, half way down this page.

2. Leave a comment. Thoughts. Questions. Jokes. Comments make me smile.

3. Look at photos from Happenings in the Studio (HITS), for artwork either in progress or finished.

4. Visit Elizabeth's portfolio website.

5. Shop for Elizabeth's art on etsy.

6. Follow this blog so you don't miss Happenings in the Studio. Every Monday I'll share what I've made and the biggest challenge. To follow, click the follow box that's half way down this page.

7. Purchase my book of Braille sculptures. It has activities on how to write your own Braille.


Have fun visiting! It's great having you here.

staying in a treehouse

Ever since last Summer, I've been jonezing to go back to Oregon.

On Monday a friend told me about tree houses that you can rent there!

All day I've been thinking about living in a tree.

I can't wait to go. :-)

skipping "press 1 for billing..."

Yesterday was the goldmine for Works-for-me-Wednesday. Since I am not married and don't have kids, most of the usual tips don't apply. However, yesterday I learned how to create a navigation bar for my blog (this will appear soon along with a tutorial. Thank you Mommy always Wins.)

I also learned that fish, like produce, have seasons, so the price will fluctuate with the supply. Thank you Lynn!

An ongoing frustration of trying to insert a degree symbol has been alleviated. Hold down alt and type 0176. ° (I did it!!! It works!) Thank you Finer things in Life for sharing the secret!

And, I now have a list of customer service numbers that bypass all of the automated mumbo jumbo. You get to skip the elevator music and talk directly to a human!!! It's called gethuman.com (Thanks to the hostess for this tip.)

Can't wait for next week's Works-for-me-Wednesday!

shortcut key for degree symbol

My new best friend (who I haven't actually met) figured out how to type the degree sign!! This helps a lot since I type up a decent amount of recipes.

The secret is holding down Alt and typing 0176.

Here's her post on the degree sign.

I love Works for me Wednesday!

Organizing for the Creative Person

For more tips check out we are that family.

I use to think that stereotypical artists let themselves be messy because that's what is expected. They were being lazy. This bothered me because, as a fairly organized artist, it made me look bad by association. After reading Organizing for the Creative Person by Dorothy Lehmkuhl and Dolores Cotter Lamping C.S.W, I realized that I was totally wrong. Right brain dominant people, like artists, actually think differently from left brain dominant people who tend to be very analytical and logical.

What left brain people prefer in organizing:

• vertical (filing cabinets)
• hidden (drawers or closets with doors)
• complex systems
• linear (bullet points for brainstorming)
  
• formal (expensive looking furniture, like wooden bookshelves)
  

Preferences for Organizing for Creative People:















Creatives prefer horizontal organizing.

We also like things to be informal, like using 2x4s to hang up tools.
















Creative people also like their things exposed,
so they don't forget about them (fear of out of sight, out of mind).

Plus we like things simplified by not having things in drawers for easier access.


Creative people prefer:

• horizontal (storing papers flat in open cubbies instead of using a traditional filing cabinet)
  
• exposed but quickly covered to hide visual clutter (secretaries desk)
  
• simple
  
• circular (mind mapping technique for brainstorming)
  
• fun
• colorful

Most organizing systems or containers from the store are tailored to left brain dominant people. That's why they often don't feel natural when creative people use them.

By analyzing thought patterns and learning to organize in a way that is natural for you, is how this book helps you to keep your home and office in order. This book also helps out left brain dominant people to understand how creative people think. By understanding each other, hopefully there will be less conflict.

On March 15th, at capitalistchicks.com there will be my first monthly column called "The Missing Link" between art and business. The first article is about the keys from this book called Organizing for the Creative. Drop by for some more insight into the creatives' brain and for practical organizing tips.

y Twitter is important for Artists

Twitter is an online site that gives you 120 characters to say what you are doing. It's like a game, figuring out how to best word things given the character restriction. You can even include urls and Tweet Pics.

When I twitter it automatically changes my status in Facebook and it also appears on this blog and on my portfolio site. It's great saving time, not having to manually update the status on each of the sites. Here's how to set it up.

Thanks to this article- Tweetable Art: 10 Twitter Tips for Artists by Natasha Wescoat, I now have a daily tweet. It's important to include your audience in the behind the scenes action. Let them know about your latest progress or newest thing you learned in regard to your art. Encourage your audience to be voyeurs of the art making process. Help them to get excited about what you are creating. It doesn't take long to tweet about it. It's only 120 characters.

How do you use Twitter?

Addition to the 2009 Booklist

I'm onto book #12 for the year! I didn't think I'd read so much and still be able to finish other things.

The ongoing list of books read this year has been updated. Check out numbers 5, 9 and 12.

What are you reading? Anything really great or so boring you just have to share?