A new home on the web

I have a brand spankin' new website, and a brand spankin' new blog, and I am so very excited. You should check them both out. Come one, come all. And be sure to check back in over the weekend. There's something exciting going on!

Here's a little sneak preview, to entice you:

The magic of words

I have pretty much broken the Starbucks habit, but I still go once a week or so. A few weeks ago I got this cup, and wrote the quotation down because I loved it so much. And then, after I threw it away, I really wished I'd taken a picture of the cup to share with you all here.
Wouldn't you know that after I went to Starbucks yesterday, I was thinking about it, and looked down at my cup to find the same quotation again. It was meant to be! I was meant to share this with you all, so here it is.
Such a lovely description of childhood. I have always been a lover of words; song lyrics and snipets of poetry, excerpts from a book, they all intrigue me. So I have been a huge fan of Starbucks' "The Way I See It" campaign. It's a little bit of fresh air in an otherwise hectic world.
I'm still plodding through some new designs. It's not easy, but I'm getting there. Somehow my muse comes and goes; I guess creative "unearthing" is like that. And I have a few exciting things up my sleeve, so stay tuned.....good things are in store.
Carter

Does anybody know....Russian?

So I have a tracker on my website that lets me see how many people are coming to my website and where they are coming from and what they look at. Yes, it's a bit like spyware, but it's totally harmless and totally fun!
And recently I have had a TON of hits on my site from a forum that's in another language that has linked to my site. And I really want to know what they're saying!
Does anybody reading this know Russian (I think it's Russian!)
Here's a link to the post.
And this is the post that quotes my Divali tag line, that I think somebody liked and posted about, but I can't understand so I don't really know.

Üks kunstnik, kes teeb imeilisi pärleid! A woman plays with fire. . . something exquisite is born. Carter Seibels_________________Susa Hobiblogi

Ah....I'm reminded once again that it's a small world afterall!
I'm curious, can you help?!
Carter

New ideas bouncing 'round the room!

Thank God for the small things in life. They are the things that really make me happy, and they are the things that really matter. For afterall, life is really about the day-to-day, isn't it? This flower (sorry, I can't remember what its called) sits on my bedroom windowsill. Last year, it almost died, and I have been nursing it back to life. In thanks for the nurturing I've given it, it has finally bloomed again, and it is so pretty. Every time I look at it, I am reminded to be thankful for the simple things in life. And the other day, I noticed that the middle section of the "bloom" had fallen off, and it was so beautiful that I stopped to inspect it closer. The little fronds fan out to create this gorgeous little spray. Isn't it pretty?!

Now on to some artsy bead-talk. I'm one of those "creative type" people. (I think that's what they call people like me who go through these emotionally-challenging creative phases...if you're one of them, you'll know exactly what I mean.) I tend to go through these constant phases (I guess you could call it a Roller Coaster) where I am either really excited about my work, or it's ho-hum, or I am so into expanding and exploring that I could stay awake 24 hours a day. From one week to the next, it's never the same. Lately I've been in one of those ho-hum moods....nothing too new, nothing very exciting. It's just beads. Which is not a good way to feel about something that you do every day, nor is it the reason I chose to be an artist as a profession. What I've noticed, though, is that one of those ho-hum phases is almost always followed by a really great idea. It's like someone (me) turns the light on in my dark room, and all is sunny and bright again. It's like I need to be in a dark room to think of a new idea or something. Which I guess is true. As humans, we can't be "on" all the time...we need time to sleep and think and meditate and breath and things like that!

So I'm moving through the ho-hum, and I'm on the verge of that sunny and bright swing, and I like the way it feels!

In the current economy, it can be pretty tough sometimes to sell things like art and jewelry and really any unecessary object. Yeah, yeah, they say spending is up, but I think we are all feeling the squeeze of a struggling economy. So I have been on a constant battle to try and come up with something that I can offer my customers that is affordable (to make and to buy.) At the same time I have been trying to come up with some products that are more appealing to a younger audience. Now when I say younger, I mean people my age. Because my jewelry tends to sell more to the middle-aged or older woman. And I love you all dearly, don't get me wrong. In fact, I have always been drawn to people who are older than me (I think it's part of being an only child; I have always been the "mature" one among my friends). But I want to create something for 20-somethings to wear too, because that will expand my market, you know?! Something with a little more spunk, a little more glam, and geared toward the more indie-craft scene that is so popular. And it's amazing how these ideas don't just come up overnight. They have to gestate inside, and slowly make their way out into this bright world of mine.

So... here are some of the things that I've come up with. They are in no way complete and ready to sell. But they are ideas that are coming to fruition, and I am excited about the potential here.

What do you think? I'd love some feedback, and I'd love to hear your ideas as well. What would you like to see me work on? Do you have any ideas for bead styles, jewelry styles, or items that you would like me to make? I would love to be inspired by what you, my dear customers, would like to see in the Divali Jewelry box!

It's a rainy day here- one of the first ones we've seen in a while. I hope it's not going to be one of those winters where we get lots and lots of rain. I want to crawl under a rock when we have winters like that. Something about the greyness of rain makes me tired, unmotivated, uninspired, moody, and just sort-of sad feeling all the way around. I try to do things to get over it (like use it as an excuse to get a Pumkin Spice Latte from Starbucks, eat hearty foods, and sleep late), but somehow it always seems to get the best of me. Last winter we were lucky enough to hardly have any rain at all. But the winter before....oh it almost never ended. At one time we had 30 days of straight rain!!!

So I'm doing the no-rain dance (not sure what that looks like, but let me know if you know the steps!)

And speaking of dancing, I got my hair cut and colored yesterday. I'm going through one of those ultra-feminine stages that seem to hit once a year or so. I've painted my nails, I've been wearing makeup, and my hair is looking all fresh and new. One of my coworkers told me I look like a rockstar when I walked in this morning! I told her I was about to break out into song and dance, just to give me a few minutes. I'll try to take some pics over the weekend and post them...my color of the month is dark browny-purple. I really like it!

I finally finished a piece of PMC jewelry that I am really excited about:

I don't know what happens to me when it comes time to fill something that I've created with resin, but it's like all of my creative juices freeze, and I have no idea what to put inside my recently-made treasure. You would think my life depended on filling this thing with something incredibly stunning and unusual. I just don't understand what comes over me (or doesn't come over me). I've been walking around with this ring in my pocket, searching in desparation for THE PERFECT THING to go inside of it with absolutely no success whatsoever. But yesterday I finally found just the thing to fill my ring with when I went to Scrapbooking Territory, a store down the street from my office. I am not into scrapbooking, but I have a slight obsession with paper and stickers and glitter and pens and ribbon and things of that nature. So I could spend hours in any sort of store that carries those types of things. And Finn is allowed in Scrapbook Territory, because they have a golden retriever, Wilbur, there too, and he and Finn like to look at eachother and wag their tails and flirt like that. So it's a great little escape from the office.

Anyway, back to the ring. They had these wonderful papers that I got, and I scanned them into my computer and shrunk down the pattern so I could fit a good portion of it inside the space of my ring, which is about 1 1/2" accross. All of the sudden, the task was so easy and perfect and done. And I am proudly wearing a new ring! I hope to have some time to make some more interesting things out of PMC over the weekend. I aim to have some pieces that I can incorporate into my necklaces by the time the Celebration of Craftswomen show rolls around next month.

Also at Scrapbook Territory, I came accross a new publication from Stampington & Company called Artful Blogging. It is a beautifully put together quartlery magazine featuring (mostly altered art) artists who blog; or who sort-of jumped on the blogging bandwagon a few years ago when the idea was just becoming popular. It's very inspiring to see how different artists use blogs as a space to unearth their creativity, or reflect on daily life, or reach out to other artists. And I discovered many artists who really delve deeply into their inner thoughts and manifestations in their blogs. It's very thought-provoking. I have always been a journaler; I write every morning first thing when I get up. I usually write rather than draw, because I am better at writing than drawing. But I often wish my drawing and doodling abilities were better. Frequently I think that if I could just doodle around with the ideas that fleetingly pass through my head, I could greatly expand upon them and bring them to the physical realm. These arists who are featured in Artful Blogging are doing just that, on the digital screen, for all the world to see.
All of this lead me to an interesting conversation with Aveesh about what exactly blogging is. And he argued that it is showing off. I, however, strongly disagree. I think blogging is what you want it to be, whether that is a place of reflection, growth, development, marketing, networking, etc. Yes, we are all human and we are lead by our egos, but the desire to open up and share one's thoughts with others in a public place is not showing off. Obviosly we are all curious enough about other people that we do things like read other people's blogs and rubberneck at car accidents when we go by. That's human nature. So show off or no show off, I am making a concerted effort to make this blog a place where I can explore my inner ramblings, and share them with those of you who choose to visit here. What's your opinion on this?

I'll leave you with a line that I always end with when I am writing in my journal every morning:

Here's to a positive and productive day!

Carter

Oh how I love NYC!

Well I made it back from NYC, and made it through a hectic but fun weekend.
New York was a blast. I do love that city. The energy there is so uplifting, and the constant bustle of people is so intriguing to me. I have always been a people-watcher, so big cities are lots of fun in that respect. Just sitting on the subway, watching everyone around me is purely entertaining to me. It was an early-morning flight, and the view of the sunrise from the airplane window was incredible.

We got some cool new beads that will be up on Beadtrust.com soon. And we actually had some time to shop. But believe it or not, I couldn't find a single thing to spend my money on. Actually, there were lots of things that I would loved to have brought home with me, but they were waayyyy out of my price range. So my wallet is happy, and the fashionista inside of me was a bit sad. But the truth of the matter is that I have everything I need, and the last thing I need is more clothes. It was a nice time to reflect and be thankful for all that I do have, and pull some of those rarely-touched items of clothing out of the back of the closet. I have quite an extensive closet, and I have a roof over my head and food on the table, so I was just being greedy, and falling prey to consumer culture.
I find that every time I resist the urge to buy something, I get an urge to make something new to wear (usually a new piece of jewelry, but sometimes clothes). So in typical fashion, I came back home and made a new necklace, which I LOVE! It's on the front page of my site. I think you'll like it too. The beads are really intricate, and I love the colors.

We did have some incredible food while we were in NYC too. If you are ever in SOHO and looking for a place to eat, go to Cafe Habana. You won't be dissapointed. It's a tiny little Cuban restaurant, and they have the most incredible grilled corn. It's covered in this cheesy sauce, lime juice, and paprika, and my mouth is watering while I type this. If you don't believe me, look at this, and tell me it doesn't look divine:

Ummm mmm good!
And here's a cute shot of me and Aveesh, that we took of ourselves in Cafe Habana.

It was a lovely trip, and I hope we sell these beads fast so we can go back soon!

I've got some orders to fill this week, so there probably won't be anything new up for another week or so. But I did put some new items in the Fall section of my site last week. So if you haven't seen them yet, take a peek.

Here's wishing you all a splendid week-

Carter

And the winner is.....

Jan Lichtenstein of Mt. Pleasant, SC. Jan is the lucky winner of the Black and White Kaleidoscope neklace!


Thanks to all of you who made purchases this month, and entered into the drawing to win.
I'll be doing another drawing before the holidays, so stay tuned.
The festival of Divali is just around the corner, in early November. And I hope to get a little something together to celebrate. You'll get another newsletter from me announcing the details.
I've got a few new pieces that I hope to photograph and post later today, before we head to NYC in the morning, for a whirlwind trip. Going on a buying trip for Beads Forever, and there will be no time for shopping (my bank account just took a sigh of relief!) But hopefully we will have time to eat some good food!!
Congratulations Jan!
Carter