new card via shoplivlane.com
Oh, happy day! I’m re-opening my Etsy shop today – and there’s so much I want to tell you!
When I first opened my Etsy shop in the summer of 2010, I was a ball of nerves. For years, friends and family encouraged me to sell the things I made for them – from magnets to homemade cards – but I felt like there was no way I measured up to the talent possessed by my favorite Etsy artists or even my own brother, who’s an awesome artist. I worried I wasn’t good enough, that no one would buy my stuff, and that I had no business calling myself a real artist. Eventually, I decided I wouldn’t know for sure unless I tried. So, I spent early 2010 growing my creative courage – taking creativity courses, questioning artist friends about their journeys, questioning myself about mine.
new bookmark/magnet via shoplivlane.com
My shop started small, but quickly grew as I experimented with different techniques and products. I was elated! I just kept adding stuff to see what would fly and I was so grateful for the positive response. But over the past several months, the shop started to feel unfocused and so did I. My art was still selling, but filling orders felt more like a chore than a joy. Offering so many different products and needing to pack and ship orders throughout the week actually dimmed my creativity. I knew I needed to make some changes or I’d burn out soon.
I began a little inner investigation, asking myself what elements of my art journey brought me happiness and what brought me down. And the answers guided me to close the shop for a few weeks, to scale back my offerings and focus on the products that feel most meaningful to me {soulful cards, motivational magnets and a couple of other products now in development – squeeeal!}. And I realized organizing, packing and shipping was distracting me from creating – so I hired an assistant. {Holy smokes, right!?} Meet Claire, everyone! She is awesome, a great artist herself, and she brought the first picture she ever colored to our first day of work together. Love, love, love!
So, I hope you’ll visit the new & improved shop today. I hope you feel the new energy over there and find something that makes your heart skip a beat! And I hope you feel inspired to do whatever it is you’re scared to do – because you can’t possibly know what magic is waiting for you on the horizon unless you try.
Shop Notes: You can now easily get to my Etsy shop using the URL ShopLivLane.com. And you can make purchases using PayPal OR your favorite credit card {yay!}.
