Hey hey,

Some days (like today) I have the hardest time getting the creative energy flowing through my soul. I have the will to create, but I just can't seem to come up with anything that inspires or impresses me. It always ends with frustration, pieces that feel forced or that I am not completely in love with, and a little bit of anxiety. What if I'm losing my creativity? What if I can't do it anymore?

Days like today I try to draw from multiple sources for inspiration. Over the years, I have found a couple things that really work for me and thought I would share in case they benefit any of you! If anyone wants to share how they overcome creative block that would be awesome!

My favorite ways to awaken the creative monster:

• Take a break, leave my art space, and go outside. Whether it's just my bare feet in the grass or a walk through nature... Something about the outdoors seems to relax and rebalance my mind.
• Switch mediums. If you can't seem to come up with any ideas for a pair of earrings, why not put the pliers and ear wires away and pull out a sketch book? I love drawing, painting, and adore my soldering iron. I find when I swap to a different medium, it helps get those creative juices flowing again.
• Pull from my surroundings. It's amazing how much our homes, rooms, decor says about ourselves and the things we deem important. Take a look around your home/office. What colors seem to hold the most value? What common themes can be found in all the rooms? What do all these things say about you, your personality, and how you portray yourself to the world?

I like to keep all my working ideas together and periodically move them around, add more, take some away until an idea or a piece forms in front of me. 

Here are two sources I've found useful for crushing that creative block:

1. I LOVE this site. They publish some amazing articles. This one in particular is a list. 50 ways to find inspiration be it through people, surroundings, interaction. Some of these are great ideas!
2. This works for me everytime! Guest post on Handmadeology by Jenny Hoople... She had an art professor that told her, when she was stuck... to make 100 things. Not 100 perfect things, just 100 things to get the roller coaster rolling.

Anyway... Off to get back on that horse! Hope this helps anyone suffering from the artist-blahs today. If anyone has other techniques that they use, I would absolutely love to hear them! Please share!

peace and love,

Katie

I believe you should let your work mutate often, changing and shifting as it goes until it develops a life of it's own.

Our cherry tomatoes are getting the best of us.... Slow down tomato plant!

Today is a wonderful day!

I hope everybody is having a great weekend. My past week has been very busy. We've been watching our friend's Boxer while he is on vacation, so that has been fun. I love her to death, but Adam is a little stressed out about this little energy ball flying and bouncing and cuddling through our new house. He'll get over it, haha.

How can  you not love this little creature?

Etsy shop-wise, I'm getting very close! Going through all the legalities now and just struggling to get some inventory done! As all other Etsy sellers know, 100 listings seems to be the magic number for getting seen and making a splash on Etsy. I'm definitely going to open up shop before that, but I figure I can get as much stuff made as I can while I'm waiting on the new banners and things.

I do have to admit, though... I forgot how painstaking pricing was... especially since I'm using all of my old raw materials, which means receipts are looonnggg gone. Yay research! Haha, it's dragging along. I have an Excel spreadsheet set up to help me out, but do any of you lovely souls use programs for your pricing and inventory tracking? Is it easier/harder/the same as spreadsheeting it out?

I'm trying to write my item descriptions as I go and make a tag list so the listing process will not be too difficult when it's time to open up shop. So far things are all coming back! I guess it's like riding a bike...

Here's a new pair of earrings coming together! You can get a glimpse of my earring-making process!

So far I've been focusing on my favorite mediums... Earthy, natural sources like wood and bone. I've also been digging the brass a lot more than I did in the past. Interesting to see how tastes change while also remaining the same :)

 My goal is to spend the entire day today doing nothing but creating new pieces. We'll see how that goes... hopefully the creative energy is flowing today!

Anyways... I hope all of you enjoy the rest of your weekend. If it's a beautiful a day as it is here, I hope you spend some time in the sunshine and nature!

peace and love,
Katie

Fireworks

I hope everyone had a groovy 4th of July.

We kept ours kind of quiet over here. Enjoyed the beautiful outdoors with a walk through the park, drank some cheap "Amurican" beer, grilled a delicious vegetarian dinner, and sat out in our front yard to watch the fireworks. It was a nice peaceful night.

Zucchini and Squash on the grill to go with our veggie burgers

I found an interesting article today for all you other hippies out there. Seems the hippie movement is still going strong, even today. (Of course all the free spirits like me already knew that!)

I'm looking forward to fireworks all weekend!

peace and love,

Katie

Getting back into the swing of things...

This week has been very busy and I've loved every minute of it. It's like the more I get back into making jewelry and painting, the more I remember who I am. For a little while there I think I lost a huge part of myself when I put my dream on hold and buried it... But now that it seems like a possibility again, I'm happier and more excited than I've been in a very long time.

The planning aspect of this is hard for me. I'm a free spirt that creates when I feel moved to, so it's been hard to do nothing but plan for a week. I've done so much to get ready for my shop to reopen but I still have a ton to do! Adam has been very busy this week, and he is the computer genius... so hopefully this weekend we will be able to sit down together and make the new Banners and Logos and all that!

I've been sketching... What does everybody think of something like this for the new logo of Katie's Basement?

Hmm... I'm still not sure if I'm in love with it. I'll keep drawing...

I've also been working on some new pieces to try and get my inventory back up there after my hiatus. Can't open an empty shop!!

Here's a sneak peak of some earrings from the new jewelry line I'm planning on releasing in the Fall...

Exciting.

Tonight I'm bringing some chairs, some beer, and heading out to an outdoor concert of some local bands. I absolutely love everything about live music, and my soul has been craving it.

peace and love,
Katie

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Good morning new house,

I'm finally starting to get used to the new house. I think we did a really good job of making it our own and after we finish the last couple things it will be perfect! There is a window right above the headboard of our bed, so the sun has been waking me up VERY early every morning.

At first I hated it, but I have come to embrace my quiet time in the mornings spent with my tea. I go sit in our little sun room with our 40 plants and watch the rabbits and birds outside. Very inspiring.

Created a few new pieces yesterday and plan to work on some more today. The main goal of today though is going to be to get my Etsy pages completed--About page, Shop Policies, Profile, Buyer Messages... all that kind of stuff.

Adam is super busy with work this week, so all the banners and style changes for the Etsy shop and the social media might have to wait until he slows down a little bit. I'm so lucky to be with someone so motivated. He's allowing me to follow my dream and I love him so much more for it.

Hope everyone enjoys their day!

peace and love,

Katie

Weekend Getaway

Spending some quality time out in the beauty of nature. Definitely found a little bit of peace., a photo by Katie's Basement on Flickr.

We took the RV out on a short road trip just to get away and enjoy the season. Found a little bit of peace. Nothing like relaxing in the middle of nature with the one you love for a little bit of inspiration.

Now that we are back, it's time to keep working. Planning to make some new pieces this week and begin work on my new line. More details about the new line to come.

This week I will also be spending a lot of work on the look of the shop (banners, logos, etc.). Expect some changes here on this blog too.

Hope everyone had as wonderful of a weekend as I did.

peace and love,
Katie

Change.

Change., a photo by Katie's Basement on Flickr.

First project in the newly finished art space!

Stumbled across one of my favorite John Lennon quotes today. Enjoy!

"If someone thinks that love and peace is a cliche that must have been left behind in the Sixties, that's his problem. Love and peace are eternal."

Getting organized...

It's literally been years!

Wow!

What a long time it has been. Last I posted, I was getting packed up and ready to go back to school for my senior year. Katie's Basement unfortunately had to be placed on the back burner when senior year of college and then real-life came knocking. Real life is hard!

But I am so very excited to say that I am finally at a point in my life where I can begin doing what I love again! Katie's Basement is coming back extremely soon!

In my hiatus, I have done the following:

• Graduated from Sewanee: University of the South with a degree in Anthropology
• Met the love of my life
• Worked several jobs and learned valuable lessons from all of them
• Met hundreds of incredible people
• Moved four or so times--from Woodstock, to Atlanta, to Nashville, and finally to beautiful Kirkwood, MO outside of St. Louis with my wonderful boyfriend Adam and our two cats
• Bought an adorable little house and fixed it up
• Experienced my early 20's like a rockstar

That's a lot!

But I'm taking my time to make sure everything will be just perfect. Going to be employing some new marketing techniques, releasing new product lines, changing the look of my shop and blog, and possibly expanding to other platforms as well.

I hope 2013 sees everyone doing well and continuing to follow their dreams.

Much more to come soon!

peace and love,

Katie

Hey hey!

I hope everyone had a great weekend! Mine has been super busy! I'm moving back to school on Tuesday, so this weekend has been spent doing some last minute shopping and packing, packing, packing.

 BUT I'm pausing my packing to tell you about a fabulous new friend and amazing Etsy seller I met through the Etsy forums! 

Meet Lola! When she first contacted me and we started talking, I remember being intrigued by her shop! She sells handcrafted and beautifully designed hula hoops! Not going to lie, I was surprised at first but the more I looked into her shop and the more I got to know about her and her business... the more I realized we have some very similar mindsets!

 To start, I asked Lola "Why hula hoops?" Her answer amazed me! She told me all about how a friend turned her onto the "soothing meditative qualities" of hula hooping. She was interested and went out to purchase one only to find that her new hoop wasn't designed for adults and it just didn't work for her! Later and with renewed interest she found a new hoop designed especially for adults and fell in love with it! 

It's obvious to feel her love for hula hooping when you hear her talk about it. Her passion pulls you in! "The pure joy & comforting massage an adult hoop provides is amazing. I started by just being able to hoop 50 times on my hips without dropping it ( only 

months ago!), now I confidently jump in and out 

of hoops and can hoop on my neck and elbows! I love to get funky to live music or just play some music in my backyard while the sun sets!" And this passion you feel through her words is how her shop got started! She says she opened her Etsy shop "with the hope of sharing the simple joy hooping brings to anyone who tries it."

Her goals for her shop are very similar to my own goals for mine! She says her main goal of the business is to "

provide as many people as I can with a hoop so they can find that the simple, childish, joy we have all experienced in our youth is still easily found within a hoop!" She also want

s to team up with the local hospital to help patients with physical therapy through hula hooping (what a fabulous idea)! She is talented in all areas however, not just hula hoops! She paints and is currently studying fine art and tattooing.

In short, I am so lucky to have found such a wonderful person on Etsy. We need

 more sellers like this for whom their business is a means to spread happiness to others. And not just sellers and artisans, but our entire population. If everyone in the world stopped worrying about making millions and started trying to spread peace and joy to their neighbors, I am positive we would be better off as a society! 

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace." ~ Jimi Hendrix

I hope you enjoyed meeting Lola as much as I did! Be sure to check out her shop HERE. She also has a fabulous BLOG that you should check out!

Thanks again for all of your support!

peace and love,

Katie

Hey hey everyone!

Some exciting treasury news...

I'm currently being featured in a couple of treasuries! One is beautiful with maroon colored items and the other is named Marshmallow! Check them out if you are bored.

BUT, the most exciting news, is that I finally got a treasury! Haha I staked out for about 30 minutes afraid that I would miss it when it opened up but it was a success!

It's themed for the coming season of Fall that I love so very very much.

Here's a preview!

You can check it out here.

Hope everyone is having a great night :)

peace and love,

Katie

Fall is almost here!

Hey hey!

Wow everyone, it has been entirely too long since I last posted!! I've been extremely busy because I just recently realized that I'm going back to school in less than a week... haha, the end of the summer kind of snuck up on me didn't it?

Alright.. so here go the updates:

In the past few weeks I've received my first sale on Etsy, which was quickly followed by quite a few more! I'm super excited about it... it means that making the move to Etsy was a good choice! I also received some sales on my 1000Markets account, which was unexpected but very exciting :) They weren't kidding when they said sales start to pick up in the fall and winter!

Also, I've been back and forth between my place here in GA to Athens, GA and I just have to say I love it SO MUCH. I've been thinking for a long time about taking a few art and jewelry classes over at UGA after I graduate this year from Sewanee. Sewanee is a great place, but it just doesn't have the art and jewelry classes that I feel I could really benefit from. And I LOVE the town of Athens. Most importantly though, a few of my best friends are there and I just feel so comfortable and welcomed every time I visit... something that Sewanee and my place here in Woodstock is beginning to lack.

This also sounds crazy, but I really want to bar tend for a few years as well. I think I'm going to get a bartending job somewhere and work during the night and do the jewelry thing during the day to see if I can't keep it going and really get it started. 

Gross... see what senior year has done to me? It's gotten me into "Future Career Mode." Haha, no wonder I want to stay in school a little bit longer!

Oh well, I've been crazy productive jewelry wise, so once we have a clear day here I'll get some pictures taken and show you what I've been up to! In the meantime, I've been featured on not one, but TWO fantastic blogs!! Be sure to take a look!!

• You can find the first feature here. This blog is incredible.. You'll see some of the most amazing mosaics EVER! Go check it out!
• The second feature is entirely my work! This blog is also pretty great! It's called LunaGirls and it features a new artist every week! You can check it out here.

So check these blogs out and give them a follow! I've enjoyed reading them both!

peace and love,

Katie

p.s. I'm going to try to hold a free contest giveaway here sometime this week! So keep an eye out for that :)

My first giveaway EVER!

Hey hey!

So today marks my first ever giveaway contest! Once I get a few more blog followers I'll start having them on my blog, but for now... I am holding it on my Facebook Fan Page. Everyone is free to enter! Just 'Become a Fan' and you can find the contest rules and entry section under the "Discussion" tab! You can find my fan page HERE.

Other than that, I've finally started going back to the gym constantly to get ready for school. My gym offers these awesome group classes, and I think I've become addicted. Has anybody else done RPM spin classes or any other LesMilles classes? I LOVE THEM! They are soooo soooo hard and tiring, but they are so much fun. But let me just say that if you have problems with a nocturnal sleeping schedule (like I do), just go to the gym a couple times a day haha. I have been OUT by about 10:00 every night since I started going!

Hope everyone is having a good week! I love hearing from all of you!

peace & love,

Katie

New Start!

Hey hey!

I just wanna say thanks again to all of you who read and comment! It makes it a lot easier knowing somebody is listening, haha.

Well this weekend was great, but sooooo long. Art fairs are one of my favorite things in the world because you actually get to see real live people's reactions to your work, which is always motivating AND it lets me know which of my things draw the most attention. The only downside is that now I am soo tired and everything is packed up again, which means I have to unpack in order to start creating.

I realized that I only have 3 weeks until I go back to start my final year of school at the University of the South. WOW, these 4 years went fast! It motivates me even more to get Katie's Basement up and running so I can have something to turn my sights to after college. It's going to be near impossible to juggle senior year work with all this, but something that I feel like I really need to do. We'll see how it goes! I believe.

I'm all filled up until then though... A few more business trips to surrounding boutiques, a visit to Athens, GA to see my friends one last time before school, and all that packing I have to do... 

But yes, I hope everyone had a great Monday! And I hope y'all have the best week ever!

peace and love,

Katie

Back From Raleigh!

Hey hey!

I'm back from Raleigh, and let me just say what a great trip it was! Very successful! I'm so excited to finally see some change and progress! I get to come back to some good news too, because I am being featured in a couple different places! Y'all should all check them out, because the blogs are great and the treasury is BEAUTIFUL!

So first thing's first! I am being featured in a pretty sweet blog right now. I swung by to check out my feature, and ended up reading for about 30 minutes! This blog is SO interesting and she has such great taste. I definitely followed and you should too! Check it out at this link. Again with the hemp bracelets! Haha, maybe I should switch over for good.. Everyone seems to like them!

I'm also currently in TWO treasuries! This one is my favorite.. the theme is "Rivers" and everything in it is absolutely beautiful... I want to buy everything, haha. You can check out this treasury here. My "Flowing River" anklet is being featured front and center!

This weekend is going to be busy busy busy, so I better get back to work! Hope all of you have a fantastic weekend and get some better weather than we have here in Atlanta!

Peace and Love,

Katie

First Boutique: A Success!!

Hey hey everyone!

I just got back a few hours ago from my first boutique visit in Raleigh on this business trip and I am proud to say it was a success! We managed to negotiate a home for 28 pieces!!! TWENTY-EIGHT! I am beyond excited! The store is SO cool... it's called Get Dressed in Raleigh, NC. Some is consignment, and others are 6-month or longer vendors, and still others are the sel

lers of vintage clothes/shoes. The whole store consists of very etsy-ish stuff. Lots of soldered jewelry, upcycled jewelry, and vintage stuff. The clothing though is out of this world! There is a TON of bohemian, hippie-looking shirts... haha, MY TYPE OF THING!

But yeah, I was surprised that the pieces they were most interested in were my upcycled and recycled jewelry and my hemp jewelry! Who knew? I have always enjoyed those 2 lines the most out of all of my creations, so I can't wait to get home and start on more to bring in! Being creative, saving the planet, and making other people happy... what's better than that?

Tomorrow is another busy day... visits in the morning, flying back to ATL in the evening, and then spending all night getting set up for my big art market this weekend! 

....... not too sure when sleep is going to fit in there, though.

I'm just so excited to finally start seeing some success. It really helps to hear those compliments, to have people ask to buy your stuff, and to hear all the uplifting comments people give like hearts on your items and compliments in the forums or over the phone. It makes getting up in the morning so much easier when you know people are looking forward to your next move. So THANK YOU to each and every person that has helped support me and my work! Readers, that means you! THANKS!!!!

Peace & Love,

Katie

p.s. To make things even better... guess who was in downtown Raleigh about 1 mile from me? PRESIDENT OBAMA! How cool is that?