Studio Vlogs

This Week in the Studio: Frustrations with Starting a New Business

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Happy Monday!

Today I am sharing my weekly studio vlog and it was a bit of a challenge. Most of the week went well as I was able to get some studio clean up done and I also set up my new writing binder for a new story I am working on. I have signed up for a Self-Publishing course and I am really excited for it. To prepare I began with getting my current work in progress. I write all new stories by hand first in a notebook. My first edit comes when I type it into my computer. There is something about writing hand to paper that just connects me to the story in a way the keys don’t. It’s a fun way to get to know my characters and their world.

I set up a binder which is a new system for me, that is going to hold all my story information. Characters, worlds, plot, chapters that sort of thing. In addition to the one I am writing there are several others waiting to be edited so they can be self-published. I would love to have a book ready by the end of the year to publish-even it’s just all the editing is done.

When I first saw the class I was really excited and signed up for the waiting list. I have been following the author for a while and I really love her approach to career and this course feels in alignment with my own career goals. I’ll be sure to keep you posted as to how it’s all going.

The other goal I had this week was to print the sticker sheets I have been creating and add them to my shop. Theoretically this was going to be easy. The hard part of conception and creating the art was over right? I was so wrong.

I have been wanting to turn my art into stickers forever and I have tried over the years and basically ended up really, really unhappy with my cutting machines.

I finally thought I had it all worked out and then the machine (my newest one) was giving me issues. I managed to solve those issues only to have my printer give me problems. In the end, I have re-designed my stickers and I have one sheet available for purchase-woohoo!!! I am very hopeful that I will have the rest of the stickers done and ready for purchase by the end of the week.

To celebrate the sticker sheets are shipping for free so yay! You can purchase a sheet here if, like me, you love your coffee too 🙂

I will also share a secret little item that, for now, only you my faithful blog readers will know about. I have a new journal for sale in my shop too! If you have been following along in my Make a Journal Series this is the journal I make and this Friday the last of the videos will go live. I will also promote this journal for sale so if you would like to pick it up before then you can find it here.

So that was what was going on this week in the studio. I have lots of new projects in the works and I am hoping to have some new dollhouse content up if I could just decide on the upstairs flooring. I still think I want full carpeting but I am really not sure. I will keep you posted.

I hope your summer is going well. My oldest two have been enjoying camp for the past few weeks and I have been playing chauffeur. Looking forward to next week when the schedule quiets down for a few before another week of camp.

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

 

 

 

 

 

Studio Vlog: A Relaxing Compilation of Studio Work

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Happy Monday everyone! I have a new studio vlog for you where I piece together a few different days footage that I have been collecting on my phone.

You may remember me mentioning that I am still trying to get the hang of studio vlogging. I will record but then often the footage just sits on my phone because I usually decide it’s not that interesting. However, since I love watching studio vlogs I really wanted to work to share some with you so I went through my recent footage from last week and a little older footage from early spring and compiled it here for you.

This past week was really exciting as I was FINALLY able to get my cutting machine to work for making stickers. I have had the worst time trying to make sticker sheets and have tried over and over for years with various degrees of success. I really want to start offering sticker sheets when I re-launch my shop so I gave it another try and was SO happy that it worked! I was very grateful to my fellow artist and business owners over on Insta that helped me out.

In this video you will see me going for a walk and some shots of the flowers that are currently blooming in my garden as well as in front of my studio space. I do some work in my creative corner at home and then venture over to the studio for some writing time and my first attempt at making clay pins. I hope to share the results of those with you next week.

How about you? How is your summer going?

Until next time,

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

Free Music for Videos 👉 Music by ThinkChill – orquidea – https://thmatc.co/?l=F1952452

Studio Vlog: Episode #1 July 1, 2024

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Today I am sharing a glimpse into my studio life. I have been wanting to film regular studio vlog’s for a while now and they always seem to get started and then I just don’t finish. I hope you like this as I plan to share these more regularly with you.

I started off giving the studio and outside in the hallway a little clean which felt so good! Once that was done I sat down to do a bit of a brain dump in my catch all journal as a way to transition into actual work. Then I started making some notes and sketches for the storage I want to add. I have decided that I want the studio to feel a bit lighter. I am a very visual person and need to see what I have available to me but it’s gotten to the point where it’s a bit more cluttered than I would like. So I am going to purchase 2 wall cabinets, a sewing cart and some peg boards.

I am going to work in stages so I am sure I am buying only what I need so I decided to start off with cleaning off some of my book shelves. I also emptied some paper storage drawers I have that I have not been using. It was a quick job but one that looked daunting at the offset.

I finish up this studio day with a bit of art as well. I am going to keep sharing the transformation as I add storage and clean up the studio. Let me know if there is anything you would like to know more about or see in upcoming blog posts and I will do my best.

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

 

Video: Studio Vlog-Shopping, Declutter & Cleaning

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Hi everyone! Today I am sharing a little something different-a studio vlog! I haven’t had much time at the studio this week so today I decided to have a bit of an artist day while I visited the used book store and a few craft stores before heading off to the spend the afternoon cleaning my very messy studio.

It was raining today but as I was heading to the car I saw that someone had left a lovely note in our Little Free Library thanking us for setting it up and keeping it so nice. It was a really nice surprise as I wasn’t sure how many people were using the library but it really made my day! They didn’t sing the note but I am so grateful to them.

My first stop was the used book store. I am very lucky to have an amazing one nearby and so I went in and left with a stack of books! Some are for my little library, some I plan to read and then add to the library and some are for my own collection. I will share a full shopping haul next week with my book club update.

After that I went to fabric store but they were closed because their power was out. I had wanted to buy some fabric to use as backing for a crazy quilt I’m making but it will have to wait for another time.

A stop at the library for, yes another book and then I found my way to the studio. The rain and chill had me looking forward to a cup of coffee and then I finally got down to the business of cleaning.

I also did a little shopping and I think for my birthday I am going to purchase some storage units for the studio. One will store items and also work as a great place to pack orders when I start offering physical products. The rest is to hide away all my supplies so the space feels much cozier and neater.

I also managed to get some work done on the dollhouse and film for tomorrow. All in all it was a really wonderful day!

I hope you enjoy watching the video. Please let me know if you like this sort of thing as I might add it to the regular rotation of videos.

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

Welcome to My New Studio!

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I am so excited to be saying that I have finally rented my own studio space! This has been a dream of mine for years and last Friday-it finally came true!

I am going to share a bit of the before and then the journey but if you are interested at the end of the post I also have a vlog where I chat and give you a tour of the space.

The past few years I have really struggled to find balance. Taking care of my family and taking care of myself wasn’t something I was doing very well. I think sometimes we can go through periods in life where it feels like all we are doing is hanging on and that’s where I was. This year however I have been finding my way back to myself. My spirituality, my creativity have both played parts and I am just now starting to feel like myself again.

Of course you don’t need studio space to be creative. You don’t need anything to be creative. For me however it was about claiming my creativity. It was finally taking all the dreams, goals, plans I had in my head and giving them form. I have literally made space for my art, my writing, my spiritual work and in doing so I have also made the commitment of time to these parts of myself.

Parts that, in all honesty, were really being neglected for a while.

So the journey has been going on for years with me looking a bit here and a bit there. Thinking about building a small studio on our property or maybe converting an old barn into some creative space. I looked for places to rent that were really out of my price range and I also told myself that I had space in the house to use so I didn’t need anything else.

It would go round and round that way until I changed. (You can read more about that on my other blog if you are interested in things metaphysical and spiritual 🙂

Two weeks ago I called a place not far from me to inquire on available spaces. Turned out they had one small space that was within my price range. They weren’t able to show it that day but I was told to give a call back Monday to set things up-which I did. Tuesday had me strolling around a new space-in my dream building and knowing instantly that all the planning, dreaming and wishing had fallen into place.

Thursday I had a lease, Friday I had keys and Saturday I had paint splattered clothes and a heart full of gratitude and excitement.

The space is small-just 8’x16’ or somewhere around there but it’s exactly what I need. It’s clean, quiet and I’m able to make my heart, write my stories and blog posts, create my videos-and with any luck-start sharing more of work (and my dreams) with you. I could not be happier!

I have lots of plans for someone who doesn’t plan so perhaps I should call them ideas. I have given them a home to live in (a bullet-kinda-journal-thing) and I plan on tending them regularly.

So that is what I have been up to. I hope you like the photos and the video and I do plan on sharing a lot more videos and chatting with you here so if there is anything you would like to see or questions you have please let me know!

 

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante