I used to be in such a hurry to make new designs.  One must produce...and produce a lot...list new items every day on a plethora of websites...you must get SEEN and seen frequently....you have to advertise everywhere...all the time...you have to be everywhere, simultaneously.  That's how I used to be.  And I'd watch myself wither away, run out of energy...deplete my creativity...fill up with a lack of desire...after about one month of going at it gung-ho.  And for me, that process never really worked. 

I left the corporate world to get away from stress.  I wanted to work at home - which I did for many years selling vintage costume jewelry on Ebay.  At first it was fun.  But it was the same principle...list frequently...more and more and more.  Even though I was working at home, I became stressed.  For one thing, I worked 3 times as hard at home as I ever had to do at any office job.  An office job would have been cush compared to what I was going through.  Of course most people around me thought because I was "at home", I did nothing but sit around and eat bon bons watching soaps all day. :)  Let them live a day in my life - pul-ee-zzzzz.

At some point about 5 years ago, I burned out.  Couldn't do it anymore.  The good thing was I'd learned enough about jewelry and designs to know what I liked and how to create it.  The bad thing was, I had no energy left to give to it.

So I took a break and have fluctuated between devoting my energy to both my art and my jewelry ever since.  I only just recently revamped my plan on where I wanted to go with my jewelry.  I've learned new techniques over the past year, and I've finally settled on my favorite supplies, and yes - don't fall over - a style.  Finally.  I've been drawn to two main elements in my recent designs. Combine that with my choices in materials, and viola' - there is a style. A similarliness. A LOOK.  After 10 years in total, I thought it would never happen.

So now that I've returned to this passion of jewelry design, that old familiar feeling and those thoughts and those words that everyone says you must do to "make it" have all come flooding back.  One must produce...and produce a lot...list new items every day on a plethora of websites...you must get SEEN and seen frequently....yada yada yada.

This time though, I'm not going to listen.  See, I've gotten to where I really enjoy sitting with my coffee. (and I love tea now too!)  I love the smell when I open the cans...I love hearing it brew...and my day is not complete unless I experience that little clink of the spoon against the side of the cup and the feel of its warmth on my lips as I sip it.

And I've decided, making and having coffee is such a good, pleasant and relaxing experience, I want my work to be the same.  I've found myself piling up my materials and tools and staring at them for a long time. Then I'll walk away. I'll sit outside and listen to the birds or watch the cats play.  I'll take a walk. I'll ride my bike.  I'll chat on Facebook or twitter.  I'll read.  I'll enjoy a sweet treat and I'll watch Dr. Phil in the afternoon.  And all the while...a design based on that pile of materials is brewing in my mind.  Just like my coffee.

It's called Percolation.  Percolate means to cause something (liquid, for example) to pass through a porous substance or small holes; to filter.  So I put the materials in my mind, which then stirs them up into possible ideas.  Those ideas then pass through my brain.  I filter them using my feelings and emotions.  And when it's all done...I've filtered out the ideas which won't work...the ideas which aren't viable...the ones that don't feel right...and I'm left with something...some semblance of a design idea I think is good.

It's only then that I pick up the tools and work on it.  I may have to make adjustments.  Just like adding sugar or creamer to a hot cup of coffee...sometimes things just need a bit of flavorful sweetener. :)

The entire process is slow...it's easy...it's relaxing.  And I've found this recent go-round with my jewelry design work much more fulfilling, and the work much more flavorful.  Yes it takes longer to see new designs up here on the site - but oh, when they get here - they just seem to taste so much better.  :)