on hiatus until futher notice

Documenting Street Art

at WorldChanging

The Beany has landed!

I got my copy through the post today. Been sunk on sofa reading it. Go here to get your own.

My Paper Crane

A blog about sewing, crafting, spinning and dyeing.

Alternative Christmas

Send a Cow
Oxfam Unwrapped
Buy Nothing Christmas - including alternative non commercial and no money presents

Surviving Christmas

I'm overjoyed as I've decided what will be my 'to me from me' present this year (shsh don't tell). Some years ago I found Christmas much more bearable if you take things in hand and give yourself exactly what you want instead of hoping someone will guess. It takes away the deprived feeling of giving giving giving without gettintg something back. I can't remember where I got the idea from but it might have been from an article in a magazine.

I got my idea for my present from Andrea Scher's Holiday Gift Guide. So I'm getting one of these.

Soulful Holidays for Singles is an article I wrote a few years ago.

apprenticeship

following on from a discussion I had recently about optimum

December gloom

The relentless onset of the dark has been pulling me down recently. Its pitch black at 4pm here in Scotland. I just want to curl up on the sofa with my knitted blanket drawn over me and a bar of Green & Black's Dark Cherry Chocolate.

As I looked out of the bus window and saw christmas lights in shop windows I wondered if all the hoopla is just a way of trying to chase away the dark?

In any case chasing away the dark recently has been helped by:

Pink Cashmere Gloves - Hawick Cashmere in Grassmarket
Angels on Bare Skin skin cleanser from Lush - the essential oils perk me up
Hot Chocolate with a centred friend.
Fresias
Going outside at lunchtime to store up light.

If the time of year is getting you down I hope you can gift to yourself something cheering or even better several something cheerings.

Marketing Schmarketing

One day long long time ago a badly paid princess toiled in an underfunded arts organisation where she was expected to sweep out the filing cabinets, open the mail, process orders and do the marketing with no budget what so ever.

The organisation was also dependent on volunteer undermaids to keep the place going. One day a letter came from Switzerland from a woman asking to come and spend time at the organisation and improve her English. As was the policy I sorry the princess wrote back immediately (though probably via surface mail as it was cheaper) saying ‘come’. Some months later Elizabet arrived.* After a few weeks of observing the haphazard slightly desperate measures employed in marketing the organisation Elizabet drew the Princess aside and asked err how she’d got the job and erhum what qualifications she’d go. She was most perplexed to discover that in the UK one could get jobs without being trained for them. One could also get jobs without really being paid for them either… anyway Elizabet picked herself off the floor and as she had worked for several major Swiss publishing firms tried to inculcate the rudiments of marketing. One of the most startling facts which has stuck in my head as if branded there is this. The average return on a direct mail leaflet is less than 1%. That is you are lucky to get one response in 100. Phew! I felt less of a failure from that time when I sent out 1500 leaflets advertising our plays and got two orders back then… All to the good so began to realise how much hard work marketing is. One friend does high level networking change meetings in the disability field – will send out 100 + letters about a seminar to a highly highly select target group and will be lucky to get 20.

Now I’ve accepted that marketing is hard. I work backwards how many of x would I like to sell? Eg if I have to fill 12 places on a course I need to cart about the minimum of 1200 leaflets and place them in likely places or even unlikely places. I’ve had dreams of advertising or even word of mouth/internet taking away the hard graft but sadly it doesn’t work.

* Of course her English was perfect.

Yesterknits

a fabulous find and an example of the joys of the internet. Lost myself in a while imagining knitting up some 'Now Voyager' inspired 1940's knits.

The Wandering Moleskine Project

Moleskine notebooks are being sent out into the world and the writers/artists who use them are sending back scans. I signed up for the 1000 Jounals Project last year but my journal went missing in creative action... hope the same doesn't happen to the Moleskine.

Poets & Writers Magazine

Has a free email to notify writers of deadlines for competitions, burseries etc. Also interesting interviews and articles on the online version of the mag.

Sustainable Creativity

I'm prompted by two postings one at Michael Nobbs and another at Pomegrantes & Paper

So my challenge to all of you this week is to start thinking about sustainable creativity. Many of you don't need this challenge; you have it down pat and your blogs and journals glow with sketches and scarves and poems and prose. Many of us, however, need to focus on what we can do instead of bemoaning what we can't. We need to move to action before all our points of light fade out and we're left with the shadow of inaction.

Loretta

~~~~

Ah heres the rub... I had a week where I did a proposal for a documentary project, taught a class, started a new job, did a morning of research in an archive (4 hour journey involved), knitted, wrote 10 postcards to friends, cooked 4 dinners from scratch, went to a 'networking' event, helped one film-maker hook up potentially with a producer, punted a business idea, tried to set up meetings re biz idea, restrained myself from killing lodger who threw away a cheque and resulted in a few hours grubbing about in a black bin bag of rubbish, took two huge unweildy bags of stuff to charity shop, processed three films, took photographs as I went about my daily life, journalled, and did innumerable hours of chat on phone and email to be good friend. Of course all I can focus on is that I've not uplated this blog since last wednesday, arranged my annual christmas event invites, or done more housework etc.

We have to focus on what we do - do. Usually when we sit down and list it our 'not very productive weeks' are filled with activity. Its time we gave ourselves credit and worked out what is a reasonable amount of creative activity to put into a week or day and what isn't. And to monitor what really isn't worth spending time on.

Whateverworks

er... emergency!

it seems the email i sent last week didn't reach you....

so, very short notice but... doing anything tomorrow night at 7pm
(thurs 18 nov)?

for a measly two squids you could immerse yourself in the pure
cinematic joy that is whateverworks at the cameo cinema

two pounds gets you into a screening / informal interview with bafta award winning filmmaker morag mckinnon and then a couple of
complimentary cocktails in the bar afterwards.... it screams value, no?

we'll be showing three pieces of morag's work, 'hoppla!' which she
co-directed as part of her masters degree, the bafta award winning
'home' and an excerpt from the bafta award winning channel 4 series
'buried' which she also directed.

tickets are available in advance either in person at the cameo cinema or by calling the box office on 0131 228 4141. the screening / q&a will start at 7pm on the nail and will last for one hour.

remember, if you can't get a ticket to the screening you're more than welcome to hang out with us in the bar from 8pm onwards...

also, a quick thanks to our supporters: channnel 4: ideasfactory,
edinburgh film focus and shooting people.

ok, hope to see you tomorrow

richard

The Water Cooler

is a writing networking sort of group which meets at the Travers Bar in Edinburgh 1pm. Its meeting tomorrow. Email anne hay at blueyonder dot co dot uk for more info.

an interview done via drawings

with SARK (Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy)

Suzanne Falter-Barnes

of How Much Joy has started a Painless Self Promotion blog ... I'm skeptical but I'm adding it to my reading list.

Another Girl @ Play

This website started by Alex Beauchamp has interviews with 25 women who make a living creatively.

The Art of Craft

is a great blog which focuses on the business side of art making.

Meggiecat

Interesting creativity blog which I'm just starting to explore.