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Friday, June 27, 2014

Shaking It Up. In reality and digitally.

 My dirty little secret? I'm NOT a procrastinator, unless you count sheer overwhelm... but I am... just a touch... OCD. So when I am assaulted by craziness, or I have to meet with a particular man, HWMNBN, (He-who-must-not-be-named), my coping mechanism is to tear something apart and put it back together. And I'm not talking about something small, like a piece of paper or an engine. I tear apart entire rooms. A month ago, after a particularly bad day, I tore apart my entire store and BeeHive studio.

Two weeks ago - I destroyed my home studio. For some reason, at seven o'clock one evening, I decided it would be a really good thing to completely disassemble the room. I mean - everything. I took all the drawers out of the flat files...


 and emptied all the shelves...

there were piles everywhere and the project became like one of those puzzles where you have to slide the little squares around in the right order to form the picture. I had to empty everything in order to move the furniture, but there was no where to move it since there were piles everywhere!

  

It took me a few days to get everything into place. There are still piles of stuff to be sorted out, but I like the way the room feels. 

 

I can climb the ladder to the treehouse again too. Unfortunately - I was also able to see the huge mess that is up there! It looks like the Playmobil castle has been under siege by all the decapitated Lego mini-figures!


A side effect of tearing it up - is that I find all kinds of things I thought I had lost. And that includes parts of projects. I have piles of sketches and ideas for books, piles of artwork, piles of Lilah's artwork. And I couldn't believe all the things I need to sort through in the flat file. That's a job for another day, another tantrum. It's actually very stressful. But I cleaned up my swing and my walk-in library - both comfy, relaxing places to hang out. No, I never have time to sit in either one.


 And before I had completely gained control of the studio, I was confronted with another unnerving encounter with HWMNBN and went looking for something else to destroy.

My computer and it's desktop is a mess of images and files and I intended to sort that all out, but was distracted by the internet...

So I started from scratch and completely redid my website!


I switched from HostBaby to Weebly and I will probably upgrade to a paid site so I can integrate my shop and add video and other fun stuff. Lilah helped me redesign the site banner. I wanted it to tie together with the new header on my Beez In the Belfy blog and she suggested I use my cartoon character here too. And lots of purple!

Since a website is supposed to serve a function, I keep agonizing over what exactly it IS that I DO! And worse, how do I explain it to other people so that it makes sense? I've taken the biz classes and read the books and I will probably NEVER have an elevator speech. I hate elevator speeches. But I remember reading an excellent blog post by Seth Godin about Girl Scout cookies. Most people don't want to hear a spiel about the organization or a guilt trip about helping others. All they really want to know is "do you have Thin Mints?" Do you have what they want? What's in it for them?

So if you would take a look around the site and let me know WHAT is it that you are looking for? I'm still working on it and would appreciate the input. What is it that I can offer you that no one else can? 
Seriously. I want to know.

Here are a bunch of links if you are feeling adventurous and/or opinionated ;-D...

The new website: http://www.SandySteenBartholomew.com
My blog: www.BeezInTheBelfry.com
My class blog: www.StudioBeeHive.com
My Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/BeezInk
My Twitter page: https://twitter.com/SandyBee
My Pinterest Boards: http://www.pinterest.com/bumblebat/
My Flickr Photostream: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bumblebat/
My Etsy store: www.Bumblebat.com
I'm on Linked In too.

9 comments:

  1. all i have to say is . . . (i sure you hope understand this) . . . why were you meeting with Voldemort?

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    Replies
    1. ;-D good question! Well... years ago, back when he was still human, I split off two bits of my soul and combined them with his. It's not easy to protect your horcruxes! And since I have never been good at spells, I have no Patronus to protect me when I have to go up against HWMNBN and his dementors. I DO eat a lot of chocolate though!! (Are you sorry you asked?)

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    2. not at all :) i was afraid you would think i was crazy. but then, did i ever tell you that gilderoy lockhart was my brother?

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  2. Okay - so if you've seen my blog - you know I am Halving Everything I Own! OMG!!! So I know from whence you come! Tearing apart is crazy while it's happening but so nice at the end. Take a sit in your swing with a glass of wine and imagine that HWMNBN get bitten by his pet snake. I know there is a double entendre there, and I thought about deleting it - but well, maybe it will make you smile.

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    Replies
    1. Smile - yes!
      And I snorted the "wine" out my nose laughing! ;-) ("wine" equals chocolate milk, but close enough)

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  3. What do I look for on your site, Facebook, etc.? Originally, it was tangle patterns and books; then I loved all the links that opened up new avenues of creativity and how you seemed to hold all the threads of the Zentangle/doodling universe together in one place; and finally it has been your wonderfully honest account of your journey as an artist and human being. Idiot HWMNBN did not realize what a gem he had. His loss.

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  4. Sandy, I used to do the same thing (dragging things around). then I got old. Your space looks so inviting and lovely! And that swing? OMG love.

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  5. The header on your new site is way too big and it is difficult to read your last name. ... See if when you mouse-over a menu item if you can change the color of the temporary selection. ... Interesting "HOME" comment. Are you a teacher? An artist for hire? An author? You might want to be more direct. .... Consider whether you have a business blog or a personal blog. It is not necessary to have everything you publish on the same site. BTW, I *hate* the word "blog." You either write articles or you share personal stuff. If you write articles (suggested by you being a teacher and writing "how to" things) say "Articles". I'm being uptight about the word "blog", which at one time referred to stream-of-consciousness stuff. I'd hope that an instructor would curate her words as much as her art. On the other hand, I love stream-of-consciousness stuff, it is just that the two aren't the same. IMHO, of course. ... just checked your site again, I hate the "visit my blogs" if what you are driving at is you want people to visit your published articles. Maybe "Visit these topics". What you have listed there are not blogs. .... Your workshops need to be under "workshops" not "news and reviews". .... put your Archives elsewhere. Those promote this blog, no? I love this blog, but the website seems to be promoting a business the base of which is your artistic and teaching skills ... Where do you solicit illustration engagements? ... Love your "shop" section ... Your "Classes" take you to a different site. Links from there are confusing. Yes, I realize you are still working on this ... Seems like you have two issues. 1-promoting classes, and 2-using the web to provide directions to people who are signed up. ... and that is my 3-cents.

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  6. I would love to see some online classes. Your work is so fabulous,Sandy. Inspirational and humorous. Thank you for sharing! xx

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