I’ve been a little quiet and “inside my own head” the past few days. We’ve had a lull in orders for a little over a week now and we’re still adjusting. We don’t quite know what to do without a deadline to fill. We’re working on nailing down ideas for future timeline projects. Other than that our evenings have been reaching a level of normalcy we haven’t seen in a while. Eating at the table. Watching TV. Talking. Just Hanging Out. It’s really been nice. I think I’m coming down with something. I thought it was just allergies, but now I’m thinking its more like a head cold. I spent Monday napping and watching movies and blowing my nose. 

At the beginning of the weekend the weather was so beautiful. We took a walk (looking for the comet, but no luck) and the night air was so perfect and warm. It was another one of those “Moments of Calm” I was talking about last week. Just….content in the moment. 

I’ve been thinking about opinions and perspectives a lot lately.  It really is fascinating to me that people can be wired up so differently from each other. We all see a different facet of life and respond accordingly.  There isn’t one universal “perspective” that we all base our opinions off of. That’s why I find it kind of silly when people debate things. If we all started with the exact same information from the exact same angle and then formed an opinion, it would make more sense to me, but it seems like everyone’s “jump off point” is different so our opinions have zero correlation to each other. It’s 3am so I’m a little ramble-y. Bear with me.

Life experience, upbringing, wounds, brain chemicals….it all affects our outlook. One of the most valuable lessons I learned at MMR was that people have different temperaments and personality types and love languages.  There are many factors that go into what makes a person tick, and being able to recognize some of them might give you a better understanding into how they see the world. Unfortunately most people don’t take the time to do that. Even worse, some expect everyone around them to “tick” the same way they do, and that’s just impossible!

There are a couple of people that I’ve known for 10+ years that when I first met them I thought we were nothing alike and we didn’t click at all. I judged based on first impression and if not for MMR I probably would have just let it stay that way. Over the years I’ve gotten to know these people better and better. I see decisions that they make and at first glance I sometimes disagree with them.  That is, until it comes up in conversation later, and I hear their heart behind it. Then my whole perspective of the situation changes.

The heart is what matters. I wish people would remember that. I wish I would remember that.  People make decisions or react to situations based on what is going on in their heart. How can we bypass the inner workings of someone’s soul and assume we know what they’re like based on a single opinion they hold. Words mean nothing if you don’t know anything about the person who is speaking them. 

Kai accurately reflects how Joe and I each feel about strangers. Apparently I have some issues to work out.

This handsome man turns 28 today. 

Love you Joey! 

Let’s check in on my little petting zoo, shall we?

There’s Khloe, basking in the morning sun, mittens folded “just so”.

Look at Kai, daintily perched atop a mountainous pillow.

And my handsome Newly…um….sprawled across the carpet with his tongue hanging out. 

Better luck with the paparazzi next time, bubs.

When we receive a custom request for a flower we’ve never made before, we head straight to Google Images and start saving our favorites. Then we compare notes and see what matches up.  You’d be surprised how many variations of one flower there can be, and we do our very best to create the most accurate representation of it that we can. Once we’ve narrowed it down to 2 or 3 pictures, we sit down with each other and point out what particular features or details we like about each image we’ve chosen. For example, with this gerbera daisy, one of the images I selected was chosen only because I loved the detail of having a line or two down the center of each petal. To me, that was a detail that would help the overall image of our art piece. Once we’ve made notes of all the details we want to be sure to include, Joe heads out to the shop and starts piecing it together.  

Along the way, he shows his progress to me and I compare it to our reference images and point out what might need to be tweaked. This is generally my job, because Joe needs a fresh set of eyes after staring at the same pieces of metal for a couple of hours. Once we finally have the pieces the way we want them, I apply multiple coats of paint and then let it cure for a day or so.  Once it is assembled (this time by Joe) we do any last minute touches. This time, we realized we needed more depth and detail in the center of the flower. It took several paint techniques before we landed on this one, but we think the turquoise fading into the black center looked more natural than the solid black dot we had painted at the very beginning. (I am wishing now that we’d photographed the process of adding these details, to show you how much of a difference paint placement can make!)

Once an item is offered in our shop, it is often something we’ve made for a friend, family member, or co-worker. We make sure we have all the kinks worked out so when it comes to things like metal roses or lilies we could almost do them in our sleep. We have a system in a place and we each have our jobs in the assembly line. Working with metal is more of Joe’s natural gift, and it has been a learned process for me. I’ve learned to use so many tools and gained a greater knowledge of the way metal works and what you can and can’t get it to do. I might complain about the little cuts and bruises on my hands (which causes Joe to complain about the fact that I never wear the work gloves he bought for me) but all in all I am proud of the flowers we make and it is really a lot of fun. 

May your weekend be full of “keep napping” naps.

I have many friends who have requested that I share my tips & tricks for starting/running an Etsy shop.  That is in the works for the coming weeks! I have been writing down what I know and trying to organize it all so its not overwhelming. Hahaha. It’s a lot of information to take all at once.

In the meantime, I thought I’d share one of the biggest behind the scenes supporters of our Etsy shop– my friend Beth. 

Beth is our super talented graphic designer.

She created Bethica Desk & Design. 

Anytime you see a Pioneer Artisanworks banner, logo, business card, etc… it was because of Beth and the incredible magic design dust she sprinkles on everything she touches. She is currently in the early stages of creating a website for us. We need a “home base” on the internet and I’m excited to see what she puts together. If you’re thinking about starting an Etsy shop, definitely get in touch with her for creating a banner or logo for your new business.

You can visit her website, subscribe to her blog, or like her facebook page!

P.s. If you want to read all about how Joe took some trash and made it into something beautiful that we turned into a business…then go check out our blog feature on The Dubious Hausfrau! 

He can’t believe its only Wednesday.

He’s had a rough week being tossed around by Kai and Khloe.

We’ve sold two of these big metal Oklahoma art pieces. It’s really one of Joe’s favorite types of work, he never tires of it. He gets to beat on the metal with a rounded hammer and make lots of noise. In addition to that, he told me that he loves this type of art because it gives him lots of feedback as he goes. Each hit of the hammer causes something to change a little bit. If he doesn’t like it, he keeps hitting it (not a recommended method for solving daily problems though, haha)

I don’t really help much on these types of pieces. I typically cut out the basic shape from his hand drawn template, and then he brings it to life. Sometimes he’ll put an hour of work into it and show it to me and I can’t tell any major differences, but it just looks…better. I guess its kind of like how I’m constantly tweaking thing in our home.  A stack of books pushed over just a smidge. A picture hung just an inch or two higher. A chair set on the perfect angle. I like to arrange items and then step back and take a look and then nudge this or that over a little until it all looks and feels just right. Joe used to go a little crazy at the OCD-ness of this, until I related it to his metal chasework. All those little tweaks make for a better bigger picture. 

The morning that I first listed these pictures in our Etsy shop, I opened up the folder of pictures that Joe had taken the night before and was greeted with this:

You can all go change your pants now. 

Happy Tuesday!