This blog moved!!!

Hey everyone!!

I have decided to mesh my business website with this blog!

Please go to
http://www.neawear.com
from now on, as I will be starting to blog more frequently again! Don’t miss out! There is so much talent out there, it’s in need of being seen! :D

I’m so excited of this change! hehe :)

See you thereeeee!!!!!

Janick
xx

http://www.neawear.com

} PucesPop Automne/Fall 2014

It’s time for the Fall edition of Puces Pop again!! YAY!
I’ll be there with all my inventory, plus some new jewelry pieces as well!

St-Denis Church (5075, Rivard St., Montreal)
Just in front of Laurier metro (Laurier exit)
Friday Sept 19th: 2 to 8pm
Sat/Sun Sept 20th-21st: 11am to 6pm

See you there! :)

———-

C’est de nouveau le temps de Puces Pop! YOUPPI!
J’y serai avec tout mon inventaire, en plus de plusieurs nouveautés bijoux!

Église St-Denis (5075, rue Rivard, Montréal)
Juste en face du métro Laurier (sortie Laurier)
Vendredi 19 sept: 14h à 20h
Sam/Dim 20-21 sept: 11h to 18h

On se voit là! :)

} The Skinny Jeans

Not just any skinny jeans. And not as in the style of the jeans. I mean THE skinny jeans: that pair of jeans almost all women decide to keep at some point, despite all logical and practical reasons not to. That pair that you loooooved. That pair that you bought when you were at you’re skinniest, whatever that size was. That pair that you haven’t been able to get into in years. But, that pair that you hope to fit into again, someday. Yes, I’m talking about THOSE skinny jeans.

Well, last night I decided to get rid of some clothing suitable for donation, those clothes you forget you actually have. And so, I was in front of a big pile of not-worn-in-a-while jeans (hello, I’m a jeans addict. And perhaps I have a hoarding gene somewhere in there too. Lol), trying them on, and putting them in either the keep pile, or the donate pile (they all ended up there, I’m happy to say).

And then, the last pair of the bunch: MY skinny jeans. This is a Mavi pair I bought in 2001 (that’s actually them in the picture), following a CEGEP (what college is called here) sports class I had to take (let’s just say I wouldn’t have willingly selected running & fitness if I had a choice in the matter) and in which I had lost some weight, because I had applied myself enough to not flunk it. One day in the summer right after, I went in a store with a friend (who was tiny in height as well as size) who wanted to do some shopping. Altho I didn’t mind accompanying her at all, this was of not much interest as a plus size clothing wearer; there’s just not much for me to do in a “normal size store” except check out a couple of jewelry pieces and scarves, as well as give my opinion on my friend’s fashion trials. But then, the saleswoman decided to pay attention to me, and mentioned that she had some size 15 jeans I could try on. With a “YEAH RIGHT LOL” attitude, along with my friend’s pushy motivation, I tried them on anyway. And they fit! I mean, it was a pretty tight fit especially sitting down, but I was still in the smallest size of pants I’d been in for a while. I bought them. Needless to say I really loved them a lot, and also needless to say that with my sports class over, I couldn’t fit in them a couple months later. And armed with that weird hope syndrome for the future that we, women, often have for clothing, I kept them. Just in case.

So, back to last night… The jeans were in front of me, displayed on the bed. I took a deep breath (after seriously considering just ripping them apart lol), pulled one leg up, than the other, took another deep zen breath, and proceeded to close the zipper and button without any difficulty at all. WHAT!? What what what?! When did this happen???, I thought. Although I did lose a little bit of weight recently, it wasn’t that much that I could have predicted this outcome.

After all the shocking I-fit-in-them commotion (haha), I looked up to the mirror. And it was NOT what I was expecting to see: this womanly body didn’t look good in these youngster jeans. Clearly, my clothing style preferences had also changed a lot too, even tho jeans are still what I wear every single day of my life. Although the number was right, the fit was allllll wrong; floppy and loose, not fitting me well at all, and certainly not flattering…

And so I took them off, folded, put them in the donate pile, and just sat there, a little confused. All this wait and hope and hanging on to the past for THAT?! It was obvious as night and day: the actual number was not really of importance to me anymore, compared to fit and how I feel in them (which is a GREAT thing, don’t you think?) What importance does a number have if I feel like a burlap sack of potatoes…? Lol!

I was stunned. And then I remembered that, altho the scale number hadn’t changed all that much, my body certainly had over the years: mushier (lol) in some places, but firmer in others. It had merged into a woman’s body, rather than a young adult’s one.

And this is were you’d usually read something going along the lines of “don’t dwell on the past” or “live in the now” or even something a little more poetic such as “the past is past, leave it be”. And altho these can certainly be wise sometimes, it doesn’t always apply to every situation, nor to everybody.

You see, I am someone (and I’m sure I’m not the only one) who needs to TRULY understand the past in order to… go past it. Even tho sometimes people telling you the answers is enough for that lightbulb moment to occur, it doesn’t ALWAYS work as simply as that. That’s how I am, and I know it, and I’m okay with that part of myself. And most of the time, my friends, those who listen to me trying to find answers, are okay with that too. Sometimes they are annoyed I’m sure, but in the end, they still listen, they still try to offer me possible directions for me to explore to find those answers, and they still love me even if I channel a broken record once in a while.

So what I’m saying is, I’m actually glad that I kept that pair of jeans all those years. Because if I hadn’t kept them and tried them on last night, I wouldn’t have the insights I had when I realized that it’s okay to change, that it’s okay to be who I am right now, that it’s okay to have hopes and struggles that are based in the past (and that they’ll eventually untangle themselves as we evolve), and mostly, that it’s okay (and awesome, even. Lol) that I like my body now more than ever before in my entire life, and that is EVEN if it hasn’t changed that much all in all. I even have proof of that for myself: after all, I *did* wear a dress 5 times this summer as of yet, which is more than the rest of all the time since I’ve been able to choose my own clothing. Progress is what I’m calling that.

And so in an attempt to keep on moving forward, I went back to that donate pile of jeans, selected two pairs, and decided to cut them to make shorts (one super short, and one mid-thigh), which is something I do not wear at all in public. And so the progress, at the very least, makes an attempt to keep on going………….

‘Til next time, beautiful you. :)

} Nea 20% OFF SALE 8yr Anniversary

It’s that time of the year again! Weeeeee!

Another year of existence for Nea, a 8th one that is. It’s been a journey (and still is), with it’s ups and downs, with some expectations dashed and some wild hopes granted, and that’s accurate as much for the business than the personal side. BUT, I’m still hanging in there! ;)

So, celebrate with me!!
From August 18th to 31st,
get 20% OFF anything and everything in my Etsy Shop!
Simply use the promocode “NEAis8” at checkout! :)

‘Til next time! ;)

C’est CE temps-là de l’année de nouveau, ouiiiiiii!

Une additionnelle année d’existance pour Nea, la 8e. Ce fut (et est toujours) une épopée, avec les hauts et les bas, incluant des attentes démolies et des espoirs irréalistes réalisés, et cela autant pour le côté affaires que le côté personnel. MAIS, je suis encore là! ;)

Alors, célèbrez avec moi!!
Du 18 au 31 août,
tout est à 20% de rabais dans ma boutique Etsy!
Utilisez le code promo “NEAis8” au checkout, et voilà! :)

À bientôt! ;)

} Instagram Photo Editing

In the amateur digital photography world, there is usually three main opinion groups when the subject is photo editing:

• The purist: the photo is what it is, don’t you dare manipulate it’s final result. Doing so is considered as lying visually.
• The moderate: the photo ain’t bad as it is, but a few tweaks are in order, usually sticking to the cropping/color/saturation/contrast settings.
• The funky creative: the more editing, the merrier! The original photograph is seen more as a starting point than a result, such as a painter would perceive a canvas.

I would say I’ve been standing pretty firmly for years in the “moderate” category, perhaps because of my graphic design background, and being used to use Photoshop. Plus, I think tweaking photos is fun, weird me. ;)

I am also a believer that for an amateur, all photography tools are acceptable, and that each option has it’s good and bad sides. So yes, I also think phone/iPod/tablets photography have their value as well, and so does Instagram and editing apps. To me, it’s all about how you use it, and if you can see it for what it is, which makes photography accessible to pretty much anyone nowadays.

I would say my own Instagram is a half of “show and tell” (in which I just want to show something and the actual picture result/quality doesn’t quite matter much to me), a quarter for work specific images, and the last quarter as a photography artistic outlet.

Last Sunday, I downloaded (for free) an app for my iPod touch (I don’t have a cell) called iColorama S (regular price of $2,99). (And NO, I was not asked, nor am I paid to give a review of it, lol!) I mostly use “App Of The Day” to snatch up some paying photography apps for free, so it was a lucky day! haha!

Anyway, I had taken a picture the night before that needed editing before adding it to my IG (Instagram).You can see above the original un-modified iPod Touch shot. Kinda boring a bit, no?

And so yesterday I played around with the new app, starting with regular classic adjusting tools such as cropping and color, as you can see above. Already a little more graphic and dramatic! This was going to be my basis for the other tweaking testings…

I then went to explore more functions, starting with some bolder, but still sort of “classic” settings, as seen above. I have to say that what I liked most is that almost each option has precise settings that you can adjust even more, giving you quite a lot of control over the end result. You can also decide to save or not your modifications in one option before going to another, practical!

After that, I fell on the mirror function, and I was thinking this option would be like in most apps, meaning that either top or bottom half, or, left or right side would be mirrored and that would be pretty much it as far as possibilities goes. But oh, turns out the X and Y mirrors can be a lot more manipulated than that! AND both at the same time too. FINALLY!! I had LOTS of fun with it creating patterns and shapes that were not really even there to start with, as you can see! lol

Then I decided to go see the world as a “funky creative”, even tho these kinds of filters and options are not usually my cup of tea… Turns out, I kinda liked some of them. Mostly the “drawing” one (because I can’t really draw and gives me an idea of how it *could* look if I did, or something like that. lol), and the “pixel” ones that I thought could look interesting in a precise project or idea, or for global inspiration. Some were “cartoon looking”, others a bit much for me (such as the Escher twirl one, which I know, yes, that HE is an awesome artist, but I can’t see much how to use this filter myself).

All in all, what I’m trying to say, is that, without anyone proclaiming themselves an actual pro photographer, anyone can have fun with photography and editing, even on just a phone, and even if just for the sake of personal visual contributions to one’s life.

And yes, Instagram is totally okay if that’s all you have and/or want to actually use. As proof, go check out one of my friends’ account that I think takes full advantage of IG and photo editing via apps: aelxndr. What you think? :)

} Bracelets at Nea

For 7 years (wow, that sounds crazy), I barely made any bracelets. It’s weird… Wrist wear ideas haven’t came to me naturally in the past, perhaps because I don’t really wear some myself (altho I like when I see them on other people), which makes me 1- not think about them a lot, 2- not really “get” them. What I mean by that is hard to explain… It’s as if necklaces and earrings are like a comforting and yummy homemade meal, and then as if I had to cook molecular cuisine. lol!

I have made maybe 4-5 of them over the years, but they didn’t sell or didn’t get much attention, which reinforced my “bracelet impostor” sentiment.

Last year, I started to warm up to the idea tho, after a couple of craftshow clients pointed out the lack of, and after having one very strong bracelet idea. ONE. haha! This one:

That little silver plated chevron SCREAMED bracelet to me, so I put my resistant little ass aside (lol) and went for it. What did I know, at the next PucesPop, the 5 I had  sold out before the end of the Saturday, and I was making 10 more that night for the last day of the show. They didn’t all sell (let’s not get carried away haha), but clearly my ONE bracelet was a hit!

What followed was a semi-unblock of my bracelet strike! I won’t lie, it’s still a little hard for me to create them. I always wonder about length, how they “fall”, how they move, how how how… But, working on it! ;)

Talking about length, if ever you want to share your “ideal bracelet length” with me, please go ahead in the comments, that would be insightful! At shows and with online sales, I can adjust for you, but for bricks&mortar shops, I have difficulty figuring out what’s a “good general size” to make it accessible to as many people as possible, since I am not there live to adjust to someone’s liking.

Meanwhile, he’s a little recap of my other available bracelets at this time! :)

} End of 2013 Nea Recap

I’ve been on a really long blogging hiatus (besides last week’s post), right!? I’ve been having trouble redefining blogging for myself, since the previous way doesn’t seem to get my blood pumping of excitement anymore (not as much anyway). That’s without mentioning that Holiday season is a totally cra-zay time where blogging falls pretty far in the priority list…

That said, I also managed to create a lot of new items at the end of 2013, right before everything went haywire. lol!

So, here’s a little recap! :)

} On Working For Free

I have taken this subject seriously for over a decade. (Ok, I sound old! haha) Perhaps because I’ve been working for myself for 11 years now, always in artistic fields. I’m talking about the idea of “giving free work”.

I mentioned earlier the creative aspect, because this issue seems dominant (and frequent) in professions such as graphic design, photography, illustration, writing, handmade, music… Altho after asking around, it is obviously not reserved to more creative work; fields like computer programming, teaching, and in a way, professional sports, are also often asked to work for free.

Now, let me get something straight first. I am not talking here about investing skills in a non-profit that you care about (read on that (and this whole subject really) on my friend Pierre’s blog!). Nor lending physical goods, for a small amount of time, for a photoshoot, which will be returned intact and without fees to you. Nor helping your mother out with her lost kitty flyer. Nor giving simple opinions at a hangout with friends about their text on their website.

I mean more like magazines and journals asking photographers to give a free picture(s), but “we’ll give you credit, of course”. Or a start-up company asking for free copy writing for their first website, but “we’ll pay you on future projects”. Or big music festivals asking small bands to play for free, because “it’s great exposure and visibility!”. Or a publishing company asking an illustrator to create them a book cover, because “it’ll be a great portfolio piece”.

Or, in handmade goods’ case, which is the category I’ve experienced personally for the past almost 8 years, a blog asking to send free samples, and then “I’ll blog about it”. Which is exactly what happened (for the I-can’t-even-count-how-many-times) to me a couple of weeks ago that got me feeling this urge to talk about it now (along with this NYtimes article from a couple of months back). For some reason, this time in particular urked me even more than usual (lol), because the email was filled with “I LOVEEE your work!!!!”, a “You inspire me!”, and a couple of “Handmade is my life’s passion!!!”. Which is very contradictory, because when you ask me for free items, you are saying that my work is not worth a penny to you. You are also acting like you don’t respect my time, all my efforts towards my career, nor my products. So NO, I don’t inspire you. And by not even offering to pay shipping costs, you’re adding salt on my wound (or, insult to injury, if you prefer). Even more, the blog in question (nope, won’t drop a name, ain’t giving it free publicity HA!) was in Italy (where I’ve sold only like twice ever), written in Italian (I can’t read it, hence I couldn’t even know if she wrote well or not), with really bad pictures (as in large-view-on-plaid-tablecloth-with-a-lot-of-flash bad), and it looked ugly as fuck as a whole (sorry, but it truly was a pain for my retina).

Let me just say this:
• Credits, future potential projects (also called “opportunities”), and exposure don’t pay current bills. Ask anyone, in reality, these very rarely bring some concrete paid work. The chances of a company seeing one of your photos in the local paper and then actually researching you, contact you and offer you a paid contract are slim to none. Sure, it *could* happen. But I’m also sure your phone company *will* shut down your service if you don’t pay your bill… There is an epic rant by Harlan Ellison (pretty funny too!) on the subject over here, and you can also read a good article called “Opportunities Are Bullshit“.
• Your portfolio already exists, and that’s why they’re contacting you in the first place. Because they saw it, and liked it. That means your portfolio *already* works great. YAY!
• As far as blog posts go (which is also in the “exposure” realm), I think they ask for this to justify their own time spent on blogging. So basically, you’re asking me to sacrifice my finished product, and time, and materials, and even take extra money out of my pocket (shipping fees), in order of helping you feel like you’re not wasting your own time and energy? Puh-lease. Don’t forget that pretty much none of the great, interesting, inspiring and most read blogs ask people to give their work away: they either just blog about it because they want to, or actually buy an item for themselves first.

I remember that in the early years of Etsy, there was chat rooms, and also live critique workshops, where one could voluntarily put their shop up for constructive comments from other sellers. I really loved participating in this, I felt like I could help others with the knowledge I had acquired over the previous months/years. They still had to do the work themselves, but having suggestions and opinions from people not as emotionally involved in the project is never a bad thing. However, one thing I always voiced my opinion against was “adding a free item” or “giving coupon codes for a next purchase” once you actually made a sale. I am against it yes, but my opinion is much less radical on this subject, simply because this is something one would decide of their own free will and initiative, not pressured into by someone else (altho at some point the practice was used SO much by so many sellers, that I did receive 2-3 “there was no free stuff with my order, this sucks” messages, which obviously I thought was annoying, and rude. lol).

I also remember that as a young graphic designer, right out of school in the early 2000’s, without any actual contracts in my portfolio, that suggestions of working for free in exchange for “exposure” and “portfolio pieces” was very enticing. I am guilty of doing a couple of free business cards back then, as well as doing a couple of projects for a very low pay (between 25 and 50% of actual worth). I also realized quickly that I lost much drive for the project once I got half way thru, and my self-confidence got screwed up fairly quickly in the process. But believe me, I totally understand that urge to actually create, as well as that desire to show what you’re capable of, to prove yourself to the world, at any cost. The problem with that is (this also applies even if you’re a veteran) that by giving of yourself for nothing (or undervaluing), you’re denying that vision of the person you want to be: a creative paid right. You’re shooting yourself in the foot, basically. It’s also cutting the grass under the feet of others in your field (they are your competition, yes, but they are also a lot of things that you want to be, such as actually paid), and hurting your profession as a whole (if everyone starts to sell themselves short, at some point no one will ever want to pay (or pay what it’s worth) for the service/object, EVER).

As far as trades with strangers go, well… I do them myself once in a while, but only if I actually really WANT or NEED the product or service, and if they are of close value. The problem only arises if it’s something you don’t really desire, or if it’s not even close to being equal.

And for friends, I suggest going with your instinct perhaps? If it’s a case of the “can you program my whole CSS 5page bilingual website in exchange for a coffee and a hug?”, then you might have to either just say that you don’t feel like it/don’t have time, or think of a counter proposition that makes sense and suggest it. For example, a couple of rooms in your new apartment might need to be painted and it seems like about the same number of hours than the task they asked you for. They’ll either decline altogether because that made them realize what they were actually asking for (and hopefully, they are a true friend and will keep being your friend as usual), or think it’s totally worth it and you’ll both be happy! But if it’s something along the lines of “can you show me how to put this text in bold in my free WordPress blog post?”, then don’t be an asshole, don’t charge for that! lol

Free work is never really free. Each time you do it, you hurt your value and loose some self-confidence, because it’s like accepting and agreeing that your skill is worth nothing. Personally, I prefer eating peanut butter toasts for a long while before I agree to that again. ;)

Ok, I think that I’ve gotten pretty much everything off my chest now. lol! Obviously, not everyone has such a radical opinion on the subject… Including Seth Godin (which surprised me actually) in his blog post “Should You Work For Free?“.

I accept other points of views, or a more nuanced opinion, so feel free to share them in comments, even if it’s to tell me that I’m totally wrong. lol! ;)

To finish on a less gloomy note, I suggest taking a look at this “Should I work For Free” visual chart for a humorous spin on a serious subject! ;)

} Fêtes 2013 Holidays

I will be at 3 craft shows this Holiday season! Here are the details, and I hope to see you there! :)

Je serai à 3 foires artisanales des Fêtes cette année! Voici les détails et j’espère vous voir! :)

Souk@Sat #10 (1201, boul. St-Laurent, Montréal)
* This event is 18yo+
* Cet évènement est 18ans+

Novembre 28 – 12pm : 9pm
Novembre 29 – 12pm : 9pm
Novembre 30 – 12pm : 7pm
Décembre 1 – 12pm : 7pm

From November 28th to December 1st, you can find my work at the SAT! My stitched pieces will be there, as well as all my jewelry. It’s just a wonderful event, full of high quality design and craft products. A must to buy some gifts for Xmas, or just to see some great Montreal talent! See you there! :)
* Please note that, because of Quebec alcohol permit laws, no one under 18yo can enter.

Du 28 novembre au 1er décembre, vous me trouverez à la SAT! J’aurai là-bas toute ma collection de broderies, ainsi que toute la collection de bijoux. Le Souk est un évènement fabuleux, rempli de produits design et créatifs de haute qualité. Parfait pour vos achats des Fêtes, ou simplement pour découvrir du talent Montréalais! Je vous y voit! :)
* Prenez note que, à cause des lois sur les permis d’alcool du Québec, aucune personne agée de moins de 18 ans n’est admise à l’intérieur.

Smart Design Mart (5505, av. Casgrain, Montréal)

Décembre 6 – 5pm : 9pm
Décembre 7 – 11am : 6pm
Décembre 8 – 12pm : 5pm

On December 6-7-8, you will find me with all my work at SDM! This event is held in a huge space, and each artist is free to decorate theirs space as they’d like, which makes for a very unique vibe, an airy space and a fun way to shop for Xmas! Come say hello! :)

Les 6-7-8 décembre, venez me voir au SDM! Cet évènement se tient dans un très grand espace, et chaque artiste a la liberté de créer son propre environnement, ce qui rend le magasinage unique, dans un espace aéré, et en atmosphère spéciale pour les achats des Fêtes! Venez y faire un tour! :)

Puces Pop (Église St-Denis, 5075, rue Rivard, Montréal)

Décembre 13 – 5pm : 9pm
Décembre 14 – 11am : 6pm
Décembre 15 – 11am : 6pm

On December 13-14-15, it’s time for a classic! I’ll bring tons of jewelry and some of my stitched pieces, so you can do some Holiday shopping! I’ll be glad to say hi, so make sure to come!! :)

Les 13-14-15 décembre, c’est le temps d’un classique! J’y serai avec des tonnes de bijoux ainsi qu’avec des pièces brodées, afin que vous puissiez faire du magasinage des Fêtes! Je serai contente de vous saluer, alors assurez-vous de venir faire un tour! :)

} Carrot Top Pesto

Recently, I learned that carrot tops (or leaves, rather) are edible. Who knew! Well, obviously, I was left out in the dark on that one. lol!

And so I discovered that yummy fact on Cuisinette‘s blog, when she decided to do a pesto with it. OH MY! Had to try this asap! So a week later, I went to do the groceries, and to my surprise, there were carrots sold with the leaves as well (kind of a somewhat rare thing to see in regular grocery stores…), so I jumped on the occasion.

Once home, I washed them all up, cut the unleafy parts of the stems, and mixed that all up in the food processor with regular pesto ingredients: parmesan cheese, garlic, nuts (all I had were soya seeds, worked perfect!), lemon, olive oil, salt and pepper. Ah, and I also put in half of what was left of my parsley on the balcony. Autumn is just around the corner, after all, don’t wanna waste it! :)

Conclusion: it is DELICIOUS.

Plus, the green color won’t oxidize like the basil version, so if you like to take some pictures of your food like I do, it’s a winner!

Now, go try it. :P

} Puces Pop Automne 2013

Puces Pop Automne 2013 arrive vite!

Puces Pop, c’est des dizaines d’artisans dans les domaines de la bouffe, joaillerie, art, déco, mode, objets utilitaires… Tant de joli à découvrir et admirer!

J’y serai avec les nouveautés 2013 ainsi que les classiques, et puis plein de sourires ;) On se voit là, oui?!

Église St-Michel (105, rue St-Viateur Ouest, Montréal)
Jeudi 26 septembre: 16h à 20h
Vendredi 27 septembre: 12h à 20h
Samedi 28 et dimanche 29 septembre: 11h à 18h

——–

Puces Pop Spring 2013 is coming up quick!

Puces Pop is about dozens of artisans of fields ranging from food, jewelry, art, decor, fashion, object… So much to discover!

I will be there with the new items of 2013 as well as the classics, and of course lots of smiles! ;) I’ll see you there, right?!

St-Michel Church (105 St-Viateur Street West, Montreal)
Thursday september 26th: 4 to 8pm
Friday september 27th: 12 to 8pm
Saturday september 28th and Sunday 29th: 11am to 6pm

} Mural Festival Photo Day

Recently (ok, OKAY, many weeks ago already…), I learned about the Mural Festival here in Montreal, and thought right away about my friend Pierre and how we’d been saying we should do a photo day together since we first met many months earlier. Perfect opportunity right?!

Now, this is also a tad intimidating for me, since Pierre’s actually a freelance photographer. As in full-time job. I mean, the dude lives for and from his camera, he’s super talented, and here I am wanting to “mesure up”? Huhhhh, I don’t think so. lol!

Sooo, I put that scary thought way far in my mind, and went in with my usual approach for photodays, which I would qualify more as fascination. It really does fascinate me that two people can go at the same spot, at the exact same time, and come up with such different results. The eye doesn’t see the same from a person to the next, nor does the connections in each brain follow the same route. (And nor does our photography and life experiences, nor gear, match. lol) Our end results clearly shows all of that!

That goes to prove one of my favorite mottos: everyone is different, and also same. Sure, generalization can be useful to explain a point or theory, but fact of the matter is, we are unicity.

Anyway! Back to the main subject… Mural Festival. It was a street art event that was held on St-Laurent street in June, so I’m kinda later for this post. But then again, two positives: 1- those big murals are still there yo. ;) and 2- Pierre was quick publishing his shots on his blog, so it balances out my tardiness… Doesn’t it…? Maybe…? No…? Ah… Alrighty then. lol!

Here we go for mine! (Feel free to click to see bigger versions.)

Oops, wasn’t I there for Mural? … As you can see, I must admit I felt myself kinda fighting against my natural photography instincts. I tend to go macro, nature or architecture when I’m out with my camera. SO, I sometimes had to “force myself” to explore that for what I was there. There is hope, cause I was able to do a little of it…

The talent of some people, I tell ya! Wowsa!

Aaaaaand back to regular macro/nature/architecture programming… lol! (And, do note the lack of one single portrait, compared to tons of them captured thru Pierre’s eyes! I really DO like humans, I swear. lol)

Well there it is! :)

To end, two last pictures, showing HOW MUCH my camera needs a well deserved cleaning after over 7yrs of service. See all those dots?! Yeah. In a busy image, they don’t show, but in skies, it’s a pain. Used to be only 2-3, so it was easy to clean up in Photoshop, but now they are allll overrrr and it’s driving me nutsssss! I just need to GO DO IT…

} 7yr Anniversary SALE! 20% OFF!

Now 7 years of existence for Nea!!

WOAH, time flies!! And at the same time, it doesn’t go by so quickly also! I still love what I do after all those years, and weirdly enough, it’s the longest time I’ve spent doing a job! Altho it feels more like play time most of the days. There might be something there… lol ;)

I always do an anniversary sale in my Etsy shop, so here it is! YAY!

Here: Nea’s Etsy Store
What: 20% OFF everything in my Etsy shop
Promocode at checkout: NEAis7

Thanks so much again to everyone for following my work all around the web and locally! :)

Maintenant 7 ans d’existance pour Nea!!

WOW, le temps passe si vite! Et si lentement à la fois! J’aime toujours mon travail après tout ce temps, et étrangement, c’est le plus long emploi que j’ai tenu! Par contre, on dirait une session d’amusement la plupart du temps… Il y a surment quelque chose à retenir là-dedans… haha! ;)

Je fais toujours une vente anniversaire, alors la voici! YOUPPI!

Boutique: Nea sur Etsy
Quoi: 20% DE RABAIS sur tout dans ma boutique Etsy
Code promo au “checkout”: NEAis7

Merci beaucoup encore de suivre mon travail un peu partout autour du web et localement! :)

} On Blogging

What the hell is my problem!?!

(Great first sentence, don’t you think? lol)

I have been blogging for 7.5 years now, which included 2 hiatuses. I’m in the 3rd one now, as you can see. Or not see, rather. I am questioning myself a lot these days on the “why that is”.

I could say that I found nothing interesting, during these pauses, that I wanted to blog about. But that would be false. If you could see my Etsy favorites (which are private, because I don’t want to put my supplies shopping public and there’s no way yet to separate those in the site’s features)… So, if you could see my favorites, you would understand why this would be a complete lie. lol! There are over 4000 items (I’m estimating that 3000 are not supplies) I thought were heart worthy. So what the hell is my problem!?!

I could say that I got super duper busy and didn’t have time to do it. Which would be true for the Holiday season (Nov-Dec), and also some weeks throughout the rest of the year, but those are scattered here and there, not in chunks. But my blogging reflects chunks. So what the hell is my problem!?!

I could say that I dislike blogging now. But that wouldn’t be accurate. I used to HAVE TO BLOG ABOUT THIS AND THAT RIGHT THEN AND THERE after I found something note worthy, and that is not exactly the case right now, so that part is true. But I STILL do love the sharing aspect of blogging, of putting other people’s talent out there in case someone else falls in love with something, making a reader giddy and excited, and helping a fellow artisan make a sale. That is beautiful thing that I will always just love helping on. So what the hell is my problem!?!

So… What’s left? Views and interaction, that’s what’s left.

Once upon a time, a couple of years ago, when this blog was on a free wordpress.com platform and was called Creativadoration, I had around 500 views per day on average. WOOT! It felt good, and I felt heard, or rather, read. Comments were coming in left and right, and I’d reply to each one with pleasure. Since a lot of people were coming over to check it all out, it was very interactive. It felt like a pool of real, in this virtual world desert we are in. I knew there was hundreds (!) of people interested in what I had to share, waiting for the next daily post, that were ready and open to interact on it all. All the posts from then were transferred here, so the content has evolved of course, but the foundation of it is accessible.

I know that this is something that most bloggers deal with on a monthly (or weekly, or daily) basis. I know that I am not the only one checking stats religiously, or avoiding them when they are in a low streak. I know that they are just numbers, and not always accurate anyway because of bots. I know that I lack some serious SEO knowledge, and I could learn a whole lot on the subject if I just put my mind to it. I know that quality is better than quantity. I know that the few who still follow my blog really do love it. I know that it is better to help spark excitement in one person rather than none. I know, I know, I know. But the fact of the matter is, sometimes you feel like you’re just speaking (writing) to yourself.

I’ve been blogging the same kind of way all this time: it being more about pictures than text (which makes sense, since I’m all about the visual), and it being more about other people’s work than mine (altho I’ve been trying to write more personal posts just like this one (the “My Life” category), it’s not going that smoothly (I have 3 almost done in the draft folder, but I seem unable to press the “publish” button)). I am like a lost blogger: sorta safe in what I know, sorta realizing that that’s not working as desired anymore, sorta not knowing where to go next, sorta not knowing what else there is. But not sorta confused;  absolutely confused.

There are a couple of online classes on this (rediscovering your blogging style and passion and all), and since blogging is part of my marketing strategy (and I truly miss having a real passion for it too), it might be worth the investment too. Or maybe not. Or possibly. Or who knows… Or…

AHHHHH! What the hell is my problem!?!

* Keep Calm and Blog On print by LivyLoveDesigns.

} Flower Seed Paper

In the land of crafts, there are some classic materials that are usually part of everyone’s learning curve, such as ribbons. I myself, had some flirt sessions with the ethereal and soft quality of ribbons when I first started making and selling jewelry! See? (OMG how awful are those 3-out-of-4-homemade pictures! haha! Thank goodness I’ve improved on that over the years…)

Often times tho, they are put aside with time, as I did. It might be a real shame actually, especially for a texture lover like myself!

I recently stumbled upon Flower Seed Paper‘s shop, and got excited to see hand-dyed silk ribbons! I like how, by being handmade, they have way more of a richness of tints and hues and subtleties compared to their commercially tinted counterparts. Plus, it makes a one-of-a-kind for every piece of ribbon cut! And that’s always awesome in itself. :)

} Item of the Week Promo

A new month, so, the “Item of the Week” promo is back! :)

For July, an airy piece that has an organic feel to it: nature inspired with a pop of color! Featuring the lovely chartreuse green color that I adore so much (it is, after all, my office wall color!) and tiny little leaves, and if you love asymmetry, you will be served!

So, the Leona Necklace, in either silver or gold tone, is now $28,
that’s more than 20% off the original price, from July 8 to 14!

Go get it! Simply go to my Etsy Shop! :)

Un nouveau mois, alors la promo “Item de la semaine” est de retour! :)

Pour juillet, une pièce légère qui projette un look organique: inspirée par la nature avec une touche de couleur éclatante! Mettant en vedette ce vert chartreuse que j’adore tant (après tout, c’est la couleur de mur de mon bureau!) et des petites feuilles délicates, si vous aimez l’assymétrie, alors vous serez servis!

Donc, le collier Leona, en teinte argentée ou dorée, est maintenant 28$,
donc plus de 20% de rabais sur le prix d’origine, du 8 au 14 juillet!

Visiter ma boutique Etsy et il sera à vous! :)