So, I am doing The 100-Day Project Challenge again; my second attempt at this creativity "habit building" exercise. You can read more at the above link; or just choose "a creative thing" to pursue for 100 consecutive days... and then use #the100dayproject as one of your first three tags so others on Hive and other social media can find you!
Today is Day 14.
Today's creative effort was a "Soulmate Stone."
Wintry Mix
Today marks the two-week point of the 100-Day Project. Today also marks the day when winter arrived in our part of the world, and we have a bit of snow mixed with rain falling outside, making this a perfect day to not really go anywhere and not really do anything other than sit down and work on creative things.
Although I haven't exactly been at the top of my game from a creative perspective, I'm already building up a nice little collection of stones that I need to be finished as soon as the temperature has warmed up a little bit and I can get in the garage without it being near freezing.
Yes, I know, I could buy heaters and heat up the garage and insulate it and all that other good stuff but I'm frankly not interested in putting that much effort into it. And the reason I don't do the finished work inside the house is that the fumes are rather on the toxic side and I'd rather not breathe that stuff!
Soulmate Stones are tricky because so few stones are this shape AND suitable for painting on!
Today's Creative Endeavor:
So, I decided to paint another ”Soulmate Stone” today.
They're rather tricky to do because you're working with two mandalas that have to be proportional and similar and tied together, and not very many stones are actually this oblong shape, as well as flat, as well as smooth enough to paint on.
I was actually surprised that I had this one in my stocks because it's one of the Super smooth stones we find when we go out to the Pacific Coast and I thought I'd use those up altogether!
Unfortunately it had a little accident earlier on where rather plentiful supply of yellow paint went down on the stone. I haven't yet decided whether I'm going to call it a fail, because i might be able to fix the overly thick lines with an X-Acto knife once the paint has dried completely. Time will tell.
I just it just all serves as evidence that these are completely handmade, not always do things turn out the way I am hoping for!
There's a bit of a "blob" at upper right on the yellow mandala, Hopefully I will be able to fix it, once the paint has dried and cured.
Minding the Store(s):
Today I got a little more seriously into the business of moving inventory and writing down the numbers-on-hand for everything so I can focus on rebuilding the online shops with a different mix of items in stock, in each..
I had actually forgotten that I tried a couple of alternative selling sites and I have small piles of inventory sitting in bins that haven't seen the light of day in a couple of years or three. These were all experiments I tried while we were under COVID lockdown.
As I have likely mentioned previously, I'm also discontinuing trying to sell directly from Facebook, because even though it is convenient to have a shop attached to the Alchemy Stones Facebook page, I haven't really had any success with it and I've gotten the feedback that people don't trust Facebook with their financial information, anyway.
Another view of the painted Soulmate Stone.
So I'm going to continue using Facebook for promotional and publicity purposes but not for sales purposes.
The other bin of inventory I had went back all the way to the time when we had a brick and mortar gallery in town. We had a lot of the gallery's inventory listed on a Storenvy site come on that included about 20 of my stones. Of course that hasn't been active in several years, so the stones have just been sitting there.
You can't expect to sell something if you're not even making it available for sale!
Social Media Musings:
Once again, this remains my weakest link. I just really struggle to get interested in these venues.
Anyway, got a short image post out on LinkedIn and one on twitter/X.
An older Soulmate Stone
Final Thoughts for Today:
I think I have established beyond the shadow of a doubt that I really enjoy the creative process, but I hate the busy work and paperwork, as well as the work associated with social media marketing.
That said, I do enjoy the writing component, which is why i don't mind doing these daily or almost daily blog posts to update what's going on with the 100 day project.
I do find myself wishing sometimes that other artists here on hive would join the project and go along you don't have to start on any particular day you can start on any day and just chart your progress for the next 100 days.
But hey, those are just wishes and I have no control over what other people do!
I appreciate you coming to visit and please do leave a comment if you feel so inclined!
Thank You!
If you enjoy painted rocks, do check out The Hive Rocks Project and help spread the word about Hive, while also being creative!
Because I am trying to make some semblance of income — a part time living, even — I now add this footer to all my posts, in the hope that someone, somewhere, might decide to take a further look at my work, and perhaps consider supporting independent art.
Thank you, in advance, for your consideration and support!
My Alchemy Stones Patreon appeal
Alchemy Stones web site and blog
Regardless, your upvotes and comments are always appreciated!
Thank you for supporting independent art & creativity!
2025.02.02 AS-TXT-318/288