We reach Day 4 of the 100-Day Project. Yesterday was rather "hairy", with more going on than I comfortably had the ability to oversee.
Somehow, I was reminded of a piece of advice I received many years ago — in a totally different context — that "volunteer work is best left to those well-off enough to AFFORD giving lots of their time for no return."
Of course, this isn't the same... but adding extra hours of commitment is tough when you have to use a certain number of hours per day to keep the bills paid.
Matching Stones from a set I made for a fair, last year
With one set of guests heading back to Oregon, a different set of out-of-town friends arrive from Seattle, today. And so, I face another day of limited time.
Before starting this post, I decided to take a few moments to set up a spreadsheet to track my posts and efforts, as a intermediate "container" while I determine whether to create an "Index Post" for all the project updates, or instead use @peakd's "Curated Collections" feature which is great but doesn't render well on any of Hive's other front ends.
My reason for doing so is quite simple: It's easier to "track as you go," than to come back later and play catch-up!
Only had time for a very MODEST stone today... picked by more or less random choice.
Spent time going through my Alchemy Stones folder in my browser bookmarks, double checking to make sure I have all my online "touchpoints" gathered as part of what I'm going here.
Came across a page I had once created on a venue called Behance which I had forgotten all about, and I don't even remember what it's about. I think it's one of those things I FOMO'd into because of a friend's email saying "You've GOT to do this for your stones!"
Since I last checked it, it seems to have become an Adobe product... meaning that I likely can't move two inches without some lofty fee!
Painting stones with two mandalas requires a bit of planning... especially on smaller stones
One new stone painted; I truly had no plan today, so I grabbed whatever I touched in a bag by my workspace... and came up with a pale oblong stone that actually was "sub-ideal" for painting, but I decided to challenge myself and created a "soulmate stone" with it.
These are stones with two connected mandalas on them, and they are actually a very popular gift item at fairs, because they come with a cute story card/insert in the box.
Daily Twitter/X post: Check. Posted another photo, this time of one of the sets. Explored different tags to see where I might find relevance. "Art Therapy" seems promising.
Daily Facebook Page post: Check. Testing the new "direct linking" system to Etsy. Posted both to the page as well as to my personal Facebook feed.
Daily Instagram post: Check. Getting slightly better at that... it has always taken me a while to learn unfamiliar formats.
Other Stuff: This Hive post; trying to post an Etsy link to Pinterest, but something got lost along the way. Will have to try again when I have more time... HAH! Daily shoutout to @gillianpearce!
A small "Soulmate Stone." Not super impressive, but it will look better, once it gets a protective finish.
Day 4 is in the bag. It felt a bit "stressy." The fact that we have had an unwell cat for a few days hasn't helped.
I'm aware that "other stuff" I normally attend to around here has been backburnered, and I'm grateful that — come Sunday — we'll be done with giving so much time to "playing host" to visitors. It's nice to see friends, but I really like to have my own space, and my own time.
Meanwhile, tomorrow will be on another tight schedule.
I appreciate you coming to visit and please do leave a comment if you feel so inclined!
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!
2024.02.23 AS-TXT-203/171
