Monday, April 25, 2011

Changing And Growing


Mother Nature decided to spoil us yesterday, after a week of grey and snowy, rainy weather, and give us a glorious sunny day.  It was perfect for playing outside, flying kites, and walks in the woods so after we gorged ourselves ate Easter dinner, that's what we did.

We spotted the first butterflies who blended in nearly perfectly with the lichen-covered tree bark.  It was only when they moved or showed the pretty blue spots on their wings that they gave up their location.


The velvet mites were busy in the leaf litter.


And I spotted this, a devil's urn, the very first I've seen.  I've read that this mushroom is a sure sign that spring has arrived in our area and that with it comes morel season.  I've never seen a morel up here but it can't hurt to keep looking.  They're delicious and well worth the hunt.


Mounds of moss dotted the still mostly grey and brown landscape, and it made a beautiful contrast.


This day of sunshine was just what we needed.  I feel my spirits have lifted and am feeling that hopeful spring feeling.  I'm feeling inspired by what I saw yesterday too and ideas have started percolating.

Like the woods, I'm making room for change and growth in my life too.  One part of which is to simplify a bit.

I've moved my work from my Etsy shop to my Big Cartel shop and I'll be adding new work there soon.  I'll still be shopping on Etsy but for now I'll be selling through Big Cartel. (the shop tab at the top of my blog)  There will be some challenges with this move; directing traffic to my new shop for one, but I feel it's the best move for me right now.   That said...like my stuff?  Tell yer friends!  (ha ha)(no, really...tell yer friends)

Wishing you all a wonderful start to the week. I hope you're seeing sunshine and feeling as hopeful as I am today.

13 comments:

Margie Oomen said...

now i want to run off to the forest to look for butterflies, but i might way until later in the day when it will be a tad warmer. I did see my first garden spider's making webs yesterday. Precious!!
About your shop lisa, we would follow you anywhere, don't you worry.

julochka said...

i'm glad some good weather has come your way. i was beginning to feel a bit guilty of our whole week of sunshine!! today, husband actually complained it was too hot! imagine that!! i told him not to curse things...

i hope you do find morels, they're the mushroom i grew up hunting and they're fabulous!!

Unknown said...

I sure enjoyed this glimpse of spring in your part of The Forest - Devil's Urn and butterflies never seen here - but we do have morels and plenty of other mushrooms ( but not yet - they are fall creatures here). Happy belated Easter, Lisa!

pb said...

why the switch from etsy to big cartel?
just curious.

i am so curious, also, about that devil's urn!

i so love the spring.

k said...

ooh, love your forest explorations and signs of spring. i too am wanting to find morels, but i don't have any experience finding them around here, and you know how (not) helpful other 'shroom hunters can be about giving up their spots. good luck!

Glo said...

I'm sad to hear you won't have your Etsy shop anymore. I won't be able to include you in any treasuries

Scrapiana said...

What lovely images! We've had a couple of weeks of utterly atypical sunshine in the UK (it feels like summer), but I've been keeping all the glorious sights, sounds and smells completely to myself.

I echo the previous question about the move from Etsy. For the same reason: just curious.

Sonia / COZY MEMORIES said...

I wonder how you managed to spot these amazing butterflies !!! wow ! they look so velvety & extraordinary !
Ah ! so glad to see you join me on bigcartel :) I won't feel too lonely if you're in the neighborhood. I'm still adjusting & moving things from one place to the other.
Good luck to you over there too !
xoxo
much love
(PS : coming back home tonight, we were at my parents' all weekend. HUGE thanks for your mail, I'll reply properly tomorrow)

Tara said...

A mild sunny weekend here gave us a much welcome taste of spring too. Consider me as having followed.:)

Lisa at lil fish studios said...

Thanks so much, everybody. :D

As far as why I've moved from Etsy...I don't know that this will be a permanent move, but it's what I think is best for now. There are a number of reasons for the move and I'd bore you to tears if I listed them all, but here are a couple in no particular order...

~ Connecting with like-minded people through my work is important to me. I figure the people who find my shop will find it through my blog and you are all the people that I think "get" my work. You are my people. You're here because you relate to what I do on some level, and that's a really rewarding feeling.

~ I started on Etsy 5 years ago when Etsy was a different place than it is today. It's growing and changing in ways that don't feel consistent with how I want to present my work. I think the diversity of talent on the site is it's biggest asset, but I don't see that diversity being showcased as it could be. It makes me feel very tired to see copycats, resellers, and hand-assemblers being featured, and while that isn't going to change, I will feel better not having to see it so often.

~ I've gotten a little stale and I need a creative jolt. Instead of making things I think might do well on Etsy or photographing them in a way that I think might make it to the front page, I need to let myself make and present myself a little truer to me. I feel like I can do that on my big cartel in a way I wouldn't allow myself to on Etsy.

~ The nuts and bolts...Big Cartel is more affordable and the listing process is faster.

I think the change will do me good.

feltbyfern said...

Hey Lisa - the Morning Cloak is one of my favorite butterflies! I've spent the last few years in Asia and will be returning to Ontario soon. Your photo made me pretty excited get back into Ontario nature. Thanks!

And, best of luck with the move! I'm sure you'll have great success on Big Cartel!

joanie said...

Yay! Hope more spring is on the way for you. I'm sure you will do well no matter where you sell your wonderful pieces. Margie is right, we'll follow you anywhere. Jx

Tumus said...

I'm very happy to hear you're moving to Big Cartel. I whole heartedly agree that Etsy is not the same and it is sad to see it moving in that direction. I blogged about the privacy issue a month back and to me that was kind of the marker to make the decision.

I would be curious to know how you're doing on BC in the coming months. I've contemplated moving Tumus there myself, but my following isn't as great as yours (yet). BC does have alot to offer and I like the feel of it.

So here's to good change and a warm future, cheers!

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