Inspiration Springboard: A Call for Submissions and a Huge (I’m totally biting my nails) Announcement

Let’s start with a fun, CALL for submissions!!

1. Our new, bigger, fabulous Thursday Sweet Treat home is almost ready for us to move in. I just need to make a few more adjustments. YAY!!! With the launch on the horizon, I received a fantastic suggestion from Janie, creator of Lifeartdesigns and MyPolymerClayCanes, who thought it would be fabulous to share “studio” or “workspace” photos.

I love this idea and want to add a fun, surprising twist to this….so if you would like to participate, please send your name, shop name and link, blog name and link or both, and 4-6 photos of your studio/work space. I know now everyone has a “studio”, if you’re like me you’ve got an overflowing desk and table in the middle everything. It doesn’t matter if it’s a folding table and chair, this is going to be fun so send your photos. AND most importantly, please make sure to include 1 good picture of the one thing that inspires you most when you are creating and tell me why it’s inspiring!

2. Is there one project that you began working on and completely screwed up leaving you to think that it was just awful before doing a double take, tweaking it slightly and discovering that it was a beautiful work of art? If so, please send 2-3 pictures of that piece along.

3. I will be covering Art fairs, festivals, shows, etc. on the new TST. If you are going to be in a show, I'd love to hear about it. I would need some photos from your show and will ask a couple of questions when we chat. It's a fun new section coming soon!!

Please send all submissions to Natasha@creativenachos.com



Well folks, Spring has sprung here on the East Coast – actually it’s more like Summer – and inevitably two things have happened. I have a MAJOR case of Spring Fever and a fairly decent urge to do some Spring cleaning. Please note that "Natasha" and "Super Cleaner Extraordinaire" are are two ideas that do not often go hand in hand. So, I'm happy to report that the cleaning I am referring to is mental and professional Spring cleaning. My life needs streamlining and streamlining = major changes. After much deliberation, I decided that I wanted all of this with you.

The Thursday Sweet Treat started with ten, talented, energized, fantastic people wand it has grown to include many, many more energetic, fantastic, talented people filled with great fun and endless magic. That simple thought brings me such happiness. I am so in awe and so in love with all of the people who are a part of each week’s submissions as well as those who stop in to share, support and give a little love to fellow artists. The Thursday Sweet Treat has become my passion, my heart. As I stand on the verge of unleashing the new site, I want you to know that I plan to continue working as hard as I have on this blog, if not harder, to build the Thursday Sweet Treat while maintaining its artistic integrity.

Being here has taught me so much about myself, my art and life. I have learned tremendous lessons and found a strength that I do not think I would have found anywhere else. I’ve discovered that while I love creating art, my true passion lies somewhere in between the merger of writing and art. I have learned that I can no longer create alone; I want to be a part of a growing community where I can share, develop my skills and receive feedback. I want to be a part of a place where people share not only their work but their lives, their troubles, their passions and I want to give back in projects with schools and other art organizations. If I’d never started selling on Etsy, I’d never have discovered all of you, the Thursday Sweet Treat would never have been born and I would never have uncovered my true passion which lies in building this community, creating and sharing.

However, there are some complications and here is where my streamlining begins. Slowly, I began to realize that the time I spend here cuts into the time I was using to create. In addition, my daughter - who just turned two - requires more time and space the bigger she gets which is cutting into my creating time. Yet, I need to work in order to contribute to my family. So, what am I to do?

Over the course of several afternoons, I sat and wrote down the things I love doing. Then, I went through my resume to see if my experiences would back up all that I love and I was thrilled to realize that they do. Almost 99.99% of the time, I am better at seeing other strengths than I am at seeing my own but I’m teaching myself how to see things now. Based on the time and reasearch I spent in figuring how to make everything work, I devised a new plan for myself.

I am starting my own marketing/pr/communications business. I realized that I have a natural ability to promote people and I love doing it. My writing has the power to open minds, hearts and, in some cases, doors. In addition, my skill set which includes corporate communications, nonprofit fundraising, grant writing, marketing and pr for both nonprofit and for profit companies as well as freelance artists, allows me to not only do what I love in promoting people but also help people grow their business and develop a stronger presence within their target market.

To be honest, I really struggled with sharing this here. You see, I’m not a car salesman. I am not any type of salesman at all. I could never, ever sell you something that you don’t need. So, I didn’t want you to come here and think I’d lured you in to start selling you things you don’t need. I am just an artist, writer, Mom, joker, down-to-Earth woman with a talent for writing, a dream of building the Thursday Sweet Treat into a much larger, thriving community, a need to help support my family and a deep, burning desire to help others to succeed. When I believe in something I go after it. When I looked at the things I have done in my life, I realized helping others has been the focus whether I realized it or not (and often I didn’t realize it, to be honest, I was just looking to write any way I could.)

I don’t want this announcement to change the atmosphere here in any way. The Thursday Sweet Treat is and will always remain a place for artists and writers to dream create and share anything and everything in their hearts and minds. I want this to be the place where people can test their wings and fly.

The small business I am starting will be a separate entity. I simply wanted to share what I am doing in case you or someone you know needs some work. I’m looking to work with people’s budgets and am offering press release writing, blog posting assistance or blog writing, web copy creation, brochures creation, assistance in promoting online, and much, much more. If you’d like more information, please contact me at Natasha@creativenachos.com.

My shop will remain open although some designs will be going as I just don’t have the space and time to produce them anymore. All my TST treats will be in there. However, my focus will be building the Thursday Sweet Treat both online and off and consulting or working to promote artists with my own small business. This way I can help to support my family and streamline my time so I am there for my little monkey AND here in our soon to be much bigger playground.

I’d LOVE feedback from you. In addition, I’d love to hear if Spring has brought about any cleaning or streamlining for you as well. Thank you so much for taking the time to read...I really can't wait to hear from you!