Little Fish, Big Pond full of Fish

I have come to the realization that all the things I do are not unique. Let me explain, because I know a few of you are going to jump on that statement and start with the Sarah has no confidence thing, but that is not it. 
I grew up reading about the great authors like Carson McCullers, the beat poets, Hemingway, who were part of a small society of people who created. They just were. They didn't ask to be. They didn't hock their wares. They created what they felt compelled to create and as the years went by it got attention. I know at some point they did send it to a publisher or editor and success didn't just fall in their laps. Today, you could write the best story ever to be set to paper, but no one would ever find it. Even if it was published in a magazine or Online it would still be stuck in the quagmire that is today's written word. The same thing goes for photography. There are so many photographers today. This is a wonderful thing, but at the same time, dilutes the art of it. I am not even sure that I am one to talk. I have never shot a film SLR, I have never developed in a dark room, I have never gone to school for anything that I do.

The point of this mini rant? I'm not sure. I was lying in bed, wide awake at 5am and these thoughts that I am writing to you now kept floating around in my brain. I am trying to muddle through this years round of giving up. I love the art of it all, but I am not good at the selling part of it. One reason is because I don't put the energy into it. I don't enjoy marketing so it looms over my head like a big dark cloud of what I should be doing. Another reason is the confidence thing, or lack thereof. A third reason would be the complete chaos that my life is at the moment. I have no order or organization and that is another daunting task that I keep putting off. I need a week with nothing going on to set everything straight, but that isn't going to happened, is it? Hmmm.

Okay, I have some organizing to do...I at least need to find my desk.

Talk to you soon,
Sarah McTernen
www.ardentphotography.com
http://ardentlife.etsy.com
http://smcternen.etsy.com
www.zazzle.com/ardentphotography

Snow!

Thank you,
Sarah McTernen
www.ardentphotography.com
ardentlife.etsy.com

Doubt

The more I read, the more I am not sure I am built for this kind of thing.  That's not true.  It is just not something that I have time for at the moment.  This conversation has started in the middle.  Let us go back to the beginning.

I love to create.  There is a poster that I saw today on Etsy by Eee Bee that says "I just want to make beautiful things even if nobody cares."  This is how I feel, but I also would like my "hobby" to pay for itself.  At the moment, I do not believe that what I do could support my family, but I would like it to support itself, which it does...most of the time.  This leads me to try and learn marketing and exposure techniques.  It facilitates my need to find craft shows and other selling venues.  It is also the bane of my creative time, which between kids and homeschool, being a wife and all the other things, is in short supply.

I came across a link for the Smart Passive Income Blog www.smartpassiveincome.com and started to read.  The information is very good.  The problem is, I realize that it would take so much time to set up some of these strategies that I would not have time to create.  Possibly, I just have to learn patience.  Possibly, I just have to set aside some of my precious quiet time to formulate a better business model.  This hurts my brain just thinking about it.

I was reading The Mom's Guide to Running a Business earlier this week, trying to glean ideas for how to make my business grow and at the same time becoming overwhelmed with this feeling that I am not made of the same stuff these women are made from.  I guess it is the time of year for doubt.  The creating will happen no matter what, I just wish the business side of things was as enjoyable.

Thanks for reading,
Sarah
www.ardentphotography.com
ardentlife.etsy.com

A Musical Journey

This past weekend I journeyed down to Portland, Oregon with family to enjoy the River City Music Festival.  Between attending workshops and listening to lots of bluegrass music from artists like Sierra Hull, the Bluegrass Regulators and Northern Departure, I had time to lament no longer being able to play my violin.  I have never been skilled with the guitar, another instrument in my house, but at one point in my life, I was at least decent at the violin.  Looking back now, and reading some of my adjudication reports, I am not sure how well I actually played. This doesn't matter now, though.  This weekend has shown me that I need to get my fingers moving again.  By the end of the year, I hope to feel comfortable playing my violin in front of people again.  Off to go practice!

Best wishes,
Sarah McTernen
www.ardentphotography.com
http://ardentlife.etsy.com

Happy New Year! Now Let's Get Back to School.

Back to school today!  Our school schedule had been thrown into a chaotic mess for the holiday season, but now that our house has returned to it's pre-holiday order, we can start our lessons at their regularly scheduled times.  Of course this implies that we have a schedule, which we do, it is just very...um...relaxed. 

I am also hoping to get started on creating some math manipulatives and other learning "toys".  If they go over well, maybe they will end up in the shop later this year.

I hope you all had a wonderful new year's celebration.

Best wishes in the new year,

Sarah McTernen
www.ardentphotography.com
ardentlife.etsy.com

The Process of Organization

I am trying to organize all the jewelry.  This is one of those tasks that is hard to start because it seems insurmountable.  Some need new photographs, some just need photographs, I am getting ready to retire some pieces and send them to be reworked, many of them need to be listed on Etsy.

So many new pieces that you all have not yet seen.

Wish me luck,

Sarah
www.ardentphotography.com
ardentlife.etsy.com

Stollen - A German Tradition

Growing up, I always new it was Christmas time when I smelled Stollen baking in my grandmother's kitchen.  It wasn't everyone's favorite holiday treat, but there was something to that fragrant bread that I always loved.  My version of this holiday treat is different from my grandmother's mostly because I use dried fruit soaked in Grand Mariner instead of the candied fruit.

Stollen

FRUIT
2 cup Raisins, dried Apricots, dried Cranberries, and dried Cherries rough chopped
½ cup Grand Mariner

Soak the chopped up fruit in the liquor for at least two days. 

SPONGE
½ cup whole milk
½ cup flour
4 teaspoons yeast

Warm the milk to 100° F, then whisk in the flour and yeast, cover in plastic wrap and store for 1 hour in a warm draft free place until very foamy.

DOUGH
2 ¼ cups flour                                                                           1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon sugar                                                                    1 egg
¼ teaspoon salt                                                                         5 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon grated orange zest                                                    Up to ¼ cup water
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

Mix together flour, sugar, salt, zests, and cinnamon.  Fold in sponge, egg and butter.  Then add enough water to make a soft dough.  Let rest 10 minutes.

Add fruit to the dough.  Sprinkle the counter with flour and then knead until the fruit is spread evenly through the dough.  The dough should not be sticky but may be tacky.  Knead for about 6 minutes.  Add a bit of oil to a large bowl and spread it around.  Roll the dough ball in the oil, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let ferment for 45 minutes.  The dough does not rise much.

Form either one large loaf or two small ones.  My grandmother always made stollen in metal loaf pans.  I formed the dough into two small bâtards. Gently coat with a very thin layer of oil, cover with plastic wrap and proof on a parchment lined sheet pan for approximately 1 hour or until 1 ½ times its size.

Heat the oven to 350°F.  Bake the bread for 20 minutes, turn the pan and bake for another 20-40 minutes depending on how you made the loaves.

Now I don’t do this, but after you bake the loaves and remove them from the oven, coat the loaves with a bit of oil and then cover with powdered sugar, wait a little bit and then tap on another layer.  This is apparently traditional, but it was not the way my grandmother made it.

Cool completely and store in a plastic bag, unless you like your stollen stale, then leave it out.  Stale stollen is also traditional.  If you cannot wait to eat your fresh baked stollen, make sure you wait at least 1 hour.

I hope you enjoy!

Happy Holidays,

Sarah McTernen

An Ardent Life Design

www.ardentphotography.com

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