It’s obvious we’re all different. Through upbringings in different countries, even cities; our incomes, shoe sizes, hair colour, dress sense; all sorts of different reasons attribute to our differences. However, there’s something every single human being on this planet has to do in life. Some do it more than others, sometimes we have to do it for others and some will encounter much harder ones than I can even begin to understand.

We have to make decisions.

As a parent, one of my main teachings to my children is that life is all about choices, so right from the start I have been trying to allow them to gain experience and understanding on how the choices we make will impact our lives for the good or bad. In fact this has been our main focus the past month as one of our children is struggling with this quite a bit. Sometimes what feels like a good decision turns out to be a terrible choice, for whatever reason and sometimes that extremely hard choice turns out to be the best darn decision we make for years to come.

Either way, it’s something we have to do.

If we were to sit down and calculate just how many decisions one has to make in a day I bet we would end up in the thousands, probably tens-hundreds of thousands; from what time we wake up, to which position we fall asleep in, in bed.

The hard thing is though, making a decision that will impact on our ever convenient day-to-day routines.

You know what I mean. The ones that make us sweat and make us extremely uncomfortable, sometimes causing extreme stress, making our entire demeanor change overnight.

There comes a point in life, usually somewhere in our teens or early twenties where we step up and make that first adult decision. For some that may be whether to go to University, move across country, go on an OE, get married, take that job offer etc. The great thing about stepping up is that the more you do it, the easier it becomes. It’s absolutely terrifying at first but there’s a sickening rush you get from knowing that whether right or wrong, you made the choice and everything that comes from it is because you made a decision.

I love the quote taken from 1 Corinthians 13:11

When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

Making good decisions really is the trait of any inspiring adult.

My adult decision making kicked in quite early, I had a very short childhood. Making the right choices came easy for most of my life but there was a short while where this wasn’t the case. Maybe it is because my time came so early, my mind was still very young in it’s way of thinking.

Nowadays though, I’m the kind of person that thrives on a tough decision. I love the challenge it brings and get very excited that something new could be coming my way.

What keeps my life interesting is that my husband and I are totally different when it comes to making decisions. Well, at first we were…

It’s no secret that I’m the creative type I’ve always been very in touch with feelings (even if I don’t cry!) and answers for difficult choices have often been dreamed about. If something was right, my body would get so completely overwhelmed it would shake almost uncontrollably. It sounds a bit weird but it’s never steered me wrong.

My husband on the other hand is all logic. If numbers and time lines, paperwork, facts and studies all make sense, then he’ll consider that something could be a good decision.

Over the years we’ve blended well together, I’ve mellowed him out and taught him about gut instinct and he’s made me much more analytical. Maybe too much because some days it feels as though I’m doing all the logical thinking and filling him in with all the details hehe. He’s definitely been a good influence.

So how do we make our decisions? I say we because remember, I’m one in a partnership of two. Every big decision I make impacts five other people.

• We bring up whatever it is we’re contemplating.
• We thrash the topic.
• We both share our views, whether we agree with each other or not, everything is openly talked about, no feelings are hurt.
• We come to a conclusion on what it is we want based on what is best for the particular circumstance.
• We pause and wait for the instinctual feeling that this decision is right.
• We create a new goal.
• We break up the goal into simple little steps.
• We get to work on the steps.
• We then review every week/fortnight/month/year. Whatever is necessary.
• We alter steps if need be.
• We continue as before until goal is reached.

Now, although this sounds as though it’s only used on lifestyle/financial decisions, we do similar things when it comes to parenting decisions. Although the parenting sessions are much more relaxed because we’re usually on the exact same page.

This method has helped us many times. It’s how we made $30,000 in one weekend. It’s how we close to doubled our income in one year without me leaving home. It’s how we got noticed by one of the major banks in NZ and got our budgeting scheme taken nationwide.

What was one of your biggest decisions in life so far? How did it work out?

How do you make your decisions? Are you practical, emotional or a great combination of the both?

Do you have a big decision weighing on your mind right now?

Lately I’ve encountered first hand and also been told of a few horror stories to do with the issue of paintings being handed over to a gallery for hanging.  There is no one way to do it but there are a few steps that just should not be overlooked. It makes you look professional and saves the handlers/gallery an awful lot of work. So if you want to put your best foot forward, use these simple tips.

Sample A

Sample B

DO:

• Finish your work off completely by painting the sides and sealing it when dry.
• Write the Title and Date on the back of your painting. Don’t forget to sign it too.
• Include all details Title, Size, Medium, Artist, Price on a tag or sticker that is easily visible on the back of your work.
• Use D hooks.
• Place them about 1/3 the way down on the back.
• Insert the D hooks on the insides of the boxed canvas so that they don’t protrude and leave marks on the wall.
• Use string or wire to  hang. Wire is best if your work is heavy as it stretches less.
• Tape the back of the frame. You can buy framing tape at your local art supplies store for about $15.

DON’T:

• Show up to the gallery and expect someone to do all this for you.
• Take your art work anywhere when wet.
• Expect unframed canvas or paper to be put on display.
• Create a beautiful painting then not add the Title & Price to the back.

It’s honestly very simple. So simple it seems silly to write this post but I assure you, it’s very easy for people to overlook these steps. I hope you find them useful in the future. If you read this list and realise you’ve been doing these things, relax! When you know better, you do better. Move forward from today onward and you’ll be fine.

*** Don’t forget to enter my Pick Your Print Giveaway which runs till May 15th 2010

1. Take photos in natural daylight. This will help the photo show your works truest colours. I find slightly overcast days produce great shots.
2. Lay the painting flat on the ground. A lot of places will tell you to try and stand it up against something but I only find that helpful for larger pieces. If you do choose to stand it up, try and stand it as straight as possible.
3. Turn off the flash. This can cause glare, dramatically changing the look of your photo.
4. Snap your shot, avoid casting any shadows on your image.
5. Crop your picture so you only have the painting in the final image.

Then you can photoshop to create an effect if you so wish. I’ve only just gotten my hands on this magical invention so I’m still working through fixing some old images.

*** Don’t forget to enter my Pick Your Print Giveaway which runs till May 15th 2010.

There are a few tips I thought others out there could use. Just a few things I, myself, wish I had known before I ventured into the big wide world of being an artist.

Photos:

I wish I’d realised how important it was to have a decent camera that took high quality images and easily reduced glare. I got my hands on photoshop this year and love it. Now I have to work through some old images of paintings long sold to bring them up to scratch. I’ll put up a post soon with some tips for photos.

Document:

Take note of everything. Size, colours used to create a painting, brushes used, medium, date created, location of painting when out of your studio, your price, commission rate, actual sale price, where it went (if possible). It makes life much easier when it comes time to answer questions from galleries and clients or when you’re working on a series of paintings.

Hanging Prep:

This is a pretty big one. I’m rather embarrassed when I look back at some of the work I sent out. I learned how to tidy up the back of my work for my first exhibition. I asked a lot of questions and Googled my life away trying to ‘get it right’. There is no one right way but there are some steps that shouldn’t be overlooked. I’ll put up an instructional post for that in the next week.

Business Cards:

Always include a business card (or two, or ten) in your packages. Whether you’re sending your work to a client or off to an exhibition, make sure you send along a business card. I’ve started doing this new thing, it came about because I wasn’t able to get my business cards shipped on time for a show. I handwrite each of my business cards and in the past 2 months I have been through over 200 business cards. They say nothing but “Find me! ChavahKinloch.com” and have a little mark on them made from either crayon or coloured pencil. I know this could be looked at as a major no-no but people seem to love the personal touch and I have to admit, so do I. My site gets direct hits from them and I’ve never been Googled so much. Clients also appreciate having somewhere to go to see more work and learn about me, the artist. It’s a fun way to interact without actually being there to talk to every single person.

Image courtesy of Nileflow.com

Mailing List:

This is by far my biggest stuff up. I really wish I could go back and get the details of every wonderful client I traded with or artist and gallery I exchanged emails with (from computers that are long dead). Contacts are your best friend in the life of an artist, you never know where your next opportunity or acquaintance will come from. Plus artists are amazing people to know, I have made some really good friends through my work. So take note of the people you interact with.

As per request here is the recipe we use in our household to satisfy not only our cravings but a small mass of people. If you have never had Pani Popo (or even if you have), I suggest you make this recipe! It’ll be a hit with everyone and you can claim you’re a masterchef of all polynesian recipes…(remember this post).  Why don’t you invite some friends over and have your own little luau?

So what are Pani Popo? In english (the way I have to say it because I can’t pull off speaking Samoan) they’re Coconut buns. They are a deliciously sweet, sticky bun. It’s said that they originated in the Samoa. I’m not an expert or anything but I’ll take it because then it’s something else I can claim comes from my heritage.

The buns are soft and doughy and get baked in a coconut sauce so good it will make you want to lick the plate. Not that I’ve done that before… do do do do do do….*Side glance*

Please note: You will need a large baking tray for this or 2 regular sized dishes. This recipe should make up to 25 small buns.

Ingredients for Buns:

5 ½ to 6 ½ cups plain all purpose flour
1 packet yeast, 7g (¼oz)
2 ¼ cups milk
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp butter 30g (1oz)
1 tsp salt
Canola Oil

Buns Method:

• Add half the flour with the yeast into a bowl and mix.
• Heat the milk in a saucepan stirring constantly, add sugar, butter and salt till warm and butter has just about melted. Do not let it boil.
• Add the wet mixture to flour and yeast mix the combination slowly, being sure to scrape up the bits on the edge of the bowl.
• Add the rest of the flour until you get a good doughy texture that is easy to pull but not dry. Knead on a lightly floured surface for 10 minutes. Be careful not to use too much flour or your bread will turn out dense and heavy.
• Shape the dough into a large ball.
• Coat the ball in canola oil.
• Place the ball in a large bowl.
• Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and place in a warm place to rise for 45 minutes to an hour.
• Flatten down the dough and make into little balls… or to pretty them up, roll out the balls into snakes and then make a swirl shape.
• Place the balls into a large ungreased baking dish, cover and let rise for another 10 minutes while you make the sauce.

Sauce Ingredients:

2 cans coconut milk

1 cup sugar

Sauce Method:

• Combine the coconut cream and sugar then pour over the buns. Simple!
• Bake at 190°C (375°F) for 20 minutes.

A friend has asked if I’d share the recipe for Chop Suey so I thought I’d do it on here so that others could also experiment if they so desired. This not the Asian style Chop Suey but your Kiwi/Island style. Now, I’m a total Chop Suey snob.  In my opinion if you’re going to make it, you have to stick to these 3 rules:

1. Only use dark soy sauce. It looks much tastier and well, it IS much tastier.
2. Chicken in Chop Suey is a nice thought but a major no-no. Red meat -beef or lamb- are the only meats to use and not in mince form.
3. No mixed veges! Save them to stretch another meal.

Stick to these 3 rules and your Chop Suey is sure to be a hit. With me at least, anyway.

Ingredients:

2 packets Vermicelli – Vermicelli looks like this

Let me know how you go!

Hi Again,

It’s Andrew,  Chavah’s technically inclined husband. Chavah asked me to create a quick post on how to create a blog button.

In case you don’t know what blog buttons or blog stickers or badges as they are commonly known as, are, they are basically a picture that is linked to your blog that other bloggers that want to link to you can use instead of a boring text link. Chavah has one for other bloggers that want to link to her blog on her right hand menu. It looks like this:

Copy & paste the following code into your blog or website.

<a border=”0″ href=”http://blog.chavahkinloch.com” mce_href=”http://blog.chavahkinloch.com” target=”_blank”><img src=”/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/badge.png” mce_src=”/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/badge.png”/></a>

The text box at the bottom is for the person who wants to add the button to their website and link back to chavahs blog. The ugly stuff inside is just a short piece of HTML that includes a link to chavahs blog and a bit of code to make the image above display on their site.

There are several ways to make a button from doing it manually to using online button builders. The online button builders are probably the fastest way but often limit your creativity.

The most popular online button maker is Fresh Badge it allows you to quickly and easily make a very basic button.

If like Chavah you want a button that really helps to capture the essence of your blog in a small image, then I have included some step by step instructions below:

1. Create the Button Image
   You can use any program you like to do this, whether it is Adobe Photoshop or MS Paint. Chavah actually used the website Hyplet.com and created a flyer that we then shrank down to a nice size (150 pixels wide, 186 pixels high). Once you have created the image you need to upload it to your blog or to a site like photobucket or FlickR, it doesnt really matter where as long as it is publicly available for anyone to view online.
2. Create the code
   For this step i have written the instructions as if you were using wordpress but if you are blogging on a different platform the concept should be largely the same and the HTML will of course be identical.

   So next up we want to add a text widget to our site. In the content of this widget we want to add the following:

   <img src=”http://linktomyphoto” alt=”Come visit my blog” />
   Copy & paste the following code into your blog or website.

   This HTML displays your button and displays the words below it. The first red letters are a link to your button image and the second is a sentence that will appear when someone hovers over your image on your site.

   The next bit of code you need to add is:
   <textarea cols=”15″ rows=”4″ name=”textfield”><a href=”http://myblog.com” “target=”_blank”><img src=”linktomybuttonimage” alt=”Come visit my blog“ /></a></textarea>

   The first red text is the address of your blog. The second is the link to your button image and the last red text is a sentence that will appear when someone hovers over your image on your site.

   Once you have done this click ‘Save’ and voila you now have a shareable button on your blog.