If they can do it......

            Hello all. A few things to say today. Because I was recently laid off from my new job that I really enjoyed, I now have a lot of spare time on my hands. TOO much spare time. I am not good with too much spare time, infact I'm only good with minuscule amounts of spare time. I'm one of those people who ALWAYS has to be buzy. That means that I'm knitting while watching TV, reading a good book, or have to be doing something productive at least 90% of the time. In the summer it's ok to be laying on the beach for a day I guess. When I'm not working, I feel useless and like a total loser and bum and like I'm not being a contributing member of society. I feel like I'm not my best self because I'm not doing something that I love and I'm just doing little things at home to make up the time. This time, I've tried to make the best of the time that I have off (even though it has been a major struggle). 
         With all of this being said I've decided to use my other creative abilities and think of ways in which I can make some extra money. I must say, I'm a really good knitter, and baker. How does one realistically make money off of this though? I looked into a festival that is going to be at the end of August so that I could sell some of my knitted items... and calculated that I couldn't do it this year because a)Its to expensive ($400 for your booth) and that would mean that I would have to sell 13 items at $30.00each which brings me to b)I don't have 30 items to sell and won't before the end of August is over. So I couldn't do that one. I then decided that I should be teaching some knitting classes...I've thought about this before but never went through the motions of actually trying to do so. I've put up signs (the kind with the tabs at the bottom with an email/phone number on the bottom) and I also created a facebook page as well tweeting (tweet-ing?) about it and facebooking about it. So far, one potential taker. Doesn't anyone want to learn how to knit?! I've now decided that in the mean time, I'm going to knit several "lace" pieces and try to sell them. Knitting lace is a)Very pretty and b)I don't think a lot of people do it so I'm hoping that if I make enough things people will be interested in buying them. I also thought about making a few baked items and selling them at the outdoor market once a week. Thinking off all of these things makes me feel like a crazy person, like what am I doing?!
           This post is getting much longer then intended by the way. I really came here today so share with you a few people who are "independent artists" as I call them, who are just doing their own thing, doing what they love, doing what they are good at, and making money from it. If they can do it, why can't I? WHY can't I? That seems to be the problem/question. WHY can't I. Check out these artists who have seemed to be able to figure it out. (I feel bitter).

Jenna Rose:
http://jennarose.ca/

http://jennarose.ca/collection2.html

http://jennarose.ca/collection11.html

http://jennarose.ca/collection14.html

This girl seems to know how to make some extra dollas on the side with her knitting. Here is a scarf of her's:

Good night, day: http://goodnightday.bigcartel.com/

(May I also mention that this girl doesn't at all look like she wants to be wearing that scarf)

http://goodnightday.bigcartel.com/product/meaford-lambs-wool-cowl-hand-dip-dyed-in-burnt-orange-hues

Brooklyn Rehab: http://www.etsy.com/shop/brooklynrehab

Cute lockets

*Note: All of these artists can be found at White Elephant (A GREAT store that is worth checking out). Everything in there is handmade by an independent artist. Check it out: http://www.whiteelephantshop.ca/