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In the depths of Noble Bunny Manor…

… lies a little brown door.

Made of wood, the door handle has long become rusty. It is apparent that this door has not been in use for a long time.

It’s a door that I never open.

Nor does my hubby open it.

But you may be wondering:

"What’s inside?"

And the answer to that may shock you.

Within that tiny little room, behind that tiny little door, lies hundreds and hundreds of ugly little spiders who have made the room their abode.

But that’s not all that’s in the room.

Originally, the room was meant as a substitute attic (since we don’t have an attic), and was used to store antique furniture that we never used.

That furniture is still in that room today.

Since the furniture is antique, could they be possibly worth a lot?

No one knows.

Because… over the years… because of disuse… too many spiders started taking over the room.

And since we’re scared of most bugs, eventually there was no one brave enough to open the door and take the furniture out for appraisal.

So within that room…

… perhaps lies a fortune.

Or maybe not?

No one knows.

Because no one is brave enough to open the door and check.

But one thing’s for sure:

If you ever visit my store, and you notice me selling furniture there…

… know that…

… someone was brave enough to walk into that tiny little room at last…

Sincerely,
Aurelia Nobleia
"Arachnophobic Artist"

P.S. It won’t be me! That’s for sure.

Have you ever slaved away for hours, and days, and weeks, and months over a single project…

… and you put it out to the world, maybe in your store…

… and all you hear is crickets?

While on the other hand:

Sometimes you just sloppily release something quick for fun, and put it out there.

And…

*BOOM*

It explodes.

Everyone loves it.

And it becomes an almost instant bestseller.

Ever had that happen to you?

Yeah, it happens to me a lot.

But this always reminds me that it’s not about how much effort you put into a piece. Sometimes, for some reason, things just click.

And sometimes they don’t.

Who knows why?

It reminds me of a talk by world famous music entrepreneur, Derek Sivers.

In the talk, he mentions how when he first got started in his career as a musician, he released albums of his songs, and did everything he could to get his music famous. He performed live events, knocked on doors, made connections, did all the marketing he could.

For years.

Crickets.

No bite.

No response.

Until one day, he decided to just throw in the towel.

And switch to a new project.

Within days of that new beginning?

*BOOM*

It was like an overnight bestseller.

People kept throwing money at him. Non-stop. For years. And his new musical project, a website called CD Baby, became known throughout the world.

The moral of the story:

We are often told that we should persist, keep on going, and never give up. But it’s not about persistently and stubbornly doing the same things over and over again. In the words of Einstein, that would be insanity.

Rather, it’s about persistently experimenting and improving until you get the results you want.

So if you’re putting your work out there…

… and you’re not getting the attention you want…

… and all you hear is crickets…

… maybe it’s time to make some adjustments.

Perhaps it’s time for a new experiment.

Perhaps a change of pace, or a change of direction.

Maybe even a new project.

Just remember.

In the words of well-known Disney and National Geographic artist Lee White:

"Don’t try to polish a turd."

Sincerely,
Aurelia Nobleia
"Chameleon-Bunny Hybrid"

P.S. This masterpiece has been one of my most recent overnight bestsellers. I really enjoyed making it. But never expected the response I’ve been getting. Wow!

A couple days ago, I was watching an interview with best-selling novelist Stephen King.

I hate anything horror.

So…

… as you can guess…

… I haven’t read any of his books.

But, I’m always open to learning from the greatest artists of any field.

In the interview:

King talked about the importance of finding (and working with) ideas you enjoy.

He mentioned how a lot of people approach their craft with the intention of making stuff that OTHER people will like. Then, they try to finish that work as quickly as possible. So that they can breathe a sigh of relief once they’re finally done.

But King doesn’t approach his work that way.

He doesn’t CARE about the end result… at all…

… or even what other people think of his work.

The finished book on a shelf is just a pile of dead skin to him. So it isn’t about authoring yet another book.

All that matters to him is that he finds enjoyment in the process of creation.

And he always does.

In fact, he enjoys it so much that…

… by the time a book is finished…

… he has a hard time saying goodbye to the characters he created…

… and he wishes it wouldn’t end.

Thinking back, there are times when I’ve fallen into this sort of trap. Where I forget to enjoy myself when creating art, and I just wanna get the job over with as soon as possible.

So I can move onto the next project.

And I focus too much on what other people will think of my work.

But now that I think of it, those are the times when the work I create isn’t that great.

It’s good.

But not great.

Why does this happen?

I believe the answer lies in a story I read sometime back from a well-known Olympic coach.

One training day:

One of his track athletes came up to him and said…

"Coach, I gotta win that race that’s coming up."

Coach replied…

"Alright. We’ll do some special training just for you today. For this first practice lap, I want you to put 100% of your effort in! Run as fast as you can! I wanna see you at your best!"

And so, the athlete got the message.

He went up on the field.

Got himself ready.

And RAN with all his might.

The result?

The time he recorded was… mediocre.

Pretty bad even.

Hearing the result, he walked back to his coach with his head down in shame, waiting for feedback.

After which, his coach told him:

"Alright, let’s try this again. This time, I want you to go onto the field, and just forget about running your fastest. Just put in 50% of your effort this time. Alright?"

The athlete was puzzled.

But he went back up on the field. And did what his coach told him.

End result?

He ran SO fast, that…

… he unofficially broke a World Record!

The moral of the story:

When you focus too much on the end result, it really messes you up. You strain yourself so much, your performance goes bad.

You start to get nervous.

And impatient.

Your mind and muscles tense up.

Self-doubt starts to rear its head.

And everything just goes haywire.

So it goes for the creative professional…

… and for me as well…

As Stephen King says (and I paraphrase):

"I don’t care about whether other people like what I create. All I care about is that I have fun and enjoy the process. And if people have fun reading what I write, then that’s great."

Gotta remember that.

Relax.

Have fun.

And don’t focus too much on the end result.

That’s why these days, I’m spending more time on just playing around with my work. Not doing it just for the sake of reaching a specific goal.

And that’s also why…

… these days you’ll find a lot of fun new pieces in my store.

Will people like them?

I don’t know. But I know one thing.

I had fun making them.

And to me, that’s all that matters…

Sincerely,
Aurelia Nobleia
"Doing 50% Of My Best"

A couple years back:

I was sitting in a cafe. With my hubby. And my hubby’s piano sensei.

My hubby was trained as a classical performance pianist in the past. And it had been quite some time since he’d last met his most favored piano teacher.

So we were in this cafe to meet and just catch up.

His teacher, I soon got to know, was quite an amazing pianist.

In more ways than one.

Other than the typical traits of a famous pianist, such as regularly doing sold-out concerts and having best-selling albums under your name, he also had some other qualities that distinguished him.

Such as his talent for using music to treat and cure various illnesses (especially mental) for which most doctors had given up hope on.

"Why are you moving back to America right now, master?" I heard my hubby ask.

"Well, my son doesn’t want to be a pianist." the master replied.

"Huh? Really?" my hubby gasped.

"Yeah. And I don’t really want him to be a pianist either."

"How come? What does he want to be then?"

"Well, his passion is in space exploration. So he’s been planning to get into SpaceX. And I’d rather he follow his dreams. I’ll be going there too to support him."

Awww…

Nowadays, everyone wants to go to space. Or at least work at a space company.

Well, I for one don’t wanna go to space right now.

Not yet anyway.

But that hasn’t kept me away from the allure of the cosmos.

In fact:

Recently, I’ve been searching for ways to get my art sent into space. So it can go there on my behalf.

And guess what?

From my research, it look like almost every year, there are contests from various companies that you can participate in. And if you get chosen, your art gets sent into space!

Sometimes it’ll be painted on a satellite.

Sometimes it’ll be put on a chip and taken there digitally.

Other times you might even get your art taken by an astronaut. I think.

Well, the sad news is…

… I missed out on the last contest for this year that I could find…

… but I’ll be sure to try and get selected for next year’s intake!

For now:

Unfortunately, I can’t tell you that you’re buying art from an artist whose work was once sent into space. 🙁

However, I can give you some candy while you’re waiting. 🙂

And if you like that, feel to click here and get it now.

Sincerely,
Aurelia Nobleia
"Soon-To-Be Space Artist"

I’m sitting in my studio right now.

And I don’t feel like doing anything. At all.

It’s been raining outside since yesterday. Non-stop. The weather’s cold. The sky’s grey. Could it be that Autumn is early this year?

Well, all I want to do right now is bundle myself up in a blanket and sip on some hot chocolate.

So I went to the kitchen to get the raw chocolate. And put a pot on the burner to boil.

But before I put the chocolate in, I thought to myself…

"Mmmm… This chocolate looks good. Would be a shame to melt it and drink it."

So I threw it in my mouth.

And enjoyed every bite.

So instead of making hot chocolate, I switched to making fake coffee instead.

What’s fake coffee you ask?

It’s one of my favorite drinks. And tastes exactly like coffee (to me at least). But without any drawbacks of real coffee.

No caffeine.

No acidity.

No additives.

No bitterness.

And it’s nutritious in a lot of ways because of the herbs used to make it.

(You can do a quick Google Search on each of the herbs if you wanna know how they benefit you.)

But in case you were wondering…

… no!

It’s not hard to make.

In fact, it’s so easy, I thought I’d share it with you today in case you’d like to give it a try.

I know a lot of people these days are trying to wean themselves off caffeine. And coffee.

But don’t know what to substitute it with.

If that’s you, then you’ll wanna give this a try.

(According to what I’ve read, people who tried switching over have no withdrawal symptoms.)

And even if that’s not you, you might wanna give this a try. Especially if you need something to keep you warm while you’re crafting or making your art. Even more so if it’s cold outside.

—

FAKE COFFEE RECIPE:

– 1 teaspoon of Dandelion Root blend (I use this)
* you can add more if you want stronger flavor
– 1 teaspoon of Raw Almond butter (I love this!)
* if you want it even milkier, add more!
– 1 teaspoon of Honey
– 1 cup of hot water

DIRECTIONS:

– Put the raw almond butter in a small container with some water and shake until it all dissolves.
– Add the hot water to the Dandelion Root blend and mix with honey.
– Combine everything together and enjoy.

—

Oh. And if you’re totally vegan, feel free to substitute the Honey with something else.

I don’t mind cheating with a little honey, because I enjoy it. 🙂

Well:

It’s back to sipping on my fake coffee and lazing around for now.

See ya.

Sincerely,
Aurelia Nobleia
"Sleepy Sloth-Bunny"

Several years back:

I read about this hotel. It touted itself as the world’s worst place to stay at. And it had abysmal reviews on all the popular travel sites.

But, guess what?

The hotel was ALWAYS fully booked!

In fact, sometimes you even had to book in advance to stay there.

The secret of their success?

They marketed themselves for what they were best at.

Namely:

They were the best at…

… being the worst hotel in the world.

They started running advertising on how their rooms were scientifically tested for (and proven to have) dozens of different types of mold, and… if you’d never seen giant cockroaches the size of your fist before… this hotel was the best zoo you’d ever go to, and… how their rooms included free toilet flushing (no extra charge), and even boasted themselves on how terrible their customer service was (if you miss the feeling of being verbally abused as a child, this place will bring back memories).

People flocked to the hotel like kids to a Disneyland.

They were drawn to the sheer novelty of it.

And everyone wanted to stay there just to see how bad it was.

But whether they stayed the whole night, or ran screaming back to their homes before their stay ended, that I have no clue.

The moral of the story though?

People LOVE extremes.

And they couldn’t care less about the averages.

No one cares if you’re the 3rd best hotel in the country, or maybe the 7th worst place to stay in the world. Do you ever hear people arguing about who’s the 5th best quarterback of all time?

Didn’t think so.

That’s why…

… no matter what sort of creative profession you’re in…

… or even if you’re working a business or a day job…

… find something you can be the best in the world at…

… or even the worst.

Preferably, you’ll want a narrow niche that plays to your strengths. And talents. Don’t try to be all things to all people.

Extremes get you attention.

And attention gets you…

… well, a lot of stuff.

Customers for example.

For me?

I’m the best in the world at illustrating beautiful, black and white, botanical borders.

But you probably already knew that. 🙂

Sincerely,
Aurelia Nobleia
"I’m The Best At Something!"

P.S. A couple days ago, we were watching an amazing video that was trending on YouTube.

It was about being:

"Inside Japan’s WORST Hotel Room"

Granted that Japan is known for it’s relentless pursuit of perfection, it makes sense that this video caught eyeballs and went viral.

People never change. 🙂

Be the best or the worst at something. It really helps.

"Aurelia, you don’t watch football?!?"

This question is typically followed by looks and gasps of astonishment when asked by American friends.

And it reminds me of a similar question asked by Canadian friends:

"Aurelia, you don’t watch hockey?!?"

And yet another similar question asked by South East Asian friends:

"Aurelia, you don’t watch Sepak Takraw?!?"

Sepak Takraw, by the way, in case you don’t know…

… is a type of volleyball that’s played with the feet instead of the hands… which means that you have to do tons of somersaults and backflips in the air in order to spike the ball with your feet… which also means that it’s more like a combination of acrobatics + volleyball + soccer.

I don’t really watch it.

But my hubby thinks those Sepak Takraw players are pretty cool.

I agree.

The only sport I like to watch?

Synchronized Swimming!

Because those swimmers are all so artistic!

Well, with the artistry in my blood, it’s natural that I’m drawn to more artistic forms of sport.

Other things I enjoy watching, but aren’t really sports, include stuff like:

– Ice Sculpting
– Sand Castle Sculpting
– and even… Snowman Building!

Which brings me to today’s creation…

I’ve been drawing a lot of wreaths recently.

Especially Christmas wreaths.

But then, I thought I’d try something different and do some story-telling in my designs… combined with the subtle art of… Snowman Building!

If you’re a fan of my frames, and…

… you also like illustrated stories, and…

… you like building snowmen too, and…

… you’re getting ready to fill your store with Christmas art, just like most of my fans are right now, then…

… this new illustrated window frame might be something you’d like.

Check it out here, and let me know what you think of this new experiment!

Sincerely,
Aurelia Nobleia
"Synchronized Storyteller"