10 Years!

Well, here we are, the anniversary of a whole decade selling my tatting and some other nonsense on Etsy. When I first started I was the only person on the site doing tatting at all. I signed up for my shop on April 19th, 2006 and then five days later I tried to sell my pieces at the then brand new UC Merced campus at one of my only craft fair appearances. I did not enjoy it, but when it was over, I listed my pieces in my new shop and sold my first item. It was this bracelet here. I still had no idea where to buy colored threads and was relying on what I was finding in my local Michael's store. I even spent some time using awful perle cotton just for the sake of color in those early years. My, but I've come a long way since then.

So, I waited until this morning to decide that I shall have a sale that lasts until that first sale on the 24th. So for six days please use the code HAPPY10TH to get 25% off everything in my Etsy shop!

When I opened my Etsy store I was just hoping to make a little money for thread while I stayed home caring for my then nearly 2 year old daughter. I had no aspirations about designing new pieces. I wasn't looking to meet other artisans and tatters and I certainly had no clue that I would create videos to teach tatting and write patterns people might actually want to buy. I didn't even anticipate that two years later I would start writing on this blog nearly everyday of my life. All of that was years away when some nice gal bought this bracelet from me and convinced me that maybe I could make a go of this.

I've had good years on Etsy, weathered many changes, but it's been more bad than good in recent years. The market is saturated and my focus is more on schooling my kids and I let the shop take care of itself more than I should. Unfortunately it's really not so good at that. All that being said, I'm pretty sure I'll spend the next 10 years on Etsy as well. I'll hope for a turn around, I'll get inspired sometime and create something new and interesting and I'll keep writing the stories of my successes and failures no matter how dull they get.

Thank you so much for your continued support of my ramblings and my work. I'm crossing my fingers that the best is really yet to come.

7th Etsyversary

Yesterday did not really go my way at all. In fact I completely forgot that I wanted to look at my thread inventory. I did look at what I should remake and then proceeded to do none of it. There wasn't much really, except some masks that have remained unmade for quite some time. So then I decided to go ahead and play with the flourishes.

I tried a few other things with them, but most of my 'interesting' ideas failed miserably. In the end there are just this version and then a second where I substitute a zig zag chain on the outside. I haven't decided which I like better as the difference is fairly subtle. I do like how zig zag/Victorians sets break up the uniformity of the chain so I might go with that version. Either way I'll get them turned into earrings today and listed as well as a pendant version...I think.

The only other news today is that it's my 7th anniversary selling my wares on etsy. Anniversaries always make me nostalgic, so I went looking at my first sold pieces and promptly hung my head in shame and wondered a bit how I managed to stick it out so long. Etsy was a different place back then, I would have never been able to sell that stuff if I started with it now. In fact the tatting world is a lot different than it was back then too. I was the only tatter on etsy for one and it was a couple of years before I virtually met another one. My, how times change. So here's to progress and 7 years.

I know I kind of gave up on doing something big for the anniversary, but I can't let it pass without a little something. So today through Sunday evening get 17% off (because 7% would be silly) with the code ANNIVERSARY7 at my etsy shop. I'll also include a FREE flourish pendant as a gift with all orders over $20 as well. You don't need to mention anything to get the free gift, but don't forget the code for the discount.

6th Etsyversary

I went back through my old anniversary posts yesterday trying to come to a decision about how to 'celebrate' this year. What I discovered was both sad and amusing. It seems I stress on this every year sometimes leaning toward a big hoopla and sometimes letting it pass barely noticed. So at the end of my trip down memory lane, I still wasn't certain which direction I felt like going in. I mean it is an anniversary of what was a pretty important decision, one that literally changed my life and precipitated my development as a tatter. Without my etsy shop most, if not all of my creations never would have been made because there would have been little reason to make that much stuff. On the other hand as I have no intention of stopping now, it really is just another day in a long line of them to come and maybe I should keep the big celebrations for the significant ones. As this is the sixth, it really doesn't cause much excitement so I settled for small acknowledgement.

The first thing I did was remake one of the first pieces I sold on etsy, It was one of the first that demonstrated any originality at all. Prior to this they were just a few flowers put together as a bracelet or an edging worked into a choker. While this doesn't show a whole lot of deviation from that, it was a baby step that would eventually lead to much grander thoughts. But I digress, I remade the piece with some minor changes and just one is listed today at the price I sold the first one for. I have since come to better understand pricing, so honestly this is a little painful. I figure I can just one like this.

As a small token of my appreciation there is also a coupon code for today only. You can use the code Anniversary6 for 16% off. Six percent seemed too little and twenty-six was pushing it, so I settled in the middle with the six theme. The code is good today only and everyone who uses the code to make a purchase will get a free surprise gift with purchase. That is my celebration of my 6th Etsyversary. Thank you so much for your continued support.

1000th Post Giveaway

Happy One Thousand all! Before I get to the giveaway details I just wanted to take a short stroll down memory lane. I started the blog way back in 2008 because...well, because the folks in the etsy forums told me to. The implication was that doing so would help send traffic to my shop and I complied. I also spent a lot of time plugging my blog posts and generally pestering people to pay attention to me. It worked for a time, but man was it bothersome and exhausting. There was a point where I thought I should just let it go and move on, but then something weird happened, other tatters found me. Then it became less about self promotion and more about connecting and self expression. Here is the place I lay my thoughts, complain, celebrate and create. You're sure not shutting me up now.

Now for the giveaway part. I though long and hard about what to offer and decided to offer you your very own one of a kind Trailing Scrolls necklace like one of those pictured above, but made just for you. So how do you get in on this action? I need you to leave a comment here on this post sometime before Monday morning. That comment needs to tell me what shade you would want your necklace in should you win and you must make sure I have a way to contact you, email, twitter or etsy account. If I have to search for you, I'll just pick someone else.

The winner or maybe winners if I get an overwhelming response, will get to choose a thread color from those I have on hand, they're all listed on my policy page at etsy. They will get to decide whether they want the necklace plain, like the black one above or embellished like the others and I will choose from my on hand stash of bits to make a one of a kind piece. Once the piece is done, it will be displayed here for all to see before being shipped to the winner. Sound good? Well then, get your comment in quickly. The winner or winners will be chosen by random number drawing just before I post Monday morning, which given my usual posting time probably means you really only have until late Sunday night.

Thanks for 1000 posts and here's to many thousand more...what, does that scare you?

Happy 5th Etsyversary To Me!

That's right, five years ago today I signed up on etsy. I had no idea how this single event would shape the years following it. That act is responsible for my growth as a tatter, a designer and my current persistent Internet existence. I know many people have strong opinions about the site particularly as of late, but I've got nothing but love. You might also know that I just passed my third year blogging here as well as the second birthday of the Wunderkammer.

So, I hemmed and hawed about what to do in celebration of this anniversary since I barely acknowledged the others. Even as I write this I'm still making up my mind. You may feel free to send gifts of course, but these sort of milestones are generally celebrated with gifts to you, the friends and fans. I do wish I had spent more time working this up...let's see, how about a small one day discount? Sure, I can do that. All day April 19th, you can use the code '(code expired)' to receive a 20% discount. That doesn't seem like quite enough does it?

How about a giveaway then? I don't have the time or energy to maintain a big one so I'll give away just one of my newest necklace designs. You can enter to win the black or sepia version of the Studded Flower necklace.

How? Well, for one entry just leave a comment with the color you'd like to win. For another entry, 'like' my facebook fan page. For one more, follow me on twitter & tweet the giveaway and last one 'heart' my shop on etsy and tell me what your favorite piece is. Just to keep things simple, you can leave one comment with all the entries you've done & a way to contact you should you win.

I'll pick a winner sometime on Friday by random number generator to give you time to get entries in. I'll post the giveaway and one day sale on facebook and twitter, but I have no plans to spend the day promoting it since I'll be doing my civic duty this afternoon.

Thanks so much everyone for all the support over the years, here's to at least another five!

Well, What Do You Know

What a nice and unexpected day. I began the day on task remaking a sold mask like a good girl, but something has been nagging at me for days. I wanted to do something for Japan. Sure I could have just donated some money, but I wanted to do something a little better and yesterday morning it came to me. Don't just donate a portion of sales of existing items, but make something just for Japan as a small token of support and donate the entire sales amount. So, I came up with this medallion. I worked extra quick to get it done, photographed and listed even before I started homeschooling for the day.

During school time I got an order for a custom mask and a choker that must be made and shipped out in time for next weekend, so right after school I went to work on those. I was also humbled to see how many people had re tweeted my message about the 'For Japan' Medallion on twitter. It was also quickly added to two treasury collections on etsy highlighting donation listings for Japanese relief efforts. It was really important to me that it didn't get lost in the shuffle. We used to host Japanese exchange students every summer as did my husband's family, so we have a lot of friends there and the first gifts I received from those students began a lifelong love of their culture, both the historic and the modern. Not to mention so much of our entertainment is a product of their creativity.

Then it was off to an open house for my daughter at the bookstore when I got the email that the medallion had sold(yes, I check my phone everywhere) and it was my 1500th sale as well! The medallion is re listed as I have enough materials to make 3 more of them and the more of them I sell the more I can donate to the Red Cross. So if you don't have donation fatigue yet consider picking up a medallion or one of the many other handmade bits on etsy whose proceeds are being donated. Alright the PSA is over.

So today, I have a mask to finish and necklace to start. Hopefully, I'll also being taking breaks to remake the medallion as well and I almost forgot today is the blogs third birthday as well! Happy bloggerversary to me! Well, crap...I had planned to start some sort of giveaway today and end it with the Wunderkammer's 2nd birthday which is about a week or so away, but I completely dropped the ball, lost the plot, forgot all about it. So I guess instead I'll just wait for the my 5th anniversary on etsy, which is next month, to do a little something special for those of you that read my ramblings. Yeah, then I can actually plan something rather than toss it together at the last minute. Since it is today though I send out a hearty thanks for reading, commenting and generally supporting me and my art, Thanks!!!

The Story Of The Weekend

Here I sit at the beginning of a new week wearing a wide assortment of scars from the weekend. What happened you ask? Why don't I start at the beginning. On Friday afternoon we took the large boxes containing the play set we bought for our children and placed them outside. We intended to create this monstrosity over the weekend. As we set out to start labeling pieces, we made a discovery...no instructions. They were not online, there was no one at support until Monday. Thankfully we were able to make the hour long drive...one way...to retrieve a copy from the store we bought the thing at. You can see how this start might not bode well for the weekend.

Early Saturday, we were up, labeling pieces and beginning construction. I was in a tank top...this was also unfortunate. As the day worn on, I applied sunscreen...too late. By the close of the day we were only just over half done despite a revolving crew of family help. I was burnt to a crisp across by chest and back and was sporting new blisters.

We awoke slightly less early on Sunday to begin again. The burn is excruciating, but we must continue as the rain is coming by Tuesday. So I put on a sweater to cover my burns and kept right on working. We paused only during the suns high point in day and finished around 6:30 or so. If you are keeping track at home, this means we worked on the thing for like 20 hours give or take. I am this morning still burnt, blistered and completely muscle sore everywhere. Oh and by the way, not my dog in the picture.

On another note, Sunday was my 4th anniversary signing up for etsy. I had planned on celebrating with pomp and circumstance. Of course I had also planned on having the play set done on Saturday. Neither of those things happened. I made a brief mention of the event on twitter and then was back outside. I apologize to everyone who expected a big sale or something. I just wasn't up to it. I guess next year better be awesome.

After all that gloom, I do have on enviable problem to share this morning. My sales have been quite brisk as of late. After a painfully slow beginning, April is shaping up to be quite the great month. So why is that a problem you ask? With the weekends adventure I have had no time to remake anything that has sold and the back log of unlisted pieces is getting unruly quickly. You know how I hate having too many pieces listed as custom. Well, I hate having so many popular pieces not listed at all even worse. This also means that I have no time for designing which means no new pieces to share with you for the foreseeable future. So this week, burnt or not, it's nose to the grindstone. Lucky for me my nose is one thing that isn't burned and the grindstone here is made of lace.

Happy Blog-versary To Me

Two whole years of tatting projects, strongly held opinions and best of all so many new people met. I of course assumed when I began ranting, I would be talking to myself, hence the street corner description up there on the left. I was lucky to receive so many eager readers and future friends. To thank you for that, here is a one day anniversary giveaway. Just leave a comment and a way to reach you should you win on this post for a chance to win this limited edition necklace!And by limited edition, I mean I only have one more of these odd ribbon necklace pieces, so I will only be making one more like this...ever. You can share anything in your comment, but don't beg, it's up to the random number generator who wins this piece. I'll draw a winner before I post tomorrow morning and announce the winner then.

"But Pam, that's not really thanking all of us for reading is it?" No, I suppose it isn't, so how about a one day sale as well. Let's go with 20% off the entire shop today only. Mention the blog-versary in the notes to seller and I will refund the sale amount to you. I hope that you have enjoyed my ramblings and will continue to follow me in the future. I've come ridiculously far in these past couple of years, so I'm hoping that the future brings more of the same. Thanks again and good luck with the giveaway!

1000!!!

Well, good morning Monday and March. Friday afternoon I was granted my 1000th sale on etsy by one of my most supportive customers. I have to tell you it was a spectacular feeling for about 10 whole minutes. Why only that long? Well, I am an over thinker and I almost immediately began thinking about what was next. After this mighty milestone that took nearly 4 years to reach, what do I lay my sights on? It can't be 2000, a goal that far in the future does not create the necessary pull to action to keep me moving. I'm sure I will come up with something though, sooner or later. Right now, I will just say a very sincere Thank You, to everyone who has bought a little something and all of you who have supported my work and me...Thank You.

Moving on then...I do have one more thing to look forward to this month, the 2 year anniversary of this blog...I know 'I've only been babbling for two years?' and the 1 year anniversary of the Wunderkammer blog. I have an idea for a new segment for the Wunderkammer that I need to flesh out so I can unveil it at the end of the month, but I'm not sure what I will do for the old tatting blog. I'm sure I'll think of something by the 17th.

You probably guessed that I don't have any new tatting to share. I spent the better part of the weekend finishing up the face mask that was lost in the post and working on remaking sold pieces. I even got taken away from my secret project which I need to get back to today. All this milestone business has taken me back to simpler times when I sold something maybe once a week and could spend as much time working on something new as I wanted, but then no one was expecting much from me either. Now, there are expectations from all sorts of folks not the least of which is myself. Must keep swimming. That actually brings me to another point for today.

When I started my tatting and etsy adventure, the tatting landscape was drastically different. There were very few tatters selling online and none on etsy. In that way, I have blazed a trail that is now filled with old and new tatters, some successful and some not. I truly believe I have only succeeded in that I have not given up. It sucked at first, trust me, but I had no reason to stop so I didn't. It took years to establish myself and in those years I never once worried about being copied. Those days are over. I've been copied, I've been shadowed and my ideas have been appropriated. Now the copying I can do something about, but ideas can not be copyrighted and there is little that can be done to stop the creation of knockoffs in the fashion world nor in our little world. I'm saying all this because I've not the only person that has been 'knocked off'. I want to say for me and the other folks that this happens to, that while there will be people who will always buy knock offs, there are others who will appreciate the true originals. We cannot expend too much energy worrying about what creations someone else will rip off next. We just have to keep moving forward hoping that we stay one step ahead of them. I know it can be little consolation when an idea you work so hard to bring to fruition is seemingly snatched away, but that's all I've got.

So to recap, 1000 sales, remaking lots of stuff, secret project going okay, anniversaries coming up and ripping off ideas bad, but what are ya gonna do. See you tomorrow.

Happy Anniversary

...To us! We're off, my family and I, this morning to the coast to celebrate out 11th anniversary on the 11th. We spend all our wedding anniversaries in Monterey. It's been a tradition since before we were a family. The kids love the aquarium and we love the weather and, well just getting away somewhere we know is relaxing. We'll be gone for the weekend and will return to loan paperwork and tatting custom orders come Monday.

Here's just a picture from one of our trips many years ago. Enjoy.

Anniversary Sale

You guys are ridiculously sweet, seriously people. I did not post the naked face pictures to fish for compliments, but that's what I got, so thanks! I did have one problem to work out yesterday though. My dilemma was a need to break a no sales streak and get some sales to make sure our families Monterey trip doesn't cost the family budget too much. We visit every year for our wedding anniversary, first as a couple, now as a family. Some years we make just a day trip, but we try hard to stay a few days to actually relax. With the impending purchase of a house, we really can't dip in to the budget. So, I presented this issue to the twitterverse and they indicated that if I offered some incentive to shop along with perhaps a sappy love story, I might get more sales. So I decided to follow the advice and offer a spur of the moment, it worked and I hope it continues to work.

The Sale

To celebrate my 11th wedding anniversary on the 11th, take 11% off everything and free worldwide shipping. Sale will end 7.9.9. Pay as normal and I will refund the difference through paypal.

Husband is off work today, so we'll do a little family time. I do have a little tatting to get to, but I've been using the down time to get a few of the custom listed pieces made already so I'm not behind on anything. I also got some packing started yesterday, the books. It's been three years since the last time we moved and we have acquired many more things in that time that will need to be moved as well. It is a bit overwhelming, but if all goes well, this is the last time I will need to do it. I think that's it for now, visit the sale and enjoy.

Customer Appreciation

This weekend I passed the three year mark on etsy and since I started making tatted jewelry just a few weeks before I started trying to sell it, it means I've been tatting now for just three short years. As a bit of where I came from, here's the very first piece I sold. You might recognize the motif for this bracelet as the same flower that I used for my instructable. It was made with clearance thread and seed beads laying around the house. I used a nickle barrel clasp and I sold it for five dollars.

I don't often get to see what my pieces look like worn by their owners, but recently I've received a few customer appreciation pictures with my feedback on the etsy. So I thought that I'd make a nice little collage and put on a little display as a comparison to my 'early' work.So up top we have one of my masks with extra crystal embellishments, then one of my In bloom pendants that made it across the pond. On the bottom we have my Gothic Princess choker worn to a Vampire ball and a stunning picture of my Viva la Reine necklace. So thanks to all my amazing customers, they look fabulous and it makes me feel so great to see these pictures.

If you have a picture of yourself or others wearing TotusMel's tatted goodness, send them along to me care of the email in my profile and I would love to share them with the world, or at the least the small part of it that reads my ramblings. Every time I pass a milestone or anniversary, I think about my humble beginnings and wonder where I go from here. I hope I can continue to raise the bar on my work and keep moving forward. It's either that or I burn out and fade away.

On Solid Ground

I got really high this week. Things were going my way and I was getting the kind of attention that really fuels my hyper sensitive ego. Then I started falling, little thing were going wrong, but since I expected it, I was alright. Now at the end of the week, I feel I have landed very roughly on the ground. The first house we looked at and liked is already off the market. We realized that our lease is up a month later than we had thought, so our plans must also be pushed back unless we feel the urge to pay a months rent for a house we are no longer renting. On top of those small disappointments, I also still have not received payment nor contact from the person who bought the pair of ankle corsets that got me all the attention in the first place.

So here I am back on earth with little to show for the ride. It was a sugar rush for my ego and like all sugar rushes it ends with a crash that feels worse for the rise. I don't mean to complain, but I guess it's left me feeling a little blah.

Tomorrow however should be an interesting day. Since I do not blog on the weekends I'll celebrate a day early. Tomorrow is my third anniversary on Etsy. I can't even express to you how that one decision to sell a few things to help pay for my thread habit has changed my world. I have learned things I had no interest in before. It has led me to blogging, to desgining and a whole new world of friends I never would have known existed. So thanks Etsy for expanding my horizons for the last three years and here's to many more.

I'm still remaking some sold peices as well as tatting up a few that are listed as custom items. I can't seem to keep up with it all and I suppose that's an eviable problem to have. I doubt I'll have the time or energy to come up with any brand new designs until after all this house buying stuff is over with. So I guess I'll just go into producion mode instead. I know I want to do at least one more instructable before the year is out, but I think that can wait as well. The only other project I want to get done is on the blog. I want to create a section of links to all my tatting patterns and instructables so they're easier to find, but that means I have to find them first so it might be a while.

We Have a Winner!

Or more precisely, winners, six of them. Once my husband arrived home from work yesterday, I had him pull the numbers. He was actually quite annoyed that the random number generator didn't pull a diverse enough grouping and went back to try again. He ended up going with the first set because he felt that trying again would taint the results even though he never actually saw the entries list. I'm telling you all this partly so you'll blame him if you didn't win and partly because I wanted you to know he took his job seriously.

So without further ado, the winners. First the winners of the 3 Fully Bloomed pendants are Wychbury, RockLove and Crites.

Next up the winner of the Viva La Reine necklace is Nullalux.

The winner of the Queen's Feet Barefoot Sandals is beri03.

The winner and the very first person to own a pair of the coveted In Bloom Ankle Corsets is Jennifer Nicole.

Congrats to everyone that won and condolences for those that didn't. Even with the fairly even odds there were bound to be a lot of people on that list. As a bit of a consolation prize, I've decided to offer all entrants my In Bloom pendant for just $5 including shipping until Sunday. If you choose to take me up on the offer, just purchase the pendant and leave your entry name and mention 'prize' in the notes to seller. I will refund the discount through paypal.

If you won one of these amazing prizes, you should be hearing from me soon, if you haven't yet and I hope to have all the prizes out by Monday. Thanks to everyone for helping make this giveaway a grand success. My shop has garnered quite a few new hearts, my blog a healthy dose of new followers and I even got some sales out of the event. Let's hope many of you stick around after the free stuff is all gone. I am now quite done will all of this nonsense and am ready to get back to some calm quiet tatting and stop checking my comments and email every 2 minutes. Maybe I'll host someone elses giveaway next...anyone?

Happy Blogaversary To Me

Well, here we are one full year of blogging. So as I am obsessed with statistics, I thought I'd take a look at mine. When I first started this project, I had no idea what were considered good numbers. With no basis for comparison I tried to get the biggest numbers as quickly as possible, a completely pointless endeavor. I'm now happy with my modest, but consistent numbers. In the past year there have been well over 22,000 from 11,800 visitors from 92 countries. I know theses numbers are far from amazing. I'm just writing a little tatting blog about me and my craft, but they are amazing to me.

Today is also the last day to enter my giveaway and take advantage of my sale. If you haven't yet, click the huge purple link above and get yourself entered to win one of 5 different tatted prizes. In fact if just 8 more people get entered today, I'll add yet another pendant to the pool for a total of 6 prizes. My anniversary on etsy is about a month away so this event is acting as a celebration for that as well. I tell you this just so you get that this is the only event of this kind I'll be having for another year.

So I'm sitting here not only thinking about what the past year brought for me, but also thinking about what plans I have for the future. I'm certain that I will come up with many more designs and lines of tatted goodness. I plan on putting together a few more needle tatting instructables, one of those in the next month or so. I hope I can continue to write occasionally interesting things that keep my small number of visitors consistent and I hope that all the new eyes that I have lured in with my giveaway continue to come back and visit me once the free stuff is all gone. Thanks to all of you that have read my ramblings and commented over the last year. Your support and feedback has been wonderful and I am lucky to have met so many wonderful people through this experience. So even though I never thought I'd be a blogger and I still don't consider myself a real one, I am glad that I gave it a go.

Looking Back

I've been reminiscing a bit since I realized that my blog is coming up on its one year anniversary. Then yesterday one of my new friends did a post with advice to start an etsy shop to make extra cash. In the post she linked to one of my early posts, so I went back to read it again. I was a little amazed at where my blog began as opposed to what it has settled into.

When I began this little space, things were just a bit different. There was no twitter to waste my time, back then it was in the etsy forums that I spent far too much time. I went there to learn, to network, to read all the drama that cropped up on a regular basis. At that point I had been around long enough to see most of the complaints come and go and come back again. I was truly sick of most of it and it really became a situation where either I had to say something or just get the hell out of Dodge. I did one and then the other. I used my fresh space to vent and rant and offer up some blunt advice. Then I went to the forums and started a thread linking to my blog post. I would literally spend all day babysitting those threads in order to drive traffic to my blog because I was sure that was how all this worked. I got tons of hits on those posts, ridiculous amounts on some. Then I got a little tired of it and really I had gotten all the complaints out.

You'll notice that my list of popular posts hasn't been updated in quite a long time. It turned out that even though I still had plenty to say and share, nothing was nearly as interesting or polarizing as those first threads. I think I'm going to go back and read them all again and see how many of them stand up nearly a year later, I'm not sure that they do, but they sure seemed important at the time. Check them out if you weren't reading my ramblings back then. If nothing else, they're pretty entertaining as I was channeling my inner Simon Cowell.

Well, I'm off to the dentist again this morning. This time it's for my first crown prep, which I suppose means at least one more appointment until I can be done with my tooth drama. I have also worked out what I'm doing for my anniversary event. Though I didn't know whether I'm going to start it tomorrow or Monday. I guess it depends how I feel after this morning since I think I'll need to do some prep work for the event.

Almost A Year

On Friday, I left you with a hint of a surprise. Well, that and lots of feet pictures, but let us talk of the surprise. I've been feeling very good lately about the amount of feedback and help I've been getting from my twitter friends, but also from my blog readers. I wanted to do something special as a bit of a thank you, but I wasn't certain what or when. Then I was looking at my Google Analytics data, which I do compulsively, and realized that we're coming up on my blogs one year anniversary this month. Honestly, I find it hard to believe that I've had something to say most weekdays for an entire year, but apparently I have.

So, the when is taken care of with that realization, but I am still working out the what. I share all this as a bit of a heads up that soon, in conjunction with this anniversary, I will be having perhaps a sale, perhaps a giveaway, perhaps something else I haven't quite thought of yet, but something interesting is coming. If you've got any great ideas, feel free to share them with me. I'd love to know what you would like.

Now, because you have gone a whole weekend without a new photo of my feet, here's my next barefoot sandal design. I think that this is it for the footwear line, unless I strike on something truly amazing. I really am a little tired of showing off my feet at this point, but I am fairly proud of what I've created and they've certainly gotten enough attention this past weekend with views of the listings being very high. I even sold a custom pair of my first barefoot sandals the first day, so yay!

Happy Etsyversary To Me!

Two years ago today, I signed up for my Etsy account. Just a few days later, on the 24th, I listed and sold my very first tatted bracelet for five whole dollars. I've come a long way in that time both in style and substance. To celebrate this momentous occasion I shall be having a blog only sale.

Each and every blog visitor that makes a purchase at my etsy store shall receive a free black art deco pendant and 25% off any non-custom order. Simply enter the phrase "happy2year" in the notes to seller and wait for an adjusted invoice. This sale will not be advertised anywhere else and will not appear in my shop announcement. It is super secret, just for people willing to read my ramblings. This is the perfect time to pick up a little tatting so get to it!

Thanks to every single person that has made a purchase from me in that last 2 years!