Weekend Recap

Anytime my routine is altered, I am reminded how much of a creature of habit I really am. I mean, honestly I'm pretty flexible and I can go with the flow, but I am just so much more comfortable when things go as I supposed. While we did manage to get a few of the usual errands in and a couple of family walks, it was mostly just me and girls. I'm actually surprised that I didn't go mad after all the Lego battles/arguments and the lack of anything too pressing to get tatting. I did remake a couple of pieces and we watched Pushing Daisies, but that was pretty much it.

As for tatting, I worked on adjusting my dream catcher design for a custom order and that's the only slightly original work I did. The customer requested just 9 petals, so I did math to work out how to make that happen. It's always a little more fiddly when you have a solid object involved so the stitch count must stay within a very small range to work. Luckily it worked out with very little stress. Though when I went to purchase more rings, I was disappointed to learn that the same ones I have been getting, changed. They had always been closed or soldered together and now they are open rings, so I spent some time sealing them together myself. I can work around them the other way, but it 's much more delicate work to make certain the stitches don't slip though at the break.

The thread to make this custom order should, theoretically be in today some time. Once it arrives, I expect this work to take me at least a few days as there are many pieces involved. This makes me very happy.

In other news I woke up to a sale of two pieces which means just one more sale until that magical number 3000. I'm crossing my fingers that it occurs soon, so I can bask in it for a little while. Oh, and when it does occur, I'll be posting a giveaway post. I have several pieces to give away, so it should be a good time for all.

The Next 1000

It was another odd day around these parts. School took all the time before lunch and there were other concerns for the day, so I just didn't focus on working like I should have. I did finish what I needed to for the only order in queue, but that was about it. I have a pair of ankle corset to remake for the shop, but I am almost done with those as well.

Since I was going to a doctor's appointment with the husband, the kids were with their grandparents in the afternoon and when we got back they were at our house with our nieces and dinner. So the evening was family visiting. I really feel like I got absolutely nothing done.

Wait, I just remembered one thing.  I was checking my shop stats on etsy and I am just 5 sales shy of 3000. I joked that it's only taken me nearly 8 years to get them, but it's not a joke, it was a slow build to get sales there and this last year has been an uncomfortable downward slide in them as well. Still, I am steadily creeping to such a nice big number and I feel like I should celebrate it. So to that end, I'll be doing a giveaway just as soon as I hit that number. I was going to do it on Facebook, but I think I'll have it here instead. So keep your eye out. Hopefully it will happen soon, but with the slow sales it could possibly be awhile. At the very least it is something to look forward to, the next 1000 will be a long time coming.

Round Numbers

Yesterday began slowly, very slowly. While it seemed everything was quiet on the Internet, I worked. I remade a few small things and finished the headband, got it approved by the customer and listed it. The customer picked it up later in the afternoon so the listing is already gone. I do plan on making this up again for the shop, though I'm not certain which color I will do.

The two girl kitten had their vet appointment in the afternoon, but as part of the crazy cat lazy package, my mother-in-law took them so I was free for a bit. I caught up with my DVR and got some time to play my Christmas present video game...Donkey Kong. I only did that for a spell when the email notifications started.

You see I was sitting at 1395 sales yesterday and you all know how much I love round numbers, so I was thinking how neat it would be to get to that next one by the end of the year. Being that Christmas is over getting five sales in three days is more than a bit of a stretch, so I made a comment about it on facebook, then tried not to dwell. That brings be back to the email notifications. The custom headband sold, then another piece, then a few more and by this morning even a few more. So not only have I broken through that magic round number, but I soared right passed it and never even saw the roundness. I am elated to end the year on such a high note. Oh, wait...there are still a couple more days for it to all go to pot. I have knocked on wood and boy do I have some tatting to do today.

200

I dislike being ill. I know, it's just a cold or something equally mild, but it is still annoying, uncomfortable and I lose my patience with the children who are also sick of course. So this is my public plea for this cold to hit the road already, I have crap to do. Oh and my kitty picture to make it all better...that's the tribute for health right...one cat picture sacrificed to the Internet?

Cold or no, I did get a few things accomplished yesterday. I started by using the latest design to make a necklace and earring set in white. I have a similar piece in the shop already, but I do really like the way the motif looks in the larger thread, very bold, yet elegant.  Then I received all the hat and veil making supplies I had ordered so I was able to finish remaking a sold hair piece I had begun work on the day before. This was an awful lot of white to hand out at the top of the shop, so I did a bit of moving around and then remade one last piece, a necklace in brown. This brought my shop listing total to 200! Now while I am quite proud of myself for sheer production quantity, I would of course love to see that number plummet with the sales of many things. I'm just typing that in public so the Internet sales fairy sees it.

While I was still on the white kick I had the idea to use the motif I made up from the 70's book I showed you awhile back. I made it up in white and attached it to a bobby pin. My idea to make it more 'bridal' while also hiding the huge silver pad was to cluster a few freshwater pearls there in the center. I might also add a couple coque feathers to the back side, but I'm not certain yet. I finished the piece late last night and that's when the cold really takes a toll on brain functions. I also think I really got the pattern down this time. If you remember, I made it up after looking at a simple illustration without stitch counts or joins, so it was all guess work. I might also add the design to a lapel pin in another color with swarovski rounds in place of pearls. I do need to keep working if I want 200 to hold...which  don't really.

One last bit for the day. Etsy has recently started rolling out coupon codes and though I don't have them yet, I think the plan is to have them out in time for the official holiday shopping season. Now, you know I don't like sales as it devalues the work, but I am looking forward to using this ability for possible return customer discounts as well as fan and follower special events. So if I get them in time, I may try out a Black Friday/Cyber Monday thing. I will of course let you know if that is going to happen. I hope to return to you Monday morning healthy and bragging about many sales...again that is for the Internet fairy...be well.

Keeping Up Apperances

I managed to stay on task yesterday despite the cold and the kittens. I finished up the pair of ankle corsets that needed making and all the pieces I sent off for the photo shoot returned, so I got those all back into the shop. I even managed to get a supply order out even though I always hate doing those. I always forget something and Murphy's Law seems to dictate that the ordering of seemingly essential supplies results in no sales rendering them useless for a time. Yes, I know that the opposite holds true as well, had I not ordered them, I would have run out of something important just as it was vitally needed. So in the end the ordering is really the best course of action.

I have a few more pieces on tap to be remade today and for one I have the white thread out so I was thinking of making the newest design in white for the bridal section. I won't lie though, part of the reason I'm making pieces in several colors is I almost have 200 items listed in the shop. I have never had that many before and the easiest way to pad the numbers is items in multiple colors. The other option is to go on a designing binge again, but I don't want to get too distracted in case sales do suddenly pick up.

Since I've already brought up numbers and you likely know I have an unhealthy obsession with them, though not as personal validation, I thought I'd share a couple more exciting ones. I have recently broken 2000 followers on twitter, this was hard to do as I often get followed by spammers and folks that just want a follow back so they disappear quickly and I rarely get followed back when I follow someone new because they are usually way cooler than me. I don't blame them either...I talk a lot. Second number excitement, I recently broke 7000 hearts or favorites for my etsy shop. Again I didn't immediately announce this one because the number fluctuates quite a bit as people clean out their favorite lists, but I've cleared far enough that I think it will stick. Now if I could only reach the illusive 1000 fans on facebook I would be set, well number wise anyway and since those numbers have little to do with sales, it's all just appearances anyway.

Berry Chair 6000

You probably figured after yesterdays post that I would have little to share with you today and you were correct. I had a very distracted day oscillating between needed tasks and looking up the oddest things on the Internet...okay not that odd. For instance, what the heck is this plant in my front yard? Seriously, I am a Google whiz, but this thing has me beat. The leaves look a little like holly, but the berries appear to be small clusters that just started forming. No, I'm not gonna just eat one and see if I get sick?

Oh and then I went on a hunt for living room chairs. You know kind of like the ones you'd find in Starbucks, but much cheaper and with better fabric choices. This also sucked like a year of my life away. Do I NEED new chairs? No, of course not. What I NEED is to get back to tatting full speed, but no. I did get some done, but I won't have much time to do that today either as we are going on another field trip for my daughter. Today, it's the Moaning Caverns...in the rain. I've never been and I hope that the rain doesn't too adversely affect the trip. perhaps I can get some tatting done in the car...maybe...I get a little car sick if I focus on anything one thing too long.

I do have one small bit of news to share. As I basically let my 4th anniversary slide by without pomp, I shall too let this, but I can at least share. Over night, my shop received heart number 6000. I had been checking all day as I was hovering at 5999 and you know how much I love those round numbers. Though I could have done a giveaway or something, I again choose to merely remark on the milestone and move on. The Facebook fan page is also nearly at 700. Maybe I'll wait until that one hits and do a big 4/6000/700 celebration giveaway providing of course that I don't still feel horribly swamped. Who knows what I'll do at this point. I feel horribly unorganized regarding future events and I've still got irons in fires all over the place waiting for them to, um...become horse shoes. Yeah, I don't know where I was going with that metaphor. Let me try again, I've got a lot of balls in the air and I don't even know when most of them are going to come down. That wasn't any better, was it? I'm just going to go now.

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.

I'm Disappointed In You

Oh, postal service...you are a vital part of our lives, you are a vital part of my business. Why, oh why, dear postal service, must you do inane things? I had a package I ordered take months to arrive because you sent it first to the wrong house, then back and forth over creation apparently. More recently you made a package disappear somewhere between here and Canada. This package contained a one of a kind face mask. I did not make a prototype. I did not write down my pattern. What I did do was spend the majority of yesterday pouring over, thankfully well detailed photographs of said piece, trying to faithfully reproduce it. Look, postal service, I'm not angry, but you can't go around doing this sort of thing...you're better than that. Point A to point B...this is your mission, your purpose. Don't screw it up again.

Moving on then...well there really wasn't much else going on yesterday as I labored on the above referenced project. Lucky for me the customer is understanding rather than accusatory. I will get that piece done today and hopefully I'll get back to some secret work as well. Did the month just sneak by for anyone else? I woke up this morning with the, 'crap, it can't be time to pay bills already can it?' screaming in my ear. Silly February and your lack of days.

A couple more things before I shut up for the week. I was asked to participate in a giveaway and I decided to go ahead and do so. You can find the giveaway for one of my Templar pendants in gray on the Fire and Ice blog. The giveaway is open until March 25th, so feel free to sneak over there and enter. Also, I am now just 4 sales away from the magic number 1000...yes I will continue to count down until I hit that number. That is it for me for the week, see you Monday!

New Pendant

So, yes I was sick yesterday and while my sore throat has left me I feel worse this morning. It's mostly tired, you know that all over drained feeling. I of course have no time for such nonsense. I have things to do. I spent the portion of yesterday when I was not attempting to rest, tatting up the custom necklaces. They are now done, but I'm waiting to hear back on one more issue before I finish the last piece in the custom package. While I was sitting about I looked over at the pile of lace and saw a new design sitting in there.

This happens all the time and I figured since I was so busy with secret stuff I would go ahead and make the pendant I saw in the pile and get that up if for no other reason than to have something new to share. By itself the motif, created by basically mirroring an edging I was working, was a little plain. So I decided to dress it up with a little filament embroidery and a sew on swarovski. I still can't believe I bought those on a whim thinking I would never use them. I haven't quite yet decided whether this one will hang from a simple bead chain or something, well...nicer, but it's new and I'm sharing.Well, that's almost all I have for today. Just one last thing.

I neglected to mention an interview post that was put up Monday evening. It was another of those things I did a while ago and nearly forgot about until I received the message that it was up. You can find it on Unofficial Etsy Featured Sellers. I think I actually said a few clever things, so if your bored or something, check it out. That my friends is all I have to give for today. Hopefully this illness doesn't morph any further, but I know that it will, I still have uncontrollable coughing to look forward to, so yay! Oh, wait...one more thing. I am now down to 8 sales before 1000. It's okay to keep counting down all obsessive like...right?

As Mad As...

As you can imagine, most of my day was devoted to hosting duties as my grandfather did arrive mid day. I managed to get schooling done beforehand as well as remaking my Salome piece. It is much more difficult to get anything of consequence done when one is following around two small kids to ensure that none of their daily shenanigans leaves no physical destruction. Once nap time rolled around, I retreated to my computer room to work while my Grandpa got settled in the guest room.

At this time, I did begin work on take two of the Mad Hatter piece. This time I had a much clearer idea of where I was going with it. I didn't get very far of course. Actually I'm shocked that I managed to get anything done. As soon as the children awoke, relatives descended on us. There were cousins, and dogs and pure unadulterated chaos from that moment until it was nearly time to retire for the evening. Sure, it was a great time and the children enjoyed themselves immensely, but I awake this morning nearly as tired as I was before I went to sleep last night.

It seems another secret project has presented itself while I am still waiting to see the previous ones come to fruition so they can be secret no longer. This one is mostly out of my hands, requiring the smallest of efforts from me, so no worries if it too does not pan out. Though honestly, I am getting tired of getting worked up for no reason. I think I have lost count of all the things that could have been.

Hopefully I'll get a bit of time to work on the Hatter piece and I've a few other bits and bobs that need tatting, but until my house is guest free, I must accept that I may get little done. One more small thing to bring up. I think I have entered the home stretch to 1000 etsy sales. Though they have been aggravating slow lately, I have less than 30 to go. This should mean that hopefully by the end of next month I should be at that milestone. I know that is still quite some time away and even mentioning it could jinx sales even further, but I had to tell somebody as I am starting to get excited to get there. I won't mention it again until we're really, really close though...I promise.

Fringe

Well, the great twitter experiment to get fans to pick the wunderkammer there failed miserably. There were a couple of people that gave it a go, but perhaps my timing was poor. I'm taking another tact and giving it another go. Head to the wunderkammer to see the details for the newest version of the great Wunderkammer experiment. If it works, it will be an ongoing feature, if not...we'll try to forget that I tried this at all.

I finished up the arm band yesterday and used facebook to debut the pictures. I did end up putting fringe along the whole piece. I took a photo of it as a necklace first and I wasn't certain it would make a good arm band, but after biting the bullet and changing out of my warm clothes for a photo shoot, I decided that it does indeed work as a convertible piece. It might be listed as early as today. I'm still wavering on the price. It's not a particularly complex pattern, but the extra steps, like the fringe and the ribbon make it more time consuming than it might appear.

You can see the other photos on my fan page on facebook or you can wait until I list the piece and they will all of course be there. I've got to get back to the task of remaking now that I've gotten a few new things made. I think I'll use my new gray to make another arm band with black ribbons after this one has been listed a while. I like to see if it has any chance of selling before I start making more and I imagine this one might need to find a niche audience since it's not exactly every day wear.

One more quick thing. I was excited this morning to discover that my brand new facebook fan page, less than a week old has already acquired over 100 fans including one celebrity...no really, there is one, go look. Also, the etsy store is just a few hearts from getting 5000. Of course those go back and forth so much that it might take another week or so before that occurs...it's still pretty cool.

Slave for Love

I promised a photo of the bridal slave bracelets should I actually finish them and I did and here is one. They aren't much different than my other slave bracelets, but I listed them as a custom wedding piece anyway. They really fit best when they are made to specific hand measurements. In fact even though the customers hand measurements were only slightly larger than my own, these ones bunched and were not the most comfortable to wear even to just get the photos done.

In other news, I have five words for you...hula hoop in a corset. Since we busted out the Wii Fit again for the child both me and my husband have also been using it just a bit. Mostly the continue to encourage the child to keep at it. She chose to have me do the Super Hula Hoop...and I was indeed wearing a corset. While it did improve my form, I was so super sore and exhausted after just one session...yeah, seriously out of shape. However, I can now add virtual hula hooping to the ridiculous list of things I have done whilst wearing a corset.

I was fortunate to wake up to another nice sale. Things have been so horribly slow for everyone lately that I was getting terribly disheartened. After a nice little me too session on twitter yesterday, I already felt much better. Some times it is just so nice to commiserate with others and that can be so hard to do when people look at my sales and say I shouldn't be able to complain. I talked to another seller yesterday who blamed the slowness of her signing a new lease & I blamed it on buying the house. It was our own fault, you see, for beginning to rely on the etsy income. Anyway, I digress. What I really wanted to do was tell you that I am now just seven sales away from 800. I'm hoping that I make it to the 1000 mark by the end of the year, but the slow down puts that in doubt even with a holiday rush. I was going to do something for the 800, but I think Ill wait for the big one instead, what I don't yet know.

Sphere of Influence

I think I have a problem. It's not a a bad thing really, but still, I could see it spiraling out of control. I have mentioned before that I love making milestone sales for people. In the last couple of weeks I've been someones first sale, 100th sale and 1000th sale. Although this has gotten me some sweet freebies in the past, I do it for the sheer delight of making someones day. To that end my sickness has spread to simply making peoples day with an unexpected sale. I keep seeing posts from discouraged sellers on etsy and twitter that exist in my list of favorites. There are so many people I love not only for what they create but also because I like them as people and I fancy that if we actually met, we could be friends. So I keep shopping, thankfully I've still got plenty of people to gift for the holidays so the shopping isn't frivolous, but the real reason I'm doing it is that I love the feeling I get when I receive a heartfelt thank you and I know I'm made someone happy.

In the same vein, I got a comment here the other day that got me thinking about my influence. I was so glad to hear that someone was encouraged to try tatting again because of my work and this is not the first time people have asked how to get started with the craft or told me they were gonna give it another shot after seeing what they could make with it. I've joked a lot about how I'm going to singlehandedly revive tatting, which I know to be a silly notion. There are plenty of other tatters around that are not only more talented than me, but also have a much larger sphere of influence having authored books and hosting comprehensive websites on the subject. I'm just one weird chick who picked up the craft a few years ago and sells my wares on one website and keeps a blog that gets all of 50 hits a day. Still, it makes me super happy that I have done a little to expose people and if you are one of those people picking up a tatting needle or shuttle to give it a go and you need a little help or encouragement, feel free to call on me. My sphere of influence may be small, but I'm amazed that I have one at all.

I'm Shopping

Well, I not only survived my babysitting gig yesterday, but amongst the chaos, I even found time for a little shopping on the esty. First, I picked up some yarn. I had just sold one of my tatted scarves and I used that as an excuse. I HAVE to get more yarn, if I'm to tat more scarves, right? Then I decided to shop for my sister's Xmas gift and picked up a little something for her from my favorites. While I was browsing through my favorites, I stopped by one store for a potential gift for my brother and ended up buying two just so I coulf be the 1000th purchase. I have a milestone sickness. Seriously, if you are a couple away from a big milestone sale, don't tell me, 'cause I get all stressed out if I can't find something I like so I can get the big number.

I picked up three skeins of yarn from three different store, just doing my part for the economy, so i could not only do some scarves, but I still want to try out a scarflet and of course my husband's castlevania collar. I even bout some nice sreamy yarn for that one. Don't expect these anytime soon, but they're on the list.

Speaking of the list, mine is not written down, it's just a mental noting of future projects. Though I'm always afraid I'll forget one of them, I never do get to writing them down. I wonder if I'm the only one with a mental list problem. I do it for everything too. When my husband says that he wants something extravagant, I say, put it on the list. That list is full of tech gadgets we're likely to get only if someone wins something. In fact the only one in the house with a real list is my daughter. She has a Christmas list that is stuck to the fridge and everytime a new commercial intriques her, it goes on the list and then she is reminded that she is not getting everything on the list.

I wonder if I should just put a list up here in the sidebar...future projects. Perhaps witnesses would keep me on track. Boy, I got off on a tangent today. I'll be sure to post more about my purchases when they arrive and once I have created with them or given them away. Until next time.

Two Thousand

It looks like I've rolled back around to goal making time again. Just this weekend I reached the amazing total of 2000 hearts. I never thought in the beginning, that I would be getting so much love. This does however mean that it will be quite sometime before I will reach another heart milestone. I shall instead focus on sales, I am currently just a smidge above 350, so my slightly ridiculous goal is to reach 400 by the end of the year. That means I need to average over a dozen sales a month for the next 4 months. It seems like a stretch, but within reason.

I do so hate to make fiscal based goal without making creatively based ones as well. To that end I am publicly announcing that I am adding to my list of outlandish goals, which already includes making tatting the next crafting craze, a published book of my work. I've no idea how to even begin making that happen, besides actually writting down my patterns, of course, but that won't stop me from putting it on the list. It can sit right next that novel I've been contemplating since high school. They will make great friends.

I thought about making a blogging goal as well, but that would turn all this into work and that would take the joy right out of it for me. What I write here has to be optional and random or I would just start to dread sitting down at the computer, so no blogging goals. I would also like to come up with more tatting wearables like I've already mentioned, but I won't put a deadline on those either. So that's it for today, goals for the future some realistic and some not so much. I will keep you posted on thier developments!

In other news, I received a convo on Friday informing me that I am to be included in Mondays Etsy Finds email. I got so excited that the malaise of the previous week just melted away. From what I've read this will probably not result in tons of sales, but scads of views and hearts. The email goes out to 15,500 people, so it should find a whole mess of eyes. I'll let you all know how it plays out as I'm certain that I will be complusively watching my store all day.

UPDATE: The storque article that accompanies the etsy finds email is here:
http://www.etsy.com/storque/section/spotlight/article/etsy-finds-amazing-masks/2523/