Monday

So clearly I'm not going to be back to writing in a scheduled and consistent way. I think I'm just going to have a go at writing when I've got a few pictures to share. For now I imagine they'll just be these sort of in process pictures as I get back to also tatting with a bit more frequency.

I had a couple of pieces that sold during my holiday sale that I wanted to get remade last week. The first one here is my version of the hen and chicks pattern with some Victorian sets instead of regular chains and then repeated on the other side to make a bracelet. The next one is just a simple chain necklace made in a nice curve.

I also had a mask to remake and I got that finished up as well, though I didn't stop for a picture of that one. I think it might take some time before I get back into any sort of good habits with all this, but this is a start. I did get a small order over the weekend that needed making, so I'll get to that today and hopefully that'll give another photo opportunity. I'm also back to homeschooling today after the holiday break and after just a half hour in, we're all already to take another break. It's going to be a long week ahead.

Back to Work

I've been working hard on a mask that was ordered during my sale. It was the only piece that needed to be made before shipping. I just finished working it up despite the best efforts of the cat to distract me, so I should have it in the post to its new owner tomorrow morning.

I have a few cuff bracelets that also sold that I should get tatted up so I can put them back up my shop. I was just waiting for new hook closures to come in the mail before I could start on them and they've just arrived in the mail. I'm going to take a little break this afternoon and then get to work on them as well. Hopefully those will keep me busy and give me some tatting to share here and elsewhere over the next couple of weeks.

I'm Back

First off, how sad is it that 5:15 in the morning is sleeping in for me? Yeah, I know right? Anyway, I am back from the cool, cool coast to the hot arid valley. I want to go back already, but I didn't tat and I didn't blog, though my new iphone at least kept me relatively in the loop. I even managed to record some things that would have just faded from memory like this collar here. I hesitate to say it is very old as it was in really good condition and very crisply white, but I hadn't seen this design floating about. No, I didn't buy it even though at $35 it was under priced, I still couldn't justify the purchase. I found this at the Cannery Row Antique mall. I've seen tatting there before and like this piece it is usually mislabeled. This one said it was most likely Irish crochet. I suppose they guessed that based on the rose motifs, but I think if you're going to sell something, at least do a bit of research or look at it a bit closer. The only other piece of tatting I came across was a very antique roll of a ring edging this time in horrible condition.

The rest of my time away was spent at the Aquarium, down on the beach and being slightly more exploratory than usual. We are creatures of habit and generally do the same exact things even on vacation, but I think we're getting stir crazy so we ventured out a bit. First we went to a park we'd seen, but never visited, the Dennis The Menace park. The kids enjoyed it and it killed an hour or so and gave us a place to pack a lunch for. We also wandered down to the beach early in the morning and got some incredible tide pool viewing.

So all in all, it was a lovely trip. The husband is still home for a few more days, so I will still be off balance likely until next week, but something a little off balance it good for a nice reset. I make no promises regarding tatting projects though I do have another bridal veil in queue and a possible request for a custom slave bracelet design so I might have something to share in the coming days, we'll have to wait and see.

Of Birthdays & Easter

I remember as a child, how fun holiday weekends were. Sleeping in, lots of food and candy, television and playing hard. Flash forward to adulthood and they are full of the same things...for my kids. For me, there is cleaning and decorating, more cleaning and making sure all the normal tasks get completed at the same time. There are children hopped on on candy not taking naps and whining. Add to all that the child's birthday the day before the holiday and you've got a double take of all of the above. Ooh, ooh and don't forget that that I'm still bloody sick. Ah, adulthood, everything I though it would be.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I am tired, epically tired. Sure, the kids had fun and I do enjoy the time between all the tasks when I get to run and play a bit too, but man...the tasks. Anyway, my older child has this coming week off from homeschooling, though that only means I'll have a bit more time to catch up on all those pendants that didn't get made this weekend. I am really glad that I told the customers to not expect them to ship until early this week. By my fuzzy math, that gives me until Wednesday to get them in the mail, so barring any unforeseen circumstances I will not become a liar.

I come to you this morning with nothing of significance to share. I probably tatted all of an hour over the weekend and that was on a rush ordered mask. I had two other inquiries into custom masks, but I think my responded wait time might have frightened them away. Sure, I could have told them I'd have them done faster, but then I would have to give up food or sleep to get it all done and even though I love the lace, I love my sleep more. I know I am a bucket of sunshine today and you're wondering why you wasted five minutes of your life to read this. I'm sorry, really. I'll try better tomorrow.

That Was Unexpected

So, I'm sitting on the twitter, throwing out the International Tatting Day tweets, doing my part to spread the word and whatnot when I think to myself, perhaps I should offer a small deal or something. I head over to my shop, pick a pendant, make a few alterations to the listing and mark it down to three bucks. Now, let me say one thing first, In the past when I've tried this angle to boost sales, it has failed. Sure, I'd get a nibble or two, but that would be the end of it. For some unknown reason it clicked with people yesterday. Maybe it was the holiday attachment giving it a purer motif, maybe it was just the right pendant and the right price...I don't know really, but I now have over two dozen pendants to make in varying shades. Sheer number wise my best sales day ever. If I had actually been making real money off the deal, I'd be throwing a party right now. As it stands, I'm simply quite pleased that so many people will now have a bit of tatting who might not have otherwise seen it a good expense. I had quite a few brand new customers take the deal so that's new blood to the cause.

As you can imagine this little impromptu sale took most of my day though before I started it I did manage to finish the wrist corset/gauntlet piece. I might get time to take photos of that and get it listed today, though it should be quite a busy day. Me and youngest are still hanging onto the cold, I have the other daughter's face to face meeting with her teacher and I still have some floors to lean around this place in anticipation of my baby's birthday party on Saturday. Oh, and I just heard that my baby brother is coming up from San Diego to visit for a few days, which is wonderful, and he'll be staying with us, so more cleaning.

So to recap, I hope I did International Tatting Day proud with my little sale. I hope I inspired a few more people to give tatting a go or at least to recognize it as a heartily living art. I'll try to get the new piece listed, but no promises as the rest of the weekend belongs to birthdays, family and at least a dozen more In Bloom pendants.

International Tatting Day

Yes, I'm still sick. It isn't like I have walking pneumonia or anything, but I have reached the uncontrollable bouts of coughing phase. So, super fun for me. Today is International Tatting Day. It's not an old holiday, in fact I just heard about it for the first time maybe a year ago. The premise of the event if you haven't heard is to Tat in public thus exposing the art and apparently to eat chocolate all day. Well, I'm going anywhere today, so the public part is right out, but I will eat the chocolate, tat all day and I will make mention of the day in my version of public...twitter and here. So if you've been meaning to try out tatting, today seems a right pleasant day to start. If you don't want to tat, but you have a piece to wear, go out in your tatted goodness and spread the word that way too.

Yesterday was a fairly productive day, I worked most of it on the wrist corset I want to get made up so I can list it. It's still not done, but I should have it knocked out today. I did manage to clean just like I said I wouldn't. That's right I voluntarily vacuumed three fourths of the house when I could have continued to still on my tush. No, I don't know what is wrong with me.

I did get one new piece listed yesterday. I used one of the heart patterns I recently came up with for my super secret project that I still can not reveal. I decided to tat it a bit larger with the hand dyed gray, added a swarovski crystal to the tip and gave the piece it's own long necklace. I got it listed in the afternoon and by the evening it had sold. That sort of thing happens so rarely that it was worth sharing. I will of course get another one made up as soon as I finish the wrist corset that I will likely call a gauntlet or maybe bracer.

Well, I don't think I've got anything else for you today, so go tat and eat your chocolate... oh and avoid those pesky tricks and pranks today. Here's hoping I feel better when I wake tomorrow, or at least by Saturday, yeah that would be just fine.

Happy Tuesday To You

Cyber Monday was almost a big old bust, for me at least, but leave to the night to fix everything. I woke up to a couple more sales and I'm feeling great. I'm also really happy about how the barefoot sandal pattern was received. I hope all of you who give it a go, share your work. I also got one more nice little convo this morning on etsy. A lovely jewelry blog has featured me today. You can see the piece at the Beading Gem. Thanks to those familiar names which suggested me to the author after her last post on tatting.

Now, if you'll direct your attention to the right hand column, you'll see a brand new set of links. Now, this is just the beginning of my tatting resources overhaul. These are the links to both my patterns published in blog posts as well as the ones on Instructables. At some point, I will add a few tatting blogs that I frequent as well as other important tatting locations for those wandering souls that land here looking for guidance. What is sort of funny, I had started the blog as a recommendation from other etsy sellers as a promotional tool. I never thought that I would ever be helping people enter the world of tatting, but I do enjoy doing so.

Speaking of tatting, I've another discovery to share. I use the google alerts to check on my tatting and I also have one to check out tatted jewelry in general. In Sunday's alert, I got a strange link to Anthropologie of all places. I clicked through to find a pair of metal filigree looking earrings named Silver Tatting Drops. What does it all mean? Is the technique starting to gain enough popularity for a chain store to co op the name to sell something? That can't be. What reason, then? Anyway, I thought was an interesting find even if it really has nothing to do with the tatting you and I are familiar with.

I did want to also share that I do have one more pattern to publish here before the year is out. I didn't want to give them out all at once, but I did want to let you know there was another one coming in the next few weeks. Now, I happily have some tatting to get to myself.

Before I Was Even Born

It was another long day yesterday. For those of you that have been following my dental drama, I got the permanent crown put on yesterday. It was shiny and pretty. I don't know if the guys down at the dental lab that make these things to custom fit consider themselves artists, but I do. When I got back my youngest started running a fever. It's probably just a cold, but she slept for crap last night. That means I too slept for crap. I got a hold of all but one winner yesterday and the prizes will start going out today. If you want to take me up on yesterdays pendant offer, remember it is only good until Sunday.

So I do have a tatting confession for you. I am not well versed in its designers nor the intricacies of it's history. Sure a few names are familiar, but for the most part, I just thought it was something interesting to try and flew from there rarely, if ever looking back. Every time another tatter mentions a book that is apparently indispensable, I must admit ignorance. Though I have begun to amass a small collection of vintage tatting books and PDFs, they are mostly from the turn of the century and the 40's. Of the more recent creators I know very little.

A few weeks ago a tatting friend I became acquainted with over at the flickr directed me to a book after seeing my new footwear pieces, so out of sheer curiosity, I bought the thing for $7 and it just arrived. It is simply called Tatting by Irene Waller. Since I bought it I did come across some information suggesting that she was a major influence in the evolution of tatting particularly in adapting the work beyond doilies and edgings. As I flipped through the pages of the book, I realized a few things. First, this lady was a little loony in her enthusiasm. She appeared to truly believe that tatting could be anything and she knew it was art. Next, I guess I am a little like her in that respect though I do not share her love for rough and odd fibers. The book was published in 1974 in England and it is VERY 70's and though I'm glad I picked it up, I don't see myself using it all that much except as inspiration.

Actually it makes me a little sad that even though I try to come up with my own new ideas and avoid being influenced by other current designers, I'm not as original as I thought. She attached some very bulky tatting to wedge sandals and has a few choker designs as well as some even more wacky ideas in the book. I knew I was no tatting expert, but this confirms that my visionary status in on weak footing as well. That won't stop me from trying though, you'll see.

The Long Weekend

I'm certainly feeling a little muddled up this morning and it was an amazingly long weekend. It all started with a visit from an old friend, then the Thanksgiving meal at our house. This was followed by a trip to the movies on Friday, decorating the tree on Saturday and a Sunday in with a sick kid. Even though I was able to write that all out in a single thought, it was a very long and drawn out span of time with little of consequence actually getting done.

I got in some yarn on Saturday that was ordered to make a custom tatted scarf, so once I got that all rolled up, I started work on the scarf. I was actually amazed at how much faster the Art Deco scarf is coming along this time. Though I did need to constantly refer back to the pictures of the one I sold for the edging, the motifs worked up like clockwork and the project I was afraid would take up the better part on the week could be done as early as this evening. Speaking of custom order fear, I finally sold the custom caplet to its intended recipient. I had worried that it would not meet expectations, but I worried for nothing. This of course does not mean that I will cease irrational stress over custom orders, but it really is a relieve to have this one on its way to its owner.

Weekend sales were not amazing, but better than I had thought they would be. I still don't think that my free gift or shipping upgrade swayed any casual shoppers and it is much more likely that these purchases would have been made anyway. Still, I feel pretty good about sending freebies out for the holidays. I used to do it with every order, but soon I was spending more time tatting free bookmarks than I was making things to sell. Really, I think people just want what they ordered made well, shipped quickly and friendly customer service, so that's what I've done since.

Well, the other kid is sick now and it promises to be an even longer week than it was a weekend. I did try out an old tatting pattern called beading over the weekend that might make it into the store this week in the form of a new necklace and bracelet, but no promises. I'm likely to remain muddled up for a bit longer.

Finished

Oh, joyous day! I have finished the custom order collar I've been working on for what seems like forever. The piece was based on the Victorian Lace collar that I made to match a character in a Castlevania game. I was asked to make a caplet in the same style and I foolishly agreed to do so. Don't get me wrong, I love the way this piece came out, but I failed to take into account the ever increasing rows of the design. I quoted what I thought was a reasonable price for the amount of work, but as the caplet got longer, I realized that I should have thought of the piece more as an enormous doily than a collar.

I made most of the piece in a free form style, which is a fancy way of saying that I just made it up as I went along so i can never make another exactly like it, even if I wanted to. Now I just have to wait for the customer to see the piece and I have to tell you that I am more than a little apprehensive about that moment. I sent a message last night when I finished it, but I'm sure I will be waiting a while to hear if it passes muster. The wait will be murder.

I've just got a couple more pieces to list from the Steampowered stash and I should get that done today. I'm still not sure if I'm going to offer any kind of holiday offer this season. I'm thinking about offering a free priority shipping upgrade to all orders over a certain amount, but I don't know if that even appeals to people. I personally like cheap shipping, but I don't think it has ever swayed me into buying something that I wouldn't have otherwise.

I don't know if I'll write tomorrow, so if I don't have a great Thanksgiving, eat much and be merry.

Just Breath

It going to be one of those weeks. I just spent the better part of the weekend attending birthday celebrations, from parties for two 4 year olds on Saturday to the 70th birthday dinner of my father-in-law on Sunday. I got little rest with which to begin this week of chaos. We have volunteered to host thanksgiving at our house. As I don't do any of the cooking, aside from babysitting the turkey this simply means that I must clean the house. More importantly I must keep the house clean despite the considerable efforts of my children to keep the house otherwise. Normally I would simply wait until Wednesday night to clean to keep them form undoing it, but we shall have guests on Wednesday as well, so I might as well get started.

I also got back all the pieces I sent to the Steam Powered convention this weekend. I only sold three at the event so the stack was considerable. I relisted all the pieces that I had just taken out of the shop, but there were many pieces that I made just for the show that I need to take pictures of to get listed. The weather is not nice enough for live pics outside so I'm just having to settle for light box ones. If nothing else this is making me appreciate the live pictures I have taken a little more. I'm trying to space out the new listings, but I still feel like I'm listing too much too quick. I suppose I can't sell it if it's not listed so it really is better to get them up. I even got the tatted cuffs I made for Belle Armoire back too, so I'm listing those as well.

All this and I still have one big custom collar I'm been working on for what seems like forever and it is showing no signs of being finished as each row is longer than the last. I want to get a few of my recently sold items remade as well, especially my new Victorian corsage piece so I have as many pieces listed for the weekend as possible just in case I get any of the famed Black Friday or Cyber Monday traffic. I'm not planning any sales for the occasion mostly because I've never had any luck with sales. I usually end up with no one biting at all and a guilty feeling about any sales that occurred right before or after the sale. So yeah, it's going to be one of those weeks.

Sure, That's What It Is

I used to be a pop culture expert, well perhaps not expert, but I knew way more than was necessary. This was of course before I stopped working at the retail end of the entertainment industry. Since then my knowledge has drifted toward the toddler end of the spectrum, so it wasn't really a surprise that I had not heard about the Twilight phenomenon until it started infiltrating just about everything in the last couple of months. When I heard it was about vampires, I was curious enough to do a little research. I think I learned just enough to know that I would not enjoy it and as an old school goth it was not about what I define as vampires even in the loosest sense. I can allow for a lot of changes to myths, but I'm afraid I must draw the line at fundamental changes to the legend that cause vampires to sparkle.

I am however getting away from the point of this post. I made a bracelet in the pattern I showed off yesterday. I chose to do the filigree looking base in black and I made the rose in a deep red. I think it looks positively Gothic and lovely, but something else struck me as I was taking pictures of my creation. It occurred to me that fans of this Twilight business might love this piece as it is made in the colors that appear on the novels covers and in all the Twilight inspired items saturating etsy. I was very tempted to slap a twilight tag on the sucker and exploited its success.

I'm not going to though, I just can't do it. I'm certain that others have done it and will continue to jump on any band wagon that comes along, but the piece certainly wasn't inspired by the books or movie and it just doesn't seem right to say it was. I have had the same dilemma regarding the term Lolita. I see it a lot as a tag on etsy and I have a passing knowledge of the movement and even though I could guess that my pieces would fit in with a Lolita style, I don't know enough to say that with any confidence. I guess I am trying to avoid being regarded as a poseur by assuming where my work fits in. So if a sparkly vampire lover finds my bracelet and like it, great, but I'm not going to pretend it was made just for them.

Happy Accidents

I spent most of yesterday in a sickness induced malaise. I literally sat staring at the computer screen for no reason other than I had no energy to do anything else. I really wanted to get something new tatted, but I didn't start feeling better until early evening. At that point I did pick up my needle and started working on some antique patterns just to get moving again.

I started with an edging that was too tight to lay straight, then I did a small rose from the center of a medallion. I wasn't happy with either piece until I threw them on the table next to me and I saw what they wanted to become. I added a small section of matching clusters on either side of the piece and I had this great romantic Victorian bracelet pattern.

It's a nice change of pace from the dark Gothic look of my last project. I also determined that the design will translate well to a choker as well. I think I may make the final piece up in the ecru or perhaps a light pick or lavender instead of my signature black, though I'm certain it will look great in black as well.

While staring at the computer screen yesterday, I also received not one, but two blog awards. I feel like I need to find something new to say when these arrive besides the usual, since I've said the same thing so many times already. I remember the first time I saw one of these awards on someones blog. I thought that there was actually some authority awarding these to merit worthy blogs. Of course since then I've discovered that there are as many of these things as there are people with rudimentary graphics skills and a desire to acknowledge others. Since they are awarded in a chain letter fashion, they are not so much an award that recognizes your skill as they are a thank you from a single person. Since I only read a few blogs with any regularity, and I have no desire in inundate those same people with awards every time I get one, I shall let these ones die with me as well.

I do want to thank those you gave them to me however. Lenox Knits was awarded the "Uber Amazing Blog" award and passed it on to me as wel as a few others. Congrats Lenox and thanks for thinking of me. You can also visit her etsy store here. Perpetualplum received the "Marie Antoinette" award and she passed it on to me and six others. Congrats and thanks to her as well and you can find her etsy store here. Thanks so much guys, I'm so glad that you enjoy my nonsense.

Presenting The Tatted Throat Corset

Aargh...what a weekend. It started out with me and both of my daughters catching a cold bug. My husband remains unfairly healthy for the time being. This resulted in a less than restful weekend, yet I still managed to get a lot done. We went out of town to get our Holiday shopping all done and all the children in our lives are sufficiently spoiled. All that's left for us to do is pick up a few gift certificates and we're finished with shopping. The sad side effect of all this shopping is my shrinking paypal balance. No more impulse shopping for me I'm afraid.



The big news for the weekend is of course the completion of my most recent project, the tatted throat corset. I finally finished it up yesterday, slathered on a bit of makeup and got some pictures taken just before I lost the sunlight. In a rush to get feedback, I uploaded the pictures to flickr and posted them on twitter. This is the single greatest thing twitter has done for me. Instant feedback and views pour in just as soon as I post a link to something. While I'm still not perfectly settled on a price for the piece, I will get it listed today. Though it was just a repeating pattern, it was quite time consuming and I think the final piece reflects the time spent on it.

I also had a middle of the night project idea. Of course this was one of the many sickness induced wakings, so I'm not sure that the idea is sound yet. I think I figured out a way to make my tatted goggles work, if the idea wasn't just delirium. I plan on making a removable goggle cover of tatted lace. That way, I don't have to working about the glue and rivets that I know nothing about and stick to my skill set. Hopefully I get around to testing out the idea this week after I get a bit more sleep.

The Tatted Neck Corset

The prototype is complete! After a few days of work and a rough patch at the end when I couldn't decide on keeping or tossing the top edging, I have completed the tatted neck or throat corset, clearly I haven't decided which to call it either. I took all the pictures on my mannequin head which had a ridiculously long neck, but I assure you it is comfortable and fits like a dream on my real human neck. I laced the ribbon directly through the rings and though the ribbon I used here was a bit thick for easy lacing, it worked better than expected.

I shall begin work on the final piece in black today, so there's a small chance I'll have it ready in time for Mondays post. It's going to be a busy weekend though, so don't hold me to it. Working on this piece has again given me a reason to love the twitter community. I asked for opinions on the top edging and was given many very quickly and my flickr saw quite a few more hits than usual as many more stopped by to see what on earth I was talking about.

I also got a note from the steamteam friend, Olorle who bought one of my prototype sale pieces. He had completely a gauntlet using the medallion. You can check out his creation on his blog, here: http://bruisedwonderland.blogspot.com . It's always great to see what is created when a new set of hands takes over. I also recently sold a necklace to another etsy seller who embellished it almost beyond recognition into an incredible steampunk inspired piece. The seller is suewoojewels.etsy.com and I was surprised when I found the piece listed as I was stalking the tatting. I had actually forgotten that when I sold the piece to her she had said she was going to embellish it. It reminded me that I still haven't decided on a medallion or edging for the my Tatting Challenge. I plan on having the next one after the holidays to take advantage of the down time, but I'm a little afraid everyone will have forgotten about it by then. i guess I'll just have to keep mentioning it so it stays on the brain.

One last thing for this Friday, I was tagged by another blogger. While you are probably aware that I do not play these tag games, I do like to acknowledge those you like my stuff enough to bother tagging me. This time it was thespottedsparrow. You can find her blog here: http://blog.spottedsparrow.com/. Maybe one day I'll feel it necessary to share random facts about myself, but I just can't get into the chain letter nature of this stuff.

From Locusts to Lemmings

Yesterday over at the twitter I witnessed quite the phenomenon. A new service to give you a numerical rank based on some secret formula regarding @replies and followers and whatnot was launched and like dominoes falling everyone in sight seemed to fall victim to curiosity and their twitteranks were tweeted into the world. At first the discussion centered on the usefulness of this number. What was a 'good' number and why do we even care? Then the focus began to shift and paranoia took over. Everyone was shouting phishing scam and changing their passwords and generally freaking out. I've since read a posting by its creator that explains his less than nefarious purpose, but even though it wasn't a social experiment, it certainly revealed much about public reactions and behaviours. Did I jump of the cliff with everyone else...yep I did. To quote from the most recent Hulk movie, 'I've always been more curious than cautious.'

I also did manage to get some tatting done as well. I finished and listed a set of earrings and pendant. This one was made from just the center of a medallion pattern and reminds me of gears. I think I'll make the set up in brown with brass finding for that more authentic steampunk look and I'm playing around with the idea of string gears together to form a scarf with the 'teeth' of the gears attached. Before I get around to that though I have an even more interesting project I'm working on.

I first heard about throat corsets from a steamteam friend who had used the name for a laced up choker and was shocked to get thousand of views. Once we all discovered what it actually was, I was determined to make a tatted one. I found some amazing ones on and off etsy, but I just couldn't seem to come up with the right pattern to make one that looked right. That was until yesterday, I was adapting a pattern from a one shuttle pattern ring only into needle tatting with rings and chains. My solution was to weave the chains together in a Celtic manner and the result was a strong thick braided look strip and I knew I had stumbled on the pattern for a neck corset. I'm still working it up in vintage ecru thread, otherwise known as my practice thread and the results are quite promising. I've only got a snippet to show you today, but I hope to have a prototype ready for tomorrows post. You can see the natural tapper of the design and it should fit comfortably around the neck and I'm still deciding whether it should lace like a 'real' corset or more simply like shoelaces. I'm sure the solution shall present itself as I get the final panels done.

Shiny

I've got a new toy! Yesterday afternoon it arrived in a large and rather heavy box. I removed it from its box and waited for my live in computer tech to return to set up my brand new 24" imac. I finally got to play with it this morning and it is huge and shiny and fast. I really didn't think my G4 had aged that much until I started working on the new one and I inevitable thought back to my first apple computer that sits still completely functional on a shelf. It was a mac classic and it had less computing power than my phone and a screen that seems barely bigger than an ipod, but I love that old beige box because it helped me catch my mac geek husband.

The rest of yesterday was odd as well, no mail and my husband had the day off in the middle of the week. Of course we spent most of the day just waiting for my computer to be delivered. I did manage to find another pattern to adapt from my antique books. I made up a pendant and earring set I should get photographed and listed today. I got to play with really long picots, which is a difficult exercise. It takes a bit of practice to eyeball the length of the loop. I try to measure against my finger, but it's still guess work.

We also went to a movie with the family and then watched the new Futurama dvd...excuse me, blu ray. I laughed really hard until I realized that there was really only one segment of the population laughing this hysterically with me...geeks. Yep, I'm a geek. I'm a mac geek, a drama geek, a sci-fi fantasy geek and a rpg geek. I'm sure I left off a few, but you get the idea. I've tried so hard to climb up to the subcategory of geek known as freak. I've got the tattoos, the piercings, the crazy hair as well as the ability to communicate with normals, but I'm really just a geek. I guess that's enough of a confession for today. Hopefully I'll have some tatting to show off tomorrow and the rest of the week will get back to normal.

A Good Monday

A string of interesting things occurred after I wrote on Friday. As soon as I published the post I felt much better, I received a few, 'there, there's' from twitter folk and I got what I can only assume was a pity sale and that was all I really needed to get out of the self pity cycle. The weekend just took off from there. I did feel bad that I wrote such a whiny post, but occasionally I think we all need to vent and that was mine for quite a while, I imagine. Of course I cannot anticipate future events that might irritate me enough to vent, but I can assure you it will not be my sales or lack thereof.

No longer hampered by doubt, I listed my prototype starburst bracelet and it sold immediately. Of course I did list it ridiculously cheap, but still. Then I managed to finish and list a pair of earrings, the perfected bracelet and another necklace all adapted from the starburst pattern. I felt creative and productive and I think the positive activity in my store increased my visibility just enough to achieve my year-end goal of 3000 store hearts. I had intended to do a countdown to 3000 this week because I had assumed I would reach the goal a bit later, but I certainly can't complain.

I also made an impulse purchase this weekend. We visited the closing Circuit City store for a usb hub and I found myself drawn to the discounted cameras. My current camera was purchased with size in mind. I wanted a small camera that was light and fit in a bag, so I paid little attention to quality. It is in no sense a bad camera, but I have been wanting a better one for a while. I picked up a new Sony Cybershot H-50 at lovely price. I think it will be a while before I learn how to effectively use all the features of the camera, but I already love it. Now I need to make some new pieces so I have something to take pictures of. Though it did get a trial run at my nieces birthday party yesterday.

I shall have another new acquisition to share with you later this week as well, but I shall save that for when it actually arrives. I don't have any projects lined up for the week, so I'll just be playing it by ear from this point and hopefully I'll come up with a little something to test out my new camera with.

You Just Didn't Listen

I warned you all, didn't I? I said that if you piled on the sales and attention that when it inevitably stopped, I would be an emotional wreck. So what did you do? You gave me consistent sales and attention for nearly two months and then you took it all away. As quickly as it came it was gone, now I sit at the end of a two week period that saw two whole sales. The fall was so quick from so high that I find myself terribly bruised. Sure, I tried to maintain my calm. I wasn't going to fall into the trap of self doubt and start whining about sales. I ignored the subject entirely, hoping that the problem would fix itself, but as this week comes to an end I find myself wondering what I can do to reengage a buying public and what I did to scare everyone away in the first place.

I've spent probably a little too much time on twitter lately and though it has proved a wonderful community environment for feedback and general, entertaining nonsense, it's getting me nowhere as far as sales are concerned. I've spent far more than I ever thought shopping through my twitter contacts, but as my funds have dwindled, it's become clear that I need to stop until my sales return. Twitter has almost completely replaced the etsy forums for me, but I wonder if I should go back and see if my absence there is a cause of my lack of sales.

I wonder too, if perhaps my appeal was solely Halloween based and there is nothing I can do to encourage sales outside that niche. Oh well, I guess that is enough complaining for now. I think I've gotten it all out of my system now. I shall resolve to go back to creating and ignore my sales or lack thereof. I think I will create a sales section in the store today and see if that helps jump start sales or at least clear out some dead weight and I do have a protype bracelet to list today, crazy cheap, as the design still needs work. I did make a second one with some minor changes that I feel much better about and I'll list that one at regular price later as well. I still have a couple of other ideas for the starburst design to try out and then I need to come up with something that gets me as much attention as my tatted masks did. I'm coming up blank right now, so it might be a while on the last thing.

New And News

Ah, back to tatting. I spent yesterday afternoon discovering a new design to exploit from those antique pattern books. I think I've found a good one and I've finished the first piece using it and I'm well into the second which will be far more dramatic as is my way.

I'm calling this piece 'Starburst' because of the small star shape in the center, but it began life as a pattern for a lunch cloth, whatever that is. I was looking far to hard for a ready made medallion when I noticed this shape within another pattern. The next piece will be a choker and I think I'll work on a gauntlet or bracelet as well.

In other news, the etsy steam team has been back from Steampowered for a few days, but they're still getting great publicity for the team along with making more regretful that I did not go. The newest is a mention in the Make magazine blog. The picture links to the article, so click away.All the members present for the photo got a store link and they clearly had more fun than I did last weekend, though trick or treating with the family was important too. I however am terribly jealous and I vow that the next event the team attends on this coast will find me present, even if I have to drag my family along with me.