The Monster At The End Of The Year

Well here we are at the end of another year. I have been babbling on a blog long enough to be able to go back and shake my head at my past thoughts, long enough to be proven both right and wrong about the future in a permanently visible manner. Every year, at its close, it seems I say the same thing. I tell you that I don't make resolutions, then I proceed to list things that I would like to see happen. Then the year progresses, I forget what I said I wanted and my list becomes a parody of itself. For example, here is last years bit of babbling forgotten until I looked it up today:

"Speaking of the coming year, I have started to give some thought to my future plans. I hesitate to call them resolutions as I never keep those. Rather I can them goals, some more ridiculous than others of course, but I like a variety. The next few months should see me reach the magical sales number called 1000 barring any unforeseen circumstances. I'd love to hit 1500 by the end of 2010 because I like round numbers. The past year had me reaching 5000 hearts in my etsy shop and I hope to gain another 1000 in the new year. I want to see my tatting worn and photoed on someone much more famous than I. I also want to get at least one more instructional needle tatting video up and get the actual Instructables for the last two free patterns I offered up as well. I tried to think of something even more ridiculous than the famous person thing, but the only thing I could come up with is a major magazine or televisions feature of my work."

 So, let's dissect that shall we. I did indeed hit 1000 sales, but didn't quite make 1500, but the math really didn't bear that happening out anyway. Next, I shattered my shop heart goal by garnering 2400 more. I think that might have more to do with etsy growing than me specifically, but I'll take it. I also did manage two more youtube videos and on a related note the views on my first video broke 50,000 views and the updated version with speaking broke 11,000. That my friends is a lot of people watching my hands. My last goal points were regarding fame and sadly, though there were a few hopeful sales and photo shoots that direction, there have been no major sightings. I remain relatively undiscovered...oh, well, we can't win them all.

So where do I go for next year then? As much as I do still adore the round numbers, they are not really a true gauge of my success, they are just reminders that we live in a base 10 world. Sure, I could ask for the fame thing again, but that is a wild crap shoot. If I made half an effort to make it happen of course, but we all know I am too lazy and much too chicken to go out on many ledges. So I guess I'll stick with practical this year. I will try to make another Instructable and another video. I will continue to design, grow and learn. I will watch kittens and children grow, take care of my family, make a few new friends, babble in my blog and try to be better person.

Thank you to everyone out there who reads this blog, checks the Wunderkammer, buys my lace, follows me on facebook or twitter. Thank you for commenting, consoling, commiserating and for ignoring my nonsense...or pretending to anyway. Thank you for being part of my year and I hope to see you in the new one.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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.

Speedy

Have you ever tatted so quickly, so furiously that even your back became sore? Yes, that is exactly what I did yesterday morning in order to get that mask I mentioned yesterday made and in the post. I just couldn't sit on my hands when there was even a remote possibility of getting it finished and to the customer in time for the weekend. I'm not really sure what that says about me, but I did manage to finish it and in record time. It got placed in the mail and I whined about my back for a couple of hours before I felt better and got back to work.

 Before I got back to tatting I took down Christmas. We usually wait until the sixth, but the kittens have been wreaking havoc so it was time. Don't let the picture fool you. They were just resting before another epic play battle that would have destroyed many small villages...should there be any around.

It does always amaze me how I only realize how many bloody Hallmark ornaments we have when I have to carefully box them all back up and get them put away. There are a lot of them. Don't get me started on how many of them are Batman and Spiderman. The husbands response to that will be...but they're all different. Yes, they are, but that's not the point and he knows it.

After all that I did get back to the custom headband. I'm making it in a discontinued Ceblia color. It's a light silvery gray that my saintly Mother-in-law snagged all of at her local yarn shop for me. The picture was taken when I was about halfway done, but I managed to finish while the oldest played one of her new video games in the evening. Luckily I can read the game text to her while tatting. She can read a little now, but it's a Pokemon game and full of ridiculous words that she needs help with. Plus, me reading speeds the whole thing along better.

Anyway, the tatting on that is done, so today I add the ribbon and hopefully get some pictures taken so I can list it for the customer. Then I have a whole new pile of pieces that need remaking as well. I might make up another of the headbands for the shop too. I do really like the way it turned out I guess we'll just have to see where the day takes me.

Victorious Headband

Well, talk about getting back into the swing of things. I had a custom request to work on, actually there are two of them, but one requires I wait for a special bit of supplies before beginning work on it, so more on that one later. This one was a request for a headband designed after one of my collar chokers. I told the customer what I thought would be the best option and once I received the word that it sounded fine I got to work on it.

I laid the beginning of it on top of the choker it emulates...and yes I was playing with my phone camera again. I had to adjust quite a bit of it so it would lay straight as I was going to double it for the end piece. I just used three large points, then I used the clover from the top edge of the necklace to finish the length on both sides. This is just the prototype as the customer wants it in gray, but I was so uncertain as to whether or not my first attempt would pan out, I thought I do the first try in some plain black as I clearly own a lot of black thread. There are a couple of things I will adjust when I make it up in gray, but for the most part I like the way it turned out. I will finish it with wide black ribbon on the ends so it ties on like my Rosette headband.

I was planning on getting that finished today, but I woke up to a mask order that wants to arrive by Friday. That is likely impossible as it's not made yet, but I have a feeling that the customer didn't notice that in the listing. So now I wait for a response to my message regarding that and I make the mask double quick in the meantime just in case. The whole shop is on free shipping right now, but I hope they understand that the free shipping is standard, not expedited. On the other hand, I hate to disappoint people when they want a piece for a particular event...it gives me the stress. Oh and let us not forget about all the bad weather that is likely slowing down mail service anyway. Oye, the lesson here is always order early for the best service particularly in the winter. So, off to it then.

Almost Over

So as Christmas is finally behind us, it is about time to attempt to analyze what just happened as far as sales are concerned. As basically a worthless business person, I shall of course not use any of that information moving forward, but as a relentlessly curious person, I feel that I just need to know. Informal analysis shows the slave bracelet to be the sleeper hit of the year.  In fact I spent much of Sunday making custom sized ones that were ordered on Christmas. Why are these pieces so popular? I haven't a clue. None of them are particularly new designs for me, I think the newest has to be at least six months old, but they were all flying off the virtual shelf...relatively speaking anyway. Is there a new trend I'm unaware of?

I still don't know whether this holiday season was better or worse than previous ones as I won't run the numbers until the end of the month, but I felt pretty busy so I'll go out on a limb and say it was OK. Of course I am dreading the end of the year as it means doing numbers for the whole year and preparing for the dreaded tax time. Sometimes I miss when this was all just a hobby to pay for thread...well not really. I absolutely adore sending bits of my lace to the corners of the globe and imagining that right at this very moment someone is wearing something I made.

Anyway, I managed to again catch up on orders on Sunday, Saturday was of course lost to the ruckus that is the holiday. I still have a few pieces that need remaking and again I really must get back on the masks before the much smaller Mardi Gras mask buying begins. Oh and I wanted to get a few more Valentine themed bits made up before that hits as well. Once all those forward thinking projects have been tackled, I'm back to some designing to take advantage of the dead space that is January sales.

I was also thinking of culling down my inventory a bit. After some light reading and some thought, I decided that I need to keep all the designs I've created particularly from modified antique patterns listed, you know as irrefutable proof that I made them some time ago just in case some people decided to try and slap a copyright on their version of them. Yes, that was a passive aggressive rant that I won't further explain, though I will add a, 'been there, done that' just to get it all out of ms system. Ah, all better now. Here's hoping for a pleasant last week of the year.