Riding Out The Bumps

I have been through a great many growth spurts in recent history. I became a mother twice, exposed my "hobby" to the world for its approval and most recently I have laid my thoughts bare for all to see. All of these things have caused me great joy and even greater stress. As much as I love my children and revel in seeing them grow every day, they are most certainly the hardest job I have ever had. For every kind word, hug and kiss I am given in reward there are days of thankless tasks and unnoticed work. It is the same with my tatting and my blog, for every comment, sale or compliment there are weeks of feeling completely ignored. This causes all sorts of self doubt for me.

The ironic thing is, things have gotten much worse as things have gotten much better. Does that make any sense? I'll explain. When I was making a sale every week or two, all I expected was a sale every week or two. Low expectations meant that I could always meet expectations. When I first started my blog all I expected were a couple of readers and a comment now and again, so I was never disappointed. In the last couple of months things have gotten steady, not amazing by any means, but I began to rely on a certain amount of readers, a comment on every post and consistent sales. In fact I'm beginning to become so reliant on these things that when things don't play out this way, I am almost devastated. I start to wonder what I did wrong, who I upset, or what can I do to remedy the problem.

The problem however, does not actually exist. There is nothing for me to really fix, while I may have upset someone, that is probably not having any effect on my views or sales. These bumps along the way are normal. They may seem enormous, but that's just a trick of perspective. I've simply become so spoiled by a bout of good fortune that I mistook for an entirely new reality. It really is like the stock market, you can get excited at every up and devastated by every down, or you can go all in for the long haul and ride the waves as the come. You can try to fix every downturn immediately with a knee jerk reaction or you can make gradual and lasting changes that will result in long term success in whatever it is you do. It really is the zen thing to do.

Masquerade

All this mask making has put masquerade on the mind so I made this treasury yesterday. I resisted every urge to include one of my masks. I did not, however, resist the urge to plug them in the comments of the treasury. I never even realized how many amazing mask makers there were on etsy until I made my own.

I did stop mask making to create a few new small things, including this bejeweled bracelet. It's part of my ever increasing bridal line. Which is just a fancy way of saying I'm making a bunch of stuff in white with crystals and pearls. I know it's entirely the wrong time of year for this endeavor, but it's a nice change of pace from the time and energy consuming masks.

I do still have a couple more masks to get made before I sit down and write out the patterns. I keep having the silly thought that one day a real publisher will want me to put out a book of patterns.I am of course not holding my breath for this to occur, but I figure better to be prepared right. Of course I need the patterns written anyway, I'm not exactly a savant when it comes to remembering even my own patterns and if I were to lose the prototype pieces, I'd be crap out of luck.

Back To Business

So apparently I was talking to myself yesterday. That's okay, I just needed to vent I suppose. So today I'm back to my creative self. I am of course working on a new mask design. This one is based on my Grand Daisy motif and though I'm certain to make the first one for sale in black, I think this one will be great in many colors for perhaps a fairy costume. I know it's hard to see in the ecru, but that's my prototype thread. I use it not only because I have a mile of it, but also because I can count the stitches so much better with this thread. I have yet to write down the patterns for any of my masks. I know, I should should know better by now. If I wait too much longer, I'll forget the changes I made from the prototype to the final design and they will be lost to the ages, but I'm on such a creative roll that I'm afraid that stopping to write them down will stunt my growth.

Since I'm back on the subject of tatting, I thought I'd share that I finally joined my first tatting community. Why is this a big deal? Well, when I first tried tatting I was using a shuttle and I failed miserably, but I was determined to learn this skill. I went online for help and ran across a small mention of needle tatting, bought a book and learned like lightning. Once the book had no more to teach me, I went back to the Internet for help, techniques and patterns and though I found lots of that, I also found unpleasantness. I ran across people claiming that needle tatting was not only, not "real" tatting, but insinuated that it was akin to cheating. I also found folk who thought that they were the only worthy tatters and they rest of us should just shove off. You can imagine that I tried to avoid all contact with other tatters for fear of being judged and told that I did not belong.

I'm certain that nearly every discipline or craft has the same problems in their communities, but I was so afraid and unsure of myself that I stayed away. It wasn't until I started my blog just a few months ago that I began to develop friendships with other tatters. I've since met some amazingly talented and wonderful people and it is because of them that I finally realize that I do in fact belong. I look forward to using this new resource to learn and grow. It is also refreshing to network where my ultimate goal is not selling something. I don't know how much time I'll devote to this new adventure as I'm stretched pretty thin already, but I've dipped a toe in and water seems fine so far.

Religion and Politics

I am interrupting my regularly scheduled mask coverage to address these, the largest of all controversial topics. Now, don't freak out, I'm not going to spew forth my opinions on them, but merely my opinion on opinions, or rather the placement of them. Lately the forums at etsy have been rife with threads on these subjects and as a rule these threads dissolve into playground brawls in record time. I personally avoid commenting in these topics, but that does not stop me from lurking in them with shocked disbelief much as one might watch a car accident.

So I started thinking about why such divisive subjects were always popping up on a crafting site. It occurred to me that artists are passionate people. In fact most people who create are passionate people. It then makes perfect sense that a group of people who are as diverse as any other and possessing of a large amount of creative passion would get into extreme debates with as much ease as other people breath. All that being said, we need to cut it out, seriously.

We all have opinions and we all feel ours is worth expressing, but there is a time and a place. The anonymity of the Internet has made many feel like anywhere is a good place to discuss that which riles us up, but we must consider the company anytime we bring up these subjects. I know that old fashioned ideals of etiquette are out of favor, but there really was a good reason why we were told not discuss these topics. I am not for one minute suggesting that these thing never be discussed, but their discussion requires a level of civility on respect that seems all but impossible to maintain in a virtual setting.

I do have a suggestion for those who still feel the need to engage in the discussions on etsy. First, read what you wrote out load before hitting the post button. Hearing something out load, might reveal unintended hostility and make you rethink your statement. If you still feel the need to respond at keast it isn't in the heat of the moment any longer. Next, I ask that before you hit post that you imagine something for me. Imagine that you are at your job and for the purpose of this exercise you work in a mall. You are standing at the front of the store, they are customers both new and old where you can see them and others you cannot. You are also within easy ear shot of other stores, their owners and employees as well as your own coworkers. Now, what were you about to say? Would your statement cause you to lose the repect of any of those people? Would it affect business, your job? Is it still worth it?

I know that many people value their right to free speech over common courtesey and they will disagree with me wholeheartedly. That's fine with me. I value my freedom of speech as well as I respect yours. I just think there are better places to talk about these things. I know that some people don't care if their opinions turn buyers or other sellers off, but I feel that if I have to work with these people in any capacity it's better to not invite controversy and conflict were none exsisted. This is all just my opinion and It's a bit of a downer from all my creative goodness, so I'll go now and make something to take the edge off. I'll have a mask or something tomorrow, I promise.

Another Day, Another Mask

I caught a bug this weekend and not the good kind. In fact it took out my entire family. I'm tired and less than 100% but I still managed to finish the newest in my mask line. This one matches my diamonds in lace choker. Not that you'd need to have the choker to make the mask work, but I think it really completes the look. I'm having so much fun coming up with these designs and I hope that they are well received so I can justify their further creation.

Part of the reason I started making these pieces was to fill up time that was reserved for stocking my etsy store. Since I've already made duplicates of many of my items and I have a bunch of pieces made for both the Steam Powered convention and the future lollishop venue, I needed to move in another direction just to keep my creative juices flowing. I've decided that a stock of three or four different masks will make for a good "line", so once I've finished those I will have to come up with an entirely new idea.

I've made hats, scarves, cuffs and now masks. What else can I make with tatting? Something that is unique, quick and wearable? Well, the keyword there is wearable and I think I've got a few more ideas in the pipeline. I was thinking fingerless gloves, maybe a shrug or caplet. Then I was thinking, how else can I use tatted pieces. There are many high priced independent designers using lace to embellish simple tank tops and dresses and getting top dollar for them. I wonder if I have the patience to work with clothing in that manner. Mine would be unique simply because I would be making the lace myself. It's a scary prospect every time I think about moving in another direction. Is that too many product lines for me to ultimately handle? I really don't have the answer, but now that the idea has entered the public arena, I will have to follow through. That's just the way that I roll.