One Of Us

I feel my resolve cracking. I have been holding strong against the facebook, but I don't know for how much longer. I was happy to add this social network of things I'll never do. Said list includes watching the film Titanic and well anything Twilight related. Then my husband joined in and everyone I know is apparently there. In fact I haven't gone a day online without several people mentioning the damn place. I really don't want to join another social network, I already deleted my indiepublic profile and I've all but completely abandoned myspace. Won't this just be another place to waste time. I already have this blog, the wunderkammer, my etsy store, flickr, steamteam and of course the twitter, when am I even going to find time to maintain a new place.

I know, you're thinking why am I whining about this when I could just continue to ignore it all. Well, last night my husband chanted, 'one of us' at me and even though he has never seen Freaks, the implication was clear. I know I will soon succumb to the siren call and become one of them, or you...I assume. So I'm curious, what's the point? Do I set up a personal page and then a business one and what the heck is up with all this 'fan' stuff. I'm constantly seeing people asking for fans and I keep thinking how silly it is to ask for fans. Is this one of those words that has an entirely different definition in this world, because I was under the impression that fans were people that liked you and/or your brand, not people trying to get reciprocal attention. I really don't want to get into a numbers game again and I certainly have no desire to play games and answer quizzes. Is this place going to annoy the crap out of me? It's a moot point I suppose...I'll join eventually, but that doesn't have to stop me from questioning the reasons why.

I'm Back

So tired. Yes, my weekend was lovely. The weather was cool and even the sun came out on occasion. As usual, the Aquarium was where we spent most of our time. The children love it and we can always just sit down and enjoy the exhibits. We were still vacationing with two small children however, so we exhausted ourselves lifting and carrying the two of them. Not to mention the unnecessary purchases that also required toting back to the hotel and whatnot. What I'm trying to point out here is that we are tired.

There is no rest for this wicked girl. While I was gone, I received a few more custom orders that now need attending to. In fact at this point almost every piece listed as a custom has been purchased. I have no intention of re listing them again until this batch of orders has been completed. Well, I suppose I'll do it if asked, but otherwise they are off the menu. I still have a ridiculous amount of packing to do before we move and I am getting a bit overwhelmed. I'm not complaining really, both of these things are attached to wonderful events. Buying a house and a steady sales in my shop, both great...great and stressful.

I also got a nice convo the other day that made me giggle a bit. It was a lovely request to carry my masks in a brick and mortar store. In the past I have sworn off the idea of consignment and wholesale orders. Quite simply, I have no desire to sell my things any cheaper so someone else can get a cut. I know, I know, etsy and paypal already get a cut, but compared to traditional consignment and wholesale, their cut is terribly tiny. Anyway, my reaction to this offer had nothing to do with my previous opinions, this one was based on simple feasibility. I can barely keep up with my store orders of masks at this point, how on earth could I make enough extra to stock a store. There's just no way right now. Honestly, it takes me at least two full days to make a mask and that's working pretty much all day with few kids and house related breaks. You see why I giggled a bit. If only an offer like this had come in a year ago when I had plenty of time to spare, but that would have been convenient.

Well, I guess its back to work this morning. Thanks for all the anniversary wishes as well as the sales that helped us celebrate. It was a wonderful weekend, too bad its over now.

Happy Anniversary

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

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

Rainbow Bright

With yesterdays little rant, I didn't share my tatting adventures from Tuesday. I was twitter stalking while making a custom mask. One of my lovely twitter friends shared a picture of her new manicure. A bright and multicolored hand and I was inspired. I dug through my collection of patterns for just the right one and made a bracelet. The pattern was an adaption of a cross pattern by Dianna Stevens. It was one collected before I started designing my own pieces, but it is perfect for the three bright colors I wanted to use.

I got straight to work on the bracelet and took pictures with my laptop during the process. It went very quickly and was done just a couple of hours later. I'm sending it to her this week as a little present. I might make another up to sell later, though I'm pretty busy with the remaking sold pieces.
One more thing for the day, my SALE. This is the last day of my anniversary sale, since I'm leaving for Monterey tomorrow. This is definitely the last sale I'll do until perhaps the holidays, so take advantage of it. If something you want has been recently sold and isn't listed, just let me know & I'll list a custom piece for you. I want you to be able to take advantage of this rare discount. I'm not closing the store while I'm gone since it's just a weekend. I'll just be shipping any orders out on Monday or Tuesday instead. Thanks for all your purchases during the sale too. I really appreciate the business and thanks to my customers we'll have a nice, comfortable anniversary trip with the family.

Communicate

I'm not an easily ruffled personality. I tend to go with the flow whenever possible, why stress over things that you cannot change. It is best to accept the hand you're dealt and work with what you've got. There are of course exceptions to this course of action. I'm not a complete push over, I just prefer not to get worked up over the little things. That being said, I got all into it yesterday over, well, a little thing. Monday morning I made a sale that needed to be delivered by Thursday. It was in state, no problem...until Paypal flagged the payment. The site stated it would take 'up to 24 hrs' to review and release the funds. Ok, I have a day, it's still cool. right?

Twenty-five hours later, still no cleared payment. Now, I'm annoyed. Finding no resolution on the site, I made a fruitless phone call where the agent tells me the review takes '24-48 hours' to review. To which I respond,'Then why does it say up to 24 hours?" The fellow clearly ruffled says I can send a message on the site. Frustrated, I bark my goodbyes and hand up. I proceeded to write my message and right after I clicked send, I received the cleared payment message. Aaarrrggghhh.

I must point out that my problem was not with the time frame of the review, I get it, I do. They are covering their own bums and consequently mine. I appreciate the effort. My issue is with their ability to communicate. If the time frame is 24-48 hours, just say that for goodness sake. If you think that something might even remotely take longer than you say, you might just want to add, 'some reviews may take slightly longer'. See, that was easy. if you're going to miscommunicate with your customers, at least do it the other direction. You know, under promise and over deliver. That I can hang with, everyone wins when you say something will take up to a week and it only takes two day. I could be saying that because it's what I do, but I still think it's the better way to go here. Whew, glad that's all out of my system now.