My Other Life

And the scarf tats on. I was quite busy yesterday with the business of life rather than needle and thread. I had the first quarter face to face conference with my home schooled daughters teacher. We were to turn in work samples and demonstrate that she has in fact been learning. While I was nervous going in, it was mostly due to ignorance. I simply had no idea what to expect. It was a breeze and of course my daughter is right on track, so we'll just keep doing what we're doing.

Then there was an impromptu trip to get new tires on the car. And since I have the most awesome of in-laws, it was a free trip to get new tires on the car. This took us all the way up to nap time, which I spent tatting and staring at twitter. During that interlude I spied a gorgeous top on the etsy and after all of 15 minutes of conversation, I had purchased it. I was also cajoled to model the top when it arrives for the creator. So, I will share that when it happens, though it is a made to order piece, so it could be a while...you'll probably forget I ever said anything.

Then the evening was another unplanned trip to visit the children's cousins so that they might play like crazy people for a couple of hours. I brought my tatting, but never did it get out of the bag. So, it was one of those days when it was a good thing that I haven't had an order to fill in a bit, because I would have needed to ignore it anyway.

One Of Those Mornings

Here we are at the end of the week and since all I've been doing is tatting custom orders on high speed, I've really got nothing of interest to share with you. This does not mean I won't attempt to ramble on for a bit however. I think you know this about me by now. We did get a little bit of pseudo news on our house buying situation. The sellers agent told our agent that he had talked to the bank and we *should* hear something next week and it looks positive. I truly hope that no one in that chain is talked our of their bums and that we will have a good answer soon, because this waiting game is messing with my sanity.

In a completely unrelated story, I was running some errands at the Target yesterday and made a swing through the clearance section as I'm wont to do at times. I was ever so delighted to find a tank that I had wanted but passed on the first time because I wasn't suppose to spend money. The price...$4.24. I know, why do you care? Eh, I'm just excited and I like it so much that I even needed to show off my ridiculously cheap tank. I am headless because there is no makeup on my face and my hair is still wet, but isn't it cute?

Well, I told you I had nothing to say.

I got another custom order yesterday, so my weekend of leisure will also be a weekend of high speed tatting to get these pieces turned out as quickly as possible. I need to build that paypal account up quickly to reverse the vacation damage and hopefully save enough for our annual Monterey trip. We like to go and stay a couple of days each year for our anniversary, but with the potential house buying process, we have no idea how it will play out this year. Crossing our finger though because it actually is a relaxing time for us.

Have I rambled long enough this morning? Yeah, doesn't matter, I'm done now...I think, yeah, I'm done.

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.

Nothing Of Consequence

It another of those mornings. I've nothing of consequence to share with you. I've been spending a little too much time shopping through Twitter. I downloaded a desktop widget called Tweetdeck that keeps Twitter in the background all the time so I seem to always be eavesdropping on some conversation or other. I also keep clicking on links for new listings and sales, it's a nasty habit that I need to squelch at least until my sales pick back up. It is so much harder to justify shopping when no one is buying from me.

I know it seems as if I've been busy since I actually listed two new pieces in as many days, but I had been working on those pieces slowly, off and on for a very long time and just finally finished them. I've been a little uninspired as of late and I'm finding it hard to get motivated to create. Perhaps it's just the letdown after sending so many pieces to the SteamPowered convention that kicks off this Friday, I don't really know.

Speaking of Friday though, I pretty proud of myself. Yesterday after a failed search for instructions on how to make a bustle for my costume, I figured one out all by myself. All I seemed to find in my search were wedding dress modifications, overly complex patterns with poor explanations and sad d.i.y. pieces with less than stellar results. My solution was a piece of leftover fabric gathered and tucked under my corset and it looks perfect. Now, hopefully the rain that is predicted for Halloween will not arrive and I'll actually have a reason to wear the costume to take the kids trick or treating. I promise, I'll share pictures if it turns out alright.

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.

Handmade Holiday

I am a self professed Gen-X'er. I grew up watching personal computers go from science fiction to a nearly disposable object. I grew along side the video game industry as it changed the face of entertainment. I saw the witnessed the war between beta and VHS long before they changed their names to Blu-ray and Hd-dvd. I watched as vinyl all but died and my walkman became a discman and then an ipod. The point I'm trying to make here is I cannot live without tech and neither can any member of my family. I mention all this because I have begun my holiday shopping and I feel so much pressure to have a handmade holiday and I don't think it is possible for me to comply.

I know I can't be the only one trying to work out this dilemma. I want to support my fellow artisans, I want to be socially responsible and I of course want others to buy handmade to support myself. My family, however, would not be pleased with a holiday that did not include the newest video game release or some piece of fantastic technology. Since making ones family happy should be the focus of the holiday, not some social agenda, I simply can't justify forcing unwanted gifts on them.

I think that I found found a nice middle ground already though, that is a little handmade for everyone this holiday. I've decided that I would get at least one present for everyone at etsy and then the rest of their gifts can be whatever they really want. I also think the key to getting people to accept their handmade gifts is to make sure it is really something they would like, even if it had been bought at the mall. I've forced vegan body lotion and lip balm on my family in the past and I think I might have just wasted my money. I'm going to get it right this time.

I wish I could show you all the amazing things that I have already picked up, but I'm afraid the family would pick now to visit the blog and ruin the surprises. Perhaps after the holidays, I'll have a giant gift feature to show them all off. I'm also encouraging my four year old to make gifts for her cousins, with my help of course, but I think this might start her out with a better appreciation of handmade goodness and as soon as I'm sure the one year old won't try to eat the hot glue, she can help too. We may not have a completely handmade holiday, but perhaps we can have the best of both worlds.

Why Am I Not Famous Yet?

What am I doing wrong? Why isn't this selling? Why am I not a millionaire yet? Okay, I haven't actually seen that last question yet, but the others are asked seemingly every hour at Etsy. I assume the same thoughts swirl around at DeWanda, ebay, icraft and all the other handmade marketplaces online. We, as a culture, have been infected with the, 'if you build it they will come' mentality. This, I'm afraid to tell you is a fallacy, a lie, complete untruthiness.

Let's explore why it might be that no one is buying your goods. Without even looking at your shop, the first thing that pops out to me is your product. It actually might not be worth buying. Harsh, you say, but perhaps it's the truth. Are you making jewelry in the same style as a hundred other people with the same beads? Are you knitting dish clothes with the pattern off the back of the yarn label? Are you making candles or soap from a kit you found at the craft store? I could go on, but you get the point. If you are doing these or dozens of other simple and unoriginal things, you have your answer. Unless you do these things with amazing skill and flair, they are not worth buying for most people. Don't take other sellers word for it in the forums either, they are not likely to tell you the truth. They are simply too nice and too supportive. Most of them honestly want everyone to succeed even when they know not everyone can.

If you've past that first test, then you're ready for the analogy portion of my diatribe. Imagine if you will, a mall with 10,000 jewelry stores. I really shouldn't have to go on, it should be clear where this is headed, but for arguments sake, I shall continue. If you were to walk into that mall,with no preconceived agenda you are probably only going visit the first few stores you see. So that's 9995 unseen stores. Maybe you're an organized shopper so you check out the directory. You're looking for stores that stand out in some way, a great name, a description that includes exactly what you're looking for, or something familiar and you're still only going to visit a few stores.

Here's the lesson in all this. If you want to be one of the first stores they see, you need to list or re list often enough to see seen easily. You don't need to go crazy, just once a day could help a lot. If you can't do that, then you need to catch the organized shopper. To do that, you need to use all your tags wisely so you come up in all relevant searches. Ah, tags, the illusive grail of shopping. You know that they are the key and yet you can't seem to use them right. I have a tip, pretend you're a shopper and searching for something that you sell. What words do you actually use in a search? I've looked for formal jewelery, casual jewelery, beautiful, elegant, simple, unique, soft, bright, dark, etc. Are you using those kinds of words to describe your pieces. This is how you can use all your tags without resorting to tag abuse, which doesn't help your cause at all.

I hear a lot of people responding to these "why" questions with the horrible phrase, "You just need to wait for the right buyer". This akin to telling the needle in the haystack, "you just need to wait for the guy with the magnet." What you need to do is make that needle so cool and easy to find that people don't even have to try to look for it. There are plenty of buyers out there for everyone making a quality product, but most of them are not looking for an expedition. They want stuff to fall in their laps, so make sure you're throwing it out there where they can find it!