Better

Yikes, I was so busy yesterday. It was a completely unexpected day full of many small sales. I think it may be crunch time for holiday shoppers. My first clue was the sheer amount of sales which is quite small really, but when you're used to maybe one or two a day, it was a lot. The second clue was that half those sales were to men. The rest of the year male shoppers pop by maybe once a month so I'm fairly certain we're in gift territory. I was even asked politely if I could wrap one order, I did. Also in the column of the gods on my side, all the orders were ready to ship pieces with no custom requests. Sure, that means I have a ton of things that need remaking today, but there is no real rush. That puts me in quite a pleasant mood.

Of course with all the work I was up to, I completely forgot to take some pictures for you guys. So instead, I took one of my secret gift photos and pared it down to a nice teaser image.  I hope that's enough to at least add some color around here.

I've got another dentist appointment today to repair a chipped filling that I didn't even realize I had. The rest of the day after schooling will be remaking the things that sold and crossing my fingers for a repeat of yesterday. A couple more days like that or even close to that and I can stop worrying about all that shopping I did last month. Yesterday was the busy I remember from years past and honestly, I love it.

At Least I'm Busy

Thankfully I found myself fairly well occupied with the making of sold items much of the day. The remainder was filled with comic book reading. I have a nasty habit of allowing weeks of books to build up before I attack a pile of them. Sometimes this allows me to read more than one issue of a single title at a time giving the story more continuity and sometimes it means I've read so many books with similar enough characters that I feel as if I might have been brainwashed as all the stories run together. I suppose that is not really all that interesing, but as I have nothing much else to share, it will have to do.

I woke this morning to a couple more orders and though most of the ones I've received lately have been fairly small, I am completely grateful that they continue to come at all. There was a time when tatting was a hobby and even my little shop was meant to do little more than feel my addiction for more thread and take away the finished products to keep them from cluttering the house. Then I had no worry of sales. Now, it is my job and while I love that, it still puts a lot more pressure on me to be a business person, not just a tatter.This means I get to worry about sales more or at least as much as I think about new designs. I suppose I am rambling on now so I shall get on with the day. I'll try for a picture of something for tomorrow as I'm not likely to have much more interesting to share then. Have a pleasant one all.

Done And Done

Here we are at another Monday. It was a pretty busy weekend so personally I was hoping for another Sunday so that I can recover from the one I just had. We had decided that before more toys rained down on the children during the holidays we had to get into their toy room and purge or at the very least clean and organize. We didn't end up purging much, we are after all pack rats, but my back is killing me this morning from the cleaning. They now have a floor and couple more clear tubs with sorted toys in them. We just can't bring ourselves to get rid of so many things we collected for them and let's face it...ourselves. I mean there are a lot of toys I wish that I still had from my childhood, but aside from a bag of stuffed animals, I have nothing. So, we 'save' them so that the children have a chance to keep these or we will.

In other news I finished all the tatted gifts I wanted to make. I assembled snowflake ornaments, adding a little bling and a fancy hanger to them. This strange photo is the prototype for the final gift I made. Once they've been given I will treat you to more stories about their creations and show you some real pictures which I swear have been taken. I'm pretty proud of this one and I will make a public thank you to the pattern I got much help from once they are revealed, but man am I glad there are so many other creative tatting designers playing online for me!

The shop was pretty dead most of the weekend, but I did wake up to two customs orders this morning, so I guess that's what I'll be working on today. I'm still hoping for a nice big rush of orders before people start thinking they can't be delivered in time. Still trying to make up for shopping early, but at least we're done with it all.

Um...

See, right back to nothing much to share. I spent much of the day remaking the last sold order and that was it for orders all day. By the evening I was feeling like maybe I had it in me to make another gift for someone else. I rarely make tatted gifts for people because there are very few people in my real life that have shown any interest in my work let alone a desire to own any of it. I'd hate to gift people with lace just because I can knowing that it will not be appreciated or worse looked on as me being cheap or something. This year I do have a few people that I think will appreciate and perhaps even be happy to receive a bit of lace as a gift so I figure I better take advantage of that and make them something. Of course it doesn't hurt that I feel pretty broke right now too.

I didn't take any pictures of the new gift project yet, but if it works out and I have no idea if it will yet, it will be a static piece. I'm trying to be clever and recreate the shape of an emblem of sorts and I think I've worked out at least part of it borrowing from other patterns. So unless I get deluged with orders today, I'm going to suss out more of the shape I need and take some cryptic photos to show you. That is the whole of the plan for the day unless of course something changes. Have a great weekend all!

New and Interesting

Well, what do you know...something new and something interesting. I'll start with the new. I've been ranting on machine lace for a spell and even trying to mimic its designs just to show it can't do something that I can't. This is of course not true, there is plenty that machine lace can do that tatting cannot as there are no limitations like chains and rings for the machine, but I digress. My attempts were sloppy and entirely too focused on reproduction. Yesterday I was given far too much free time and so I doodled something out and tried to make it. Lo and behold, I did make it and I think it is good. I've used the scallops before and I honestly love the look of them. If given more free time I think I'll expand on the concept and see if I can't create some even bigger pieces using it as well.

Now the interesting surprise. I came back from the dentist with the family and then they off and left me to go on a secret adventure. Normally I'd be glad of some peace and quiet, but all I had to do was the dishes and that's just no fun at all. After I did them though I sat down on my computer and noted on twitter that The Gothic Charm School has put out a holiday gift guide. I was perusing her advice and link list when I saw my own humble shop listed among them. I am always happy to get a mention form anyone, but when it is someone I really like and look up to, it's always a special treat. So, if goth is your thing or perhaps a family members thing, pop by the list for some shopping recommendations from The Lady of the Manners.

I also woke this morning to a couple more orders that will need remaking. Seems the summer in the southern hemisphere is fueling a bit of a run on barefoot sandals. I admit sitting here is the freeze is making the creation of them seem a little odd, but I must make what they buy and as I'm sure I've made abundantly clear, I certainly need the sales. So, that's it for today, new and interesting...don't get used to it.