Weekly update. . .all about effort

"You get what you give"

There are a bunch of variations of that saying, "you get back what you put in", you gotta give to get, you have to work for things if you want things to work.  There are exceptions, situations where no matter what you do you don't get the return you think you deserve, but when it comes to business you have to keep trying because the alternative is to give up and quit. 😏 

Honestly, I have given up before on a previous business, not because it wasn't working but because leatherwork became too much for my hands. I took some time and came back with RainbowMaille, a whole different business with different products. I started over from scratch, and while it has not been everything I had hoped for, I have kept at it for 10 years through multiple platforms. I am currently on 3 platforms, but others have come and gone over the years, I am currently thinking of ditching MakerPlace and going back to just etsy and goimagine. 

I am not a business expert, I do not claim to be an SEO guru, but what I have learned in all my years on many online sales platforms is the more listings you have, the more keywords you can cover, the more likely you are to be found in search. 😐 It is actually pretty simple and common sense based if you think about it and it has been my experience on every platform. Currently, my etsy is down below 50 listings and they are all jewelry my views have gone Way down, but I still get occasional sales because the jewelry listings I left have a sales history and etsy likes that. I have been continuously adding new listings to the goimagine restoring all the art and my views there are triple my etsy because there are triple the # of listings, and I am regularly pinning my new art listings on my pinterest.

Seriously pinterest is a huge source of traffic for my shop

But I also have all my social media linked to goimagine, I do not advertise etsy at all, etsy has plenty of money and advertising they don't need my help. I advertise for the site I would prefer my sales happen on, which is goimagine because not only are my fees slightly cheaper but part of it goes to charity. 😇 

For all the sellers still on etsy because they still get sales there, I totally get that, I'm still there, but if you never even try to point your customers to a better alternative you don't get to complain about how your goimagine doesn't get traffic. As a business owner it is my job to advertise my business for better or for worse. I'm not getting rich over here trying to sell art, but that's no one's fault but my own. Art is totally subjective and a hard sell, but I chose to sell art. 😏 I chose a difficult path. 

In my recent photo re-do of all the art, I ended up doing a complete inventory reconciliation and was surprised at just how many paintings I have sold over the years. I am still not done photographing them all, and it is a lot of work, but you can't sell what isn't listed. 😉 

Weekly update. . . it's August

Wow, it is August already, months seem to be flying by this year, and I just feel out of sync with everything.  I did get more art added to the website; I thought I had all the framed pieces done but I found a couple I missed. Also, I tried to figure out how many I had left which turned out to be an interesting exercise in I don't. . .😅 

So, in my art book there is a "master list" the list which includes, date, canvas size, short description, and official # I have painted 155 canvases that are numbered and listed in the book. I have photographed and listed 30 framed pieces, I counted the unframed canvases in the crates 67 and then had a mental melt down of wait what?!?! that's less than a 100 and nowhere near 155.  😕 I flipped thru the book counted the number sold (more than I realized) then went searching my shop and found the flag collection in a bag (not the crates where they belong). Then I went thru a box of frames and found some others and realized there were a few in the closet, but after over an hour of searching and counting and math-ing. . .I still have about a dozen canvases unaccounted for. 😐

And it's still bugging me today, so I guess I'm going to have to go through the whole thing again, make a list of every #number in each crate, search thru all the boxes, a full-on solid physical inventory of the art, which will be interesting since I have never done so in 7 years. 😅 I normally just track as I go, when something sells it gets marked in the book, when I donated a piece for charity it got marked in the book, the one I sent my in-laws marked in the book, the one a gave my Momma marked in the book, I'm pretty obsessive about it actually. That is why yesterday's not adding up is bugging me and must be solved. 

In other news the inventory is not the only thing making me mental. . . I went ahead with my plan for sub-categories for framed vs. unframed but I already had several listings from before, so aside from swapping photos on existing listings and creating new listings as need, I forgot to add the "framed" category as I was going and now that I've tried to go back and add it after I am missing one. 😒 There are 30 framed canvases listed and active and showing on site, but I only have 29 in the category. I've been through them all 3 times and cannot find one without the sub-cat but still only have 29 showing in the category. 😖  ~so frustrating~ I haven't activated the categories yet partly because they are not accurate at the moment and partly because they are currently very out of proportion 30 - 4. 

And as frustrating as this "re-photograph all the art" project has been in various stages, I do believe it has been worth it, I am pretty happy with the results. 😇 I got even happier when I saw that the goimagine team had selected and used one of my new listings in a promo. 

For me this is the Best compliment and reinforces that I am on the right track.  

It also gives me hope that future entries in the Maker Challenge contests might actually stand a chance of being chosen. 😊 

Weekly update. . .bad week

Well, it has been a bad week for progress on the art photos, every morning has been cloudy and by the time the clouds clear it's too late in the day and the sun is on the wrong side of the house. 😒  

I can't say it was a totally non-productive week as I have made some chainmaille and shipped a few things. 😉 My phone cha-ching'd the other morning and my husband actually got to hear it for once, that was nice. 

About a month ago I posted some stats for each of my online storefronts, I won't post updated numbers as that's not my point. I will say I had a few "abandoned" carts that kind of made me sad, but I think it was just delayed purchasing because I have since had orders on both platforms that showed abandoned carts. One of the etsy orders even used the comeback cart coupon which honestly is kind of weird since according to etsy they haven't sent any of those emails.😑

literally zero

I have always known that etsy stats were not accurate but wow. 

Also, according to their data they have sent more "thank you" coupons than I have had orders. 😅  I am considering closing the shop on Micheal's MakerPlace I've never had much luck over there, it's been 2 years, and I've only had 5 orders. Since re-opening there my stats are stagnant and I can't even be sure if they are accurate since their stats barely work half the time. One of the big things I love about goimagine is that my Mosiac allows for google analytics, so I have confirmation of real data. 

Weekly update. . .making progress

I have been making progress on the photographing and listing of art project. I am nowhere near finished yet, but I do feel good about what I have gotten done. I have over 20 listings active so far, I have yesterday's photos processed and ready to make new listings today. I only have a handful of framed pieces left to photograph then I can move on the 100-ish unframed pieces. 😅  

I would be further along if I could get some decent sunny weather instead of this ridiculously cloudy rain almost daily. I did shoot some yesterday in between clouds but the snatches of sun didn't last long and then my camera batteries died mid-shoot. 😏 

I am pretty happy overall with the look on site with the photos being more consistent. I'll have to be careful to make sure the first photos are all from a similar distance, but for the most part I'm happy with how things are going. 

I am thinking I will need to add new categories under the "Original Paintings" for framed vs unframed. Currently the sub-cats are just by canvas size but for shopping purposes I think the framed vs unframed is a good idea too, since the frames do increase the prices quite a bit. I won't need to add that until I start re-listing the unframed pieces in a week or so. 😉

Weekly update. . .Art for Sale!

After months of moving and things being in storage, finally unpacking in the rental and battling bad lighting and blue walls I have art photos I am happy with, and I am working my way thru re-activating the art listings. 😎  I'd throw a party to celebrate but I'm too tired. 

My poor little Merlin does not like mom always being busy, he gets rather pouty when I'm not playing with him, but at least he has stopped walking thru my shots and attacking the tripod. 😅 Now he just pouts from a distance and gives me dirty looks. I am making real progress now on getting the art relisted for sale, it is the slow but steady kind. I've got almost a dozen listings up and I have photos ready for more, but those listings need to be created new, not just edited. 

There are so many paintings that have never been listed for sale online before, like this one. 😉 I have always liked this one, it was just impossible to photograph the true colors and textures. 

Or this neglected piece, painted in Indiana in 2020 it spent 3 years in Georgia on my office wall and had never been photographed at all. 😅 

I have only ever sold a few paintings online previously, but I think a large factor was the sub-par photos, so I am hopeful that with improved photos and increased selection (once I get them all listed) that I may actually sell a few more. 😇 I don't know, whenever I set up in person the art gets a lot of compliments, but with many paintings the human eye in natural light can pick up so much more than the camera ever could.  So, I get a lot of "wow, how did you do that?" or "hey great effect" or " those colors are amazing!" my personal favorite "I've never seen anything like that". 😅 I never know if that last one is good or bad, but I chose to think it's positive. 

Weekly update. . .July!

Not going to lie I am still pretty sad and randomly bursting into tears off and on, but I did manage to do some stuff this week.  

I am still working on the new photos for the art, but I think I've finally made real progress.  After weeks of trying different things, I have some shots I'm kind of happy with, they are far from perfect but a huge improvement. So, I think I'll continue to use this set-up and shoot all the art, that way I can have the consistency in the first photo for the website. Then I can adjust and try the next thing, but in the meantime, I will at least get the art relisted for sale. 😏 Which I have started, but it will take me a while yet, I think there are currently 3 paintings active (not counting the magnets). 

This is tricky project, it may not sound like it, but it really is. First not All of the art has ever been photographed or listed, so some of these are being photographed for the first time and will have to have new listings created. Second some of them that have been photographed before are being re-done because they are now framed which means it's not just a quick swap the photo style of edit, it's a full on change the description, change the price, change the photos kind of edit. 😉 Then there is the crazy-inducing time-consuming trying to search listings and match photos, while keeping track of which paintings I've already photographed, which photographs need new listings, and which listings need photos. I think my brain is scrambling. 😅

Weekly update. . .still sad

I have had to fight hard this week to do anything. 😞 

Monday evening, I was informed that a friend had died in a motorcycle accident, she was such a bright brilliant young woman it is heartbreaking that she is gone so young. 😢 Just thinking about it is making me cry now. 

Tuesday, I logged into fb and found a post from a cousin that her dad, my uncle had passed. I haven't seen him in years, but the loss was like a punch in the gut, the flood of childhood memories. 😭 

Honestly, I spent most of Wednesday crying and then fighting a headache from the crying. 😢 So. . . yeah, not a really productive week business wise or in general, I managed some cooking and housekeeping but not a lot else. My goal of getting the art relisted this month has been a spectacular failure. 😒  

Maybe next month will be better, I think I may have finally made progress on the photo studio look, hopefully it will lead to useable photos. 

Weekly update. . .Summer

Well, it is officially summer you can tell by the heat wave and heat advisories. 😏 I had another fairly unproductive week, still no usable art photos, I will keep trying. I am frustrated with the lack of good photos because I have said/posted for months that the art would return to the website in June and I am running out of June. 😐 So, fingers crossed that the newest backdrop and plan work this week.  

In other business news online sales are bad. . .for me anyway.  Not that my online orders have ever been steady or booming but I'm in a serious slump of no sales for months, several months actually but you can't count the months that everything was deactivated while we moved. 😅 I'm starting to miss doing events.

RainbowMaille is on 3 platforms, and I am getting views on all 3 just not sales. Ironically, my goimagine has the most views, although it can be hard to make exact or direct comparisons because MakerPlace's crappy analytics have very limited timeframe selections and nothing other than the "last 30 days" actually works. However, if I look at the last 30 days MP - 18 views, E - 21 views (and an abandoned cart) 😔 goimagine - 84 views (and an abandoned cart).  I'm honestly kind of shocked at the views on my goimagine, especially since I basically gave up posting regularly on social media.    

notice the "paid" and "campaign" I am not running ads anywhere; those are ads that goimagine has paid for and I kind of feel bad that I cost them the click and we didn't get the sale 😞

On the flip side the abandoned carts and goimagine ads give me hope that there may be sales just around the corner. 😇

Weekly update. . .weird week

This will be short. . . I didn't accomplish squat this week. 😅

Well not in a business sense, I spent Monday driving to and from the dentist and getting my teeth cleaned. The rest of the week I made some progress on resetting for photos, but I still need to iron the new backdrop before I start shooting photos again. 

I am almost finished re-stocking the house colors bracelet bar. 

So, I guess that's almost something. 😅 Twice I have sat down intending to finish this bracelet but both times I have been disrupted and distracted by cat neediness. Merlin is super cute but he's also a needy lil' momma's boy somedays, he jumps on my bench kicks the rings around and then crawls up on my shoulder, so I have to hold him instead of working. 😏  

Weekly update . . .I hate photography

It should surprise no one that I do not like photograph. Ok, let me re-phrase that, I appreciate good/great photography and recognize it as a skill/talent. . . I just don't have. 😒 I took a photography class way back in high school, ya' know old school film developing, print making, lab work, it was cool, but I was not good at it. I had fun but most of my photos sucked, like 1 in a 100 would be ok. 

So maybe I should find it comforting that nothing has changed. 😐 ~Newsflash~ I do not, I find it incredibly frustrating, I keep trying, better camera, hands not steady get a tripod, better lighting, adjust the settings, adjust the lighting, just keep trying. Now I am living in yet another "new" house with limited windows, weird lights, and to my horror . . . colored walls in every room. 

I have been trying all week to photograph the art. I have tried different sides of the room, shifting the lighting, draping the easel trying to get more white in the picture to balance out the blue-ness of the walls.

I am not really happy with any of the hundreds of shots over days of trying. The cloudy raining days the colors look off, other days the angles were off, and the varnish just reflects the lights and everything is fuzzy. 😣  

Yes, fuzzy as in my camera refuses to focus, a feeling we share. 😅 Now none of this failure or frustration changes the fact that I have a ton of canvases to photograph and list. Nothing changes the fact that I have to have photos to list them for sale on the website, so I have no choice but to keep trying different things until something works. Current thinking is I need to hang a large drop cloth/backdrop so I'm not shooting against the blue but it's a rental house, so I don't want to make a bunch of big holes in the walls. Also, the small side table I'm using isn't big enough, I want to set up the easel next a vase or something, ya' know, set a scene but there's not enough room. 

So, this week has been kind of a bust and I feel like I didn't really accomplish anything, except learning that getting good photos in this house is going to be harder than I thought. 😏

Weekly update. . .I give up

I've been feeling it for a while, growing depression over "social" media or the lack of social-ness in mine at least. Meta sucks, that is a fact. The ever-changing algorithms and rules just suck, I worked for years to build "followers", but they never get shown my posts so what the F was the point?!!?  Seriously, from the facebook page, instagram, threads, pinterest, this blog even, what is the point of any of it if no one sees it, reads, interacts with any of it?

Years ago the multiple accounts in RainbowMaille's name seemed like a good thing (I thought) because it made the search of my business name a full page of google results, and being easy to find was supposed to be important. 😐  However, these days it doesn't seem to make any difference what I do, how often I post, or even what I post. The fb page is a "business" page so I tried to keep in business-y but no one interacts with it much. The instagram was supposed to humanize me as an artist, so show multiple facets of my life, but again not a lot of interaction. Threads is new and stupid and I still don't get the point of it so I don't use it much, but I've tried and yeah little to no views or interactions. Pinterest gets the most traffic and views but still doesn't generate sales, likely just people looking for ideas they can make themselves. 😏 So yeah really what the heck is the point of any of it?

I posted this adorable photo of my tiny kitty taking up the whole couch and made a joke in the caption and fb showed it to 18 whole people none of which even liked the photo 😕I mean how can anyone not like a cat photo?!?! 

Seriously the last thing I posted on threads was a link to the last blog post and even though I have 99 "followers" it was only seen by 6 people 😞 it got 1 like and that was my childhood BFF. 

So really what is the point? What am I doing wrong? Why is life a freaking popularity contest? And how is the awkward, social anxiety riddled high-school loaner supposed to get anywhere in this hellscape of "social media"?!?!  Well according to facebook I just have to pay, boost every post is their "Tip" and at ridiculous rates. The most recent suggestion about the previous post suggestions for only $140 they will show it to almost as many people as I have followers, yeah, I do not believe their promised numbers because time after time they have lied and failed. 

also since when does one have to "boost" a cat photo, facebook was built on people sharing pet photos 😕😞

I started trying to look for some local craft events, because in-person sales are often better than online, but you still have to use things like facebook to find local events. And in typical social media everyone lies fashion, the first event I found that sounded like it might be good for me was lying about its' location. 😠 Naming an event "Indianapolis" anything when the actual event is in Kokomo an hour away from Indy is a blatant LIE to me. WTF?  Like who does that? It is a gross misrepresentation, literally false advertising (it was a sponsored fb post) and there are people in the comments trying to justify the lie. 

 

For those that aren't familiar with the area

Kokomo is NOT Indy, when I look for local events, I want actual LOCAL events not stuff that is an hour or more drive. When I commented on the post that it was false advertising and their lying about the location will prevent me from considering vending with them instead of addressing my comment, they just deleted it.  

So, someone tell me again how great facebook is and how important to everyday life and business this pile of lies is, because I'm not buying it, literally I do not believe it and I'm not paying for it. 😐 

Now you just watch because of the clickbait-y nature of the title this will get more attention than anything else I posted this year. 😒 Which will just prove and support my point that the entire "social media" concept is about psychology and manipulation and the dishonesty at the core is what I really have a problem with.

Weekly update. . .Re-opened

I'm calling it official RainbowMaille has reopened all online shops, goimagine, etsy, and makerplace.  I'm not a fan of etsy and the .20 cent per listing fee so I only activated a limited number of things, all jewelry.  I also limited what I put on makerplace because I'm not sure how long they will even be around at this point. 😐 

goimagine is the only place I plan to list the art, so wire trees, dragons, dumpsters and canvas paintings will be exclusive to goimagine.com and RainbowMaille.com 

Which means the etsy and makerplace shops will remain limited to under 50 listings of chainmaille jewelry. 

So if you want a simple bracelet or earrings you can purchase from any of the online outlets as they all have the basics. 😇

I will also accept custom orders through any of the shops. 😉 But my main focus will remain getting all the art photographed and listed on goimagine in the next month. Luckily for me I finally found my camera this week, so with the lighting set and my proper camera on its' tripod I have high hopes of good photos in my future. 😎

In other more personal news, I broke a pinky toe the other night and have spent the week not sleeping well and hobbling around questioning why I rented a two-story house. 😅 

Weekly update. . . surprise

I posted some photos this week of actual fresh chainmaille, the first in months. 😊 It was nice to make something again, but it had a purpose. . .to surprise my Mom. 

Good news. . .she really likes it. 😁  

Also, my Mom wasn't the only one I surprised yesterday, there was a bit of a family gathering. I haven't attended one of these for many years due to living in various far-away states, but I am now within driving distance. I did tell my Mom I was coming but I didn't tell her I was bringing her a gift so that was her surprise. She only told one Aunt I was coming so I was the surprise for most of the family and the varying levels of shock were funny, some shouts, some tears, and so many hugs. 😂 

In business news I found my photo lights and tripod, but can't find my camera, so I'm not sure when I'll get the art photos done. 

Weekly update. . . Happy Mother's Day

I did not have any kind of sales or discounts this year for Mother's Day. I just didn't see the point of trying to set up a sale the week of when I am just getting things re-listed. 😐  

I found the box of mini dumpsters, so they will be next in the re-listing process as soon as I go thru the box and inventory what's available. 😉

I need to get my photography set-up stuff out so I can figure out where in this new house I have decent lighting 🤔 so I can start the massive "re-photograph all the art" project. 

Weekly update. . .May the Fourth (be with you)

Happy Star Wars day, yes that is a joke in the title in case you are not a giant nerd or missed the reference somehow. 😅  

It has been a productive week for me, I've set my workbenches, unpacked many boxes including tools, supplies, and inventory. 

Sorting out the contents of some of the boxes takes quite a while, even when the boxes are small and it seems like it should be super quick it takes hours. 😏 

Because of the nature of the supplies inside some of these boxes need a lot of sorting, although I am thinking about leaving some of them packed. I don't plan to use the buckles, spots, rivets, snaps, etc., that are for leather, because I don't really plan on doing any leather work in this house. 

But the boxes of jewelry findings, barrettes, pins, rings, scales, beads and wire tree supplies etc., are still a ton of stuff to sort out. 😉

I have re-activated most of the chainmaille listings on #goimagine but not all of them, I still need to do an inventory check on the earrings. I started re-activating the wire trees, but I also need to verify inventory on a few of those. Art will be last because I want to do all new photos, not just for the framed pieces but ALL of the paintings need new better photos. 

I am trying not to think about the amount of work it will be to re-photograph all the art. . .there are over 100 finished paintings. . .at least 10 listing photos each. . .so shooting literally thousands of photos to select and edit down to a thousand to use. 😬 Yeah yikes, should not have thought about that. 😅  

I still need to re-activate stuff on other platforms, I did a few on Michaels but I still haven't done any on etsy. I'm not thrilled with Michaels really, but I did have some sales there last year, so I thought I'd give it another go. However, since reactivating listings over a week ago I have noticed that the stats haven't updated or moved it is literally stuck on March/April a month behind. I went looking for the facebook group where we used to report things but apparently, it's gone, the official group that was run by an actual Michaels employee that is listed/linked in the seller help pages is just gone, the link goes nowhere, I've searched facebook every way I could. I finally posted in a different michaels sellers group and asked wtf? multiple people have said the group is just gone and there was little to no explanation, the employee that ran the group has left michaels, heck a few of them are speculating that Michaels may just throw in the towel on the whole of MakerPlace. 😐 Not sure how to process that.  . .it would not be the first time a retail craft store tried to launch a handmade platform and completely gave up, I remember the A.C.Moore/Zibbet partnership fiasco, it did not work out and A.C.Moore ended in bankruptcy (I think they were headed there anyway because of the excessive/constant coupons, kind of like Bed, Bath & Beyond or JoAnns).  So, I think I'll just focus on goimagine for now. 😉 

Weekly update. . . re-opened

Well, I have not gotten the workshop set up yet, but unpacking is happening. 😉 Inventory has been located and mostly verified and counted, so listings are being re-activated, so far just chainmaille and wire trees but I'll get to the art and shooting new photos eventually. Actually, I've been focusing on goimagine and haven't even started reactivating etsy yet😅 I literally just changed the announcement.  

I am looking forward to being done with the move and getting back to "business", but I am not looking forward to the social media posting demands of being back in business. 😒

The new catio has been installed at the rental house so at least the cats are happy. 😇 

I think today we'll be breaking out the grill

Weekly update. . .Happy Easter

I'm gonna be honest. . .this move has been exhausting 😔 from Thanksgiving when I had to tell my best friend it was absolutely a done deal that we would be moving, thru to right now sitting in this rental house debating on what to unpack, it has been months of non-stop work and decisions. I would say "I think I need a vacation", but I don't want to go anywhere I just want to sleep. 😴 Maybe I'll take a nap today. 

No idea when I will have the shop fully reset. I can reactive most of the jewelry listings but much of the art needs new photos for the framed pieces so that will have to wait. 

This will be my workshop space eventually, but there is a lot of sorting to do to clear the floor space so I can decide where to set my bench and easel for the best lighting. 

I have been working on it, I have found several boxes that don't go there 😅 like the box of guest towels I've been looking for, for a bloody week. Multiple boxes of PLA fiber and computer bits that belong in my husband's office not mine. Plus, I've decided to set up the racking for the crates of art inventory in a different room than my work room due to the size of the rooms, so lots of re-shuffling of boxes before workshop building can begin.  

I am slowly making progress; look you can see the stack of drawers in the corner and most of the floor. 😉

weekly update. . . April showers

You know that saying, "April showers bring May flowers"?  

Well, it may be true, but it is rather inconvenient when trying to move. Due to excellent planning and a little luck, we have managed to land and empty 2 large PODs into the house mostly in between rainstorms. Thanks to amazing moving help that has worked with us on the schedule/weather, they have arrived on-time each time and worked fast to get it done when not raining. I prepped for moving in the rain so had covered the carpet and laid out moving blankets to reduce the tracking about which worked great. Today there are no movers to help and we have to get the couch, chaise, mattress, cat condos and cats out of this apartment and over to the house, hopefully before it rains again this afternoon. ~fingers crossed~  

I would say last load, but I doubt we'll get it all at once and there is stuff at his work like the fish tanks that will eventually get moved but that can wait. Monday/Tuesday I have to finish the clear out and clean-up of the apartment for checkout. 

I have endless work to do in the new house, I'll be unpacking for a month. 😏 Or more likely because it's a rental I won't unpack everything. 😉

I'll just spend the next year having random moments of " where is _____? Did I unpack that?" 😅

weekly update. . .move in

The rental house has been secured, lease signed, deposit paid, so now I have a lot of cleaning to do. I need to clean the rental before the POD's deliver and the moving help moves all the stuff in the way. Then I'll need to clean the apartment before we check out, so the next week will be another exhausting one. 😏  

The weather forecast is not looking helpful, rain and storms on multiple days. Hopefully it won't be too bad otherwise movers moving stuff in the rain and tracking in for hours on end will counter all the cleaning.  

I look forward to being out of this apartment, it's a nice apartment but I swear the upstairs neighbor is a hippo or perpetually angry-stomping or perhaps just the most graceless person to ever walk. I don't know but she's loud ALL the time. 😒 I could really use a week of makeup sleep but that's not likely to happen anytime soon. So, I'll just keep plugging away and concentrate on that magical "someday". 

someone try the new special edition Harry Potter goldfish and tell me they suck, so I don't feel like I'm missing out 

weekly update. . .next month

After months of unsuccessfully searching for a home to buy, next month we'll be moving into a rental house, not an ideal solution but at least it's a house with a garage. A house that is big enough to hold all our stuff and give me a space to work again, plus no more standing outside to have a cigarette. 

In the meantime, I have unboxed the chainmaille dragons and shot some new photos so that I could enter the #Makerchallenge on #goimagine because this month's theme was Enchanted Forrest and really what's more enchanted than a purple dragon. 😎

weekly update. . .not so fast

Well, that didn't go the way it was supposed to. 😕 

The house we made an offer on epically failed its' inspection; electrically problems, plumbing problems, structural problem, water and mold in the crawl space, bad well water test. . . yeah we're out. We have extricated ourselves from the contract with minimal loss of money but the time lost cannot be recovered and I'm now facing if the next house ain't "the one" we're going to have to stop looking to buy and just rent something before the time runs out on the temporary apartment and the next round of monthly rent comes due on all the PODs. 😒 

So, I have 2 houses to look at this afternoon ~fingers crossed~ otherwise I have a list of back-up rental houses to investigate next week. I've already looked at the rental companies and their pet policies and ruled out a couple of the corporate landlord types because of their rules, from tricon having a 2 pet limit (we have 3 cats and I'm not giving one away) to having excessive "pet rent" looking at you Progress with your $199 a Month add-on for 3 cats. 

I have no problem paying an extra deposit or small monthly fee, but my 3 boys are all fixed and declawed and aside from pawing a window blind they have never damaged anything so $300 non-refundable deposit EACH seems a bit excessive to me and the near $200 a month is just insane, my cats cause less damage that people's children and somehow they don't charge extra for kids. 😐 Dogs with paws full of claws that scratch the heck out of things and eat the trim off doorways absolutely charge for the damages, but again my cats are fixed and declawed and have never done major damage to any place we've ever lived. 

Long story short I have no idea when I will re-open RainbowMaille.

but at least Merlin is settled and napping in the open again

Weekly update. . .settling in

Well, it's been a couple of weeks since I posted, we have officially moved out of Georgia and landed in Indiana. I've been looking for a house and dealing with getting the cats settled, admittedly Reover and Jaspurrr have moved before and were not that bothered but poor little Merlin was proper freaked. 😔 I mean you can't blame him; he's only 1 and had lived in the same place his whole short little life, so whole days in the vehicle, strange hotel to land in a new "home" that is actually an apartment where he can hear neighbors and people keep walking their dogs by the windows. . .it has taken a while for him to stop hiding so much.  

He's been in his cave or inside the chaise lounge that came with us for most of the first week, he still gets jumpy when the upstairs people stomp around, and he growls at the window every time I open the blinds whether there is anyone out there or not. 😅  

The good news is I have made great progress on both finding a house and reassuring and settling the baby.  

I am hopeful that everything goes smoothly, and we will soon be moving into our new house.  Fingers crossed I may be only 6 weeks from having my workspace back. 😇

Weekly update. . . it's time

Ok so 2 things; I'm writing this on a Saturday instead of a Sunday because it's my last weekend in Georgia, and there may not be one of these posts next weekend because we'll be on the road. 

Multiple rooms are empty and even clean already. My husband keeps telling me I don't have to clean because the property manager has a cleaning crew, but I figure if it's already clean then they don't get to charge me a bunch of money for hours of "cleaning". 😉

Plus, I get to set the acceptable standard for what counts as clean going forward, and use the proper stuff on my wood floors because that's not modern laminate crap that is original 70+ year old real wood. 

Although, the property manager did caution us, ok outright told us to stop "loving" the house because renters are likely to abuse it and cause damage intentionally or unintentionally and it may be years before we get back here.  But it's hard because I really do like this house, it has been very comfortable and comforting, the property hugs you and shields you and the wildlife is engaging and entertaining and I am going to miss it. It is a great home I hope whoever rents it enjoys it, and I really hope to make it back here someday. 😇  

We are in the final stage and the logistics get complicated here because we are literally moving a 3-ring circus, people don't always understand what I mean by that but aside from "us"(people) there are 3 other rings of life, cats, fish and plants all of which have their own travel needs, some of which conflict. 😏 Fish and plants are better off with a straight thru quick as possible trip, but cats don't like that, and humans need sleep, so. . . wish us luck and pray for the fishes. 

Weekly update . . .slow

My internet is slow this morning, but that's par for the course this entire week has been slow. I guess that's what happens when it snows where it never snows normally. I get it snowplows and salt trucks aren't a thing down here but FFS, my county had a curfew multiple days, the whole town shut down for the whole week. 😠 

My husband had scheduled a maintenance appointment at the dealership for his truck, like scheduled a week before the snow, the appt was for Thursday days after the snow. . .so he drove over there and sat while they never opened, they never called and said they wouldn't be opening that day, they just didn't open, he wasn't the only waiting either. 😕 This is one of those things that is somehow acceptable down here that just sticks in my craw, I'm actually glad to be moving back home, I can deal with a foot of snow on the ground (I know how to drive) I cannot stand the ridiculousness of everything shutting down for days on end for a few inches of snow that mostly melted off the very next day.  The window guy can't fix the porch windows because it's too cold for the caulk/putty to set right, but I've been waiting since Thanksgiving. The plumber has never called back his wife said he's sick, that was two weeks ago. The appraiser took a bloody month to cough up the report we pre-paid for. The property manager was here for the walk-thru Last Friday and has still never sent the promised contract. ~Arrrrghhh~ 

Don't get me wrong Georgia is beautiful (when there is no snow) but on many levels it's a frustrating place where service usually sucks and every damn thing takes weeks on end. 😐 I'm from the land of "get shit done" and I gotta say this half-assed lazy "laissez faire" attitude drives me up the walls. I know my "northern aggression" is showing and I'll never truly fit in down here, I can fake the accent, but I lose my patience. 😅

In the "getting sh*t done" category. . . We did go ahead and change the sink in the master bath, and I am very happy with how the new sink and faucet look. 😇

The POD people at least were reliable and completed the swap of full box for new empties. Also, the moving helpers that came on Saturday were actually awesome and did an excellent job of loading, so we tipped Big. 😎

Weekly update. . .halfway

I'm declaring it halfway whether it's accurate or not is another story. 😅 However, we are weeks in and have weeks left to go, we have 2 of the 4 PODs loaded, so ya' know halfway. Although, looking around at the large furniture left, I'm second guessing that halfway declaration. 😏 

I'm also having some funny realizations. . . like we're nerds. I packed 5 boxes of books the other day only to realize that was just 1 bookcase and I hadn't even gotten to the office. 😅 

similar acknowledgement when I started packing the DVDs and realized how many of them are either sci-fi or animated

The 3rd odd realization came when packing the liquor cabinet. . . based on the number of full bottles and dust-coating, plus I had to get a fourth box 😏 we have an alcohol problem . . . we don't drink enough. 😅 

honestly neither of us really drink regularly these days (haven't for years) and when we do drink it's usually just 1 

Although, the collection has become quite impressive over the last 10 years or so as we drink less and have been given/gifted some really nice things, like fancy limited editions and boxed collector stuff. 😎

The weather is not helping, it rained most of yesterday and they are threatening snow here this week. I think we are cutting some of the home improvement projects due to limited time and the growing exhaustion. 

Weekly update. . .things are moving

Y'all will have to excuse some lame puns and bad jokes today as my exhaustion is showing. 😅 There was a POD exchange this week, the first one is now gone and has been replaced by a larger one.  

The truck driver has mad-skills, with the truck and the podzilla robot thing. 

We had some concerns about the narrow spots in the driveway after the split and the island trees present some issues, but he did an excellent job and made it look easy.   

The house refresh continues, the hall bathroom is nearly finished.  I've cleaned ceiling fans, which may not sound like much but when you consider there are 8 of them in this house and I've got 5/8 done that's some progress.  😉 I've been painting doors and making a list of other things to touch up.  The new dining room light fixture arrived too.  So, with less than 30 days until we are in another state there is a lot to get done.

Weekly update. . .Welcome to 2025

So, the move has begun in earnest, the first POD is loaded and locked and will be exchanged next week. There are boxes in nearly every room both packed and ready to be packed. Every day is a flurry of activity trying to pack, prep this house, settle on a new house (we haven't even seen in person yet). 

The current house refresh is going great, many little things taken care of like fresh paint in both bathrooms, lots of touch ups. The new sink and facet for the master bath are here and waiting to be installed next week. (hopefully)

This is a high stress period with too many moving parts for my brain, I have lists and calendars and notebooks everywhere. 😟 This winter storm is causing issues and delays with some pre-scheduled business travel and having ripple effects on the whole plan, just an unpredictable monkey wrench tossed in the works. 

Time's up, back to work. 😶💫