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. 😅