A weird ending. . . .

This month is turning out to be a weird ending to what has been a pretty weird year.  Honestly, I think we are creeping past "Twilight Zone" levels of weirdness in many aspects. 😞  

Looking back, in 2019 I had so many big plans for 2020 for summer vacation, for my birthday, our wedding anniversary, not to mention the dozen events I was going to vend at.  Now sitting here so close to the end of 2020 none of that stuff I had planned happened.  I got one vending event in early February the whole rest of the year has been a washout.

The pandemic has been hard on everyone, many small businesses have struggled or gone under this year. I know my business has been less than half of previous years online sales and with no in person events that is another huge loss.  Lucky for me my household income is not reliant on my craft business or we'd be homeless and bankrupt for sure. 😕 

The last order I shipped is in some sort of weird postal limbo. ~sigh~  I know with increased package volume, holiday shopping and the pandemic it's like a trifecta of postal delays and disruption. My buyer is being very understanding but I am starting to get frustrated. I shipped the package on the 1st it was only 600-ish miles I could have driven it there myself in 8.5 hours and it's been 11 days now and the tracking has no updates since the 5th and that entry had no location. 😒  So literally only God knows where that package is and I pray that it gets where it's supposed to soon because I cannot re-make the one of a kind trees.  I could try to re-make similar replacements but it would take me a week+ and they would not be the same.  It is very rare for me to have packages not get where they are going in a few days, I ship everything with tracking for a reason.  So early this week when I went to check on this order and got a message on USPS.com that the whole bloody tracking system was down. . .😨

Seriously!?!? you can't get anymore "2020" than that ~sigh~

Let's all send up a collective prayer that 2021 starts to get normalize and move away from the "Twilight Zone" like extremes of 2020. 🙏

art experiments. . .

 I love to learn new things, that's why I have so many "hobbies". 😎

Learning to paint was always intended to be an adventure that is why I am always trying new techniques, new ideas, new styles.  I have wanted to do acrylic pours for a couple of years I have seen so many cool finished pieces, I have watched so many youtube videos.  

I thought I had a pretty good idea of what I needed and how I wanted to do things "my way". As previously posted the first attempt didn't got that well, well it looked like it initially but it dried all wrong. So I figured out all the things I didn't do quite right and of course I tried again. 😉  The second set of canvases turned out much better.

Of course neither of these are actually perfect either, they just have different issues.  However, the slight lumps in the blue/white mix look really cool, like bubbles in water so it works. 😇

I am still figuring out the paint mixing and canvas prep to create different effects but I am convinced that my "stacked canvas" idea is a great way to save and conserve paint.  Since the whole concept of pouring acrylics is based on liquified paint and it running off the edges, and you have to let a lot run off or the paint stays too thick and doesn't dry right, so running it off onto another canvas, brilliant.

My two previous attempts have used 2 canvases at a time, pouring onto an 8"x10" that runs onto an 11"x4" but my next (3rd times a charm) I will be doing 3 canvases. 😁 Starting on top with an 8"x8" then a 10"x10" and finally the 11"x14". 

I can't wait to see how it goes, but I think 3 canvases at a time my end up being my limit as I have limited space for laying out and drying for days at a time. 

failure is always an option. . .

 In art, when learning by doing, failure is always an option because sometimes that is how we learn. 😇

I have wanted to try some acrylic pouring techniques for a few years but for various reasons, space limitations, mess concerns, I held myself back. I have watched a million youtube videos and read and researched and thought I had a good grip on what I needed to do. This week I decided to take the risk and give it a try, so I set up a spot, mixed up some paints, and jumped off that cliff. 

At first, when it was all fresh and wet it looked great. I had cells popping the swirls were holding up, it looked like it was supposed. Then as I was blow torching the blow torch died and I couldn't get it to re-light. 😕

As it was left to slowly dry on it's own it started to crack. I knew then I was in trouble, I had left too much paint on the canvas it was too thick, and without the heat and quick dry from the torch it was only going to get worse. I also began to suspect that I had not gotten my canvas preparation quite right when I noticed the edges. 

The longer it sat the "worse" it got, the cracks got wider and then they went all the way to the canvas below. 😞 I am disappointed but not discouraged, I have some ideas of what went wrong and how to "fix" it, as a matter of fact I did 2 canvases at the same time with some slight differences and the second canvas is much better. So I will continue to try new things and learn as I go. 😎

In the mean time, this thing cracked up like a desert in a severe drought. ~LOL~ However, I have gotten over my impulse to throw it away and instead am thinking of ideas, things I could do to it. 

It's a live and learn situation, this is not the first time I have painted something I didn't like, it's not the first time that something has dried badly.  I also doubt that it will be the last. 😄😇

out of balance. . .

 I have always loved making the smaller 3" trees and for the most part they sell more than the larger sizes so it's an OK thing, I guess. 😏

However, today I took a hot minute to do an inventory review, just a bit of analysis, and wow is it way out of balance. 😵

Like I literally have 20 of the 3" inch trees but only 3 of the 6" inch trees. 😕 So perhaps the reason that the smaller ones sell so regularly is because there is more available, more colors, more variety so people can find that special one that is just right for them.  There is also a very obvious bias towards the silver hoops, which I this I need to balance back out. 

My plan is to now make a LOT of new trees in the 5" 6" 7" inch sizes and do a 2 to1 gold versus silver ratio to get back to a more balanced inventory. 😎  

My OCD already feels better I have a chart, a list and a plan. 👍

finding motivation. . .

There are so many things I should do, should have done this week, could have accomplished but I just have not felt that motivated, part of it was getting my flu shot which made my arm hurt which made me not want to do anything. 😕 ~I hate needles~

I spent some days doing not a lot except watching Netflix, of course watching Netflix doesn't get art photographed, or my workbench cleared, or my pliers re-dipped. Yesterday I made a start on clearing off the bench and re-dipping pliers. 😇   ~progress~ 👍

For weeks I have been testing new chainmaille patterns and designing new jewelry, but most of it has not been photographed or added for sale yet.  I need my bench clear to set up for photos and I need decent sunlight, neither of which seem to be happening at the same time lately. ~LOL~  However, my pliers are now curing the second coat so maybe tomorrow if the weather holds and the sun shines, possibly photo-time.  ~fingers crossed~

I have several paintings that I need to photograph with the new frame option and I have a few pieces that need photographed just for basic initial listing photos.  I have 3 new earring styles, a new small barrette pattern, the 2 sizes of split-barrel bracelets, the new domed pendant, in other words several new pieces/styles of chainmaille to photograph and list. 😏  I doubt I'll get all of the things added at once but I do plan to get something done this week. 

Well, welcome fall. . .

Ok so this post may not be entirely business related or informative really, I just needed to take a moment here for a bit of personal reflection. . . Something along the lines of  "Holy Cow how is it October already?!?!?"  😨 

I know this has been a very weird year for everyone and I have been doing my personal best to remain patient and stay home, trying to not be too frustrated by the world at large, working hard to not get depressed 😕 and yes that has been work.

However, it hit me the other day that the year is nearly over and as far as my business is concerned it was not a "growth year", it has not even been a good year. 😞  All my plans for summer events got cancelled, I was closed for months this spring due to the stay at home orders. Online shopping may be at an all time high but not for my business, as many people with limited funds are sticking to buying more "essential" things than art or jewelry, and I do not blame them.

I find I am overly happy with 3 orders in the last 30 days although that's down 55% from last year, 😏 hey it's better than nothing. Honestly, looking at my year over year stats, be it visits/views, orders, income it's all depression inducing.  Part of me is glad this awful year is nearly over but part of me fears that next year may not be any better.  

I've been playing with rings and working on new chainmaille jewelry designs partly because I have zero urge to paint. 😢  My art requires inspiration and desire and I just don't feel it these days, that's a sign I'm losing my battle against the depression.  Heading into winter already feeling low is not a good thing for me considering I am prone to S.A.D.(seasonal affective disorder).   

It may be time to harness my inner Bob Ross voice and go make some "happy little trees" which for me is wire not paint. 😇

Things that make me sad. . .

When artists and handmade makers undervalue their time and products it makes me sad and sometimes frustrated, because I spend hours on my items and cannot sell them for five bucks. 

I have seen a lot of this on etsy over the years and I'm not sure why sellers do this really.  I think it is partly because they know people like "cheap" things and partly because they do not bother to do the math and realize they are making Zero money/profits. 😕

I have seen someone selling rubber stretchmaille bracelets for less than half of my price with free shipping. 😯

Let me break that down for you $9.99 with free shipping, which may look great to bargain shoppers looking for walmart pricing but in my mind is not a viable business decision. 

$9.99 price

- .60 payment processing

- .50 etsy commission

-3.00 first class shipping (unless they sent it in an envelope with stamps)

$5.89 and that's without counting the cost of packaging and supplies, so basically that seller gave the item away and was paid virtually nothing for the time they spent making it. 😟 

Sadly that's not even the worst example, I found someone from Germany selling earrings for .65 cents with free shipping. 😨  That's just insane they are loosing money, etsy's payment processing fee includes a .25 cent fixed portion along with it's 3.5% then the 5% then postage, never mind the materials/supplies. 😵

It's like the person selling a $2.99 bracelet that says in the title it's a half Persian 4 in 1 and then the description calls it a European 4 in 1, seriously if the person selling it doesn't even know the name of the pattern you should not buy from them, it doesn't even say what materials it's made of. 😔

For informational purposes : "Persian" and "European" patterns are from completely different families of chainmaille (yes chainmaille patterns have "families").  Historically speaking they were developed at different times in different parts of the world, they are not the same, the names are Not interchangeable. ~sigh~  I know this may seem like a nit-picky thing but I am much better with European patterns than Persian patterns.  I can make European 4 in 1 in my sleep and I cannot make Persian 4 in 1 at all. I have made Half Persian 3 in 1 but I think my rings are wrong ratio wise for other Persian patterns or maybe my Celtic based brain just doesn't like Persian patterns. ~LOL~  😇😄