Labor Day. . .

Labor Day, of course is known for the sales, but to me it's a sign that summer is over and for my business it's a sign that farmer's market season is almost over too.  

I have a couple of event dates left but mostly I'll be spending the next month trying to re-do photos, update and add listings and prepare for the holiday shopping season.  

I've been so busy this summer with not just business but life stuff too, to the point where I didn't get to do a lot of the stuff I had planned. 😕  I have not yet even tried the ArtResin finish on a pour painting.  I have not actually made some of the new rubber chainmaille designs I have floating in my head. I only ever made the one LouHi barrette when I was figuring out the pattern, I wanted to make more of those and to try the pattern in bracelets too. 

I did manage to achieve the etsy star seller badge, to my surprise, but with the sales/order requirements I'm not sure how long I'll be able keep it. 😏  

I did manage to break the 100 member mark for my goimagine facebook group and I did have the bracelet giveaway I had planned and advertised. 😇

All Hail the conqueror. . .

Ok so it's been months and the first attempt was frustrating to say the least but I think in my secondary attempt I have finally conquered the evils of the facebook Pixel.  😑

Please don't ask me how, as I'm not entirely sure.  😕  

Please don't ask me for advice because I have no real insights on how or why the damn thing works or doesn't. 😐

All I know right now is back in June I couldn't get it to work right, it only ever loaded 5 listings from goimagine and I tried loading things manually but after a couple of weeks they just started disappearing. I tried all the help links and looked through lots of settings in the maze of facebook's backside, business manager, commerce manager, etc.  I finally got frustrated enough that I just went in and tried to delete it all, and while I did manage to delete the "shop" itself and the shop tab from my page the dysfunctional pixel remained. 😓  

Actually the bad pixel is still there even now, I just started over from the beginning steps and created a new pixel. 😏  So I now have the RainbowMaille2 which seems to be working and I changed the name of the previous one to Badpixel.  I have no idea what I did different but this new one seems to be working much better. 

Of course I don't want to jinx it because it could still decide to fault out or not complete.  As it currently sits I have 66 active listings on goimagine.com and so far 55 of them appear in my commerce manager and as of now 53 appear in the public shop.  😁  While it's not perfect and not complete it is waaayyy better than last time's 5 so I'm going to quit messing with it for today and hope that it finishes itself.  😇  ~fingers crossed~

I never really liked the saying " if at first you don't succeed try try again " but sometimes a little persistence does pay off. 😎

Art experiments. . .

My art has always been a hands on learning process and some experiments work out better than others. 😅 My experiments in pouring acrylics last year had a questionable start but quickly improved.  The mix was off in my first batch and the very first piece "cracked up" badly as it dried. 😏

I got better at mixing the paints and understanding how pouring acrylics works, I even started having fun doing it.  I did eventually manage to make a few that are really cool looking.  😍 

Now I have to move on and learn the next steps in how to finish and seal poured paintings.  I have left them to cure for a few months and researched how to clean the silicone/cell magic stuff off the finished dry painting.  I have also researched different types of finishes from standard varnish, to spray sealants, ArtResin and decided that I want to use different finishes on different paintings.

So this weekend I attempted to clean a couple of them and test different finishes, sadly it did not got well.  😕  I think it's because I didn't get all the silicone.  The first one I tried standard varnish I've used before and noticed it didn't want to coat evenly and actually ran away from some spots, when it dried there are spots with no varnish.

It's hard to see the dull spots in photographs but in person they are pretty obvious.  The second one I tried a new spray sealant, I used this spray on a different painting and it worked fine but on the pour painting it sort of foamed and dried with this weird rippling water texture.  

It is very shiny and it looks pretty cool but it's not right and it's not the smooth even finish I was hoping for.  😔  #artfail 

    

Making _____. . .

Well there are a lot of ways that can go. . .making the best of it, making do, making inventory, making time. . . I have done all of those lately.  😇  

I am making do and making the best of things with etsy's ridiculous new "Star Seller" stuff.  I still find the program stupid and not an accurate measure of a shop's customer service but since it's there and there is no way around it, if you can't beat them join them. 😕  So I politely responded to a spammy request for donations with a real answer and a coupon instead of just marking it as spam, because messages marked as spam don't count but messages replied to promptly do.  Then after days of that not being reflected in the dashboard, I had to write into help and point out that if the dashboard never updates and is based on faulty data . . .well it took a week but I finally got a second metric. 😁  Now all I need is someone to leave me a fresh review before the end of the month.

I've made new trees including a couple with the fairy door in the trunk and so so many barrettes that the tray is the fullest it's ever been.  😉

I also made some time to not do business stuff because my husband (wonderful man that he is) got me a very cool anniversary gift this year. . . A trip to the Zoo, I know you may be thinking that's not that impressive or aren't you a bit old for that, BUT this trip to the zoo included a meet and greet with Penguins and art made by penguins while I watched.  Seriously totally awesome, I love penguins so getting to meet up close and pet them was amazing, they are so cute and the little rockhoppers were very personable. 💖  And I have not only a ton of photos and great memories I have a canvas they "painted" with their little footy prints. 😍  

this is me petting a penguin, she was so soft and liked being petted, the keeper said she was a hand-raised rescue so very used to people 

Now I just have to figure out how I'm going to mount/frame the canvas they made.  

Etsy "Star Seller" badge. . .

Great. . .etsy has come up with yet another new badge program. 😕

I logged in today and found an announcement of the "new thing" of the season. I went and read the article and find myself disappointed, as usual, because there are buried criteria that means in spite of my 100% shipping rate I will likely never achieve the badge. 😔 Then I found myself actually annoyed by the statement that it would all be "things that are within a seller's control" which is blatantly untrue. I know they were saying that trying to give leeway and assure people that postal delays would not count against the seller mainly because they would require tracking to qualify. However, there are other qualifiers that are not within the seller's control, like the minimum number of orders and $ amount of sales in a 3 month rolling period. Ohh and only "fresh" reviews count, so my years of all 5 stars don't matter. 😖 That's right my 37 perfect 5 star reviews in the last 5 years equals nothing.

Also it seems like I'm being punished for having clear descriptions.  I rarely receive etsy messages initiated by customers, unless it's to ask for a custom order which like I said is rare, most people just buy the already finished item listed.  I don't get a lot of questions about "how big is this?" or "what's this made of?" it's all in my listings. Now this lack of messages to respond to quickly will count against me?!  😒 Please explain how that is fair. . . 

This is not my first ride on this Merry-go-round back in 2018 etsy tested a similar Shiny Trophy program, it was called "super seller" and the badge was in the shape of an actual trophy. ~LOL~ 😄  I had for about a week.

I guess I really shouldn't complain even if I never qualify for the new shiny badge at least it's better than the stupid ODR program they tried in between.     https://rainbowmaille.blogspot.com/2019/11/etsy-backhand.html

Special Secret project. . .finished

I started this monster on June 16th, the week after my first event weekend, it was my husband's idea that a LARGE display piece that could be seen from a distance would be a good way to get attention for the wire trees.  Now I'm not saying it was a bad idea, I'm just saying it took me weeks and caused me many hand cramps because it's hard to tell scale in photos but that thing is on a 19" hoop 😳 making it the largest wire tree I've ever made.

I have nicknamed it the "ridiculously oversized tree".  The day I found the giant hoop in the store, at first I was shocked because I had never seen a hoop that big, then I thought "wow what luck, exactly what I needed".  After I brought it home I hula-hooped with it in my office, no that's not a joke I wanted to see if it really was that big so I slipped it over my head and then over my shoulders and had a holy crap moment when the hula-hoop notion worked. 😲

All fun & games ended when I set to work on it, I ended up on the living room floor for the wire cutting portion because my bench was not big enough to accommodate 5' foot wire lengths. 

Getting the trunk twisted up and the branches separated out was a pain in my hands, unlike the small trees where I use pliers this bundle was too big and the thicker gauge wire is stiffer making it much harder. I had to actually hammer the trunk to get the flatness. 😏 

That is not only many feet of wire but many strands and due to the huge hoop very awkward to try to hold and work.  So I think it goes without saying that this is a "display" only piece and I never intend to make another this size, but just in case let me repeat that. . . This is a Display Only piece and I have Zero plans to ever make another this size.  😐

The finished monstrosity is rather impressive though and I managed to incorporate several different techniques and options, from the "Fairy door" in the trunk, to the wire bird's nest, knots in the branches, top 3-D canopy with dangling leaves, if I attach a "keepsake vial" it will be everything except a "family tree" and I am not doing it over to add a second trunk. ~LOL~ 😎

Integrity in a marketplace. . .

Many people, both buyers and sellers, have complained for years that places like ebay and etsy let anyone list anything they want with very little oversight.  One of the first things I really loved about goimagine, aside from the charity concept, was that they actually vet the sellers. 

Unlike etsy, ebay, zibbet, where ever else, on goimagine you don't just create an account and start listing things for sale.  You have to fill out an application, provide some frame of reference, some proof that you actually make the things you plan to sell, social media links, work in progress photos, shop photos, etc.  There is an approval process, yes you have to be approved to sell on goimagine, it's not automatic.  Also they are serious about enforcing the anti-infringement rules, as in do not use copyright or trademarked faces, names, etc., or your items will be removed.  

I love that goimagine.com is being run and managed by real people with integrity.  😇