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?" 😅