Vacation. . .

Going on vacation for a couple of weeks, I'm leaving the Etsy shop open for business and any orders received will still ship quickly. 😇

Part of the joy of RV vacationing is that I can pack my inventory into a box and throw some shipping supplies into a cabinet and still conduct business even while on the road. 😉  It does put a slight crimp in my creating new stuff but I get to visit my Momma so it's worth it.  💓 💕  

work work work. . .

I've been working on the shop, tweaking listings, shifting tags, but for all the time I spend on it it's invisible work.  I mean it shows to me when revised listings get more views but it's not obvious to anyone else. However, the lovely new banner I made the other day is a rather in your face obvious change. 😊

I think I really like, I tried to pick good photos but include the leather, chainmaille, and wire sculptures to show the variety.

Everyone thinks they're a Gryffindor . . .

I so love the Hogwarts school crest trees, they were a brilliant idea and they look really cool and any Harry Potter fan would like it. 😍

So it should come as no surprise that further brilliance has occurred and I decided to make 3" inch mini trees for individual houses.  😇  Small, minimalist, single mascot charm in the center, super cute.   

Predictably the photos have generated a lot of likes and attention, but so far everyone who has requested one wants Gryffindor. 😏 I have made 2 "complete sets" because silly me was thinking that it would make a nice "group" hanging display.  LOL  I have started to make several extra Gryffindors, but hopefully not everyone who wants one will continue to want the same one.  

Next. . .

I am getting ready to add the next wire tree listing to the shop today. 😇  It will make 51 of them listed for sale and a total of 143 active listings available in the RainbowMaille Shop.  I am actually quite proud of myself, especially since many of the chainmaille listings have several colors available.  I have made a LOT of stuff in the last year.  I have learned new chain patterns, I have developed new styles and techniques in the wire sculptures. 🖒  My crafts keep improving and expanding, I have accomplished a lot.

Now if only Etsy would stop mucking about and let people shop normally, or perhaps fix the fudged up nature of their search, or somehow stop people from mis-tagging their listings and manipulating search. ~sigh~

it's so pretty . . .

I really love how this one turned out, the beads and the wire are so close to the same shade of blue.  The beads were a very small pack and the only one like it I could find in the bin so all of them are on one tree which is odd but it just means I have no way to re-create this version.  😏  

There is a reason there is a warning in my shop announcement that the wire tree sculptures are one of a kind and some of the beads and supplies are only available in limited quantities.  😇

it took all day. . .but it was worth it

I love making the wire tree sculptures but storage and transport has always been an issue.  Last year taking some to an event was kind of difficult and I at the last minute just used what I had on hand which was a 3 ring binder with page sleeves.  It kind of worked ok for some of them, but the largest ones didn't fit in the book at all and the pages drooped from the weight.  ~sigh~  It was ok but not ideal, the clear page sleeves allowed you to see the trees but the beads and charms started to scratch and scuff the plastic sleeves and made the whole thing look kind of cheap.  

I have just been hanging them about the house for lack of a better solution, but then when one would sell there I am wandering from room to room trying to remember where I hung which one. ~LOL~  So I have been trying to think up a better solution for months now and suddenly yesterday it hit me. . . hanging folders.

You know those storage boxes for hanging file folders, I know it sounds odd but if you think about it it makes perfect sense.  I had this plan to use these cheap junky jumprings that I would never ever use in jewelry.  I bought the pack on a whim just because I wanted to test the larger size in a new pattern but they were too soft (and the wrong size).  I was going to just twist them around and turn them into mini S hooks to hang the trees in the folders.

I ran off to the walmart found a nice clear plastic tote version of hanging folder box and got some folders to go in it and rushed home all excited.  Only problem was after I got home and got the folders hanging in the box and went looking for the previously mentioned junky jumprings I was stymied and frustrated when I couldn't find them anywhere.  I searched high and low through my craft room, all my supplies, totes, toolboxes, I wasted considerable time looking.  I got so frustrated I wrote a facebook post about being frustrated.  ~LOL~ 

That's when  fabulous friend of mine mentioned I could just use wire. . .duh I have tons of wire and can bend it into just about anything.  So I then spent a good while cutting little snips of wire and bending up my own little S hooks.  Then I dove into my project of converting the book into the box and collecting them from all over the house and getting them organized and labeled in the box.

It took me nearly all day but it was so worth it.  I am so pleased with how it worked out it's not perfect but it is much better than it was.  The largest 10" and 12" still don't fit and I am keeping the 3" ones in the book because I can do 5 per page but the book fits in the box and there are only a few of the largest sizes. 

When my husband came home I proudly showed him my fabulous solution, he admitted it was genius and looked not only functional as storage but OCD compliant in it's organization and labeling. 😍  

Then I pointed out to him that I had collected all of them from all over the house and stored them in the box he looked around and made a sad face as apparently he had gotten used to seeing them all over and he really liked seeing them.  ~awe how sweet~  

I understand, I smiled every time I walked by one but they are product for sale and hanging about getting dusty is not proper storage for inventory.  I then pointed out to him that there are some still around that are ours, some of the first ones I made are hanging in the windows on either side of the front door, there is one over the bar in the living room, there is one in the downstairs hall bath, and of course I am keeping MY Hogwarts house crest.  😇  

I feel special. . .

I love when I get favorites  😇  I really do, it's nice to know that people like my stuff.  Sometimes when I get a notification of a new favorite on my phone app it will show me who favorite'd and what else they have favorite'd.  It can be a good thing to see that they have lots of similar things in their list, it can help me judge my prices against similar items without having to go search for my "competitors" and give them false stats.  

Although, I must admit I feel more special when the person has fewer favorites.  Seriously, some people have like 100,000 favorites so what are the odds that they will ever buy any of them, plus it kind of makes you think they are not very discriminating they seem to like everything.  ~LOL~   BUT when someone who has been on Etsy for a couple of years and has less than a 100 favorites decides to drop a heart on something it somehow has more meaning.  Honestly, I am super picky I have only ever favorite'd about a dozen things and I have bought 2 of them so far. 😏  

Favorites are not sales and do not always (or even often) lead to sales but it's still nice.  😇   

Red White & Blue summer. . .

I am working on a new collection of jewelry for summer Fourth of July patriotically inspired Red White & Blue through and through.  

Literally I am making bracelets with red, white, and blue rings in every pattern I can make the ring sizes work with.  😇

I made the first 4 over the weekend.  I started with my favorite helms chain and then did a simple Celtic.  I moved to European 4-in-1 variant next, then did a 4-in-1 with mixed size rings.  I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't get the Aura pattern to work with the rings sizes. 😏  But there is still 4-in-1 in 2 sizes and then 6-in-1 probably mobius twist rope, maybe boxchain. 

Although, 9 patterns may be a bit much since I wanted to do matching earrings and possibly necklaces.  Not all patterns hang right in earrings though and I'm low on wire hooks.  Necklace lengths just take so long to make them so long.  🙂

Maybe it should just be bracelet and anklets.  I am also debating putting all the patterns in one listing, just make the single Red White&Blue collection listing and use variations with set pricing for the different patterns.   It's kind of the opposite of how I usually make multiple colors of the pattern and list by chain pattern but who knows maybe it will work better. 😏

go to the source . . .

I have seen others complain about Etsy's tracking being wrong, behind, not properly updated.  I didn't think much of it at first but I think it has gotten worse recently.  The last 3 packages that I shipped have showed "label created" on Etsy until the day they were delivered.  😆

So buyers on Etsy who go to Etsy and try to track their packages are given false and outdated information, making it appear that orders have not been shipped when they have.  

The order I mailed yesterday still shows "label created"on Etsy at 9:30 am even though actual USPS tracking shows it scanned into my local post office, scanned again hours later at the city sort facility and again "in transit".  USPS tracking shows it's expected delivery date is tomorrow and yet Etsy's tracking still just shows "label created".  😆

This cannot be good overall when customers think that sellers aren't shipping on time when we are.  The annoying part is that there is literally nothing I as a seller can do about Etsy's delayed updates.  I added blurb to my shipping policies that Etsy's info is often behind and recommending customers go straight to USPS.com for real time info.  BUT it's kind of buried and I'm not sure anyone will ever find it or read it, I am considering adding it to my "thank you" note section too.  

Would you as a buyer be bothered by tracking that doesn't update?  Would you blame the seller or Etsy or USPS?