Etsy forums. . .

Etsy has ruined the forums.  😖 Totally ruined, they outsourced it and the layout, functionality, everything is wrecked. 😕

It is butt-ugly. 
It is impossible to sort out and find things.
The pictograph icons for sections just look retarded. 

I could go on but what's the point? I hate it and I will no longer even bother to look at it.  The old format had some issues and it was said that only a small percentage of Etsy users used the forums but I would bet money that that small percent just got a lot smaller. 😒

Re-stocking . . .

While many of the things I sell are in fact "one of a kind" there are a few that I re-make regularly.  Chainmaille is easy to remake, let's face it as long as I can get the same rings I can re-create anything I've made but I don't do it all that often because I like to make things different. 😉 

The wire tree sculptures where meant to be one of a kind things but I have made an exception for the rainbow&stars version because it is so popular and being a bit simple it's easy to re-create, although, even with the same colors and the same number of wires and the same number of stars, no two actually look alike. 

I've sold almost a dozen of these between the 2 sizes in the last 3 years. 😮  After the first set sold so fast at an event I remade them so I could post them online and they sold out again, at that point it became obvious that as much as I like doing "one of a kind" things I need to keep these little babies in stock.  😉  So I try to do just that and I usually make them in sets, making 2-3 at a time.  I keep the 5" inch size made in both silver and gold base hoops. Originally I have only made the 3" inch size in the silver hoop but I am now adding a gold hoop version of it too.  😊  I'll have to shoot new listing photos and update the listing with a the new "variation" tomorrow, but it is laying on my work-bench. 

Happy New Year. . .new listings

Well it's now 2019 and as a new year begins I find myself re-editing and updating a ton of listings. 😏  

I have learned over the years that seasonal tags can be highly effective to improve views and sales but that means that they need to be changed ya' know "seasonally".  As the holiday season expired I have begun changing over my holidays and tags from "Christmas" to Valentine's and Mother's day.  I am simultaneously adjusting my shipping prices because in a couple of weeks the postal rates will go up as they do annually.  😖  

I am also updating some of my listings with new photos, as some of my listings have really old original photos taken on non-standard backgrounds and I'm trying to get them all on white or black and eliminate the wood grain.  I have shot hundreds of photos in the last week and spent hours and hours editing, cropping, and adjusting them.  I have re-made the Japanese Lace Bubbles bracelets that had sold out and even made the gold on gold version and renewed the listing with all new photos.  😇  I shot photos with the rosettes necklace, bracelet, and earrings in a set and made a new listing in sets.  I also edited up some of the rosette photos into a new Valentine's sale banner. 

I made a new bracelet with a variation of the Japanese Lace pattern and I LOVE it, so much that I am still debating on if I'm going to list it or not.  There is a part of me that really wants to keep it. 

It's totally gorgeous and

 It does fit me perfectly, after all 😉

Although it took so many rings that I am practically out of the small 4 mm size and had to order more.  I did a quick count and there are nearly 500 rings in this bracelet, so if I decide to list it for sale it will not be cheap. 😉