How it's Made. . .

 How it's Made. . .no not the TV show, the new tab available in goimagine listings. 😉  ( I crack myself up)  😊

So this week's site updates/upgrades include a couple things I am really excited about. First the "Featured items" ability 🎯 score!  This is a great thing in my opinion.  I was able to select a variety of my products to highlight at the top of my shop, which I really like the look of.  Instead of a wall of art or trying to figure out what is under which "category" now the top of my shop showcases an assortment of chainmaille and wire trees, showing a broader range of my work.  This is also a step towards sellers having more control over the appearance and arrangement of their shop fronts. 👍

The second thing I got excited about was the new "How it's Made" tab on our listings.  This had been mentioned previously and I was looking forward to it becoming available.  It allows up to 3 photos and there is a format-able large text box that we can write whatever we want to describe our process, our materials, show off our studios.  To me this is a great opportunity to really try to connect with the buyer, to allow the buyer to see where the art was created, possibly even work in progress photos.  😀

So I jumped right in and started edit listings.  I wrote like me, all about how I do things, because as a one woman show it is all about Me. 😄  I am the artist, I am the owner, I am the creator, I am the photographer, I am the copy editor, I am the shipping clerk, I am the marketing department.  I thought what I wrote was fine but when I showed it to my husband, he literally looked at it for about 5 seconds and said "hmm. .seven I's in 5 sentences. . .not good". 😕  Now to be clear he's all corporate executive guy and all about "teams" and he has been trained against using "I" declaratives.  I sat and listened to him and fought my desire to get annoyed with him because he was just trying to help and I should not get mad about that. 😇  

I thought about and although there is a big part of me that thinks all my "I's" are fine because of the sole proprietorship nature of it all being just me, I cannot totally ignore what my husband said.  Mainly because he is a really smart guy and has had decades of training and exposure to some marketing guru types that have told him all about the psychology behind such things.  However, all of that is in the context of huge commercial businesses and not handmade small businesses selling one of a kind art items, so. . .I am torn.

The original text I wrote: 

I buy pre-made medium-weight cotton duck canvases that are pre-stretched, kiln dried, and pre-primed.

I prefer to stick to with smaller sizes 8" x 8", 8" x 10", 10" x 10" 11" x 14" because it helps to keep shipping easier and reasonably priced.

I use mostly acrylic paints these days, although I do have some watercolors for sale.

I prefer Liquitex brand products including paints, mix-ins and varnish, although I do use some Krylon spray sealants.

I use a variety of brushes, pallet knives, my hands and some other non-traditional tools as well.

This morning's rethink edit : 

My art starts with pre-made medium-weight cotton duck canvases that come pre-stretched, kiln dried, and pre-primed, it saves a lot of time.

By sticking with the smaller size canvases like 8" x 8", 8" x 10", 10" x 10" 11" x 14" it helps to keep shipping easier and reasonably priced.

Currently using mostly acrylic paints these days, although I do have some older watercolor works for sale.

Made with Liquitex brand quality products including paints, mix-ins and varnish, although I do also sometimes use Krylon spray sealants.

I use a variety of brushes, pallet knives, putty knives, my hands and some other more non-traditional tools as well.

Now I don't know which one to use. 😟