Etsy 2021 "Year in review". . .

I know etsy has done these year-end reviews before and I thought I had posted previous ones but maybe I named the post something else and that's why I can't find it. 😏  Or maybe they didn't do it last year, or maybe they did but my shop didn't get one because it was closed half  of the year or something, who knows it's etsy.  😄  

I did get one this year but it's not really that great because. . . well I was closed for several months early in the year, it's for the online shop so doesn't include in-person sales, and the "star seller" just became a thing in September it didn't exist before that. 

Yeah not particularly impressive, I know 😕 What can I say year 2 of a global pandemic, closed most of the first quarter, oh well.  I do love the optimism of the "so far. ." in the sales graphic, but there are less than 2 weeks left in the year so. . .  I'm not expecting much.😆😉   Although, I am only one $40 sale and 1 fresh review away from getting a "star seller" again, I really doubt I'll get it.  

  

Black Friday weekend Sale. . . .

Well of course RainbowMaille will be having a BlackFriday Sale!!

As a matter of fact I plan to have "BlackFriday" last all weekend 😉 so the sale will start on #BlackFriday (November 26th) but it will continue thru #SmallBusinessSaturday all the way until #CyberMonday 30% off everything 

I have been busily adding gift wrap options to #goimagine listings, while adding listings. 😁 I've updated some photos, worked on seasonal keywords, scheduled sales, made graphics and promo stuffs.  This whole "one woman show" business means I'm always busy with something, I wish I had a "marketing department".  I need a nap.  😴  But right now I'm planning and scheduling social media stuff. 

I can't believe I actually have products in the #goimagine gift guides!!  😁😍

https://goimagine.com/holiday-gifts-2021

Happy Holidays. . .

 Welcome to November and the countdown to Christmas! 😃

RainbowMaille is having a month long 10% off sale in both shops to help you get your holiday gift shopping done early. 😉  

https://goimagine.com/rainbowmaille/  

https://www.etsy.com/shop/RainbowMaille  

I have been working on getting all of the wire trees listed on my  goimagine.com and I am really close, only a handful left to go.  Yesterday I changed the banner on my facebook page and both shops.  Today I'm going to set up a "gift wrap" option in my goimagine shop, there will be a charge but only a couple of bucks. 😇  Just working my way down the holiday checklist. 

Progress. . .perhaps

 

I have been trying not to think about the fact that I will likely lose my "star seller" badge next month but with the stupid emails and permanent reminder on my dashboard every time I log into etsy, it's kind of hard not to think about. 😕  

There is a survey link at the bottom of the star seller page and I have taken it before but I decided to take it again. . . see I am still bothered by the phraseology of etsy's original spin on this program trying to say how it was all "within the seller's control".  I have said all along that virtually none of the criteria are within my control, yes I control how long it takes me to respond to a message but I cannot control when people message my shop.  Yes, I control when I ship my packages and to use tracking but I cannot control when people order or how much they order.  😒  Trust me I am a total "control enthusiast" and I know when I am not in control. So I filled out their survey again and wrote paragraphs explaining how wrong I think it is to be punished for not receiving a bunch of messages, like I'm sorry my descriptions and photos are so good that I don't get a dozen dumb "how long is this necklace" type of questions.  

I think what I wrote finally got through to someone because I noticed a change on my star seller page this morning.  Now, all I did was suggest that I could delete all the measurements and material info from my listings and force shoppers to message my shop if messages were so important to etsy's program. 😏  Now the metric for messages has a note under it that says it doesn't count since I didn't have any messages to respond to, which is better than the "Not there yet" note. 

So at least it won't be the stupid lack of messages that costs me my badge, I'm just short on the orders and $$$ requirements. Maybe in the next 10 days I'll get a big enough order or maybe more than 1. . .what miracles happen right?!  😁😂😅😇  

On a more personal note I'm feeling incredibly lazy and demotivated the last week or so, not sure if it is end of market season exhaustion, early onset S.A.D. due to the weather, the dental issue that has flared up, oncoming depression, or a combination of all of the above.  I have been fighting and forcing myself to work on listings, update tags for holidays, pre-schedule my sales, but what I really need to do is a massive photo shoot so that I can add a bunch of listings to goimagine.com I have a new pattern of stretchmaille bracelets, I have new barrettes, I need to get more art listed and wire trees too.  Unfortunately, it seems that any day I feel up to it the weather is all wrong and the lighting is bad.  😕

Welcome to Fall. . .

So honestly I was actually pretty surprised that I got the "Star Seller" badge for September but it was a nice birthday present. 😇  The way it works on a 3 month rolling window is still a bit weird but by qualifying for September's star it basically meant October's star was set. 

However, I will most likely lose my "Star Seller" status next month 😏 and I'm not going to let it bother me if that happens because the criteria are weirdly odd and oddly specific.  I do have all month to meet the requirements but none of them are within my control so there is quite literally nothing I can do about it. 

Pouring Topcoat. . .

Since I first started trying pouring acrylics last year I have been thinking the about the "finish" (sealants) the whole time.  There are so many options and each has their pros and cons, some of them are complicated, some of them are really pricey.  😏  I have decided to try them all, ok maybe not "all" but most, including this jug of stuff that I had never heard of before finding it in the store. While this is not as complicated as the ArtResin two-part mixable stuff I will point out that it was pricey at nearly $40 and I got it on sale. 😐

I selected a couple of paintings to test it on, the pink/yellow one is just not my favorite color scheme and the other has a wrinkle-y textural finish that I wasn't happy with already.  I didn't want to test on one of paintings I actually liked just in case it didn't go well.  😉

Turns out I'm really glad I did this test on lesser pieces as it did not go exactly right.  The directions say to pour it on and tilt the canvas to spread it around and let it run over the edges and then stand it at a 45* angle to dry and let the excess run off. . . Well that sounds simple enough but in reality this stuff is pretty thick doesn't like to run or spread as easily as the paint did and that whole standing at an angle to dry left a helluva drip edge. 😕

The trouble is it didn't all run off the edge like it was supposed to, for the most part it's ok, it's a shiny smooth finish except for that booger line across what was the bottom where it sat. 

Being somewhat disappointed in the result I started thinking about what I was going to do to "fix" this. The directions say you can do a second coat and orient the dry position in a different direction but looking at the thickness of the line I didn't really want to create a second line on another side. I considered sanding it down but after many days it still felt tacky/squishy not really "cured" so after a week I decided to shave it down with a razor blade. Maybe not the best idea but it did get rid of the humpty-hump, at least on this canvas.  

The second test canvas was always going to be challenging due to the textured finish but this stuff claims to be "self-leveling". 

Yeah . . .well that didn't exactly work out either, yes it went into all the creases but it did not level them out. 😔 Plus it left thick spots too, so not a really smooth finish.

And since it's blobby thick spots are not on the edge they were even harder to try to trim and deal with. I admit I have not been very successful with the second canvas yet. I tried a second coat on the pink canvas thinking if I spread the topcoat and kept it level that it would dry level and even out the previous hump.

That was not ideal as the trowel caused some tiny bubbles and even though I checked level on my table I didn't check the level on the canvas itself. . .so the tacks(feet) weren't even and I noticed it having an edge again. 😒

So I scrapped most of it off and waited a few days to try yet again.

Third times a charm. . .This time I checked the level on both canvas and table. I did the tilt and spread and let the excess run off on to the second canvas. I also had my blow torch ready to pop any bubbles. 😉 Then I left it to dry level and worked on the second canvas.

Good news, that seems to have worked it leveled out and it's very shiny and mostly smooth.  Bad news, it's been over a week since the third coat and although it's "dry" it hasn't really "Cured". 😏 The edges where it ran off is thicker and seems to be rubbery, it's not tacky exactly because it's not sticky but if you push a fingernail into it, it seems to hold the indent for a while. 😕  I consider this bad new because I have no idea how long it will take to fully cure or if it ever will.  If it never hardens then I cannot sell or ship this canvas as wrapping it for shipping would cause it to arrive with lines, creases, surface weirdness, there is no way to know.  

As it is I just have to leave it sitting around. . .waiting. . .poking it every couple of days to assess the "cure" stage.  I am thinking about trying it on third canvas, knowing now what I didn't know then. I want to see if I can get a good even smooth finish in the first coat.  Then I can see if a single coat actually "cures" the way I think it should and compare it to the repeat-offenders.  😎 

Sometimes I get frustrated and lose sight of art being "experimental" by nature. When you are #learningbydoing you have to accept failures and just think your way around to doing it better next time. 😇

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. 😇