Murphy's Law with paint. . .

Well, it has been more than a year since I painted (or attempted to) so I was nervous and expected some issues, but "Murphy's Law" came to call and everything went wrong. 😒 

Let's start with the reason it's been over a year since I painted; back in Indiana my old shop wasn't heated that well so when it got cold, I stopped trying to pour paint. Then before it got spring-warm my husband changed jobs and I had to packed everything up to move, it was snowing the day we left Indiana but due to circumstances all my stuff landed in storage in Florida for some months which included summer months. 😕 So I understand why some of my paints were ruined with the crazy temperature swings. 

It came out of the tube like a foam and when I tried to thin it down it just made chunks and stayed chunky no matter what I tried. 😏

I though ok, I can live with that, they weren't all that way so I just set that color aside and didn't use it. But my big expensive jug of pouring medium also developed chunks of it's own, which is bad and sad. However, I thought I could get around it because I know a couple of other artists that don't use that stuff, so there are alternate recipes/ways of thinning paint for pouring, but I am horribly out of practice so I had nothing but troubles trying to get all the colors the same/right consistency. 😓

Then there is the fact that I was trying something new to me, so the paints were too thin kind of on purpose. 😐 But I also used way too much paint for the size of the canvas. 

So, when I went to blow the excess off and try the new thing, it over-mixed and went all wrong. 😞 At first, I thought it would still be ok, even though it was not at all as intended it was still pretty colors and looked kind of cool, it developed some "cells" and interesting spots. 

But the paint was still too thick in places so as it dried it started to wrinkle, ripple, and crack. 😔 Then like an idiot I moved it, I didn't want the tack-feet to end up stuck in the overflow mess, so I picked it up and put it on my easel but it wasn't really level so when I came back hours later there was a blob of ooze from the center where it had been left too thick, ruining the pretty swirls and cells just a glob of wrinkled muddy mess. 😟 

I won't post a photo of the mess, LOL but I will admit that I scraped tons of the paint off and will just try again. 😉 I was right to be nervous and I am disappointed on multiple levels, but it's just paint so I declare do-over. 😇

2022 Year in Review . . .

Etsy does this "year in review" thing with shop stats and highlights, I used to like it but this year I cannot access it because the "new app" doesn't work on my phone. 😒 Although, looking at my shop stats and low sales I doubt this year's report would really be all that enjoyable to look at anyway. So, I shall do my own review of this year and all I can say is, I'm glad it's over. 

For me the year 2022 was mostly a bummer from start to finish, covid is still a thing, we moved across the country which meant my business was closed for several months, my best friend of 15+ years died of cancer, so it's not really surprising that I have been depressed, distressed, and demotivated. 😔 

I have spent a week (actually more) contemplating closing my business, but I have ultimately decided against it. There are a few reasons aside from my basic stubbornness that doesn't like giving up, the naive bit of hope that I cling to, the acceptance that this year was extreme and not normal. I also realized that due to circumstances I have not painted in 16 months and considering I do find great joy in painting it's no wonder that I feel so _________. 

So, I will register the business for the new state, I will look for and plan in-person events for 2023, but most importantly I will resume painting. There is nothing quite like a blank canvas, it is simultaneously inspiring and terrifying as I suspect 2023 will be. 

Well, that's depressing. . .

 So, it's mid-December, the time of year I start looking at compiling the business books to do taxes and I gotta admit it's pretty dismal. 😞 This is the worst year since I started RainbowMaille honestly, it's ridiculous between the closing for months and moving and the sad state of sales since reopening, I am wondering why I even bother to call it a business. 😞  

Most years I have in-person events not just online sales, but not this year.  Most years my sales are measured in the Thousands of dollars, but not this year.  Most years I don't contemplate closing up shop and just giving up, but I am this year. 😔 

Seriously, I'm debating on whether to bother registering in my new state or if I should just call it quits and close and save the headaches and paperwork.  I am concerned that when we do our taxes this year and I have to file less than $500 in sales we are going to get audited, it's that far off, it's that bad. I feel like such a failure. 😭 

I keep telling myself that it's not my fault and next year will be better, but that's a pretty hard-sell. 

Final answer. . .

I have been annoyed with etsy before plenty of times but the forced change to my shop policies hit different.  I have accepted increases in fees, being deprioritized in search because I won't put "Free" shipping on everything. I have done my best with the "star" seller ridiculousness, as a matter of fact over the years the number of changes and bad ideas they have implemented (and some retracted) that I have tolerated is pretty big, many of those instances I didn't even really complain because I acknowledge it's their site to run how they want.  However, changing my actual shop policies is a step too far, my business as a whole now has an inconsistency between my shops that I am not comfortable with. 

So, I am letting a lot of my etsy listings expire and shrinking my presence there. I have thought a lot about this and I am not reacting from an emotional place. This is a strategic move and a business decision, I am separating the art from the chainmaille. I will still be keeping my original shop on etsy but it will go back to being just chainmaille the way it was when I started it 7 years ago. Starting in 2023 all of my paintings and wire tree sculptures will be exclusive to goimagine.com

Ironically and completely unintentionally I have come to this decision on the anniversary of my first sale on etsy. I didn't realize that, as I was writing this post I got a fb notification and just happened to check my "memories".  Life can be so weird sometimes. 😇

There will be ornaments. . .

I am determined to have chainmaille ornaments available for this holiday season.

 There may not be a lot of them, they will definitely be limited addition and I think currently only a couple of the designs will be available. 😏 I am only one woman with 2 hands afterall. 

 So, Helm's wreaths and small snowflakes it is. I'll make some different colored versions and get them listed soon. 😉

etsy lies, like a lot. . .

 

Notice how it says the new format is "flexible" and you are "in control of the details" well that's BS as everything I've clicked basically is checkbox and drop down, there is no Text box anywhere and the pre-written stuff is not editable.

So, I would argue that it is not at all "flexible" and sellers have virtually no control, plus when I tried to apply the new forced format I got a warning that it would "replace" my existing shop-wide handwritten pre-existing policies. 

Even when trying to set it on a single individual listing I get the warning about it replacing my "shop's current policy".

So, my personal opinion is this stinks, etsy lies if not intentionally then just by their poor wording which was why I was concerned with their "template" stuff to begin with. I will not be making any changes until I have to, because as I suspected this is etsy manipulating and forcing the "grandfathered" shops into the stupid boilerplate that I refused to change to years ago. your old return policy will be removed on Oct. 31

Thanks for the warning, jerks.

Thanks etsy. . .

 Once again I have a dashboard notification of etsy being "so helpful" and yes that is sarcasm.  😏  Etsy is always changing things, I really don't like that they cannot seem to leave well-enough alone, but it's their site so, I cringe and move on. 

Just in case you can't read that it says I have to set a new return policy because they will be removing the old format Oct. 31 😠  I personally do not appreciate their interference with my business.  I understand that they want ALL shops to have a return policy, a few years back they forced a bunch of people and all "new" shops into some boilerplate garbage format, but those of us with existing shops were grandfathered in and not forced to change our existing policies which was nice. However, it seems that is changing and next month everyone will be forced into some template garbage so that no one can retain custom policies. 😒

I personally wrote my policies, and they are perfectly clear 

• Returns are accepted within 14 days of delivery, money will be refunded after the product is returned. Return shipping costs are the responsibility of the buyer.
• If an item is broken or damaged in shipping I will repair or replace it at no charge, simply message me to make arrangements.
• Cancellations accepted before orders ship, but be warned I ship quickly often same day.
• Cancellations requested after the 24 hour period will be decided on a case by case basis and may not be eligible for full refund if the order has already shipped.

I have never liked etsy boilerplate stuff, it's always awkwardly worded and with limited options and mostly yes/no settings I cannot make them say what I want. The result will be a change in my business's operational policies because etsy is taking away something that I have had set up for over 7 years, moreover this will cause my etsy shop and goimagine shop to have different policies, which causes a consistency problem for RainbowMaille. 😕

I'm not sure how I will handle this, I need to dig into the etsy stuff and see how close I can get to my own original policies, but this may well be the straw that breaks this camel's back.  I have 37 days to investigate, compare and make a decision, if I can get the etsy close enough to what I want it may be ok, but if their templates do not allow me to set the policies the way I want I cannot run 2 shops with vastly different policies. 

Congratulations etsy on another brilliant fix of something that was not broken. 😞