As usual (it would seem), I have wandered off and allowed the pasture to fallow.

Not so.

Too much – much too much – roiling beneath the surface, never breaking free, to land upon the virtual page. Even in my usual channels I have fallen silent; my reserves depleted.

Where did I leave off? Ah, yes; I was making jewelry.

Well, I still am. ::smiles:: Not as voraciously as I’d hoped, but I am. I pursued manufacturers from China directly with terribly mixed results. That is not an emotional rollercoaster for the faint of heart! For every seller I am pleased – even deliriously happy with – there are two more that have dashed and broken my spirits. It is quite frustrating for items to eke through the postal system and be misrepresented (or missing) after a two month wait.

What else has happened? KeyCon came and went. That was a lot of energy spent, resulting in three sold items and whole day in the ER, rather than at the convention due to an allergic reaction. (And stress. I wouldn’t doubt that stress put it over the top.)

My online friends have been wonderfully supportive. I have one friend encouraging me directly in my maille work (a fellow artisan), and others simply being supportive. ::smiles again:: I have had a few friends ask if I am ready to open an Etsy account and I will say… soon. I had thought to tackle that now, in the moment, but before you can even open your storefront, they require your direct deposit information. Alas, I do not have my chequing information on hand…

There is the… dark stuff, also, to talk about, except that I won’t. Not today. There is a lot of stress, and hurt, and… I am not here to gripe and complain.  I just mean to circle back to the fact that a lot has been… happening.

Actually, to end on a positive? I started a new job! It has sucked up all my time these past 6 weeks. To go from a full-time parent/artist to a full time job is quite an adjustment. I’m still adjusting, haha.

Will try to write more…. share more. I’m excited that a friend of a friend is a photographer and offered to take pictures of my jewelry. Now I just need to ask for permission to showcase her work, say here. ::nods:: That is what I want/need to do. I also have a good friend that is talented photographer also, and I’ve tentatively requested product shots with her, but we haven’t set out pricing.

Anyway, many avenues to pursue.

More stories to be told…. but that for another day.