Author: ElvenAssassin

the Mystery of Craft Sales

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Craft Sales are tricky beasts.

They are difficult to find, often are already full of jewelry vendors, and are… weirdly unsuccessful. I attended one last week, (yay!) a month ago(!) and then didn’t break even. (boo!) I was very excited to split my table between my jewelry and GelMoment display, but… didn’t quite win people over that way, either. Honestly, craft sales are a tough nut to crack!

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My dear readers, you deserve an apology. I have come here a dozen times to write, but hadn’t the energy… in the end I hadn’t realize quite how much time had passed. Nothing to do now but make up for it!

I didn’t expect to find more craft sales this season, but I lucked into a fantastic opportunity this weekend. It’s a smaller(?) venue at the St Boniface Museum. While there appears to be a lot happening, (such as Santa and wine tasting? :D) there are only 15 vendor tables at the event, meaning not a lot of competition, I hope! When I say I lucked into it, I honestly mean such. I wasn’t able to get my application together quickly, and let my anxiety get the best of me, assuming it would be rejected for my tardiness. They contacted me Friday evening to see if I was still interested as they had empty tables! Wow!

Fingers crossed I can be greedy enough for two tables? The vendor fee was nominal, and I’m hoping I can have a second display table for artwork. Crafters only, meaning I can’t advertise for GelMoment, but I am very fine with that. ::grins::

Will have to work hard this week to have artwork available!

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What about selling on Etsy?

Etsy decided to entice Canadian sellers with 50 free holiday listings. I wasn’t able to fully utilize them (because I misread the fine print), but I did re-list 25 items, and tried out their new sale feature. (Spend $35CAN+ for 15% off [here], wink wink)

Listing with Etsy reminds me of a slot machine; you keep plugging in quarters until you run out of change. Whether the fault lay in not listing often enough, or my photos that weren’t quite good enough… I cannot say, but I was not a popular Etsy store, and Etsy will actually punish you for inactivity (few new listings, no sales), by making your items harder to see, which becomes a vicious cycle in a crowded (jewelry) market. As such, I have mixed feelings, knowing that Etsy will require more effort from me, yet I don’t have the mental energy to deal with it at this moment. (Listing is the hardest part of being your own boss!)

Still, the free listing offer helped me get into the mindset of creating more items, even if most have not been listed to date. The bracelets I’ve posted on my personal Facebook page actually had some love and commentary from friends, which was heartening. ::beams:: I wish I knew what trick was needed from strangers, haha. I actually had a photo of wine charms seen 900 times(!) and yet… didn’t attract a single new follower?

Facebook photo displayed here.

Pretty snazzy, if I do say so myself ::grins::

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Why aren’t you listing here?

That is a very good question, and I suppose the honest answer is to rip up my list of excuses and fix that.

I am having some issues with WooCommerce and don’t have the budget to use any paid options like Shopify or Ecwid. Ecwid offers a literal handful of listings at no cost to test it out, but I can’t decide what items would maximize this advantage? Realistically I should pick a few things and just go with it.

The notion of “passive income” keeps batting its baby blues at me, and all the self-help advice I dig up to help me become a better saleswoman keeps mainly shoving me in that direction. I participated in one workshop that helped clarify a few ideas, and… I am excited to move forward and offer my spin on dice jewelry. (See what I did there? ;) ) I have ordered the supplies… the hard part is waiting for them to get sorted through Canada Post! Due to the holiday season, I don’t expect to see my items before late January or early February. Much of the 6-8 week wait for items from China is due to the backlog of processing items at customs, and the holiday season exacerbates it, unfortunately. Gives me time to perfect how to pitch it? My friend has a lead on a shop I might be able to list at :D

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Last, but not least… Thursday is my birthday!
Dairy Queen ice cream cupcakes are in my future ;)

Transposition

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I thought
I
saw you
from across the room

but
it turns out

he only had your
mannerisms.

that awkward wonder
of why he was here;
not sure if he should smile?

Fish out of water.

~~~~~

I saw Chris de Burgh in concert last week <3

It was fantastic, of course. ::grins from ear to ear:: In part, spending time with my best friend, but also in part, getting to hear Don’t pay the Ferryman live and up close! Just wow! He invited concert goers to come up front and dance at the end of the concert, and of course I left my phone with my purse at my seat! Still, it was amazing :)

Wish I had more stories to tell for you.

I feel very worn, and ground down with my day job, and it seems to seep into my spare time. I’ve been reading up a lot on, um, marketing? Passive income marketing, and it certainly sounds like the right idea, but when you look at it, it’s not really? Although it brings up the question… would writing an introductory art course (or book yeah?) on the basics of becoming successful at art, be a good idea?

I like the idea, but I worry I’ve spread myself too thin already. Too many ideas, not enough focus. I really need to stop chasing my tail…

Speaking of too many fingers in too many pies, I just ordered silicone moulds to make dragon eggs(!) Picture a wire wrapped egg with a little dragon inside, if you will. I am cautiously optimistic that I can make these, although it will be a 2-3 month wait for the supplies, sigh. It’s hard to complain when the price is right, though!

I signed up for a craft sale in a few days. I want to be excited but instead it’s causing anxiety… fingers crossed it nets me some interest in GelMoment? That would be very, very cool. I would absolutely adore it if I had a client, or two, or five. ;) Of course, it would be equally wonderful if I sold some jewelry as well.

Thursday I hope to visit my grandparents <3 They live out of town and I certainly don’t see them enough. Makes me very happy my girls get to meet them.

That is all my ramble for this morning.

Until later <3

My (fantastic) results with acrylic pouring

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I tried something new!
::beams::

This week, I tried a painting technique called “acrylic pouring,” something completely new to me and out of my comfort zone. For someone who is a newbie, I would call these a success!

 

The Devil is in the Details
Galaxy at Midnight

Tutorials are plentiful (especially on YouTube), but the basic necessities are:

  • paint (even children’s paints),
  • liquid silicone (for shoes, treadmills, etc), and
  • your choice of pouring medium (used to thin the paint).
acrylic pouring supplies: paint, liquid silicone, and liquitex pouring medium
Liquitex pouring medium, Liquitex paint, and Moneysworth & Best Liquid Silicone used for acrylic pouring

You can achieve amazing results with literally any budget. I have seen beautiful results that surprised me using $10 spent on dollar-store supplies. In my case, I had several tubes of Liquitex heavy bodied acrylic paint on hand from an abandoned painting I’d begun a couple of years ago. (Bad girl!)

Unanimous internet opinion appears to be “Throw those out and buy Golden Acrylics!” (No seriously. It was annoying.) Even Liquitex will tell you that their pouring medium is meant to be used for soft bodied paint. Clearly that is not the only truth. ::smiles::

My last understated piece of advise is to state you must let your paintings cure for a couple of weeks. With space at a premium, I stacked them after a few days and the result was nearly disastrous. ::blushes:: You would think I would know better. Thankfully there was no noticeable damage when separating the paintings.

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Aside from acrylics, I have also been practising with watercolour paints!

Practising with watercolours
Practising with watercolours

I think my bee is lovely… the roses, in contrast, could stand improvement. ::laughs::  I have an interested buyer that requested bumblebees! They approve of my little sketches, so while I shall endeavour to practice more, I am relieved my skill level is acceptable. I think I might play with my watercolour pencils as well, and see if I can strike a balance between them and the paints.

Happy Fall to everyone! <3

Falling for New Beginnings

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My apologies for the lack of updates in August!

We went travelling to Ontario for two weeks, and every day was a fast paced blur. Life returning home has not slowed down either until now.

The girls enjoyed their first day back at school. Dragonet’s classroom is remarkably huge! Phee’s classroom has a pint-sized exercise bike that I suspect she will get lots of use out of in the coming months… They are an amazing tool, I’ve heard, in helping to burn off restless energy and allow children to focus.

I am slowly becoming proficient with a camera, yay!

Macro shots are my favourite; I practised taking photos of flowers, lichen, and water droplets during recent hikes. The girls were given disposable cameras for their trip that I should develop soon; it will be quite interesting to see how they turn out! I purchased a selfie stick (gasp) that was never used… hopefully it works better as a part of the tripod it came with.

Of all the places to photograph, I think Niagara Falls was my favourite. I was not aware they light up the falls at night, and those last photographs of the evening I felt the most proud of.

I’ve been trying to get photos uploaded to show you but that isn’t happening any time soon (as in, it’s been days trying to coordinate this entry), so an update is better than no update?

I tried experimental painting yesterday. Always good to get out of one’s comfort zone! I am debating on how to list those for sale.

That’s all for now; I’ll try my best to make up for radio silence <3

(Sour) Cherry Pie

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Buying an Evans cherry bush is a patient, but worthwhile endeavour. ❤

One early summer day, I espied this simply amazing deal for 2 gallon Evans cherry bushes. (I hardly believed the newspaper ad; it was too good to be true!)

So, 5 months pregnant, and with a toddler in tow, I managed to fit three(!) pots in my stroller, balancing Dragonet atop the handles. (Oh the looks I had, awkwardly boarding the bus.)

Evans take a few years to mature, but are soooo worth the wait!

This pie was so magnificent, we tossed our plans for syrup and we are making two more pies. However, if you’re impatient, like I tend to be, I’m sure this recipe will taste wonderful with whatever cherry you can source ^_^

When first making this, I joked this was the $25 pie (having everything on hand except for the brandy ::laughs:: Another reason to make at least 2!)

Excerpted from Louise Gardener’s Pies:

(Sour) Cherry Pie :D

Ingredients:

Crust:

  • Use your favourite recipe!
  • Mine is: William’s Sonoma’s Flaky Pie Crust found [here]

Pie Filling:

  • 2lbs/900g pitted fresh or canned cherries, drained.
  • 1/2 tsp almond extract
  • 2 tsp cherry brandy
  • 1/4 tsp allspice
  • 3/4 c sugar
  • 2 tbsp cornstarch
  • 2 tbsp water
  • 2 tbs butter

Directions:

  • Preheat oven to 425F (220C). Grease a 9″ (23cm) round pie dish with butter. Roll out the dough into 2 circles, each 12″ (30cm) in diameter. Use one to line the pie dish. Trim the edge, leaving an overhand of 1/2″ (1cm).
  • To make the filling, place half the cherries and 3/4 cup sugar in a large pan. Bring to a simmer over low heat, stirring for 5 minutes, or until the sugar has melted. Stir in the almond extract, brandy, and 1/4 tsp allspice. In a separate bowl, mix the cornstarch and water to form a paste. Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the cornstarch, then return to the heat and stir constantly until the mixture boils and thickens. Let cool a little. Stir in the remaining cherries, pour into the pastry shell, then dot with butter.
  • Cut the dough circle into long strips 1/2″ (1cm) wide. Lay 5 strips evenly across the top of the filling in the same direction, folding back every other strip. Now lay 6 strips crosswise, folding back every other strip each time you add another crosswise strip, forming a lattice. Trim off the ends and seal the edges with water. Use your fingers to crimp around the rim, then brush the top with a beaten egg. Cover with foil, then bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven, discard the foil, then return the pie to the oven for an additional 15 minutes or until cooked and golden. Serve warm with freshly whipped cream or ice cream :D