Category: Ramblings

Thoughts that don’t belong anywhere… :)

Returning to Writing: My Journey Back

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I’ve truly missed writing here, and hope to re-liven up the place :D

What’s with the six year gap? o.O Illness. Illness is a horrible creature.

My hope goal is to get back to my artwork, and eventually jewelry making, while documenting my time along the way. I had aspirations to post recipes before I fell ill. That seems an excellent theme I’d like to dust off and attempt again ::grins::

Some stumbling blocks currently… I am still sick, although I am a million times better than I have been. Unfortunately, I am not well enough to be working. My electronics are in a similar state… My computer is still running Windows 8.1, wow. My drawing tablet is about 16 years old, and my new(er) tablet is a Wacom Companion without a power supply. Fixing it (especially with Christmas around the corner) has not been in the budget. If you’re reading this, and would love to donate to my repair fund, I have a Ko-Fi account. (Ko-Fi is pronounced “coffee” as in the premise, if you like what you see, please buy me a coffee!) If you do, I will love you anonymously to pieces! :D

I’d say the big “what’s new?” since my last post, would be my dip into the world of quilting. I’ve got my fingers crossed for Electric Quilt 8 under the Christmas Tree. I have a pattern that I’ve written by hand, and would like to write it professionally. More on that in a new post. :) It deserves pictures :D

The most frustrating thing of my illness, perhaps, is how easily tired I become, especially when it comes to articulating myself, so I will keep this short today.

Hope to see you soon <3

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!

~~~~~

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 ;)

Between Love and Fear

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I have been happily back to drawing!

Slightly rusty and nervous at drawing people… dragons, I am better at ;)

So what’s the title about?

I love to draw… in fact I adore working in pencil! (and own several sketch books that attest to that fact…)

Yet I often feel clumsy after I set the graphite down. Reverting to a coward, I find myself unwilling to sacrifice hours of effort to my recycling bin.

But to stop there, as I am wont to do, cheats myself of growth.
~~~

I was gifted this beautiful light table, so methinks I’ll be able to duplicate work and practice until perfection? That is part of my plans/goals, which I will get into shortly.

I started drawing recently and you may have missed the post about my red dragon, because it would seem I still don’t know my way around WordPress and made it disappear, an error since rectified. ::blushes::

I am pleased that I’ve made considerable progress since then, and have split my efforts between two projects.

First, there is the accordion book above (also called a leporello or a concertina book), which I plan on finishing in pencil.

My second project involves a series of drawings I promised in my last update.

Drrragons! And poor lighting!

Further inspired by my leporello, I’ve chosen a few scenes to elaborate with and those I will draw in colour. Including my red dragon, I will have at least 5 new works, which is… small, but important. I wondered if I should finally open my Patreon account, but it needs artwork to draw people in, and I don’t even have a banner. Maybe that can be another concurrent project ::laughs::

~~~~~

Yesterday, we went to see Little Shop of Horrors performed at the Rainbow Stage.

Dragonet laughed and enjoyed the performance, while ‘Phee had to be assured that none of the actors had really been eaten. Are we done with the theatre for now? Not necessarily, but ‘Phee and I had difficulties with the outdoor seating, so I might opt for an indoor performance and plush seats next time. ::laughs again::

They are enjoying the freedom of the public wading pool nearby, so I think summer holidays are officially off to a good start!

And with that, I shall bid you adieu for now <3

April In Review

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Hey, sorry to be so quiet.

Nose deep in Horizon: Zero Dawn, which has been glorious. (It has been ages since I’ve played video games.) I like their spin on how society might rebuild in a post-apocalyptic world. It’s also very neat trying to place what year it must be, based on the mishmash of present day remnants and future tech that are equally alien.

Craft show on Saturday was a bust, unfortunately. It’s hard to compete when almost every single vendor is also selling jewelry. There was some interest in my earrings, but I didn’t sell any of them (or any jewelry for that matter). Kind of discouraging, but sales seemed slow for everyone (slow foot traffic, equally poor sales for my neighbouring tables).

However, I have a lead on hosting my own craft sale(!). I’m hoping to scope out the location later this week, and decide if this is viable. The advertising has me a bit stumped, and due to location, it will definitely need advertising. As usual, cross your fingers for me!

Otherwise, I’ve been waiting ages for my second GelMoment kit to arrive. Apparently their sales were so popular in March that it caused a several week delay on order fulfillment. I’ll try not to be too boring about it. ::laughs:: I am excited because it should jazz up any jewelry photos for FaceBook/Etsy. (Whenever I can solve my camera problem, unfortunately).

Speaking of Etsy, I’ve decided to let my listings lapse temporarily, as I have not generated a single sale in months. Part of that is not sinking a fortune into buying listings (no new listings equates to lower visibility), but when listings receive a lot of “likes” and never a sale… clearly I need to make some changes to jump the gap from admirers to sales. The whole thing needs an overhaul, from prices to the listings themselves. (For example, I have elf ears to wear in photos, too! ::grins:: And with my hair down they look pretty realistic, so I’m excited for that.)

Meanwhile, this entire month has felt very much like a waiting game. Wait for my jewelry and soap making supplies in the mail to arrive… Wait not-so-patiently for the Note 8 to be released… can’t even run Instagram on my current phone, so no way to cross-promote my work. What fun is that? ::laughs::

KeyCon is approx one month from now, and I now have the option to display my jewelry at two vendor tables. O_o I had made duplicate earrings for KeyCon and Strange Things Emporium, but now that she is going to be a vendor, I will have to divide and conquer, so to speak. The duplicates I made will have to be set aside, and I’ve got just under 4 weeks to create awesome and better things.

I keep telling myself I want to post more recipes on here. Not to the degree of Julie & Julia, but I always meant that to be a semi-regular corner around here. Guess that means I should cook more often, eh? ;)

I suppose that boils down to less talk, more action. (Which ironically, will lead to more talk!) I think part of the issue is attempting to hold daylight hours with my family on my two nights off… I get nothing done the first night because I end up crashing early, and then spend the next 14 hours sleeping instead of being productive on my one full night away from work. (I am not joking, nor is that healthy.)

And thus, April melts away… so here’s to a more interesting May!

Revisiting (and supplying) DIY Natural Deodorant

Whereupon the elf touches upon the pros and cons of making DIY deodorant, and points you towards where you can acquire a “better than average” supply ;)

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It has been ages since I have made natural deodorant. Simply ages.

Those Dutch genes run strong ;)

Probably around the same time as I took this photo of my li’l one.

Honestly, it is one of those things that only takes about 15 minutes to make, lasts months, and this is the best stuff I have ever used.

The basic recipe uses coconut oil, baking soda, and corn starch. For those with corn allergies, arrowroot or rice flour can be easily sourced as a substitute. I am very interested in acquiring diatomaceous earth as an allergen-free option, or for those with sensitive skin.

“Fun” fact, coconut oil is stable at room temperature but melts on skin contact, making it an awesome medium to apply and absorb into the skin. This property can be as terrible as it is awesome, because it will liquefy on a hot day, and I’ve had people complain to me that it is “weird” and “too much trouble” to keep deodorant in the fridge.

Enter beeswax to save the day.

Seriously, that is all that’s required. Add some essential oils (tea tree oil for added stink killer is a good one), and personalize it however you want.

Trial sizes and scents soon to be seen at Strange Things Emporium:

Strawberry,
Berry Twist,
Vanilla,
Black Currant, and
Sandalwood.

If this proves popular, I might have to make some signature scents ;) It will also give me an opportunity to buy different nut butters, and perfect my homemade lotion (which is the only thing that does not upset Phee‘s eczema.  Unfortunately the oily residue is not everyone’s cup of tea).

I would love to see this become a lucrative hobby. I appreciate the opportunity to find out. ::smiles::

Next up, back to playing with soap! ::laughs::

Ever yours, ~EA