Sigh

Yep, it's that time again. Time to share an anecdote of annoyance. You are probably aware that I often search the tatting on etsy. Why? Lots of reasons I suppose. It's a bit of a holdover from when there was a nasty run of copy cats and I do enjoy seeing what everyone is up to and of course the competitiveness in me is a factor as well. The point is I do it all the time as an after thought, not with any real intent to play tatting cop or anything. I'm not trying to squash all competition or anything, I promise, but every once in a while I run across something.

This time it was someone selling a necklace made with one of my free necklace patterns that's up on Instructables. I calmly messaged the seller beginning with a non accusatory, 'you might not be aware' and ask them to remove the listing because I ask that people not sell items made with my patterns. The whole time I'm a bundle of nerves because I absolutely hate these sorts of confrontations when I feel like I'm being the bad guy, but I feel like I have to hold the line. The seller was initially put off because she felt adding beads made it different and I disagreed of course. The next message I got back is the actual source of the afore mentioned annoyance however. She stated that she purchased the pattern from a friend. Well that's a whole different monster isn't it? So someone gets my pattern free off the Internet where I specifically evoke the language of copyright and blather on about personal use, turns around and sells it to an unsuspecting "friend". I put those quotes there because I'm pretty sure this is not something a friend does. No, a friend says "I got it online, here's the link", or "I can print you a copy if you like". A friend doesn't send someone off to make something to sell online likely knowing that the pattern asks them not to, so that friend is likely to raise the ire of the designer. That's just messed up right there.

The whole thing just made me shake my head in confusion. I ended the conversation by caving a bit and asking her to just acknowledge me as the designer of the item in her listing and to not use the pattern again for sale. I also gave her some names of designers that do sell patterns you can sell things from and some links to find free patterns as well as the most important advice I have on the subject, to design your own pieces or modify antique ones if you're going to try and sell them. That one thing will help you avoid all future drama.

I know not everyone has the same opinions on these sort of things and the copyright controversies will rage on for some time. The line I drew when I started giving out patterns was done to try not to end up competing with people basically selling my own work for less than I make it for, potentially confusing the customer base that I've spent years building up since tatting is my day job. Even if you disagree with my hardline stance on that though, you have to agree that friends don't sell friends free tatting patterns from the Internet. Please feel free to pass that message on because I know when I share something for free I mean to share with everyone...for free.

Sorry For The Lecture.

More often than I would like I seem to be starting blog posts with some version of, I'm tired. Both Winter and Spring seem to do this to me. Winter for retail reasons and Spring for family and allergy reasons. Saturday ended up being two outdoor parties in a row as after ours, our neighbor, whose youngest was turning two, had one as well. So the day went: clean, wrangle children, presents and cake, clean and watch someone else do the same thing all on my feet. Yikes.

Sunday was more cleaning, candy and I baked my first solo ham. It was completed on time and it tasted good which was quite a relief. Otherwise though it was more child wrangling, and cleaning just this time with ham and pie. Still this morning I have dishes to put up and more dishes to clean. We had thought about starting our vacation adventuring today, but we will more likely use the day for recovery.

Normally I'd really complain about the drought in the shop immediately following the pendant deal, but I'm kind of glad for it given all the other things I was up to. I could do without the steady stream of custom request messages that have all, without fail, ended up with a resounding, never mind though. I'm starting to think I should stop answering them at all.  Not to mention a recent trend of people asking if it's okay to sell pieces they made after copying my designs directly or being 'inspired' by them. Don't get me wrong I'm still glad people are using my work to help them learn how to tat and I appreciate the asking, I just wish the thought would cross a few less peoples minds. Aside from my personal opinion about how it might affect me though, there is one point I'd like to make that should make more sense to those creators.

When you start an artistic endeavor with the intent to sell your work it is never wise to do so emulating another more established artist. It just just doesn't make good business sense. You will not have an identity of your own, something to set you apart from the pack. You will blend in. Even worse is that even if you have not copied directly, your work will likely be seen as derivative if not a complete rip off. It may seem like a good idea to sell the same sort of things that sell well for someone else, but it rarely works that way. I've seen people try to do that and undercut the prices of the original artist, but they're just selling themselves and the artist they supposedly admire short and they are training their customers to want things cheap. Their retail dreams are generally short lived.

Please understand, I have no desire to discourage people from tatting, nor selling their work. I just want people to understand the flaw in coming at it from this direction. The best advice I can give someone who wants to turn this hobby into something more, is to find your own identity and style, design your own pieces and find your own target audience. Being original is always better. Make others regret that they didn't some up with your idea first. These are the things that make it all worth the effort and believe me it is a lot of effort. Okay, the lecture is over, let the week begin.

Working

As I thought , yesterday was a big lot of boring. I tried to start a couple of pairs of ankle corsets assembly line style, but I just didn't have the rhythm down that makes it work well. This means I'll just e back to those today.

Since I haven't much to share tatting wise I thought I'd address something else this morning. After I made a small complaint in the giveaway winners post lamenting the normal lack of comments here I got a few emails from folks who can't comment since they get they read the blog via email. While it was lovely to hear from them it made me realize that I was falling into that trap again. You know the one where you think everything you do and say requires validation because you've spent too much time online where such validation is generally so forthcoming. It's the 'oh no, no comments means no one likes me anymore!!!!' Of course that is ridiculous, but this Internet thing has turned a lot of us into creatures who think that comments and views equal acceptance. That the number of followers and 'friends' are important to your status as a human being.

Intellectually I know that this is all a load, that what I write and create needs no outside validation to be of worth, but I still fall into the trap every once in a while. Please don't think I'm some sort of drama queen or attention hog because of these occasional whiny outbursts. I don't actually need any comments to keep writing, I do it as much for me as I do it for an audience. I don't need tons of views on my creations as long as I get the ones that count and I prefer followers and 'friends' of quality over quantity.

Thanks for reading todays rant. I'll be back to production work today though I did get an interesting custom request that I need to address today and if that goes forward 'll be working on that instead. It's an odd one though, so it may not happen at all. I can't make everything people seem to think I can. oFf to it then and have a lovely day.

Friday

Hello Friday! No, I don't have anything good to show you today either. I did manage to stay on task much of the day. I got a pair of earrings and a couple of bracelets remade and listed, but much of the day was lost to schooling and the TV tech that was called out to fix our reception. I know there is much vile reserved for AT&T, but seriously their Uverse customer is top notch. I can schedule everything from my television for the next day without talking to a single human before they arrive and they robo call in advance to confirm everything. It's a beautiful thing, but the appointments always take forever. Yes, I realize that is probably a good thing, thorough and whatnot.

So to change the subject, later in the evening I was doing a tatting search on etsy. Yes, I'm little on edge after the last discovery. Yet again, I run across a piece made with another of my designs. The seller was politely contacted and without excuse removed the listing. The swiftness with which these recent incidents have been resolved does give me hope that they were merely done without thought and were not malicious in any way so I will continue to react in a calm, rational way. Though I did go ahead and post a short little rant on my facebook page. What is interesting about both these incidents is that the patterns used are not posted anywhere. That means that they were copied from pictures which does concern me. I've always liked to post big, clear pictures and I really need to in order to encourage buyers, but maybe I ought not... oh how I hate having to second guess myself. Onward and upward though, it was resolved pleasantly enough, I should not dwell.

I do still have a couple of pieces left on the to-do list that I will get to today. Then as soon as my thread order arrives, hopefully this weekend, it's a custom mask. Between those two events though I'm hoping to get to at least one of my reproduction ideas and see if it can work at all. And just because I have no tatting to share, here's another kitty picture for you. Have a great weekend all.

I'm A Mean, Mean Person

Things are starting to settle a bit and I can see the end of the tunnel that is this large order. I received the thread I ordered yesterday at lunchtime which was much faster than anticipated and got my other small custom order worked out. Look, it's a picture of actual tatting that hasn't been seen before. The thread I was waiting for was the harvest orange there on the left. It's paired with a dark brown Lizbeth. Honestly I have very little Lizbeth as I find it a little too stiff for most wearables, but for pins it is perfect.

I did still spend the lion share of the day working on that large order, but not only did I have time for that custom, I had time for a few other things as well. I managed to schedule up the wunderkammer and spend some quality time on the twitter too. I even had time to troll the tatting listings on etsy to discover someone selling one of my designs again. This led to the awkward, 'please don't sell my designs' convo, which I hate. Then I added a facebook blanket statement regarding my personal thoughts on the issue. I will reprint that here just to cover all my bases.

Dear mostly new tatting friends, Let me state this for the record:
I don't care if you make something I designed for yourself, as a gift, to sell to your friend, neighbor, coworker or at your local craft fair especially if you give credit, but please I ask you kindly not to sell those pieces online where I make my only living. I hate sending mean messages asking you to take down listings. Thank You!

I really do want to encourage more people to learn to tat, but I fear the ease of learning as well as working from so many pictures available online without human contact has created a bit of a disconnect. I think people are just not thinking about the etiquette of creating from other peoples work.  I also still find it a bit odd that people feel so very comfortable selling something that they just learned how to do and somehow that seems to be the first thought for many. 'I'll learn this so just I can sell it'. Anyway, I guess that's a different rant. The point here was I don't want to be mean and hoard knowledge, but I do want to protect myself from competing with my own designs. I also don't want to have to feel like the bad guy, which I do every single time I have to send one of those messages, makes my tummy all upset.

So back to the large order today and hopefully there are just a few days left on that and I can get onto another project I've been sitting on and remake some things. Just got to keep swimming.

Let's Try That Again

Ah, much better right? What's silly is I had originally thought about this configuration for  the necklace, but then decided it might hang better the other way. Well, it turns out the metal rings solve that problem easily, weighting the piece just enough that it hangs perfectly. I guess this is a lesson in go with your gut.

After I got the photos taken for the listing I started getting antsy to clean things up around here instead of tat. No, I don't know what's wrong with me. I blame the Spring weather and open windows. Of course the rain will be here today so hopefully that should quell my urge to clean and I can finish the mask I started yesterday.

Alright, I just have one vent I need to get out before I get going for the day. If you're an Etsy seller, buyer or follow any of them on say Twitter, you've likely heard about the recent privacy issues that have arisen because of there attempts at socializing shopping on the site. Some of the articles written about the issue have overblown it a bit, or rather have caused people to overreact a bit. My opinion on the core issue is that Etsy was created by a group of Internet savvy, forward thinking folks. They know they must continue to evolve to survive even if that means a few missteps along the way. They also tend to think that more people think like them than actually do. Did they step in it? Oh, yes, but only because they were not more transparent with *all* their customers. No matter what you think of the changes, if they had taken more time to convey those changes in advance and given people the opt in/opt out options earlier and with reminders, they would only be dealing with squeaky wheels and not articles on Ars Technica and Forbes.

Honestly though, that's not what I wanted to vent about. What is eating at me are those squeaky wheels. Seriously, some people who I normally like are driving me up the worst wall. They are constantly talking about this and basically chanting at etsy, 'see, we told you...you should have listened to us' over and over again. They either already get it or they don't, your constant barrage is accomplishing nothing, but annoying everyone else.  They are using this as an opportunity to convince others to defect to other sites. There has even been talk of boycotting etsy. Really. Personally I feel that sort of move does nothing but hurt people like, well...me.

Am I an etsy cheerleader? Maybe a little. I wouldn't be where I am now without them and the venue they created. More importantly though, I see their point of view. I'm not down with the whole social shopping thing, but I'm not all that social, so I changed my preferences accordingly. My purchases are private as are my favorites. I'm also not all that concerned with people knowing my real name and associating that with my etsy name. Everyone knows my real name and if you don't, a quick google search solves that in a few seconds. So no, I'm not leaving etsy over this. I've worked too long and hard to make a name for myself there and this too shall pass. Yes, I have thought about opening a second shop at Art Fire or a few other places, but it's not really worth the extra effort to maintain more inventory. If I ever leave it will be for my own store front and I don't think that will be happening any time soon either.

Vent over. Here's hoping for a whine free day, tatting and moving on.

In My Hole

You remember Friday's cautionary tale? Yeah, well it got worse. The customer who received their mask without paying for the shipping costs still has yet to reply to a single message. I am not shocked, but that is not the worse part. The worse part is the other customer that asked for expedited shipping for a Halloween mask and was a pleasure to work with had her package 'improperly routed' and it's delivery rescheduled for Tuesday. So I spent Friday in yet another ball of stress calling UPS and writing messages to the customer hoping they wouldn't want to yell at me. The customer was blissfully understanding relieving a bit of the stress in the evening, but I still have to wait until the mask actually arrives to contact UPS again to get a refund and to see if the customer just wants to send it back or keep it. Again, the moral of the story, no more expedited shipping and I should probably add that you should never just 'trust' anyone when money is involved.

Sales dried right up too. I haven't had one since the aforementioned drama. This has put me in one of those 'crawl into a hole and stay there' moods. It wasn't until that small window between taking my Mom to lunch for her birthday and taking the kids trick-or-treating that I felt any desire to be creative again. During my last supply order I picked up some clearance beads. They're gray cats eye teardrops and I really wanted to do something with them and the gray thread. While everyone else is getting their winter white holiday stuff put together, I thought I'd do a winter gray one. There was a time when I switched to white snowflakes for the season, but that was the time before there were a dozen other tatters selling them on etsy. My contribution to this cause is no longer needed, so I will put my own dark little spin on it with a little dark gray.

I did get a few small pieces put together in the traditional, making it up as I go along, method. I did not however bother to take any pictures, so you will have to wait until tomorrow to see what it is that I've done or at least until I get some pictures and list them in the shop later today. I also think that it's time to work on some more gift-able pieces, though honestly I generally fail at knowing what people might want and I end up making a dozen sets that sit until I give up and donate them to someone. This will not stop me from trying yet again though, the holiday season has already thrown up everywhere and time will soon be running out yet again. If there is one thing I learned from years in retail, it's that forth quarter is everything. You fail then and the whole year is a loss. I know, I'm terribly upbeat this morning. Here's to a better week, a nice fall day and no drama.

Progress, Rant, News

If nothing else, yesterday was fairly productive. I remained in good health and my daughter also woke as if nothing was amiss. There was a particularly long homeschooling session, but the oldest didn't complain, so again productive. I finished up a couple of pieces that were pending including this convertible piece here, got packages in the mail and started on a mask late in the evening. So while not exactly a creative day, it was productive.

Now for today's short rant brought to you by people who "buy" something and then fail to pay for it. Generally this sort of nonsense occurs with new people who didn't understand that clicking the huge 'commit to buy' button was just that or they don't realize that they didn't finish by clicking through to paypal. While etsy is still saying that they are rolling out express payment, I've had two of these "sales" in as many days and they have been to people who have bought things in the past. The thing that really bugs me though is after I send out a polite reminder of their lack of payment, I get no response whatsoever. Come on people, just a short, 'sorry, I changed my mind' would do the trick, but no I'm stuck patiently waiting until three days have past to cancel the thing. I know I could cancel straight away, but when it really gets down to it, I'd rather give people the benefit of the doubt. I'm just particularly annoyed this morning thus the rant.

Now, I'm racking my brain to find anything else to share with you so I don't leave here with the taste of rant in my mouth...or I suppose more likely the smell of it on my typing fingers, but I can't think of a thing. It's bill day...that's not very upbeat and it's only Thursday so no great weekend to look forward to yet. I'm just going to work on finishing the mask today. I should have the supplies I ordered tomorrow, so I get to start on the wedding mask then. Ooh, I know a small bit of relieving news. I got word that the emergency bridal veil that I made and shipped Express to Canada made it apparently unharmed. I can't tell you the stress shipping that put me under. I wanted so badly to make certain it arrived in time for her wedding. which I hope will be the stuff of dreams!

Earrings

It was another long day, but much less eventful. I would even go so far as to say it was a calm and fairly pleasant day. In fact one of the first things I stumbled upon was a blog post by a lovely twitter fashion friend that featured my fancy mask. The blog is Awakened Aesthetic and post was on etsy Halloween finds. What was better than the inclusion was the very sweet thing she said about my work and while I don't know that I'm all that, it was still truly fabulous to hear. I also stole one of her picks for a future Wunderkammer collection so win win.

Before I stared on the long process of getting masks made, I went ahead and made up some matching tenebrous earrings. Then I though, I should make up more matching earrings for existing choker designs. The first was an absolute success meant to match the flower garland necklace. As you can see, it was a simple case of add a couple of chains and a ring, but it tuned the design into a really interesting chandelier type piece. That was so easy I decided for another and was meant with utter defeat. This is when I stopped for the day. So, it turns out some designs do not in fact lend themselves to this sort of motif separation and enhancement. Some designs only work well as part of a whole. This fact has been noted and I will attempt to merely echo the shape for matching earrings the next time I give it a go.

Now to end the week, I'd like to list off a few things that have bothered me this week, you know just to get them out there not to attack anyone in particular. Ahem...people who send emails asking questions, then require you to authenticate yourself in order to respond...I am not going to do it, sorry. People who court drama for the sake of attention rather than intelligent discourse. Self justification...me thinks the lady doth protest too much. Justification seems to only applied when one knows one is doing something wrong. People who 'lol' at their own posts, this one is two fold as I generally dislike the acronyms in the first place and secondly, it is exactly the same as loudly laughing at your own jokes which, unless you are in fact hilarious, is annoying. Putting someone on your mailing list without asking. This will have only one effect, I will unsubscribe, ignore your content and if I know you from elsewhere like twitter, I will likely block you there to. I'm fairly certain all that is the opposite of your intent. And last for now, people who ask a question or request a custom order, receive a swift and lengthy response from me and don't even bother with a no thank you or acknowledgment of any kind. Feel free to add your own annoyances if you'd like...might be fun to vent together.

The Week Ends With Drama

Welcome to Monday, I hope your trip here was pleasant. Personally, my weekend was chock full of daring, drama and food. Let us start with Friday shall we. More drama was on tap for me as a search through a blog revealed the terrible accusation of stalking and copying upon my person, though not named, it was clear enough to me. I immediately contacted the accuser and defended myself as it was all misconstrued and twisted up. Though I feel like the air was cleared I fear there will be lasting damage to my reputation from the incident as I didn't immediately catch it and many read, believed and consoled. I imagine if you're here you're not likely one of them, but please believe that while I troll the tatting on etsy endlessly, I do not watch any one's every move. I also imagine if you're here you know where my ideas come from and the pieces in question were fully explained here as old ones that if you go further back in blog, in fact to nearly the beginning to will discover the first time I made them. Also I am not a hoarder of knowledge, I care about the future of tatting and have done what I can to help more people learn and keep it alive. Lastly, I do not believe that I am a 'queen of tatting'. I am proud of what I have done and I have found my niche and I work hard at it, but there are a great many tatters that greatly exceed not only my skill level, but my design ability as well. Point is, it was a bad day and thanks to a wonderful tatting/twitter friend I was able to survive and eventually laugh at the issues and move on.

The rest of the weekend was a whirlwind of activity leading up to our house anniversary party. Cleaning, preparing food, cleaning, and well, more cleaning. The party itself was the busiest I've ever thrown even though only half of those who said they would come did. Even more surprising is the groups of people we were afraid would not get on, already knew each other in that 'this town is too small' sort of way. We stayed up late, the kids had fun and we spent Sunday back to cleaning and eating all that leftover food. I though about letting the house go to pot for a while, just to relax, but my brother and his fiance are visiting in a couple of weeks, so I might as well attempt to at least maintain this level of clean for a while.

As you can imagine I tatted very little, though I did get to show some of it off to friends who had no idea what I did with my time. I also learned that my needle holder is an irresistible object to smaller children than mine. I picked them up on more that one occasion after a toddler had let spill the contents. I did sell a mask over the weekend, so that's on the agenda for today and I received the very nicely modeled shots of my boutonniere. I will have to get another in that color scheme made up so I can list it with the great pictures later. I also need to suss out the best way to indicate that the piece is available in any color combination. I mean, I say that, but I think people tend to be visuals shoppers and it's more effective to show them than tell them anything.

Here's my wish for a nice busy, but drama free week complete with much tatting, chatting and ending with a sigh of contentment. Please forward to any stars, deities or wishing wells in your vicinity, thank you.

Photo credit: J Catli, model: Ryan Howard

Mad Woman Makes Masks

I am so ridiculously sore this morning. Even my typing appears to be affected by the aches. You see, I did all my floors yesterday. That means I vacuumed and then I busted out with the Bissell and did a great majority of our carpets and the tile floors. The Bissell has a trigger you squeeze to release the cleaning liquid and apparently using it for hours on end has given my claw hand this morning. Not to mention the sore back and shoulders. Oh and do you know what two of my cats did just as I was finally sitting down after everything was clean and drying? They yakked on the carpet of course and in three different place for good measure. That's love...pure love.

If you constantly troll the tatting on etsy like I've done since the beginning, you might have a ulcer from the discoveries. No, I kid, most of it is quite nice and in no way upsetting to me. Just recently I blathered on cryptically about an issue with someone and despite their promises, they continue to step on my toes. Yes, this is me cryptically complaining again. and on top of that there is also yet another new seller busting out with the tatted masks. Don't get me wrong, I know I have no control over what people choose to sell and the fact that they try the same product lines as me is likely that they see I am successful and they want to copy my shop model. Just because I understand however doesn't mean I can't be miffed about it and I do get worried that customers could mistake their work for my own.

Since I can't be bothered to get even and being mean gives me an upset stomach, I've opted to saturate my shop with so many masks that customers can easily tell who the original creator is without me getting all snippy. I re listed one as a custom yesterday in burgundy and I'm working on a white one I used to have listed today. I have some great modeled pictures of that one, but I want to have it made up so I can get extra photos done. I also have plans to make my Cheshire cat mask in just black maybe with green eyes. That one is a tough one though with the tatting both inside and outside the wires, so I likely won't get to it for a while. With Halloween fast approaching it actually makes sense to stock up on the masks, so I'm not just being bitter. I of course have no idea what will actually get done with the house anniversary party tomorrow and the inevitable cleanup that with follow, but the plan is in place.

What I Learned

While I have no new tatting to share with you, I do have a confession and what I learned yesterday. First my confession...I don't read blogs. Well, that's not entirely true, I read a few blogs, inconsistently. I just don't have the time nor the inclination to scour through hundreds of blogs out of some sense of obligation or desire to network. So I read a few that I have come to enjoy and I move on. I pop by new ones when I get linked somewhere or am curious for whatever reason, but I rarely go back for a second taste either. So if you read or comment here solely for a reciprocal reaction, stop holding your breath. Why I bring this up is related to the things I learned yesterday.

I'll start with the second thing first. What I do often do is check the profile of a commenter if they are not immediately recognized and that often leads to that random blog read. I glanced through quite a few yesterday much to my delight. There are so many folks giving tatting a first go or coming back to it in part because they've seen my work and that makes me giddy with joy. There are also way more tatting blogs in existence than there were when I first began my journey...way more.

The other thing, the first thing I learned, is that you people are smart and opinionated. You didn't just randomly shout out which design you liked, you supported your opinion with detailed explanations. I assumed I'd get easy to quantify responses but instead I got points to ponder regarding what I wanted to get out of the sticker image. Just to clarify the sticker goes onto the tissue I have wrapped sold pieces in and is not intended to grab new customers, but rather as part of the packaging. That being said after reading a few comments I went out with the new image and bought my first online ad someplace where that eye catching image would make a perfect ad. It should be up soon at HauteMacabre.com. While I agree that consistency helps create a brand, change is often utilized to revitalize an existing brand. Even though I have only existed in this form for four years or so, there is a lot of new competition out there and I need to step it up. So, yes I will be using the new image, at least for a while.

I still have a couple of pieces in queue to be remade and listed so I will likely be working on that today. I did order more lapel pin bases so I might get to work on a second version that is based on the veil I'm working on right now, but I'm also booked for a craft tutoring lesson for my Mother in Law and her friend so we'll see how that goes and if I have any 'me' time at the end of the day.

Oh and the picture is just because I felt naked without one today. It is a super artsy shot of one of my newly adorned walls. It's like someone actually lives here now...of course the real wall is stark white, not this interesting sepia shade, that of course is all camera filter and boredom.

Which One?

As I knew it would, yesterday was simply the act of making followed by more making. Not that there is anything wrong with that, it just makes for a fairly boring blog post the next morning. I took breaks throughout the day to decorate my walls. If you've been around awhile, you might be thinking, didn't you move into your house almost a year ago? You would of course be right. Still stuck in rental mode and afraid of making the wrong decisions, we opted to do nothing and the walls of our house have been bare up until two days ago. I'm working on it little by little as I felt like this was the thing to make me feel more comfortable about having people over. Yep, the stuff on the walls are like a comfy shield of distraction from the less than Martha Stewart level house cleaning I put out.

There is one tatting related question I'd like to put before you today. Now you've likely seen this image, it is the one I have used for my package stickers since I thought that was a good idea...it's been a long time. I figured it was good to have the same image I was using as an avatar everywhere, plus I just liked the picture.

Well, I've switched avatars and I am almost out of stickers for my packages so thought maybe it was time for something new. I totally fell in love with this image. I still can't believe I did it with a phone and I thought it might be a striking ad type image and I could change to that for the sticker.

I asked twitter and they overwhelming supported the change. I asked the facebook fans and they were nearly split down the middle. When I suggested alternating with them in an effort to give the right sticker to the right audience, I was both supported and rebuked as well as they felt consistency is important. The other option is to try and turn my current avatar into an ad, but it's the stark white on the new image that made it perfect for adding text and I would have to make similar adjustments to the avatar image to make it work. I am used to the old image, but leaning toward the change. I really don't know for sure, so I am asking for your opinions as well.

I like The T

Okay, I get it...you win. I say 'picot' all wrong. It's okay though, I've accepted it. I have decided that when I do make my introduction to needle tatting video I will clarify the correct pronunciation and continue saying it wrong because my brain is sort of stuck there. I appreciate that no one was mean nor condescending in their confirmation of my deficiency. In fact I simply appreciate knowing the answer. Being self taught means that unless the book or site tells me something implicitly, I must figure it out myself. I will just qualify the word when I say it wrong...you know so people know that I know and have simply decided not to care.

I wish I had some tatting to share, but alas I got my very first iphone and it sucked my days away. Not shockingly, I also haven't had any sales since I spent far too much money on a phone. I really ought to get to designing something new to attract customer type attention. I've gotten plenty of tatting attention from the new video, but that attention doesn't pay for a ridiculously expensive phone. It does however leave me feeling very flattered by kind and encouraging comments. I have been delighted to hear shuttle tatters impressed and I do truly hope that these go a long way to helping others join the tatting ranks or at the very least understand that is not a dying art and that it is not impossible to learn.

Now to the dark, sullen side. I been feeling the inexplicable urge to complain about something here for some time, but I haven't. You see the Internet has taught me a few things. One of those things is that the world it huge and diverse and yet if you say something untoward about someone on the other side of the country they are going to hear about it. This fact has made it nigh on impossible for me to unburden myself about someone who has been upsetting me for quite some time. I also have no desire to make people chose sides and perhaps lose friends or support over it. I really do understand that just a few words from me will enough for somebody out there to figure out what I'm talking about and the drama will begin, but I am getting frustrated. It has even gotten bad enough that I have finally sent a message, which is direct confrontation and just as stressful for me as the situation itself, requiring that I be the 'mean' one. My stomach is seriously in knots and I hope with all my being that my words don't fall on deaf ears. In conclusion please, I beg you, person I am referring to...stop trying to be me...that is all.

I think I mentioned the husbands vacation from work and that begins today, so I might be a bit scarce as we adventure though I will try to keep up my daily blogging. I might schedule up some wunderkammers with links so I don't have to worry about that either, but who knows. Have a good week either way all!

Elytra Necklace

And here we are back at Monday. Of course this week has far less that needs to be accomplished. I have a dental appointment tomorrow and that, aside from the child's schooling, is the only planned event. Over the weekend, we had the birthday party, some gardening, I planted star jasmine, and a movie, we went to see the Shrek movie with the kids. So I am absolutely still tired this morning, but since it's a holiday, the husband is home and the kids want to go on bike rides.

So I gave you the start of the new elytra necklace and it was not only finished, but sold on Friday. Of course it sold to the fine customer who had requested it, but I shall make another as I too loved the way it turned out. I made several modifications to the pattern so that the elytra would hand at the right intervals. I had also initially tried to tat the elytra directly to the lace, but no matter how loose I made my tension it just immobilized the wing cases, and I wanted them to hang nicely and click together. So in the end I opted to put them all on jump rings and tatted those on instead. I prefer tatting on the rings as opposed to just hanging them from picots. Even though they are very light, I worry about stretching the picots all out of shape with time. Hopefully I'll get the second one done this week so I can list the piece again.

I also got my white feathers in the mail and have started the task of sewing all the elements together for the bridal veil. At first I was a little taken back by the off white of the feathers I received. I was afraid they would look awful with the stark white of the thread, but I was mistaken. The color adds another subtle dimension to the piece. You'll see when I get it done and get you some photos. I also got some feather pads upon which to build the version without the veil. We'll see how that goes. Then I need to pick up some bobby pins to try out the simple flower bobbies that were suggested. All of this may of course take weeks to get all together.

Also one small rant this morning. Dear customers with time sensitive deadlines. When you ask if I can make something in time for event and I reply that I can it would behoove you to make your purchase immediately. Every day you wait, makes it that much harder for me to complete your order because I am damn sure not making it until you make and pay for your purchase. Also, if you decide any time during the course of our conversations that you have changed your mind, you could also drop that bit of information on me as it would relieve quite a bit of stress as I sit here wondering if I'm going to have to knock out a piece in a day or two. Thank you and have a great day.

I Didn't Mean To Rant

Do you ever love and curse a creation at the same time. You know, something that you were so proud of when you first made it that you showed it off to everyone like a five year old at show and tell. Then as time went by and other people began to appreciate the creation and you had to recreate it dozens of times. Seriously, I am beginning to groan a little when people order certain things. Now, don't get me wrong I adore the sales, I want the sales, but the weird thing is that certain pieces seem to sell in spurts. Once one sells after a decent hibernation period they seem to keep selling over and over again until I get to this point and then they stop cold turkey for a long time. Right now, I seem to be in a rare double cycle with both the Portrait collar necklace and the ankle corsets being the repeat sellers. Again, I must make it very clear that the sales are appreciated, but man have I made a lot of these lately. Usually the repeat piece is a mask and I think they only get to me because these are the pieces that need a full day at the least to complete and generally two leaving me little time for...well, me.

So now that that is out of my system, they released another new feature on etsy yesterday, the suggested shop tab. This is located in your favorites section and is apparently created using a complex algorithm that suggests shops based on what you have favorited and what other people who have favorited those same shop have also favorited. Apparently and to much complaint, the list seems to contain what people are referring to as 'popular' shops. I quote because others do. You see if someone has been favorited by a lot of diverse people they will be suggested more. This seems like a fine thing to me. I mean generally when a lot of people love something it can't be all bad, but there is a prevailing sense of 'if it's not helping me personally as a seller, it's a useless or harmful tool.' Honestly, I think some sellers in their quest for equality forget that creating the best shopping experience for customers is better for everyone and forgive me, but there is no equality in a free market. There do in fact exist better shops than others and it does not help the cause if everyone regardless of skill level, professionalism or talent is given the same weight in this environment. I specify because there are many areas in which that sort of equality is paramount.

It's funny, when I used to post these sort of opinions I would run to the etsy forums and link to them for maximum opinion exposure, but no more. I wonder at this point if there are even any other etsians that pop by here anymore without that sort of prompt. It's fine though, sometimes we just need to get it out even if no one listening is concerned. I did not mean for today to be a giant rant fest, but it's off the keyboard now. Today there is more ankle corset tatting and more hoping that ordered supplies come in. Until next time.

Butterfly

I know I said that I'd try to do better for today, but I'm a lying liar and I've got nothing much to share. Most of my day was taken over by butterflies. Yes, butterflies hatching out of their chrysalis all day long. You see my children love insects and not casually. They love them with the passion that has everyone assuming my oldest daughter's career will be entomology, but I digress. We tend to keep insects as pets, the praying mantis for instance, we currently have 4 egg cases waiting to hatch out, and we send away fro caterpillars. This year we got ten of them and, well I already told you what they were doing yesterday. There is only one left to emerge and after a few days of keeping them around, we'll release them hoping that they will stick around the area for a spell.

Aside from the great butterfly rebirth, I was just getting yet another pair of ankle corsets made up. I feels weird to be making the last pieces with this last ball of thread before I upgrade to the cebelia that I ordered this weekend. Of course I do still have to wait for that to arrive and I've yet to get a ship confirmation. I sure hop they actually had all that in stock and I don't have to wait. You would be shocked how quickly I can go through 400 yards of thread...it is mind boggling to me.

I did get my peacock seed pearls in that I ordered to go with the elytra, but those haven't arrived yet. Both packages were coming from Asia so I really didn't except them quickly, but I am anxious to get something beetle covered made. I also got an interesting business proposal yesterday. They requested a shop shipping arrangement where they would list my pieces on their sites and when an inquiry was made...by which I assume they mean purchase, they would then pay me and I would ship to the customer. Well, it seemed like a rather convoluted system and one I would not be able to directly control. I do not keep multiples in stock of anything which is why I will not likely open a store front on any of the other hand made sites. I just don't like that many variables. What if something sells in two places at the same time? Anyway, these folks were also located in Turkey and as much as I love my customers Worldwide, I don't really want to be shipping internationally all the time, it's a pain in the neck. I guess what it really comes down to is that I don't want to do it, so I said so and then they tried again to convince me and I didn't respond. I have no idea what the financial arrangement would have been, though I assume they would want a cut or why bother and I really don't want to make less money for more frustration...I just don't see an upside. Oh, sure there's the 'It'll open up your product to a new customer base'. Fine, that is a legitimate upside, but is it weird that I still don't think it's worth it? I keep having to remind people that although I'm a fairly fast tatter, I'm still just one person making a time intensive craft and I can't handle volume...it's just not possible. I don't have a team of tatting elves chained in my attic. What I do have is two kids, one who is home schooled, a house to take care of and a host of other things that need to be done by me. So thanks for wanting me to wholesale, to drop ship, to expand my tiny empire, but I'm staying in my small storefront though I am still up for a bit of fame...that it all.

It's Only Forever

Wait, what's today? Thursday? Really? Well, there's another week getting away from me. I should really be used to it by now, but the days just float by. I did take new pictures of the now named, 'It's Only Forever' Mask. Seemed the best lyric to name it after it is so related to my 'Hands of Time' necklace. There was no sun so they are dark and I won't go into the sorry state of my skin presently, but you can imagine, that little blending eraser tool in the photo program was most helpful. I feel like I should say that I will go back and take better pictures when the lighting is better, but it would be a big old lie. I never go back and take new picture...I'm just lazy that way.

The new mask did bring up an older piece that I only ever made one of, the eye patch. It was practically useless as you can see through the lace, but it was pretty to wear and let's face it, most people who wear an eye patch, don't actually 'need' to wear an eye patch. So without a pattern again, I shall attempt to recreate that piece. Why worry about the pattern, Pam...make a brand new one?'. 'Well, I would, but then I'd have to take new pictures.' 'Oh, right.'

I did unveil my giveaway yesterday for the recent 400 fan number. I'm leaving the post open until Monday, so there is plenty of time to get an entry in, though that does mean that I will have to mention this again every day until then as the post gets buried beneath other random comments. I know I'm still new to the whole fan page thing, but it really gets on my nerves when people leave a comment saying, oh, love you...please visit my site, or fan me back. I mean I get the whole social network thing, but that just seems pushy & well, rude. It also seems a bit pointless, I mean a fan that's just there to get you to fan their page may not even like your work and if you just fan people you don't like, what good are you to them really? I would rather have 5 fans who really enjoy my work than 100 that are there simply because I plied them with sugar. Of course this too makes me epically rude right?

I am proud that I haven't gone on another rant that I'm keeping bottled up. I really want to dole out some unsolicited advice...really badly. There's someone out there making what my experiences tell me are bad decisions and I couldn't decide whether it's better to help them with advice they didn't ask for or let them find out for themselves. I have decided to let them sink or swim on their own as I would hate to give the advice and have it not work for them...or maybe I'm just a bit of a sadist. Either way, I'm staying out of it, I'll just keep ranting at my husband. I'm sure he's thrilled to read that.

Ah, Memories

When I first started blogging it was for one reason alone, because the etsy forums told me to. That's right...in the beginning I spent most of my spare time in the forums, taking advice, giving advice, wasting precious time and amassing a head full of unexpressed opinions. When I started the blog, I let them out, the opinions, in a long stream of crazy. Well, the opinions weren't necessarily crazy, the stream of them however was. I bring this up because I got a comment on an older post yesterday and that prompted me to read that post. It's from July '08 and I of course remembered it only as I read it. I was defending the art of keeping some information to yourself regarding selling crafts. The extra funny is that reading it now I see all sorts of fortune telling in it. I spoke of wanting to get more tatters, but being glad there weren't so many that I worried of being copied. Seriously, if you follow my rantings, go read Proprietary and laugh a bit at it all. It was a time before this was my business and livelihood, a time before I had been copied and most laughable a time before I had done some of the very things that I warned against doing. Apparently the lesson was forgotten after I wrote it all down. Of course now that I have read it again, I am reminded, so maybe I needed that rant to come back. Who knows...it's still funny given what has happened since.

Again, I fear I have come to you with no tatting to bear. I finished a mask and began on some more of the secret project pieces. I have the two custom necklaces to get the hardware on today and after they have arrived at their new owners home, I can reveal both of them. I did however have a tatting dream. Okay, maybe not a whole dream, but in the twilight before waking I imagined a new mask pattern. What? It happens. This one will be a split ring design which is a bit ironic given how annoyed I get at split rings...always re threading the needle and whatnot. Anyway, it will be made in a split ring design in the vein of this necklace and I think I worked most of the particulars out whilst lying in bed. Of course it could all fall apart with the thread and wire in my hand, but them's the breaks.

I'll probably give it a go later today. I should also really order supplies soon. I am horrible at keeping crystals and whatnot stocked. Heck, I just ordered business cards once I was down to like a dozen. Lucky for me they came in time. Now, I'm back to thinking about myself before this was all a business venture. Oh, how the mind set has changed. I mean, I still tat and even design because I love too, but now I need the sales and I stress the competition. What a difference that license makes. I should have gotten it right from the start, legally of course, but I guess I am glad I worked up to this. I couldn't imagine jumping in feet first and trying to be at this level...would have drowned I'm sure...would have drowned. Well, back to the tatting then.

1000!!!

Well, good morning Monday and March. Friday afternoon I was granted my 1000th sale on etsy by one of my most supportive customers. I have to tell you it was a spectacular feeling for about 10 whole minutes. Why only that long? Well, I am an over thinker and I almost immediately began thinking about what was next. After this mighty milestone that took nearly 4 years to reach, what do I lay my sights on? It can't be 2000, a goal that far in the future does not create the necessary pull to action to keep me moving. I'm sure I will come up with something though, sooner or later. Right now, I will just say a very sincere Thank You, to everyone who has bought a little something and all of you who have supported my work and me...Thank You.

Moving on then...I do have one more thing to look forward to this month, the 2 year anniversary of this blog...I know 'I've only been babbling for two years?' and the 1 year anniversary of the Wunderkammer blog. I have an idea for a new segment for the Wunderkammer that I need to flesh out so I can unveil it at the end of the month, but I'm not sure what I will do for the old tatting blog. I'm sure I'll think of something by the 17th.

You probably guessed that I don't have any new tatting to share. I spent the better part of the weekend finishing up the face mask that was lost in the post and working on remaking sold pieces. I even got taken away from my secret project which I need to get back to today. All this milestone business has taken me back to simpler times when I sold something maybe once a week and could spend as much time working on something new as I wanted, but then no one was expecting much from me either. Now, there are expectations from all sorts of folks not the least of which is myself. Must keep swimming. That actually brings me to another point for today.

When I started my tatting and etsy adventure, the tatting landscape was drastically different. There were very few tatters selling online and none on etsy. In that way, I have blazed a trail that is now filled with old and new tatters, some successful and some not. I truly believe I have only succeeded in that I have not given up. It sucked at first, trust me, but I had no reason to stop so I didn't. It took years to establish myself and in those years I never once worried about being copied. Those days are over. I've been copied, I've been shadowed and my ideas have been appropriated. Now the copying I can do something about, but ideas can not be copyrighted and there is little that can be done to stop the creation of knockoffs in the fashion world nor in our little world. I'm saying all this because I've not the only person that has been 'knocked off'. I want to say for me and the other folks that this happens to, that while there will be people who will always buy knock offs, there are others who will appreciate the true originals. We cannot expend too much energy worrying about what creations someone else will rip off next. We just have to keep moving forward hoping that we stay one step ahead of them. I know it can be little consolation when an idea you work so hard to bring to fruition is seemingly snatched away, but that's all I've got.

So to recap, 1000 sales, remaking lots of stuff, secret project going okay, anniversaries coming up and ripping off ideas bad, but what are ya gonna do. See you tomorrow.