International Tatting Day

Those of you you've been reading awhile are probably aware that today is International Tatting Day. To those of you who are new this year, It is, I assure you, a real, albeit unfortunately timed, holiday. The traditional celebration ritual has been established as tatting some lace and eating some chocolate. Clearly this is a holiday that is easy to celebrate.

What may be slightly less traditional, is my own personal celebration ritual. For that last few years
I've been designing a pendant to sell at a very low price for this day only and more recently the pattern as well. This year I'm adding a second pattern too. I hope that by offering a small bit of lace cheaply, it can fly to new people exposing tatting to more places. I also hope that by offering the pattern, those that already practice our art can create something new to share with others as well.

This years design is a a simple piece that is my own version of a
classic design. The outer rings create a bit of a swirl around the beaded center, so I'm calling it the Swirl Flower. All three listings are up in the shop now. They will continue to be available after today, but the price of the pendant will double and the patterns will go up to $3.25 tomorrow, the 2nd. As usual, the pendant is available in any thread color I have on hand. I'll be making them to order so, depending on the number of pendants that sell, it may take up to a week to get them all out. I'm really crossing my fingers that I sell a ton of them, so please pick one up if you can!

The pendant listing is here or click on the picture above. The matching pattern is here, or click on the image to the right. The pattern is written for needle tatting, though I'm certain that it can be accomplished with shuttle as well. I can't really help with that though as you know me and the shuttle have a long standing grudge. The extra pattern this year is for my Fenestra pendant. It's a slightly more complex design, though I was planning on offering something bigger as well, I think I procrastinated out of time to do so. The listing for that one is here or click the picture to the left.

So, that's it then. I really hope that you like the piece and the patterns. I'm a bit nervous about them as usual. So, do share these links around, or at least share tatting with someone new. Wear some lace around or sit at tat at the mall with some tasty chocolate and try to ignore the April fooling going about.

I Knocked This Time

My hand is poised above my desk ready to knock just as soon as the next sentence has escaped from the keyboard. What a great sales day yesterday was (Knock, knock, knock). I assure you that those knocks were the written representation of actual superstition filled knocks. I had one customer order a single slave bracelet and request another to match and one of my best return customers requested a custom size and embellished necklace. These tasks kept me quite busy all day. Well that and the kids have decided that they are both sick again which makes them an extra handful. It doesn't seem likes its going to get too bad right now (knock, knock, knock), but it means they were extra needy and the oldest thought doing school was medieval torture. We did school anyway and yet she lives, so she is clearly not dying.

Hopefully they wake in better shape as our day is a full one. The kitties are getting carted off to the vet for more shots and then later this afternoon we have a school field trip to a Fire Station which means no nap or at best a short one. Luckily I am all caught up with the orders that needed making and they will all be in the mail today. Of course I really need a week of orders like yesterday to make up for not only the holiday shopping, but things like replacing bad hard drives and other 'but I need it' moments that I have succumbed to during the most expensive time of the year.

Before I head off into the day I wanted to send a thank you out into the world. Thanks to miss Tatting Chic. Her concern for me over protecting my work was greatly appreciated as was the end of our conversation where I was privy to a most enjoyable rant. Seriously people I love when people let their opinions out regarding certain nutters. No, I'm not sharing...that would be mean, but trust me, it's clearly not you. The point I was trying to make is a personal thank you and a general one to all my other tatting and crafting friends who look out for me and each other in this crazy Internet place. I'm wishing you much returned karma for your kindness. Now I'm off into the real world and the weekend. Have a good one.

Adapting

So I do have something to share today. First I was being a good little girl, staying on point, making the sold pieces, but as I predicted I got bored. I decided to use some hand dyed thread to make another of Jane's flurry snowflakes, this time as a gift for an older lady that tried to learn tatting from me. Well, she did learn and then promptly forgot, but that's another story. As I rounded the side on the snowflake I became increasingly intrigued with just the tips. They would make great earrings...great clock hand earrings. I knew I really shouldn't muck with a pattern that didn't belong to me, but I couldn't help myself. This is the first one I made in the same hand dyed thread.

Then I thought, you know it does look like a clock hand, but the short one. I really ought to make the long one to match. This one took a bit more fiddling yo get just right. In fact I went through four iterations of the design. I know there are only three pictured, the first one was that bad. By the end I was working the inner round separate from the outer, but I think that gives it better symmetry. The last version is on the right here and is likely the one I'll stop with.

Now the sad bit, I won't be making these for sale at all. Since so much of the inspiration and design belongs to someone else, it was not meant to be. Let's just call it an exercise in adapting. I might of course start from scratch, excising the original design from my brain and  trying my own clock hand since I have become fond of the idea. Hopefully though I become so busy that I haven't the time to worry about it. This is another reason I do try to stay away from modern patterns as I tend to get every pattern I work under my skin and my natural inclination is to adapt them. I hope that you enjoyed looking a them though. I know I enjoyed making them.

Now it's back to a that remaking and the sales rain down dance as I have spent far too much money on the holiday gifts that are starting to be delivered and I must sell enough to justify my gifting. You hear that Internet Sales Fairy...send sales...please. I have inserted the requisite kitty picture offering. I hope that it is acceptable.

Ummm

Well, I have like nothing of consequence to share today...nothing. I did get a couple of sales yesterday during the Cyber Monday shopping and this time the coupon code got used, so I guess my earlier assessment of failure was premature. Perhaps the lesson is that Cyber Monday is a real thing and next year I'll just wait and have the one day sale event instead. Of the orders I received a few were pieces quickly remade and again we have a custom sized piece. I marvel at the ability I seem to have developed over these last few years to slightly adjust a pattern to size without upsetting the overall design. I do not marvel at my complete inability to note any of these changes for future use however. I will just have to make it all up again if I ever need to make similar adjustments in the future.

So today is more schooling, a bit of cleaning and trying to keep everything made. There will of course be more than a couple of pieces that will fall through the cracks until after the holidays and I admit to a hankering to make a few one of a kind pieces lately. In fact the biggest obstacle to that is my lack of desire to take pictures in the relatively sunless winter. I guess we'll see how it goes. Well, look at that, nothing to say and I managed two full paragraphs. I sure can babble with the best of them. See you tomorrow with perhaps something interesting to say.

Thank You Internet Fairy

Well my deal with the Internet Fairy was a mixed bag. I am not typing here magically healed from what ails me. The cold, rather than disappear, has taken to morphing into different versions of itself. My ears got so clogged that at one point over the weekend I blew my nose, lost hearing in one ear and experienced some incredible vertigo. The Internet told me this was not an unusual occurrence and as everything quickly resolved itself, nothing to worry about. It was however, terribly unpleasant. I told you the Fairy was a mixed bag because on the sales front that gal delivered. I have had sixteen sales since Friday after I wrote. This of course means that my 200 has not stuck, though I did try and fight it at first, remaking as fast as I could, but as it turns out I m not actually a tatting machine.

I also got a great little bit of news from my first customer on Friday, there was a feature on tatting and tatters on Mr. X Stitch. It's an incredible embroidery and needlework blog that I have been fortunate to be featured on in the past. The post up on Friday featured not only myself, but had many kind words for the craft and features on some of my other favorite shuttle and needle slinging folk. So if you haven't run across it yet, go read it...I'll wait...Didn't she say some incredibly flattering things? I know...I'm spoiled.

Somehow over the weekend I also came up with a new earring design. This one uses the same basic pattern as the vintage one I used for my recent Scallop bracelet. I just took a single motif from the design added a bit at the top and there you have it. They are frickin huge, but I have already sold the first pair, so I'll list another later today. I also have a mask to make and as you might imagine quite a few more pieces on my plate. I also got to use the coupon code on etsy for the first time. I've been sending one out with orders as a bounce back discount, very small one, but I had one redeemed that I created for a large order. I have to say, I'm pretty impressed with the way they work. Thanks etsy!

My daughter has the week off from school, but that just means I have a little more time to keep the house clean for Thanksgiving hosting duties and try my damnedest to keep the shop well stocked for the holidays. You can't sell what's not made and listed, so I must get my slave elf on healthy or no. The most wonderful time of the year.

Weekend Recap

What a weekend. The sales started on Friday with a couple of masks which put me in a right pleasant mood. We headed off to the Ren Faire on Saturday knowing I had a few extra pennies to justify the trip. This is the first time we've made more than one trip over in a season and it is odd being recognized by the denizens, but we did have a lovely time.

I had been getting a bit grumpy over a recent trend of folks asking if I could somehow customize a pieces, size, color, etc., and then seemingly disappearing into the mist. Well, a couple of those reemerged and there were also more mask sales waiting when I got home. I, however couldn't get to much on Sunday as my Mother was moving and though we missed the bulk of the carrying phase, we were just in time for the assembling phase. I put together a table and chairs, started the entertainment stand, but a vital piece of hardware was missing. You know the kind that must be acquired from the manufacturer. That then was the end of my task. Of course my poor husband was left helping to cart over a refrigerator and washer and dryer, so I won't be complaining.

So that leaves me with a custom listing up waiting for payment and further instructions that I will need to get to straight away and a necklace I need to finish for shipping tomorrow. There was a veil that needed expedited shipping for a wedding this coming week, thankfully UPS is open today. Now there are also a handful of masks that need remaking. I won't re list any of them as custom until after the holiday so I don't get any 'make it now and ship it now' orders. I will try to get them remade as this is really the last week that things can reasonably be expected to ship by Halloween.

I also have a field trip for my daughter later this week not to mention her regular schooling. I suspect that I might be a bit focused on getting things done and that this headache that I woke up with is going to stay with me much of the week. I also predict a boring, picture-less blog for the week as I have no time to return to the halter top idea now. My apologies in advance.

Ambrosius, The Tatted Choker

I got that bracelet done yesterday, but while taking photos of it I realized that it needed another hook in the middle to survive. I suppose that's the good thing about needing to take modeled photos of a new piece. It gets gently worn and I get to see how it would handle on a person. But, Pam, you're thinking, you don't just wear all your jewelry? No, my friends, I do not. Occasionally, if I am going to a public event of some sort, I will remember a pendant or perhaps a bracelet, but most days it's just my metal earrings and my rings. Sure, I could sport a tatted ring, but I am so ridiculously rough on my hands that even my platinum wedding ring is pretty roughed up. Wow, did I just digress there...so, I put another hook on the end and the bracelet was fine.

After using the power of twitter to name and list the bracelet, I decided I needed a matching choker, so that is what I spent the better part of the day working on. Like the bracelet only twice the length, it tatted up fairly quickly. The only exception was the fill in work of those little diamonds. Cutting and tying and hiding ends makes for tedious, time consuming work. I even thought of leaving them out, but while the design is certainly interesting, it was far too free standing or open and I fear would not have stood up to much use.

Let's see, what else...no, I never heard back from the potential mask buyer. I shall assume that she was really trying to get the piece for free or ridiculously cheap and free advertising or not, that is not going to happen. I know most of us tat for the sheer joy and challenge, but I have bills man. I was fortunate to get a healthy sale yesterday though payment was painfully slow. In fact I only just now woke up to it. I was terrified that it was going to be yet another abandoned sale and I was getting a tad depressed. Etsy is still working on implementing an express payment system which requires payment at the time of purchase, but some sellers need the ability to charge different sales taxes based on zip code and this was apparently not anticipated. They've made the tax change so the checkout should be here soon...not soon enough, but soon.

I saw a couple more patterns hiding in the new pieces that I want to try out, so if I get a chance I'll work on that. I thankfully have a few other pieces that need to be remade now, so there is that as well. Looking forward to the weekend as the Nor Cal Renaissance Faire begins this weekend to apparently good weather, so we'll be heading there for a day. The children adore it and I need my yearly fix of strange fair food. Sadly there will be no frivolous shopping as sales are too slow to justify it, but a day out, is a day out and the people watching is top notch. Enjoy your weekend all!

My Apologies

Alright, I get it...I'm an impatient schmuck. I blame the Internet. It has taught me to expect instant gratification in all things and I should know better. I am glad that folks do in fact like my little moth and so here's a much larger picture of one to help with the pattern. You should be able to click on the image and get a really big version of it. This one was tatted onto a lapel pin with a ring at the end. I simply worked the head stitches on the ring and though it was a tight fit toward the end they all fit.

I was also lucky enough yesterday to sell my eye patch, so I remade one. The whole time I was working on it though I was called by a piece of prototype scrap on the table. I knew I wanted to try something with the the pattern and as soon as I got a minute I started fiddling with the design.

It started as a bit of the pattern for my petite goth bracelet. I got rid of the individual small rings in exchange for one big one. I thought I could just keep going with the design, but I miscalculated a bit and I needed to go back and fill in the small middle diamonds. The change to the bigger rings did one great thing though, even with the fill in work, this sucker worked up really fast and with the extra decorative picots it still looks plenty detailed. I haven't even pressed it yet, but I hope to get it finished up and listed today.

We had park day for my daughters home school yesterday and the middle of the week event I fear has put an odd spin on the week. I woke up this morning with an awful headache, I assume brought on by heat or allergies, so I wish I could say I had high hopes for today, but I don't. I also had a strange evening exchange with a potential buyer for my Masquerade mask. A discount was requested in exchange for advertisement to a rather sizable Internet audience. I hemmed and hawed over it, finally offered what I was willing to knock off and after another short exchange, I still have not heard back. I really am not sure which way I wanted this to go. Sure, I would love to sell the mask, but I really don't want to compromise on price. This is that whole, if I want to be respected as an artist, I can't sell myself short and I know how much work went into it. They also inquired about just borrowing the piece, but when tatted mask meet makeup, the mask looses. With my other masks washing them is easy and the mask recovers, but this one is coated in crystals and sequins over more wire, even hand washing does not seem practical. So there is every possibility that the whole exchange will have been for naught. Though I do now feel encouraged to start on another show piece of some sort...not today, but perhaps in the let down after the holidays that's what I'll do. I will of course let you know if it goes the other way and where it has gone, should it go and now I think I shall go.

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.

Tuesday Has A Hard Act To Follow

I know I said I would get that bracelet listed yesterday, but I didn't. I never even got the camera out to try better pictures. Well, I did take a picture of what turned out to be a huge katydid on the side of the house, but that is really neither here nor there.

I started the day remaking the small things I sold over the weekend, the pity birthday sales. Not that I am not grateful for each and every one, but I was honestly a little sad that an incentive like a free gift only netted a few tiny sales. In fact it contributed to the overall low mood during the weekend. That was all undone last night as the sales began pouring in for no apparent reason. Even this morning as I look over the analytics data I can see nothing out of the ordinary. There was no spike in traffic from any source, it just seems that more of the people visiting had just gotten paid or something. What else was so nice about Monday's sales, even though I had to cancel a large one this morning because the customer misread the listing and thought I was selling the shoes and that would normally be devastating, I still feel fine. So, go Monday, you rock.

Today will be spent making a pair of sold ankle corsets and since they generally take two days and I started them late yesterday, that is all I will be doing. Tomorrow will be spent remaking the necklaces and bracelets that sold and after so much new creation lately, it's nice to get into production mode for a spell. It also coincides nicely with the home school jump start I'm up to. After several failed attempts to get into the newly redesigned online school, we were off like a rocket yesterday. At two weeks until the official start to school. I'm hoping we can earn ourselves a nice safety bumper against those off days where nothing is bound to get done.

I'm also working with my thread dying genius to match a color for a special wedding party. The kicker, the color is the same as my hair. No, not the purple part, the blue and yes, that is the color they are trying for...well it's not just my hair that is this color, but it is the hair dye shade that they want. I actually ordered some commercial thread to see if it would match and while it's close, I think we'll keep trying to dye it. Oh and a special thank you to Barbara Foster at Handy Hands for superb customer service. Along with the blue thread I had ordered some other colors to try and was sent one wrong ball. I used the simple order contact form and was quickly responded to and offered the correct color. I have always recommended their site to new tatters and will continue to do so. So for all your tatting needs that's hhtatting.com.

Such Great Heights

What a day. When I say hat please believe I am not exaggerating...well maybe a bit, but still. The kids were entertaining my Grandfather, the weather was lovely and I was getting plenty of work done on the new ankle corset design. In fact things were just humming right along. I saw what will be the bracelet in the design and reached a fairly good point. Then grandpa left to get his brakes looked at which would eventually take him all day as they kept getting the wrong parts. This is where the day took a turn...I went to fetch the mail.

This is the point in the day where I learned that due to increased taxes, my mortgage is going up three hundred dollars a month. I don't know about you, but I really haven't budgeted for that sort of amount. Sure, we'll figure it out, there are worse things that could happen, but it still turned my stress levels up to 'yikes'. I resolved that I must maintain more consistent sales in order to combat the new bill, unfortunately I'm not certain how. The stress level remained there as I was kindly consoled by twitter friends and several people offered up the sentiment of hoping for more customers for me.

Oddly enough it worked... I think. I sold a pair of ankle corsets fairly quickly after all this and abandoned my ankle corset design to begin work on them. Then the roller coaster took me down one more peg with the news that though kitty's thyroid was being perfectly controlled by her medication, her urine revealed a large bacterial load despite a course of antibiotics. This of course means more expensive tests to determine the exact bacteria so I can give her the best expensive medicine to get rid of it. So one up and one down. Also had the entire family over for dinner which always magnifies everything.

At this point I am emotionally exhausted, but I received one more sale before bedtime and word of a potentially large wedding sale on the horizon if I can acquire the proper thread color. I was also contacted to be included in a design journal and I'll let you know more details about that one when it gets closer. So to recap, the day was a roller coaster and I am hoping for a smoother going today because when the ups are paired with such great lows it really never evens out, does it?

Golden

I had another one of 'those' days fraught with ant incursions, various cat messes to undo and an unpleasant desire to clean and fix things I ought to have left alone. Sure I started the day off well enough, got one sepia edition piece remade and listed then went onto get photos of the newest necklace. Once listed it was surprisingly well received. I thought perhaps I'd gone a little crazy with the chains and was going to receive the 'that's um...nice', but it seems folks liked the dramatic draping, go figure.

This however is where the day began to go south. Well that's not entirely true, I actually woke to a two front ant invasion, but one thing I could handle, it's the piling on of things that drives me batty. While cleaning up one mess I was confronted with a destroyed looking kids room, so I cleaned that. Then I felt compelled to finish hanging pictures. The day went on like that well into the evening discovering another cat mess, cleaning, fixing, etc. Each time I sat down I was again beckoned to another minor disaster. Remember when I said I 'liked' staying home', well some days not so much.

I worked a bit more of the scarf, but not enough to show you, thought about getting a Sepia edition boutonniere made, but never even started, unless you count getting out a gold label pin to work on. I'm also dealing with the aftermath of the worst sales month in some time, I made half of what I did last July which given my advertising efforts makes my doubly sad and so far this month shows no sign of improving. Since August is usually a very dry month I don't actually expect it to either, so I need to shift into production mode mentally and physically for the impending holidays and try to ignore it. Now if only the ants and cats and kids would get on board with the plan, we'd be golden.

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.

Tatted Bobbies

I don't know if you ever fully appreciate how awesome you all are for putting up with my nearly manic depressive swings. I think a fragile, but easily inflated ego must be required of all those that create. We soar with the good days and crash at the drop of a hat. Lucky for me though, I have nice stable family and well...all you people to help keep me even.

Monday was a fine day around here. There were kind words, new customers and I finally worked out the last piece of the bobby pin puzzle. You see I had purchased some silver plate bobbies with a glue pad on them. They seemed the best quality to work with though I honestly had no idea how I was going to get my little flowers onto the end without either showing said glue pad or actually using glue. I think glue is fine and dandy, but it would still eave an unfinished looking back and I would be constantly afraid that they would be pulled apart once they leave my possession. So I tried a few different methods including cutting out a little ring of cloth to sew it to. Not happy with the results there at all. It's sturdy, but I wanted these to be inexpensive and adding the sewing adds to the time it takes to make them.

So what I ended up doing was tatting a single ring and putting it behind the pad. Then when I added the back row of petals I pulled the need through the stitches in the ring before I went into the picot. This effectively sandwiched the glue pad between the ring and the flower. No glue required, these suckers aren't going anywhere and it increases my creation time only slightly. Of course I still have to sew on the crystal. I did try just adding a bead to the center, but I wasn't happy with that either. Too much glue pad showing behind it. They are sussed out now and since they work up fairly quickly I've got three pairs done. I might get a few more color combos done today or later this week, but I don't want to make too many colors and waste crystals since they are the one thing I forgot to order more of this last go round.

I also worked on making some new colors of my Victoriana pieces, the necklaces and earring. I got the grape purple and a silver color of Lizbeth when I was ordering some for a custom order and even though I find the thread slightly smaller than others of the same size and it's a little stiff for my taste, they are lovely shades and I might as well use them. I need to assemble them and get photos today. You know it is funny that all it took was a single sale to get all this creative energy back. All the comments yesterday helped as well, thank you. Well I'm off to it for the day, enjoy yours.

Rock Bottom

So I have a confession this morning, I had a bit of an emotional breakdown over the weekend. You see when I woke up this morning, I received my first sale since Monday...Monday. Now I know I have had these dry spells before and I was trying to keep up a strong front last week. I still had a list of things to make so I was going to be just fine. Then Sunday came and I think that was my creative limit. I had to face the fact that my ability to create is fed directly by the consumption of my pieces. If there is nowhere for them to go when finished, what is the motivation for creating at the volume that I do? Sure you can keep a few things, give away a few creations and I'd still be tatting a bit here and there, but eventually it becomes more of a hassle than it's worth. That is of course what happened to me and knitting. Eventually I had made everyone a scarf, a teddy bear, a blanket and I had made myself far too many things to justify buying more yarn.

My etsy sales are my justification, my excuse to buy new supplies, to try new things , to grow and expand without it being something others would call a waste of time. So thank you to everyone out there that has ever bought a piece from me. Thank you for giving me a good reason to create. I wish I could get all art for arts sake on you, but I have no desire to be a starving artist and I'm quite sure that my family wouldn't appreciate it either. While I'm at it, thank you for buying anything handmade that gives any artisan keeping creative works alive an excuse to keep going, because I am certain that I'm not the only one who needs the financial backing to keep on creating.

I did list a couple of new things over the weekend as I got new supplies in on Friday before I got too depressed. I had been trying to find brass colored chain for a while, but I only recently found some I liked. I wanted it so I could step away from the shiny silver for a bit and do some more Steampunk inspired pieces. Of course my version of a Steampunk piece is still really more NeoVictorian, but it's the color palette that is important with these pieces. The first one on the left here started with the same motif I used with the giant opalite only I couldn't locate the book again so I used the photo for reference and I'm pretty sure, rewrote the pattern in the process. I hung a flower from it rather than search for a color appropriate charm and I rather like the result.

The other piece is using that same flower again...I think I might be leaning on it just a bit too much, but it is awfully useful. This is the same design I came up with last week in black, only this time I added gears to the brass chain. Again I know the whole gear thing is overplayed, but I think the single gear is more of an accent and the flowers are still the main focus. I have also been told and I agree that this color palette is much more appealing to those that like natural or earth tones. It is much less flashy than the silver and black, but it still retains a bit of edge which is important to me.

I did also get my bobby pins in and had fully intended to get them made and listed, but that whole no sales thing really just sucked my will to create away. Thank the gods someone finally made a purchase. Hopefully that boost will be enough to keep me creating for a spell in case it was a fluke in a much longer dry spell. I did check out last years numbers and I suffered an eight day drought last June amongst an otherwise consistent sales pattern. I'm hoping this was just the one drought I was going to suffer. Okay, I have now talked about it far too much. I'm off to start the week on a better foot.

What I've Done & Will Do

It's always hard to stay on task when you're waiting to go to a dentist appointment. Since I knew I was getting a cavity filled, I was anticipating discomfort at an epic scale. Of course the reality of the situation was fairly uneventful. There was a bit of discomfort and only an hour of my life given away to the gods of oral hygiene, so when I returned I got to work.

I drilled up some some elytra and got the necklace completed again. I can make the first row of the design before the elytra are ready so I did that the day before. The hardest part of the design is the beetle wing part. I have to lay them all out in order making sure they all match in size and side and then tat them into the second row. I must watch out out for encroaching cats and kids as they threaten to disturb the carefully laid out pieces. Then I must deal with the thread constantly wrapping about the wings and tangling as I add each new one to the line. I tell you these things just so you see how hard I work lest you think I make this all look like cake.

I also sourced some bobby pins for the new flower bobbies to match the veils and I also got another set of the pieces that make up the motif done. I may get around to sewing them to the feather pad, though I'm still not certain whether comb of clip is the preferred method of wearing a piece like this. I did a little Internet searching and could find no conclusive information either way. Perhaps I'll do an informal twitter poll later to get a feeling of what people would prefer. Me, I'd pick the comb, but that's because I have ridiculously thin hair and can slide clips right out of it.

I also promised an author friend a mask and collar set that I finally started working on yesterday too, so I'll likely go back to that throughout the next couple of weeks. It's not a time sensitive project so it's on the when I have free time burner. I did May's sale numbers yesterday and it was a fairly sad month and June began sale-less as well. If things continue in this manner, I shall have enough unspoken for time to complete all these projects as soon as all the supplies have been acquired. Speaking of acquiring supplies...I made an order with Fire Mountain Gems yesterday...my wallet hurts, bad. That is all.

Yet Another Neck Corset

Let's see first off, I did get some pictures of the new neck corset/collar/necklace piece. Again, I really didn't get the magnitude of the thing until I got it laced up. It is just another of my pieces that I personally have no place to wear. Seriously, no place. Once I get around to the matching cuff bracelets, this piece will likely be heading off to another photographer. That doesn't mean it won't eventually make it into the shop, but I have to tell you the price tag on these suckers will not be for the faint of heart. Like most of my larger creations, they were created simply for the process. You know, the 'I wonder if I can?' whispering in my ear, not to move a hundred pieces.

I spent the rest on the day making a recently ordered mask and a pair of ankle corsets. The ankle corsets are far from complete so that will be most of my day today. I do get my supplies in for the embellished collar, but we apparently live in the neighborhood of delivery limbo. We tend to get our packages at eight in the evening and even with the curtains open and the lights on, they rarely even deign to knock on the door. It is seriously annoying to have to constantly check the porch to see if a delivery has come... I'm looking at you UPS. Ring the damn doorbell, it's a freaking button not a torture device. How hard is that?

Anyway, so there's the ankle corsets, then onto the cuffs, then perhaps some more remaking as I also sold my headband and that's another time consuming creation. Oh and I need to get a pendant made up for the intatters exchange. At least that task will be quick. It's sort of funny, every time there is a lull in my sales, I want to complain a bit, but as I have discovered in the past and really should just think immediately, use the time you're granted wisely as you never know when you'll be swamped again and can get nothing significant done. You know, like now.

Here Comes The Cat

The Universe has brought the sales back, though I fear by mentioning it I will have jinxed it entirely. The other issue is what is the Universe trying to tell me...that if I whine the sales will return? That seems like a bad message to send Universe. Perhaps you were actually telling me that if I work hard and focus on other things that the sales will return. Yes, I think I shall choose that answer. What was I working hard on you ask? Why, my next Wonderland piece, of course. Yes, the mask that was suggested...I am making it.

At first I thought you were mad, but as I could not come up with a proper pendant or necklace design...I though maybe you were not so insane after all and I sat down during the children's nap time and began to think. The first hurdle was to design the great green eyes. I took a triangle motif and tatted it on the inside of the eye wire. This was not an easy task. In fact, this was the point where I cursed your suggestion with great vim and vigor. I managed to get both the eye created after much fancy crochet hook work.

The second challenge was of course the striping on the the cats head. I am working off of the new Tim Burton designs. If you haven't seen them yet, go look now...I'll wait. Anyway, this bit meant that I was going to be using two colors, which I don't enjoy doing with the needle. This is the one time I wish I could shuttle tat better. The long cut threads are always tangling and making things more complicated than they really are. I decided to not reinvent the wheel and used an existing mask design and merely picked the spots for the colors.

Next challenge up for today are the ears and a second row that will reinvent the wheel a bit. For this piece I am using all hand dyed threads as well. They seemed to be the perfect colors to make this one come to life. Once that second row is done another challenge will be to wrap those eye wires with the tatting on both sides. I predict that there will be cursing. I am not certain how comfortable the mask will be with the green on the eye, but it will be wearable and I suppose most masks are particularly comfortable anyway.

I did get an order that I need to make up, so the cat might be on a break for the day, but I feel like the design is working up so quickly that it should be done very soon. Of course I still haven't decided what embellishments if any this one will have. It seems only right given the other jewel encrusted pieces in the collection that this have some sort of shiny, perhaps some filament running through the blue, or I could hand a string of glass pearls from the corners making a smile...though that might be terrible annoying to wear. Well, as you can see, I'm not done with Wonderland just yet. I hope you're enjoying my trip down the rabbit hole.

Posies

Well, let's see. we can start off today with the photo of the new Mad Hatter style piece. I decided to call the piece, To Pick A Perfect Posy, because who doesn't love a little alteration in their titles. To those of you who swore that making the chain would get easier...you were right. The second go around, my hand was only slightly numb from the plier grip and the links are more consistent as well. I'm not saying that I'm going to start making chains for everything, but it does give the piece that added extra something. It is always nice to extend ones skill set a bit as well. I keep saying that I will take that wire wrapping class one day...it might never happen, but I'll get the skills eventually.

Once this piece was done, I sat around wondering what I should do next. Sales have been unmercifully slow. In fact, had it not been for that etsy moment on their fan page, I would have just had nearly a week of no sales. I really do hate complaining because I know so many wonderful sellers that can't seem to crack into regular sales and I seem disingenuous when I know that they have never gotten sales like mine. So what's a gal to do? Anyway, I did remember that I hadn't remade the slave to the starburst slave bracelet, so I got that one made as well. Then I made a grand daisy pendant in the new turquoise shade to be listed later today.

I still have masks that are listed as custom that I should get made and I could get back to the tatted gloves. I'm also still toying with something to make for the Cheshire Cat and a few other Wonderland creatures, but even though the reception of the pieces has been lovely here and on the facebook page, I'm not sure they even have buyers out there...that's probably just the lack of sales bringing me down though. I shall have patience, things will turn about eventually. In the meantime, I shall keep working and creating and moving forward. Ah, there's nothing like a pep talk to yourself in the morning...I feel like I should follow with some , 'You are a good person, people like you'...nah, that's just weird.

Turquoise

Good morning Monday. I'm afraid that it wasn't an amazingly productive weekend. No surprise features, no spikes in views and this crazy no sales for days thing is beginning to get me down a bit. So much so, that I am actually starting to do something about not having any advertising. Not something swift of course, but I'm moving on it. I have to remind myself that it is generally slow this time of year, though I have not been selling masks for Mardi Gras, nor have I made any heart related sales. I guess lace is not the gift of the year.

I did get a little work done as I received a package of hand dyed thread I had been anxiously awaiting. Initially, it was just to be replacement for the much used deep purple, but I got a light purple, a emerald green and a turquoise. The turquoise is a special one, since this is the first time I have acquired a shade specifically because it's suppose to be the color of the year. Yeah, I have no idea how many people buy into this stuff, but it can't hurt to at least attempt to represent the color in my shop. I used it first for a custom order, then I decided that the best first step was an Immortal Corsage bracelet.

The thread has a bit of variation in the color which I do like. While, I don't generally like variegated hand dyed thread, I like the subtle variations on the solid colors that seem to give the piece just a bit more depth. I also got started on the first 'normal' colored version of the Mad Hatter piece. I think I was right, the design seems to have translated well to a more subtle version. Oh, don't get me wrong, it's still a big piece with a lot going on, but the color scheme will make it more wearable I think. I did this one in purples using the new and old hand dyed shades, along with a lavender. I don't have any pictures as I made this one yesterday over at the in-laws house...waiting for the commercials to begin. Okay, yes I watched that game thing too, but we go for food and commercials. I've still got the chain to make yet, so it won't be finished until tomorrow most likely.

I will be pulling a winner on my first facebook giveaway later this morning. I'm pretty impressed with the number of entries and the ego boost from the comments is nice. I think I will plan to do these at every hundred fans. I suppose that's a fairly good incentive for people to stick around and follow my meanderings. I am also starting to gear up for a load of anniversaries coming up, the etsy store is turning 4 in April, this blog is almost 2 and the Wunderkammer turns 1 about the same time. Funny, how time flies. There will likely be a HUGE TotusMel event to incorporate all these events...something that will span all the sites, what that will be I have no idea right now, but it will be something. Now, onto Monday I suppose.