elephont

I'm taking quite possibly a forever long break from resin. I might still make stuff because I have supplies left but I don't think I'll be selling anything. I'll leave everything in my Etsy shop up until it expires. After that I'm not listing anything else or relisting the old stuff. I enjoyed doing it for a while but it was so expensive that I couldn't afford to keep buying supplies to make things that weren't selling. I was losing so much money it wasn't worth it so I'm done with that expensive little experiment. I have a part time job again but at least it's not as bad as working at Urban Outfitters. I'm hoping that having a food service job on my  resume will help me get a job as a prep cook or something in a kitchen. I would much rather work in the back of a restaurant where I never have to deal with customers. At least it's a job and I'll be getting paid next every Friday. I don't imagine I'll be updating this account much anymore. At least not with resin. Maybe when I start having work to show for my graduate school portfolio I'll add some pictures. Who knows. I probably won't do shit. I'm pretty sick of social networking on all levels so maybe I'll just disappear into the internet ether and no one will ever hear from me again. Unless you know me out in the real world. That reminds me I need to call my friend Danielle! HI DANIELLE!

Things haven't been going so great with full time crafting. It's been about a month and a half and nothing's really happening. I know things take time but I don't really have time. We're living off Jon's student loans and the few shifts he's able to pick up at the mental health clinic. My family is helping out with a few hundred $$ a month but it doesn't even cover my half of the rent. It doesn't help that every day is wet, grey, and cold here in Massachusetts. My spirits are in the toilet and I'm not really sure how to lift them back up. I have a custom order in the works but other than that I have nothing going on. I have a bunch of pieces that I could photo but I'm just not very pleased with them. I started working with curb chains and beads but I only have 4 kinds of beads and they're not very interesting so all the beading is looking exactly the same. That's what I wanted to get away from when I started branching out with chains and beading. I wanted each necklace to look unique. I just don't have the money to buy more beads. I can't afford any more supplies and the necklaces I have just aren't selling.

I don't know what to do. I'm totally out of money. I'm not even breaking even. I'm losing a lot of money on this little "business". Maybe it's time to focus on getting another crappy part time job that might actually help pay my bills instead of trying so hard at something that's doing so poorly. I love making jewelry but I don't love the constant disappointment, the empty email inbox, the followerless blog. My Etsy sales are stuck at 6 but I've been selling on Etsy for 9 months.

I just don't know what to do. I wish it was spring.

I've been a full time crafter for a couple weeks now and let me tell you, it's exciting! Ha. Not really. My day is filled with casting resin, taking pictures of finished pieces, adding bails/jump rings onto finished pieces, the smell of E6000, editing photos, listing things on Etsy, and hoping that someone will actually notice. So far no one has. I don't mean that I'm giving up or anything like that. I know I've only just begun and it would be pretty lame to say "Well it's been a whole week and only one sale! That's it! I give up!". That would be pathetic. But no one feels awesome when their hard work seems to be going completely unnoticed. It doesn't feel good. I'm still making things though. I'm still plugging away, experimenting with new ideas, and hoping that someone, ANYONE will take notice and buy some jewelry.

I'm trying to keep up with my blog, write thoughtful entries. I'm listing new stuff on Etsy steadily. I try to keep it at 2-4 per day. That way I don't overload twitter with "BUY MY STUFF!!!!!!!!11" because that would be rude and nobody likes a rude person. Also that means I can list something new practically every day. That's good, right? I hope so. Eventually SOMEBODY has to notice, right? RIGHT?!

I'm so not good at this whole positive attitude thing. I have much more experience with giving up and being miserable! Not that I want to give up and be miserable but I guess you could say I'm working outside my comfort zone. I'm so IMPATIENT! I want this to work so badly and I hate having to take the time to MAKE it work. I feel kinda lost in a fog here. I know there are things that I could do to promote myself but I'm not really sure what they are. I've only emailed a couple people... I should email blog owners with big followings that like jewelry but I don't know who they are. I'm so bad at this kind of research! I should start looking in earnest for blogs that might like to feature me. I guess after I pour some resin today I'll start looking for blogs to contact. Bleh. Sometimes this can be overwhelming. I don't really know what I'm doing but I'm going to keep trying to do it anyway!!

Time to take a deep breath and get back to work!

Life is about to change for the better around here and I couldn't be more excited! I've decided to tell my job that I'm only available a couple mornings a week in order to give me time to dive head first into crafting. I want crafting to be my life, my livelihood, and my business. I don't expect to be rich and I don't expect over night success. I expect to work hard and hopefully make a modest living. At first I'll be happy just to pay my bills. I'm scaling back my day job so that I have a little extra income and can keep my store discount, instead of just quitting outright.

I'm going to schedule my time, stick to my schedule and make this work. I'm going to get my name and my brand out there. I'm gonna start chasing success until I catch up instead of just hoping it'll stumble past within grabbing distance. It's going to be a journey of hard work and long hours of designing, creating, marketing. I'm going to have to overcome a lot of insecurities about talking to strangers and potentially making a fool of myself. I'm going to have to learn how to send out emails to people I've never met asking if they'd be interested in featuring my work.

I've worked up a sample schedule for what a weekday might look like:
9-10 Wake up, eat breakfast, check emails
10-12 Cast resin
12-2 Pop out and finish completed resin pieces
2-3 Lunch!
3-4 Send out emails to blogs, take inventory, get involved with the online crafting community
4-Whenever Work on designs for new pieces
Whenever-Bedtime Play video games, cook, bake, enjoy myself

The next day might be devoted to crocheting instead of casting resin. However my day ends up looking it's going to be full. I want people to know who I am and what I do and for that to happen I'm going to need steady inventory. In order to have steady inventory I'm going to need to be making something new every day.

Speaking of new things, I got some new molds in the mail today! Very exciting! Sadly I have to work my horrible retail job today so there's not enough time to play with my new toys. Tomorrow is a different story. My new life starts tomorrow at 9AM with a breakfast of champions (Fruity Cheerios and coffee) and then some serious resin casting. I have new designs that I'm itching to implement. I'm bursting with ideas and I know the only way to keep that up is to make make make!

I hope that those of you who have followed me for years will continue to do so. I hope that I can gain new fans in the weeks, months, and years to come. It's time to turn the page and start a new chapter. I'm so excited!!!

Crochet has taken over my life. What do I do at home on my days off? I crochet. What do I do while I watch movies with my Honeyface? Crochet. I'm feeling artistic and crafty. It feels so good to be thinking critically again, and not just criticizing everything and being grouchy. Shit was I grouchy. Working retail is not my thing. I'm looking into applying to grants and getting myself some money to fund this exploration with yarn and hooks. I'll be happy to be covered in crocheted things this winter anyway. It's freaking COLD up here in Boston! Not a fan of the cold unless I'm skiing on fresh snow. Then I love cold and snow. I miss real mountains. They only have little bumps here.

That's what's going on with me. I've been learning something new every time I pick up my crochet hook and I've been freezing my ass off. Oh, also Urban has dicked everyone at our store over by cutting our payroll buy some huge, undisclosed amount so I'm trying to live off 3 shifts a week. Yeah. I'm either going to have the hit the jackpot with grants or find a second job. Both seem kinda unlikely given my (lack of) transportation situation and the location of our house and the seeming lack of public and private grant funding for individual artists. Most grants are for nonprofit organizations. Fuck that. I need money. Gimme!