This is gonna be an exercise in self motivation and probably akin to contemplating my navel - but the thing is I keep coming back to this blog thinking I must write something - must energize this blog - must do something to get myself seen back online and must find a way to try and bring in some sales. And then I sit and think and think and think and look for inspiration a la google with obscure search sentences like "songs that inspire you to overcome obstacles".
Eventually the penny drops that there must be things stopping me from doing what I feel must be done. Progress! Cos if I can identify the miscreants (why nots) and name them then maybe I can quit the headless chicken routine and get something done. Sounds like a plan.
So all of those "musts" are problematic because most days:
I don't feel like writing, or talking, and haven't for a while. But I am good - heck I'm brilliant - at shutting myself off and living in my own wee internal world. So good on fact that I didn't speak until I was almost 4 years old and the first words were a proper sentence - so it's not that I couldn't speak it was a case of choosing not to. (But's a whole other post - maybe some day).
I don't feel energized - and the thought of having to try and energize an inanimate object seems backwards. Like I should try to energize me first- right?
Getting seen online feels like an oxymoron. Nuff said!
Trying to bring in sales - ooooh scary mary time - I need to try and promote myself and my work? See facts above as to why that's kinda difficult.
So ends up this post was an exercise in exorcism as much as self motivation. Now all I gotta do is figure out the next step.
To be continued - or not as the case may be ...
Showing posts with label lilgreenshop. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lilgreenshop. Show all posts
Friday, 11 May 2012
Wednesday, 18 May 2011
Swimmies of Doom and The Age of Enlightenment
Once upon a time an online market was birthed. A haven for artisans and crafts people, a place where they, with supply and vintage sellers, could sell their wares as part of a global community. It promised to be a counterweight against big business: "... the current economy, favoring megacorporations and supersizes, is unstable. People who make a living making things ... will play a key role in revitalizing and stabilizing the world". (source).
To better educate the sellers the creators spokesperson, known as the redone, held a public reading of Leon Leonnie's Swimmy. That wondrous tale of perseverance and triumph, through co-operation and unity, inspired the sellers! They went forth singing the praises of this great market! And greatly did their numbers swell. All was good.
One among them was so moved that they made their own tribute to Swimmy and sent it to the redone. So touched was he that he proclaimed how magnificent it would be for more Swimmies! And the faithful sellers granted his wish. A Swimmy diorama was erected in the market palace ... and all was good.
But the winds of change blew through this mighty market. While the people had been busy building and strengthening their union, a dark duality had been lurking in the shadows. Called the greenbacksellout the people believed it had been banished to the outerness. But alas, its powers were mighty and its reach far, and it was granted entry to the market. And with it came its minions, the despised non-creatives, known as resellers.
For a while the faithful sellers were too busy tending to the business of growing the market that they did not see the evil in their midst. But then some of the elders, who knew the land well, saw movement in the shadows and they became the eyeswideopen.
What to do! cried the sellers whose eyes had seen the shadows.
Remembering Swimmy they fought to call the evil out of the shadows. Surely the redone will act with honour when he sees the truth? But the redone and his servants denied them.
Scaresome tales emerged of the disappeared, of others whose tongues were sewn to their lips so they could not speak! And all was not so good.
Believing in strength through unity they congregated in the market square and tried to open everyones eyes. But their truths feel on fallow ground. A disease had spread among the land and some sellers were blinded, or deaf, and others refused to speak. And they became known as the threemonkeys.
Joining with the dark forces of the greenbacksellout and the redone they formed a powerful trinity that the eyeswideopen could not overcome. No longer wishing to support the trinity through their taxes they sought out fresh fields and the age of diaspora began. Gathering their wares some appealed to the redone to return their Swimmies - but the redone ignored them.
Their plea's however did not fall on deaf ears. The Swimmies heard them and they rejoiced! Breaking free from their diorama they escaped into the great Tumblr and it's tributary the Twitter . Capturing fakelisajune, who they valiantly try to teach English, they sing the praises of their beloved penciljen and commune with the eyeswideopen and such dignitaries as fakerokali, fakerobwhite, fakedaniellexo, fakerevolvingdorkus.
I rejoice in their freedom from the clutches of the redone and am honoured that they saw the reefy goodness in one of my creations in their daily Tumblr proclamation yesterday.
Long live the Swimmies of Doom!
I thank you :)
To better educate the sellers the creators spokesperson, known as the redone, held a public reading of Leon Leonnie's Swimmy. That wondrous tale of perseverance and triumph, through co-operation and unity, inspired the sellers! They went forth singing the praises of this great market! And greatly did their numbers swell. All was good.
One among them was so moved that they made their own tribute to Swimmy and sent it to the redone. So touched was he that he proclaimed how magnificent it would be for more Swimmies! And the faithful sellers granted his wish. A Swimmy diorama was erected in the market palace ... and all was good.
But the winds of change blew through this mighty market. While the people had been busy building and strengthening their union, a dark duality had been lurking in the shadows. Called the greenbacksellout the people believed it had been banished to the outerness. But alas, its powers were mighty and its reach far, and it was granted entry to the market. And with it came its minions, the despised non-creatives, known as resellers.
For a while the faithful sellers were too busy tending to the business of growing the market that they did not see the evil in their midst. But then some of the elders, who knew the land well, saw movement in the shadows and they became the eyeswideopen.
What to do! cried the sellers whose eyes had seen the shadows.
Remembering Swimmy they fought to call the evil out of the shadows. Surely the redone will act with honour when he sees the truth? But the redone and his servants denied them.
Scaresome tales emerged of the disappeared, of others whose tongues were sewn to their lips so they could not speak! And all was not so good.
Believing in strength through unity they congregated in the market square and tried to open everyones eyes. But their truths feel on fallow ground. A disease had spread among the land and some sellers were blinded, or deaf, and others refused to speak. And they became known as the threemonkeys.
Joining with the dark forces of the greenbacksellout and the redone they formed a powerful trinity that the eyeswideopen could not overcome. No longer wishing to support the trinity through their taxes they sought out fresh fields and the age of diaspora began. Gathering their wares some appealed to the redone to return their Swimmies - but the redone ignored them.
Their plea's however did not fall on deaf ears. The Swimmies heard them and they rejoiced! Breaking free from their diorama they escaped into the great Tumblr and it's tributary the Twitter . Capturing fakelisajune, who they valiantly try to teach English, they sing the praises of their beloved penciljen and commune with the eyeswideopen and such dignitaries as fakerokali, fakerobwhite, fakedaniellexo, fakerevolvingdorkus.
I rejoice in their freedom from the clutches of the redone and am honoured that they saw the reefy goodness in one of my creations in their daily Tumblr proclamation yesterday.
Long live the Swimmies of Doom!
I thank you :)
Thursday, 17 February 2011
New Project Watch Cuff
So excited that the custom watch cuff I have been working on is finished and the client likes it - yeah!
Wish I could take credit for having the idea but that came from my client - a lovely person to work with and very good with her communications - which is always important when trying to match someones vision to what is created.
It's great too that I got challenged to make something new. The cuffs have always been popular at local fairs but never quite took off online and I was hesitant about making more. Even though I have so many fabrics, embellishments etc begging to be recycled upcycled into something new.
So what do you think? Would this be something you would consider buying?
Not the best quality photos I'm afraid as it was very overcast here today and think I need to re-tweak my camera settings.
Health to wear Leisha!
Wednesday, 9 February 2011
Etsy Rant
I have been biting my tongue for so long but now I can no longer hold my tongue.
Etsy a site that promoted itself as being handmade, vintage and supplies items has totally sold out. No big deal and no big surprise for some of the more knowledgable readers who will be saying they are after all a business (aka corporation) BUT it is a travesty for the people who signed up to sell their homemade (I prefer homecrafted btw as a label) and vintage and supples who were the people who advertised and brought customers to the site cos Etsy didn't advertise.
As one of the handcrafting people who advertised Etsy I feel ashamed I promoted the site. Sure there are many genuine artisans on the site still - but in their midst, and invisible to Etsy admin it seems, are the resellers.
Now let me state straight off that I have no problem with resellers per se. What I have a problem with is when they infliltrate a handcrafted site and claim their work is handcrafted and the site admin lets them away with that.
What's the problem you ask? Well it's pretty simple. I for an example take my fabrics out and start mixing and matching and sewing them together for a cuff. Sometimes I like the effect first go but a lot of the time I feel it needs re-worked and will unstitch and re-sew. When I'm happy with the basic backdrop then I'll go get my stash of vintage buttons and beads and jewelry out and play around with what looks good.
When the cuff is finished then I photograph it (edit it usually too cos we don't have good natural light here a lot of the year round) and then list it.
Now I realise much of what I've written makes homemade/homecrafted sound cumbersome and involved. Well you know what? It is!
I don't have any helpers to design or sew, or take photo's or list. Thats what people are paying for - the one to one touch, the ultimate designer item. Don't get me wrong here ... I love what I do but I am trying to stress that it is what I singular do- just like so many other genuine Etsy sellers do.
But when we are on a site that promotes handmade yet blatantly promotes resellers, through it's various PR tools, then there is a problem for me the wee seller as now my truly handcrafted items are on the same page as the mass produced and that affects my credibility by association as well as the fact that I can't compete price wise to a mass produced item.
I saw this problem with Etsy a couple of years back ... but recent developments seem to confirm that they have truly disregarded the artisans who made the site what it is today.
And therein lies Etsys downfall - you screw the people who made you then they will go find another site to promote.
Etsy will no doubt go on and will enjoy financial success in the short to mid term .... but their credibility is being dragged in the gutter.
Roosters always come home to roost and if (when?) the behemoth of handcrafted falls it will only have itself to blame.
Etsy a site that promoted itself as being handmade, vintage and supplies items has totally sold out. No big deal and no big surprise for some of the more knowledgable readers who will be saying they are after all a business (aka corporation) BUT it is a travesty for the people who signed up to sell their homemade (I prefer homecrafted btw as a label) and vintage and supples who were the people who advertised and brought customers to the site cos Etsy didn't advertise.
As one of the handcrafting people who advertised Etsy I feel ashamed I promoted the site. Sure there are many genuine artisans on the site still - but in their midst, and invisible to Etsy admin it seems, are the resellers.
Now let me state straight off that I have no problem with resellers per se. What I have a problem with is when they infliltrate a handcrafted site and claim their work is handcrafted and the site admin lets them away with that.
What's the problem you ask? Well it's pretty simple. I for an example take my fabrics out and start mixing and matching and sewing them together for a cuff. Sometimes I like the effect first go but a lot of the time I feel it needs re-worked and will unstitch and re-sew. When I'm happy with the basic backdrop then I'll go get my stash of vintage buttons and beads and jewelry out and play around with what looks good.
When the cuff is finished then I photograph it (edit it usually too cos we don't have good natural light here a lot of the year round) and then list it.
Now I realise much of what I've written makes homemade/homecrafted sound cumbersome and involved. Well you know what? It is!
I don't have any helpers to design or sew, or take photo's or list. Thats what people are paying for - the one to one touch, the ultimate designer item. Don't get me wrong here ... I love what I do but I am trying to stress that it is what I singular do- just like so many other genuine Etsy sellers do.
But when we are on a site that promotes handmade yet blatantly promotes resellers, through it's various PR tools, then there is a problem for me the wee seller as now my truly handcrafted items are on the same page as the mass produced and that affects my credibility by association as well as the fact that I can't compete price wise to a mass produced item.
I saw this problem with Etsy a couple of years back ... but recent developments seem to confirm that they have truly disregarded the artisans who made the site what it is today.
And therein lies Etsys downfall - you screw the people who made you then they will go find another site to promote.
Etsy will no doubt go on and will enjoy financial success in the short to mid term .... but their credibility is being dragged in the gutter.
Roosters always come home to roost and if (when?) the behemoth of handcrafted falls it will only have itself to blame.
Saturday, 17 April 2010
Earth Week Countdown
It's a beautiful morning here - the sun is shining and looks
like being another great weather day.
I'm heading off to a new craft fair in West Belfast - and
have a wee bit of everything packed. I like craft fairs and getting to
meet other local artisans - keeps me from becoming too hermit like ;)
But on with the business of the day ... otherwise I'll be doing a great White Rabbit impersonation later and in a mad rush to make it to the Crafternoon event.
Going to kick off with this gorgeous Wild Irish Rose Clutch Purse from my good friend Rena aka lilycobweb. Love the name lilycobweb
it’s
magical sounding and really suits her delicate and perfectly formed crochet creations.
But on with the business of the day ... otherwise I'll be doing a great White Rabbit impersonation later and in a mad rush to make it to the Crafternoon event.
Going to kick off with this gorgeous Wild Irish Rose Clutch Purse from my good friend Rena aka lilycobweb. Love the name lilycobweb
That
White Rabbit comment has me thinking of Alice in Wonderland now (and nope
haven't seen the movie yet - but it's on the treat list!). Anyway this is
probably the best time to unveil the delightfully whimsical and out of this
world bespoke Mad
Hatter Tufted Chair.
I
know! You're all gobsmacked now aren't ya? I can so see myself
sitting this chair and dangling my legs (cos I am a short arse aka vertically
challenged). I love it! And it was created by the lovely Jeanne at vintagerenewal who
breathes life back into vintage or antique furniture
transforming the old into a new and one of a kind piece of
functional art for your home.
I’m
on a whimsy and Alice theme ... and we’ve had something for the ladies, something
for the home, so now something for the weans.
So prepare for some more drooling – go get a hankie now – I can wait ...
Ready? Ok well this had me all Oooh and Aaah because
this Oh, Alice Altered Couture Alice in Wonderland Organic Ruffled Girls Shirt, Pants and Hat Set from the
delightful and talented Anna aka Amelie Jo is just beyond adorable!
Well
there you have it folks! More earth
friendly and awesome finds tomorrow. Have a great day and stay safe and well!
Disclaimer:
The contents of this blog may induce copious drooling that the authoress cannot
be held accountable for.
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