Tuesdays With Kathy

Every Tuesday, Kathy and I dedicate 3 totally interrupted hours to a project.  We stop fifty times to break up fights, wipe noses, distribute crackers and be vaguely parental.  In the past we have carved clay eggs, created garden art and made holiday decorations.  This month our very slow going project has been this shadow box that took about 10 times longer to do than previously expected.  We should absolutely get government jobs!  

 (this is not the finished product, but I want to get a little braver about showing my incomplete work).

For this project we are making a scene of the children playing hide and seek in the paper forest.  We created the landscape silhouettes and then cut them on her Cricut Super-Fancy-Schmancy machine (I'm pretty sure that is the model name for it if you are looking to buy one.  Make sure you go to the craft store and ask for it by that name).  I photographed all of the kids, spent hours editing and programming the precision cut outs to be done on her machine, while Kathy worked on the sizing details for the layered elements.  Guy made fun of us for how much effort went in to selecting the perfect colors of paper, and being that Kathy and I are both ridiculously picky, it took two trips to  craft stores miles away to get, what Guy calls, "beige, beige and beige" paper.

That's okay, the finished project will be beautiful.

Baring illness or earthquake

 (ooo, I shouldn't have said that.  I hate earthquakes), 

we should finish this week, 

 I'll post the finished image.

Learning Curve

We interrupt our regularly scheduled painting for this, well, major interruption.  Art doesn't sell itself.

There is quite the learning curve to all this online sales biz.  I am working on photographing items and trying to make sure the lighting gives an accurate representation of the colors, particularly metals and reflective surfaces.  I am watching YouTube tutorials, and practicing new techniques.  Lots to learn there.  

Then there is the mailing, which for me is just plain weird.  First of all, no one in my family is surprised to get their birthday card a week or so late.  As far as packages go, Christmas in March is normal, isn't it?  But I have managed to get all of my orders out on time, and my last order was almost instant.  Well, a day, but still, that is pretty good.  

I am also learning about great packaging.  Years ago I ordered an old book off of Ebay, and it arrived with a teeny, tiny alligator in the package as a thank you for my order,  If you know our family, you'll know that that little gator has lived in our Christmas village for years now.  Whoever finds him re-hides him again, and the search goes on for weeks.  I wish I knew the sellers name so that I could tell her about what her tiny gift has become in our home.

I just received an order of some supplies from another Etsy seller that also arrived with a little thank you gift, a tiny teapot charm.  I love the way that little gift made me smile, and she couldn't have known that my mom loved teapots, but it sure was sweet to get something so accidentally personal.  I want to make sure that my buyers get to enjoy that same cheery experience.  I would love your suggestions!  Please leave them in the comments section below (it will also let me test drive the comments feature here.  Traditionally it hasn't worked well for me on my family blog).

Guy is taking over the bookkeeping.  Yay!  And I am teaching him how to post listings of new items.  Double yay!  Less computer time for me, more art time.

We now return to our regularly scheduled painting.  

These cuties are available on Etsy right now.

And if you would like to order from Loretta's Beads, visit her at Lorettasbeads.etsy.com.  She was awesome, and she uses a time machine for shipping.  I swear my package came 5 minutes before I even finished my order.

(Then let me know what your little gift was!)