Friday 27 January 2012

Starting to Feel a Little Downtrodden

   Afternoon all. It's time for some feeling-sharing.

   My shop is doing well. I've been getting like a sale a week on average, and this month alone I had more views and favourites than the entire time my shop was open last year (5 months). So I should be happy, right? Then why am I feeling so down-trodden.
   I'm also feeling bad about my new shop. Something's come up to make me doubt it before I've really gotten it anywhere, but it was my own fault. I opened too soon, before it was ready, and now it resembles another Etsy shop - a wonderful one, one of my favourites - but I feel guilty for it. See, it's completely unfinished. I've got so much more in mind for it than paper and envelopes, I'm planning to take it much further, and the prospect excites me - and given what's recently come up, I'm even more eager to make the shop my own.
   But at the same time, I also feel like I've let people down, including myself. See, I listed lots of things in this new shop, all because I wanted to sell three Valentine cards. Anyone knows that you won't sell things on Etsy if you only have 3 products, so I went ahead and listed what will frankly be limited pieces, now, all so I might stand a better chance. So I rushed into it.
   On one hand, I'd take the listings down, but I've invested a lot of money into this new shop already with ink pads and washi tape and whatnot, and given that listing isn't free either, I've little choice but to leave it all there.

   But I do have a plan. I want to brand this new shop. My first isn't really branded. It's just me. It's just jewellery I've made that has popped into my mind. But this new stationery shop is something branching out of my childhood. I always used to stamp paper for writing letters or notes, and I'd always have some if someone needed to write some notes down - and if I didn't, I'd make some! But I want to take this further.
   I've been working on some little characters to stand at the head of my shop, and they're so sweet so far. I've done three, I have one I've been trying over and over again but still can't quite get right, and I have more in mind but have yet to start. Two of those that are complete I already had custom stamps made of, and they arrived yesterday - they look amazing, and so cute! I've done a few paintings featuring them that I want to sell prints of (though typically, as I went to scan the first in yesterday I have found that the bloody scanner won't turn on!), and I have other things in mind for them too - when I have about six characters, I'll probably start to remove other stamps, bar a few that I'm personally fond of, and really start branding my shop - but with money tight at the moment, especially with a few things going on here, that might not be for a while :(

   I'm also hesitant to release these little critters until I have a few more too. The two I have as stamps so far are truly great, but two alone is just not enough. So, I'm going to try to hold back until I deem it all ready - exactly the opposite of what I've done so far.

   The fact that the shop isn't completely ready is another reason why I've not publicly posted anything on my blog. All there is is a mini Etsy. I wanted to wait until I had really built my shop up more before forcefully showing anything, but I couldn't wait to list things. I really want these cards to sell, but I have the aching feeling now that they just won't budge. They've been up for like three days and are the most viewed things in my shop, but I suppose the new negative feelings are making me lose hope before I've really started.
   I won't be listing anything new until I get some more stamps (unless something sells, then I'll renew it for the time being), but I finally have my new inks, so other colours are available of most things. And when I'm satisfied with my shop, I'll start posting pictures on here of my best products every now and then. But for now, I'm going to have to make do with my stationery.

   And as for my jewellery, like I said, I'm doing well, but I still feel bad about it. It may be because I'm taking on a lot right now, and I'm not altogether all right at the moment myself, either. Lucky's not doing well. She had the stroke, and a few days ago it seemed like she was recovering well, but today she's leaning to one side while walking. Again, though, she's still fighting to live life normally, and she still seems happy, if tired. So I'm quite stressed about that, and Seeg's parents are coming down in about 3 weeks to see us and want us to come back with them for a few days. So I'm stressed about seeing them, having to go out (we're seeing Billy Connelly with them), and about the fact that they want us to go back with them. I'm torn in half. On one hand, I want Seeg to go, but on the other hand, I refuse to leave Lucky here, and we can't bring her for a number of reasons, and Seeg won't go without me. I admire his positivity, though. He thinks Lucky's getting better, and says that she will. Or, maybe I'm just being negative when I say she's not right, she's getting worse, and she won't get better. But even if we don't go with them, I'm also stressing about the fact that they will keep asking us while they're here, putting pressure on us to say yes. I've only ever left the UK once, since going to Wales doesn't really count as going abroad.
   So yes, I'm a little stressed out with general life at the moment, too. I need to create things to keep my mind in line and keep myself calm, but some of this stuff is getting a little too much.

   Sorry to dump on you all, but it helps to get it all out. I hope everyone else is better off than I am.

Peace out ladies!



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I do read every single comment, and I will try to respond where I can. If you have an important question about my blog or my shop, however, then you might be better off contacting me directly by email. Thanks so much for reading my blog!