All I've really talked about lately is my shop, and please allow me to apologise for that. I've been extremely distracted by Christmas, both by meeting my orders and deadlines, and by preparing for my own Christmas. Yesterday was the last day to ship to the UK for delivery in time for Christmas, and so I can greet my Christmas 'holiday' with open arms. I'm still accepting orders - closing my shop or putting it into vacation mode takes a long time to recover from when I do open up again - but I'm not posting them until the 30th. And I have to say, I am in a very good mood.
It's been nothing but stress lately, with purchases coming in beyond deadlines but doing my best to ensure that parcels arrive before Christmas, which is pretty hectic when buyers don't reply to messages to pay a little more for the faster delivery they want. But thankfully, most of the parcels have arrived, and those that haven't will soon, or just beyond Christmas, but I can't do much about that - I don't control the postal services afterall.
I'm full of relief that the Christmas sales are over, but I truly enjoyed it, and I have to say that I have done very well this Christmas, tripling my income and number of sales from last November and December. I'm over the moon, and I've been able to buy everyone the presents I wanted to get them, too. I have one friend who I've not finished buying for, but that's because I have little idea of what to get her. I've got a few little things, but they're not much, and I've done so well that I really want to share that with those I care about, so I need to get her something good! And despite the fact that I know what she likes, as it's all so obscure and specific, nothing's jumping out at me! So, sadly, she won't have her gift in time for Christmas :( but it's important to remember, of course, that just because a gift might be late, doesn't mean it won't be appreciated when it is received. I think, on some level, it'll be appreciated more if it's late, because they won't have been bombarded with other gifts, both better and worse, in that same day. Though that doesn't mean I'm going to purposely hold onto all of my gifts and not give them out until the 27th, that would just be silly.
So I've been quite busy fulfilling orders. I had one delightful purchase from someone who wanted to commission a special jar necklace featuring his girlfriend's pets. I really enjoyed making it and think it came out really well. I do have a picture of it but his girlfriend is aware of my shop and may be aware of my blog also, and I don't want to risk ruining the gift! So it'll have to wait until after Christmas. Though I took a good personal interest in the item, too ^^ the animals in question are close to my heart.
I've got a few new animal jars in the making - some have been in existance for some time, but either I can't figure out how to make the jars work with the animal, or I haven't managed to find the right bedding for the creature in the jar, which is a nuisance, because one animal jar in particular has been waiting for about 4 or 5 months to have appropriate bedding, but I just can't work it out!
I've taken part in Papered Thoughts' letter writing challenge, and the first task of the two was to create and send 'New Year's Eve in an envelope' - I made mine up and posted it out on the deadline (I would usually have had it out of the door much sooner but I was preoccupied with orders), and I received my own from my assigned partner over at DragonflyFortress a few days ago. I've given it a poke but the envelope is instructing me not to open until midnight on the 1st of January so I suppose I have to wait! :P
I've also taken part in a Christmas gift swap on High Walls, though I've not received my partner's package yet. Taking part in things like this is something I've wanted to do for some time but either could never afford it, or found out about it too late to sign up, so this year I made sure to sign up as soon as I found out about them.
So I've been kept very busy these past two months, which is why NaBloPoMo ended up failing towards the end, and why I've not said much this month that didn't revolve around my shop. I saw Frozen a few days ago and was shocked by it. It was such a good film, so pretty, the ladies were brilliant, and, my god, the end had a very unexpected twist. I loved it, and felt that at least one of the morals of the story should be taught to a lot of adults these days. If you've seen it you may well understand which moral I mean. The music - I have to say, I get a little uncomfortable when people start singing in Disney films, even if I expect it, but I swear, I can't get Let It Go out of my head. I've developed a habit of jumping into rooms, turned 180 degrees and stating "the cold never bothered me anyway".
Honestly, if you're debating seeing it, just go and see it. I'm not big on sing song Disney films, it feels more suitable for younger children, but I can still appreciate the rest of the films, and this one blows the rest out of the water. I loved Brave, it was the best one for a long time, but this one very nearly throws that one aside. And the only three things that are stopping it from pushing Brave out of my head is the Celtic (is it Celtic if it's Scottish?) design, the humour, and the music. But Frozen is a close second.
So, yes, that's me this Christmas. I'll blog more frequently now, I expect, and I still have a few things in mind to make for the blog, both tutorials and ideas, and a few product reviews as well, and I won't talk about my shop so much :P Promise! How is everyone else?
It's been nothing but stress lately, with purchases coming in beyond deadlines but doing my best to ensure that parcels arrive before Christmas, which is pretty hectic when buyers don't reply to messages to pay a little more for the faster delivery they want. But thankfully, most of the parcels have arrived, and those that haven't will soon, or just beyond Christmas, but I can't do much about that - I don't control the postal services afterall.
I'm full of relief that the Christmas sales are over, but I truly enjoyed it, and I have to say that I have done very well this Christmas, tripling my income and number of sales from last November and December. I'm over the moon, and I've been able to buy everyone the presents I wanted to get them, too. I have one friend who I've not finished buying for, but that's because I have little idea of what to get her. I've got a few little things, but they're not much, and I've done so well that I really want to share that with those I care about, so I need to get her something good! And despite the fact that I know what she likes, as it's all so obscure and specific, nothing's jumping out at me! So, sadly, she won't have her gift in time for Christmas :( but it's important to remember, of course, that just because a gift might be late, doesn't mean it won't be appreciated when it is received. I think, on some level, it'll be appreciated more if it's late, because they won't have been bombarded with other gifts, both better and worse, in that same day. Though that doesn't mean I'm going to purposely hold onto all of my gifts and not give them out until the 27th, that would just be silly.
So I've been quite busy fulfilling orders. I had one delightful purchase from someone who wanted to commission a special jar necklace featuring his girlfriend's pets. I really enjoyed making it and think it came out really well. I do have a picture of it but his girlfriend is aware of my shop and may be aware of my blog also, and I don't want to risk ruining the gift! So it'll have to wait until after Christmas. Though I took a good personal interest in the item, too ^^ the animals in question are close to my heart.
I've got a few new animal jars in the making - some have been in existance for some time, but either I can't figure out how to make the jars work with the animal, or I haven't managed to find the right bedding for the creature in the jar, which is a nuisance, because one animal jar in particular has been waiting for about 4 or 5 months to have appropriate bedding, but I just can't work it out!
I've taken part in Papered Thoughts' letter writing challenge, and the first task of the two was to create and send 'New Year's Eve in an envelope' - I made mine up and posted it out on the deadline (I would usually have had it out of the door much sooner but I was preoccupied with orders), and I received my own from my assigned partner over at DragonflyFortress a few days ago. I've given it a poke but the envelope is instructing me not to open until midnight on the 1st of January so I suppose I have to wait! :P
I've also taken part in a Christmas gift swap on High Walls, though I've not received my partner's package yet. Taking part in things like this is something I've wanted to do for some time but either could never afford it, or found out about it too late to sign up, so this year I made sure to sign up as soon as I found out about them.
So I've been kept very busy these past two months, which is why NaBloPoMo ended up failing towards the end, and why I've not said much this month that didn't revolve around my shop. I saw Frozen a few days ago and was shocked by it. It was such a good film, so pretty, the ladies were brilliant, and, my god, the end had a very unexpected twist. I loved it, and felt that at least one of the morals of the story should be taught to a lot of adults these days. If you've seen it you may well understand which moral I mean. The music - I have to say, I get a little uncomfortable when people start singing in Disney films, even if I expect it, but I swear, I can't get Let It Go out of my head. I've developed a habit of jumping into rooms, turned 180 degrees and stating "the cold never bothered me anyway".
Honestly, if you're debating seeing it, just go and see it. I'm not big on sing song Disney films, it feels more suitable for younger children, but I can still appreciate the rest of the films, and this one blows the rest out of the water. I loved Brave, it was the best one for a long time, but this one very nearly throws that one aside. And the only three things that are stopping it from pushing Brave out of my head is the Celtic (is it Celtic if it's Scottish?) design, the humour, and the music. But Frozen is a close second.
So, yes, that's me this Christmas. I'll blog more frequently now, I expect, and I still have a few things in mind to make for the blog, both tutorials and ideas, and a few product reviews as well, and I won't talk about my shop so much :P Promise! How is everyone else?
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