Holy crap. I guess it's more than obvious that consistency is just not my thing. Two years have passed since my last post! I'm not sure I can completely cover that time span, but I'll highlight a couple of things anyhow.
The egg basket that I designed has been, by far, my biggest seller. Both the pattern and the physical product have surpassed all of my expectations, and I am very grateful for that. The pattern is still called the Baker's Dozen Egg Basket, but the physical product has undergone a slight metamorphosis. I saw that there was quite a few "baker's dozen" baskets on Etsy, so I decided to switch up the stitch patterns on the actual baskets that I make. I also decided to change the name to "Otter's Egg Basket", because as we all know, there's only ONE Otter! I have quite a few in the shop now, but sales have decidedly slowed. I kind of expected that though because chickens aren't laying much right now. I'm hoping that once the warmer weather hits and the hen fruit starts flying again, my sales will pick back up.
The other big thing that has happened is that I'm now also selling in person! A new gift shop opened up in Middleboro that's a collaborative of a bunch of local artisans. You can rent space in the shop for your goods, so that's what I did. I committed to 8 months. I haven't sold anything there yet. It's a little disappointing, I won't lie, but again, I'm hopeful. I just have a few baskets there and 3 rune sets. I'm trying to make some more things to maybe bring in, but if you read my last post, than you know that my speed is slow.
It's a little sad that my rune sets just don't sell. They're such a niche product that it's really not surprising, but they are by far my favorites. I know I need to make more of those as well, but that's a time-consuming product and I like to make them outside. At least, I like to sand them outside because it's so messy. Once all the blanks are sanded, it can be all inside work. I may invest this year in a hobby sander - MAYBE.
I have some cute little projects on my hook right now. They were supposed to be quick and simple. HA! In true Otter fashion, they have become more detailed. Oh well. That's what I do.
I also still have a butt load of unpainted things that need painting. I started one a bit ago - a light up snowman. He's looking good. Unfortunately, I turned the light on (that it came supplied with) and it looks awful! I primed it, but you can still see every brush stroke that's been made. It sucks. Soooo....I'm in the process of trying different lights to see which one works the best. Never a dull moment. But it does beg the question why someone would make a product so thin and cheap that it's going to look like crap when it's finished. Speaking of painted crafts, that one from the last post is still unfinished. It's shameful to be so scattered. I hate it and it's something that I'm actively working on but I make no promises that it will ever change. I did order some little ceramic Christmas Elves that I painted and they're up in my shop. They came out really good! I'm very proud of these little Buggers.
The one last thing that I'm very happy to have happened is that my shop finally surpassed 10,000 visits!!! That kind of blows my mind. I've gotten all good reviews and people are pleased with what they've purchased. One more goal I have this year is to also do a craft fair of some sort. The prospect makes me nervous, but I think it would be a good thing.
Other than that, I'm still plugging along. I will always have too many irons in too many fires, but at least I'll never be bored!
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