3 posts tagged “crafts and constructs”
You know that saying, be careful what you wish for? Holy Moses. I had no idea how true that was until now. Since posting the link to my etsy store, I've had a healthy number of sales and have found myself, suddenly, a small business owner.
It's almost like a birthright - years and years of my mother's programming, "NEVER own your own business. ALWAYS work for someone else" has yielded the perfect opposite result. Suddenly, my stomach is churning with acid, my teeth gnashing in slumber - concern that I have overcharged in shipping or that I'm not going to be able to produce in a timely fashion. It's maddening!
However, I must admit, it is somewhat of a refreshing change. Now that I have a greater stake in the production I have been in hyper-creation mode. When I wasn't in the wood shop today making sushi boards, I was at the post office untangling a shipping nightmare and when I finally had time to relax - I started designing more pieces for the site! Am I crazy? What's happening to me?
This has been the perfect business 101 crash course. I have, quite possibly, made every single amateur hour mistake that it is possible to make and I only started this past weekend! Frank tried to console me - he told me it took him years to learn all of the ins & outs and that he's still learning...he said I should be thankful for the steep learning curve and the benefit of his experience.
And I am. I am thankful. Mostly, I am grateful for this experience because I can really see the light at the end of the tunnel - I know that I can really do this. Really, truly, make a living off of my craft. Sure, it will be stressful to be my own boss but at least I can show up for work hungover, smelling like a feral goat, blast Patti Smith over the loudspeakers and be accountable only to myself.
Self-employed.
Yeah, you know, I think I'm starting to like the sound of that.
What's the last thing you crafted, constructed or created yourself?
For my girlfriend Nicole's 25th birthday this month I made a time capsule. I went to The Container Store and found just the right fuchsia box with light pink flowers on it for the project. Then I visited my local art supply store for glittery, gold 1970's looking iron - on letters. I ironed "Nicole's Time Capsule" on the top after many poorly executed attempts and only after melting a hole through the rug in my bedroom. I also visited my local independent book store and bought every publication that came out that day and filled the rest of the box with magazines from that month that she would enjoy.
After great sweating over this project (I kept fucking it up) I then sat down to write a brief history of the life of Nicole. Problem is, I don't really know that much about her so I decided to completely make one up. This history contains about 2 factual details mixed in with her adventures in Mongolia, living off the blood of her horse to deliver medical supplies to orphans in Tibet (you get the idea). The written history was the part I was most proud of, so when I gave her the box, I read it aloud to her. She was crying, I was crying. It was great. Also, everyone in the party was enamoured with the gift - so you can be sure there are a whole lotta people gonna be gettin' time capsules for their birthdays this year.
You heard it here first.
*Note from the editor: Nicole is pictured on the left in the main profile picture.
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