January wrap-up and this week's status

Monthly recap:

This month's sales (assuming no more come in today): $118. Same month last year: $40.

Website: nothing, other than killing products that had sold.

Research, etc: the paperwork for IACA is actually going out in today's mail when I'm done with this post, as is the app for the vendor card for local events.

I read up on several local galleries - Michigan is a hotbed for folk art, and I might do ok in some of these places, but they're just glorified craft malls.

Art: started on dream catchers to build up back stock.

Other: I started organizing the stuido space, cleaned off the table and the desk, and started thinking about ways to improve working efficiency. I also started making a list of things I need.

*****

Today I got the 2 orders that needed to go out, out.

I got irritated at my "multiple spools of the same lace color open" situation, and started cleaning out short spools, filing them into the bags I have for pieces the correct length for various sized dream catchers. I've been using 4" x 4" ziplocks for this; I really ought to find some bigger bags. I'd also like to do a little bit of sorting on the feather front, because searching through these bins of mixed colors is getting irritating.

I finished laying out feathers for the dream catchers in progress. Next will be beads, centers, and assembly.

Ack! No progress in a week!

This is why I need accountability.

In all seriousness, though, this week has sucked. When last I posted, I was sick. And I'm still trying to get over the sinus ick. Since I'm pregnant I can't take half the stuff I'd normally take, and it's making for a long recovery. Last week was also complicated by weather (taking up a lot of extra time driving to and from work) and by multiple doctor's appointments.

On the plus side, tomorrow I'm off work to get to two appointments, and my coffee date with another mom friend has been canceled because her kiddo is sick again, so that leaves much of the day for doing me things...though I am wondering how it could possibly be that my toddler, with all his medical issues, is less sick this winter than most of my anti-vax, anti-antibiotic friends' kids.

So. Hopefully tomorrow will be productive. I've got 2 orders to fill, all that paperwork to go in the mail, and the in-process dream catchers are still waiting on the table downstairs.

Still sick, but making progress

I went back into the doctor today because I still feel awful - better than Monday, sure, but definitely not *better* if you know what I mean.

That being said, tonight was supposed to be my night out of the house, but the roads are *awful* with the quarter inch of snow. So I holed up here in the basement, the disaster formerly known as my office/studio, and got to work for about 90 minutes.

One new order came in. So I got that done, and packed up to go out. Then I started on actually making some dream catchers. Back when I was selling them by the hundreds to a company in Japan, I really got into a groove, and had plans to wrap the outer rings on dozens in every size and color, and then do the webbing, so that filling orders would be easy - just beads and feathers - rather than making each order bespoke. I could just grab a mostly finished dream catcher off the wall and personalize it. I have several dozen that are that far done, and another 60-70 that are wrapped but not webbed - to make things easy I'm starting with the webbed ones.

So....I laid out 17 partial dream catchers (at which point I'd run out of space on the table):

Then I cut the webbing string shorter for ease of handling, and set up the long tail from the wrapping as the dangles. Then I started putting feathers with each one:

Beads and centerpieces will be next, and then the assembly should be pretty quick, since it's all ready to go.

All that said, I think it's time for me to take some more medicine and get myself some more rest in home of getting rid of the creeping crud sometime this month.

weekend update

I did get the last of the orders finished on Saturday -  that last one was a pain, and still needs to be packed up.

Other than that, I've been sick all weekend (including my day off from work for MLK day), so not much progress. I did get 4 days of work in though, so this is good. We shall see how this week goes, because being sick is definitely slowing things down.

goals?

This evening I'm still working on outstanding orders, but at least I have a desk to work at (and a computer with hardware that will let me do graphic editing a little more easily than my tiny netbook), and a clean table.

I've been thinking a bit about goals. And to have goals, it seems like I need to know where I am right now.

So....I have two websites. One for dream catchers, and one for beadwork and the like. The beadwork site was recently re-launched, and needs to have just about everything added to it - I think I've made 2 product posts. The other site is bare of "in-stock" items; all that is there is custom dream catchers and custom kits. There's a page for "high end" dream catchers too, but it's been blank for some time.

Last year, the only thing that sold was dream catchers. My least month for sales was January, with ~$40, the most December (duh) with ~$380. My sales for the year were ~$1760, which isn't bad for not advertising or doing any marketing at all - a little over $145 a month.

My expenses were minimal - less than $200 out of pocket - because many supplies I already have here on hand.

Right now, I'm not entirely sure what my goals are. More sales would be nice, but I think basing it on sales alone might be heading down the wrong path.

I think I want to be in at least one gallery. Research at lunch today suggests that most of the "galleries" here locally are actually what I'd call craft malls - you rent a space, and the gallery owner takes a percentage of your sales. I'm not overly thrilled with this model - they make their money whether you sell anything or not.

I'd like to say that I will do 1-2 powwows or similar events locally. But being pregnant kind of puts scheduling anything on hold. Besides, to do that, I'd have to have more stock.

So...maybe that's a better goal: Enough stock to have a respectable booth. Investigate galleries and identify 6 to approach about placing work.

And figure out the photography gig, even if it kills me - I don't really want to pay for jury photos, but I will if I have to.

Today is a snow day...

so, I'm at home instead of work. First order of business has been finishing up outstanding orders from over the holiday, and finishing up a booklet printing job for a friend.

I've also done some website cleanup - taken down items that have sold, adjusted shipping policies.

Something that's only marginally art-related (but important to the process) is that I've cleaned off my worktable today. When we sold the business inventory last year, a tornado went through the basement. I've been doing dream catchers in a 4 foot by 3 foot space between two book shelves, using the shelves as storage and working areas. Having the table clear means being able to sit and work, and being able to spread out several projects at once while glue dries, etc.

I've also printed photos for the IACA application, and made copies of my enrollment paperwork and sales tax license - and it's only lunch time.

So, today, far more than 15 minutes - this is more than my hour for the whole week - but I'm hoping to get another day or two of 15 minutes of work this week.

Like I totally need another blog...

It's not that I don't blog. I just don't have anywhere to comfortably write about art.

And it's not that I haven't made money as an artist in the past...but a while back I lost my way on that front, and life has gotten in the way. Now I find that I have a full time job, a toddler with special needs, a baby on the way, and a few orders and special requests for my artwork, but not a lot on hand, because I've not made anything just to make something in several years, and not a lot of time to actually do things, because I don't make time.

I said last year that I wanted to figure out how to be a "serious" artist, and while I  poked at it a bit, this year I'm realizing that part of my fight with depression the last 2 years is that I lost myself somewhere, and I need to find me back - and I know that a big part of me is somewhere in the art.

I'm an enrolled member of the Oglala Lakota tribe, and traditional and modern Native American beadwork is my original medium. From there, leather work, some quill work, and more jewelry techniques became part of my knowledge base. Since then, I've added some decidedly non-Native items to my repetoir, but I think I am putting them on the back burner at this point, with an eye towards being focused enough to make progress.

I've seen "gallery" quality work. I'm at least as good as them. I've now got the paperwork needed to prove my enrollment status. Now I just have to figure out what to do with what I've got and what I know how to do to get into some of those galleries.

So....

15 minutes a day is the goal, at least 4 days a week. Accountability will be posting here about what I've done. It might be research, or meeting with a prospective gallery, or, you know, actually making art.

Today's progress:

1. located packet from Indian Arts and Crafts Board that I requested last year. Filled out application. Stared at business listing form; decided to let that go for the time being. Need to copy my enrollment letter and print some photos, and then mail the whole mess.

2. located wholesale account request for one supplier. Filled it out, need to locate sales tax license and copy it, and send it in.

3. located vendor app for local Native American organization - they have an approved vendor list, which should get me on the list for local events. Filled it out, need to copy my enrollment letter and mail in.

Things I want/need to do this week:

Envelopes! We apparently have none, which will make mailing in applications a difficult task.

Add at least 2 new items to website (lakotacreations.com) - photos are taken, just need to write entries.

Make dreamcatchers - catch up on orders again, and make some for in-stock listings, since all current in stock listings have been bought. Maybe dual-list etsy stock on site?