Giftbearer Lining Up New Items and Waiting Out the Snow

The way things have been snowed in here since Sunday night you'd think we lived in Alaska but it's only Georgia which rarely gets this type of snow for more than 1 day at a time. Carmella loves it, but so much for "not wind, or snow, nor dark of night"... (or something like that; I can't fully remember that quote).

The city has been pretty much on lockdown with GA. Dept. Of Transportation issuing travel advisories because of icy road conditions. A pregnant pause seems to hang in the cold winter air here.

I've finished my recent custom ordered Early Budding Vine bracelet, Aurora Borealis as of Sunday night and was on the phone for 15 minutes just to find out that public transportation (even that disability service I take) is only taking Dialysis patients, so I guess my plan to get to the Post Office today was wishful thinking.  I usually ship promptly, so I hope my customers will understand and that nobody will miss a gift-giving deadline or anything. I was also expecting to receive an Aquamarine cab this past Monday coming from a state in the Northeast. I'm getting a little nervous because no mail has even been coming to the house.

I rescheduled my trip to the local Post Office once again for tomorrow and will hope for the best. Hopefully things in the city and surrounding suburbs will be back to their normal operations by then. I also need to get a few things at the grocery store while I'm there. The shopping center with Post Office where I go to mail my packages also has a Publix in it, so I usually kill two birds with one stone when I have orders that need to go out.

Here are some pictures I took of bracelet #5 in the series. The only silver lining in my not having a way to get to the Post office and the lack of mail service the past several days is that I have had the opportunity to have it awhile longer and take some better pictures. Each day the lighting has been a little brighter, so maybe that's a sign that this ice on the roads will melt soon.

Aurora Borealis-Early Budding Vine Bracelet #5

Last night after the 9 PM Promotional Frenzy I checked my e-mail and found that one of the PMC websites was having a competition. The site sells supplies and tools and prizes include gift certificates for items they sell to artists, and to all applicants who submit 5 entries of different metal clay pieces they are giving away a free metal clay calendar compiled by Holly Gage (while they last)! One of my bracelets was featured in a prevous issue and the past year or so I had forgotten the deadline to submit my items for that, but when I had the calender it was one of my favorites of any calender I've had on my wall. The variety of things people do with this medium is always inspiring and I never tire of looking at them.

I've been adjusting my descriptions today on these to freshen up the content for Google and Etsy searches, then Tweeting, as I want to continue to sell these while the iron is hot!

If I can sell one or two more (the last earnings had to go toward bills) just maybe then I will have enough money to buy the kiln I've been wanting! I have big plans for all kinds of cool hollowforms with fire-in-place settings that I can't do on my gas stove. I just love all things 3D, and I have new designs just waiting for the right equipment to make them manifest.

If you love the Early Budding Vine bracelets you haven't seen anything yet!

Right now I've got some beadwoven pieces in the works and need to finish those up while I'm stuck inside. With the holiday preparations and the custom order I had to put several of those on the back burner for awhile.

I've also got some soldered mealwork pieces in-progress that need to be completed, photographed and listed, and more soldered ones planned, especially big bezeled ones that I have in short supply at the present time.

There are a few new supplies to photograph and list too.

The Monday BNR Treasury has kept me very busy, especially the roll-out for the new Specialty BNR format. We are alternating one week a regular general medium BNR, then the other week, a specialty one. Next week's will be featuring 2D art, focusing on Fine Art; drawing, painting, and photography.

After the holidays it seems that everybody under the sun on Etsy has started doing BNR Treasuries on the same day as ours, and that has impacted Promotional Frenzy's number of sales, but considering that handicap I thnk the increased buy-in price (increased from $3.50 to $8.00 for the general BNR, and increased from $3.50 - $15.00 for the Specialty BNR) has been successful and most buyers are adapting well. I look forward to seeing what thread members reap from this in the future as we continue to break new ground and challenge long-held BNR stereotypes. Can higher-priced things sell in a BNR setting? I believe they can! We are only limited by the parameters of our own imagination, and my recent custom order is evidence that higher-priced things can and are selling on Etsy! One can have fun without sacrificing profit and making a living wage. The two need not be mutually exclusive. I am really intrigued and excited about this prospect and the opportunity to test out this theory.