Diversification

About this time last year I was casting around for ways to diversify my 'web presence'.  Sounds pretty grand when you put it like that, but I just really wanted another place to sell my work, one a little different to Etsy.  I joined Etsy in 2006, but unfortunately I literally floundered for a couple of years while I tried vainly to find a direction.  It wasn't until last year that I got a little bit more comfortable with what I was doing and started to try to sell a little more.  I joined Zibbet because I liked the way they looked and the fact that they responded to concerns - and - I thought they had potential!  The old 'get in on the ground floor' argument.  I bought a lifetime membership on a special - 100$ at the time - so I would never have to pay fees again and could list experimental things without worrying.  Of course, nothing ever sold because most of my work got diverted to Etsy where it might and often did sell!  So this became a bit of a vicious circle.

I actually sold my first thing on Zibbet last week ( the stud earrings pictures above) so I'm encouraged to go back and list there more often.  (They have recently revamped their home page and it looks much better..)  Of course, if I have multiples of something, it can be listed in both places...I have put a link to my Zibbet shop on the blog, so either find it or click here.  Zibbet is really trying hard - they are doing upgrades and requesting input from their sellers all the time to try to build a site that works.  Coupons and sales mode, for example, are very easy!  Of course, I still like Etsy, but sometimes it does feel as though one is being crushed by a juggernaut!  Ideally, I would like to sell on both.  We'll see what develops....It's pretty obvious that I'm not a very savvy web person as it's taken me a year to get that logo here, but really, until I promote Zibbet a little more, it's not really giving them a chance!

I'll close by posting some images of recent work - also fits under the title of 'Diversification', I notice.   When will I stop going madly off in all directions?

 These are called 'torso' beads.  I like the wideness and the flatness of them...

 Some new buttons - they have already gone, must make more!

Painted hollow beads - alcohol inks and white clay.  Very bright...

Large focal caned beads made for a special order - I will definitely be making more of these!  Have those canes to use up...

            

texture in life

Off on a small road trip today for the weekend to visit my family in Toronto - sans kids!  A grown-up weekend.  The talking books are packed for the car (I can't drive without them ) and I just have to get through the interminable chores before I whiz away!  Lots of time to let ideas drift through my head in the car, at least, before I hit the Toronto traffic....

I've been doing a lot of work that is NOT textured lately, but this doesn't mean I'm leaving it behind.  I try to start each day by making a new small texture plate to try out in my next bout of bead making.  Sometimes these are 'constructed ' textures, and sometimes they are from things I've picked up through the course of the day.  Needless to say, my pockets are usually full of stuff by end of the day - a laundry nightmare if I don't remember!  I can't always tell if I'm going to like the result and I usually make a positive and negative to see which works best.  Lately, the ones I've liked the best have been the ones I've thought a little dull before trying them.  As with most things in life, it is possible to try too hard with texture and find that the result is too much -  unnatural and full of unnecessary gestures. 

Of course, it all depends what your're aiming for!  Perhaps the next time I try one, I'll be aiming for a much more formal look...  Wow, now that I see these here, I see they need a bit of a scrub to remove the excess polymer and corn starch. Yum.  These are all really small, by the way - not more than 2 inches square.  This gives me a lot of flexible little pieces for beads and for spot texturing. 

Back next week with new work to show, or check it out on Flickr!