This is why I can't 'just go ahead' and open. See, I really have a reason! Note signed by mommy!

This picture is because I feel ALL posts should have pictures somewhere. This is a tester stick going to a friend in the US...its name is Deep Forest:



I finally got around to making that list of things I have to do (in the general order they need done) before my Etsy shop can be opened. It's fully 2 pages long and some of it is really complicated. People kept telling me 'don't wait, just open!' but the amount of things that needs done...whew. Plus I am on disability, and that's something that other people don't have to consider...there's rules about how you're allowed to make money. (Well other people on disability in Canada would have to consider it too, obviously.)

Now if you don't know me, you're probably picturing me in a wheelchair. Let me tell you, there's a good chance I could kick your backside. I'm pretty fit, actually, and though I have been relegated to a wheelchair once before, it didn't last long. I do go three months without the use of one of my hands without notice, sometimes, and things of that nature...I may not be able to get out of bed for two weeks solid because I can't tell where the floor is (you think I'm joking but I'm not) but when you LOOK at me, I look as healthy as they come. And I stay pretty active, exercise wise.

However, I get stressed out at the drop of a hat. Or one unpleasant customer, for a better example. If I had a stick be late in the mail, I'd have to have a nap. Therefore, I MUST BE PREPARED when my shop opens so that there is the least possible amount of stress. This is imperative. In totally technically incorrect but still illustrationally accurate layman's terms, the coating around my brain that lubes up the nerve signals and gets them to where they need to go, well...it's got some holes in it...and it gets new holes at unpredictable times. Then the signals slip out and go nowhere, or to the wrong spot, resulting in me seeing double, or not being able to touch my nose with my left hand, or not being able to avoid stepping on my own toes.

(PS: Illustrationally is not a word. Do not attempt to use at home, or out loud in any place.)

It's not that bad, actually. Okay, sometimes it's HORRIBLE. There, I said it. But mostly, it's fine. It's something I'm suited to dealing with pretty well. But one ever-present side effect was my inability to cope with stress after the first major attack. I also lost the ability to multi-task, I can't speak properly under pressure (that's normal for some people but it was never a problem for me before) my balance is a bit wonky and I get tired quickly and easily. (An all-day trip to the city for some shopping puts me in bed for the rest of the following day.)

So this is why I am going to such lengths to have everything ready and thought-of BEFORE I open the shop...because if it comes up at the last minute and I have to scramble for an answer to a problem, I'll fall apart on the spot.

And because this was such a long, no doubt boring post, here's another picture. This is also Deep Forest, but it's taken with an idea I had to use fruit as props. In one way, I like it...but unfortunately fruit is so brightly coloured that it competes too much for attention. Don't you think?

A little more progress

You know what can be as much fun as making a hairstick? Naming it. :)

I was only medium-fond of these hairsticks until I named them, and now I love them. These are Midnight Circus:

I have my final appointment with the disability employment specialist on November 14 at 1pm, so that will be the end of THAT portion at least. I've also discovered that trying to solder gold sticks is not a good idea so I will use other means to permanently seal any loops that could open during wear and end up in the stick dropping a component. My sticks do keep getting more and more sturdy, I'm confident that they will withstand normal wear very well, better than most hairsticks, probably, once my final design is implemented for *all* of them.

On Monday I have to mail a4 stick packages to my testers and while I'm there I'll ask the necessary shipping questions. Then I'll pretty much have all the information I need to be able to open the shop and all that's left is to create like a demon.

Progress is being made...slowly.

Well I saw disability yesterday and got the information on self-employment and it's better than expected and I don't have to worry about complexity because my sister the number-cruncher is taking care of that part for me...I see that she's been doodling numbers in tidy little lists out there already.

I finally have a completely stable bond and toppers that don't bend unless you bend them on purpose. YAY. I also have four sticks to mail out to my testers after I seal them. Wanna see Artist, Shesha's lighter and more bohemian sister?

The devil is in the details

I have so many things to do before I will be confident in opening my Etsy shop. I'll probably open it sometime in December so that I can do a few trial runs with Paypal and so on...get the hang of listing...so that everything is ready for January 1, 2008.

I have an appointment to see the 'financial' people to make sure I have all the rules right...my sister will likely take care of the tricky bits in that matter. Then I have to get my header designed asap as well as logos and other branding (term discovered on Etsy though I had always planned to do it...I just didn't have a name for it) items, so that I can finish getting the packaging stuff and designing it properly.

Then I have to go to the post office and iron all that out.

Then I have to change my Paypal account to business.

Meanwhile I have to make many, many more sticks, and more of my hammered bookmarks, and a load of earrings and the clip barrettes and will the list ever end?

Then I revamp all my photos and start snapping away.

Then I open the shop. Eek.

Meanwhile, have a picture of one of the sticks that will be going onto Etsy. This is cloisonne and glass. See what mean about needing to revamp the photos?

More testing

Testing the other link type...this is Hunter's Moon, one of my sets of topper sticks. I wish I still had enough of the carnelian to make another set...I'd like to have them myself but I sold 'em a year ago.

First photo for Blogger

Um, I really don't know what I'm doing yet. I'm so used to Livejournal! Let me see if I can post a picture of one of my hairsticks...

It worked, right?

Darn, NOT as good as Livejournal for displays of photography.

Just testing Blogger out to see if it meets my current blogging needs...