Thursday Thoughts

Do you ever feel like you mind is like a computer with 36819472 tabs open at the same time? (Or maybe just like 20, but you get the point.) I know lately my mind seems to be all over the place! So, I feel it’s time for another Thursday Thoughts- just a brain dump edition this time.

Trust me, I understand if you don’t feel like reading my ramblings and troubles, but I do appreciate a “listening ear.”

 

My Crazy Life

So, in February my husband hurt his back again. It’s actually from a previous injury when he was with a different company a few years ago. Anyway, we were able to get the medical part covered through workers comp, but still waiting to see if we can get some sort of financial compensation. Which now puts everything on me since he’s making $0 right now. But if you remember correctly, I lost my teaching job back in June with budget cuts. So now I’m only subbing (which is part time) and quite frankly it doesn’t pay the bills. But every little bit helps. I’ve also been job hunting for what seems like forever, with no luck. So stress is building. Money will run out before too long if his back doesn’t get better soon so he can go back to work. And I don’t want to lose everything. I don’t want to shut down my shop either, because odds are if we have to move out to live elsewhere, I won’t be able to create string arts and won’t have space for much else.

Creating is my life! My stress relief! My joy! (And I truly enjoy being a shop owner more than anything else! Really, I do! And I love every aspect of it including marketing through social media.) Which is also probably why I try to block out everything and craft as much as I can. I don’t try to think about the inevitable at this point. I do feel like my faith has been being tested so much over the past year with everything that’s going on, but I keep my faith and trust that God will provide. It may not always be what I want, but I do believe He will provide.

 

Never Enough Time! 

As I’m sure you can relate to, there is never enough time in a day!

Around October I decided to give Etsy a second chance because I wasn’t making the amount of sales I’d like to. And I have found that it has helped quite a bit. Much to my surprise, sales have also increased on my Storenvy shop. I attribute much of the increase in sales to me revamping/focusing my shop. After I got started on making amigurumi, I realized that it was a a direction I needed to focus my efforts on. But I also knew I had to keep my string arts because they have been quite loved (and I love creating them!). I decided to get rid of tons of individual random items (like 60 or so) that didn’t fit one of a few categories. With this refocus, I feel like customers have a better idea of what I sell and can find things better. I also feel some of the added success is due to the extra time I had between jobs. During that time I focused more on networking and promoting.

In addition to that, I joined a few auction groups somewhere around January which have also proven to be great. Some of those people who have purchased items from me on the auction groups have become repeat customers!

So, with a bit of extra sales (which I totally love!) I can’t seem to build any sort of multiples of any one item. I can’t even keep some items stocked. Which means, I don’t have enough inventory to do any craft shows. I’ve done several craft shows in the past with varying success (again I think it had to do with too many types of things on the table). Now with the focus mainly on amigurumi animals and string arts, I think I would be more successful but don’t have enough stuff.

And with my hubby home, I don’t seem to have as much time to craft when I am home. This is because of going to appointments with him (even though I do craft while in the waiting room) and other errands that he physically can’t handle right now. My lack of time to craft further adds to the problem I have of not being able to keep things in stock. While sales have improved, it’s not enough to justify me turning down a day of subbing to stay home and craft to build up my inventory. So, it’s a never ending cycle. But I guess it’s a good problem to have. 🙂

 

Finishing up for now…

Anyway, so if you made it this far through my rambling, Thank you! Thank you!! Thank you!!! I’m not going to ask you to feel bad for me and my situation and give me pity sales. (But I’m not going to turn you down if you genuinely like my work and want something.) It’s just nice to have someone who “listens” sometimes while I get things off my chest. I really do appreciate your support! Even if it’s just believing in me and the products I create! But if you love the things I create, please share if/when you can. Like I said earlier, every bit helps!

If you are a believer in God, I would greatly appreciate prayers! I do thank God for every
sale that comes my way because I know He is the one who blessed me with the talents I have. Thank you for your support!

~Jennifer ❤