I'm back and a good word about Ravelry too!

Well, I'm back from my mini-vacation.  I went to visit my parents with the baby (mainly so that grandma and grandpa could spend time with the baby girl).  They live on a farm near a small town south of where I live in the big city.  No internet access there and a lot of chirping frogs and bugs.  It was a nice rest, but I am glad to be back home and back in business doing fibery things again.


When I returned, one of the first things that I did was check ravelry to see what was going on there with the fancy kitty group.  Ravelry is a wonderful fiber community for knitters and crocheters mainly, but I have found many groups and much information there for spinners and feltmakers as well.  If you are a fiber enthusiasts, I recommend that you join.  It is a very easy-going, fun community to be a part of with a wealth of fiber information and resources.

A Call to Feltmakers & Felt Artists from Lark Books!

A very nice editor from Lark Books contacted me yesterday about submitting some photos of my felted creations for their upcoming publishing project, 500 Felt Objects.  She also asked that I pass along the information to my fellow fiber artists who work with felt.  I thought the easiest way to do that would be to post it on my blog.  You can find the guidelines here.

Now I just have to decide what to submit.  If you have any suggestions of what photos of mine I should submit, please do share in the comments or email me.  I'd love some help making up my mind!

Feeling utterly discouraged today . . . I've got the selling blues . . . so I turn to creating

Well, I've done all the things that I advocate on my own blog - advertised, stocked my shop, worked on my photos, and done my best to establish a brand - but alas my sales are down more than ever before this month. I know that it could be blamed on the U.S. economy right now which I do believe is a big part. I'd like to think thought that I have more control over my own sales than that, and that perhaps, I'm missing something.

This time last year, I was selling several times more per month than I am right now in my Etsy shop. I noticed that sales of fellow Etsy feltmakers seem to run the spectrum with some selling at the same pace that I am and some doing a bit better and a few doing very well. Those that seem to be doing very well also seem to have quite a lot lower prices than I do and/or they have a very unique product to sell with an interesting style. For those who have much lower prices, I wonder how they do it and make a profit that actually pays themselves a wage, or perhaps they are just approaching it as a hobby. For those of you selling your wares consistently right now, if you have a pricing or otherwise secret, believe me, I'd love to know.

At this point, I'm wondering if I'm washed up! Some days I feel as though I am being replaced by the presence of more and more feltmakers coming on to the scene with the popularity of the ancient art form growing. I have even thought about switching interests into to doing more fine art and sculptural creations with felt. I've been thinking about that for quite a while and can not seem to get it out of my mind. Perhaps it is time to listen to that inner voice and renew my creative spirit with a different focus for a while. Sometimes, I think it is too easy to simply give in to the financial bottom line and want to make things that I think will sell, but I've seen that isn't always the answer and can be frustrating at times.

Today is just one of those days when discouragement comes knocking and makes me reevaluate my creative endeavors. Although, I do not think that is a bad thing. It only forces me to wedge my way out of my little comfort zone. This usually results in some magnificent growth in my skills and creative ventures though. I guess we'll see . . . for now, I'd better return to my feltmaking. If all else fails, I am always at peace when I am physically creating. It is my refuge.