I just mailed my 200th etsy sale! I didn't even realize I was close! I noticed because I was relisting the sold item. Man. I guess I've really stopped obsessing about my Etsy numbers.

Business crafting is slightly on hold due to the fact that I need to settle into the Fall Semester. There are no finals this year and one class actually finishes in mid-November. Oh, AND THEN I HAVE MY DEGREE.

For those who are wondering, the job market is looking pretty awful in my field, so I'll probably continue the business for a quite a while.

Anime Expo is in about a week and a half. I have 106 scarves to finish making. Plus soap. Plus butterfly ear pieces. Plus t-shirts. Ack!

The vast majority of the scarves at at the hand sewing stage, but the best sellers aren't even cut out yet. There are some specialty ones in this round: some airbrushed bunnies and kitties, a couple poptart cats. I don't think I'll get to make another zombie cat for AX, which is a shame, 'cuz they're fun.

For soap, I've got another 10 new scents I want to add in to the product line. New soaps will include Yaoi soap and the rest of the Saiyuki set. I've also got lotion plans. The lotion goes fast, but I need to get those labels designed from scratch. Any requests on lotion scents? Let me know. Butler is a definite yes, but other than that, I haven't decided yet.

Butterfly earpieces aren't even started, other than the few leftovers I have from Fanime. Fortunately, they go fast. I can work on them in the evenings when my fingers are half-dead from sewing.

T-shirts! I've finally got the zombies for literacy design done. I'm pretty pleased with it, and I already printed the initial run. I'm considering doing a few more in the most popular sizes. Then I need to make more of the other designs in whatever sizes I'm sold out of. Mostly mediums and larges I think. And while I'm thinking about it, I should probably make the t-shirt sayings into buttons. I was asked about that a lot at Fanime.

As a side note, I've always said that I'm doing all this to pay for graduate school. I just sent in what should be my last tuition payment (there might be a surprise tuition increase, stupid state funding). Fall will be my last semester. Will I get a real job after that? I don't know. I mean, eventually, sure, but I hear about so many libraries losing funding, closing, having hiring freezes that I'm not all that optomistic about getting a job right away. I will absolutely keep doing Anime Conventions as long as my schedule allows.

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Tags: convention prep
Current Mood: busy

Hello, lovely readers! I have decided to do a small product expiriment for Fanime. I am going to do one batch of lotion to sell. One batch! That means one scent! I would very much like opinions on what one scent I should do.

My top choices are:
-Gunman's Weakness (Cinnamon donuts)
-Stupid Monkey (Banana & tropical fruits)
-Butler (Black tea, lotion will NOT be black like the soap!)
-Descent into Madness (Absinthe)
-Other???

Just drop a comment to tell me which you would prefer!

Tags: survey
Current Mood: contemplative

In the next two weeks, I need to complete two final projects. That means I will be looking for all sorts of excuses to do other things. One of those other things will be a blog post. Any topic requests?

Current Mood: thoughtful

Kimono update: Not there yet, but selling three bars of soap will get me there!

On the advice of a lovely friend, I finally figured out how to make up a facebook page for my business. You can find it here. Please like me! (Last time I was so obsessed with being liked, I was in middle school.)

Anyway, now that I have the facebook page, I'm trying to figure out how to best use it. Therefore, I have some questions for you lovely readers.

-How many times a day can I post before I'm posting too many times?

-Do you want me to only post about myself and my business, or do you want to see links to things I think are cool? (Things like other etsy sellers and artists, mostly...)

-Do you want to hear about crafting or just see pics of finished stuff?

I'm sure I'll want more opinions shortly, but that covers the big questions for now!

Tags: facebook
Current Mood: thoughtful

Now, I set business-related goals all the time. The big goals are things like "prep 100 scarves by the next convention" or "take inventory." The small ones usually run along the lines of "stop playing Frontierville long enough to finish a custom order" or "go shopping for supplies and only buy those supplies."

These sorts of goals are completely under my control. Goals like "hit 100 etsy sales" or "earn tuition this convention" are not under my control. They're important business goals, but they ultimately are up to my lovely customers. I can advertize and promote my little heart out, but the final sales are not under my control.

Right now I have a goal of the second kind. This goal is "have enough in my paypal account to buy a kimono and obi." I am one scarf sale away, and the weather is warming up. I'd also be happy to sell 2 t-shirts of 6 bars or soap. I'm really not picky about what I sell as long as it gets me the total I need.

And no, I'm not linking you all to the kimono and obi I want. There's only one of each. I get to buy them, not you. XP (Also, the fact that there's only one of each is just making me all the more fidgetty about getting enough money already!)

Aside from shameless begging, can anyone suggest a way to give my sales that necessary kick?

Oh, and speaking of soap! There are now 9 different kinds of soap in my etsy shop, and I've got two more photographed, and another cooling right now. New since Anime Conji, I've got Your Father Soap (elderberry). Wild Summer (watermelon) and Bent Water (mint) are coming as soon as I figure out the labels. Shinigami's Lunch (apple) is setting up right now.

I will probably do another Bent Element this afternoon, but I might do Gunman's Weakness instead. I'm stalling on the Hetalia-inspired ones because I want a particular mold.

Anyway, to see the soap, check out my etsy shop.

Current Mood: determined

Anime Conji was awesome! I didn't do much outside of artist alley, but I didn't really care. There were so many artist-friends there!

Barrie did a brilliant job running Artist Alley, and the only things that were glitchy were outside of her control. Really. It's not like she could stop the rain that occured during set up..

I picked up my copy ofMahou Shounen Fight Vol 1. Since I did a preorder, they did a sketch for me on the title page. Oliver wearing kitty scarf!! It's AWESOME. So if you have no idea what I'm babbling about, go read the comic. And if you like the comic, make sure you preorder your dead-tree format copies!!

Sales were lovely. Scarves were a bit slow, but that's been a consistent trend. The soap did quite well, though it took a little effort to get people to get into the idea of soap at their anime con. If you wanted something I sold out of, feel free to drop a comment so I know what to make. Butler Soap gets priority, but after that, I will take suggestions/demands. I also plan to make at least 10 new scents before Fanime. Watch the blog to see what I do and when!

The butterfly ear pieces did surprisingly well. I'll definitely make more of those, and maybe look into getting some other colors. I completely sold out of those, so it will take a little time before I get a chance to get them into my etsy shop.

When you buy soap, do you prefer all the soaps to be the same scent, or do you like sampler packs?

Current Mood: thoughtful

I seem to have fully commited to the soapmaking idea. I've got two orders of supplies on their way so that I can start attempting to make sellable product. Most of what I ordered should directly result in soaps. Since Nature's Garden has a good price on samples,* I got a few things with an eye towards the not-too-distant future as well.

At this point, I'm waiting for the stuff I have to have to proceed and thinking about packaging. It's a little weird to consider it since the scarves and shirts don't call for much more than a plastic bag. Soaps need labels!** They also need to be mailed more securely than the scaves. That's a whole 'nuther batch of research to do.

And in the middle of all this, I still need to do more scarves!



*I know a lot of soapers are highly protective of their secrets and sources, but if you search for soap making on google at all, you're gonna find this place. And you really can't guess what I ordered because the site has kept me amused for days.

**No, really. It's a legal thing. I've got to list 5 or 6 things on it.

Current Mood: restless

I was terribly nervous going into this convention. Aside from it being my first time at this convention, it was my first time at any furry convention. I nearly convinced myself that no one would like the scarves.

Yeah, I know. Silly.

We got there mid-afternoon on Thursday. Checking in took a while, especially since a computer error had dropped me out of the registration list. Fortunately the Marketplace guy was incredibly helpful and on top of things. I basically stood there and looked pretty while he got everything fixed.

I could only get a half table, and I was sharing with an awesome team called Contact Caffeine. She did most of the soap work. He did chain mail. The soaps smelled amazing! And more impressively, I didn't have constant sneezing fits. Most scents they used were fruity/foody smells! Yay! And anything with a "real" food name totally smells like the real food. (Sadly, caffeine and I are not good friends, so I can't give a full product review.) I did order a decaf version of something, but I expect to wait a month or so to get it. They went home with next to nothing and need to focus on restoring their standard stock.

Anyway, sales were pretty much steady across the three days, slow in the morning, better for the two hours before closing. And may I say, furries LOVE their art. Other than one guy who called my scarves "cheapy," I mostly had people being pleasantly surprised by my "low" prices. Someone eventually pointed out to me that most fur suits run a couple thousand dollars. Furries will pay for quality. If you are a talented artist who likes taking commissions and drawing animals, do a furry con. Seriously. The one guy who really wanted to commission a complicated airbrush pattern was willing to pay far more than the $60 I quoted him. I really hope he contacts me because the pattern looked awesome, but he only had one copy of his reference. (Note to self: do a post about commissioning artists)

I wanted to go to a few drawing panels, but I had horrible luck with things being canceled and moved to other times. Maybe next time!

Most dinners involved Super Lunch Jar Takeru (my new rice cooker), but I did go out with some of my brother's friends one night. I was one building away from my college campus, but didn't take the extra steps to actually stand on college property. Maybe when I'm up there for Fanime...

The crepe store I really wanted to visit was closed for remodeling. I was really bummed about that, but at least I found it.

Other awesomeness...

When people in fursuits want to smell something, they have to cram it down the throat of the suit. This is very entertaining.

My long scarves look pretty awesome with fursuits.

The furry community has a higher percentage of gay men than the general population. Watching gay couples buy presents for each other is wonderfully entertaining and quite adorable. (My mercenary heart has a special place for gay men because they are far more likely to buy my scarves for themselves than straight men, based on my unofficial surveys.)

Oh! And I came home desperately wanting to make both soap and chain mail. I have already successfully indulged the first urge. I'm contemplating whether there will be a new product line or just a mad bout of soap-as-gifts. I'm leaning towards the former if I can make sense of the legal stuff. Friends will probably still get lots of samples though.

Current Mood: pleased