Two Things....

The pic that is rapidly becoming my Forever Logo. :)

I love my website. Love love love it! :)

James made it for me. I love it especially because James made it for me. He slaved over it, I'm not kidding. He took time away from doing his Own Thing to put it all together and I couldn't be happier with it.

Best thing about it? -- it's the easiest site in the world for a potential customer to find and use. There are no bells or whistles, no freaky Flash stuff to fight with, no annoying music, no little fluttering fairy icons that follow the cursor around. My own parents can go there and navigate it, as can my 'dial-up' friends. It's just a dream.

However, it could use all sorts of updates, MAJOR ones, not the least of which are a shopping cart and links to new work. And I have little idea how to do those things for myself.

James is the Computer Guy around here. He's done programming for as long as I've known him, and he still spends much of his work week glued to a monitor developing company software. I pretty much have to wait for him to find a convenient time to work on my site, but the last thing I want him to do when he comes home in the evening is sit down to yet another monitor and do yet more programming.

And in recent years James has begun doing creative work himself and has constructed his own site to maintain. No surprise, but it could use updates as well, and if any site deserves his attention more, it's his.

No, I take that back. BOTH our sites deserve his attention! But the guy's Free Time is golden; I'd really rather he spend it creating his art and promoting it instead of being my on-call developer.

So with that in mind I just keep telling myself that it wouldn't hurt me to learn how to maintain my own dang site my own dang self. James has taught me a few things, of course, because I asked him to. But it's not easy. In fact, it's close to impossible for me. So I still manage to let things slide until I can guilt James into doing them for me.

I'm still waiting for him to do them for me.

And the longer I wait, the less I care if the updates are ever made. In my head they make little difference, as in all the years my site's been up and running, I've probably only ever made half a dozen sales from it. Granted, I'd make MORE if it was current, perhaps. But still.... A vicious cycle.

Anyway, this all leads me to Now. And Etsy.

After days (okay, weeks) of tweaking, hairpulling, information overload, and -- I'll admit it -- FUN, Mayfaire's little Etsy shop is finally open for business.

And I did it all myself. I did it!

A million digital photos were taken, I swear. And I'd bet two million hours were spent agonizing over whether to crop them tighter or even use them at all. And pressing the 'Publish' button was enough to give me a hot flash, I was that nervous about it.

But then the stats showed me that my shop got an actual 'view.' Then two, then three, then a hundred! And before long I even got a sale. I kid you not, I did the Happy Dance all the way to the Post Office!

Who knows whether or not all the work I did to get the shop up and running will ever pay off for me. All I know is, when it comes to updating myself and my work online, I can DO this. And I don't need James to do it FOR me.

And that makes all the difference.
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P.S. Shop my Etsy store at http://www.etsy.com/shop/MayfaireArt. It will carry those products that I don't normally post to my website. You can also visit my website at http://www.mayfaireart.com. Thank you. :)

Etsy or Bust!

An example of my resin work

My 'flat art' (meaning two-dimensional work that can be framed and hung on a wall) is really what I'm known for.

 

I was originally juried into the MN Renaissance Festival with it over 25 years ago and, as a result, it's technically the only kind of work I can sell there. My customers know me. They expect to see drawings and prints. And at the moment Fest is the only place that I really show my work. 

 

However, in recent years I've begun playing more with materials other than papers and pencils. And even though I've since been granted permission to do so, the little oddments I'm making are ones that are difficult (for me, anyway) to sell at Fest. And, to make matters worse, Technical UN-savvy Me has yet to figure out how to sell them from my website.

 

SO. I'm thinking they might just be ideal for an Etsy shop.... 

 

The idea intrigues me.

 

Fest is my only show now for a reason. I'm naturally reclusive, for one thing. I love my weekends and dislike venturing too far from home. And, I'll just say it: I'm older now and just not fond of the travel and set-up and tear-down (not to mention the expense) that goes with doing a show.

Over the years, in an effort to get my work out there and still not wander too far from my cocoon, I've occasionally thought of opening a little local storefront. Sounds quaint and fun at first glance, but then we're talking again of uber-busy weekends and the worries of covering expenses. :(

So how much better is the idea of a virtual storefront? A virtual art show? Where the lease/entry fee is minimal, the customers all warm and cozy shopping in the comfort of their own homes, the upkeep and maintenance and utilities all non-existent? And Happy-Artist Me behind my virtual counter in my comfy clothes?? (Awesome!)

Granted, 'if you build it, they will come' doesn't apply. Because they won't, necessarily. As of right now, Etsy has a million bazillion quillion virtual stores all offering amazing products. Being noticed at all will be a dang miracle! But no one ever said this will work as well for me as it does in my imagination....

But it can't hurt to try!

Anyway, I've done boatloads of reading since I saved a spot on Etsy for myself a year ago, and I keep revisiting my 'shop space' there and sticking a tentative toe in the water. But now seems like the time to get down and dirty with it. My Eldest has put the pressure on, for one thing, by suggesting an Etsy shop in the first place and daring me to get one up and running. She offered to do all the set-up for me recently when she was home for a bit, but I disliked the idea of putting her to work on her visit.

Plus, I wanted to show her that I can DO this. (Because I CAN!)

So since her departure a week or so ago I've been knee deep in all things Etsy. Black Friday/Cyber Monday are big incentives. I've taken a crapzillion digital photos of my creations. I've written and rewritten copy until it no longer makes sense to me. I've researched shipping charges and Paypal accounts and packaging ideas, blahddy blah. It's all been a baptism by fire, but I think I'm making some teensy progress.

Or maybe I'm just facing the right direction!

But that's progress, too, right?

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