Friday, January 21, 2011

It's Been a Strange Week!


Anyone who visits my Etsy Shop
probably knows, by now, that I'm "on vacation!"

I Wished I were on vacation...just kicking back and relaxing.
Instead...I've been remaking/reprinting all of the
International orders that never reached their destinations,
as well as everything else that has been ordered since.
After getting so many notes about missing packages...
and with business as slow as it's been..
it just seemed like the best solution for me was
to just pull everything in the Shop and put it 'on vacation',
so I could get EVERYTHING printed,
made, packaged and shipped
all at once!

So...that's what I've been doing.
I won't reopen until ALL of my packages are
on their way to their respective owners.

In the meantime...
I've made some other decisions.

As per my last post...
all of my International packages will have to be
sent Priority mail from now on.
The first class International mailings were just too stressful, on so many levels.
There is really no good way to track those packages and
they are the only ones that I have to actually take to the post office.
Since I don't have a car...that has always been problematic for me.
Either I have to send them with someone else or get someone to take me
and the packages to the post office.
(It all worked fine until Ryan moved to North Dakota. Now I have to wait
until one of my other kids have some time in their own busy schedules
to do it for me.)
Can we see the timing issues in this arrangement???

Anyway....that problem solved...and I do apologize to my
International friends, as there are some items that won't be available
for International shipping (like the Tile pendants or mini prints)

Another decision I made...
I no longer offer bookmarks...
for reasons similar to shipping.
These have to be laminated 
(another thing Ryan did for me each week)
and so I have to wait until I get them from Jaime and then
find a way to get to Staples to get them laminated.
Just too much trouble for me at this time.

I'm cutting back on everything in the Etsy Shop...to make it a bit more
manageable.
I've put all of my 'non-character' paintings in my
CMZ Art Bonanza Shop
and I'll be giving a lot more attention to this shop and some
of the other shops that are really needing my attention,
which means that I won't be listing new items as frequently
in my Etsy Shop.

 Hopefully all of the work I've done this week will make my 
life...and my business...a lot easier to manage
when I reopen the Shop next week.
 



6 comments:

Kathryn Dyche said...

Sounds like you've been forced to make lots of decisions recently. Hopefully it will make things a lot more manageable, wishing you lots of sales as a result.

Kelly Jeanette Swift said...

Having a business doing what you love is no longer fun when it becomes stressful. Hope everything works out for you.

BlacknickSculpture said...

Sounds like your taking the bull by the horns. I hope the changes you are implementing make things go more smoothly for you :)

Kim Vanlandingham said...

Whew!!! You've been busy!!!!

Lady Euphoria Deathwatch said...

Hi Rustic Goth,

I’ve posted a meme on my Blog and you have been chosen for The Stylish Blogger Award.

Feel free to not participate. But if you do the posting is found here.

http://ladyeuphoriadeathwatch.blogspot.com/2011/01/on-being-noticed.html

Hugs, Euphoria

The Words Crafter said...

Bless your heart! It seems like everyone is under some kind of pressure lately. You've had to make some hard decisions and I hope it all works out. I'd be crazy trying to keep up with it all :P

Good luck and DO find some time to rest!