News & Sneak Peeks:
Friday Roundup from the DustyNewt Workshop 06/07/2024
Today’s “17 Step Commute” Dashboard…
Temp: Currently 72. High of 96 today 😎
Humidity: 5 on the “Soup” scale. (1=light broth, 5=thick chowder)
Today’s Playlist: RUSH 2112 then maybe some old Genesis…
Conditions: Take in a breath of hot stew and embrace the heat! Muck fire smoke in the air. Hoping the daily rains start soon.
Estimated Travel Time: 18 seconds with no school crossing zones, but watch out for bolting cats.
Food: Toast and an apple.
Coffee Level: 1/4 Tank
On the Workbench…
Putting the final “fit and polish” on more chopsticks boxes. They have drawn quite a bit of interest in my Etsy shop and on Facebook. The first sale went to Sweden. Thank you Rhiannon!
Wine Barrel Oak Wood - I have a limited supply of White Oak barrel staves, from Napa Valley, available for keychain loving winos. The face is a purplish red, stained from the vino it once held.
GoImagine
If you have been keeping up with my Monday blogs, you know I have been offering my woodstuffs on Etsy since 2008 (exclusively since 2017 or thereabouts). They have been a wonderful platform to work with and kept me quite busy.
However, this year has been a rollercoaster of changes within the Etsy marketplace itself. Stemming with their “Gifting” push that launched around Super Bowl time, algorithm changes, server problems and the integration of AI “bots” have been noticeably affecting traffic, sales and my confidence in their website.
These changes, along with their allowance of mass produced crap (that is better found at Alibaba, Amazon or Ebay) have made me question my putting all of my eggs in the one basket. Since going public in 2015, Etsy has steadily strayed from the philosophy that made them great, namely handmade creators and makers, in favor of their bottom line.
I will maintain my Etsy store in the hope that they can correct their path, as they claim they are working at. But, for the last month I have been researching my options and have settled on opening a sister shop at GoImagine… just in case.
GoImagine concentrates on real handmade products, made and sold in the U.S. only.
Makers have to submit an application to be approved, verifying that they make the products themselves.
Real people, not bots, are behind the wheel.
Their website is clean, easily navigated and professional.
Their Facebook group is a positive and encouraging place that has real-time (actual people), moderators to help you along the way. I joined it two weeks before I signed up to get the feel of fellow crafters.
100% of their profits, after operating and advertising costs, are donated to benefit children’s causes.
So, while I am not ready to give up on Etsy [totally], I have been familiarizing myself with the GoImagine dashboard and methods of listing products, slowly populating my new storefront with my wares to test their waters. It looks promising.
Have a visit and if you decide you would also like to sell your handmade goodies on GoImagine, sign up with this referral code, “34SZJX”, to get your first month free.
Sneak Peeks
Thanks for checking in. Here’s a view of this week’s Etsy orders.
For customers, this should ease your mind that your order is quite important to me and being attended to, not sitting on a clipboard or in the to-do pile. Also, if your order is being sent as a gift to a recipient at another address, you get to see it before they do.
For subscribers, this will give you an idea of the physical things I create and ship worldwide. They keep me sane and help me find my peace.
Every order is carved individually by hand, in the order that they are received. Some weeks are busier than others. I usually carve and ship within 3 to 5 business days.
If you are enjoying what you see… I like it hot and black. 😉
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