STRESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Money is stupidly tight this month. All of my $$$ is going straight into materials for Spoutwood. 90% of my TIME is going into making things for Spoutwood. I am shooting for 100 pairs of wing earrings, 40 wing necklaces, plus odds and ends (I specifically need to make more labradorite pieces). I have no idea if that's way under or over estimating things, and the answers I've gotten when I reached out for help have been a little on the abstract side. (Because there's a lot of factors, obviously: weather, what my booth will look like, etc. But I mostly want to know "how much do YOU bring that you've found is a happy medium" and so far, answers are all over the map.)
I've gotten 40 wing pairs done in stage 1 (getting the actual wing made). Today, tomorrow, and Monday will be more of that. My fingers are so sore. I am going through OUNCES AND OUNCES of wire. First I have to make the base, hammer it, then wire in the veining, then re-smack it. Next week, I'll be preparing the wing material, be it iridescent (easiest) or glittery (more time-intensive, they may be priced differently at the actual show to reflect it). Good news is I snagged 2 new colors of iridescent glitter about 1/2 off because they were being discontinued, and the colors are preeeeetty.
After that comes the crystal, then the resin. Right now, my resin curing rig is only set up for batches of 24 individual wings, so I'm either going to have to change it out like clockwork every 48 hours, or scheme up a bigger rig. I'd love to do that just to save on resin. Smaller batches tend to mean wasted resin in general, which is why I don't do too many of the non-iridescent wings any more-- each pigment needs to be mixed in at least a 1/2 oz of resin to cure properly, and that gets wasteful really quick.
THEN. THEN I need to make all the earwires and chains. Part of me wants to use pre-bought earwires, but the artistic part of me considers that cheating. I am considering whether I want to sell chains or ribbons separately just because every person is a special snowflake who wants their own special length. (Really, this is true. I have my 1 week timeframe for mailing out orders because approximately 1/2 of them have a sizing request. And while I don't charge extra unless someone's asking for more than 6" of additional change, you can't have both custom AND fast.)
Then I have to figure out displays. That means buying more stuff (at least one other table and one other neckform, possibly a fancy table mirror) with money I don't have right now, and figuring out what I'm going to do about a vendor's tent (
reedrover said I could borrow one, maybe? I feel like I'm in a haze.) Jason is supposed to be handling signage, but I am a little concerned I am going to have to do more managing on that than I'd like.
So. Basically. I am sorry if I am not super-available right now. I have no idea how I'm going to get all of this done in under a month, PLUS do the dancing with Transcendence, PLUS manage to feed and bathe myself regularly.
17flyingfish is coming over next Wednesday for dinner and to help with some of the stuff, but I'm just throwing this out there: if any local friends have a free day or evening and want to stop over to help with things that can be helped (earwire-hammering and setting crystals are all super-easy things that will save me time), I will pay you or trade you shiny stuff.
Until then, I don't have much time for anything, including the beauty blog, though I hope to put short bits up once or twice a week. I eagerly await my return to the land of the living in May.
I've gotten 40 wing pairs done in stage 1 (getting the actual wing made). Today, tomorrow, and Monday will be more of that. My fingers are so sore. I am going through OUNCES AND OUNCES of wire. First I have to make the base, hammer it, then wire in the veining, then re-smack it. Next week, I'll be preparing the wing material, be it iridescent (easiest) or glittery (more time-intensive, they may be priced differently at the actual show to reflect it). Good news is I snagged 2 new colors of iridescent glitter about 1/2 off because they were being discontinued, and the colors are preeeeetty.
After that comes the crystal, then the resin. Right now, my resin curing rig is only set up for batches of 24 individual wings, so I'm either going to have to change it out like clockwork every 48 hours, or scheme up a bigger rig. I'd love to do that just to save on resin. Smaller batches tend to mean wasted resin in general, which is why I don't do too many of the non-iridescent wings any more-- each pigment needs to be mixed in at least a 1/2 oz of resin to cure properly, and that gets wasteful really quick.
THEN. THEN I need to make all the earwires and chains. Part of me wants to use pre-bought earwires, but the artistic part of me considers that cheating. I am considering whether I want to sell chains or ribbons separately just because every person is a special snowflake who wants their own special length. (Really, this is true. I have my 1 week timeframe for mailing out orders because approximately 1/2 of them have a sizing request. And while I don't charge extra unless someone's asking for more than 6" of additional change, you can't have both custom AND fast.)
Then I have to figure out displays. That means buying more stuff (at least one other table and one other neckform, possibly a fancy table mirror) with money I don't have right now, and figuring out what I'm going to do about a vendor's tent (
reedrover said I could borrow one, maybe? I feel like I'm in a haze.) Jason is supposed to be handling signage, but I am a little concerned I am going to have to do more managing on that than I'd like. So. Basically. I am sorry if I am not super-available right now. I have no idea how I'm going to get all of this done in under a month, PLUS do the dancing with Transcendence, PLUS manage to feed and bathe myself regularly.
17flyingfish is coming over next Wednesday for dinner and to help with some of the stuff, but I'm just throwing this out there: if any local friends have a free day or evening and want to stop over to help with things that can be helped (earwire-hammering and setting crystals are all super-easy things that will save me time), I will pay you or trade you shiny stuff. Until then, I don't have much time for anything, including the beauty blog, though I hope to put short bits up once or twice a week. I eagerly await my return to the land of the living in May.