Things I've been up to
Posted by Sarah at February 8, 2010 9:34 PM 
Categories: Beads,General
Tags: beads classes etsy new zealand australia
Categories: Beads,General
Tags: beads classes etsy new zealand australia
I scored 668,700 points on Bejeweled Blitz this week.
Well yes, I do think this achievement is important enough to be mentioned in bold on my blog. It's freaking 668,700 points. That's like, impossible. I rock.
I have a few more things to say about computer games - but first, let's talk about some other important stuff.
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Upcoming Classes in Australia and New Zealand
I am excited to be traveling back to the southern hemisphere this April. This time I'll be teaching both in Australia and New Zealand!
I am scheduled to teach two sessions of classes at Carole Griffiths' studio in Canberra, between April 22-25 and April 28 - May 1. For more information and registration, please contact Carole at carole@handmadeglassbeads.com.au.
After that I'll be heading to New Zealand, where I'll be teaching a session at Born To Bead in Auckland between May 13-16, then at Annie Rose in Whangarei between May 20-23. Please contact the studios through their websites for more information.
Hope to see you there!
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BEADS: Production Mode
After finishing the work on Making Mandala Beads, I needed a couple of days off to recharge myself (and score many points on Bejeweled Blitz).
Then, it was time to get back to work. I tried making some off-mandrel pendants. At first I was excited that I could actually make things without a mandrel - and, potentially, without having to clean out bead release, one of my most hated tasks. There's something about off-mandrel work that makes me feel like a "real" flameworker.
Sadly, the pendants came out of the kiln looking unbelievably crappy - not even photo-worthy. I did go through an interesting thought process though.
I have recently taken a marble making class and a Lucio class. They were both fun. I learned a lot. But I was - and still am, I guess - having some trouble figuring out what I am supposed to do with what I learned. It's that creative block thing, the stressful kind, the preachy inner voice that keeps nagging and asking you what's the point in taking classes if you're just going to keep on making the same things. Many ideas went through my mind... I could make little abstract sculptures, or I could try making marbles with soft glass, or I could practice sculpting the human figure, or something. Whatever.
But even if I could accomplish any of that successfully, what would I do with all that stuff? Who needs a bunch of useless glass knickknacks lying around?
Yes, I know, this sounds like a very weird way of looking at things.
I think I realized something important about myself and my work. It's not that I've been making beads all this time because I didn't know how to make anything else. Anything "more advanced", or whatever. It's not that I can "only make beads" because of my dependency on mandrels. I mean, yeah, I pretty much depend on mandrels at this point, but does this have to be a bad thing? I realized that I make beads because I like beads. I like making stuff that can be used for something. I like making stuff that people can wear. I am more attracted to making functional things than things that just sit on a shelf. Not that I don't appreciate the stuff that sits on shelves - I do, trust me - but I don't think it's what I want to make. Not at this point in time, in any case. When it's time for me to make other stuff, then I will.
So, anyway, after these profound realizations, I decided to put myself in "production mode" and just sit at the torch for a few days and make a big bunch of beads. Beads, just beads. So I did. I made LOTS of beads.
It was fun. And delightfully non-stressful. These are kind of all over the place as far as style is concerned, but I'm hoping there will be something for everyone. Or at least something for someone. Or anything for anyone? Check them out on my Etsy.
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Now, back to those computer games.
My incredible talent for swapping colored exploding jewels aside (uh, just so we're clear, this refers to the Bejeweled Blitz thing, not my latest mini-sets - they don't explode), I've been obsessing over a different kind of computer game lately. I think you may have heard of it. It's called Etsy.
A couple of months ago, in an effort to boost my sales, I decided to play the Etsy game. That is, do all the stuff you're supposed to do to boost your sales on Etsy. Improve your photos. Renew your items every day. Make treasuries. Get people to click on the treasuries. Join a team. Participate on the Etsy forums.
I did all this stuff. I changed all my photos to make them fit nicely into the annoying-not-quite-square Etsy shop format. I joined a team. I've been posting messages - most of them just pointless "here I am" messages - on the forums. Some of the discussions there are quite interesting, actually - yay, more time spent in front of the computer reading stuff - but I can't really get too involved; I have too many other forums and social networks to be overly involved with at this point. And I've been renewing stuff. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the game, "renewing" is when you pay $0.20 to relist an item, usually long before its expiration date. This pushes your item to the top of the search results for about a millisecond, thus supposedly boosting your sales. It seems unfair, doesn't it? Like, why should you have to keep paying and paying to relist the same items? I mean, if you do it once a day, you pay $6 a month - not a big deal. But I have learned that some people renew things 15-20 times a day. I've been doing it in moderation - 2 or 3 times a day, or so. I can confidently say that this does absolutely nothing for my sales and I am just pointlessly donating money to Etsy. I should really stop that. But don't take my word for it - some people say that renewing works wonders for them.
And then, there's the treasuries. Treasuries work in a weird way. You can open a new one when the number of treasuries drops below 333. Then, there is a 5-second time slot to "grab" it, and if you can do that, you get this sense of achievement. Yay, I GOT it! Once you become obsessed with making treasuries (who, me?), you can follow the Treasure Clock to check when they're scheduled to open up and the Treasure Hunt to see if anyone put any of your items in their treasuries. Then, at some point, you find your daily schedule revolving around the treasury. Uh, no, I can't sit at the torch right now, because the treasury is opening up in 3 hours and I don't want to miss it. Then you're supposed to promote the treasuries, because the more people click and comment on them, the more popular they get, and if they get really popular, there's a small chance they might appear on Etsy's front page, which is supposed to be really cool and stuff.
Seriously, Etsy somehow has its sellers donating time and money to them, working really hard for free and rarely complaining about it. It's kind of amazing. Someone should research this psychological phenomenon and figure out why the hell this is working for them.
Why am I doing all this stuff? It's not boosting my sales. The things that do boost my sales are my blog, my newsletter and occasionally Facebook. The Etsy games aren't really working for me. But they are fun to play. Making treasuries and/or appearing in them doesn't really do much for promotion. I kind of knew this already, long before this obsession started. I've always said that the only people browsing the treasuries are other sellers, not buyers, and I'm pretty sure this is true.
And yet, I am obsessed with the idea of making it to Etsy's front page. So my life must revolve around treasuries. It's like playing the same computer game over and over and over again. If you don't win, you just start over. Even if the prize isn't worth as much as you think it might be.
Hey, you probably have a better chance at scoring 668,700 points in Bejeweled Blitz.
Dear Sarah-first of all I LOVE your newsletters and blogs. Secondly, you're absolutely right not to make glass tchotchkes, no matter how beautiful they are. You are a brilliant bead maker. Your work adorns our bodies and will do so for many years. Please bead on!
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HOW did you score 668,700 points in one minute of bejeweled? HOW HOW HOW HOW HOW HOW HOW HOW HOW HOW HOW ?????????????sorry, I just don't know what else to say, I am so blown away with that score, did the entire screen melt away in one second ? I mean, HOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW ????????? DO YOU GET THAT KIND OF SCORE IN ONE MINUTE??????????
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I dont play most of the Etsy Games. I don't have the patience to stalk the treasuries, though I do try to click when people I know post them. Theres just TOO MUCH in the forums, and I get lost forever. As for relisting... well... Do you have google analytics on your etsy page? I've tried watching it on days that i've listed new items (I just havent been able to bring myself to renew just because, but i've spaced out some of my actual listings to take advantage of the top-of-the-list feature) and honestly, I havent even seen a significant increase in VIEWS, let alone sales. I personally enjoy the etsy chat rooms, which do garner a lot of views, but it seems that there are very few BUYERS hanging out in the chat rooms. I have found some cool people buy FROM in there though!
If you're ever looking for something for a treasury, i've got a shop full of sparklies you're welcome to link to
(PS! Thanks for fanning my shop on FB!)
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Hi Sarah!
I really appreciated reading your feelings about Etsy. For a while I've been pondering opening an Etsy store and selling my jewelry. I've been putting it off because I see how much is already on there and how easy it is to get lost in the shuffle. It seems like there are a lot of hoops to jump through to get your stuff visable and no guarantees that anyone will visit your store anyway. I visited your link to the blogspot and after reading through a few pages of venting I think I'll steer away from Etsy and maybe check out Artfire but I'm not sure they are any better. It's a bit overwhelming to have a bunch of jewelry to sell and no real idea of how to get it out there. Also, I do buy on Etsy and I have never visited a Treasury at all. Anyway, thanks for the info!
Pamela
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Pamela, I dont think etsy is a BAD place to post your jewelry, but you just have to understand that there is a LOT of jewelry on etsy, and yes, it gets lost in the shuffle. That being said, I feel its a great (read as: cheap and professional) place to stash your stuff so that you have an actual "store" you can send people to. Just dont expect the sales to stumble along via etsy!
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Thank you, this is exactly how I feel about Etsy (I'm sucked in too..).It really struck me what you said about all these willing slaves toiling away at treasuries! It's really quite hilarious and pathetic when you think about it...I think my sour grapes are showing...
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I have also been on Etsy and looked at a few of the treasuries. But to be honest, I didn't really care for the whole concept and figured it was just a way for friends who knew each other to promote their friends work. Even if I'm wrong about that, it was enough that I lost interest. Do I really care that someone I don't even know thinks some certain items are cool so they made them into a treasury? Not really!
I was in sales for many years and I loved it. My only reservations about sales were resolved by promising myself I would not sell a product I did not believe in, and I would never pressure anyone.I I sold a lot, because I believed in what I sold and I was excited about the products, and that rubbed off on my buyers. I don't like fake promotions.
Personally I think you should shoot much higher than getting on the front page of Etsy! Your extremely creative and talented. Try for the "front page" of something really, really big. Let your imagination run wild! What would it be?
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OMG, you are comming to CANBERRA!!!! I flew up to Brisbane last time you were here and now you are comming to my home town, yay!!!
Lots of people say Canberra is boring and full of politicians (which it unfortunately is), but I love it. April will be autumn, beautiful colourful trees and lovely cool (but not yet cold - hopefully) weather. Lots of great places to visit, you'll see.
You can stay at my house!!!
Which classes are you going to teach?
Sorry, getting a little carried away with the excitement of it all, will get the details from Carole. You've given me something to look forward to Sarah, thank you.
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Glad to know I am not the only one.
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