Something happened that changed my perspective. A question was posed on Etsy forums: If you didn't sell would you stop creating? Well, you may know of my business trials, but I haven't let that stop me. I've pushed myself and come up with new things. And I realized:
I'm thankful that I didn't sell like a house afire right from the get-go on Etsy. Looking back, a lot of those first things I listed and have since expired were not 'good'. They were well-made. But if I had stayed there, reproducing those as they sold, oh the things I'd have never discovered.
I made the switch to mostly macrame because I saw even then, back in 2006, that beaded jewelry was extremely popular. At that time Etsy only had about 25000 jewelry items. I wanted to stand out. I came up with the technique using wire. I started using colored threads. I played around with shapes, angles and lines.
I added wristlets on a whim, finding a piece of a jacket that I never finished. I tweaked that piece, making it bigger, wider. I cut up an old shirt of my mom's to line it, made up the pattern as I went along. I ended up keeping that 'first draft'. The ones listed now are much better.
The magnets were started when I found a doodle I'd drawn in my Bible. That 'first draft' as well, I kept. And the whole woodburning thing has spiraled into what could be an artform for me. Line art, handdrawn. It's me.
Would I have done this if I had sold like crazy right from the get-go? I don't think so. I wouldn't have had time. Instead, I've gone through the slumps and the funks, finding my style, creating a brand that reflects me: a person who loves lines, angles, shapes, colors and words, (courtesy of Sesame Street) reworking tradition, not going with the crowd.
There are ideas, yet, that I have to bring into reality. Some of them are burning a hole in my head, I think about them a lot, but haven't figured out all the logistics. Some of them are newer and exciting.
elpy has grown with me. How fitting that as I'm trying in non-business ways to get out on my own to a degree, I'm also looking to move elpy on to places beyond Etsy. I know it says that I started in 2006 and I've told people that. But it really feels like it was reborn this year, this summer. I'm thankful.
Post Picture: First item I sold on Etsy way back in March of '06.
