back to work, custom order

Before I post about anything else, I want to make sure I mention that my web site is finally up and running with the domain name.  Go check out randomcreative28.com.  It doesn't show up in Google searches yet so make sure to visit and get the numbers up so it will show up. :) Hopefully it will prove to be worthwhile.

As I'm sure that you can tell by my lack of posting this week, I've been spending most of my time at work or getting caught up with things around the condo.  I haven't been doing much with creating new pieces, taking pictures, or doing any other work with Etsy.

That's my classroom for anyone who's interested.  I don't post public pictures of most things work related for obvious reasons, but I thought that some of you would enjoy seeing where I do spend a lot of time from August-May.

Back on the creative end, the biggest thing that I did accomplish this week is that I finally finished and shipped my current custom order.

I created a surprise coordinated piece as well.  I may post pictures of it at some point after the recipient has her package.  I don't want to spoil anything.  You can view the original cuff here.  It's amazing how even changing only one or two colors in a design can significantly alter the entire look of the piece.  As you already know, I'm not interested in creating lots of made to order listings at this point when I have lots of already completed unlisted pieces.  So I'm not planning to re-list this item right now.  But I'm always happy to create custom orders based on any existing designs.

I've been working on a brand new design the last couple weeks.  I haven't seen anything like it before so hopefully it will be a neat little niche for me. I'm giving the first one in the series to someone as a gift in a couple weeks, but I will hopefully have one to sell within a month.  For those who love purple and have expressed interest in more purple items in the past, one of these new pieces will definitely be purple.  I have a other purple pieces in the works right now, too. :)

new listing, new web site

I listed a new button charm bracelet last night: Button Charm Bracelet - Maroon and White.

 I created this design in honor of my grandpa who has been a professor at Texas A&M for 25+ years.  The Texas A&M colors are maroon and white.  This listing already has 2 hearts!  I got both of them within half an hour of listing it.

I'm in the process of creating my own web site.  I bought a domain name through SoopSee (because it's about as cheap as anything else I've seen), and I'm waiting for them to activate it so I can use it with the site (it can take up to 72 hours).  Otherwise I have most of it set up.  I'll let you know how it all goes and if the site results in anything.  A lot of people seem to have success with having their own domain and a web site separate from Etsy.  I'm not crazy about SoopSee so far.  I know that it's still pretty new, and I'm willing to give it some time, mostly because I'm not sure where else to turn at this point.  I'm honestly not very impressed with most of the online options for web pages anymore.  There used to be a lot of free options that provided neat pages for those not interested in pursuing something professionally.  I created web sites through such sites 10 years ago that looked better than most of the free templates that I've seen recently.  Now everything costs a lot of money.  I'm just frustrated by the whole process.  It seems like it should be easier to do this than it is.

I've also thought about putting the domain name with this blog instead and customizing it with more tabs and whatnot so that I could provide more access to Etsy and my other web presence (Facebook, Twitter, etc.).  I don't love Blogger either, but at least it is free. Then I would just be paying to host my domain name and not also run a web site.

Any thoughts on this whole process would be appreciated!