Youth Hunt seat

      

     I have had an interesting couple of weeks. I have barely worked on dolls at all. I have worked on some miniatures a bit, but not much of that either. Honestly, I am not even completely sure what I have been doing, since it has not been work. Let's see if we can figure out it.

      I have spent a bunch of Ethan's days off just (mostly) hanging out with him. Sometimes we go out and just do errands, sometimes we just sit in the yard, but it's been nice. Travis and I have hung out a bit, not that he always wants to do things with me. At the very least we have our weekly hangouts and coffee date. Honestly, it has been a really excellent Summer.

     

     I have made some dolls, such as the little youth doll in the above photo, but without much to talk about I have a lot of photos sitting in drafts. I don't have a whole lot to talk about today, but I figured I should check in and say something. This little doll is done on a modified little Yvonne body with a different head. The size really is pretty excellent as a youth doll. It also would not be very difficult to modify them a bit more and make the legs a bit shorter. Though this looks like so many little girls I have known! Thin and LONG legs! My daughter, my nieces, friends' girls, pretty much all of them looked like this at one point or another. This little lady is available if anyone wants her. Otherwise she will be at my next live sale. 

  

     Speaking of my next live sale. I was originally planning on trying to make that happen at the end of this month. But guess what? I don't want to do it. I have some miniatures and things ready, but I should probably see if I can get some more finished. I have some dolls, but again, maybe I should see about getting some more done. But I have made it to a point where even if I make a doll FOR my live sale, I am likely willing to sell it ahead of time. At least until we get really close to the sale day. That is not how it is with the miniatures. Those items will only be available at the live sale. 

    Another note on miniature items. I might not be making those things anymore. Last week I made a bunch of lunch bags. At the beginning of the process I was sure that it was a fine idea and worth my time. By the time I finished, many HOURS after it stopped being worth my time, I realized that unless the prices go up by a significant amount, they really just are not worth making. That is actually the case with a lot of the miniatures. Saddlebags in particular take a long time to make, even without the little stuff inside them. But I can't charge and insane amount for them because then it prices them out of many people's budgets. So I am stuck in a weird spot. It actually even causes some weirdness in my already weird brain.

 

    So what do I mean by that? I mean that I also have a very small (as in, very new) jewelry business. That came about because I was looking for a certain type of earrings and could not find ones that I liked. Then I remembered that I can make jewelry. So I made what I was looking for. And I had some friends, who happen to own stores, who also liked the jewelry, and I have managed to now get my earrings in a couple of shops. Which is awesome. I also have an etsy store, but that is a very hard way to sell anything. I have made two sales since the shop has been open. I really enjoy the jewelry making, but while I can make many of my earring designs quickly enough to make a decent profit (after cost of materials) if I get into any other designs I either have to charge an enormous amount or not do the more complex designs. It's a tricky spot. I have some necklace designs I have been working on but I can't make them quickly enough that the wholesale price is reasonable for a shop owner (if they want to be able to also sell for a profit, which of course they do). Which kind of leaves me in the same weird spot as the miniature making. Do I just not make those things because they are very difficult to make profitable? Do I just stop being concerned that my prices might be too high, list/sell things for what I need to make to make it worth my time and let other people decide if it is too high for them? I should probably just price things as I need to and let other people decide. I should just make whatever I feel like making, whenever I feel like making it, and price it fairly for me. I have spent a lot of years trying to keep my prices rock bottom for everyone else. Which results in not having a lot of time for myself and still struggling financially. 

 

    School starts in about a week and I am still a tiny bit nervous, but mostly excited about it. I know that it will be different from the summer program, but I imagine a lot of things will be similar. Most of the kids are the same as far as I know. There might be some new ones, or ones that didn't attend the summer program. I will definitely miss my friends at the high school, but likely the program will actually move up to the high school next year, and I will be back there. I will get to learn new things, practice skills I haven't gotten to use much in recent years, and meet some new people. I think it will be amazing. I am likely going to keep the doll work much more low-key than I have in past years. The struggle of trying to balance a very busy doll-work schedule with teaching was too much. Now I am down to doll work for a few hours a day, usually only 3 days a week. And it has been nice. I still get a lot done, when I bother to work at all, because I have a lot of practice and usually work very efficiently. But I am also finding that I feel so much better when I do less. I knew that I couldn't keep up that level of productively forever. Not with another job. I am definitely not giving up doll making, but I think for now I will plan on being a super part-time doll maker. And that live sale I keep mentioning. Black Friday for the win.