The End and the Beginning

     Remember how way back, when I decided that I was no longer going to blog daily, I said I was afraid if I stopped that I would not blog at all? Yeah, I am a lot closer to that sort of thing for sure. I do like blogging, I like the small bits of interaction I get from the blogging, but it really is not my priority these days. It's not even close to the top of the list. As evidenced by the typical once a week posting that I have been doing. Not that once a week is as bad as I could be. But it's very different than daily. It also is a lot less stressful for me. It is very hard to think about what to talk about every single day. Even with ideas sometimes that doesn't help. Some ideas need research. And I still don't have the kind of time that research needs. 

    Anyway, The end. That is the first part of the subject of this blog. This is the doll I made at the end of 2022. This is the doll that I didn't manage to even photograph until the beginning of 2023. Not that there was a huge lag, it was only maybe a week she sat around waiting for photos. But it was certainly not an immediate thing. I got her finished and I was pleased with that. But I was not in a rush to take photos. And clearly, I was not in a rush to get her listed. This post is the only place she is getting listed at the moment. She is available, $240 plus shipping. If she doesn't sell now, that's OK. She can hang out until my live sale at the end of March. 

     Now I hear some people saying "wait a minute... western pleasure dolls are $230". They sure were. In 2022. My doll prices all went up by $10 for 2023. That is posted on my studio page on Facebook. As anyone knows who buys absolutely anything, costs of EVERYTHING have gone up astronomically in the past year. Which translates to I am paying a whole lot more for all of my supplies. The $10 my doll prices went up is not going to offset that all that much. But I don't want to get to the point where it is not worth my time to make dolls at all. Like the miniatures. I liked making the miniatures, and the sets, because sometimes people want to shop but buying a whole doll is too expensive. So I made the miniatures. But, as mentioned, most of those are way underpriced for the amount of time they take. Or the amount they cost. Like the cat sets especially. Several things in those sets are things I purchased from a lady that does 3D printing (and OKed me reselling her stuff in my sets). I am still considering making some pet beds just on their own, but likely not in sets. Or if I do the sets, the cat sets likely will be a bed and a few toys. The litter boxes and food dishes are 3D printed. The dog sets I could likely make more of, minus the food bowl and food, because I think I still have a bunch of the stuff to put in a bunch of toys. I don't know if there is interest in sets that don't have food. But while I do enjoy the miniatures, I have to think of things from a business standpoint, at least some of the time. So we'll see. 

     Anyway, doll prices went up by $10 per doll and my US shipping is still just $10 for priority shipping. My shipping has not gone up in many years. The USPS has raised shipping every few months I think. But yeah, the new price list is on my studio page on Facebook. My books are still open for custom orders, though I am somewhat slower than I used to be. Meaning, you are unlikely to ever order a doll and have it in hand within 72 hours (I have totally done that). You may get it that week, but it might also be the week after. Which I know is still way faster than a lot of artists. But slowish for me. 

     So that covers the doll from the end of last year and some of the new stuff from the beginning of the year. New prices, mostly. I also did actually start the jar that I talked about from the end of last year. I almost forgot to do it but then remembered and decided if I can at least come up with one thing a week, that would be good. And something cool did happen, so I put it in writing and put it in the jar. Next week I might have to think really deeply on good things, but there might also be weeks when I can add several cool things to the jar. I am really looking forward to how this turns out. 

     So blogging is still a bit of a struggle, but I am managing. Sometimes I have things to talk about, and sometimes I have things to talk about but it takes me a bit to get to it. I still have a post with some customer photos to share, I have actually made some dolls in 2023, and I can talk about them, and all of that will be coming soon. Soonish.