My Art Clay class at Rock Paper Scissors is scheduled for 12:30 today. It’s in danger of being canceled because there are not enough students, but RPS just included it in an email update that went out last night, so maybe they’ll come. It makes it a little hard to plan my day…
March 13, 2011
Photo Editing Resumes
I started editing my photos from Bhutan again last night. I really need to get on it because I bought several Groupons for prints on canvas that are going to expire. I’ve found that I need to get away form my photos for at least 6 months and more like a year before I can make good choices about which ones to get rid of. And I need to get rid of a LOT – I have several thousand!
My goals in taking photos have changed over time. At first I was focused on abstract urban images – definitely not pictures of people! At some point I had a shift – my favorite pictures now are pictures of people, especially people in traditional dress or contexts with whom we can make universal, human connections. I have a special fondness for photos of people peeking out at me because they totally shift the dynamic – I become the object of their gaze. I love that.
As much as I love photos of people, I can often become very self-conscious about taking them. I almost never take pictures of people without their permission, unless they are too far away to make that practical. The photos just are not any good unless I make that connection.
March 8, 2011
My BNR Problem – a Glimpse Into the Secret Life of Etsy
What does it say about me that my two most active etsy teams are Trade-a-holics and BNR Addicts? Probably nothing you didn’t already know by seeing how much stuff I have to destash through these trades and BNRs…
What’s a BNR, you ask? And what is destash? Just two of the hallmarks of etsy seller subculture.
Let’s start with destash. Anyone who does crafting knows it is fun to buy supplies. It is really fun. It provides all the rationalization power of shopping for work clothes at a much lower price point, and it doesn’t matter how you look in them. Which is a good thing.
So, we buy way too many supplies. Then we sell the extra ones to each other, a process known as destash. If like me, you 1) REALLY like buying supplies and 2) bought a lot of supplies and decided you were no longer interested in the stuff you bought them to make, you can set up a whole separate ‘destash shop’ on etsy. Mine also has packaging supplies, which is awesome because it gives me an excuse to keep buying more stuff. We will discuss how much time I spent today shopping for decorative tape on another occasion.
On to BNRs…to understand BNRs, first you have to know about treasuries. And we can’t really talk about treasuries without bringing up THE FRONT PAGE. When you go to etsy.com, you will see three rows of four square photos with the heading “Handpicked Items.” This is THE FRONT PAGE. Above the photos it also says that they were “Picked by”some etsy seller, who selected the items in the photos from among the bazillions of items for sale on etsy, or by Etsy Staff, who just put their friends up there again. That was a joke about etsy staff. Really.
The process of selecting these items and arranging their photos is called curating a treasury. People on etsy are into making treasuries and sharing them with their teams. (Oh yeah, there are teams. More on that later.) People on etsy are really into making treasuries. There are currently 22,506 pages of treasuries on etsy.
Treasuries are ranked according to the number of clicks they receive from people who go to the etsy web site. If your treasury gets the most clicks, you get to be on THE FRONT PAGE. If your item was on THE FRONT PAGE, you can put a little ‘badge’ in the item listing to let everyone know. Maybe you will sell it, too. So of course, it is very important that you ask everyone on your teams, and all your Facebook fans, to click on your treasury so it can be on the front page. But never include an item you are selling in a treasury because that is a breach of etiquette. The people whose items you put in your treasury are supposed to reciprocate and put your item in their treasuries. Which is annoying if, like me, you think making treasuries is a big waste of time.
Speaking of a waste of time brings us back to BNRs. A BNR, which stands for Buy and Replace, is a special kind of treasury where you can get your item in the treasury by buying an item from someone who is already in the treasury. You buy from them and replace them. If, like me, you have a destash and shop and your market is other etsy sellers, they are a pretty good way to promote your shop. They are also a uniquely effective vehicle for wasting time looking in the shops in the treasury and spending money on stuff you don’t need to get your stuff in the BNR. This is my BNR problem. I’m trying to cut down.
February 23, 2011
Closing Fair Trade Web Site
Oakland Unwrapped is going to end its web store hosting services. As of May 1, mangosteenoakland will be no more. I will continue selling fair trade through Silk Road in Alameda and Urban Bazaar in San Francisco, and will be looking for more stores.
February 21, 2011
The $35 challenge – finding supplies for my art clay class
I’m teaching an Intro to Art Clay class at Rock Paper Scissors on April 9th, and I’m trying to put together a set of materials that won’t exceed $35. This is a big challenge, since a 20 gram packet of the clay normally costs more than $30 and I need to get some paper clay plus rolling surfaces, rollers, rolling guides, cocktail straws and some kind of cutting tool for all the students. So far I have found some small self-healing cutting mats (my preferred rolling surface) for $1.50 at Artsupply.com. Create for Less has the best price for utility knives…but I can’t believe they don’t have an acrylic roller for less than $7. And do I really need to spend all this time going to all these different web sites?
I am thinking about becoming a certified instructor. Certified metal clay instructors get discounts on supplies, although I’m finding it hard to find out which supplies and how much of a discount result from each program. Plus the programs start at about $500 for a level one certification.
Once again I need to decide whether I am serious about this or should just go find a job.
update: I ordered rollers and other supplies from Dick Blick and then found Gordon Uyehara’s class list, which indicates you can use PVC pipe for rollers. arrgh.
I would love to take class with Gordon…even if it wasn’t in Hawaii.
