How is everyone doing?

[ngeorgiou]

It's been awhile since I have been here and I am wondering how everyone is doing and what are you up to?  I did plant a veggie garden as well as flowers, now if the rain will just slow down, we will be okay.  Have also repainted some of the display items I use for craft fairs, but I also miss working on my Etsy shop but life does go on.  Hoping that everyone is doing well, happy and healthy!!!!

[Artbesico]

Hey good to see you, was just thinking earlier that we might have lost you. Do come and visit us often =]

I can understand how we can slowly disconnect from here especially if we don't have a shop on here anymore. The forum is no fun anymore, nothing much is interesting to read really. 

When are your craft fairs happening? Must be busy getting everything ready. I've never done a craft fair before, the thought of doing one is daunting.

Gardening is fun especially when the weather is nice. It's been raining here all day today.

[ngeorgiou]

@Artbesico   Hi there......it has been raining here a lot and we have had tornadoes all around us....we have been lucky and seem to in a "pocket" that has been protected.....these storms scare the jeebegees out of me.   It is slow connecting here, even those on this team do not come very often.....what a dam shame, right?  Etsy got what they wanted though.

First BIG fair is in July, but I have learned in the past that there are so many details to work out that I no longer leave them until the last week or so....so I am just doing things like pricing, painting, staging, one step at a time.....after all, I am no longer 21!!!!

Gardening is fun, especially when the veggie ripens and make it to the table!!  Hope you are doing well, and thanks for the reply.

[Artbesico]

Storm and tornadoes are terrifying, I'm glad that you are in a "pocket", please stay safe. 

Will you be there on your own doing the fairs? I often think I wish I could have someone to go with me, extra pair of eyes and hands, extra presence for support and help =]

What plants have you got growing in the garden? Home grown veggies taste a lot better =]

[BreezeOnTheLake]

Hi Nina, I'm glad to see you still visiting here, and glad that you're having fun in your life-after-Etsy!

I'm enjoying the sunny, warm spell of weather we're having in my location. I've also been making new items and listing them....on another site! I haven't closed my Etsy shop but I've lost trust in this platform at the moment, and decided to focus on my other online shop for a while instead. It feels good to take a step back from here.

[Artbesico]

Hi Breeze are you feeling any better? 

Which other site are you on? I happened to see one the other day, never heard of it before, wonder if it's any good. It's called eBuygumm, do you know them? 

[BreezeOnTheLake]

Hi @Artbesico  - I'm only on Amazon Handmade, no exciting new Etsy replacement, sad to say, lol!

But what I like about AH is that it's free to list, so I've been listing away since there's nothing to lose until you actually sell something, unlike here where you're spending money upfront -- albeit it still a very small and reasonable fee -- without knowing if anything is ever going to sell anyway. While Amazon Handmade is waiving their monthly fee, I might as well throw all my wares on there for free and see how they do. I've had a few sales there - the only downside is, it takes three weeks for me to get paid, no matter what!

I haven't heard of eBayGumm - hmm, will look into that.

My head is slowly getting better, and I can touch the impact area now, although I lightly bumped it against something while leaning today, it just so happened to be the original impact spot, and it hurt like hell all over again! The pain settled down but it was disheartening to find that it's still a sore spot, literally, even though I thought it was better. I honestly would not be surprised if I really do have something like a hairline fracture on my skull, but will never know because they didn't even look/ x-ray/scan!

I suddenly realized the other day, thinking about my visit there, they didn't even actually examine my head externally either. Just asked me questions and told me to go home - not even any hands-on looking at the impact spot and my bump and bruise. Weird.

[Artbesico]

Breeze, I've had my listings on AH too, have only had 2 sales so far. I have my wood art and art prints on there, have only had two art prints sold so far. I'm in the process of putting my T-shirts on there but not on AH. 

It is a bit strange that they didn't examine your injury, maybe they think you would go back if any problem but that doesn't sound right, it's risky. 

[BreezeOnTheLake]

@Artbesico 

Glad to hear you're on Amazon too! But I hear you regarding only selling a couple of things -- it feels very slow there to me too. I do get a sense of being lost in an ocean of a trillion products on that mammoth site, and people not necessarily looking for handmade in such a place.

The thing that bothers me about my head thing, is that the only reason I went was because I hadn't gone at first, then started to worry that things were not getting better. So when they told me "come back if it's not improving," I was thinking "but that's what this visit was..." lol. I still wish I'd called for an ambulance the moment it happened, instead of trying to spare them the visit. Even their website said "you need to be seen now".

Eh, what can you do. Don't want to hijack the thread! Zip zip the lips/moving on. :)

[Artbesico]

@BreezeOnTheLake It was one sale, a buyer bought two art prints, they were sent to Sweden =] 

It scares me how we think so much alike Breeze LOL, exactly what I think about Amazon and AH, I feel like invisible, buried deep in the sea and same thought about Handmade on there, don't think people go on Amazon looking for handmade. I really don't think they will go over to the Handmade section to look. Some might not even know that there is a Handmade category on there.  

How long has it been now Breeze, since you hit your head, 4 weeks? 

[BreezeOnTheLake]

@Artbesico 

I'm not even sure if our handmade items are separated or are part of regular search; I think they do come up in an ordinary search a buyer might make that would bring up all kinds of goods, but that's where the lost in the ocean feeling comes in, lol!

I hit my head three weeks ago, and it's been two and a half weeks since I went to A&E. I still get head pain, and the whole right-side of my face is pins-and-needles tingly, which is becoming really hard to live with, as that sensation never goes away. Is that like nerve damage or something, I'm thinking? I told them about that, and all they did was press their fingers down my face on both sides and ask "can you feel my fingers on both sides equally?" I could, so they said "you're fine." But just because I haven't lost feeling doesn't mean the sensation I do have is fine! It's incredibly uncomfortable and I keep twisting my face around like I can get rid of the feeling. I tried to tell them, but all they cared about was I could still actualy feel someone pressing my face so go home and live with the pins and needles!

I'm seriously disillusioned with the NHS. I feel like I don't even know what the status is on my brain, my nerves, my skull, if there's a fracture, etc, because nobody bothered to even scan, x-ray or test or do anything but ask a few questions.

[Artbesico]

@BreezeOnTheLake I think maybe go to the doctor and let them know your concerns, they might refer you to see a specialist in the hospital, maybe now after 3 weeks they can give you a scan. It's better to be safe, even for the peace of mind, to know if any damage.

[ngeorgiou]

@Artbesico Hi again....I planted tomatoes, cukes, zuchinni, peppers, cantalope and a few flowers in between to have some color.  I also took an old unsteady wooden ladder, added some boards and placed several clay pots of petunias...should be pretty when it fills in.

As for the fair, a friend helps me set up the day before, but while the fair is going I do it alone.  That works especially if the next door vendor turns out to be nice!!!  Then when I am done, hubby helps me take the display down.  It is a lot of work, but hopefully I will get rid of a lot of my inventory.  Enjoy your day.

[Artbesico]

You must have had a busy day Nina, that's a lot of planting, gardening is hard work but harvesting is rewarding =] 

I have a stock of wood art work now that I don't know what to do with them since I'm letting my listings expire.

[philosophiacreations]

The garden sounds nice. We've wanted to work on ours, but for the cold things keep getting pushed back. It's probably safe now; just this week it's averaged at about +5-10C throughout the night. But I worry we've waited too long. We'll see.

We also purchased a few shrubs which mean a lot to me. They were strategic purchases, favorite plants of now-departed relatives. I wanted to put some of them in front of a window that looks out to the street on our property. There aren't any other plants there and it'd be nice to have them as a bit of a privacy barrier. But now we need that window replaced, and where that's happening soon, I have to wait to plant them... Again, hopefully the chance will come soon. I could plant them elsewhere for the time being, but I don't want them to get too settled into that new space before they need to be moved...

[boygirlboygirldesign]

Hi everyone. I'm still busy painting the interior of our house. We have guests coming to stay next week so I am really working hard to get as much done as possible. Our shop is pretty busy as well so I am staying up pretty late. Lots of rain and storms here in Western PA. Supposed to let up a bit tomorrow.

[ngeorgiou]

@boygirlboygirldesign   painting is a big job, but soooo nice when it is done!!  Enjoy your guests.

[Artbesico]

Happy for you that your shop is busy @boygirlboygirldesign well done =]

[KittyKittySockDesign]

I was just thinking about you the other day and how I haven't seen you around in a while. good luck with the garden I didnt bother this year since nothing ever grows. darn tree!

[ngeorgiou]

@KittyKittySockDesign   Hi, glad to know I am remembered!!  I closed my shop but still come here to "visit" once in a while.  The garden is already looking good, looking forward to some fresh food for the table.  Hope all is going well for you./

[ngeorgiou]

@philosophiacreations   What a lovely way to decide what plants/shrubs to buy.....keep thoses memories close.  I have moved established plants in the past with success.....they just need a lot of attention at first and when you dig them up to move them, make sure you dig pretty far from the roots so they come out intact....hope that helps and good luck with it.