Hey.. So I got to thinking.... It's hard for me to put my stuff out there for others to see. There's the fact that there's people saying what you SHOULD do, what you should've done INSTEAD, and what would be WAY cooler than what you WANT to do. I look at these other artists like Miriam Powell and Melanie Fleischer and I'm in awe of their creative abilities. I don't make stuff that makes me go "Holy crap, that's amazing!". Why not?
I'm happy with the way my stuff turns out. I personally enjoy looking at them. I enjoy making them. I don't enjoy sharing them.... That's the hardest part. Getting feedback sucks because it's either criticisms of some sort, or nothing (that's terrible for your self esteem), or it's awesome compliments and in my head I think they're lying to me. The only way I truly feel great about something I've made is when someone wants it so bad they're going to pay for it. That's the sure fire way to know it's good stuff.
But... what if you don't sell anything? Or what if you don't sell that much? Or the only person buying from you is your mother, just because she wants to be nice? Maybe you have a freaking
GIVEAWAY for one of your , what you think, is a cool figure, made well, painted cool, good size, FREE, and hardly anyone participates? Really? No one even wants a free something? Is my stuff that stupid looking? Am I doing something wrong? How come I'm running a promotion for a percentage off of my already low priced items, and no one is making purchases? These few people say how much they like my stuff, I price it very, very reasonably, then give a discount on top of that.. How come there aren't any orders in my Etsy shop?
I know I need to be patient. I know I need to improve my listings, my work, my advertising, my visibility.. But I'm not sure how to do this stuff. I can't sink a lot of money into anything. If my figures start selling, I'll pay for ads on Etsy and Facebook. But I can't do that just yet. I've got more money sunk into these figures than I'm bringing in. So how do I get my money back, and still feel good about myself? Any advice from anyone going through this, or that has gone through it... I'd appreciate it.
So that's the down side... and I'm sure there will be an upside. So far, I've sold two figures. Same person. I've given away three figures. Something's wrong with my math...
Sassy Skeletons! So I popped off their little heads, boiled their bodies for a few minutes, bent their bodies, one at a time, and dunked them in a bowl of really cold water until they were stiff again. I put them aside. Took their heads, glued some flat back rhinestones, for scrapbooking, in the eye sockets and made some funky updos with some wool roving I have in different colors, then popped their little heads back on. I think my favorite is the pink one. 
