March 30, 2012

I've had such an exhausting month. I hope it was all worth it. Of course it wasn't all the work that made it exhausting, it was a lot of the extraneous things (life) that did it too. Family health issues, birthdays, the woman next door locking herself out at one in the morning after I worked for 14 hours straight and pounding on the door and screaming for a half hour before someone finally let her in. And no, she's not a drunk, just a little altered from her med cocktail.

I had a semi relaxing day. I haven't sold much this week so after watching my granddaughter most of the day, I cut out the few things I sold, did the dishes and some laundry. It was nice after all the work I did.

I had bought some colored pencils on line, and was expecting them at the Post Office. I guess the people at the Post Office didn't notice them, because my daughter didn't pick them up. What she did get, however, was my new post cards. Now, I just ordered these Monday from Vistaprint and I've NEVER received anything that quickly from them. They were horrible. Cropped wrong, wrong color, just horrible. I was so disappointed. I'm not sure what they were trying to accomplish working so quickly, but it didn't impress me. Now I either have to contact them and get a refund and look somewhere else or trust they will send me a new set with correct images.

This really sets me back on my brochure, but I do have time to get better prints. The cards I got were blown up and cropped off center and kind of pinkish brown instead of the nice pewter. Not terrible, but they don't match the business card I got PRINTED AT VISTAPRINT!!!! How can I send out something to potential clients that don't match? This has just been a cursed month and I suppose that because of it, none of my product designs will sell to the huge retailers that were presented with them.

One thing about all this work I've done the past three months is that I really love designing product. I like crafting, but I love designing. And I'm good at it too. I'll share my website when I'm finished, and you can see.

March 20, 2012

I've been avoiding Pinterest for a few weeks. Still not sure about the whole legality of it all. Personally I think that if you have something posted on the web, you intend for an audience. I suppose that leaves your work open to theft, and I suppose in the case of photography, that is the bad aspect of it all.

I plan to set up a design portfolio, but will have locked pages that you will need a code to view. I will also only have the code available for 24 to 48 hours. I can't have just anyone looking at and stealing my designs. I can really only show designs that have been produced. I certainly can't risk having my unpurchased designs posted at Pinterest.

I really love Pinterest, and I guess I've been avoiding it the same way people avoid talking to their relatives about the illness they have. It makes me sad that I can't think about it the same way I did. I don't even feel like browsing, let alone repinning. I'm going to go back, I'm just going to be very cautious about what I pin and repin. And I might clear a few things off my boards. For instance, I'll use photography from travel websites, rather than from an individual's blog or site. I'll also pin from seller sites, to help boost sales for friends. You know, the people who want to be pinned. And if I see something I really want to pin, I'll get the originator's permission first.

I really don't have time to think about all of this, but I do need to get back to it, because it was so inspiring. My last designs, that I did very well on, were inspired by Pinterest. They were original designs, not at all stolen, but inspired by party and garden images that are popular themes. Popular colors, and trendy taste, Pinterest is a great way to find out what people really like, and what they are dreaming of. Who needs to make their own design trend board, when you can just go browse Pinterest.