Small Pricing Change and Custom Orders

Time Cuttlefish

Just a quick heads up about pricing. After looking at the numbers I'm changing the prices of my jewelry and shipping. Prices on cephalopods and a few other pieces are going down and I'm getting rid of free shipping. What does this mean? Honestly not much, the total price paid will be the same but I'll be able to offer the same prices both online and in person instead of having two different pricing systems. The changes should be complete by the end of the day.

As I wrote in my last post I enjoy custom orders and Etsy just made it easier to make a custom request. Now on every item page (like this octopus) there is a button to make a custom request.

Feejee Mermaid and Stuff

One of the few problems with how much time my jewelry business takes up out of my day is that I don't have as much time to create full sculptures as I would like. So when someone commissions me to make a sculpture for them it's great, an excuse to spend time on a big project instead of the usual hour or so a day I spend on personal projects (which is why those always take months to finish).

My latest commission was a Feejee Mermaid. The original feejee mermaids were taxidermy fakes in sideshow carnivals (P.T. Barnum supposedly had the original but it was lost when his museum burned down), they were made with paper mache, the upper body of a jevenile monkey, and the body of a fish. I based mine on a dogfish and (loosely) a juvenile rhesus monkey. I sculpted the mermaid from polymer clay. To make it a bit more fun and interesting I added spines and rabbit fur to the head and back. After painting the whole thing was put in a large glass jar and submerged in the same resin I use for my Perma-Pets.

Her happy owner has named her Salma. If you're interested in requesting a custom sculpture or any other custom work drop me an email or contact me through my Etsy shop.

I've also been working for the past 6 months or so on a piece I'm tentatively calling the Coral Siren. If you want to see more of my works in progress follow my WIP blog on Tumblr it's where I post quick snapshots of what I'm working on when I don't want to write a full blog post.

In somewhat unrelated news I'm trying to pick up extra cash since I need to move when my lease is up in May. I like the place I'm living but I can't afford it on my own and while my ex-boyfriend and I are still good friends it's a little awkward living together. So to that end I've joined Fiverr which is a site that lets you set up little mini jobs that you can do. So if you are looking for someone to make an Etsy banner, proofread your listings, design a business card, or edit your product photos for you you can hire me to do it.

General News and Updates

Just a bunch of snippets of news.

The cell culture necklaces are up for sale in my shop. Actually I listed them a few weeks ago so this isn't fresh news but important anyway. I have both bacteria and mold necklaces (the mold is actually fuzzy!) in some really great colors and more are on the way.

Etsy just made some improvements to how coupon codes work, now when you order a thank you coupon will be emailed to you automatically. I've been sending a printed thank you coupon since Etsy first started offering coupon codes but this makes it that much more convenient.

I've been confirmed for the Artists' Alley at PortConMaine this year. Last year was a blast and I'm really looking forward to June. The Artists' Alley will be running June 21-22 at the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel near the Maine Mall in Portland. You can preregister for PortCon on the website, it's $35 is you preregister and $40 at the door. Aside from the very cool Artists' Alley there are panels on all sorts of geeky topics, game rooms, free music and other shows, and lots and lots of people in cool costumes.