I miss the front page!

Etsy (the web site that hosts my online shop) recently changed its design and I am missing the old Front Page. It was really something to actually have an item featured there, even if it was only for an hour. To have an item found amongst the millions of items and tens of thousands of shops and make it onto the cover page was exhilarating, especially when I didn't know it happened until I saw a huge spike in views in my stats and had a sudden burst of sales.

I remember the very first time I was on the front page. I found out because I suddenly was receiving emails from friends on FaceBook saying congratulations. I had no idea what was going on so I signed on to FaceBook and saw that there was a post (that looked like it came from me) announcing that I was on the front page of Etsy. To this day, I don't know how it happened. Etsy and FaceBook were somehow linked and communicating, and it was an automatic post from Etsy. I was kinda embarrassed that it looked like I was bragging, and I immediately took it down and changed all my privacy settings. Freaky.

Anyway, I was featured 4 or 5 times since I joined Etsy in 2008. This screen shot is the last time I was featured, in August of this year, for my plantable paper umbrellas.

National Pickle Day

Apparently, yesterday (Nov. 14) was National Pickle Day! Who knew?!

I am bummed that I missed it because I would have spread the word about a pickle that is very special to me. It’s the Christmas Pickle!

Believe it or not, I didn’t make it up. It is a tradition claimed to have been originated by the German but much more common in the States than in Germany. A pickle-shaped ornament (traditionally made of glass) is hidden somewhere on the tree. The child who finds it first on Christmas morning receives an extra present, gets the first serving of Christmas dinner or some other special treat.

In our household, the first one to find the Christmas pickle gets to open the first gift. Of course, as a paper-maker, I had to translate this quirky tradition into something related to paper. I made a mold for my pickle and then pressed green paper pulp into the mold. I pop the pickle out when it is fully dried, and add a piece of gold thread.

My paper pickle comes with the following explanation:

On Christmas Eve, hang it on the tree
while all are sleeping - do it surreptitiously.
On Christmas morn, don’t get miffed.
The one who finds it gets to open the first gift.
© www.PulpArt.Etsy.com

The whole thing cracks me up and I would love to meet the person who started a tradition involving a pickle. That's the type of person I would really like.

SEP IRA

This post is for all the self-employed artists out there who might find this financial goodie helpful in saving money. Mr. Papermaker and I met with our various money people and found out about this thing called an SEP IRA. It is for self-employed people who want to contribute to their retirement. I learned that I can put up to 25% of my net profits into a special IRA, which will benefit me in multiple ways: I save for retirement since I don't have an employer doing it for me; I avoid paying 15% of my profits to the government, which employers usually pay, and I have less taxable income. Win-win!

I am not a financial advisor so don't take my word for it — go talk to the professionals you use — but I am really excited about this option for me. The great thing is that it is really flexible so I don't have to make a contribution until I do my taxes and figure out my net profit and how much I want to put in, and it can change every year. Psyched!

To wholesale or not to wholesale

Picked up an order of my greeting cards at the printer today to replenish my dwindling supplies. I order my cards in small batches when I am running low on a particular style and I am almost out of 4 different Petal People lines. I am starting to save my pennies up so I can make a very large print run of all 11 of my card lines at once. I have had a few stores contact me about wholesale orders but I just can't wholesale when I print in small batches. If I spend a few thousand dollars, I can make a print run that is big enough so that my cards will cost only cents each. Now where did I put that lottery ticket?!

White house

Well, not THE white house.

In the spirit of all things paper as well as the fast-approaching holiday season, I made this little white house as a Christmas ornament, created from recycled white cotton linter paper scraps. The photo does not capture it well, but the roof is covered with very fine frosty white glitter, and the walls have an ice blue glitter. I know that glitter can walk a fine line between kindergarten craft and something artistic, but I think I met the balance here. Hung against white Christmas lights on a tree, this little house dances and sparkles. There is something about the shape of a house that people are always drawn to, and especially me. (Look at my Pinterest favorites and half of them have some kind of house in them.) I think it's because a house symbolizes family, warmth, coziness and love. I hope your house feels that way now and always.

More tree toppers!

These tree toppers are going to my artisans cooperative. I have to say, it gets very challenging to make sure two stores — my online store and the artisans cooperative — are both fully stocked all year long, but especially around the holidays. Whew.

Energy begets energy

My mom always said, "Energy begets energy." The more energy you expend, the more you create, so you have even more to expend again. I think she was trying to get a lazy teenager to get up and do something but she was right. I notice that when I am creative and step outside of the usual repetitiveness of making the same things, I produce more creative thoughts and energy. I have been making lots of things lately that are pushing my creative forces and the energy is coming out in many directions. Yesterday, I sat down and banged out some new tree toppers. Their purpose is to hide the raw top of the Christmas tree and put that extra piece of jewelry on the Christmas tree to make it look really special. I use empty weaving cones. (The cones are recycled from when I use up all the wool off of a spool in a weaving project - I just can't throw anything away.) I have made many different themes in the past. Last year I made a single one with polka dots and it sold immediately. It was too late in the holiday season to make another but I catalogued the idea for this year and am making many more. The polka dots are made of recycled scraps of handmade papers from my studio, and the paper star at the top is made from pages of an old, damaged dictionary. (I made sure to use the pages that featured words like handmade, star, Christmas and other words relevant to the holiday season. I have to admit that I found my name in the dictionary, so I snuck it onto one of the double-sided stars just for fun.)

I am selling this one on Etsy to show my diversity, but the rest of them are being wrapped up for delivery to my artisans cooperative for our big holiday display and show. Then maybe I will see what it feels like to sit down and let relaxation wash over me. Or maybe not.