What do you wish you could do more every day?
Drink more water. Because I’m awful at this hydration game. I just forget. It’s not that I’m drinking anything else. I don’t drink soda or anything. Just coffee and water. Sans the water. 😂
Can I count the water used for the coffee? (I’m kidding. I know better.)
46 years old today.
I don’t celebrate birthdays and never actually have. Even as a child. I’ve never had a birthday party, wrapped up gifts, or a cake. I did get an alarm clock radio for my 11th birthday from a neighbor. I got a radio for my 12th while in a temporary shelter in child services. And then my 13th birthday, I was given a little jewelry box from the staff in the group home. My wife bought me art supplies for my 35th? Back before she realized I’m broken.
It feels like yesterday I was 34. The day before that 26. A few minutes before that, 19. I still see the same person in the mirror but I barely recognize her. Not in a “wow, you got old” kinda way. More like a “look at you, still hanging on, slightly wiser, tamed down version of what you once were” kind of way.
Aging is strange. I used to panic, the threat of time running out chopping at my heels. Now I’m not worried. I’ve lived a full life. It’s okay. Nothing is considered when you die because you aren’t here anymore. It’s part of life. I’ve always puzzled about why we’re here, given such a short time frame to get whatever we’re going to get done. I’m no Van Gogh, Plato, Marx, or Marilyn Monroe. My name won’t be a consideration in another 20 years, much less hundreds. I never did anything to warrant memory.
For a long time that bothered me. What is my legacy?! I had three children. I make ceramics, which are pretty permanent, even if broken. In recent years I’ve come to realize it doesn’t matter much. I know it sounds rather pessimistic for such a positive minded person. But it’s honest, if nothing else.
I’m not saying I’m finished. I finally have and am in love for the first time. I am passionate about my work and I see that continuing to get better. I have several rescued cats that I practically worship, they’re so spoiled. I can afford to pay my bills. I am living my best life right now at 46 years old.
I guess I’m just saying that it’s still another day that somehow I didn’t see coming because it crept up on me.
So here’s to another year gone and another day in paradise.
What tattoo do you want and where would you put it?
I have one tattoo. It said “Stop lying to yourself” when it was first done. With a cute little butterfly. You can’t read it now and I still want the “Stop lying to yourself” because well… I like the reminder that we lie to ourselves more than we’d ever lie to someone else. (Unless you’re just a liar… But that’s a different story.)
So maybe a dragon to cover the messy tattoo on my right forearm and then “Stop lying to yourself” on my left arm. It wasn’t the tattoo artist. I think it’s me and my skin. The same artist did my wife’s kinda matching tattoo and it still looks great. You can definitely read it. It’s just mine that’s wrecked. 😭
Two blog posts in one day. This one has to be shared. Right. Flipping. Meow.
See this photo? My sister Ashley sent me this link earlier. https://shop7a.top/ProductDetail.aspx?iid=862013945&pr=28.88
THAT’S MY CAT AND MY PRODUCT PHOTO!!!!
That’s my beautiful girl Sylvanas and the amazing photo my wife took with one of the cat food bowls. That sushi cutting slab thingy is on my freaking kitchen table right now.
I tried to reach out to them via their email link but it was fake. Social media links are all fake. Reviews are fake too.
Haha! I tried to leave another fake review saying This is my cat and my product photo for (my shop on Etsy!) But apparently they didn’t want to post it.
I was so upset that I was shaking. Why is doing the work other people do so much harder for imitators?
Gah! Sooooo upset. Have you experienced this?
I reported them as a scam site. Because I feel helpless and like someone robbed me.
What is one word that describes you?
Self describing gets confused with what my friend Michele has referred to as “echoes”. I love the description. It’s the things others have said about you through the years. Typically they run on repeat in your head, in the voice of whomever has said it.
“Annoying.” My former college professor. “A wart on society’s ass.” My bio dad when I met him at 17. “Goofy.” Every houseparent in the group homes and children’s centers I grew up in. “Stubborn.” Every one of my spouses. Hah! Including my current one. “Too nice.”
I hear that one a lot. It’s not because I’m particularly nice, I just don’t know how to say no. My other friend is a therapist and we’ve talked at length about the narrative and how to change it.
Change the voices in our head so that the autoplay isn’t a constant stream of put downs. What are these echoes worth to me that I have preserved them so preciously?
So today I will use my own word.
Determined.
I hope you are fighting your echoes today and have an amazing day!
Angela ❤️
I was writing about selling on Etsy yesterday and wanted to continue with a little bit of that.
First, I’d like to just say, I’m not one of the naysayers of Etsy. So if you’re reading in the hopes of another sob story about the platform, my apologies, that is not happening here. I love selling there and while I’m not a “top seller” I enjoy some comfort in selling regularly. I have shipped to many countries outside of the United States and that’s a privilege I wouldn’t have had without Etsy. And I absolutely ADORE my customers.
Before you read on, please understand that there’s a huge difference between MY customer and the people I’m about to tell you about.
My customers are actually purchasing, have purchased, or are going to be purchasing my products. These people have not and will not. Some days it can be exhausting. Like when people absolutely refuse to read the detailed descriptions I’ve worked so hard writing for each of my over 100 listings. Chosing instead to message me at 1:00 am to ask, are these dishwasher safe? Or, are these lead free? I always answer politely, professionally but it’s everywhere in my shop. Food, dishwasher, and microwave safe. Lead free!
I rarely ever hear anything back from those people and I just assume they’re not my customer and just accidentally fell into my shop and decided today was the day to test someone, anyone. Haha! It’s all good. I learned years ago to turn off my phone at 9:30 pm for my sanity. Am I losing potential customers by answering their 3 am inquiry at 4:30 am? I hope their notifications are off too.
The best (sarcasm warning) ones are “serious” inquiries that take several days or even weeks of discussion back and forth. I quote, I’m ordering tomorrow! Literally at 3 in the morning. To date, that was over five weeks ago? I’ve joked that maybe there should be an increase in my pricing for each additional day of conversation. Because you need to know, these are actually full blown conversations.
People literally tell me about their cats, how they got them, their breed, how old they are, their diets. I have so many photos of other people’s cats and dogs, I really want to do a video on YouTube for them. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love this. But I am running a business and if you’re just lonely, I think there are probably better ways to meet people than choose an Etsy seller selling cat bowls? I absolutely love learning my customers’ stories and I am thrilled to be a part of their every day solutions.
See, I make a special cat food bowl. It’s designed specifically for cats who suffer from whisker fatigue. Since I have these cats and run a pottery, it used to be called A Cat’s Life Pottery. Because they rule my life. I realized at some point that I was only making things with cats. Or at least mostly. So my wife and I set out to come up with the perfect branding that would open up my creative process and allow me to make whatever I want. Now. Since changing to Method Pottery, I need you to also know. I’ve never made so many cat food bowls!!!! Haha! Some irony in there somewhere. Again, life is getting in the way of blogging. So an update on the search for hot pink. Two of the red glazes came in today. The other red came in before this plan was considered because a friend wants me to make him a red butter dish. I’ve never made one so that process might get a cameo here soon as well. It’ll be FUN!
The photos are of the red underglazes, a few of the cats. Ashwagandha (ginger ale kitty, he has his own story that I’ll have to fit in here somewhere.) Sylvanas (the calico model,) and maybe Lily Grace, the little black dwarf kitty on the bed? A few cat bowls I made and a happy shiny mug. My next post will continue with how I actually started making regular sales on Etsy and what drove me to the point where I had enough of the methods initially encouraged. I’ll give you a little hint. I started out in an “elite” Facebook group that bled over to Twitter and Pinterest. If you made it this far, you’re a hero and deserve the world. 💜 Angela
What was the best compliment you’ve received?
So this one is little loaded. I think it’s funny but I might be slightly warped. I was with my ex for ten years. At about the 7 year mark we finally got married, though I was very hesitant still. That’s when I discovered he hadn’t been paying his taxes. For nine years.
I walked him through the nine years with an excellent accountant and we ended up getting a refund for five years of it. It ended up being close to $25,000 because he was able to claim me and my two children for those five years. I have always wanted to start a pottery and I did the research and discovered that I could do it. For about $8k. I talked to John about it, he said to write up a business proposal.
So I did. He said it seemed solid and that he would “loan” me the money and I’d have one year to “pay it back”. I never brought it up again and he quickly spent the entire amount of money on whatever grabbed him.
I’m pretty sure that ended our relationship, because without dreams, who do we become? We stayed together three more years and I went to college to become a potter. I left him after my first semester of ceramics. While settling for the divorce (another two years, because he was refusing) he came by and happened to see some of my work. In a surprised tone, he said, “Well, I guess you’re pretty good at this. Maybe I should have let you start that pottery after all.” Ya think?!
Haha! Thing is, I know now, it wouldn’t have worked. I was completely clueless and it took my semesters in college to realize that it had been out of my league. This is where my saying, “Every path leads to this moment” comes from. Sometimes we can’t see it until we’re on it.
Anyway. John then proceeded to ask me, “hey could you make me a-” “No.”
I sell on Etsy. Along with a whole lot of other sellers. Sellers of pottery, stamps, stickers, jewelry, paintings, prints. You name it. It can just about be found on Etsy. It can definitely be pretty difficult to be found because there are so many sellers.
At some point during this little, let’s call it a mini series, I’d like to address that but for now, how I began. I set up my shop to help maintain inventory for in person sales. I got my first actual sale just a couple of days later.
That was exciting. The cha ching from the Etsy app scared the crap out of me. So. I embraced the experience. Took my pieces to the post office and packed up the box right there. Then my customer messaged me a few days later with photos of the total destruction inside that box. He was relatively local and asked if him and his wife could come shop in my studio for new gifts for his daughters and I said of course. He brought me packing peanuts too. He was a great guy who was so sweet and amazing and supportive. He was my first order and my 100th, 1000th, and my 2000th. Unfortunately, he passed away this year but I’ll carry his kindness with me forever.
That day though, I was so upset that my first sold pieces were destroyed. At first I was angry with the post office. Then , not really knowing Bob then, angry at him. Did he do this intentionally?! Ridiculous to think of now but then I was very inexperienced and had no clue how to pack up an order.
Take responsibility? Whaaaaa? Ok. So eventually I got there. It was completely my fault. I went to YouTube and researched how to pack up orders. I still had a few things break here and there but I learned a lot. I have also been scammed since. Using a technique I refer to as “shock and awe” tactics. They’ll leave a 1 star review, WORST SELLER EVER.
Again, what?!! They never contacted me. Just left that as a review. Turns out, it was a gift order to replace something they broke and they just didn’t want to pay for it. In hindsight, I would handle that differently. Then I immediately refunded it and asked them to change their review. Eventually I had to straight up let them know that I knew they were scamming me and if they didn’t change the review immediately, I was going to comment with portions of their part of the conversation we’d had in the last two days that showed they were outright scamming.
In hindsight, I’d have insisted on sending a replacement to their friends with a new message about it being fully refunded and I hope this one made it safely and intact.
Hey. I’m an Aries. Etsy seller yes. But also. A human being. Apparently life still must go on regardless of whether I want to blog or not. So the hot pink part of this post. Hot pink isn’t exactly in my glaze wheelhouse but I’ve had a request for hot pink on a similar bowl to the one in my photo. So I have ordered several reds and over the next couple of weeks will be mixing and testing to see if I can coax hot pink into being for two cat food bowls. I’ll be posting the progress on that along the way.
I’ll continue my Etsy story in my next post. Thank you for reading this far! I hope your day is magical.
💜 Angela
You’re going on a cross-country trip. Airplane, train, bus, car, or bike?
Despite the depictions in pop culture, I’ve already done this four times. Airplane (back before 9/11, so it was much easier to travel.) I met a few people on the planes. One delayed overlay because of a fabulous blizzard in Missouri. Train. Relatively uneventful. Bus. That one was actually a lot of fun. Wild how many people you can meet on a bus across the United States. And a car. That one was pretty boring to be frank. The people I was traveling with were very single minded about getting from point A to point B and even grumbled when I had to stop because of my lentil sized bladder. As for the travel by bike, I don’t see that happening anytime soon. Plus now I’m older and a wee bit domesticated… Who will feed my cats?!?
Yesterday was a kiln opening. Always a super exciting event. And exhausting. Because then everything has to be photographed and listed on Etsy. This firing was exceptionally colorful, inspired by the play of light and color integration. As well as some of my regular designs, like the little red mushrooms cat food bowl. It sold within minutes of being listed so that’s fun. It was a good day with 30 new, very bright and shiny pieces added to the Etsy shop. Today I’ll pack up orders and then tackle my 13 custom orders for the next firing. I hope if you’ve gotten this far that you have an amazing Monday! 💜 Angela
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