Hello 2021!

 So we are ten days in to this new year and Covid is still ravaging the world, Trump is inciting civil unrest in his final temper tantrum and I am back in the shop just doing my thing. 

I am usually at work by 9 am and I work until 5 or 6 or later if my hunny doesn't drag me away. I truly love what I do. I love my new studio, the wonderful layout of the place making work just so pleasant. If you have any hobbies at all, you know how pleasing it is to have everything at your fingertips and ready to use. 

I have no idea how many individual pieces I carved in 2020 but I averaged 10 a week for 50 weeks so it is in the ballpark of 500. At this time there are over 700 on my mailing list waiting to buy. 

I haven't figured a better way as yet so my modus operandi so far (post Hallmark that is) is to post
the carvings and send a link to the folks on my mailing list. 

Then it starts. The fastest they have ever sold out is 3 minutes. Usually it takes about 10 minutes for them all to disappear. 

At this point, folks opening the email later than those lucky first few, see that all are sold out and the frustration sets in. I get messages for the next day or so saying they didn't get the link because the one they got is sold out, they had one in their 'cart' but it sold before they paid, they want to pre-order and skip the que altogether, and on and on.....

I hate this part. Truly. I hate that I cannot make enough to keep everyone happy. I hate that people are frustrated and discouraged. I hate trying over and over again to explain that I am NOT Amazon and just because they want something, doesn't mean they can have it. Okay that last part is MY frustration peeking through. 

99% of my customers are absolutely awesome. Once I explain, they may remain disappointed but they are, at least, much more understanding. There are a few who are downright rude or aggressive however and I struggle with that. I want to, and HAVE said 'they're wooden Santas, not the Covid vaccine for heaven's sake. It is a luxury item' One lady from Dartmouth even aggressively attacked me on my own Page and it knocks the wind out of me every time. I am clearly thin-skinned enough that it bothers me. 

                                            

I am aware how perfectly absurd it is for an 'artist' to be whining about being too busy. I can't even think of any peers I could talk to who have this problem. I am thrilled to be this busy. Honestly it is a dream come true and I wake every day just excited to get to work. 

As a 49 year old woman raised to be a people pleaser, I am fairly certain my issue is that I simply cannot please everyone. I find it bizarre and frustrating when the work I do is so popular it is pissing people off. See how silly that sounds? HA! 

So if I could tell my lovely customers something? First would be THANK YOU. Thank you for making this carving chick so happy and allowing me to take care of my family through my work. 

Second? If you have some of my carvings already, for the love of Pete, give someone else a chance to buy. They're killing me! 

Third, if you have not been successful, please don't allow something that is meant to make you happy, make you cranky and miserable. That has never been the point of any of this. Go find some other great carvers and buy a few of those! Then if you get one of mine you will have a nice mix of Santas. 

I know in an Amazon/Walmart world, when we want something, we get it. This is not the same thing though. You are not buying a Picasso or anything so precious but you are buying a completely unique, one of a kind piece of art. If it were available at Walmart, it would be plastic and cost $29.99. 

When I was carving for Keith in 2019, I had no idea Hallmark had a channel. I don't even HAVE TV so I googled it eventually to see that over 70 million people watch those movies. My knees went a little weak and my stomach did a flip. As long as that movie makes it's appearance several times a year, the demand may stay up for awhile. I assume over time it will wane and perhaps I will go back to rolling up and down the highway peddling my wares but until then, I am doing my best, working as hard as I can while trying to be respectful of my health as I learn how to live with MS. I love this life of mine. I live what is, I am positive, other people's dream life and I will not take that for granted. 

I will keep carving as long as my wonderful customers still want them. Maybe just be patient with me though. If I were Edward Scissorhands I bet I could make a lot more but alas.....

As for this brand new year, let's hope that reason and civility return to our neighbours to the south, the pandemic eases up and family and friends so long separated are allowed to gather again, and that our joys out-number our woes.