Thursday, April 24, 2008

2 - Wysi-whatsit????

So now that I have all this stuff, what am I going to do with it? I started selling some cards informally. Not much, just a few here and there. The nice thing about the cards I make is that they're acid free. This means that not only do you get a cool card, but if you scrap you get a nifty embellishment for your page. Selling a few cards here and there was nice, but I needed to sell more. Even with good insurance the medical bills were starting to get pretty scary, so I added some candles to my "wares". Next came the jewelry, then the origami framed art.

Wysiwigs (pronounced "whizzywigs") is an acronym. It's the name I've given to my Etsy shop. I just love acronyms; I make them up on a regular basis purely for my own entertainment. This one sprang from "wysiwyg" which is geekspeak for "what you see is what you get". In the event that someone had already staked a legal claim to the original acronym (and because I really don't think I'd enjoy prison), I used that one for a springboard of sorts and coined my own. It stands for "what you see is what I've got smile : )". At the time, I'd never even HEARD of Etsy - I was simply under pressure to come up with a shop name on the fly at a craft fair. What can I say? Shall I just plead sleep deprivation?

Turns out that Wysiwigs was the perfect name for my shop. I started using origami to make my kaleidoscope cards, piddled with more origami in some vintage artwork, then started folding all kinds of other things. My Etsybuddy encouraged me to put some of my existing sketches in my inventory as cards and prints. Then I went completely off the deep end and added some brand new sketches. I didn't realize how much I missed my sketchbook until I picked it up again. Go figure. Truth be told, I was actually afraid to pick it up again. What if I'd lost it? What if I couldn't draw anymore? While I'm not expecting to go into a hall of fame anytime soon, I think it's safe to say the Lord blessed me with some talent. Maybe that's why I was so afraid I'd lost it; because I was wasting it, wasn't I? But I picked it up again anyway and I think it's still there. A little rusty and dusty perhaps, but there. Maybe I'll just let you decide for yourself. Then again, I might get my feelings hurt that way, so maybe you shouldn't tell me :o)

Etsy, in case you're not familiar, is a wonderful place to shop. It's basically a site for "all things handmade", although they do offer some supplies to make things as well. Even if you're not interested in my shop, it's definitely worth a look. Hmmm... fabulous shops, no lines AND polite people - I bet I know where I'll be doing my Christmas shopping this year!

Guess that's pretty much it for now, but if you're still rolling your eyes over Wysiwigs, then perhaps this is not a good time to tell you I sell Fridgiewidgets in my shop...

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Wonderful job! now that i finally got the WYSWIGS :) myself! SMILE :)))

Donna

Michael E Mullen said...

We love Grandma's dress...by the way!!!!!!!!