implexus

Yep. Its that time again. Time to make a list of goals for March.

• 50 items in the shop.
• Sell 10 items a week. Yep, pretty sure I did that. If not, then very close.
• Add more non-knit clothing.
  
• Add shoes to the shop.
• Finish all the bags I have lying around.
• Get business cards printed.
• Design and print my own fabric.
• Start more than one collaborative book project.
• Do more art work (painting, drawing, etc).
• Get all my consignment stuff finished.
• Make at least 2 new items per week.

Last month I did 9 out of 16 goals. Score: 56%
I want to see if I can do better this time.

New colors, that is. Neutrals! Coming to the shop on Monday! The new colors are sand, charcoal, grey, white, black, dark brown, and taupe. So far I have charcoal and half of sand finished. Hopefully I'll get these all done by Monday.

I havent updated in a little while, Ive been working on some new things for the shop. This is the latest little project of mine.

Cowl neck shirt. Its made from 50/50 polycotton t-shirt material. Soft, comfy, and machine washable...what more could you ask for? These shirts will be available today in my shop, I'll be posting a 'custom' listing so youll be able to choose your size and color.

• Buy a domain. This is now implexa.com :)
  
• Make the blog a little more 'website-like' Theres a home/welcome page now!
  
• Fill in my FAQ section. The FAQ now actually has FAQs in it, imagine that.
  
• Get business cards printed.
• Promote off of Etsy. Tried Project Wonderful, didnt do well. Twitter seems to be working best for me.
  
• Take 2 hours out of every day to promote. Yep, every morning, and sometimes at night.
  
• 50 items in the shop.
• Sell 15 items a week. (a lofty goal, but if you dont set them, youll never meet them :)
  
• Find craft fairs and get registered.
• International shipping. I ship to Canada now, and to other places upon request.
  
• Make shoes and add a shoe section to the shop by March 1.
• Make clothing and add a [non-knit] clothing section to the shop.
• To understand and use social bookmarking constructively. Stumbleupon is fun.
  
• Start a Facebook page. Yep, did that. But I hate Facebook so I may not use it, lol.
  
• Add bags to the bag section.
• Design and print my own fabric.

Im going to post new goals every month and cross out the things Ive accomplished. Lets see how I do! I encourage you to make some goals of your own for this month, and right them down so you can keep track!

NOTEBOOKS! Theyre in the shop today available for your buying pleasure. I'll definitely be listing 3, and possibly 4. Dont forget, you can always custom order one if you dont see the size, color, or style that you like.

AND...

"Cutest. Scarf. Ever." is making its debut today as well. Its a skinny grey scarf with 2 white crocheted chains attached, decorated with 7 little stuffed felt hearts. Isnt it adorable?

I'll be adding a few other things today too, so go check it out!

I have an awesome new item coming to the shop on Monday! I made one of these notebooks for myself almost 2 months ago, and Ive been thinking about it every since. Its not just a notebook. It's a notebook, calender, day planner, sketch book, portfolio, and folder all in one. You could even use it as a scrapbook if you wanted to. I just got tired of having 3 or 4 different books at any given time. This way I can keep everything together.

The book cover is made from illustration board, and covered with scrapbooking paper. It has 3 holes punched in it with 3 book rings holding it together. Using book rings is great because it lets you expand the book if you want to add more pages, or make it small if you want to take away.

When you open the book, you'll find a stack of attached index cards, plastic sleeve sheets for cards or small photos, tabbed dividers, monthly calender pages, weekly plan pages with plenty of writing space, acid free dry media sketch pages, plastic page protectors, and a pocket inside the back cover for storage. This book has it all. Not only will I be making these in various sizes and colors, I will also have refills available in the shop.

So here's what my book looks like. Yes, the print inside the front cover is upside down, lol. Hey, it was the very first one I made:

I use the index cards to write little notes, to-do, or shopping lists on, then I can detach them and stick them in my pocket while I shop. The plastic sleeves are baseball card protective sheets. I put photos of the things I make so it serves as a mini portfolio. The 4th photo is an example of the plastic page protectors, except I use mine to hold all kinds of things. Photo 4 shows it holding some fabric swatches.

I love this book, I wish I had made one sooner! It'll be awesome for when I go back to school next year, I'll be able to have all my subject notes and sketches in one place. Now I just need a catchy name for it...

Today is January 15, and I have nothing new in the shop, or even completed. Well, ok, I have one more pair of heart earrings, and a mini leopard print kusudama, but it doesnt have the cord attached yet. I dont want to list things until I have more than one. I like to list things in 3's or more. I guess its just as well though, because views on Etsy have been ridiculously low this week. So Im going for Monday, and hopefully I'll be able to get a lot done over the weekend. I definitely want to get some Valentines stuff in the shop, and if I dont hurry it'll be too late.

Im working on it ;)

Im riding in a car right now, and Im bored, so Im gonna do a little post about my newest items I listed today and yesterday :)

Textile jewelry! I made these cute little heart earrings from felt sheets. I cut them out, sewed them together, then stuffed them with the leftover felt cuttings. I only have this one white pair listed right now, but Im working on making more colors. Just a peek of the Valentines items.

Then I have this fabulous cowl I listed yesterday. The color is hard to describe. Its a mustard color with a faint green undertone that looks more green-ish is certain light, and more mustard in others. Its a really neat color. I need to make myself one ;)

I had set January 12 as the date that a bunch of new things would be added to the shop. That deadline might be pushed back a bit. I had to go out of town to see my grandmother who went into the hospital. I'll probably be doing a lot of driving up until Monday, heaven help me. I may still be able to keep my deadline, but Im not making any promises.

It disappoints me so much because so far, most of the items in my shop have been knitted items. I can actually do things other that knit ;) and thats what I was planning on adding on Monday. Knits are just sooo easy to travel with, and since Ive been doing a lot of that lately, thats whats ended up in my shop. I have to be somewhere stationary to be able to whip out the sewing machine, or canvas and paints. And I have some cute Valentines themed things that Im working on, so Im a little worried about not getting them in the shop early enough. (more about that later) Ugh. Im a mess right now, lol.

Ok, Im gonna leave my short update at that for now, because Im so tired I think I might just pass out.

I hope everyone had a happy New Year. So today was the "official" opening of Implexus on Etsy. Yeah, I have like 6 items, and none of them are new. The original plan was to start the new year with a bunch of new stuff, but no, Im still working on it. I really need to get with it. Ive been working on this sweater for like 8 days, when it really shouldve only taken 2. Ive got knits, rugs, pillows, notebooks, folders, bags, and more that I am working on. Are any of them finished and ready to go? No. My goal for all this is next Monday. Ive got my work cut out for me!

Sweater in progress, though it is sort of shaped like a diaper:

I've already changed the color scheme of the blog to something new and different. Im really loving the chocolate cherry cream theme, and Im so excited about making packaging to match! Ive decided to change my shop name to "Implexus." Ive even thought up a logo, which is something I was never able to do for Revolt Media. "Revolt Media" isnt terribly unique, but I started my shop with that name because I'd been using it for a while. But its time for something new. It didnt help that I googled "Revolt Media" out of curiosity and there were tons of different results and websites with that name. I definitely wanted something more unique.

So Ive already made the Implexus account on Etsy, so go heart me there! I'll be moving everything over there on January 1. Also, Dec. 24 I will be changing the url of this blog to implexa.blogspot.com. Just a little FYI for those of you that may be following or have this page linked somewhere.

The man scarf is complete and up for sale in my shop. I actually like the way it came out and want to make more, lol. Yeah, I know, after all that whining...

(And the 2 kusudama balls I made will also be listed some time today. Im totally addicted to making them now, so I decided, hey, why not list 'em.)

My shop is finally, officially open! I have a Black Friday sale going too... Free shipping on all items, Friday only. I only have 12 items up so far though. Im really hoping today goes well, I hope to get at least 1 sale, Im so nervous about it.

I was getting restless, and starting to freak out about my shop not being ready. Im still trying, but Im pretty sure I wont reach my 30 item goal. I cant stand it anymore, so I went ahead and listed a few things. Only 3 scarves for now. I was hoping seeing my things in the shop format would help me. I just keep feeling like my pictures arent good enough, Im afraid I wont have enough variety, and Im finding writing descriptions to be a challenge. Im so afraid that I will have done all this work for nothing. I feel like Ive been working and working and working but not getting very much done. Im just hoping that this will all pay off. Then I'll feel better.