Good Morning, Gents!

This is one of my favorite pieces, but not a design that sells a lot for some reason. For those of you who are not in North America or maybe don't know, this is a Red Breasted Grosbeak. It's related to the Cardinal (they're both grosbeaks). And because of its striking appearance, it just surprises me that it's not a high seller, but it's still one of my favorites. I must have taken it easy on myself, because there aren't too many tight squeezes on here, which is kinda shocking. The green leaf next to the white on his chest was problematic. Also, the leaf between the tail & wing. Obviously, I found the most impossible spot in the piece. Jackass. I mean, it had to be done in order to give the illusion of depth, but couldn't we have picked easier places to pull this off? Green on black can easily be fixed if a mistake is made. Green on white..........not so much. To which, the creative side of me would chide the practical side for worrying or even playing it safe. I don't make mistakes. Also, I'll share a little secret with you all. At that time, I wasn't overly fond of drawing feet, so I hid them in this one.

Anyway, gas prices at $4 or higher, prices in general not coming down, wages aren't going up, etc, you don't have to go far to see it's not good out there. Not to mention the plethora of doomsdayers & naysayers out there sitting in their basements in the middle of nowhere howling at the moon WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!

If that's not your thing, then I have some stats of my own for you. The bookstore that I got into last January, my first location, closed on Monday............................to move into their new expanded area. That was exciting to see. And I'm thankful they let everyone know, because I do my end of the month inventory check down there & it would've been inconvenient for me to drive all the way down & find that they were closed.

But that made me realize that 50% of my locations have expanded in the last 12-18 months. (I'm in 10 locations at the moment.) A bookstore & a gift shop both hired a staff. A flower coffee shop hired a staff & opened a second location. And this bookstore expanded, easily doubling or more their space.

Maybe the other 50% are expanding too, & I'm just not privy to the details. The art store I talked about last weekend has some things in the works, but hasn't really shared with me. However, 8 months ago, they were talking about closing the artist's market & now they're saying that if they did that, while it doesn't make a lot of money, it's enough that they can't make up for it & would just have to take the loss. Another coffee shop has new owners as of January. The old owners retired & these newbies have never done anything like this, so I don't expect much out of them until they can find their legs. I'm still trying to nail them down on letting me expand my product line in their shop & get into their other 2 locations, which would increase my locations to 12, which would be great, because I have a done a piss poor job of finding new locations to expand into this year.

It's also possible that the other 50% aren't doing so well. But even if that's the case, 50% of my locations are expanding is still very encouraging to me in this economic climate. It certainly doesn't seem like it's all doom & gloom & or at least it's a glaring contradiction to their narrative.

Something else that's interesting is that I've never heard of these places nor set foot in them prior to doing business with them. Some have been in the community for 20+ years. Some for less than 5. But seeing them celebrate their 3rd anniversary, start hiring a small staff, open another location, or expand is very rewarding to see. This wasn't something I signed up for nor expected, but it's rewarding to know that I'm part of this. I've never patronized these places, because I figure they make money off of me, so that's good enough. But there is an entire life & community out there that was going on without my knowing. These businesses partner with other businesses, do shows, have special events, just all kinds of things that having lived here for 20 years this summer, I never knew existed. These are the kinds of things you could take a date to...............if women were still dateable.

From experience, I've come to like it when places hire staffs, because I find my sales go up, lol. Obviously, it's fun to meet new people & so far everyone I've met is pretty nice. I met the new staff at the gift store on Wednesday. 19, kinda hot. Anyway, I switched out some things, because I wanted to try a new design in that location, so she got to see me do my thing & even helped me out. We had a nice, little conversation. She used to work at another place I do business out of (small world). I also refilled some inventory & she really liked a certain design & said she wished I had that in another product line, which I thought I did, & sure enough we found it, & she was pretty excited, so I may have earned another sale from that. We'll see.

But the flower coffee shop that opened their 2nd location down the street from where I work. And for a couple, maybe even few months, it was pretty lean for them. So, I spread the word at work, & I know a lot of my co-workers frequented them. I'm not sure if they still do or not, but at least they were kind enough to help them get off the ground. Speaking of being part of it, like I said, I didn't sign up for nor knew I would be doing this. But my sales went through the roof when they hired a staff, lol.

Something else that I didn't sign up for nor expected was meeting....I don't know what you wanna call them...fans, supporters, customers (whatever). There apparently is a demand for meeting the artist. In fact, your story sometimes earns you sales. I don't have young women throwing their panties at me by any means, but it is possibly an avenue to pursue in the future with some of the locations I do business in. Maybe setting up a table & hanging out for a Saturday or something. A customer asked me if I would be part of any art shows they do in the summer & it's hard for me, because I work weekends sometimes, will probably get a summer job, like I did last year, & multiple locations want me there for art shows, so it's hard for me to do that, because I just have easier ways of making money. Then again, it might be time to invest a little in public appearances. I am open to the possibility, but not keen on it yet.

As of now, other than gaining more online followers, online has done very little for me. Yet lots of people open online businesses or prefer to open businesses online, which makes me wonder if it's easier or harder to do. I've found online much harder than the real world, but also understand that what is harder tends to be easier for me, & what's easier tends to be near impossible (walk before you crawl sorta thing). Right now, online is still a potential (a huge potential), but until it translates into a reality, it's just not something I'm keen on developing.

I know we talk about unplugging & touching some grass every once in a while. Blocking the doomsdayers & naysayers is probably not the worst idea in the world either. Personally, I listen to people who are real. As in have actual real experience, can give me real advice, life hacks that actually work, etc. I'm training a woman at work. She'll run into a problem & I'll tell her how to fix the problem & avoid it in the future. If what I show her doesn't fix the problem or if it doesn't avoid it, but causes the problem, then my training isn't really worth much, is it? Just because someone peddles grim or negative information doesn't make them real. Actually solving problems is real. Actually giving me a life hack that works is real. Just giving me something else to worry about (unfounded by the way) is fake. You're not a real person. Sorry. In the meantime, feel free to add this to your feel good stories, if you collect such things.