I've been more into drawing than anything else lately and keep considering commissions again.

Would anyone be interested in some quick sketch trades or commissions?

the commissions would be ~$25 each and be pretty detailed

So, I managed to make the table back, despite not actually selling many things. It was because I sold one of my face pouches, which was a pretty pricey item.

And only 2 things that were listed in my shop got sold, the rest were things I made too late to put there or things I found and decided to have with me.

 inkyquills was with me as well and had some cool masks he painted up. And at the end we traded some stuff with other vendors which is really great. I love trading stuff like that.

Anyway, yeah most of the stuff is still up in my shop, there's a discounted section for all the jewelry I've had for a few years and some dolls are in there as well.
Anyone that got a card from me at the oddmall got a discount code on the back of it so hopefully that'll draw more people in.
I'm probably gonna do more codes and for different places I post to.

I managed to get a job that will offer me more hours so this means that I won't be able to spend as much time on my art stuff anymore, but I'm still going to work on things as i can. Luckily, I really get into it after the oddmall.

I will also be able to sustain myself better and I'll be able to get some more cool materials and art supplies to mess around with.

Despite me feeling anxious about Money stuff, I did get new things to make stuff with.
I don't feel too bad about it, but a bit weird because of asking for some help, but it's because getting stuff for my art, I just turn it around into something else and try to sell it. So it's worth it to me.

Even though I never did get anything from asking for help, most was on another site, I'm not too upset about it because some things are starting to look up, I get to have a job interview with a grocery store on Saturday and I'll be able to get more hours, plus there's also the oddmall later in the month.
And that right there is actually why I'm making this sort of stuff, specifically for the oddmall.

Anyway, I got stuff to do elecroforming. for jewelry. I feel like this'll go great with the feeling I'm trying to get with my jewelry, it's got a really nice organic look to it and is great with darkened copper. I'm not gonna be just using clay to fill in spaces in it though, I'm going to do more sculptural stuff with it and have some nice ideas for that.

I also got a few faces for some pouches (I don't think I ever posted my coyote pouch though), so I'm going to be working on those as well.
But now, the question becomes, do I want to list these in my shop now, or do I want to wait until after the thing? I guess I could post them and go "hey. If you're in My Area, come to the oddmall if you want this"

I don't like telling my entire life story to ask for help, I posted a thing on tumblr getting more into detail as to what happened but pretty much:

My shoulder's been injured, my work's been cutting my hours pretty bad (next week I only have 9), as a mix of that and them not making enough money.

Even though I'm still going to sell at the oddmall, it's towards the end of the month and I need to be able to care for myself and my pets the rest of the time too.

I still have plenty of things in my shop
There's also some stuff to get as prints
I may attempt some commissions again, feel free to ask about those
You can get me a coffee if you don't have a lot to help out with

and I'm also redesigning old characters I haven't used for years to sell off, even though they're inactive I'm still fond of them so they won't be really cheap.

thanks for looking.

Follow my other art places

twitter.com/lavalampbelly
lavalampbelly.tumblr.com
bonetied.tumblr.com
instagram.com/lavalampbelly

I GOT INTO THE ODDMALL I GET TO SELL THERE NEXT MONTH, it's a larger craft fair than the one I sold at back in November + it's more for the sort of stuff I do instead of the really typical cutesy craft stuff .
So I feel like I'll have a lot better luck selling there.

THIS BEING SAID, if you're in the everett area (washington), come on by if you can, there's a lot of cool stuff there. If you're elsewhere and have had your eye on something in my shop, now's the time to get it because it could be gone.

jewelry is still 30% off, because I need to get rid of what I currently have with it, and now every piece of jewelry comes with a cool little bag with a wormy skull on it (Which I'll post in a moment)

And at least by next month, I'm going to be switching from storenvy to bigcartel and have ditched etsy altogether because there's some changes with that place that I really don't like or agree with, same with storenvy.
I have it basically set up, it's nothing really fancy looking but I'll make it look better once I get past the free plan with it (only 5 items but upgrading gives a ton of other options). This means that for sure, you won't have to have an account on a site just to buy anything of mine.

I've been busy with a few things, usual work, crafts, life stuff, gardening, etc.
But I'm also almost finally done with the caiman monster, I just have to glue down pieces and add some more details to it and it should be up in the shop with this update.

I've also started on a few more little bean dolls, all opossums that might also be in the shop this week, I'm gonna try to get them done by friday.
And eventually, I'd like to open up for doll commissions, but until I figure out pricing and all that for the bigger one, I'd just start with the smaller simple ones.
I don't know when exactly I'll open for them, but I do want to get my dolls out there more before I try that, so it could be awhile.

I'm not sure if storenvy needs people to make accounts on there to be able to check out stuff and all, so just in case...

If anyone wants anything in my shop without a storenvy account, you're free to comment to claim it
After claiming it, I ask that we discuss the rest in emails.

I know there's a bunch of people, on here, on other art places etc. that give updates as to what's happening in their life and I think part of is is because people have this urge to share stuff like that, I used to share a lot more but now I've entered the mode of "just share art the rest doesn't really matter"

And it kinda weirds me out how much people will share, will put themselves out there, mostly I wonder why, why is it important. I could understand if its something that affects their art in anyway though. But anything else I'm just .??????
It kinda seems like to me some people do tjat to be more sociable, more relateable, but that's something I've always struggled with so it makes sense that I do not understand.


I'm talking about bigger stuff, longer things that would require someone to dedicate an entire journal on it, not just little things that could easily be posted elsewhere liek twitter. I feel like that sort of thing, the shorter thing, is easier for me. I don't feel like I have to elaborate on my thoughts or anything there.

GO CHECK OUT 'S STUFF AND BUY HIS ART
ITS REALLY GREAT STUFF AND HE COULD USE IT

I know I keep jumping around places, especially with my shop, mostly between storenvy and etsy, but I'm just trying to fine a nice place for all my stuff, you know?

I don't want do deal with etsy's fees, especially when it's as slow as it is for me, I love the customizeable shop with storenvy, BUT, they're gonna get rid of their regular discount code thing and are gonna make you have to pay for it. and just, that's not doable for everyone, especially people that are just starting out.

I know that they're still a business and are trying to run a website, but in the marketplace area, they take 10%, you can pay to have a custom domain and stuff but I don't think it's a good idea to ditch the free codes thing, there's probably people that kinda rely on those to help draw stuf to their shops.

So, after all that, i migjt move stuff to a different place again, just onto the square website. WHO KNOWS

I do like that storenvy has little on sale tags for things though eugh what a decision

I've been trying to focus more on selling my crafts than my drawn stuff, largely because trying to get attention for commissions is stressful for me and I don't want to deal with that, and because I need to work on shop stuff and selling some things that have been in there for awhile.
Some of the necklaces I've been trying to sell for years now.

I'm only taking commissions anymore through ych's, when I get ideas for them, I'm not sure if i'll post those here or just on twitter, no matter, pretty much all of my drawn stuff is going to be on there and on tumblr from now on.

I realize I haven't tried to push commissions for awhile and kinda dropped off doing stuff for my shop, I realize I should work on getting it looking better and taking care of new pictures of everything before I try to smother everyone with an awful attempt to promote it.

Part of the reason I haven't been good with either of those things is because of working longer days at the fabric store, being exhausted from that, plus I got to be sick for almost all of last week which also really didn't help with my energy levels.

But now that things are probably going to be quieter for the next several months (hopefully), I really am going to focus on getting my shop set up better. I'm going to
- finish the caiman skull doll
- probably do a couple of the tiny ones like the fox I posted
- finally do new pictures of the jewelry
- do some dragons finally too

Speaking of the dragons, I realized that even though I really hate sculpting hands and feet, I have a lot more fun with working with sculpted doll parts rather than trying to cast them, I love being able to get them done, looking great and getting them ready for being painted
rather than getting the molds ready, waiting for the resin to cure, cutting off the stuff from the spout, filling bubbles, sanding, cutting seams and then getting it ready to paint. It's much more fun to just sculpt, so I think I'll just do casts for hands and feet from now on and just sculpt each head as I want and like.
Then I can do both things and have it be easier on myself. I just have to figure out sculpts for hands and feet that I like enough to use for several things.

I've decided to not do the larger dolls with them, I'm just going to have them all be small ones.
That being said, after this other one I'm working on, I'll start working on making the preorder dolls so they're not just sitting there as preorders forever. The prices for them will be adjusted right away for what I'm going to do for the minis
And once I get them done, the drawings will be replaced by pictures.

With other dolls, I'm working on one with a resin caiman skull, it's going to be a swamp goblin and I hope to have it done within the next week, depending on my work schedule.
Plus, I have some ideas for more tiny dolls, they'll be simple ones with no armature so they'll be in the $40-$50 range. Those are also going to be started after the caiman.

And don't forget, I have a coupon going on, you can get 25% off anything with using the code RUZJAH16

http://deadbones.storenvy.com

I have -kind of- a winter sale going on in my shop right now.

If you enter the code RUZJAH16, you get 25% off anything! And this is going until the end of the month.
But if there's anything you want to get for someone, or yourself for christmas, be sure to order soon so it can come in on time!


The only exception to that is obviously the doll preorders, which will need to be made. BUT EVERYTHING ELSE IS GOOD TO GO

Because I looked at a favorite artist's old stuff and finding old artist cards.

I really want to do traditional commissions, but I feel like people don't have as much interest in them as with digital art.

So what I'm thinking is doing what I did this past year, with starting out with sketches and doing each kind I'm offering for each month.

I decided to lower the prices of the preorder dragons partially because I don't want to wait to get them claimed to order the armature, I'm going to get it at a different place, it'll be a bit more expensive if I need a bunch of it but since my dolls aren't going anywhere for now, I can at least get enough for a couple at a time.

This is great news for anyone that really couldn't afford one at first. They're still a bit pricey but hey, they're not the most expensive, at least they're not as much as bjd's tend to be.

I want to try out q doll commission, I'd love to open for them sometime anyway.

But for now, I'll take just one since I'm doing a million things at once again.

- the head, the hands, the feet and other small details I can't sew will be sculpted from a mix of sculpey and epoxy
- it can be soft body, have a wire or ball and socket armature, with the ball and socket stuff being the most expensive
- I mostly work with fleece with accents of faux fur, i can do fully fur but that'll be more expensive
- And there's different sizes, tiny, mini, full. The tiny ones take the least amount of materials but are actually more difficult to make, since they're about 4 inches tall.

I'm not completely sure on the price, but it will certainly depend on the complexity of the character, armature choice and other materials.

I'm also not completely sure if I want to open the slot with this journal or wait until I have more dolls done to show what I can do, but if you really want one you can go ahead and email me or something.
I'm just really excited about making art dolls again and I'm actually kinda tempted to make a separate account for them and my jewelry so it's not in the same place as my weird furry shit.

, I had commissions mostly closed until yesterday because of having a craft fair to sell at and having to try to get some dragon dolls done for it. I didn't actually finish any but everyone bought jewelry anyway. Even one of my favorite pieces got sold and I'm really happy about that. I'm just really happy that enough people liked my stuff that I managed to make enough to cover the cost of the table. It gives me more hope for my art and everything, I still just need to push more on my stuff getting sold.
And I really want to do more craft fairs, specifically the oddmall which has more weird shit than typical craft fairs. I thought that I couldn't afford a table, last I checked they were about $300, but that's for the big ones. For small ones that are 6 feet by 18 inches , those are about $100 and I feel like I can do that. There's one coming up in February and I'm tempted to get a space there but I'm kinda unsure about that because of when it is and people won't be holiday shopping.
But, until I figure out if I want to sell at that one or wait until a bigger one, I'm reopening commissions and all my prices are here.
I'm also going to take new pictures of all the current jewelry stuff and dolls I have for sale and put them up in my storenvy
And with the new shop updates, I'm going to be posting them on
tumblr
instagram
facebook
So if you want to see stuff from me more often, follow me on any of those, or all of them if you wish.

Things have come up, like more expensive bills this month, plus probably not working as much this next week.
At my main thing, I'm only scheduled for two days, and really that's making me kinda anxious.
But I also wanted to use all the extra time to get some dragons done.

I have another gross ych sketched up, and even though I said "i'm not doing any bigger commissions", I'm thinking of offering this only as a quick/cell shaded or paint shaded piece.

And, with the dragons I've posted as preorders, I'm thinking of also having them as minis, which aren't as expensive, plus I'll be able to have them done sooner.
One of them is going to become a mini for sure and that's the skeleton one.

I'll probably make them a bit different looking than in the drawings so I can keep each one unique.

what do you think, with having the mini dragons?

I'm going to do it, I'm going to temporarily close commissions until after the craft fair on the 12th so I can focus on getting the dragons for it done and everything.

And with doing a bunch of other stuff it's taking me awhile to do and I shouldn't be taking on any more.

If I feel like I need to, I might post some adopts or a couple of sketcb ych's, but nothing big

I'm kinda thinking about doing customs of any I do casts for, I'm not fully sure how those would work, maybe people could give me a theme or some colors they'd like to see?

And eventually commissions as well, those would probably be more than the custom ones, but I'm not going to worry about either of these until after the craft fair.

I'm just putting it out there that i'm thinking about them

https://tapeworm.sofurry.com/

I joined that place awhile ago and kept forgetting about it, but I've decided to try posting there again
We'll see how well it goes.

MY FRIEND HAS DECIDED TO TAKE COMMISSIONS HERE AND HAS CUTE ART
CHECK THEM OUT
http://www.furaffinity.net/user/spaceybrains/