Year's End and Review

The fall semester is almost over, the kilns have been going almost non-stop at school to round up the end of class. My last official class is next Tuesday, which is really just a day to critique and review each other's work, and otherwise goof off. It also hails the end of my production year, as the studio will be closed while classes are on recess. Which means some time to sit back, relax... and look back over the past few months to see where I dropped the ball.

Over the break, I'm hoping to snag some much-needed backroom work in organization and planning. I made my first couple of sales over the past month, and will be sending out my first shipment tomorrow morning, which I'm very excited (and nervous) about. I also have a bunch more work from the past semester to put up for sale after the class critique. But still, there's lots of room for improvement...

In the next few posts, I will be focusing in more sharply on individual sections, but a brief summary:

In Review...
I made a couple of sales this quarter, which is great! But, it could be better... my delivery time has been lacking, in part because of a lack of preparation. My shipping costs also need some refinement, as well as the overall look of the shop by finishing my banner and taking better/more uniform photos of my items. I got a new camera for this purpose, but I haven't decided on the backgrounds.

I'm seeing that I definitely need to streamline my processes more. A lot of extra work could have been avoided with better notes, especially on glazing. Nothing sucks worse than a really great piece coming out with a bad glaze. I also need to do more pre-planning, as I find myself wasting a lot of time just trying to figure out 'what' to do.

I also took a shot at putting a small selection up for sale in a store setting, and while they did generate some interest, there weren't any sales. I think I will have to refine my selection and display a bit, if it's going to be worth it. However, it's free, which is a plus.

In looking forward...
I plan to dedicate a full 2 - 3 weeks to just glaze-testing once classes start again. A full selection of colors and then collection of tried-and-true mixing combinations, so I'm not wasting full pieces just trying to test out one glaze. Once I have an effect and it's proved repeatable, I can expand in forms and create a more uniform look to my work.

Over the break, I'm going to be working on my photography and finishing up that store banner and matching business cards. I could probably take another look at my descriptions, and posted store policies, to see if I can improve the wording and appearance. I will also be looking into investing in some of the online-advertising on Etsy, to generate some more traffic through my shop. That's it for now, I'm sure I'll have more later.