Taking The Plunge

Shoosh, I've done it!  Yesterday I took the plunge ...
with my neighbor into her pool; the water felt wonderful, and the company was nice too.  Afterwards, she joined DH and I for dinner; DH prepared his fabulous Shrimp Alfredo, and I prepared a salad.  It was a nice day and evening.

Earlier in the day, I took another plunge and cut my hair ... even further!  (If you recall, I cut off approximately a foot of my hair a few weeks ago.)  Now, this is it; it's what I wanted.  It's a plunge I'm very happy with, (-:, today.

So, my weekend was filled with plunges.  However, perhaps the largest splashy plunge I took was taken on Saturday evening ...

... when I signed up for Sketchbook Project 2011.  I noticed that the themes have changed once since I've been checking the Sketchbook Project 2011 ("SBP") site ... so I kept hoping they would change the themes again, and include a theme that felt more comfortable to me.  Honestly, I believe the idea of any theme throughout 20(?) entire pages is what was frightening me the most about the project.  I finally said, "okay, let's pick a theme and go with it!"  Can I stick to a theme?  Well, we'll see!

Another plunge taken this weekend, was to make the "executive decision" to have a sale at the shop on Saturday ... while the boss is out of town.  Sales had been down for the week, and so I decided that perhaps a one-day sale would spur some business ... and it worked!  (Admittedly, I emailed the boss Friday evening to give her a "heads up" of my intentions, and give her the opportunity to direct me otherwise.  After all, I need my job!)  The sale was not "publicly announced," ~~ meaning no email or snail mail notifications were sent.  However, I did post it on our Sandwich Sign placed at the storefront, simply stating "Super Saturday Sale!"  During the week, we had received a huge shipment (30+ huge boxes!) of Mark Roberts fairies and merchandise, so the sale was a mere 20% off only on fairies.  As it turned out, traffic was terrific ~~ we saw many new faces in the shop, as well as many regulars.  Once again, it felt like "old times," with people actually out and about, browsing at leisure, and ... willing to purchase!  So, my take on the state of the economy today is that ... with a little "coercion" through a sale of some sort, people are now willing to spend.  I was very happy with the purchases made Saturday ~~ many purchases were made on "non-fairy/sale" items, and we ended with our best day of sales in several months, as well as having many new potential clients come through the door.  Perhaps some of you whom sell your artwork online, at shows, or otherwise, can take this info and use it to your benefit.  Admittedly, sales do not always work, and can even discourage future purchases, as some will say "well, I'll wait until she/they have another sale before purchasing again."  So, that is to say that sales can be "overdone" if used too frequently.  But sometimes drastic times call for drastic measures.

Now I will take the plunge into the beginning of another glorious week, and wish each of you a terrific week ahead.  May your ripples lead to great things!