Monday, August 30, 2010

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!

6 comments:

  1. You took the plunge and life is good!! You look great with short hair! Way to go having a sale in your shop and the success it brought. I feel happy energy coming through the blog waves as I always do when I speak with you. Have a wonderful week Jeanne(O:

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  2. Jeanne;
    Wow, I wish I was that brave to cut my hair so short! It looks lovely on you. Way to go on your sale! I love that picture at the beginning of your post, it reminds me of a painting I saw in a movie "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2" Thanks for sharing and have a wonderful week! Blessings.

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  3. Lots of plunges and you look like made good judgments in all!! Your haircut is really cute and sassy and shows off your nice check bones and I'm glad your instincts about the sale paid off - good business sense and a cute girl getting exercise in the pool- looks like you've got it all by the tail!

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  4. Oh I hope this is promising news for all of us about the economy--and way to go to bring sales up!!
    P.S. Loving your haircut, and next year I'm thinking of maybe that sketchbook project--I have to lessen my load.

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  5. Well, it seems all your plunges were good ones and I am glad..Love your haircut.....looks really good on you...I bet it was alot better after swimming with short hair than long, uh?
    It looks like following your instincts about the sale was very smart.....we should all follow that voice more often....

    It's always refreshing coming to visit with you...

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  6. I love the new cut Jeanne! Thanks for visiting my place earlier..and I got to thinking after reading your comment that maybe I "should" photograph my portrait. My husband loves that painting..went out and had it framed for me as a surprise and it hangs proudly in the master bedroom.

    And hey..that 20% sale went over big! Thanks for sharing the tip..Ya know, I could sure use some traffic in my Etsy Shop..perhaps you could be seeing a sale happening soon.

    I sure enjoyed my visit this evening! Hugs, Terri

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