Elise Matthesen

 I test negative for COVID these days, and feel a lot better. As directed by many people who learned some of it the hard way, I continue to rest LIKE A POTATO. And no, the giggle-inducing power of that phrase has not worn off. Juan has a way of intoning it at various sleeptimes that brings even more amusement due to the solemnity. And these things are good.

HOWEVER, what is not so good is that I'm considerably behind on getting things into the Etsy store. 

Also what is not so good is that a new computer is needed. (Shopping will be done, the passive voice will be employed, and so forth.) Also, since other debts are also had, the means to pay them must be acquired.

YOUR KINDNESS is hereby requested in the form of sending people to my shop (or going yourself, yes please!) so that I may exchange the fruits of my labors for money that I can then give the computer-making people and the other-stuff-I-have-to-pay-people. If it works out right, we're all happy. (Also it will help me not freak out about money, which turns out to make resting LIKE A POTATO a little harder.)

The shop is: https://www.etsy.com/shop/LionessElise

Also also, being at the workbench is the most calming thing I know, so I'm doing a tiny bit of that, but I need to put things into the shop for people to be able to see them. Commerce does not work so well otherwise. (I am reminded of Patricia C. Wrede, who upon receiving a sheepish negative answer when she asked me if I had sent a certain story in yet, declaimed in ringing tones, "PUBLISHERS DO NOT CONDUCT HOUSE-TO-HOUSE SEARCHES FOR PUBLISHABLE MANUSCRIPTS! SEND IT IN! YOU HAVE TO SEND IT IN!")

Anyhow, yeah, I very much need to make some moneys happen, and the most direct route for me is making shinies happen for people that want shinies, so if you can help them find my work that would be awesomely helpful.

You have my deep gratitude, and if there's anything I can do for you, please let me know.

A mix of expected things and unexpected things have managed to all want paying at once, so I'm having a 40% off sale on almost everything in my Etsy shop for probably as long as it takes to get what it takes. The 40% off sale includes all the new work I am putting up each day -- the current trays of things ready to be photographed and added to the shop have one pendant, two long necklaces, and eighty pairs of earrings because life is like that at the moment.

Neil boosted my sale online, and now things are selling literally as fast as I can put them up. If you're a regular on Etsy, you can set things to send you an alert when there are new pieces up, if you like. Pouncing is a strategy, and the alert is a useful thing, I am told.

What's coming up includes a lot of very seriously shiny stuff, because Swarovski. Specifically, ungettable Swarovski, the stuff they stopped selling to us hoi polloi, or however that should be said. However, my sister told me about a bead store that she loves that was closing, and to make a long story short, I now have the amount of Swarovski crystal that your above-average bead store might have at the end of their run. (SO MUCH SWAROVSKI. It took me weeks to sort and label it all. So much delight!) Anyhow, I turned a bunch of it into a pendant and a lot of earrings. Come see what you think, yah?

If you find something you like, and you would like me to hold it through more days of the sale so you can see if anything else pounce-worthy comes along, just tell me to "Let it ride," and I'll combine everything at the end and refund you the excess shipping.

Please spread the word about the sale if you can! As I said elsenet, I thank you, my family thanks you, the people who are going to take down the broken tree and haul it away thank you, the people doing our health care directives and wills thank you, my artist's wrangler thanks you, and so do the makers of ice cream. (I am coping with ice cream this week.)

I've almost got all the orders from the sale shipped out. There's a good reason for the last few being slow (they contain surprise pieces, which take me a bit of time to make and I forgot to plan ahead for getting multiple surprise piece orders in the sale), but it still makes me feel like I am in some weird thought experiment where the closer I get to the finish line, the longer it takes and the less likely it looks that I will actually reach it.

Zeno's packing paradox. Yep. It happens every time, and every time, I forget that it's going to.

Eh, at least it means I sold many shiny things, and that's needful, so OK then. Onward!