Work-Life Balance and a Schedule Change

As I may have mentioned, I've started selling copywriting on both Etsy and Elance, and ... well, it's going pretty well, actually.

The Mafia-themed social media game didn't pan out -- I don't think they liked my character-dialogue audition piece, but since I submitted it without any real idea of the mood or character type they wanted, I don't feel much sense of failure over this -- but I'm currently writing product descriptions for Keys of Paradise, a fantastic spiritual/magickal supply shop, with fantastic herbs and candles and such, run by some fantastic people. Apparently they consider my descriptions fantastic as well, because the job morphed from a fixed-rate 400-descriptions deal to a long-term by-the-piece to a continuing semi-permanent article writing and editing gig.

Unfortunately, this means I've been neglecting the Etsy shops ... but I'm working at learning how to balance the two better. M and I have been making a lot of steampunk assemblage jewelry of late, since I'll be a vendor at Upstate Steampunk in Anderson this year. And I need to contact the awesome purveyor of hair accessories DaringlyDonna, a lovely local who we keep running into at Hancock's Fabrics, about swapping custom hair flowers for teapot earrings.

So we're not dead on the jewelry front! Just slowed while I find the proper equilibrium of the two creative businesses, and I should be finally adding more steampunk like I keep saying I will.


Available here.

Speaking of slight slowing: Since I'm doing so much paid writing, and since I was glancing through the lengthy list of MWF webcomics I read and realizing how much competition those days have got, I'll be switching the blog to a Tuesday/Thursday update schedule starting next week. It's only one less post per week. Also, Treasury Wednesday is becoming a monthly feature, first Wednesdays of every month. I get some traffic and some lovely comments, presumably from Google alerts, on those posts, but they're quite time-consuming and I'd like a better balance of written content, considering, y'know, I'm a writer and all.

And a day-brightening fact (for me, anyway): As I was building the updated APA citation guide for our tech college's Writing Center, I was modeling citations for weird stuff (historic photographs of unknown subjects, letters from university archives, that sort of thing) and it occurred to me that one of the dresses from the Met's "Orientalism in Fashion" web exhibit would be a great example. This led to me finding that my June blog post "Multiculturalism in Victorian Accessories" is, as of Tuesday, the seventh Google result for the terms "Victorian clothing Orientalism." And that, my friends, is sweet.

Treasury Wednesday: The unsubtle beauties of lipstick red

I've wanted to try on a deep, lush, '40s-esque crimson lipstick since I was thirteen -- and no one will ever let me. Longtime readers will not be at all surprised that makeup is a world I treat with half-dismissive, half-deferential wariness, being not any good at it myself, so I'm not entirely sure why.

This is a tribute to one of my favorite character archetypes: The no-nonsense, sensual modern femme fatale. I like stories where efficiency is made into something that's desirable and hot. Some say this makes me a bad feminist.

My favorite item is that fantastic shoe photo in the first slot. There's a lot of great photography in this treasury, vintage-inspired styled shots and nice crisp white backgrounds. It was a fun challenge balancing all the shades of red across the columns, too!

'I Like to Make You Suffer' by Scribblegoat

Sultry slinky dresses, strumpet-red lipstick, heels and red wine and vixenish behavior. Sexy handmade and vintage-inspired designs.

Hello Ladies- Signe... AliciaBock $35.00	Teardrop cocktail h... hellostrumpet $25.00	Signed print, &quot... Lovinda $33.00	Small Lipstick Trac... Samskiart $40.00
K.Antoinette Signat... kantoinette $40.00	Irony - Natural Red... pdxblacklipsti... $9.00	The Red Stockings E... ArtByO $15.00	3 Lipstick Soaps F... sweetsoaptreat $3.50
Silk Mistress Knick... MistressCollec... $45.00	Skirt Altered Red P... bytheway $25.00	Red Leather Hartman... judeslore $160.00	Framed Real Lipstic... BentheButterfl... $16.00
Killer Heels... Lar... emmakisstina $200.00	Handmade 1940s dres... UnforgettableY... $89.00	Lipstick - Velvet C... thetwistedcow $19.00	Vintage Black See T... ragdollady55 $

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Starting Monday with a Nastygram

I received this email in June from the business school attached to my undergrad university.


Dear Chelsea,

Our records indicate that you have either recently finished or will soon complete your undergraduate degree at UCR. I am proud of your accomplishments and certain that you will continue to be successful in the future.

While finishing college is an exciting time in the life of any graduate, you may be feeling discouraged in your search for a suitable job. As the Dean of the Anderson Graduate School of Management (AGSM) at UCR, I am keenly aware of the impact of the economic downturn on professional careers available to recent graduates. It is indeed frustrating and disheartening to attempt to enter the job market in the current financial climate.

The good news, however, is that this is an excellent time to consider starting your graduate studies. Our records indicate that we have been in touch with you about our graduate programs in the past. Therefore you may already know that a Master of Business Administration (MBA) is, by far, the most sought after and competitive graduate degree. At AGSM we offer an MBA program that is accredited by AACSB and is focused on developing leaders ...

[further platitudes ensue]

***

Dear Dr. [redacted] (or manager of this inbox),

Thanks for your interest in having me apply to the Anderson School of Business Management.  While I have moved across the country and my degree from UCR was in fact in the social sciences, not in business, I am now a freelance copywriter having reasonable independent success despite your concerns about my employability.

Consequently, I have a counter-offer for you.  For the relatively competitive price of $25, I will ghost-write the email that you send to candidates like me in such a way that it removes the paternalistic and condescending tone which, sadly, reeks from the first two paragraphs of the email I received from your program dated 16 June, 2011.

If you intended for the air of condescension to be so apparent, then I apologize for the assumption on my part.  Thanks in advance for your consideration and I wish you the best in your future endeavors.

Sincerely,
Chelsea Clarey
Copywriter
 scribblegoat@gmail.com
elance.com/s/scribblegoat/10180/
scribblegoat.etsy.com

Two Musings

Available here.

1.) Somewhere, there is an earring civilization.  Venerable sterling elders with French hooks advise plastic clip-ons on how to raise their feather-and-kidney-wire young to be good and productive earring citizens.  Their mythology always seems to center around the quest to find one's soulmate, becoming a perfectly matched pair -- er, couple.

2.) I was reading an out-of-date travel magazine the other day while I waited for the laundry quarters to be spent, and there was an article about the memory triggers of smell.  This is something I often tell students about their papers -- scent is the single strongest memory trigger, you can tell me about how Grandma's house at Christmas looked for three pages, but if you add three lines at strategic intervals about how it smelled, you've doubled the narrative's force.  It's inspiring in that maddening way -- if only you could make jewelry of a smell.

I'll never forget the first time I stepped out of the airport in Charlotte.  The smell of the South is like nothing else, and describing it is as hard as putting into words that waxy, fleshy sheen of a salad-plate-sized magnolia blossom, or finding the perfect metaphor for the sound a cicada makes.  Think of clean water, freshly cut grass, and an assortment of fine cigars pristine, fragrant and unsmoked in their cedar box.

Yeah.  Like that.

The garden in mid-June: Coleus, native asters, thrift and liatris and rue.

Treasury Wednesday: Everyone loves some tentacles! Also birds.

Part of a series of treasuries I did which took the most overdone motifs in jewelry and found fresh interpretations of the same themes. I wanted to find sellers who were putting time, effort and creativity into working with popular motifs, instead of adding a jump ring and purchased chain to the Hobby Lobby pendant and dropping the result on Etsy with a copyright notice. I realize that sounds very negative; it was less motivated by anger than by a desire to emphasize the many, many real designers who are fashion-attentive but fresh, and whose exquisite work is available on Etsy.

I did red poppies (remember those Ohai I'm Modern Art enameled pendants?)and then the swooping swallows that are absolutely bloody everywhere. This one took the longest; it's so hard to find anything tagged "swooping bird" or "swallow" that isn't one of the same two tattoo-inspired components. The second photo is my favorite; it's the classic shape, yes, but the bird is made of an upcycled measuring tape. So clever! The yellow tee is actually the same tattoo silhouette, but I liked the clever inscription so much it had to go in.

'Motifs, Reinvented II: Swooping and Soaring' by tangopig

Highlighting both newer shops and older ones exhibiting truly unique artistry, a series of fresh takes on old standbys -- no two alike. In this edition, interesting and labor-intensive takes on the ubiquitous flying swallows that speak of hope and freedom.

A custom pair of lo... orlydesign $95.00	Blue Bird Necklace ... yasminellis $64.00	Yellow Blue Stripe ... johnwgolden $12.00	The Tattooed - Wool... woolville $26.00
Content- Bird print amberalexander $18.00	Tree with Birds - V... ModernDecals $30.00	Uzumaki-- Original ... TheStrangeBird $275.00	Blue Bird Glass Pen... APOCALIPSTICKA... $20.00
Yellow and Blue Lea... jewelrybystace... $7.00	Rio - 8x10 redbeandesign $25.00	Violet Swallow Quee... TheNightjar $20.00	Itsy Bitsy Bluebird... DeliciousHobo $13.00
orange/blue/green s... SweetTrash $17.00	Happiness is Perfec... onegearclothin... $18.00	Tattooed Sky- Blue... FACEtheWALL $20.00	Vinyl Wall Sticker ... urbanwalls $45.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Then I decided it was time to honor those who have rethought the Vernian octopus. I was hoping to find that octopus stamping (yes, the one you're thinking of) somewhere in a really unique and different design, but I couldn't.

'Motifs, Reinvented III: Spectacular Tentacular' by tangopig

Highlighting both newer shops and older ones exhibiting truly unique artistry, a series of fresh takes on old standbys -- no two alike. In this edition, unusual uses and re-envisionings of the long-suffering steampunk octopus.

Ascension. octopus ... schin $18.00	Leather Octopus Eye... SnappingDragon $36.00	Gorgeous Sea Green ... skybirdarts $130.00	Ghost of Cthulhu Mo... ArtsiBitsi $40.00
Reversible Recycled... TrilbyMade $25.00	Monster Coffee Mug ... wildcardpotter... $28.00	Octopus embroidered... audelaine $15.00	SPRING SALE JAPAN D... Leviticus $54.60
Green Octopus Art P... thedreamygiraf... $18.00	TOUCHED In The HEAD... blobhouse $50.00	Small Glass Octopus... EmergentGlassw... $30.00	Celery Squidy Neckl... PurpleToedGyps... $24.00
SALE Giant Pacific ... TileGoddess $20.00	Green Octopus- 8x8 ... karingrow $18.00	Cephalopod Sconce jtopolski $150.00	Jade Octopus Neckla... noadi $30.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.