mermaiden: (Home)
posted by [personal profile] mermaiden at 03:07pm on 24/08/2012 under , , ,
Oh my goodness. So, at crazy o'clock this morning, my mum calls me in a panic. Her car has a flat tire (WORST TIMING EVER), Dad is already at work (he goes very early), and one of her dogs, A, has an infection that Mum thinks has turned into pyometra (my Mum has been breeding dogs since before I was born, still is). You don't want to know what pyo is, trust me. Can I come and take her and said pup to the vet? (Pyo can kill VERY quickly if it's not operated on.) So, today is the Fable Tribe update, but I drop everything to rush to their house, and then proceed to wait eleventy billion hours in the vet's office with a very worried Mum and very sick dog who was very sad. :( :( :( (I spent all morning hugging her. Oh my goodness, that poor baby. ;-; She's related to my Newfoundland soulmate, Beethoven, so it was devastating to see her like that.)

Jenn, being amazing beyond reason, EVEN THOUGH SHE HAS NOT UPDATED AN ETSY SHOP IN ELEVENTY BILLION YEARS, got up super early, took all of the pictures, and began the update. ;-; <3 <3 <3

So! I'm finally home! A is in surgery (she *did* have the infection, but it was detected, and can be operated on, so she's going to be okay hopefully--good thoughts appreciated!), Mum is feeling relieved and happy, and ALL of the Glamourkins are already added to the shop because I have the best wife in the ENTIRE COSMOS. ;-; <--weepy with gratitude.

So, all I have left to do is the hair flowers and Seeker Stone sets! Want to follow along with the rest? See the last bit of what's coming at our Flickr, and follow along with the last part of the update our Etsy shop!

TheFableTribe.Etsy.com


Mood:: 'relieved' relieved
mermaiden: (Bandyloo too)
The beginning of this update marks a solid week of work for Jenn and I--a week of very little sleep, and a GREAT deal of magic. We haven't worked harder on much else in our histories, and I have to say, we could not have done any of this without the constant support and feeling of being held that the Goddess gave us. <--Honesty

That being said, what this update is comprised of, contains some of the most magical items that Jenn and I have ever created together. Including something that we came up with YEARS ago, when we first envisioned Glamourkin.

They're called "Seeker Stones~" <3 A set of stones, used similar to runes, for divination purposes, magic, reminders. The main sets come with thirteen stones in a hand collaged box, the "Booster" sets come with six stones in an organza bag. How do you use them? Pull them every morning, like you'd pull a rune, do a reading with them of past, present and future...pull one when you need a divine reminder, or when you need a little boost. Think about the message of the word, feel the weight of the stone in your hand, feel your connection to spirit abound. Jenn and I have been using one of these sets for a very long time, and it's pure magic--we are so, so overjoyed to share these with you. <3

Today, we also debut cork Glamourkins (!!!), Crystal Glamourkins, and we fill the shop again with our beloved spoon Glamourkins. We did something a wee bit different for the spoon Glamourkins this time around--they all contain a beloved quote or snippet from *old* poetry.

I'm asking you guys for a special favor this time. This month has been tight for us, because of the summer slowdown. If you're been thinking of something pretty or lovely to treat yourself--please consider doing so. If you were thinking of spreading the word of this update--we would appreciate it greatly. I have every faith in the universe that by the end of today, some of my cares will be lessened, and I owe that entirely to you (and the Goddess), and your support. Thanks for being. <3 <3 <3

See the update preview at our Flickr! (I'm starting on page 8 and working back.) Follow along with the update at our Etsy!

TheFableTribe.Etsy.com




mermaiden: (Bandyloo too)
Our Glamourkin-centric update of The Fable Tribe is now live! There are many beautiful, and magic-filled lake-stone pendants, the regular Glamourkin shape of pendant, and some book and circle Glamourkins as well. We've also debuted the Glamourkin Oracle!

TheFableTribe.Etsy.com


The inherent magic of Glamourkins lies in the fact that each pendant is intended for one person. One person on all the Earth. But humans are uncertain creatures, sometimes unaware as to which bits of wisdom would serve them best in their day-to-day journeys. And sometimes they need an outside voice to spell out the inner truths they already know.

Thus, we have created the Glamourkin Oracle. With your purchase, you will receive ONE Glamourkin pendant specially chosen for you by fate, faeries, or the Divine--whatever you believe. :) Cast your cares to the Universe and receive the message you alone are meant to explore. Repeat its words like a mantra, and wear it close to your heart. <3


-- from The Glamourkin Oracle

Any sharing about the update, purchases or word-of-mouth mentioning is supreme love, and deeply appreciated. The only way we are able to do what we do is because of the amazing support and love shown to us and the Fable Tribe--we appreciate it more than we could EVER articulate it. <3 <3 <3
Mood:: 'awake' awake
mermaiden: (Salem)
I'm beginning the Fable Tribe's update now! Follow along at our Etsy, and see what's coming up at our Flickr! (I'm working backwards from page six. <3)

TheFableTribe.Etsy.com
Mood:: 'good' good
mermaiden: (Home)
The next Fable Tribe update is beginning in one hour! It's a Glamourkin-centric update~ <3 See the preview at our Flickr! <3



Mood:: 'excited' excited
mermaiden: (Illuminated)
Happy Friday the 13th! <3

The update preview is now uploaded to Flickr, and I'm about to begin the Friday the 13th update at the Fable Tribe! Today, we have several new, magical Blessing Bowls, Antheia's Garden got a shipment, straight from the Fairy Kingdom, and we're debuting a new line of little hair treasures: Pixie Leaves! <3

The Blessing Bowls start on page six of our Flickr--I'll be starting from the very end of the Flickr pages (eleven!) and going forward. :)

Follow along with me at our Etsy! <3

TheFableTribe.Etsy.com






Edited to add, 2:12 PM: Taking a quick break due to technical difficulties--the bowls have all been added, and we'll start the hair flowers and Pixie Leaves in half an hour! <3

Edited to add: We're back and updating again! <3
Music:: Eve 6 -- Inside Out
Mood:: 'good' good
mermaiden: (Our Wedding:  Kiss)
Sneak peek at the Fable Tribe update, coming Friday the 13th at noon, EST! ♥ This is just the tip of the sparkly iceberg--plan on seeing many sacred Blessing Bowls, and Anetheia's Garden is getting a new shipment, straight from the Fairy Kingdom! Stay tuned for magic! ♥

Mood:: 'excited' excited
mermaiden: (Coven)
posted by [personal profile] mermaiden at 01:25pm on 30/06/2012 under , ,
Jenn and I went to the NY Faerie Festival yesterday for the day. We'd considered vending this year, but we wanted to visit first to make certain it'd be the right fit for us (insert eight million business reasons here, including how many people they get coming through, and what the other vendors said about it). It's a beautiful little festival, and it's positively wild and charming and awesome--we loved it. We'll be applying next year to vend. <3

We went as dryads, and even though it was so hot, there were fairies in danger of actually melting, we still had an awesome time, which really goes to show the happiness and good vibe of the festival. <3

Here is a picture of us as VERY WARM dryads. <3


I was laughing about it on the way home, because at festivals and conventions and fairs and markets, this part of me flicks on. It's something that a lot of people don't generally understand, so I kind of keep low about it, but I think those who know me know I have this, and those who don't...well, you're about to learn, I suppose. XD

I love networking. LOVE. NETWORKING. I love marketing. I fucking love owning my own business, even though--as all hands-on businesses tend to be--it's a LOT of work. I love talking about businesses to people, marketing ideas, sharing the love that is hand-made goods and services and books and creative talent and magic. I'm a little obsessed with it, actually. It's something I think about all the time.

I have a dirty little secret: I read business and marketing and entrepreneur books as fast as they can publish them, devouring them like vegan cupcakes. I've read everything, from Malcolm Gladwell's sublime Outliers to Chris Guillebeau's stunning $100 Startup and everything in between. I consider Derek Halpern and Marie Forleo (and many, many other people) to be business saints. Shark Tank is my obsession. Phrases like "multiple streams of income" and words like "scalability" make me a little weak in the knees, and I could literally talk about SEO (search engine optimization), and all of the theories behind organic and inorganic optimization, for HOURS. HOOOOOURS. DAYS. PROBABLY LONGER.

I believe as many people don't...that:

- Marketing is not slimy. That if you have something fucking wonderful, and people would love to read it/see it/own it, you're doing an extreme disservice to the world if you don't let people know about it. Case in point: people want lesbian YA books. I write them, and then help the people who want them to find them. It does them, and me, absolutely no good to be a fading flower of "well, gosh, I wrote something and I'm not going to tell anyone about it so no one will ever find it." People want, and need, my stories, and I believe that essentially. And that's how I'm capable of making a living from my books.
- Believing that you're good at something, or that people would want what you have, is NOT egotistical or arrogant. It isn't. I'm not egotistical, and I'm not arrogant. I just know what I was meant to do, and then I do it. So many people hide their light under a bushel because they believe that if they went for something or accomplished something or made something of themselves, people would think they're arrogant. It's not true, and brilliant people rob the world of a lot of light for thinking that way.
- Business stuff is NOT for the extremely analytical, super smart or super boring or super geeky or super insert-any-other-word-you-can-think-of. That you do NOT have to be a business guy in a suit and a briefcase, that you do NOT have to be a GUY (WHICH MAKES ME CRY). I hear, over and over and over and over and over: "I'm super creative! I don't have a businessy bone in my body because of that!" SO many people think this way, and it's the farthest thing from the truth, but it's why so many Etsy shops don't thrive, it's why so many super creative people talk themselves out of essentially beautiful and vibrant lives.

People, so many people, find out that I do what I do for a living, and then they grow misty eyed and wistful. "I want to...but I never could..." But here's an essential truth about myself:

I believe, with all of my heart and soul and being, that I am doing exactly what I was meant to do. And it isn't easy! Good GODS, it isn't easy. But I have rock-solid faith in what I'm going to do, what my wife is going to do, and then I move worlds to make it happen. I hustle. I create until I'm a vibrant fire of only-all-that-is-creation. I. Never. Stop. And in that is my vibrant joy of life: I create, and I create again, and I create again.

I tell people: if I can do this, anyone can do this. And it's true. I'm not the best or the brightest or the most creative person in this world. I have talents and I utilize them, and I'm impassioned about my work. I am not more talented than the next person. The only thing that separates me from the next person is that I move heaven and earth to make this possible. That, even when I'm afraid, I keep going.

And you know what? There are lots of other people like me. And anyone can believe in themselves and their work and move heaven and earth and get great ideas and create beautiful things and make a living off of their talents.

Here's the extremely subversive thing. Here's the button-pushy thing. Here's the thing that always earns me the sigh, and the faster-breathing, and the oh-no-not-possibly-this-scares-me reactions:

You. Could. Too.

I don't talk about business stuff, because--frankly--I make people uncomfortable. We make a living off of our stories and collaged pendants. We're outliers. We're weird. And maybe it's all fine and good for me, but certainly not other people, right? People nod their heads about business stuff until I start talking about their shop, and how they could grow it, and how they could eventually be a self employed person, too, and it terrifies people. I hate terrifying people. I mean, c'mon...I love people. I give hugs to random strangers. I don't want to randomly TERRIFY them.

But I also believe that a lot of people are comfortable because it's easier. I'm not saying that from a privileged position, or talking about something I know nothing about. Once upon a time, comfortable was safe for me, too. And there are some people who don't give a fig about business, and there are some people who love office jobs or whatever. I'm not talking about those people.

I'm talking about the people I terrify when I start "talking like that."

Here's the thing: I fucking love being an entrepreneur. And my own freedom and drive and business-love has the tendency to freak people out, because it makes them think about what could be. So I tone it down and don't talk about it, because--really--who enjoys freaking people out?

But I'm going to start talking about it. And, ahead of time, I'm sorry if it upsets you. I'm not talking about any one person in particular when I talk about my own experiences. I'm not singling anyone out. I'm not asking you to quit your job, take up the guitar, and come live in the woods. I'm talking about my own experiences, what makes me impassioned, and what makes me happy. I hope you'll respect that I'm not a siren song trying to drive you off whatever course you've chosen.

But I also want you to consider that if you think about what I'm saying about my own life and my own decisions, and it's something that makes you salivate, that you want with every fiber of your being, maybe it's possible.

I'm going to start talking about business stuff. No one has to comment, but I'm going to leave comments open. I'm asking this here, in big and bold: since I'm not talking to any person directly, please, please, please don't comment saying "it's awesome you're doing this, Sarah, but I never could, because..." That's okay if you feel you couldn't or don't want to. But I don't want to be the one to tell you "it's all right." You have to be comfortable in your own skin with your own decisions, and I don't need to be the one telling you whatever decision you make is or is not the right one. :) Deal? Deal. <3

Let the impassioned voice begin. <3
Mood:: 'determined' determined
mermaiden: (Poppy)
I have declared today SPARKLE DAY! I am so ridiculous proud of Jenn, and so happy--the novella is so, so beautiful you guys--and my sister gave me some AMAZING and TEAR-INDUCINGLY WONDERFUL news this morning...and now, we have the Fable Tribe update! <3

This is a Glamourkin-centric update, and is beginning now! You can see the update in preview form at our Flickr, and because of an awesome new way to update that I discovered JUST LAST TIME (after years of updating painfully slowly. Great. :P BUT AT LEAST I FOUND IT!!!), this shouldn't take that long to put up! <3 Come and celebrate with us for all of the awesome shininess of the day and see if one of these Glamourkins speaks to you!

This update, in particular, was astonishingly magical to create--we hope you enjoy! <3 <3 <3

TheFableTribe.Etsy.com
Mood:: 'happy' happy
mermaiden: (Glitter)
The next Fable Tribe update is this Friday, June 1st, at 3PM, EST! It's a Glamourkin focused one, with more closed book and Lake-Stone Glamourkins, and several traditional shapes. <3 There are also (as always! The fairies are MISCHIEVOUS!) a few small surprises in this one--stay tuned for magic! <3

Also, thanks to finally receiving our shipment of blank bowls, I added a few more custom Blessing Bowl slots back into the shop! Last time, they sold out within minutes, so if you were disappointed that you weren't able to get one last time, they're up now!



A few unusual surprises are coming soon to the Fable Tribe in the next few weeks, things and places we have never gone with this fairy magic--we can't wait to show you! <3
Mood:: 'good' good

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