Presenting Planet Nice Odyssey

Hello Everyone! Well, it has happened – “Planet Nice Odyssey” was available on Etsy so it was officially registered and the shop became “live” on October 2^nd. Please use this link: https://planetniceodyssey.etsy.com when visiting the shop from here on the blog because I get extra credit points when I drive traffic to Etsy and it is traceable back to me. Ahhh, the world of social media.

I haven’t kept you that much in the dark – it has taken about a month to make progress on listings, policies, and shipping strategy. There was a mini-meltdown amid the effort when I realized that I will need to additionally store packing materials to hopefully, find homes for the items and then a long-term decrease of Planet Nice Craft’s storage footprint will occur.

To put my account and the shop together, I followed “Starting an Etsy Business for dummies®” by Kate Shoup and Kate Gatski. Throughout the years, I have found the for dummies® series helpful in establishing beginner level knowledge on all sorts of topics. In Martha Stewart cross branding style, I utilized already crafted language and past pictures from this blog for my seller profile and shop sections. There were also numerous additional photos shoots and photo editing sessions. The most challenging photos were the distance shots of the home decorating fabric and I did them on a not so good indoor ambient light day. But after critiquing them maniacally the last couple weeks, I am content. The easiest photos were the outside shots of the knitted items, and at one point I had to be creative trying to get a shot while both of my hands were modeling.

The banner was created in Photoshop with a mosaic filter and a vacation photo. And the black and white illustrations were created in Adobe Illustrator with image trace – I wanted to use only original materials to avoid any infringements.

Research was also required for the listings. Not just for pricing, but random things like what the roman numerals stamped on a couple of the fabrics meant. And background information on red toile fabric from France was sought as well as French translations. If you have any comments or suggestions, reach out. It is always a pleasure to hear from you. 

Paper Curls Sketch

During this time, I have also been a student in an online drawing class taught by Betsy Barry of Yale Peabody Museum. It took me a week or so to warm up to the routine (plus I had a cold which didn’t help) but I have enjoyed it. It is more classical drawing driven so complementary to the Drawing I class I took earlier this year at the Chicago Botanic Garden which I got away with being more abstract while learning about different materials and measuring techniques. The above is the prize assignment so far. Below is what was due this week, I’m trying in earnest to be more subtle in the shading – it’s not easy, but really what is? 😊

Citrus Lime Sketch

There are only a couple more weeks but we have a final project due 30 days after the last class which I was not particularly planning on, but it’ll happen whether I want it to or not.

Winold Reiss, Library of Congress

The Library of Congress posted on Instagram about their collection of Winold Reiss, a designer I never heard of - Winold Reiss at the Library of Congress. If you enjoy early modern design (1920s through the 1940s) with a splash of Art Deco, I encourage you to check out the image collection.

Winold Reiss, Library of Congress

Winold Reiss, Library of Congress

Reading is progressing slowly, but I am determined to finish Landscape and Memory by Simon Schama. It covered forests, water, and rock (mountains mostly). The dense abstract parts I don’t take too seriously because they are quite difficult to wrap my head around. Lighter reading is upcoming so I am looking forward to that.

And you know what else is coming soon now that the Etsy store is live and class is stabilizing? That’s right, holiday baking. I haven’t looked at the calendar closely but with the cooler weather and the Halloween decorations and cards making an appearance, my circadian rhythm is whispering “fruitcake”. I am looking forward to it as it means food takes center stage.

On that note, I hope you have a good start to the holiday season, Hallothanksmas!