Fabulous NEW Items for the Renaissance Hunt/Fair

I've put out some new items and some EXCLUSIVE items for the Renaissance Faire/Hunt.

The first set I call Elegance. It's delicate, feminine (sorry guys!) and lovely! It is a reproduction of a Renaissance piece I saw.  These first two are ONLY available at the Always Eclectic tent at the Renaissance Faire. They will be available through the end of September and then POOF! They will disappear forever!

There are two additional versions of Elegance that are available at both the Faire and the Main Store.

On to another Renaissance era release......Distinction! Ladies and Gentlemen will look regal and rich in these sets. The silver set is the prize in the Renaissance Hunt! The gold set is on sale at the Faire and at the Main Store.












 

And a Merry HUNT-mas to you!

Wow - there are SO many hunts in December. After getting all my own hunt gifts ready, it's time to go a-hunting myself! But first......

WOMENstuff Hunt part 2 - In honor of the association with breast cancer, a set of Pink Poinsettias to adorn your holiday! The barette is a new item for me. My model is a woman I work with who ALWAYS wears flowers in her hair!

Renaissance Hunt - More traditional jewelry made sense for the Renaissance Hunt. Holly, wreaths, rubies, red, green - all the colors and textures that say Christmas.

Also, Always Eclectic has a booth on Renaissance Island for the season, which coincidentally is the beginning of the Renaissance Hunt! http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Renaissance%20Faire%20Isle/21/185/24

The Christmas Spirit Hunt - I don't like to play favorites amongst my 'kids', but this set game out so elegantly I'm just tickled to death! Studs for, well, the studs of course!

Always Eclectic also has a store at the Dickens Christmas Village for Victorian items: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Mieville%20Kipling/244/14/2502

Last but not least - we're now part of the Stored and Creators list! Fabulous!

See you soon!

Riendra

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Award%20Island/198/232/22

Now On DesigningSL Blogger List!!!

As the old TV show said 'Well, we're movin' on up!!!' The Always Eclectic Blog will be on the DesigningSL blog feed!!! Read that 'Riendra has more incentive to blog more often!' Today, it's not a problem - I have a topic to vent a bit on. Don't worry - vent is a long way from a rant!

The other day, I found myself at the SL-Hunt headquarter's housed with the Cookie Jar store and shopping area. I thought I'd go take a look for December hunts related to the holidays, since I KNOW I want to do the Renaissance Hunt again and the attached Faire!

I was astounded to see that 3 (okay, 2 3/4) of the walls were covered with October hunts!! I realize people like their hunts, but I was reminded about something Kat Alderson said at a seminar. With so many hunts, it's no wonder that people don't want to pay for anything in SL. If they wait long enough, something they like just as well will come out as a freebie in a hunt.

I have no idea how this situation can get turned around, but Kat had one piece of advice for merchants: stop being in so many hunts! Some stores are in 10 or more hunts a month. Does that really increase your sales? Or is it just bringing people that stop by, grab a freebie and leave?

When I moved to my new store location, I put visitor counters at three different locations: landing point, front entrance to the shop, and rear of the shop. Nearly everyday there are some people at the landing point. Once in a while there is traffic at the entrance although a much smaller number. There is rarely any traffic that reaches the back of the store.

That tells me that people are landing and scanning for the freebie, then leaving for the most part. Obviously not everyone does that, but there is a significant number that do.

I realize I don't have the huge inventories that other stores do, so there is less to look at so far. Still, it's rather discouraging. I would be very curious to know what other people, merchants and non-merchants, or even merchants when they aren't being merchants and are just shoppers or hunters, think about this. SL seems to be mimicing RL in that mega-retailers are the only ones that survive long. Or perhaps independently wealthy people in RL that can afford to subsidize their SL businesses forever. It just seems that smaller retailers go out and in frequently, but the big hitters, perhaps those that got big near the beginning of SL, have the advantage at the moment.

I love having my store. I really do. I can't subsidize things forever though. Sooner or later having to spend real money to subsidize my fun will get old. Darn.

Riendra

Never a dull moment....

Or this could be called 'a diamond in the middens.'

It started when I decided to take another SL marketng class, this time at Builder's Brewery. The class was taught by Heavenly Villa. After class she answered a few questions for me, then sort of 'adopted' me and took a look at my store. I received some brutal honesty about my choice of merchandise. It was hard to hear, but rang true. She also visited  my store along with Thaddeus (can't recall last name!) and suggested some ways to make it more customer friendly.

As in anything, some suggestions I like, some I didn't.  But I am working with Vian Magic, the chief architect for the Mieville sims, to update my store. With Vian's own knowledge of what fits into Victorian London and addtional research from Jaime Parfort, I think we have a good handle on what we're doing. It looks much more posh than it did. Since the stores location is the beginning of the posh section, it's working right in....

Hopefully it will be done soon. In the meantime, the hunts continue - Renaissance Hunt and Quarantine Hunt (Human Path) this month, and Trick or Treat (Farewell to Winter) and Poppin' Penguins for January. My hunt gifts are improving as I go along!!

There are also gifts in the Christmas exchanges at Happy Hippo Building School and at Builder's Brewery. So catch the holiday wave!!!

The group gift will be going out soon - hehe!!

A learning experience for sure.....

Since opening this store,  I have learned more about SL and the creative tools than I would have ever thought.

With all the people I've meet doing these hunts, I am learning even more. I know lots of merchants now and they all seem to be very willing to help. Strider (ariana.farstrider) and I were talking of partnering up on a Renaissance Faire stall. As it turns out, we didn't but she has been very helpful to me for bouncing ideas off and asking sillly questions. LadyKay Gable helped make my hunt hints doable by reading them over and comparing them with where I have them hidden - invaluable information!!! And of course, Perryn Peterson is absolutely fabulous to work with! In fact, I took one of his ideas and made it a reality.

The marotte you see below, or jester stick as many people call it, was one of Perryn's ideas. It took me quite a while to get this to look as I wished, and I still consider this marotte 1.0, but it's cute!!!

This would not have been possible without Swith (cyneswith.luik). She created the animation that goes along with it so it isn't just a stick. Add the jingle bell effect when it moves and it turned out pretty cool!!! And just like everything else, it's 20% off! I'm also offering to make ones with custom faces for an extra fee. Put someone's face on that you'd like to shake!!!

I'm getting my hunts lined up for January. So far I'm in the Trick or Treat (Farewell to Winter) hunt. I'm debating about a few others....

I'm also contributing items to the Builder's Brewery Christmas Exchange and the Happy Hippo Christmas Exchange. Talk about being on a major building spree!!! Whee!!!

A few new items in the store also....and the major rearranging continues.....

The hunts begin December 1st - and I'm ready!

The store is all decorated and updated - new merchandise out - hunt items are ready to go - whew!

And I'm still in creation mode....making more Renaissance things, and throwing in some Victorian to go with it, some holiday....wow.

Time to update the product catalog again, although most of it is there.

I've been helping a bit with the RenFaire making signage on demand - you'd never believe how many signs one faire needs!!!

In all this, I have decided I am a better jewelry maker than just about anything else.....which is a shame as I have fun making other stuff. I guess we'll see what sells and see what works. With my booth at the RenFaire start and my store, I'm crossing my fingers! In the meantime....

A Hunting We Will Go....

Whew! Busy, busy!

Along with the Renaissance Hunt, I got a stall at the Rensaissance Fair that is the start of the hunt. Now I am creating madly.....

I have some nice new jewelry with a medieval flair - I'll post the pics sometime soon. Plus some holiday furniture! Just thought of that one today....

So the booth may look sparse, but every bit of it is good stuff. I refuse to put out junk! Come visit me there during December!

Real life does like to get  in the way!!!

I won't complain too much though, as one if the first things I discovered after logging in is my partner, Ms India Umia, and I placed in the Dreams Spooky Forest build contest!!! We received third place in the popular vote and in the judges vote! A nice surprise!!! I'll put a picture or two up...

I am also in the final stages of completing, at long last, my twisted rope chains! These will be a mainstay of my jewelry line. I hope to have the basic ropes out within a few days! Yea!

Come December, Always Eclectic will be in two hunts - The Renaissance Hunt and the Quarantine Hunt! I have some nifty things planned for the hunt giveaways so be sure to stop by.

I'll also be continuing my 'vegetable stencil' line for fall and Thanksgiving! Just some fun things for you!

It's raining pumpkins!!!!

As I learn more and more about this virtual commerce world, I decided to make something quick, cute and easy for Halloween. And - voila! Carved look pumpkins!

I have several at the store, and even have SL Marketplace listings now! Plus there is a special pumpkin in the Builder's Brewery Graveyard Hunt.....made especially for BB!

I hope to get some more things out soon....creeping up on a few and need to work on my items for the Renaissance Hunt in December. I may be in another for Race for the Cure too - depends on how my Renaissance Hunt items go. Lots of ideas in my head.....getting them into something in SL is a whole 'nother issue!

I'm currently thinking of how I can advertise inexpensively, until I get going a bit. I'm listing with a few free directories.....and I may go ahead and get an SL group just to get into the search listings. I just have to make it until the December hunts start......I think....

Slowly getting inventory....and learning a LOT in the process..

First, about the store. I have some of my original items out now - a couple of lamps I made. They're cute gas lamps that have the flame that turns on and off.

I have several items that are lacking only one thing - a believable metal texture! I have the sculpts done and ready to go. In fact, if I ever get a metal texture for my chain, I'll be able to get out several things very quickly....alas it seems I have to learn a whole new area of Blender in order to be able to do this. I may finally be pushed to 2.57 as it seems these things are easier in that version. We shall see. Nothing amazing will happen in SL for a bit as RL will be hectic this week. I think I may put out a couple more lamps. I'm working on some additional inlaid designs for my tables.

I also have decided I'm going to participate in the Renaissance Hunt. Perryn Peterson sent many merchants a link about it and after reading the requirements, and that the start date isn't until December 1st, I think I can have some nice items ready. And no, I'm not going to say what! You'll just have to wait and see like everyone else on the hunt.

Modeling is, um, good and bad. In the advanced class, you learn advanced things that are much harder to do. I may not do very well at this part of the modeling, but we shall see. I just need to keep practicing! And it does take practice like anything else.

Stop by and see the store if you get a chance. Not much in it yet but it is SO pretty!