Commissions, commissions

I've been getting lots of commissions lately for my budding craft business.

It's great to get orders, and I'm really flattered when people like my stuff. There have even been a few holiday orders already! But I'm also super, crazy, running-around-like-a-chicken-without-a-head busy these days, and sometimes the orders can feel like one more thing to do.

One order in particular has become something of a thorn in my side. A woman wrote to me on Etsy over the summer: "I love your plant pots! I've been wanting something new for my hoya, Allie. She's getting a little cramped in her current abode, which is 6 inches in diameter by 4 inches tall. Any chance you could come up with something a bit bigger than that?"

I wrote back to say that I could, but it would take some time. Last week, she emailed again to let me know that Allie's roots would really like some more space, and how's her new pot coming? By that point, I had finished attempt #3, which was also my third failure. It's not a hard shape to make, but something about the size requirements of it were throwing me off.

I let her know that it would still be a while, and she told me she would tell Allie to be patient for a few more weeks.

Allie needed me, so even though I wanted to, I couldn't give up. Finally, I sat down at my wheel tonight and gave myself a pep talk. "Heathen, you can do this. It is ridiculous to get your wheel dirty and only throw one pot, but you are going to do it anyway because you will feel so relieved when you are done. Take your time, breathe deeply and remember that you are not allowed up from this wheel until this goddamn plant pot is done."

Twenty minutes later, it was done. Relief is on its way, Allie! (For both of us.)