While I've been away, I found some art doll artists that you might like. Each artist has their own unique style, and if you'd like to see more just click on the image and you'll go straight to the artist's shop! That is if I did everything correctly....
First, I just want to say thanks for sticking with me! This blog has not come to its end. I've decided that I need a new schedule and posts will slowly be increasing over the next few months as we approach October when I'll be posting five days a week again. After Halloween, the posts will still arrive-just fewer. That gives me a little time to breathe and plan.
The Shivers of Delight blog began in 2014, and over the years it has evolved to focus on Halloween artists. I love discovering artists that I didn't know about and love sharing them with you. The majority of the artists that I've posted about have shops on Etsy. That's because it is so easy to search on a specific word like "skull" and find hundreds of artists that create with that theme. It really has made my blogging life easier. And, just so you know, I never accept any financial or product support from the artists' themselves. I really do post only the artists that I really like.
I've tried other market places, but the search algorithm isn't always as strong as Etsy's (and that's saying something) and there just isn't the variety of Halloween artists that you see in the Etsy marketplace. Which brings me to my Etsy dilemma.
I'm finding that more and more first-rate artists are leaving the site because of Etsy management. I've also seen more and more mass-produced or copied items being available in the Etsy market. That's frustrating for me too.
And now, it's come to a head. Many Etsy sellers have banded together to boycott Etsy the week of April 11-18. They're asking buyers to boycott as well. You can read about the strike at Etsy Strike. The strike is not my dilemma- I support the striking artists and understand their concerns.
My fear is that Etsy won't take their demands seriously and they will all decide to leave Etsy. How will I find them?! Of course, I already bookmark many Halloween artists that don't have shops on Etsy and prefer to have their own websites and follow many more on Facebook and Instagram, but it takes a lot of time for me to continually check in to see if they have new items. In addition, I'm concerned that I won't be exposed to as many new artists.
Of course, I won't abandon Etsy completely because many Halloween artists will remain there and they need financial support from us collectors too. Etsy has provided a way for many small business artists to sell their pieces without investing money in their own website. For the buyer, Etsy provides a level of security that you will receive your purchases or get your money back (I know because I've been through that process successfully.) My dilemma will be in continuing to support artists in the marketplace without feeling like I'm condoning Etsy managements' practices that hurt small business artists.
While I'm working out how I'm going to come to some middle ground of supporting Halloween artists both on and off Etsy, I've realized that I need to make it easier for you to discover artists that I have featured as well. In the next few weeks, I'll add a tab at the top of the blog that lists the artists that I have featured on the blog and links to their shops. I can't guarantee that it will always be up-to-date, but you can help me by letting me know if a link is broken. That way we can all search for our new favorite artists and see what is currently available.
For future reference, I plan to have 2 posts in April and May on the first and third Thursdays. In June and July I'll post every Thursday and then in August I'll start posting twice a week. You can always follow me on Facebook and Instagram where I'll alert you to new posts, plus I'll be posting in those spaces a bit more often. I'll meet you back here on April 21st!
