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silvermaplealder · 1 year

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Modern Day Head Cannons

I like to imagine the lost boys characters having modern day quirks since I like to write in the present time. So I compiled a list of random head cannons for each of the characters from the vamps to gramps, on random quirks they would have in the modern day.

David:

Is quite awful with technology. Like he has a phone but cannot change the wallpaper for it. So the other vamps are constantly changing his wallpaper to stupid little things

Though, he would be great with slang. He would know all the up-to-date slang just from reading people's minds and listening to them talk. The vamps would see some new slang or abbreviation and David would know exactly what it meant

His only social media would be a facebook profile he made in like 2010 that has 0 updates since the day he made it. Also it has his real birthdate on it.

He'd also be opposed to his face being on the internet. Like, he doesn't mind pictures as long as they're not posted. He's paranoid like a parent in 2008 who's children are getting a test of the world wide web. But since he doesn't have social media nor can really work a phone, the others will still post stuff of him without him knowing

Dwayne:

Dwayne would have his own Etsy shop for oddities. He'd find and clean bones and sell them online and make a surprising amount of money. Like it started as a little fun thing back when Etsy first began, and then next thing he knew he became very popular.

He treats his little shop without a care, and never responds to messages or actively tells people to fuck off, but people keep on buying. He's a star seller (somehow without responding to messages) and has 5 star reviews.

I also feel that he would LOVE fanfiction. He would read a book and then immediately have a ship and look up fanfiction for it. Sometimes he would write fanfiction, but he never feels like his work is good enough so he doesn't post it.

Since they don't have power at the cave, he'd be the one who would bring all the electronics to a cafe to get them charged. He would love his little cafe trips and it gives him a chance to have a break from the others

Marko:

I feel like he would be experimenting with different pronouns, and the other vampires would be super supportive of him and do their best to ensure they use the proper ones.

Marko would have ALL of the social media. Everything. He'd have facebook, instagram, tiktok, tumblr, twitter, everything. You know he had a MySpace and was in the aol chatrooms. He'd have a shit ton of email addresses as well so he could have multiple accounts.

He knows every vine reference

He posts at least a couple times an hour for whatever pops in his head. He's been temporarily banned on most of his accounts for posting gore-y stuff that was flagged

He has a surprising amount of followers and he jokes about being a vampire all of the time

Paul:

Paul would love pictures on his phone. He would have so many pictures of the other vampires and anything that he sees.

He would also have all of the music apps, and the paid versions specifically. Youtube Red. Spotify Premium. He's got apps to create music, though he's really bad at it.

He and Marko definitely tried to make a youtube channel and it did not work out very well

He also loves to make memes. He and Marko have thousands of saved memes on their phones of things that happen in their day to day life

Star:

Star accidentally became very popular on tiktok for a stupid little video she never expected to get any views. She ends up as a mini influencer with little videos that she spends twenty seconds making

She's also slightly jealous about Dwayne's Etsy shop doing well as she tried jewelry making but nothing was selling. And yet she was always adamant about good customer service and Dwayne ignores most of his messages.

She also has her own bike at this point and somehow she's more scary on it than the other boys

Michael:

He loves cars. He's the kind of guy that would go to car shows and he'd drag the other vampires with him. Paul would take pictures of his favorite cars and print them out for him.

Michael would also have a part-time overnight job to be able to afford getting a nice car of his own

He's also not a fan of memes and tries very hard not to end up in one of Paul or Marko's memes, though it happens so frequently he just has no idea

Sam:

Sam would have amazing fashion. With access to the internet he'd be copying a lot of famous people's styles

He'd be obsessed with pinterest. So many ideas saved, fashion styles, etc.

He'd also have some self image issues that he'd need to work through

He really, really wants to go to a convention but with his family struggling with money he's never been able to

Laddie:

He'd want a cell phone so bad. Star and Dwayne refuse to buy him one because they're afraid of internet safety. But Marko and Paul are happy to led over their phones for Laddie to play games on

David definitely leaves his phone "unattended" for Laddie to take and use

Sometimes David leaves his phone with Laddie so Laddie can text the other vampires when they're out

Edgar:

OBSESSED with Fortnite. Like so obsessed. He's certain Donald Mustard is some sort of undead being and hypnotizing children with the video game. But yet Edgar plays it every moment of free time he has

He also is on top of every conspiracy theory. He believes anything that he reads on the internet, even if it sounds a little far fetched

He also most definitely follows Marko's social media and has zero idea that Marko's a vampire

Alan:

Alan likes Fortnite too, but is not as obsessed about it as Edgar is. He's not as quick to jump onto conspiracy theories as Edgar is, but if Edgar gives him a good reason he'll believe it.

He and Edgar most definitely send each other memes/videos of toxic family relationships and they both will give a brief laugh and look at their deadbeat parents

He's the one that makes friends and brings them to Edgar so that Edgar can have a friend. They don't have many friends, but all their friends are ride-or-die types

Max:

His video store he would have switched to be a tech store so he can still continue to get the personal information of people in the area. People come to buy big ticket items and he can collect their addresses for deliveries, or payment plans, etc.

He'd be very informational about technology in general, but you'd find that he still has a flip phone and does not own any sort of modern piece of technology

He constantly warns the younger vampires about the dangers of the internet

Lucy:

She'd be on a lot of mom blogs, trying to relate with other mothers who have sons

I feel like she'd also be the kind of mother who would have lots of pictures of her children growing up and she'd look at them a lot, or share them online.

She's also definitely a facebook mom who doesn't post updates much, but she's always looking at other people's posts and commenting. She'd also low-key try to stalk her children's new friends all the time. She'd find David's facebook and she'd be like why does it say he was born in the 1800's. And we all just hope she doesn't find any of Marko's accounts

Gramps:

Gramps would LOVE the modern day taxidermy community. He'd be on a very niche online taxidermy forum (not to name names, but taxidermy. net).

He'd love the new forms for taxidermy that he could order online that make his life a lot easier and no asbestos.

He'd still know about all the different vampires in the area

#tlb 1987 #lost boys #the lost boys #the lost boys 1987 #tlb david #vampires #dwayne tlb #marko tlb #tlb paul #tlb #edgar frog #alan frog #frog brothers

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feliciafancybottom · 27 days

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Still no luck with Etsy 😭 😭 😭 My best friend's son has an Etsy store and she said that I can send my listings to her and she'll have him put them in his shop for me. He is saving money for his top surgery, so I can try and promote his art too and hopefully help him get more sales too. He is wildly talented so that won't be difficult. Still, it's not ideal. I'd rather be in control of my own business. I mean, I am appreciative, it is an incredibly kind offer but my friend has so much on her plate and I hate to add to her load. She assures me it's not a problem but I still feel like it's an added stressor that she doesn't need, plus I want to be in control of my own business. I want to be able to know what is being posted and when. I have been looking into it and I have narrowed the reason for my suspension down to two possibilities, one more likely than the other. First and the one that I doubt it the problem it that my Etsy account is in my maiden name and my bank account is still in my married name because I am lazy and never bothered changing it back when I got divorced. I can easily prove that by showing them my divorce certificate if that is the problem, or even change the account name if it is really such a big deal. The more likely problem, I think, is that I was using a VPN because I live in Australia and LOTS of the shows I like don't stream here so I often have to pretend that I live in the UK or US if I want to see them. I was watching Masters of Sex while I was setting up my store and it didn't even occur to me that it would set off alarms with the Etsy bots. Oops. I have an email address that I can write a very apologetic letter to and hope that I get someone sympathetic who will give me another chance but if not... I don't know. Maybe when my son gets home from interstate I could set up a store using his details, but then I have to come up with a new shop name. Do you know how long it took me to think of a name for the one that got suspended? I mean, to think of a name that wasn't already taken? Approximately six thousand years. Fuck. If anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to throw them my way. I looked into selling elsewhere but there isn't really anywhere that has the same reach as Etsy. I am already at a disadvantage with such a niche market. I mean, I am not opposed to making other themes if people request them but Good Omens and Shennant are my hyperfixations and left to my own devices, that is what I like making. So if I take my weird little GO, DT& MS dolls to a site than no one has heard of, I figure I will never sell anything unless I bec0me really, really amazing at marketing. It's funny because when I was at Uni, I was always the one that got put in charge of all the bloody marketing projects and I hated it. And I still hate it. I'm terrible at it. All because I made one decent poster once. God, I whine a lot. I did sell a couple of old paintings this week so that was good. Like the grown up I totally am, instead of using the money to pay the electricity bill that is due next week I bought David Tennant boots. This time next week I may not have a light source or heating (I live in Queensland, we don't need heating) but I will have cool purple Docs. I'm just joking. I will pay the electricity bill. I just probably should have been responsible and done that first but, whatever. I am immature and it cheered me up for like five minutes.

#etsy #good omens #shennant #good omens fanart #doc martens #just talking crap #david tennant #michael sheen #comfort shopping #vpn #oops

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londontwinkton · 2 months

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Tips on how to find cute vintage clothes

•❅───✧❅✦❅✧───❅•❅───✧❅✦❅✧───❅•

this post is inspired by a tiktok from @blackhairedbrat go watch it and show it love!!

Knowing your tastes:

theres so many things to look into when it comes to vintage clothes. obvi, u wanna start with what period of time u aspire to dress like. late 90s, early 2000s, mid 80s, 50s-60s, 2010s (not really vintage but its definitely making a comeback). also knowing what styles looked like during those times in different countries can definitely broaden ur horizons. examples like japan during the 90s, central europe in the 2000s, and the U.S. in the 70s can definitely open u to new things u didn't know u are into. pick and choose stuff, make it ur own, its all up to u on what ur signature look is!

once u settled on a time period(s), research into the fashion scenes. there are many sub-genres of fashion back in the day that translate into the aesthetics we know today, such as goth, preppy, grunge, mcbling, futuristic, and many more. go with whatever fits ur personality or even a version of urself u always wanted to be. see whats compatible with your proportions; what u wanna accentuate and minimize, the materials of clothes and colors, the makeup, any and all of it!

once u got all ur shit figured out, make a mood board, follow some brands that were popular during that time, and start curating your closet. get rid of anything that u don't really wear anymore or that u feel doesn't suit ur vision.

Where to look:

thrift stores like savers, salvation army, goodwill, etc.

online shops (depop, grailed, etsy, poshmark)

shop locally (go to pop up shops/flea markets, follow people on instagram that sells secondhand, use related tags to find users, etc.)

ask for hand me downs from relatives, friends, literally anyone who u know had pieces from the desired era u wanna dress like

malls! the more run down the better! look for stores that are reminiscent of clothes u want.

small businesses that garner towards a certain aesthetic!

Other helpful tips:

FIND ALTERNATIVES! nothing is ever ideal. beggers can't be choosers right?

when leaning into more of the punk/alternative stuff, DIY it to make it more authentic. i do it all the time its fun!

trading. (sorta tied to both the online shops and locally shop points previously) surprisingly, people will trade their stuff as long as u have something equally as good or valuable. just gotta look at the right places on the internet and stay safe.

↶*ೃ✧˚. ❃ ↷ ˊ-↶*ೃ✧˚. ❃ ↷ ˊ-↶*ೃ✧˚. ❃ ↷ ˊ-↶*ೃ✧˚. ❃ ↷ ˊ-↶*ೃ✧˚. ❃ ↷

Have fun and don't get scammed, u fashion icon!

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starsbegantofall · 3 months

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diy handmade wardrobe

You may remember, or not, it was a while ago, that I mentioned I don't really wear a lot of the clothes I've sewed for myself. Excepting the cosplay garments which are not everyday wearable pieces unless they were closet cosplay pieces with no or minor alterations, I really only wear my pajama pants and altered t-shirts multiple times.

I have worn a few handmade lolita dresses once or twice after the first time I wore them, but definitely not frequently like pajama pants and t-shirts. Firstly, I don't really wear dresses or skirts on an every day basis in my entire adult life, not even much as a kid. While I do commute to the office once in a while and could wear lolita there since I have a desk job, I mostly wear business casual with jeans/slacks and the occasional j-fashion blouse or cardigan (skirts have to be midi-length or longer and those are not very convenient for a short person to wear). I rarely go out on the weekends due to pandemic and lazy, so I would just run errands and dresses are not conducive to errands. So even if I did sew the cutest, most comfortable casual j-fashion dress, I would wear it maybe a few times in my entire lifetime. In the end, it's not worth the time and money invested into making it.

Read more about my plans here

The next obvious pivot would be to recreate the pieces that I do wear often, buuuuuutttt those are impossible for a home sewist to recreate. How do I sew jeans on my Hello Kitty sewing machine? I can't, the machine is much too small and weak to handle denim or even regular bottom-weight fabric. I don't have a serger so sewing knits like tops or casual athleisure would be a pain and look sloppy and would fall apart in the wash.

Okay, so the next obvious pivot after that is buy an industrial strength machine to sew denim and pants and a serger to work with knits. That would cost about... $2000 for medium quality machines. Maybe more with inflation. So I would have to make $2000 worth of clothes, or 100 hours of sewing (generously) just to break even. I'd have to sew every weekend for 6 months. Not counting the cost of fabric.

Which is the next issue. You can't really buy comfortable cottons or semi-natural fashion fabrics at the craft store chains anymore, it's mostly quilting cottons and synthetics and canvas. I am lucky to live near a big city with a fashion district so I could go there if I really want to for a variety of wearable fabrics that my skin would not reject the feeling of. That would not be cheap (well, idk, I haven't been to the fashion district in decades but judging from online prices, the stuff on clearance is on clearance for a reason) and I doubt I'll get the exact prints or colors I want even at full price. Thrifting bed sheets (aka the most comfortable cotton you can get cheaply) is.... probably not what I want to sell to others...

With all of these barriers, I have not been able to accomplish my goal in 2022/2023 of sewing handmade j-fashion inspired pieces for both myself or my etsy shop which was named "atelier" but doesn't sell clothes, and used to only have jewelry. My day-job also prevents me working on stuff lol, but as one of my goals was to retire early, I kinda want a head start on my atelier just in case I need to. I hopefully will have saved enough money to retire that I don't need to desperately work on a side hustle, but I like having back up plans. And also, I feel guilty not having any clothes in an "atelier" lol.

Because I'm lazy and don't want to do real business which is the downfall of society, my ideal plan would be to sew a few big/medium pieces, then a handful of coordinating or thematic small pieces, including doll clothes, and also some artwork or whatever, then release 2 or 3 times a year like how actual fashion companies do for the seasons. But with the resources I have, I just can't think of anything I can sew that would be good/sturdy enough to sell for price that equals the amount of time I put into sewing, and that anyone else would buy when they can get it cheaper elsewhere.

So my final idea is to either create very trendy items that I am fairly taobao companies will not make very well, or that American patrons would prefer to buy from a small artist in their country instead, or make fandom inspired items but fashionable like Super Groupies style. I think this is the way to go for me, tbh, that way I know I have made something unique and that I will enjoy making even if it never sells, so I would wear it myself lol. I did make jewelry in this style 2 years ago and jotted several notes of what to sew/craft for my shop in the meantime, but as mentioned before, the few items I made was not to the level of quality to be sellable (even though I personally love them and they're sturdy enough for my use of course) and I doubt I could do much better. But I have to work on leveling up my skills now or I will be too arthritic and blind later, so I have no choice but figure out something asap.

If anyone else has ideas other than buying new machines which probably I need to do anyway, let me know! Again, I'm not interested in making a profit, I'm not a capitalist nor scum of the earth, I am already a doctor, but I do want to be compensated fairly as an artist yet make good quality value-priced items attainable for everyone in these tough economic times. That's not easy, but I still want to try this year.

Anyway... back to more pajama pants for me.

#home sewing #handmade wardrobe

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gachagon · 11 months

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For the past 3 years I've been so stressed out and incredibly depressed about my life because I just felt like I had nothing going for me, or like I was a failure in some way.

But a few days ago I told my mom I'd like to teach kids over the summer art and she went "That's a great idea!" and decided to help me and gave me advice and she seemed really supportive of it.

I told my aunt that I was also thinking of teaching kids over the summer, and she also thought it was great. In fact all my family think it's a wonderful idea and that I should just go ahead and teach kids over the summer for cash. Sure there was talk about eventually going to school, but none of them seemed disappointed that I wanted to do this work and business thing first.

And my aunt even said "You know, maybe you could also sell your art on a website for some money as well." and normally before then that would always make me feel sick to my stomach for some reason. When ever I felt like I had finally "figured it out", like what I wanted to do, someone else would chime in like "You could also do this too!" and it'd make me feel like I was picking the wrong thing. Like "what if they secretly think I'd be bad at what I picked and thats why they said that?" or "What if they don't even really support me doing the thing I wanna do and thats why they made that suggestion?"

But I've come to realize now after these 3 years since I graduated highschool that I can literally just do whatever I want. I can make my own business if I want, I can write a book and publish it to amazon for people to read if I want, I can make an etsy sticker shop if I want. I can do whatever little fun thing I want to do to make money and there's no shame in struggling with it at first.

For some reason when I did art commissions and never got any customers for months, i'd feel like shit even though I was putting in ALL this work and time and effort to market my artwork to people. I felt like I was wasting everyones time. I don't know who's time, but it just felt like I was wasting someone's time that wasn't mine.

But now I realize that I was working hard. That all the energy and effort I did back then was the same effort and energy I put into my "retail' job or my "lunch lady" job. Just because I wasn't standing on my feet for 5 hours and cleaning nonstop doesn't mean I wasn't still working hard and learning and struggling to make a profit like all businesses do.

I don't know why I always devalued the work and effort I put into the things I had already accomplished, or why i felt like it was meaningless in the face of corporate work, but it was still work at the end of the day. And there's no such thing as easy work.

I kind of think it was the pressure from school and having all the adults who taught me tell me I'd be nothing if I didn't go to college, or that I had to take such and such class to get into a good college.

But when I graduated all of the things they told me I needed didn't even end up mattering in the end. I didn't have to take the ACT or SAT, colleges just ended up accepting ppl without those scores due to covid. I didn't have to take all those clubs because colleges and jobs didn't even care about what I did when I was 16 and in school lol. I didn't even need to have all straight A's to make it out okay.

I came out of highschool with abysmal grades and little to no club experience that mattered, and 3 years later I'm literally making my own business. So I guess the decades they spent scaring the shit out of me about being a failure was for nothing because I ended up proving them all wrong.

And everytime I'm like "i can't do this" I just tell myself to shut up and like work more on the business. Like there's no deadlines anymore. If I don't get customers this summer, I can get customers the next, and the next after that. And I can work on other ways to make cash If I want. And choosing all these different things doesn't mean I "failed" at life. Because I can always choose to try again no matter how many times I think I didn't do it right.

Even this whole business thing is something I can just do all over again if I want to because I made it all up myself.

#positivity rant #positivethinking

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skaldish · 2 years

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i'm really curious if there are any good heathen/asatru/etc etsy shops that are openly against white supremacism and racism. like when you look around there's so many valknuts (🤔) plus a ton of overelaborate celtic knots, staves from the galdrabok being called "viking runes", runes themselves being plastered on everything, shitty-looking Alpha Male leather and "paracord" whatever that is......it feels so hard to trust what's for sale, and that's not even getting into the marvel merch. do you have any personal recommendations, especially in terms of jewelry?

I'm not going to lie, jewelry is very tough in this department. Jewelers find a good niche in the Norse scene, and I suspect many of them don't want to impact their sales by isolating what is, unfortunately, a significant part of their audience. Many are going to be quiet about their stances in favor of increased sales.

Additionally, Etsy's a platform where sellers have to compete for sales (I assume this is where you're looking). In order to boost views/purchases, they'll give their products long titles with popularly-searched keywords like "viking, wicca, celtic, runes" etc, so it's more likely to show up in a search result. It's true some sellers are ignorant, but most of the time they're intentionally sacrificing accuracy in favor of keyword optimization.

If I'm buying from Etsy, I look for a wide variety of "nondenominational" dogwhistles as opposed to the presence of isolated valknuts or Tyr runes. It's a hard no-go if stores have the Black Sun or any confederate/patriotic/alpha male shit in them. I also tend to avoid stores that a lot of that sensationalized and aggressive "viking" energy behind them.

Stores I feel alright buying from generally have a more neutral vibe to them. They tend to sell more elegant pieces, a greater variety of themes, and pieces that evoke goddesses and jötunn (including Loki and his kids) alongside the more masculine viking stuff. This tells me they're not just trying to appeal to dudebros but numerous demographics.

(Little rule of thumb? Artists are very lousy at hiding their biases in their work. You just gotta know what to look for.)

Now, this doesn't guarantee that the seller is against white supremacy and racism. Nothing does beyond demonstrating a direct stance, which, again, is not something jewelry shops will vocalize because their shop is likely their entire livelihood—you don't dedicate that much time and resources on producing original bronze and silver jewelry for it to be a hobby. It's a sticky situation.

I don't really have any direct suggestions beyond just using your best judgement. I will, however, invite people to comment and reblog with their suggestions. I'm personally not aware of everything that's out there and would love to see what people think.

#answered #norse paganism

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resinatingbeauty · 3 years

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Everything You Need To Know About UV Resin

I thought I would make this post because of how much Amazon pesters me to answer questions regarding UV resin and I know many of you were able to learn and benefit from my other craft posts which focused more on epoxy. Today I'm going to cover all the things I have learned using UV resin, which is something I use almost exclusively for many of the items you see in my Etsy shop.

What is UV resin?

UV resins are photochemicals that react to different wavelengths of UV (sunlight) to cure. This allows for a much shorter cure time and longer work time than epoxy resin, as UV resin will not begin to cure / harden until it is exposed to UV light. In the photos above, you can see the two main types/brands of UV resin I typically use for the creation of my projects, Solarez and Limino, both of which can be purchased on Amazon (Solarez has its own website, but shipping is not free though Amazon only has some of their products). While Solarez is known for surfboard creation and repair, boat repair, etc. It is one of the few UV resins that can be used to create larger projects such as these Fairy Garden Jars you see below.

Normally, however, UV resin is used for smaller projects - jewelry, coating, small casts, and the like. It is practically the same chemical combo found in UV nail polish. These chemicals may be triggered to harden using the same UV lamps one would see at a nail salon, though not all UV lamps or torches cover the full spectrum of UV wavelengths as sunlight (more on this later). I rely on UV resin for the creation of my popular rune sets, as they require more detail and time to fully create than the 30-45 minute work time one typically has with epoxy. Below are some examples of items I have in the shop made primarily with UV resin.

UV resins are typically non toxic and are not harmful to the environment when cured or uncured. The resin itself shares similar properties to epoxy but can have a much lower viscosity in general, making it more ideal for casting and coating than doming. UV resin does give off an odor when curing (Solarez is the WORST even when not curing), much more so than epoxy.

Pros & Cons of UV resin

Pros:

No mixing. UV resins are ready to go from the bottle.

Longer work time, shorter cure time. Great for making multiple projects at once or highly detailed, smaller projects. UV resin fully cures in approx 5 mins in full sunlight.

Great for clear casts and adding a glossy finish to any project.

Bonds to metal, wood, plastic, etc. Making it great for quick fixes.

Most are self degassing and self leveling.

Easier to handle. No component mixing means you can't possibly ruin your project from the get go.

Accepts most Inclusions / pigments one would use with epoxy

Waterproof when cured.

Cons:

Expensive. UV resin will average $65+ (for 1000g) USD for the equivalent of a 32oz epoxy combo for $20+. Solarez is on the cheaper side, but harder to work with.

Fickle. UV resin will produce bubbles that don't want to surface, must be used in very thin layers, prone to shrinkage, and cannot cure if using opaque or dense Inclusions or pigments.

Can only be used with clear silicone molds. Plastic molds tend to adhere / melt to UV resin. Solarez may be used with an MEKP catalyst to get around this, but not foolproof.

May only be used for small projects.

Must purchase UV lamp / torch to cure, but some only cure with certain wavelengths or sunlight itself. Can over cure and become brittle or undercure and be tacky.

Even clear but detailed molds may not cure correctly.

So, you may notice there are more cons than there are pros when it comes to UV resin. This is absolutely true- for cost effectiveness alone, unless you are looking to mass produce something or need more potability / work time for your project (as I do), I recommend avoiding UV resin and going with epoxy which will usually even yield better overall results.

If you DO decide to try UV resin or have tried UV resin, you may run into a few problems initially that will cause you to trash projects and become frustrated. Never curing resin is a popular complaint, this next portion of this post is entirely dedicated to troubleshooting UV resin in order to better help you achieve the results you are looking for.

Using & Troubleshooting

There are many different brands of UV Resin available. Save for Solarez, the ones that come in the big or small tubes like the Limino resin shown (I've used brands Miraclekoo, Decoroom, DIY, Let's Resin, Solarez, SooKoo, and Limino) are pretty much the same product selling for around the same price per milligram / fluid oz. They all have about the same viscosity and will generally yield the same results and have the same average cure time.

Note: Solarez is more of a polyester based resin or can be acrylic based depending on which of their products you purchase. It has a very strong odor and is more liquid than these others. It is also fairly cheaper (Almost half the price) and can be purchased in larger quantities. Unfortunately, even though the price tag is enticing, I really don't recommend it. It is very fickle with the UV wavelengths used to cure it. If you are trying to do any indoor project using a UV torch or lamp, you are going to want to even then drop an extra $20-$60 on a multi spectrum UV lamp to cure your project. You will find that you have to intermittently expose the resin to light or it gets an orange peel/puckered texture- sometimes the light will even literally burn right through your project. It can even burn or damage your mold, as Solarez gets very hot when curing even though it is formulated to not get as hot or combust when using UV light to cure, which is something, I guess.

However, Solarez can be used with an MEKP catalyst, allowing you to dual cure it using sunlight / UV light. This allows Solarez to be used with opaque pigments and can be used for larger projects. The catalyst was not initially included with the resin, but the manufacturer began including it for some reason. The ratio is 6 drops of MEKP mixed into 1 fluid ounce of Solarez. 6:1. With the MEKP catalyst, your project will fully cure in 30 mins (using sunlight or UV light to help it along) but it is prone to becoming overheated, still requiring small layers to be cured one at a time to avoid combustion.

If you're going to try UV resin, I recommend trying any of the brands above, save for Solarez. Grab a 50-120g bottle to try and see if you like it. I recommend beginning making something simple like a pendant or earrings using a clear silicone mold or open back bezel. Mica pigments and most alcohol inks will work with UV resin the same way they work with epoxy and UV resin also creates a super clear glossy finish that may be used to gloss and spruce up cured epoxy projects.

So you took the dive and purchased your UV resin? You've got problems? Yea, tell me about it.

•My Project is Super Tacky! What do?

This is common and will vary from product to product, but usually isn't the product. So before you go flaming the foreign manufacturer who doesn't understand you anyway, ask yourself the following and try these methods to solve the inevitable tacky problem:

How long did you cure? The average cure time shown on the bottle is just that, an average. This doesn't mean that your project will cure in five minutes under your UV lamp. Not all UV lamps are made equal. For starters, check the packaging, but most UV resins require your lamp to be 36w+, so write that off immediately. If your lamp is producing less wattage, than it's not going to cure your UV resin. If you're using a lamp that is 36w+ or your UV resin claims to cure under 36w, then take a look at your lamp itself. Most nail salon UV lamps are either table shaped or dome/cave shaped. If you're using a table shaped lamp on a 3D mold / project, the light is unable to penetrate the sides and back of the mold. This style lamp will only work to cure projects in open back bezels or free hand, flat coatings. If using a dome shaped lamp then the majority of the UV light is found at the back of the lamp. If you have your project at the front or sides, it is unable to be fully penetrated by UV light at all angles.

Try turning your project,curing it for a minimum of 5 minutes on each side. Using finger cots, remove your project and let it cure free form. It shouldn't be so tacky that it sticks to your work area at this point, but if it is, then there is only one solution:

Let it cure in actual sunlight for 10-20 minutes, turning it so that every angle sees light. Typically, your UV lamp doesn't offer the same UV light wavelengths as pure sunlight, and you can buy new lamps or torches to test, but sunlight is free.

If your project is still tacky after all these measures, you've tried adding a new layer of clear resin to it and allowing it to cure in sunlight.

If this doesn't work, think about your Inclusions, your glitter, your pigments etc. If your project is nearly opaque, then you'll need to tone it down if you're going to use UV resin.

If NOTHING else, your product may indeed be a dud or became contaminated in some way. Unfortunately, it's not always easy to get in touch with the manufacturer, but if you order your product from Amazon, they'll more than likely allow you to return it.

My project is all bubbly? What do?

Bubbles are always a problem, whether you're using UV resin or epoxy. Little tiny bubbles always form, especially around the edges of the mold or embedded within details in the design. Don't forget, you have infinite work time with UV resin. This means that you have as long as you want to work out the bubbles.

Use a toothpick to pop tiny bubbles at the bottom of the mold or dislodge them to bring to the surface. Be careful though because you don't want to leave little scratches on your mold or puncture it.

Use a torch to pop bubbles on the surface. A grill lighter, regular lighter, or whatever will do the trick. Make sure you hold the flame a good inch or so away from the surface. It will catch fire and your mold possibly will too. Do so carefully! I run the torch across the top layer every time I add something to the resin to remove any bubbles it gives off. This also works for epoxy.

Blow on it. Some people claim the heat of your breath will pop surface bubbles, but I have had no success with this method.

Warm your resin. Stick your UV resin in a plastic bag or something air tight. Allow some water to heat to near boiling on the stove before pouring it over your resin bottle in a bowl or basin. Do not stick your resin in the microwave or oven or anything crazy.

Stir slowly. Stir inclusions like glitter and pigments slowly, scraping the sides and bottom. This will prevent air bubbles kicking up into your mix and oxygen being introduced into your pour.

Try pigments. For some weird reason (most likely due to changes in viscosity), resin projects with pigments, glitter, and the like have less tendency toward bubbling than clear casts.

Are your bubbles huge? This may be because your pouring super thick layers of resin and all sides have not cured properly. Your layers should only be 1mm thickness maximum when using UV resin.

My project has come out warped, not even, has divots , etc.

If you are curing your layers quickly, your project is heating. When you add more resin over top of this hot resin in a hot mold, this will not only cause more bubbles but also lend to shrinkage. Allow your project to cool to room temp and have some downtime between curing. This will also protect your molds that will become damaged from overuse / overheating and cooling.

With Solarez, this is key to having a beautiful project at the end of the day. Even though it is formulated to not overheat if exposed to sunlight, Solarez will get this orange peel like texture on the surface layer if overexposed.

Yes, there is such thing as overcuring as well, and it will make your project brittle and even flakey, but this is normally not the biggest complaint with UV resin.

So why even buy UV resin?

UV resin has its perks. In a pinch, it makes for a clear, glossy finish that will cure / harden quickly in the sun or with a UV lamp that one would be waiting 24-48 hours for with epoxy. It can be used to repair epoxy projects and fill small divots as well as the ability to bond to pretty much anything makes it useful to have around. It is convenient to use due to the fact that you don't have to mix it, it is easy to pour and compatible with most inclusions. It is also ideal for its extended work time as it will not cure until exposed to UV light. This allows you to create highly detailed clear cast jewelry and other projects you wouldn't be able to assemble and detail before epoxy would begin to cure.

I hope this helps everyone who is having trouble with UV resins or those who have considered using UV resin as an alternative to epoxy. If you have any other questions you would like answered or are someone adept with UV resin that would like to share, please do so! Good luck!

~Samantha

Owner/ Designer/Creator blursedbaubles.etsy.com

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thelightofthingshopedfor · 2 years

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Where do you get your Loki pins if I may ask please?

ooh boy, lots of places. there aren't very many authentic/licensed Loki pins (although there are way more since the show came out), and those tend to be the cheapest because they're mass-produced by Disney. a lot of the newer ones are currently available pretty cheap at Hot Topic and Box Lunch, especially during a sale like the one they're having right now. other authentic Loki pins can be pretty easily found on sites like Amazon and eBay. limited-edition pins cost more, and those are generally just on places like eBay and Mercari.

as for fantasy pins (i.e., not licensed/authentic), it's a bit trickier, because that type of thing is technically copyright infringement I guess, and sometimes IP holders crack down on those, so an Etsy shop or Instagram account might disappear without warning. a lot of creators have their own shops for that reason, and those are a little harder to find; others try to avoid notice by using euphemistic product names like "horned alligator" or "mischief man," so there are some on Etsy that you won't find unless you get a little creative with your search terms ("trickster" is of course another one that shows up a lot). still, Etsy is probably the best place to start because it's where you're likely to get the widest variety of results just doing a search for "loki pin". most of what's on Etsy is relatively inexpensive, as such things go. plus you're typically supporting creators and small businesses directly, which is cool.

Amazon has a few listings for Loki fantasy pins. eBay really varies; you won't find a huge amount of fantasy pins listed there, and what you do find tends to be somewhat pricier (while also coming from China, which means it takes forever to arrive), but I've found some good ones. plus you can save a search so it emails you every time something new comes up under "loki pin," which is very handy. Mercari is another secondhand market, and it's...fine. I don't know, there are some oddities to it, and I've got a saved search that used to email me regularly but doesn't anymore. it's worth checking, though, in part because you might learn about some creators and discover they're still selling the pin for less on their own site. (also, unless you know something is a great deal and it's likely to disappear on you, don't buy anything the first time you see it; add it to your favorites and see if the price goes down. a lot of Mercari listings have something built in that will gradually step down the price over a few days or offer a discount to people who liked an item.)

Kickstarter isn't a good place to buy pins unless you check regularly or you're lucky enough to come across a campaign that's still running, but it's a good way to find pin creators, because typically people doing Kickstarters will end up with plenty of leftovers that they'll sell for slightly more on Etsy or whatever, sometimes a year or more after the campaign ended. finished campaigns also often have a direct link to wherever the creator is selling those leftovers, and if they don't, it's usually not too hard to find.

AliExpress has...some pins. they tend to be way cheaper than you'll find anywhere else. unfortunately, a) they also come from China, and cheap shipping from China can take a long time and sometimes things get lost, so you have to be patient but also keep an eye on your outstanding orders more than with other sites, and b) the vast majority of the pins sold there (and loads of other things, but we're talking about pins right now) use stolen art. I have zero problems with that when it's art stolen directly from Disney, although sometimes it can be hard to tell, if it's anything but a direct copy of a Disney pin. (sometimes it's not hard! for instance I think everybody should buy this cute-ass pin, because it's a direct rip of one of the Loki emojis that Marvel created and then didn't put on anything you could buy except one limited-edition Ragnarok poster, so in this case the ripoff pin is literally the only way you can get a pin of that adorable emoji! you can also find emoji pins of characters like Steve and Thor that do have authentic versions, but like...there's no obvious difference in quality and Disney already has all the money so like, absolutely buy the cheap ripoff version. the only problem would be if you tried to pass it off to somebody else as an authentic pin.) I have a lot of problems with that when it's some indie creator on Etsy or whatever who puts a ton of work into their small business and then can't do anything about some factory in China stealing their art and pumping out pins that sell for a fraction of the price. I have...an in-between level of problems with this when it's a ripoff of a pin the original artist no longer sells or art they never offered as a pin in the first place, so it's still stolen art but you're not actually taking money from the creator. (when you're pretty sure it's stolen art but you make a good-faith effort to find the original and can't...I dunno, that's also between you and your ethical standards I guess.) however, there's yet another wrinkle to this: if a design was kinda generic to begin with, or it was stolen quite a while ago and it's been circulating long enough, sometimes it's really hard to tell who made the original, because some of what you find on Etsy with the exact same design will be people who bought them cheap from places like AliExpress and are then selling them as their own designs on Etsy for a significant markup. if somebody is selling a ton of different pins, in many different styles, across loads of different fandoms, with generic and nearly identical blurbs on each item and product photos that are also nearly identical to each other, then chances are good this is what they're doing.

that probably covers the most straightforward ways to find Loki pins. doing a general Google search might turn up something, might not. almost everything I've discovered recently, though, came from searching "loki pin" on Instagram and following a bunch of people who've made Loki pins or other Marvel pins. I even followed the ones whose pins were outside my price range, because sometimes people have sales or you can trade pins you already have, and also people in the pin community all tend to follow each other so it's a good way to follow various rabbit trails and find things you can afford. some of these creators sell things directly through Instagram, and others will have links to their shops. creators also typically have lower-grade pins selling for less, which often makes enough of a difference to make it affordable. in theory, A-grade pins are as close to flawless as possible, and anything less than that (usually "seconds," B-grade, or sometimes C-grade) has enough flaws that the seller didn't want to sell it full price. I pretty much always buy lower-grade pins when I have the option, because the price difference is usually significant, and I can almost never tell the difference anyway.

sooooo...that was a lot. uh, let me know if you have more specific questions after this infodump.

#resources #pin collecting #loki #marvel cinematic universe #conversations #anonymous #I need a tag for posts like this #where it's an infodump but it might be helpful to other people so I might want to find it later #there's this and the bootleg-Lego post #probably others I'm not thinking of offhand

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sisterkosho · 3 years

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Modern!AU Headcanons | Geto Family

Credits: Y'all know the drill. Ayume art in the header by @hiikkups on Instagram. Go follow her. 🔫👁👄👁

Warnings: None today. Just some modern shenanigans for your reading pleasure.

Notes: Y'all also know the other drill. I procrastinate and don't write Ayume's bio, and y'all get some random fic/HC post because I gotta keep y'all fed somehow. With that being said, here's some modern HCs for the SuguYume fam while I work on the Discord, because we were talking about it again last night and it's honestly one of my favorites + another coping mechanism so yEET--

It all started when Ayume Nejireta Geto moved in next door with her husband and two children.

What could possibly go wrong?

Turns out, their elderly neighbor, Rui, was none to thrilled about their house having been built on top of one of her flower gardens. Despite it happening decades before they even arrived there.

Grandma holds a grudge ok.

Thankfully, she didn't scare them off like she did any of the previous families who had lived there.

You get used to her after awhile.

The one person she happened to take a liking to was Satoru of all people, who she met during one of the family's backyard BBQs. Which are always a mess btw, needless to say.

She even made cookies for him.

Ayume and Suguru were extremely confused because of this. How did he manage to get on her good side?

"She never gives us cookies, wth."

Turns out he had been flirting with her. Big surprise.

Though in his own defense, you'd never guess Rui was a grandma just by looking at her. The neighborhood is convinced she's immortal and doesn't age.

Ever since that day, Satoru made it a point to stop by Rui's whenever he's visiting. Just because he knows flattery will get him free food.

He's rarely allowed to visit specifically for that reason. Well, that and the fact that he's just a bad influence on the girls and everyone knows it.

Then again, the family friend, Juno, isn't much better.

He somehow got ahold of the spare key, and will randomly just let himself in.

They once woke up at 3 A.M because they heard rummaging around coming from the kitchen.

Suguru instinctively grabbed a bat and went to go switch on the lights.

Only to find Juno eating out of their trash like a raccoon.

This lead to the girls new favorite excuse.

"Juno ate my homework."

We don't talk about the time he brought a rock over claiming it was his son.

Sometimes they question why they still associate with him, but still let him stick around for whatever reason.

At the very least, he's intimidated by Ayume. So he doesn't cause too much trouble.

The family has a wide array of strange decorations in their home. Most of which they don't even recall buying.

Such as the weird plant in their dining room that sorta looks like it has a face...

There's also the model volcano the girls made for a school project.

For some reason, they had stuck one singular googly eye on it and named it "Jogo".

Ayume and Suguru were understandably a bit concerned, but It's fine as long as you don't make eye contact with it.

Ayume runs a little Etsy shop where she sells stickers she made. Along with some other little aesthetic items like pins.

For designs inspired by various curses, they're surprisingly cute.

The girls like to help her make some of the designs from time to time.

Since it's more of a hobby than an actual job, she always makes sure the money earned from the things they helped with are spent on them.

Shopping trips tend to be the most chaotic.

And that's not even considering the encounters they have with Mahito. The hobo that tends to hang around the entrance.

We don't talk about him.

Somehow, the trips always lead to Ayume running around while pushing the girls on the shopping cart.

Suguru always ends up having to chase after them because plz they're gonna get hurt--

Heaven forbid they run into Rui somewhere along the line, because it only gets 10x worse. She offers to push the cart and ends up almost knocking down every shelf and person in sight.

There was one instance where she ran right over Satoru.

After all that, Ayume and the girls end up making Suguru push them around in one of those carts with the seats on them for the rest of the trip because their legs got tired from running around.

They eventually end up getting kicked out.

Suguru sometimes has to wonder what he's doing here.

"How? How do you get us kicked out of WALMART?"

"Beats me. Hey, let's go to Ikea next!"

They are currently banned from 3 different Walmarts, two Ikeas and a McDonald's.

The McDonald's was from the time Satoru had come to visit and got stuck in the play place.

Suguru had to climb up there to try and get him out, but also got stuck.

Turns out, Rui had gotten stuck before they even got there. Which they only learned after hearing a faint "So. You too huh?" from the the next tunnel over.

In the end, they ended up having to call the fire department to get these two grown men and one grandma out of the play place.

It was on the local news and everything.

The footage had been provided by Nanako, who had recorded the entire incident while Ayume and Mimiko giggled hysterically.

You better believe they were never able to live it down.

After that nightmare, Suguru had tried to make dinner but ended up setting off the smoke alarm.

All he was trying to do was put a frozen pizza in the oven...

Needless to say, it was a rough day for everyone.

Date nights for the couple are rare and reserved for special occasions. Mainly because they hardly trust anyone to babysit.

Rui doesn't seem to understand the concept of children, and it would be a cold day in hell before they'd ever ask Satoru.

But sometimes, they manage to convince Kento.

He's the only one they find trustworthy enough for the job. Because although the girls find him a little boring and strict at times, he's the only responsible person they know.

At least with him, they can rest assured that the house will still be standing by the time they get back.

And on the plus side, the girls love Yu. Because let's face it, he's the fun uncle. So when Kento makes it a point to bring him along, there's always plenty of fun to be had.

Even if it feels like he's stuck babysitting 3 kids instead of 2 at times...

In case it wasn't already obvious, they're one of the most chaotic families in the whole neighborhood.

But that's what makes them interesting, so they somehow manage remain on good terms with everyone.

If one thing is for certain, it's that there's never a dull moment when it comes to the Geto family.

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sheydgarden · 9 months

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fair print-on-demand for artists?

i'm making this its own post for more visibility - feel free to reblog, i'm primarily looking to hear from other artists rather than from customers.

quick definition: a print-on-demand service (POD) is a company that allows you to upload your designs (that you retain full rights to) and have them printed on a variety of products - usually t-shirts & other apparel, stickers, mugs, etc. - by the company itself or a subcontractor. the key here is that you're not ordering a supply of products to sell yourself (or not) at a later date, you're offering customers the ability to go to this website and select a potential product which is then printed on demand, and the company handles all the interaction with the customer (shipping, quality & returns, etc.). because they're doing the manufacturing & shipping, they take a significant cut, but different companies have different pricing structures & some are more fair to artists in terms of profit margins than others.

TLDR: i'm looking for a new POD service to replace my Redbubble account, which i deleted after they decided to severely undercut creators (especially small artists). more details below, please read before you rec!

so the nice thing about POD is that it's passive income - you made the work, you put it up & leave it, people buy things when they want & you get a bit of money when that happens. i also - infrequently! - run an Etsy shop where i sell things i've either handmade or ordered from suppliers (mostly stickers). i get more money from that, yes, and also it's a lot more work on my end. i primarily work as a freelancer illustrator, i've started selling at (COVID cautious) in-person events again, & i'm disabled - this is why my Etsy has been empty all year.

i am very lucky to have enough of a following to be able to regularly sell all my stock when i do put it on Etsy, and (when I had an account) to have a smaller but steadier trickle of income from POD. i do not have enough of a following for it to make sense for me to order large quantities of apparel-type products & sell them myself.

it's frustrating to see that many alternatives to Redbubble (like Bonfire or Spring) have moved to a "campaign" model where you release a design in a time-limited campaign with a selling goal, aggressively promote it on social media, & then all the products (shirts, whatever) are shipped at the same time. i understand why it exists - larger batches mean lower manufacturing costs & higher profit - but for someone like me who doesn't have a massive social media following or really even a big presence now that Twitter is dying, i'm not sure it could work. for me the point is that i put it up, i leave it alone, i direct people towards my shop & the small handful of beautiful weirdos who vibe with my work can buy what they want on their own time (i adore you, weirdos! there are so many more of you than i ever expected, but i am not, as the kids say, an "influencer")

i've been researching various companies & i keep finding that Redbubble, prior to their nasty fee restructuring, seemed to have some of the fairest profit margins due to the ability to set your own pricing above the manufacturing costs. what i want to hear from other artists is where you sell & if you feel like different systems (Society6's 10%, for example, or Threadless' artist cost-setting vs. letting them manage your shop & offer discounts to move more products) work or are ripping you off.

thanks so much for reading & solidarity to all the other working artists who are struggling to stay afloat as various social media collapses & corporate greed continues to cut our opportunities in half!!! for the love of fuck just let me make things & get paid

#print on demand #artists on tumblr #redbubble #help me get my work back into your hands please #artists talking shop

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mrmallard · 3 years

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I was super hungover today, so I did something I hadn't done in a while. It pertains to gender and stuff, so I'll put it under a readmore.

I will warn readers that I'll be sharing product pictures from shopping websites - I'm still very hungover, it usually takes a day or two for me to clear the cobwebs, and I'm worried that it might be weird for me to share stuff like this. I also go into a ton of detail about ethics and worker exploitation and stuff, which is a real bummer. I apologize if this post is uncomfortable to read through - you've been warned.

---

So one of the first big things I started doing when I began exploring my gender more thoroughly was I would go on Wish - and then Aliexpress later on - and I would scroll through like Girl Stuff for hours on end. I'm talking makeup, shoes, accessories - I swear to god, there's a feedback loop that fries every synapse in my brain when I go onto these sites. I've even bought some stuff.

I haven't done this in a long time. Even before the world started taking a shit in a laptop bag, I understood that there was a level of exploitation taking place in order for me to enjoy the items I was looking at at the prices they were going for. It's a mark against my reputation to say that gender euphoria won out over my ethics. I can't pretend I didn't know better - I did.

So ever since the Hong Kong protests, I've done my best to stay off of these Chinese wholesale sites. I've been trying to keep it local.

Today, I went back onto AliExpress to window-shop. Again - I realise I shouldn't be feeding into this.

But I was in a mood, and my synapses caught on fire after seeing an old bookmark, so I clicked on it and went right down the rabbit hole.

It truly is a guilty pleasure - my brain is just hungry for the next page, the next deal, consequences be damned. And the stuff is so cool and I want to have it, and it's just

shoes

accessories

gender-affirming stuff

And like it's so hard to find shoes that will potentially fit me, but the first two pairs of shoes!!! the fuckin heels!!!! they're in my size!!!!! my fuckin paddleboard man feet hypothetically fit in those shoes!!!!!!!

like how good do the flame ones look?? and bruh, the pentagram earrings!! The come in hot pink too!!!! they didn't have a great picture of the pink ones, but they exist and they're so big and dangly and awesome!!!!!

and metallic lipstick my beloved, and those chunky shades, and the shirts - all of the shirts being cheap knockoffs ala redbubble, but they're there and they're cheap and it's like I can cover myself in things that affirm my own self-image.

I spent HOURS scrolling deals on AliExpress. HOURS. I LOVE window shopping like that.

This is a serious guilty pleasure - I feel extremely guilty for partaking, for just window-shopping. Buying from AliExpress isn't ethical. How much stuff do they sell that's made in those Uyghur re-education camps? How many of these items are made by some of the poorest people on Earth for cents worth of money a day?

So the best solution would be to buy local, right? Buy a similar product that's produced ethically.

There are two problems of varying importance.

The first problem is personal, and it's selfish - I can't afford the entire ensemble if I pay marked up prices. This can be rectified by me paying for the ensemble piece by piece until it's complete - making alterations for items I can't get locally, and living without if there isn't an ethical option. The simplest solution is just to go without, and ethically that's what I'm compelled to do.

But if I were to take part in the system for my own selfish wants, minimising whatever harm I'm doing, there's a second problem that's much bigger.

What are the alternatives I can shop from? They're Etsy shops, small indie retailers and the like. But they're usually not producing the same product ethically and locally.

They're dropshipping the same product from the same businesses on AliExpress/AliBaba.

The origin of the item doesn't change. The business gets the same amount of money from you as they get from the dropshippers. They still get the base revenue from exploiting whatever workers they have working in the factories for cutthroat wages, The only difference most of the time is that you're paying a premium to a local middleman to sell you the same product.

So you have all the net harm of buying directly. And it's more expensive to boot.

And even giving these websites my traffic encourages them. Literally the only way to not contribute is to stay as far away as possible.

It's a lot to contend with.

This post took a downward turn, so I'll leave you with this - how cool does everything look? I want it all. I shouldn't buy any of it, granted - but it looks so good. Those items could be mine. I could represent myself through them. Ethically I shouldn't, but the thought remains - I want to be the sum of these parts.

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marigoldwitch · 3 years

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I think this apartment might be waiting for us

The apartment we looked at in March is still available. Which makes me think that either a) the universe is on our side and knows we should be in that apartment so it's waiting for us to get our shit together lol or b) it's not as great as we think it is and that's why no one else wants it.

I mean it is lacking in pretty much every "modern" amenity lol. No washer and dryer hook up, no dish washer and no outdoor space but these are things we sorta already don't have so that's really not that big of a deal. It doesn't have central air or heat either, which we do currently have but that's also not a deal breaker (for us at least) it does have air conditioning units in the windows both upstairs and downstairs and baseboard heating downstairs. There's no gym or pool or any thing like that. It's an old 1920's office building that they turned into a few apartments. It's literally on the same street that the first place (the 1920's studio apartment) we looked at and fell in love with but that one's no longer available.

It has 1 closet (which is technically the pantry in the kitchen), a pretty weird layout and is smaaaaaallllllll. Like, sooooooo small. That's why we love it soooooo much lol.

Are biggest concern is location and that's why this place is so great. It's literally within walking distance to a dozen cafes, restaurants, bookstores, the post office (this is important for my work lol) and there's even a witchy shop 3 blocks from the apartment! Then there's the price. Let's just say that the new apartments built right in front of this apartment (like at the front end of the street) go for about twice the price as this one. Same square footage but the apartment we're looking at even has an extra half bathroom down stairs. Which is pretty amazing considering it's just a 1 "bedroom" (I say "bedroom" because it's literally just an open space upstairs besides the bathroom).

This place is perfect. It's small. It's cheap. It's in a pretty safe-ish area (with our budget, this is has safe as it's gonna get lol). And because there's only like (I think) 6 apartments in this building, it'll hopefully be quiet too. The realtor said there are no kids in the building (all the apartments are 1 bedrooms except for 1 (which is a two bedroom that he said 2 adults live in). He told us one of the residents works for the theater (he's a seamstress). When he found out I'm a small artist and my boyfriend is a dancer he said "wow, this place is perfect for the artsy types like y'all" I thought it was sweet :)

I've decorated this apartment in my head about 20 different ways already. I have a wishlist of things I want to get and an entire pinterest board of inspiration for this place. If I could sign the lease tomorrow I would. Only issue is that we have to prove we make 3x the rent. And as of now, the last 3 months, we've been about $400 shy of making 3x. So we know we won't get approved, right now. Trust me I am ready to move in now lol.

We're working on. But with the summer coming up and my boyfriend's dance classes being cut in half, we're gonna make even less money. So, as much as I wanted to avoid selling my designs again, I am planning on dusting off the old crochet journal and typing up some of my patterns (along with writing a few new ones). My crochet patterns sell really well on Etsy (and now I have a Patreon too) and I think that's where I should be focusing my efforts for the next few weeks. I might possibly take on a few custom orders but not like I used to.. just in case I get another infection or end up back in the hospital again, I don't want to get behind on my work and relive that stress lol.

If you've made it this far, here is a cookie for your time :) and thank you for listening (or reading, or whatever lol) to my problems. Here's hoping no one snatches up that apartment before we can get it.

#not witchy #apartment hunting

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blackfox-thorn · 4 years

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consideration on witchcraft supplies and ethics (expecially for newbies and broke witches).

caveat emptor: brace yourself, this is a LONG post, but please if you could find your time to read it, me and planet Earth will appreciate. x

we have all been there; we start our journey into witchcraft and all of a sudden we find ourselves with that compelling need to buy 15 billion candles, herbs, crystals and the more you name them, the more there are.

I usually find so many posts that state that you must go with what you have, and you shouldn't mortgage your home or sell a kidney to buy witchcraft supplies.

and by all means, I stand by this.

however, I always had my concerns when I see such advice.

it is that advisable to buy crystals on wish.com and use plastics container to pursuing cheapness?

I know this may upset some, but here's my view:

I usually can talk with 10 different witchcraft practitioners and have 15 different way to practice witchcraft as a result (the beauty of confronting ❤).

however, 98% of the time, there is one common ground where we all stand: a deep respect for the environment, nature, mother earth or whatever we are going to call it.

is hard to believe that such a variegated world can (basically always) come down to this simple, yet so important topic, in finding a common ground.

now more than ever, as witchcraft practitioner, our role in preserving the environment should be key to us, because you know, let's state the obvious: if the environment collapse so does we.

and it seems that the human race is doing its best to make it collapse.

but what does this has to do with witchcraft supplies?

well, let's go state the obvious again, shall we? every single object and material we use in our craft come from somewhere (you may call me 'captain obvious') and "somewhere" means from the planet earth in a more or less direct way.

when this is quite a straightforward observation when it comes to herbs for example, it may not come straight to our mind when we go on more "complex" items, such as candles, paper, strings, containers, crystals, etc. etc.

the truth is that every single object we use in our life (thus in our witchcraft practice) come from a more or less processed version of a material that is being harvested from the Earth.

it is exciting and frustrating at the same time to confront ourselves with the endless amount of tools we can take advantage of in our practices and, especially for early doors practitioner, it can be overwhelming to think to how much they "need" to buy.

the truth is another story.

starting from a very basic principle, which is "you are the tool" (aka the magick is firstly within you), the first thing we need to remember and eventually assimilate as deeply believe, is that we don't need any tools.

you can see tools like a bicycle; if you have to go from A to B, and you have a bicycle, you'll go there faster.

however, you can still go there by feet.

but, if you start to train, and you build up your muscles and resistance, you will eventually be able to run from A to B and by all means, you'll be exactly on the same speed of those who use a bicycle, and guess what? if you were to use a bicycle after you train that hard, you will be able to smash any other competitor.

but let's not forget one extremely important thing: either way, it is you, and you only, that finished the run.

it's not the bicycle alone that brought you to B, but your muscles that pedalled it.

the bicycle alone, without any input on your side, will stay there.

so here, tools simplify our practice, but ultimately, if we are not able to direct and use the energies we want to work with, not even the fanciest, most ancient, most expensive tool ever created will do the job for you.

but we still haven't talked about the "ethics" connected with our choices and the inevitable impact on the environment.

before I delve into it, let me tell you that I KNOW.

I know because I've been there. I've been in the craft for the last 11 years of my life and - no surprise - I've been so broke.

yes, now I can make better choices and afford higher quality, but that's only because I've worked fo f*cking hard for them, and usually adulthood comes with its perks (aka: a better job).

I've been an extremely underpaid waitress and a not·much·better·paid barista.

I had to live for months with a weekly food shop budget of £20/£25 for two people, and have the constant worry that I might not have been able to pay rent for that month.

so I hear you, I hear you when you're broke and you just don't have the money for it, I hear and I know how it feels. x

however, even when I was terribly broke, I never compromised on my witchcraft.

but yes, I did compromise in my everyday life on everything else, because you know: rent & bills > everything else.

when it comes down to witchcraft supplies, I always ask myself a few questions:

· do I really need that?

· does it have to be new?

· can I buy it ethically?

· what material is it made of? it is sustainable?

· can I make it / harvest it / grow it / find it / etc. myself?

· do I know where it comes from?

do I really need that?:

this should be literally the first question popping in your mind.

I will not go over the boringly long point I just made about tools, so I'll bring you a new one.

while there is no such BS as universal crystals/herbs that can substitute any others (although yes, certain herbs/crystal posses a broader spectrum of properties and you can indenfy them as 'master crystal/herb'), is true that many different herbs and crystals domain over similar aspects.

also, when it comes to witchcraft, the neighbour's grass is NOT greener (translation: look for local herbs rather than 'across·the·boarders' one).

let us take as example this bunch of herbs: thyme, basil, artemisia and elder.

those are all herbs that preside over the art of purification, yet each one has a very specific way of express itself upon it.

for example, thyme offers a specific aid against physical pain and thus is more adapt to purifications concerning the body.

basil is deeply connected with prosperity and love, and it's usually kept within the household to ensure its protection.

artemisia is the excellence when it comes to purification of objects and ambients and its infusion is usually the one of choice when it comes to purifying magickal objects.

elder is a particularly sacred plant, and thus is mainly used in the crafting of talismans for personal protection and purification (yes, usually the two goes hand in hands).

what I'm trying to convey in this example is that a deep knowledge of the ingredients/tools/supplies you're looking for is not only beneficial in choosing the most appropriate match (thus enhancing your magickal performance), but it can also help you understand better what do you exactly need (IF you need it) and whether you may be better of looking for something else.

does it have to be new?:

before giving out a kidney for something shiny new, have you considered whether you can find it second·hand?

remember my blathering 15h ago in this post? each and every single thing that passes upon our hands come in a way or another from resources that have been extracted from mother Earth. yes, even a dagger or a jar was once a piece of our planet.

essentially, you need to question yourself where what you are going to do is more a 'waste of money' or an 'investment well placed' (think of it as a house. if you live and work in London, is it really the best choice for you to buy a house in Edinburgh that may be the coolest house you ever stumble across but is clearly going to be unhelpful for your situation?)

and you may get a piece that might have not been taken with all due environment respect.

that super cheap object you found on wish.com has the same environmental impact of a similar one sold by an ethical company that may be 3 times as much? no. just simply no.

only that, you might not always be in a position to buy from that super ethical company for that price.

but, still, do you really have no other choice but to buy it new?

is it really more important for you to have a shiny new thing than pursue the key role you have in defending the environment? (for me, there is no other answer than "no").

likely, we live in a society where is not too difficult to find alternatives for pretty much everything we need.

charity shops and thrift shops are your new best friends.

everything is sold cheap in there, and let me tell you, you may find goods in there that are as much breathtaking as the most expensive fanciness.

plus, you have a wonderful bonus when you buy second·hand: you can practise your skills in the purification art (after all, second hands also means you have no idea to which energies that object is been exposed to).

but you don't even need to leave your home to buy second·hands, in fact from eBay to Etsy, you have a plethora of tools to go second·hands and save the environment.

can I buy it ethically?:

let's get this straight: ethical is NOT equal to expensive.

in fact (and I can tell you from experience as I'm slowly switching to zero·waste and plastic·free and generally sustainable lifestyle), in the long run, it becomes cheaper and cheaper.

yes, I get it, beeswax candles usually cost from 3 to 5 times more to a regular candle, but between plastic and beeswax, there is an ocean of alternatives.

first, let's address a point: do you really need 7 candles for that spell?

maybe, if you deeply study your spell, and selectively chose your ingredients, your £5 budget for those cheap 7 candles, can be redirected to a single, ethically produces beeswax candle - as a result, you will have not only saved a tiny bit the environment but you will also have a much better quality ingredient for your spell.

second, ethical doesn't mean fancy.

buy your eggs from the local farm, usually is cheap AND ethical.

take a long walk in your countryside and harvest a reasonable and respectful amount of herbs and other natural material is cheap AND ethical.

make your own tools from natural materials and or local supplies can be cheap (depending what you making and with what - it's obvious that if you planning on making a 3 meters silk cloak in just not gonna be cheap) AND ethical.

you're getting the idea.

what material is it made of? it is sustainable?:

you want to make a jar spell, you don't have any jars, you end up using a plastic container.

do you see what's missing there?

you don't need a new shiny, fancy, expensive glass jar.

as a matter of fact, you may not always need a glass jar at all.

oftentimes, I find myself planning a jar spell which will end up buried in the ground.

you don't need to be a scientist to know glass ain't gonna recycle for the next thousands year. so do you really wanna put that thing in the ground?

wouldn't it be better, for example, reuse the core of a toilet roll, which is perfectly biodegradable?

of course, there are certain spells in which you'll have to retrieve your jar at some point, well, in that case, go ahead and use a glass one, but the bottom line is "think before you do".

as I mention earlier, I am in my slowly·but·surely journey on zero·waste and plastic·free. this means I'm a jar horny.

every time I see a jar, an inevitable orgasm pervade my body. a shameful truth.

and I also need lots of jars to fill all my goods (I use a wide variety of herbs, seeds, flours, and other grains, just to mention a few needs for jars).

do you know how much I've paid for all my jars (MY jars.. MY precious..)? £0.00

ok, this is not entirely true. but let me explain.

once, I had to buy some tomato passata for a dish I wanted to make.

I used the passata, washed and kept the jar. now, that very same jar is the home for my quinoa.

and OH MY, jars come in such a weird a wide variety!

just have a scroll down the asile, point the fanciest looking jar and see what it holds: mango chutney? that stuff will not set foot in my home nor even after I die. pickles? my goddess they are distasteful at THE least, but hey! my partner has them in his every day work lunch and he's running low, I will need them, I can take them. nocera olives? DID YOU SAY I NEED TO BUY 7000 OF THEM?

liquor and alcohol bottles, usually come in the prettiest shape.

choose a nice personal use bottle of liquor or wine, and you'll get yourself a perfectly fancy jar for you spell, virtually for free.

BONUS: yeah, you know it. you contribute to save the environment.

The bottom line is: THINK. do you know what material are you using for which purpose? if you don't know, is best follow the wise adage "better safe than sorry" and simply skip it!

can I make it / harvest it / grow it / find it / etc. myself?:

do I need to explain?

you want a wand your first thought is..

1· let me check some expensive holy·moly on esty, on which I'll then cry over because I knew before I started looking I can't afford it! :D

2· let me see which kinds of trees I have around my home, and what can I do to safely harvest some wood for my wand.

the right answer is.. 2! (what a surprise..)

can you even imagine the added values (without even considering how much more powerful) this object will be if done with your own hands?

but wait, I can already hear it.. "but I don't know how to carve a wand!".

(prepare yourself for some bitter irony) I'll share with you a secret, you live in the XXI century and there's a fantastic tool out there you can use to help you.. it's called the internet!

you can find instruction on how to make a bomb worthy of a terrorist, I'm sure you can find instruction on how to make a wand to!

(you can't afford an internet connection? then how are you reading this post? - end line for the bitter irony).

you can make better choices for your and the environment simply by investing time in what your doing (a very hard and difficult to come·by skill in the "all and now" society we live in..).

do I know where it comes from?:

least but not last.

OH MY, how tempting are those quartz point sold at £0.03 on wish.com

yeah.

have you stopped to think where they come from?

crystals, more than anything else, is the clearest example that EVERYTHING comes from mommy Earth.

and it should come with no surprise that, unfortunately, not all crystals are harvested ethically.

so yes, when you pay for a crystal, you are also paying for the people who worked in the mines from which come from, for the machinery/electricity and so on that were needed to work on the mine and generally all the things that a business must cover.

and it should come with no surprise vol.2 that a company that harvest crystals in an ethical way, respecting the environment and paying a fair wage to their employees will be more pricey than a crystal that comes from a company that does not care about such thing.

you need to realise that crystals ARE luxury items and thus, they won't come for cheap.

so for that spell where you needed 7 different types of crystals, it may be worthed to:

· once again, carefully and in·depth study each ingredient to evaluate what do you actually need and thus restricting the choice to fewer ingredients with better quality.

· make wise investments. search for good companies. you'll find usually companies that adopt good ethics are pretty proud of it! and they will state loud and clear where they source their products and which other ethicalities they follow in offering your such products.

· compare the market. yes, of course, there will be companies that will be cheaper than other. your best shot is to research the market for the thing you need to establish which is the fair price you should look at.

· go to the source. you can do this two way, either by literally go to the source and do a nice trip to the location where you can find that crystal, or go to a wholesale where you'll find way cheaper items without compromising your quality.

don't gift money to those who overprices and check carefully before paying someone who underprices!

· WELL DONE YOU ❤️·

you did it! you almost reached the end of this kilometric post.

I'm really proud of you.

go get yourself a nice apple and a glass of water. ❤

if you feel tired just by reading all this, well.. you're getting it right!

because it is tiring and time·consuming take the responsibility for your purchasing (and in general your actions).

it is hard, it is challenging, my goddess if sometimes is boring, and more, in general, is just a lot of time and effort!

so yeah, actually go through all this for your next glamour spell will make the planning of it last probably 10 times longer.

but hey!

you are walking the path of the wise, you are a practitioner of witchcraft, you are handling a BIG power, and with a big power, come some BIG responsibilities.

you know though, what you're are going to gain?

1· patience:

yep. the more time you'll have to invest in something, the less you'll be tempted to the "all and now" of modern society. after all, who does to wast a month of her/his life to make more ethical choices to then just give up everything?

2· knowledge:

you may be a slow learner, but even there, it will be impossible for you to not retain at least some of the information you so carefully had to investigate! and hey, who knows, you may also have fun!

3· critical evaluation:

when you spend so much time in searching and evaluating, you will eventually build up the tool kit that will allow you to make the same choices, with the same depth in less and less time.

be able to to make constructive criticism upon something, is a skill that not only enhances your craft but is also priceless in real life.

4· result:

probably the most important thing of all, and ultimately my first reason why I never compromise on my witchcraft supplies.

in real life there's nothing more true than "we are what we eat", and I believe that in witchcraft a similar statement hold; "we produce the energies we invest in".

what I do, it need to be a perfectly smooth line from my intention to my end result.

how can I achieve so, when the tools/resources/materials/etc. that I use are not in line with what I do?

how can a man constructed*, polluting, paraffine candle convey the same energies as a naturally produced beeswax candle? what energies and added values has to offer the paraffine candle compared to the beeswax one?

*(I don't mean that making something by hand is worng, if that would be the case, I'm the first sinner. what I mean is something that wasn't harvest and create from nature (like a cotton or linen dress), but something artificially produced in a laboratory, mix and matching chemicals.

and NO. buy all means I'm not a nonsense, I do "revire" science and scientifical progress, but yet I'd rather living in a more natural and less artificial world).

how much better will respond in my hands the wand I made myself, compared to the fancy one I had me shipped form a stranger, maybe from the other side of the world?

this humongous post, it is, as the title says, just a consideration at the end of the day. a consideration I hope will spark some reflection in your next action. let me know what you think ❤.

so, my dear newbies and broke witches out there, I hear you, I really do.

but I also urge you..

THINK.

this is it, you've reached it, the end.

I'm so proud of you, go to watch some cute kittens pictures. ❤

~ mem the fox

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sassypotatoe1 · 4 years

Text

My mom makes baby stuff, like baby Spitcloths with the baby's name and a little animal or whatever embroidered on it and blankets, sheets, doughnuts and pillows and very rarely nappy bags. The whole thing is that she makes them for like half the price they go for in stores, and they're personalized and great quality, so she sells pretty well to the people she does know, but she doesn't market so she doesn't sell to anyone else.

She's had business cards printed and she's been wanting to open a shop and quit her day job for ages but she doesn't because she wants to remain financially secure until my brother and I are both financially independent and I love her so much for it but staying at that job is destroying her mental health a little more every year, and I'm thinking of helping her set up an Instagram business account and Facebook store (she doesn't trust the internet as much as I do so she won't go for etsy stores or something like that) so she can get more exposure and orders because people will always be having babies she just needs to put her work out there.

Anyway, she uses an embroidery machine so that she can give people the highest quality embroidery with consistent designs and stuff, but sometimes if she leaves the machine and a thread snaps or whatever she can't get the alignment back to finish the design so she has a couple of failed stuff lying around, and she's currently doing a bunch of stuff with the woodland animal theme for my niece who is pregnant, and she made a set of 4 fox spit cloths. One of them failed though because the thread snapped with the paws so the fox doesn't have paws, just an outline of them, and she was like "do you want a towel with a fox on? It doesn't have a paw but it looks fine otherwise I just can't sell it" and

He's perfect mom😭

Give me my fox towel!

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resinatingbeauty · 3 years

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A 'Witch Shop' Owner's Plea Before Casting That Love Spell

I don't personally offer many spell kits, mojo bags, etc. In my shop and avoid selling my 'Craft', as in, I don't advertise or list spell casting among my offerings, though I have had a couple of customers specifically ask if I could perform a spell I offered as a kit on their behalf for whatever reason. This is because I personally believe that the journey is just as important as the destination in witchcraft and many of the spell kits / spells I do offer are designed in such a way to soothe, relax, release, and heal throughout the process. Honestly, in addition, I really don't want the responsibility associated with performing magick on someone else's behalf for many reasons. The strength of my intent is not going to be as strong as yours, for example. Even if I effectively channel your energy, creating that personal connection between the beneficiary and the intent or purpose of the spell work is incredibly difficult at a distance. I'm always wary of other shops advertising this type of service- the sad truth of the matter is our little niche has been permeated by scammers, con artists, and frauds looking to take advantage of anyone looking for a solution to whatever it is that has them at this low point in life. I will tell you, more often than not it's love spells that the customer is after, and they are apt to find many options on Etsy, the platform I primarily do business on, and beyond.

I distinctly think of one potential customer who had contacted me one night obviously very upset. My heart went out to her immediately - I could just tell by what she was saying and how quickly she responded to me that she was in a state of panic and extreme emotional distress. She isn't the only one, but she stands out from the others as her desire to win back her ex lover was so strong it was evident that she would do anything and (potentially) pay anything for a chance to get things back to the way they were in her love life.

I am a human being. I have been given this amazing opportunity to pursue my passion to share my creations and spiritual / metaphysical knowledge with the world through my work. I understood a long time ago that this also meant I had a responsibility to do my best to help those in need and never knowingly harm, much like a doctor commuting to the Hippocratic oath. This may make me a flat out horrible business woman, but I would rather not sell someone on something I don't believe is going to help their situation. In fact, love spells usually make things worse. I'll get to that momentarily.

"Is there a spell to make her see what she has done wrong and to make her love and want me again?"

I allowed this customer to explain to me the situation and took the time to hear her out after telling her that I'm sure that she could find something like that elsewhere and someone else willing to sell her a spell kit or cast that spell, but I urged her to take a deep breath and talk to me before she did something that she would regret.

Thankfully, she spent the next hour or so explaining her situation and elaborating on everything that has happened in her relationship. It was one of those on again / off again things that so many of us get trapped in. Understandable, considering once you establish that strong bond of love, whether one sided or not, it's incredibly hard to cut that cord and move on especially if you're so emotionally invested (and maybe even financially invested) in this other individual who has had your heart for so long you can't imagine giving it to anyone else.

This PSA goes out to the broken hearted of all walks, as this is a universal experience for anyone who has been in love. There may not be someone to stop you from pursuing what you think will fix everything as I did for her, but I'm hoping if you read this, you'll think twice about acquiring and performing love spells or any magick in hopes that it will provide a quick fix to any situation.

•Beware the Opportunistic Con / Scam

Our field is flooded with scammers, con artists, and frauds that exclusively cater to those in this sweet girl's position and anyone who is vulnerable due to emotional distress or panic. Whether you need a love spell like she did to win back her ex or a quick fix to get more money in the bank or what have you, beware those that have used spiritual advisory and witchcraft as a means to peddle you their high priced garbaged. This is a tough one, as you may have a hard time deciphering what is 'legit' and what isn't, but there are some signs and facts you can look for when browsing these shops / websites.

-They promise / guarantee results within a specific or unrealistic time frame

Magick takes time to manifest and the true story is that nobody has a 100% satisfaction guaranteed spell book. More often than not, when spells come to fruition, it often isn't quite the way you would expect it to, either. Anyone promising a quick fix to anything is most likely just trying to take advantage of you when you are vulnerable and you better believe there will be no money back guarantee if said garbage doesn't work for you. OR, they like to do one of these:

-"Oh, your situation is worse than I thought. You're going to need this and this, with a huge $$$$ price tag."

This starts a never ending cycle of you pouring money into this scammer who will make you believe that it is necessary to do so. That maybe if you did throw them an extra $500 for their thingamajig that you will get what you want. This is only the beginning, as when THAT doesn't do it for you the way you would like, they will claim some other interference, maybe you're cursed or under psychic attack, and need something else even more expensive and elaborate to take care of that before you can even get to what you went to them for in the first place. Anytime someone proposes this type of thing, stop while you're ahead and don't provide them with a guaranteed cash flow that you aren't benefitting from at all. Also, be wary of ANY seller who makes outrageous claims- overnight changes, curing cancer, etc. Are unrealistic expectations.

•Understand What You Truly Need

Maybe it's time to consider an alternative path. The customer I spoke about DID ultimately purchase a tarot spread, which I was much more inclined to do for her than some love spell to win back this girl who has repeatedly broken her heart over the past few years and obviously got a kick out of it, the way she told it, as it was ALWAYS her doing the breaking up and blocking, starting all the drama. I told her I would much rather give her a spell to find her twin flame / soul mate than to win this person back who has perpetually been hurting her and taking advantage of her kindness.

Sometimes it's time to cut the cord before more damage is done. I understand it isn't easy to move on from someone you have loved and cultivated a relationship with over a long period of time, regardless of the negative energy that has invaded the relationship, we DO tend to focus on the positives, which leaves us a bit biased and blind to what we could have and deserve to have.

Take a moment if you are in a relationship situation like this, are beginning to question your current relationship, or are considering taking the next step in any relationship. Sit down with a pen and paper. On one side of the paper, write down all the things you love about that person. All the ways you think they have been the light in your life (be honest and give credit where credit is due!). Now on the other side, list the negatives or cons in your relationship. If one list is noticeably longer than the other, depending on which side it is, it may be time to consider breaking it off, giving things another shot, or taking things to the next level. Ask yourself;

-Do they support me in what I do, even if they don't understand or necessarily agree with it? (So long as it is something healthy -obviously if they're supportive of a bad habit or detrimental behavior, this is more like enabling and not a good thing)

-Do they have my best interests at heart more often than not?

-Do they show that they care? Even in the smallest of ways?

-Could I call them my "best friend?" Am I honest with them?

-Are they honest with me?

-Do they lift me up more than they put me down?

-Do you want the same things in life / have similar priorities?

-Is our relationship valuable to them the same way it is to me?

•LOVE SPELLS NEVER WORK THE WAY YOU WANT

This is the cold hard truth about love spells. Forget the warnings in movies and books, as it is hard to believe them or even take them as a legitimate warning when you haven't had the displeasure of experiencing what a love spell can do for yourself. I have, so you don't have to. This is MY story:

Of course love spells are very appealing when you're a young and naive teenager. I had a strong crush on this guy I had low key been stalking since middle school. I don't know why I liked him so much. Part of it I'm sure was the way he looked (hey, I'm being totally honest!) And how he came across to me. We had absolutely no interaction with each other outside of passing each other in the hallway. He had no idea who I was.

I had just borrowed a copy of Silver Ravenwolf's 'Teen Witch' (which is honestly a fantastic book for teens and young adults just starting to delve into Wiccan practices, which she follows exclusively) from a friend of mine and thought I would try the super simple love spell in the book figuring I had nothing to lose. All it consisted of was focusing on the subject, your intentions, writing their name on a piece of paper, folding it up and placing it under your pillow. I would sleep on that paper for months. I was in middle school just about to go into my freshman year of high school when I performed the spell and would forget about it up until the day it worked, a few months into my freshman year of highschool, when my crush was in the graduating class of that year- literally my last chance to make an impression.

I had gone to a local band's concert that was performing at the school's auditorium one day after classes and was just about to leave when my crush randomly approached me and started talking to me. It was like the whole world just stopped right there. I couldn't believe it. The thought of that spell crossed my mind briefly as we exchanged phone numbers.

Over time and getting to know him, he admittedly wasn't exactly my type. He was still someone whose friendship I valued, but not someone I could really put any effort into dating. About the time I realized this, his personality took a complete 180° turn for the worst. He was stalking me. Blowing up my cell phone (which was a prepaid piece of junk at that time I really couldn't talk on for more than a minute without paying a fortune), so much so one evening when I was at Jukido Jujitsu practice that I came home to something like 32 missed calls and 17 voicemails from him, each one showing gradual frustration and anger. This scared me. I knew I had to confront him about it and break this off before it got worse.

I caught him in a populated area of the school the next day before homeroom- more like he came up to me out of nowhere like he knew I would be passing through that part of the school that day- and I confronted him about the calls,attempting to gently explain to him that I wasn't interested in a relationship and I would like to continue being friends. He blew up at me and threw me against the brick wall of the school, trying to kiss and touch me in front of every single person that walked by. I wish I was making this up.

Thankfully a teacher came and pulled him off. Nothing much else was done. I did my best to avoid him and cut him out of my life entirely from that point on.

I don't know if it was the love spell or if this would have occurred anyways. All I knew was that what had been originally a very sweet, big hearted guy that was soft spoken with low self esteem became a monster in a matter of weeks. The take away from this and what I have personally seen with other's experiences with love spells is that they tend to bring out the worst characteristics of the person they are cast on and you have to be really careful what you are actually asking for when thinking about 'desire' and 'passion.' This intent can quickly lead to stalking, obsession, and not in a good way. Another customer of mine who originally came to me for my Forgiveness Spell Kit and had the desired results also, unbeknownst to me, had someone else perform a love and desire spell in addition to it. The guy that she was reverted into an obsessed jerk who decided to spread rumors about her on social media and beyond, blocked her on all platforms, and would get her friends involved in his quest to make her life miserable. Her story reflects and embodies so many I have heard over the years from others who have dabbled in such spells. When they work, it's just never quite what you had in mind.

So if you came to this blog post in search of a love spell for your personal situation or came across it when you have maybe considered one in the past or know someone who has, please take a deep breath, consider your options, and don't do anything that you may regret down the line. Remember that you are deserving of all the love, respect, support, and happiness one could give another. Do not settle on someone who offers you less and expects more, no matter how much you have invested in them, no matter how many years you have spent with them, as they do not appreciate you for the amazing person you are. I can promise you, however, given some time to heal, you WILL find someone who does.

-Samantha

(Owner /Chaos Witch/Designer)

Blursedbaubles.etsy.com

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