Does My Bum Look Big in This?

Well if you're reading this only to find out the answer, I'm sorry to disappoint you. It's not actually the size of my bottom, or there lack of, that we'll be discussing here. When a woman asks 'does my bottom look big in this', does she really want the honest truth to that question or does she want to hear that she is beautiful just the way she is? It's actually the concept of asking that question, and fearing the answer, that we went through this week with etsy members.

You see on etsy there are 100's of forums and groups that you can join, and one of those forums are all about 'shop critique'. The idea is that you can join a discussion group were you can critique others shops and they intern can critique your shop.....but only if you ask for it. We thought it was a great idea, so we chose to join the 'Sassy Critique' team and then asked the dreaded question...'does my bum look big in this'.....well actually we wrote, please come view Red Haven Studios and let us know what improvements we can make. As soon as we sent out the request we thought (well actually I thought ) ...oh no what if 'our bum does look big in this? It doesn't make sense I know but mind works in quirky ways.

So as usual we sent out the request at 2am then went to bed wondering what kind of responses we were going to get from the other side of the world.........The next morning we went straight to the critique forum with baited breath. We were hoping for at least 5-10 responses but we were disappointed that only 2 people bothered to make the effort......but 2 is better than none at all. Now before reading their comments we thought they were going to mention our prices or shipping costs etc. but to our surprise they were not mentioned all. What was mentioned was what we were most proud of....our pictures! Here we thought we had great professional looking pictures and different from everyone else’s. But both of the ladies said that the black background was too harsh and that the pieces should be photographed on a lighter back ground. WHAT THE! We spent ages photographing them all and now we were faced with either ignoring the critique or be mature and business like about it and take on board what 2 total strangers had suggested.

We decided to check out everyone else's jewellery pictures and realised that not one person had shot it with a black background. We were still not convinced but we decided to give it a go and reshoot each piece once just for the cover shot.....and leave the other pictures with the black background. Well Steve went into the forge to create lovely new hooks to add onto the etsy site, I spent the day shooting close ups of the jewelry on a lovely earthy river rock that I found in Thora, it was balancing on a branch 1 metre high up that was placed there after our local flooding. As I was shooting the new pictures I started warming to the fact that the photos did have more life to them, so I was very chuffed with my efforts. But my heart just sank when I showed my days work of reshooting the pieces to Steve and the first thing he said was.....'it looks as though an old woman with a cracked and crusty chest is wearing the jewelry'. Aaaaarrrrrrrgggghh! My bum does look big in this!!! The shocking thing was not his comment but the fact that as soon as he said it I too could see what he meant. Bugger bugger bugger!

Well too bad! We decided to upload them anyway, at least just to see if the shop page looks nicer and less harsh by adding the new 'crusty chest look'. Bit by bit as we started to upload all the pictures we realised that our shop front did have a warmer look about it, even though our earrings still need to be updated with the new look. It you want to check out the new look and give us your opinion, please go to www.etsy.com/shop/RedHavenStudios . We would love to know if we are heading in the right direction.

So back to the question of...'does my bum look big in this' concept. We learnt that there comes a point in time with what ever we create, in which if we want an honest opinion about our work we should realise that it is not a personal attack. We might not like what we hear or read, but a true friend or critique will tell you the truth only because they want what's best for you. It's up to the individual to hear the critique and view the comments with fresh eyes and an open heart, and in that way hopefully we will grow bigger and better.

And to answer the first question...........I wish I did have more luggage in the back of my truck! xo