Somthing to Ponder.....

......custom Moonchild dolls. Offer them? Provide only in-stock dolls? Run 'Invitation Only Sales' for those who have never owned a Moonchild Doll? They each have their advantages and drawbacks.

I love to make dolls for my shop. The kind of dolls that just seem to appear from the tips of my fingers. When I am finished I look at them and say "Oh my! I made that little one" Very sweet indeed. I stock the store with them and 'poof'...they are gone.
"invitation Only Sales" provide a mix. I still make what my eyes, heart and hands naturally come up with. The dolls are then put on display in the special blog I have just for this purpose. A select group of people that have never owned a Moonchild doll will then have an opportunity to purchase a doll without going through the skilled and cunning process of an upload. Uploads can be very frustrating for sure. The doll/buyer ratio is very favorable to the buyer in this system.
Custom dolls have always been a bit of a squeaky wheel. While I have severely limited the amount of customs I offer and have also put limits what choices the buyer has, I find my wheels still turn a little slower in this department.
I have turned a custom around in a day and I have taken many many months to complete some. There are a variety factors that lead to each scenario.

There have been many occasions where thought I would hang customs up for good. While I like to have a specific child or family in mind when I am creating a doll, I am always worried about people having to wait for me. It does make me a little anxious. I love the part where I can send a picture of the new doll and let the customer know that the doll they have been waiting for is on its way.
I used to worry whether the outfit was just right or the hair was exactly the color they were expecting. This is no longer a concern for me. I choose the outfit under most conditions now. I take color preferences into consideration. I know my doll clothing is exceptional. I take great pride in my clothing construction and fabric choices. If I would change anything it would be that I had more styles ready to go.
Since I dye most of my yarns, there has to be some leeway in expectations there. I do not use bright and wild hair colors or big chunky yarns for the hair on my dolls. There are many doll makers that do this and do it well.
So to sum up:
I will continue to provide in-stock dolls in my Etsy shop
I will occasionally do a clothing upload in my Etsy shop
I will have 2-3 invitation only sales this year
I will offer 20 custom slots to be posted in the mail before October 31, 2011.
These will be the final custom slots available for this year.
This feels like a good mix to me.

This is one sweet dog!
xo