Things have been pretty busy since the last time I updated.
At the end of June, the dogs ended up getting sprayed in the face by a skunk for the very first time ever...the day after they'd gotten baths, of course. It was NOT fun AT ALL. So at 10pm, I was mixing together hydrogen peroxide (which luckily we had some on hand), baking soda, and dish soap and Johnny gave the dogs another bath. It helped a lot...but the smell lingered for quite awhile. The dogs and the house are finally back to smelling better now, though.
Last weekend they got normal baths again. Nova's skin is so sensitive with her allergies and it's been bothering her a lot. We got some new shampoo that seems to be helping. And next week I think we're going to go ahead and take her into the vet to get her an allergy shot. Both her and Bozley are allergic to chicken, but she has environmental allergies as well. They usually start in the spring and ramp up in the summer, but by fall they calm down quite a bit and she does a lot better through the winter. We were able to keep her comfortable without resorting to an allergy shot last year, but her allergies seem to be worse this summer.
Oh and through the whole skunk situation...I learned something new about my own health issues. Apparently smells can trigger my trigeminal neuralgia AND trigeminal neuralgia can cause you to have a metallic taste sensation in your mouth. Luckily it didn't trigger the nerve pain on top of it too...because that would've just been unbearable. But the whole day after the dogs had gotten sprayed...I was walking around the house tweaking like I was on invisible drugs or something...trying to figure out what the weird sensation in my mouth was from. I was like...did I get skunk oil in my mouth? What am I touching that I keep getting it in my mouth? What's happening? Why isn't it going away? It's like...if nails on a chalkboard had a taste...that'd be it. LOL. That's the only way I know how to describe it...and how irritating it feels. And it lasted for DAYS.
That's on top of the fact that summer doesn't agree with my health already...and it's been very hot so far this summer. AND going through menopause at the same time with hot flashes is really stupid. The heat started being an issue for me ever since I was pregnant with Aubry and got progressively worse over the years. It triggers my neuropathy and a whole host of other things. It's just exhausting. I'm definitely ready for summer to be OVER. Ugh. I'd love to move somewhere that's just mild 70s year-round. That'd be nice!
So other than all that, I've been super busy with work. June was my most successful month so far. I ended the month with 97 orders (super bummed that I didn't hit 100...but I'm sure I will soon!) which breaks my previous record of 85 back in March. I also set a new record high for daily orders...nine on June 13th! June was also my highest monthly income and highest monthly profit so far since I started CandiMaker in June 2021...so that's exciting, especially since summer months are usually slower for retail.
It's been a successful start to July so far. :) I'm already at 58 orders for the month of July and it's not even halfway over yet. At the end of the 13th of last month, I only had 46 orders. So if I can keep up the same pace, hopefully I'll break 100 orders this month! :) And today I broke my record for highest number of orders in one week (measured Sunday to Saturday from all sources including eBay, all my Etsy shops, offsite sales, etc) which was previously 31...I am at 34 orders so far this evening! I'm all about breaking records. :) It's very exciting to see my little business growing and doing well.
In my CandiMakerStickers Etsy shop, I hit 900 sales on 6/17/24 and then I hit 950 sales on 7/2/24. As of today, I'm already at 987 sales tonight...so I'm sure I'll hit my 1000 goal for the year soon. :) I think my new goal will be to hit 1500 by the end of 2024. Hopefully I can do it! :)
My custom name labels are doing good right now over at CandiMakerPlanners. I had my first sale on June 18th and I've sold 26 more sheets since then! So that's really exciting. :) I also finally finished the school sticker sheets that I'd been working on and got them listed on July 8th. My plan was to have them listed by July 1st...but between the dogs getting sprayed by the skunk and then my health issues flaring up, it just didn't happen as quickly as I'd hoped. And just after midnight this morning...I got my first sale for one of them! :) It always feels good to see a quick return on something I've been excited about. My sister also bought several of them...she was really excited about them! Hopefully they'll do well...I had a lot of fun working on them. I wish I would've had them back when I was in school!
Etsy has announced some changes on the platform recently. They've made some policy changes...which are mostly clarifications to existing policies. I'm taking the opportunity make some changes to my shop. I'm going to be making changes to listing photos and some other little things here and there. There's also some new products that I'm excited to start working on. Always so much to do! :)
On that note...I'm going to get back to work. I'm breaking my "no work on the weekend" rule, but I'm in the mood to be productive today so I figure I'll keep the momentum going while I can. :)