The "Ridiculous" tier?

Fri, 16 Aug 2024

I did some frustration-posting on Facebook and it has led me to an interesting thought: What if instead of simplifying my designs, I went the other way?

First, I bailed on Instagram. They popped up a new option recommending "AI-generated" feeds and I went full "ACTUALLY, YOU KNOW WHAT". It's just not worth posting there for the same few people to fave it, the ROI is zero there these days.

Facebook is getting a little more traction with video though, and when I sadposted about quitting Insta and mentioned "embroidery designs so ridiculous that only I can use them" and posted the Shield Dragon and Celestial as examples, a few people jumped up to say they were in fact interested, had doll-making experience and the like and, well, hmm.

Okay, so... maybe there's some call to actually produce way-out-there designs like this? (Not just the finished dragons which, yes: doing that.)

The instructions would be just hideously expensive to produce, though, because I have to get the thing into the lightbox for every single step of the way or you get pictures like that first one: ⬛.

This is the original Celestial, never completed because successfully making the wings happen in a 5x7 hoop was very frustrating (I've learned some tricks since then, and now I have larger hoops, so NATURALLY instead of simply digging this guy out and finishing him I am doing the 2x scale version....) I set it aside to do Dragonheart (a/k/a the Love Dragon a/k/a the Pink Squirrel Dragon) as a no-stakes "haha no one will want this absurd color of dragon" and then got so burned out I set the Celestial, and thus any future art dragons, aside for what turned into five years(!)

I'm also not sure, what with the thumb splint situation, I could still do the wrapped feet. I love them very much but that's part of why I went with the Grand Celestial, who is large enough to have individual sewn toes. (You also pretty much can't get those beads anymore; the Preciosa "mini talon" has been replaced by the "tulip" which I am not sure will work the same.)

Maybe, I dunno, I could put a Ridiculous Design level up, but it wouldn't be a once-a-month thing, for sure, and I'm not sure it would really work out.