I am now a dotcom!

When I started my business I was happy to tell people that I was an LLC (being that my company is Jen Hintz LLC and I am the sole member thereof). Well, I am now a dotcom! A few days ago I purchased http://www.jenhintz.com and also http://www.jenhintz.net . If you don't have your own domain(s) yet, I suggest you not wait any longer. It's cheap, it's easy, and it's really fun even if all you do with them is forward them to your Etsy shop, or put up a few goofy pictures of your cat.

The one reality check I've had with all this excitement, though, is that my HTML knowledge is both rusty and outdated. I'm the type who insists on writing out the html code rather than using a program to do it for me. Call me old-school, but I just prefer to do it that way...maybe it's because that way I can control every last little detail, maybe I'm just hard-headed and self-torturing like that, I dunno. (The fact that all the really good website-building programs are and always have been far too expensive for me is a factor too.) Whatever the case, it appears that much of the html code I learned 10-12 years ago is what they call "deprecated" now, and anyway I'm having trouble remembering a lot of it. As for XML and XHTML and CSS, I'm not entirely sure they existed as mainstream languages when the books I learned my coding from were written.

And that, dear reader, is why my cool shiny new dotcom will just have to be pitiful until I get some new HTML books. I've done some looking around and obtained some recommendations, and I think the two I'm getting are as follows:
Dynamic HTML: The Definitive Guide by Danny Goodman (ISBN 978-0596527403)
Build Your Own Website the Right Way by Ian Lloyd (ISBN 978-0975240298)

It's pretty...and I helped!

Not too long ago I began playing around with dyeing yarn. It's addictive, let me tell you, especially for someone as color-obsessed (and yarn-obsessed) as I am. I discovered three things. First, I love the process; second, I don't have nearly enough time to knit/crochet with all the yarn I dye; and third, I can't afford to dye all this yarn and keep it for myself. The obvious next step was to start selling it in my Etsy shop, so I began listing it.

Now let's flash back a bit further. I don't remember quite how I discovered her (Etsy's forums are a good guess), but I'd run across an artist who goes by the name TotusMel. She makes stunning needle-tatted jewelry and accessories, and I quickly added her to my list of favorite sellers.

Flash forward again. I wake up one morning to discover that I've sold my first skein of yarn, and whaddya know, it's TotusMel who bought it! Yes, I giggled, and although I will neither confirm nor deny it, I may or may not have squealed a little. She was even kind enough to later share pictures of the scarf she made with it (which you can read more about in her blog post here).

I must say that of all the great experiences I've had through Etsy, having another artist (particularly one so talented) make something so beautiful out of my materials is the biggest thrill.

(Thanks again to TotusMel for allowing me to use her photographs in this post. She retains all rights to them, so don't go getting any ideas.)