I tend to troll on Facebook quite hard, because the stupidity of users there is overwhelming, I have a need to vent, and I do get thrown out of groups almost within days, however, the one thing I do honestly declare, is that when you have a gut feeling about a customer, don't ignore it. 

Am getting that lately, this potential buyer constantly asking - in a demanding sense, not in an inquiry sense - for adjustments to her pre-purchase. It's a custom purchase, savagely discounted and the latest, well, 'order' from them was that I should switch off the tax tab, as they are in the US and should not pay the tax. I tried looking for the tab and asking whether that means I then have to pay it, but there is no such tab, I've never heard of it being an option and it's an Etsy thing, not mine, automatic. I just stalled the whole thing and will delete it in a few days, re-listing the lot eventually. It feels entirely like a Karen, who will find a tiny bubble in one of the paints and demand a full refund or somesuch. They are curt and demanding, not talking down on me directly, but such a stretch from my usual customers, that it just ... Naaaw, sorry. I'm not getting the 'I hope you love my paint!' vibe here. I think I'll pass.

There is, for example, a lovely, lovely customer whom we chat with quite a bit and we both have anxiety, so we easily relate to most social situations being a 'no, thanks', to whom I managed to forget to add two requested paints TWICE. Freaking TWICE! I did everything else right, wrapped her others, added extras, sent it, it arrived super fast ... But she reminds me we agreed on those two paints back when I was still making them. And I'm like, fuck, yes. I'm so sorry. And she goes: lemme just buy some more from you, and you'll add it then!! ... And, yes, again, my overcooked brain fucks up. Instantly I say I'll ship it TODAY, and AGAIN she's, like, "Awww, but can I just pay for them, so you don't waste money on the stamps? You've already given me so much extra paint!" (Of course I didn't let her pay. I don;t need the money, I need people to enjoy drawing!)

You get awesome customers that make this job so sweet, and then you get that gut feeling - and trust me, in this sudden latest heat, in me constantly running out of time, one bad customer can depress the hell out of ye. I've set myself a full week of on the 16th, and until then, I wanna make a ton of stuff, which - since I'm not sleeping much - I am. However. It's POSTING it that's problematic. It's too hot for me to photograph them, I get nauseous by the bright window. I have told myself to try it slowly, just three or so sets per day. I'll try that. For now, I'm just making new paint - the General took me directly to the pigment store and I spent almost all of our weekly savings on new supplies. Not to mention some are drying up like peppers. It looks like the soil in my dad's old vineyard, where we tried to plaint honey-savvy plants and the soil is literally bright beige dust and gravel. Grapes love it, but everything else needed a whole irrigation system. Which means a lot of me, standing on the terraces with a hose in my hands, playing 'aim'. :D