I have no life, and THANK YOU so much for rubbing that in.

[Teskeria]

J We'd hauled a lot of crap in from storage recently, and tracked in some leaves. So there were a few little leaves on the carpet. (Well, and it's kind of grungy as I haven't cleaned it properly in a while and it's, you know, next to the door out.)

And of course some yahoo has to go and point them out publicly.

Wrong response. You made him feel good. You should have went with something like: 'I'm glad you noticed. It took me an hour to decide just how to place those leaves. Did you like the rug I put down first? Should I have added more leaves? It's really difficult to decide just how many to place to get the exact look I want. I was going for the whole "see if I can make a jackass appear" vibe and I'm so pleased it worked!'

[spark]

I was wondering what was up with all those "comment deleted by page owner"s. :C

That and a bunch of unsolicited negative critique. I don't mind critique given in private, at least not if it's polite, I'm always looking to improve my work, but in public I'm trying to sell this stuff! You don't sell things by pointing out every imperfection, you point out the good points. The imperfections are there to see for people who care, people who don't care don't need to be told they're supposed to care. If you see what I mean.

And it's something I've noticed, once somebody makes a negative comment about some feature of the costume, most of the comments following will be about the same thing. (Which is even more annoying, because I only need to have it pointed out once. The remaining dozen "yeah that does look wonky" remarks accomplish absolutely nothing whatsoever.)

[rose_metal_nz]

He's just a troll, ignore him.

Exxxxacccctttllly this don't worry about it, I'm sure you place is in better shape than mine, AND you have a better excuse than I do :P

[Mike Taylor]

Mocking you for having a few leaves on the floor? How much you want to bet his place looks like this?

Oh, hell no! Somebody'd have to die for leaving a mess like that.

But yeah, working folks generally don't have spotless homes.

[Cazzi]

He was a jerk! Leaves happen, they get everywhere. my floor seems to have bits of sawdust & hay dotting it 24/7, my piggies are forever kicking it about & I sure aint getting the brush out 6 times a day

I love that costume,, it looks so huggly

[Seshat]

you don't need another notification saying that yet another furry went "lol good job!" and I don't know enough to offer an educated opinion. x3

Yes she does.

Or rather, she needs you saying 'wow, I love that. I especially think the ears are tilted just right - I don't know how you did it, but it makes it kind of expressive'. You can give opinions like that without knowing a damn thing about sewing. Just tell her what you particularly like about this particular costume.

I'm a writer. If I want to be told I've misused gerunds, I'll ask another writer or an editor. If I want to be told whether or not I've told a good story, I'll get an ordinary reader to read it. And yes, I'll want to hear 'wow - I loved your main character. And the bad guy was soooo creepy'.

It doesn't matter that you don't know all the technical details of how I made the main character loveable and the bad guy creepy. It just matters that it worked.

Spark is in a different creative field from me. She needs to know whether her stuff works. So tell her 'wow'. And also tell her that the eyes are expressive, or the ears are particularly cute. Or you love the stripes, or the claws, or the way the mouth sits.

She'll know how to she achieved it - and that sort of feedback helps her constantly improve her strengths.

If you do see something you consider wonky enough to be noticeable to an ordinary person, PM it to her. That will help her improve her weaknesses, without being embarassing public critique.


Edit to respond to the main issue (because I got all enthused about the creative process!)

Spark, you DO have a life. You have much more of a life than people who worry massively about how their house looks. You have friends and art to make and ... well, I'm waiting on tenterhooks for you to finish a draft of the painting I commissioned; because I trust that it'll be gorgeous.

Among the things that seem to make people happiest in life are friends, exercise, and creativity.

[spark]

Yeah, a person doesn't need to be a fellow costumer to have an opinion. And I always like hearing that people like my stuff, especially, as Seshat says, when they're specific about what they liked!

I get the "no idea what to say" thing, I don't always leave comments on what I like either. But I appreciate all the comments I do get. Well, all the ones that aren't rude, anyhow.

[XCashier]

That costume is wonderful! And your kitty is cute (I ♥ red tabby cats!)

[mikoyan29]

That and a bunch of unsolicited negative critique. I don't mind critique given in private, at least not if it's polite, I'm always looking to improve my work, but in public I'm trying to sell this stuff! You don't sell things by pointing out every imperfection, you point out the good points. The imperfections are there to see for people who care, people who don't care don't need to be told they're supposed to care. If you see what I mean.

And it's something I've noticed, once somebody makes a negative comment about some feature of the costume, most of the comments following will be about the same thing. (Which is even more annoying, because I only need to have it pointed out once. The remaining dozen "yeah that does look wonky" remarks accomplish absolutely nothing whatsoever.)

Everytime I hear you talk about these critiques, I think of the scene in Trekkies where the kid gets his Star Fleet uniform and he's going over the minutae....like well these pips should be a half an inch out. The piping should be blah blah blah. I think I hated that kid from the get go and every subsequent interview with him didn't change that...especially when I saw that he had his Star Wars figures still imprisoned in their plastic. and yeah, don't let the dude's comments get you down.....

[Tora]

Heh, complaint about a grungy carpet... I can only imagine what people would say about my place if they say pics of it. Not only was it repossessed while being flipped before we bought it, our stuff is in heaps everywhere in the house, to say nothing of what my studio and my work room currently look like. XD

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Thanks for the link to the "messiest apartment." I can actually taste bile now. But no, I'm serious, I'm supposed to be cleaning my house and I'm sitting at the computer screwing off with you guys instead.

That sort of thing always scares, and MOTIVATES, the hell out of me. Laundry and clutter, that's my deal right now. Been sick and otherwise doing other things for a week, it doesn't take long.

Off to do some hard core cleaning. TTFN.

[chainedbarista]

it should be on an episode of 'how clean is your house.' sadly, i've been in the front room of a house like that (didn't dare go any further...without a bulldozer) and i didn't last very long.

i love your stuff, spark; if i ever needed an outfit or partial, i'd order from you and pay without haggling; quality deserves full pay, after all.

[telecom_goddess]

Thanks for the link to the "messiest apartment." I can actually taste bile now.

I know like I said before NASTY!!!!!!! 1 billion times over

The OCD in me is going CRAZY over that still!

[XCashier]

I know like I said before NASTY!!!!!!! 1 billion times over

The OCD in me is going CRAZY over that still!

Sorry. Didn't mean to give everybody the heebie-jeebies. That link was posted in 2008, I'm sure that apartment's been cleaned and refurbished by now. Granted, the work may have taken until now, but still...

[Cerys]

Suddenly I feel so much better about the abyss that is my flat

That guy might well have an eye for imperfection - but if that's all he can see, I doubt he's happy.