We just finished up our last auction of the year! Looking to the year ahead, we only have six, maybe seven more Shisa auctions to go before they're gone. After 17 successful auctions, this is a perfect time for me to step back and assess how these have done. In my eyes, they have in fact been a success. The stories seem to be meaningful to others, we've always found them a home, and I'm having a blast seeing these little critters populating the world!

Some questions for all of you:
Have any new creature ideas?
How is the amount of time between auctions?
What do you enjoy/dislike about the longer stories?
What do you enjoy/dislike about the visual portion?
Do you have a preference for ornament vs. figurine?
Any other comments?

Please keep in mind, while I will eagerly read every bit of feedback, I won't be implementing every suggestion. Believe me, I have a -ton- of thoughts and ideas too. Some of my ideas, while I would love to see in an auction, are just unrealistic from a business standpoint. Speaking of, I'll start!

Let me share some of my thoughts on things so far.
-Time between auctions: Sometimes I kind of wish I had a little more time between auctions. The time pressure does push me to be more creative with the ideas, but I've noticed the shorter time means that I'm less likely to feel like I have time to do story streaming. I definitely won't be shortening the time between auctions.
-The visuals and stories: I've been feeling a little restricted with some of the stories and visuals. They're a set species with a set of specific behaviors, coat patterns, environments, etc. This is good, I want to have some kind of consistency, as they aren't meant to be $15 "here's a bunch of pretty colors on this critter" type of auctions, I want the viewers to be drawn to learn more about their world. I'm fully aware a lot of the desire for variety comes from a bit of insecurity/fear that I'm doing the same thing over and over, so I'm taking that into account to see if "variety" really contributes to my goals for these auctions. For my next set of ideas though, I'd really like to lean towards multiple creatures which interact in an environment, a specific world which people can learn about, but we can get in different mind sets. Not sure if/how that would work, but it's a thought for upcoming ideas!
-Efficiency vs. Uniqueness: As much as I would love to do a different line art for each character, oh man would that exhaust me fast, financially and artistically! Right now I feel pretty organized about the process of putting together one of these auctions. Still, I think it's always helpful to be open to a healthy balance between efficiency and uniqueness.
-Ornament vs. Figurine: I've been itching to do slightly larger pieces which are more sculptural. Maybe not as big as my figurines, but using a larger marble than an ornament, and something which sits instead of hangs. Note, figurine auctions would have a higher starting bid, so either way I'll probably be keeping some of the critters as smaller ornaments to give people on a lower budget a chance.
-Ladder options and other small adjustments: Ladder options have been something which I've been adjusting throughout these auctions. Also, the large amount of info bugs me, but it is necessary to be clear with everyone. I'm guessing I'll be streamlining things for a long while still!

Thank you all for your support thus far! The auctions will have a break January 2017, and be back in full swing in February. I'll post the 2017 schedule as soon as it's worked out. :)