Happy new year!
Since it's now 2024, I figured it's a great time to do a little update about how the last few months have been and how I'm looking to change things in the next year!
This time, I've done things a little differently though...
This month's update is my very first vlog! It's just a casual little chat about my December, current projects, and talking through what I'm planning to change up this year. It's fully captioned, and you can easily listen to it like it's a podcast (I'm just sat in my studio, the video isn't particularly thrilling)
I discuss how some sale methods are changing, how I will hopefully have more ways (places???) to buy my work soon, and continuing my work with Tabletop Creator Hub and other community projects!
Video captions (click to collapse):
Hi! So, I wanted to basically just jump on
Have a little chat about some updates with dice farm
What's been going on - nothing drastic, I'm still here
we're still going. Yeah just a lil, lil update
So, new year - fun little quick recap - this year's been amazing
I did my first expo, it was my first time really doing the convention circuit
so I got to meet so many people, I've made so many friendships with other businesses aswell -
I love you all, and I love all my customers, I love you, I love everyone
And it's just been a really good year aswell getting to work with Fari RPG's on my first larger scale project that's wrapping up now
so that's really amazing, um, and it was a really amazing year - and then December came around.
December kicked my arse, basically, things got away from me - there was a multitude of reasons.
Kicked off with Dragonmeet which was incredible, really really amazing show, amazing community there, all the traders were really creative
and unique and amazing and it's one of the best shows I've had (sic: done) in terms of yanno whats on offer and the other traders around and the people that attend aswell. There was something real magic about dragonmeet.
And the whole first week of December was in London, I was back home I'm from London so I spent that time visiting family doing Christmas gifts um - and then lots of just running around exploring the city, being a city girl for a while going back to my roots.
So that was technically like a little break but every single day we were out doing things non stop yanno making the most of being in the city
so that was mad, and then the day after we got back, we hosted family and then this is where I had a few orders for made to order stuff at the start of December (and this will effect how I feel about doing made to order going forward)
is because basically as soon as I got back from Dragonmeet I got such a severe chest infection that I ended up in Hospital - fun times. Pretty terrifying, I'd never really been like - admitted into hospital as like, a grown up
as you can see I'm absolutely fine, I was just really ill and struggling and ended up in there overnight and then that led to basically being on hospital advised bedrest for a week so that meant those orders weren't fulfilled.
And then it was the Christmas market that I do every year the local Bournemouth show - and that is yanno all day every day 8 days non stop
It was exhausting, i love it there, I wouldn't change it, I just in the grand scheme of things having everything back to back December was nuts.
And then pretty much since Christmas day I have just been working on those made to order things that have sort of backed up. It was only a few orders but with everything going on I couldn't yanno, I couldn't pour or make anything after the hospital visit
I couldn't pour or make anything when I yanno wasn't at home
Wasn't in my little studio
and everyone who has the orders I'm literally finishing up the very last one today and they'll be going out
And everyone has just been amazing everyone's been so understanding it's not been an issue
but obviously for me, there's still the feeling of, letting people down so
There's that, and it's made me reconsider made to order going forward
so some things are gonna change there because Im a one person team yanno
I get a lot of support from my other half Joe so yanno when things go wrong and even
I had a friend cover my table I've got a great support network but
Nobody but me can make the dice
nobody but me can do the actual making things
and it meant that when I was out of, not able to, everything got held up - and I think that's the issue with made to order
just as a one single person business is its got that challenge of
if I go down, that's just a complete block
So in essence, I'm gonna be moving back away from made to order
and i was only using it for things like the mighty nein collection, and then the vampire the masquerade dice, and you'll notice that these have been not on the website
for the last few weeks that's while I've been catching up on these orders while everything's been hectic - they will be going back up
once, once I've got everything settled and calmed down
potentially the chonks will still be made to order just because there's so many different types
there's eight in total with all the mighty nein characters and then the DM dice
but those aren't so bad
the vampire the masquerade I'm going to start making them um rather than offering custom colours
they will be the classic black attribute dice and red hunger dice
and they're gonna be premade now and I'm gonna try do a couple sets every month to get back into the monthly dice drops basically
Other progress at the moment aswell is the stoneburner dice,
I have the mailing list, there were setbacks in that aswell where the fulfilment partner,
well what should have happened was I was supposed to make the dice and then send those all as one collection
to our fulfilment partner, who was gonna send those off
and they in essence all the dice we're finished and then we found out that the fulfilment partner could no longer offer that basically they were no longer able to do that
so essentially I said well I've got them all here it'll take a bit longer I've got to churn through everything but I'm going to be fulfilling them from the dice farm studio directly -
so they'll be getting sent out of here in the next few weeks
so it will be in waves, we're getting the first lot out very soon once I wrangle the data, the first lot of data, and then few things we're waiting on then hopefully all of those
stoneburner dice will be out and into the world by the end of this month so that's wrapping up!
A few other things happening this month -
once I've got these orders out I won't be fulfilling orders until the 15th so I have time to get those stoneburner ones out and also yanno have a day off or two
I am looking to be doing more actual plays - more community based stuff, continuing my work with Tabletop Creator Hub
getting more hands on board there aswell
It's an amazing community run by Kerry
full of all different tabletop artisans
people who create tabletop or fantasy inspired work
you can sort of use, its a directory at heart
so you can use that and actually
know that everyone is a vetted real person
unlike etsy where half the stuff is dropshipped these days
and I help out Kerry with their news, gathering stuff that all the brands are doing
and then the blog side of things aswell, finally getting to use my journalism degree
So yes, I'll be continuing that, more articles going out on the tabletop creator hub
also hoping to contribute more to more wider community things so
this month first of January gothHoblin's Grimoire came out, there is an interview with me
and an article by me in that one so you can go check that out
and yes I've got an actual play scheduled top secret though can't say anything and then hoping to get more of those on the docket for the year because they're fun
and I like playing
And yeah just wanna get [even] more into the community this year
Basically, I think I've sort of already covered all the changes
this year is that the made to order is going to be less
I tested it out this year it didn't really work so scaling back made to order and things are going to be going back to sort of
monthly drops as they were before
other updates are basically my next show
is Beachhead, I love Beachhead so much, it's my local big wargaming tabletop show
that is at the BICon February...
February 11th? I wanna say?
It's the weekend before Valentines day
yes
two day show at the BIC, it's massive
and it's really good because there's activities and things aswell you're not just walking around a hall shopping
there's a huge board game library, there's mini painting competitions
It's an event that I just, I love it
Went last year, and the organisers are some of the best I've worked with
after that I'm doing expo again - so that's the big boy of the year in the start of June? or july? I'll be back in
Birmingham so big three day event, that's expo I'm there again
And another big development in dice farm this year
is so in the past few months I've started being stocked at the Tabletop Emporium in Cardiff which is really fun
and it's a few bits and bobs you can get things
like my battle-towels some trays, a few dice sets,
I send those over so that tabletop emporium always have a few bits of my work
so anyone wales way specifically cardiff obviously
can get their hands on stuff
and there's so many other artists, it's got a real focus on independent work in that place
run by my friends who are Fumble Folks!
so that's a really great place and I want to also work in
the next year on getting more physical locations
so being able to buy my work in actually brick and mortar places and hopefully
I'll have some announcements soon
looking at the moment
for local ones, because I'm in Bournemouth and I think it would be great if there was somewhere in Bournemouth, or Poole, or Dorset way
that you could just drop in and check out my work
because the dice [especially] have such a unique feel to them
being faux stone and it's something that I will just always recommend that
you have to feel it in person to really know what they're like
it's such an amazing texture and sort of matte tactile feel to them
so i think having my work in more physical locations
will be really beneficial to that
and so that is
I think
The update
that is going into 2024
big new year update
comment if there's any questions you have
about dice farm this year
what I'm doing
what I'm gonna be doing
Where I'm gonna be going
and
yeah just
Thank you again for all your support this year
it's my third year, third running year of doing Dice Farm
and in my second year now of yanno
doing it seriously and full time
I just value everybody who
orders something or just comments on socials,
and interacts and shares and just gives it that bit of a boost
it's such a hard time at the moment for small businesses and literally every like and comment is just
beyond appreciated
and yeah
so I'm ready to party for 2024
[waves goodbye]
I'll be on a New Years break for a week, but there are dice sets still in store that you can grab along with all my other goodies - will all be dispatched on Jan 15th when I'm fully back to work!
Until then, may your adventures be full of joy and chaos - and remember to check for traps.