How can I prove to you I am not a fictional AI-generated website drop shipping stuff from China? Unless you know me or have bought jewelry from me in real life, this is getting more difficult. I am but one tiny maker in a giant internet jewelry sea. Google doesn't like me much, neither do the "trust" websites that supposedly rate whether a site is legit. I am pretty sure those sites downgrade you for using a third party platform like Wix or Shopify, and in the ultimate Catch 22, for not having a huge web presence. This world is not made for small business artists.
Anyway, AI has gotten mediocre at turning out websites that look like a real person made them. I say mediocre because the copy sort of sucks and if you look closely, they are cheesy as all get out. ( I am not saying I am not cheesy, but at least I am chessy in a human way.)
I've got a couple of ideas that should help with some "proof of life." I plan to shoot and add some not very good videos of me making jewelry in my very non-instagram-able studio after the busy holiday season is over. I'm going to keep writing blog posts that hopefully sound human. AI probably does not write blog posts about how much AI sucks. But maybe it does- it could be sneaky that way. I've also added ratings to my jewelry pieces, so maybe some of you happy buyers will say nice things and make other potentially happy buyers feel better about ordering something from a stranger on the internet.
While we all wait with great anticipation for video, Here's some recent pics showing how NOT pretty my studio is. I can assure you, it is all too real. The third photo is a ring mock up for a custom order- the stone isn't even set, yet. It was so the client could sign off on the gemstone size. (She was choosing between two stones.)
What else can I tell you? I am a middle aged woman fortunate enough to live in one of the most across the board beautiful states in this country (IMHO). Oregon's nature has it all- mountains, desert, ocean, waterfalls, gorges, rivers, giant trees. I love dogs. We are on dog number five, though several have overlapped. Dog number six, the fourth Australian Shepherd, will come along in a year or so. I used to make oil paintings, often of flowers and animals that some of my art school professors described pejoratively as "decorative". I like to hike. My "day job" is serving beer in the craft brewery my husband owns and runs. The regulars are like family at this point, for better and for worse (love you guys!). I knit. In fact, I knit the hat I am wearing in the top photo. We keep backyard chickens. I am a mediocre house keeper but a good cook. I love my robot vacuum. I forage mushrooms in the fall. I love to bake. Yesterday I made laminated pie crust for a Friendsgiving dinner pie and a parsnip cake. Because everybody needs to eat cake a couple of days before Thanksgiving. Parsnip cake is a lot like carrot or zucchini cake, it turns out. I am a bad gardener with good intentions. I am a Portlandia cliché! But I am a REAL Portland cliché, not an AI generated cliché.
Most people like me and find me trustworthy. You probably would, too.
Feel free to drop me a line and ask me any questions you can think up that an AI would be terrible at answering.
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