Battle Baubles

That was fast.

They'll be back as soon as we can afford to place an order for new materials, which might be a minute. That cost has risen dramatically due to tariffs 🤷

Hopefully, these will be back mid-Spring! Until then, we've still got Creature Tokens for #TTRPGs!

#EtsySeller #SmallBusiness

Thank you for bringing this to our attention - we signed up for a Substack last week to watch a specific creator's State of the Union reaction & had no idea.

We just deleted our Substack account.

As a small business, gaining a following is important, but integrity matters; absolutely NO Nazi shit.

HAPPY POKÉMON DAY!

To celebrate 30 years of Red, Blue, Green & Yellow Version vibes, take 30% your entire order when you use code "POKEMONDAY" at BattleBaubles.com or BattleBaubles.etsy.com.

Because without Pokémon, Battle Baubles wouldn't exist!

#PokemonTCG #Pokemon #pokemonday #etsyseller mm

Discord delay global rollout of age verification to improve transparency and add more options In the ongoing crazy saga of the internet getting gated behind new age verification laws, Discord are putting on the brakes temporarily.

Discord delay global rollout of age verification to improve transparency and add more options
#Discord

If you were unaware, Battle Baubles has a Discord server.

discord.com/invite/47BQD...

If you were LESS aware, #Discord was planning to use #AgeVerification associated with Peter Thiel. We DO NOT support it.

Cancel Nitro. Don't give them a CENT until they back out of this plan ENTIRELY. #resist

Don't bother following us if you're fake AF. We love art and the people that make it - but we've got no love for slop like this.

Generative AI is NOT art; it is BARELY content.

Pick up a pencil, learn to play an instrument, read a book and learn to write poetry, film something REAL.

#FuckGenAI

We're PSYCHED to announce that Battle Baubles are now available on #MarmaladeHandmade!

Marmalade is a new marketplace to discover authentic handmade and hand-designed goods - no AI & no dropshipping!

Check out marmaladehandmade.com/battle-baubles & all the other amazing artists & their goods, too!

Heads up folks - Last call for #DungeonsAndDragons Character Class Tokens at battlebaubles.etsy.com!

I'm completely out of materials to make more, and I won't have the capital to buy more for... well, who knows how long. Tariffs are a bitch :/

I have FOUR sets left!

#smallbusiness #etsyseller

I might finally be well enough to continue my "Running a Business POORLY" series this coming week. I've been sick for like a month and I still have a gnarly cough that leaves me out of breath from time-to-time.

Please stay well, y'all.

#smallbusiness

9/ Running a business requires skills, and taking the time to learn and hone those skills is SO. SO. SOOOOOO IMPORTANT!

Your customers CRAVE authenticity! Don't you want to give them something REAL? Something GENUINE?

Don't let your #smallbusiness be run by a robot.

Please just be you 🥰

8/ Doing all of these things will take you more time. It will cost you more money (but not much, realistically)

You say your time is too valuable to do these things? Your time is too valuable to NOT do these things.

** BECAUSE YOU, YOUR PRODUCTS, AND YOUR CUSTOMERS ARE WORTH IT! **

#smallbusiness

7/ Finally, the worst offender of all:

Having AI write your social media posts.

You can't take 2 minutes to type 300 characters? THREE. HUNDRED. CHARACTERS.

This whole thread took me like 10 minutes MAX.

BE GENUINE! BE AWKWARD! BE WEIRD! MISSPELL WORDS, I DON'T CARE!

JUST BE YOU! THE REAL YOU!

A sky-blue oval behind black writing that says "HANDMADE HORSESHIT, LLC - BECAUSE AI LOGOS CAN SUCK A FAT ONE!"

6/ LOGOS

UGH I HATE AI LOGOS SO EFFING MUCH

Make a horizontal oval in MS Paint on your PC, find a nice font you like, and type your business name into the oval.

DONE!

AND IT STILL LOOKS BETTER THAN #AI.

--OR--

Remember those students? I'll bet you can find one to make you a logo REAL cheap.

5/ "BuT I DoNt hAvE tImE"

You know what? I get it.

You probably live near a school that has photography students. Go on Facebook, Craigslist, or Nextdoor & find one that needs portfolio work. Offer them $10-$20 or some cookies to take all of your photos.

THEY'LL LOOK AMAZING!

#smallbusiness

Colorful game tokens with various illustrated fantasy role-playing monsters beneath glass, interspersed with two blue and orange 20-sided dice.

4/ You can learn how to take a decent photo in under an hour, & your phone will fiddle with it enough that you don't need to learn basic #Photoshop skills.

EVEN THOUGH YOU TOTALLY SHOULD!

The photo below was taken with a $5 ring light pointed at a wall and 5 sheets of printer paper. IT'S NOT HARD.

3/ ONE - #AI "enhanced" photos.

When I see this little symbol at the bottom corner of an image, I know that I'm not looking at a realistic depiction of what I am paying for.

You're probably reading this post ON YOUR CAMERA. Learn some BASIC #photography concepts & take your own photos; It's easy!

2/ This is not an "I'm BeTtR ThAn yOu" post. It's a "YOU CAN BE BETTER" post.

I try not to judge because I get it; I can't afford to pay people, so I have to do it myself.

I would rather do these things to enrich myself AND my business than delegate them to a cold, unfeeling plagiarism machine.

1/ I'm always discouraged when I see a #smallbusiness using #AI to "enhance" photos, make logos, etc.

No names, but I saw a small creator advertising themselves here on Bluesky. I was about to drop a like & repost, but then I noticed several little things that made me stop.

Read on --->

I've been sick for the past two weeks.

January was pretty slow, so if you've been on the fence about getting a set of Battle Baubles, now is the time! Use code POORLY20 @ battlebaubles.etsy.com for 20% off any order of $20.

#smallbusiness #tabletopgaming #fuckice #tradingcardgames

Day 7 of *RERUN* -ing a Business POORLY

Vendor day! This was a Christmas Market I participated in mid-December. See my setup/teardown process in this video.

New episodes coming soon!

#smallbusiness #tabletopgaming #dungeonsanddragons #etsyseller

Battle Baubles encourages you to vote for @awd.bsky.social's design in the Mega Man Robot Master Design Contest! Vac Woman is an AWESOME design by a life long #megaman fan and deserves the top spot!

Mega Man: Dual Override Robot Master Design Contest｜CAPCOM www.capcom-games.com/megaman/do/e...

*RERUN* for Bluesky/Skylight

DAY 5/6 of my series "Running a Business POORLY" - getting y'all up to speed before I continue these videos. This was around the beginning of December.

Come back tomorrow for more!

#SmallBusiness #PokemonTCG #MagicTheGathering #ADHD #EtsySeller

*RERUN* for Skylight/Bluesky

Catching this platform up on my escapades as a small business owner before I continue the series.

This was from December. Oh my god, it seems like it was so long ago now.

#smallbusiness #pokemontcg #etsycteator

there are people out there saying "keep politics out of video games" and their favourite games will be like Fallout or Metal Gear

It's the little bits of text at the bottom of the cover art that kill it for me. Like, this is why games need instruction manuals and inserts again! Get that text off the cover and put it INSIDE.

Is TikTok becoming Amazon? Time to find more direct ways to support small, independent brands. That’s why I’m building OtterList.com

We're DEFINITELY interested!

Some alternatives exist:

- Skylight, which is basically an extension for Bluesky that turns it into a TikTok/Instagram style video feed.

- UpScrolled, an Australian TikTok alternative that seems to be most poised at taking on the short-form media torch.

No likes, no comments, no views. I usually get SOMETHING but this one's gotten zero. It's definitely being suppressed.

I love how the art extends from the cover to the side now. Switch 2 cases are so much more eye-catching than Switch 1 was.