[I’m not really freaking out… I just love this picture. How could I not?]
So… about the name thing. Yeah, I really am posting about this again… Sorry. Feel free to skip this post!
I’m not changing the RedBubble/what sandra makes shop (at least not right now… someday, who knows). I just want a different (better) name for my handmade/home-printed stuff.
For years, I used a name derived from my son’s name. (I’m not a mean mom… I created it before my daughter was born.) But I wasn’t selling my stuff… it was for me or for family. And of course, that name is taken so I cannot use it if I sell.
I hate this whole process. This is the reason I never opened an Etsy shop. I started setting it up FIVE years ago… but I couldn’t come up with a name… so I stopped right there. And I’m still stuck there now…
I don’t want to use my name. I don’t want to use ‘card’ or anything else limiting what I sell. And, of course, I am not a cutesy person at all. I’m a dark person. I’m a coffee-drinking, music-listening, donut-loving emotional disaster. If you read my blog, I think you know what I’m like… kinda… mostly.
Here are some of the names I did like… but I already hate some of them… maybe this list will give a better idea of where I was going… or trying to go… or failing to go.
• inkling or inklings (too cute? taken anyway…)
• dark cloud or dark clouds (too dark? is there any such thing?)
• c__ and caffeinated or c__ and caffeine or c__ and coffee (c__ would be a word that starts with c and describes me. NO not that one!! But I don’t want it to sound like I’m a coffee shop… so maybe these don’t work…)
• two am (when I usually end up designing things…)
• ellipses… (I use them constantly… probably too much…)
• first draft (I have no idea where I got this…)
• aisle five (this comes from a song…)
• ___works (I don’t know what goes in the blank…)
Also, I liked sonofabeach‘s ‘graffeinated’ suggestion, but I’d do grapheinated instead… but either way, all I can think of is graph paper… and while I’m a math geek, it doesn’t quite fit for this.
Oh… and I also have a thing for using all lowercase letters. Maybe I have an inferiority complex. Yeah… maybe.
As I read through this post, I’m picking out words and phrases that I could use… but most of them are ridiculous… ‘inferiority complex‘… ‘lowercase‘… ‘emotional disaster‘… ‘five years‘…
And…
I should have included all of this in the first post… apologies.
©2017 what sandra thinks
what sandra thinks 
My head hurts! That’s not a suggestion by the way.
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I’m sorry. I should shut up about this. Maybe someday something will come to me. Hopefully not months from now…
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Not your fault, had a stressful day so my mind is in neutral!
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Time for some sleeping, then…
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❤️’s&mindz
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too cute for me and my darkness… 🙂
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twothirtyam
two30am
2thirtyam
aisle5
aislefive
Now my head hurts more…😆
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Haha… I’m sorry!
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💜
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I like two am and first draft. Two am especially. It kind rolls off the tongue, it’s short and sweet, easily remembered, and most people shopping your site are likely doing so at that time too. 😃
I was thinking last night that maybe have your site name and name the subsets of each item, like one for stationary/journals, etc. Of course, that means coming up with more than one name. 😳
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Oh my god… yeah, I think that might kill me. I’m totally frustrated already. I like two am, too… but will people even get that or will they see ‘am’ as in I ‘am’ an idiot rather than a.m.? And I don’t want all those periods in there. Ahh. I just want something simple. Of course, I can find something wrong with all of them…
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Any feedback or suggestions from others?
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People liked two am. Others mentioned aisle five and ellipses… I have no idea what to do… maybe I need to come up with more. Seriously… I can’t use ANYTHING! I just looked up aisle five… there’s a bar and a restaurant but that’s fine. However… I found this on urbandictionary.com: aisle 5 – place where trailer trash mexicans go when theyre told to stfu.
Seriously. WTF?
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What? That’s bizarre. What does aisle 5 have to do Mexicans or trailer trash? 😃😃
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I know! Hahaha… Maybe I should stop looking stuff up and just pick something…!
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That might be a good idea. I’m sure there’s something negative associated with nearly everything. I still like two am best, shitty song or not. And, if it’s that bad a song, it’s likely very few people know it anyway. 😃
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Oh… by the way… I did a google search and found that there’s some horrible song called two am… now I feel like I can’t use that… Ugh.
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That’s a bummer. How about one am?
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Apparently that was a Charlie Chaplin movie. If I’m going to have the same name as something… movie, song, whatever… I’d want it to at least be something I like… you know? Oh… and three am is also a song (Matchbox Twenty).
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I know that song, but who did the two am song?
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I don’t even remember… it was something horrible I found when I searched google… Maybe no one would know it… but I wouldn’t want anyone thinking I named myself after some terrible song! LOL
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Ha! I hear ya’ on that one, and I wouldn’t either. Naming something is tough. It’s your rep and image on the line. Took us forever to come up with a name for the bottle cap stuff we do. Started out making fish, so we came up with Reefcycling, to play off the fish/reef thing and recycling the caps. I’m still not sold on it, but we have cards and shit now so it is what it is. But even after three years of using it, I’m not convinced it’s effective. Ugh. It’s so hard. 😒
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I even felt that way with the name I was using based on my son’s name… I was never sure it was quite right and even if I could use it now, I don’t think I would. It’s stupid because it’s not like I’m going to become a household name… Whatever I choose is probably mostly insignificant…
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Well, it’s your stuff and “brand”, and kinda like naming your baby. It’s not insignificant to you, ya’ know? So I get it. Keep wracking your brain. Something will come to you. 😊
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I was just saying to Meg… I didn’t even have this much trouble naming my kids! WTF?
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It’s tough. Gotta be eye catching, memorable, and say it all in just a few words. Ugh.
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Well… I think I may go back to a name. Not Sandra… but something from my family history. Far fewer conflicting issues there.
I came up with something and I like it… but it will mean nothing to anyone but me. Of course, it’s no worse than “what sandra makes”…
I can’t decide if I should make yet ANOTHER post about it to throw it out there. But at this point, if someone tells me they hate it, I might cry… LOL!
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I guarantee nobody will hate it. Now, severely dislike? Maybe. 😃
Did anyone give you a decent suggestion?
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Nothing anyone said jumped out at me… I was really down to two am or aisle five… then I thought of third wheel or fifth wheel.
I searched Etsy, though, and all of those have been used except aisle five. I think I might like my name one better… although the more I think about it, the more I worry that it sounds too fancy, for lack of a better word. Psst… the name is london maxwell…
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I like it. It does have an air about it, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I know you loved London. What was the name of the street you lived on?
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My street as a child? Smithfield. I don’t like the one I live on now either…
Yeah, the name sounds a little pretentious… but I’m really at a loss… and it’d be nice if I could get the shop open sometime this year…
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No, the one from your time in London. Or, did you have a favorite spot there, or part of town?
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London is actually a name that shows up in my family history… along with Maxwell. I loved London but I wasn’t *really* naming it after that. In London… I lived on Cromwell Road. In South Kensington. All names that sound just as, if not more, pretentious!
Nothing works! Oh… and I take back what I said about aisle five… it didn’t come up in search but if I try to use it as a shop name, I can’t… it’s probably an inactive shop, but I still can’t use it on its own. I can use aisle five design or something like that. But I don’t know if I really want that either.
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Hmmm. How ’bout this: just make up word. I’m stumped, but still pondering. If I have some sort of epiphany, I’ll shoot you an email. 😃
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Yeah… I tried to make up a word… everything I thought of that wasn’t stupid was already in use… I may need to just call it dhdghffdgk368532 … You know, random banging on keyboard.
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Hahaha! I just had a Shining flashback. “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” 😃
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What about a line from a song or a name used in a song or a chorus word from a song? We named our farm after a road sign we’d seen up in the mountains. Just glance around, take out a map or magazine. Something will come to you.
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That’s what aisle five is… from a John Mayer song… I’m going to look at more lyrics, too…
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I would. Lots of inspiration in song.
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Ok so I thought about the darkness description…
“the dark blend”
“midnight roast”
“soul-worn”
But I could be way off. I’ve been listening to Pink Floyd sing about crazy diamonds and walls. Lol
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I can’t decide if I should go the way of the darkness. For the name, I mean. Too late for anything else… I’m already there… 🙂
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I love your darkness!
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I like ellipses. It’s simple and not a portmanteau that I’d read a million times before I finally got it. 😂
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I liked that one, too. And of course, I’d have to write it as “ellipses…” 😀
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Wee hours works
TwoAmDesigns
CoffeeFueledCreations
Expresso Expressions
Designated Designs (because you don’t drink, lol!)
Wide Awake Works
Caffeinated Creations
After Hours
Some of these are really stupid, but maybe they’ll help you think of something else. This is a good idea – getting everyone’s suggestions, even if you don’t pick one of ours it could lead you in a direction you weren’t thinking!
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I think I’m going to find a problem with every damn name! This is as bad as trying to come up with a pen name… which I also can’t do… but I may never need one of those anyway…
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You might have to just go with the least problematic! 😜
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I know, right? The sucky thing is… even if I forget any of the issues… I’m still not 100% sold on any of them! I just feel like it’s something I’m going to want to stick with forever so if I change my mind, it’ll suck.
I didn’t even have this much trouble naming my kids!
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I get that… not wanting to be stuck with something you aren’t 100% in love with. Keep thinking!
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OOO I am liking “first draft” or “two am” but maybe add the word designs? “two am designs”? “first draft designs”?
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I don’t want to make the name too long… but I also cannot make a decision anyway!
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LOL I know those types of decisions! I am so bad at making even the simplest of choices. Good luck!
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You’re getting close…..keep working at it and you’ll find the perfect name. I’ll try to think of something but right now it’s too early. 😘
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I get really excited that I’ve found the one… and then a minute later, I hate it… I’m not sure I’m ever going to find something…
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How about ‘Cloudworks’ or perhaps ‘Lunaworks’?
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I did have a few ideas involving clouds… I like that one!
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