Weekend Splurges

                             

                              

I spent the morning on Saturday searching through a fabric store in a near city. I seriously could spend the whole day there just going through fabrics and of course spending a ton of money. This trip I gave myself $50 to spend…what I didn’t know was that the store was having a super awesome sale on (50-70% off all fabrics except quilting cottons!) so I really got my monies worth!

I ended up getting the fabric in the pictures above. I fell seriously in love with the orange fabric and just had to have a meter of that. I think I’ll make a big bag out of the blue and white fabric and line it with the orange. I cant’ wait to get going on it!

The top fabrics are for Pocket Pals and another little project I have up my sleeve.

I haven’t been able to work on my sewing this weekend yet because I did something to my back and have been walking around like a cripple for a couple of days. Today is much better, so I’m thinking this evening I’ll be cutting and sewing. Seriously can’t wait!

It’s a freaking hot day here so I’m out to get a tan, sip on my slurpie and visit with friends! Hope everyone is enjoying their days off!

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Weekend Adventures

Who needs to work anyways? Because of the “long weekend” not being so “long” (Canada Day lands on a Tuesday this year! What’s up with that?!) I get Monday annnnd Tuesday off. Yep, so I’m not complaining. Then I work Wednesday and have Thursday / Friday off for a wedding. Heavy work load, as you can tell!

There’s a list of books I’ll be ordering in the near future. Everyone tells me to just go to the library, but when it comes to returning books / movies, I’m really awful at it and it ends up costing me as much to own in the end…so I just buy stuff.

• Hand Job (I was scarred to look this up on Chapters!)
• Lotta Prints (Is there anyone on Etsy that isn’t getting this book after seeing her HowTo movie?)
• Amigurumi
• In Stitches, Amy’s project and fabric are always inspiring!
• Warm Fuzzies, super fun looking book with great projects

It turns out that I can’t go to the Farmers Market this week, the people who run the organization wont be there and said to wait until next week to attend. That’s ok, it leaves me with less panic to get more bags sewn up. I’ll be going to “the city” (I feel like such a country hick when I say that!) this weekend to get more fabric. And since I have so many days off, I’ll be sewing my butt off and have a ton of them ready for next Saturday!

Have a great weekend!!

 

 

[Feature Friday]

                     

I had this great interview with Eva from OhSmile the other day. You really have to check out her store, it’s amazing. Her art work seriously inspires me and makes me feel happy…apparently, that’s what she was going for! (: Enjoy!

Q: How long have you been into the stationary business and how did you get started?
Having graphic design background, and the passion for drawing, I started etsy gift shop in 2008. ohSmile brand wishes to share the simple joy of life. Design, illustration or handmade gifts are my interpretation of life into a fantasy world. I hope to portray joy of life through objects around us often taken for granted. Life needs a little bit of imagination and a lot of smiles.

Q: What would you do differently?

If I have the time, I’d wish to be more active in promoting the shop.

Q: Where are you hoping this will lead you?

Since the launch of ohSmile, I have been featured in many blogs and interviewed about my designs. My work is also published in a book in Asia, soon will be published in USA. I hope these exposures will give the audience a refreshed journey getting to know my whimsical fantasy world!

                           

Q: Are you doing Etsy full time?
At this moment, I’m part time graphic designer, part time Etsian. My focus now is to create, draw and be joyous!

Q: How do you promote your items and what are your promotion goals?
Blog features certainly helps in many ways in establishing the audience base. Thanks to you! I recently moved to Hong Kong and am in the process of promoting and featuring my gift items and greeting cards in boutique shops and stationery stores. I hope to also attend art fairs in HK, China, Taiwan, and Singapore.

Q: What is your advice to other Etsy sellers?
Always research the market, understand your own weakness and strength. Love what you do and do what you love to do. Give yourself an opportunity, you can do it too!

                               

~Showcase~

                             

I had a comment from a reader about the Showcase spots that I mentioned earlier and thought I would expand on my answer in a post.

Blossoming Tree wrote:

Have you purchased a spot? If so how did that work for you? I thought about it but haven’t made a definite decision yet.

I personally think that Showcase spots are a great investment! I haven’t actually had a sale directly from the previous spots I’ve purchased in the Showcase, but I’ve gained a few hearts and views and I really consider these a long term investment. I’m constantly checking my Hearted stores for new items or going back to buy more products from them. I’ve heard from other sellers that they do the same thing, so Hearts are always a good thing!

I’ve purchased both a Main Showcase spot before (couple of them!) and a itemized Showcase spot. I would recommend the Main Showcase or the Travel Showcase (this is the other one displayed at the top of the Etsy home page, it changes as per season and special occasions such as Fathers Day). These Showcases are both really bold and in your face when you come to the Etsy home page and are sure to get more views from visitors than other smaller Showcases.

When I purchased a spot in the Bags and Purses Showcase, I didn’t notice any results at all. No more hearts, no more views. From my personal experience, I wouldn’t recommend these Showcases although I’m sure there are sellers who have had other experiences.

There’s also the Storque Showcase which I find secondary to the Main Showcase. Many Etsy buyers and sellers are constantly reading the Storque and that brings them to see this particular Showcase. Its’ not as great at the Main one, but still pretty good and worth the investment of $7.00.

Like I’ve said in other posts, promotion and getting out there is a must when it comes to selling on Etsy (or really any other site for that matter!). You need to let people know who you are and what you offer. Showcases are a great way to do this as buyers can click on an item and see several avatar sized pictures of your products. You want people to look and click! Getting Hearts is like handing out business cards, even if they dont’ buy right then, they know where to get ahold of you in the future!

Busy Busy

Well, this week has turned out to be a busy one! I’m getting ready for the Farmers Market coming up this Saturday and I just bought a Main Showcase spot on Etsy so I’ll need to fill the store a bit more. In the midst of all this, I’ve been bombarded by friends visits and family from out of town! Oh well, busy is a good thing.

I’ve also contacted Supermarket about getting my items on their site, I hope to hear back from them soon and hopefully it’ll be good news! I’m not sure what their standards are for products, but if they’re anything like Tunkt, they’re bar might be set pretty high.

I’ve also been making inquiries about ceramic transfers so I can start making my own little line of mugs, bowls and plates. I’m still just at the “getting quotes” stage, but it’s exciting! Even if I just make this project for gifts for friends and family, it’s going to be exciting to try out!

I’ll be posting more pictures and bags at my Etsy store soon, so make sure you check them out!

                                

 

Remember!

The Main Showcase spots go on sale this afternoon @ 12:00 EST. Make sure you try to get a spot!

My Name

I visited a blog today that had a post about the author searching her name in Etsy. I decided that was a pretty funky thing to do so I tried it and here’s what I came up with!

 Invitations by Nella Designs

 A journal by Katie Muth

 Cute buttons by Sakura Kitty

 

Workin’ At It

                                

The organization (the entrepreneur part of my job) that I’m working with now is planning on starting up a magazine. It’s just in the beginning stages, the tiny-itty-bitty-baby stages, but it’s exciting to see it grow slowly and start to develop into something visual. Being the writer that I am, I am super excited to be involved in this project. I honestly never thought of starting a magazine although, I can’t imagine why it didn’t cross my mind. Everything about it is totally me! I love the thought of designing the layout, writing the articles (!!!), interviewing, managing the staff etc. It really reallyexcites me!! If this project doesn’t get off the ground for some reason, I’m seriously taking it over for my own personal endeavours and attacking it myself.

I’ve been researching (ha, they call this “work”!) how to start a magazine and I came across this article. Although it’s written for people wanting to start a magazine, it’s really helpful for us bloggers too! Here’s what I got out of it for my blog.

1. Come up with a plan. Every venture should have a plan, what is your goal? Your theme? Your direction? Jot down some notes, keep a journal, anything to make this stick in your head. When I first started blogging, I went strong into the Etsy theme. Every entry, just about, was an interview with a successful Etsyian. This I discovered, didn’t work. Although each interview had it’s interesting points, the fact that I did this constantly became mundane. I then moved on to more personal entries…which were pretty dull and pointless and all over the place. Now, I’ve expanded my theme to be about a more general topic: Creativity. This way I can focus on all parts of being creative, not just Etsy (although this is still included). Without a set direction, you flounder. Have a goal, work towards it, change it if needed.
2. Attack. War is hard work, it consists of constantly changing your tactics to suit the need and demand. You need to stratagize and some of the time, those strategies have to change depending on how the opposing forces respond. Ok, I’m no expert, but “war” just poped into my head (: Realize that it will take hard work to make your blog successful (are you listening to your own words, Kj? :)) and that if that hard work is responded to, keep going in that direction…if not, it’s ok to change plans and start something new or re-think the plan.

There’s a bunch more info in the article that’s interetesting, it’s definately worth the read! These were just the couple points that stuck out at me.

 

{Goals – Week 2}

                                             

It’s the second week since I made my goal of reaching 50 views here per day. The first week was good, I reached 453 views in one week…at 50 views per day, I should have 350 views per week so I exceeded my goal. This week was still as good, 456 views all together. It was the daily view count that disappointed me. It was up and down like a crazy roller-coaster, one day at 29 views, the next at 220 (that took some link love from other bloggers! Thanks guys!). It never stayed even relatively consistent which was slightly dissapointing, even though my promotion of the site didn’t change. I think part of the problem was that the Selling on Etsy Series finished up and it, I think, attracted a ton more readers. Obviously, I’m going to have to start a new series again! Which isn’t a bad thing, I enjoyed it and it gave me a secure direction here.

If you have any suggestions for a series with a “Creativity” theme, let me know! I have a few ideas up my sleeve, but I’d always like to know what the readers thoughts are!

Also, I’ve been looking into the local Farmers Market and found that it’s super cheap to attend as a seller! I’m SO excited!! It costs $20.00 for a (yearly?) membership and $10.00 every time you attend. You can also rent a table for $5.00. So affordable!! I’m making it top priority to attend this weeks Market and hopefully I’ll make a few sales! I’ve almost reached my goal for the Button Maker so hopefully just a couple Markets will bring me to where I need to be!

So here’s my goals this week:

• 50 blog views per day
• Start a new series
• Attend the Farmers Market
• Oh, and post the new Big Bags in the Etsy store

And a new week begins…

 

Craft Show!

Sorry I took so long to get back to you guys! I was super busy with the radio station today, I had to go out of town for some training…but I’m back now and in high gear for my Etsy store and blog! Yay!

Well, the craft fair happened on Saturday evening and it was great! I got their early and set up my table, waiting for the other girls that had said they would be setting up near me. I should have thought about where I set up more, I was at the end of one of the roads and near a couple food stands. Since I had gotten there early, I figured that there would be a ton more stands opening up around me…but there wasn’t. The oposite side of the road was completely empty and I heard from a few of the customers that they weren’t even going to come down to my end since they thought it was only food stands. Had I set up my table closer to the big intersection that was blocked off, I would have had many more viewers.

When I called the organizers on Thursday, they had a specific spot where I could set up my booth. I figured since they had this planned, there was a ton of booths that were already booked. Not true. The event was poorly advertised…if at all…and many people in town didn’t even know it was happening. I used to work at a shop just down the street from my booth and when I told them to come and see my stuff, they were like “why? What’s going on?”. Even businesses on the same block had no idea the event was happening. This was really dissapointing to me! Our town is so small, it’s easy to get the word out either by just word of mouth, posters, going on the radio…it’s so easy!

Even though the majority of the town had no idea this was evening happening annnd I was at the end of the road, I still had quite a few people who stopped by and looked at my bags. I sold three big bags and a small Zippie. Once I got to the event and saw that there wasn’t many people there, I honestly didn’t expect to sell what I did, so I was really pleased to make these sales!

I’m looking into the Farmers Market that happens every Saturday morning here. The sales and experience of dealing with the customers really encouraged me. I hope I can make as many sales on regular weekends, then I’d really have enough money for the button maker and the supplies to turn the shed into my craft workshop!