I'm currently in 2 treasury wests! Yippee! They are both for the Rockin' BnR, which you can get to by clicking here.
I've decided to start having a little bit of fun with the polls on my blog. If you vote in my poll, comment here that you did, what your vote was, and a way for me to contact you. When the voting closes, I will randomly select one of the voters and they will receive a $10 Gift Certificate to either of my shops!! Winner's choice!! So, what have you got to lose? :-)
http://GiftsEtc.etsy.com
http://Skincandy.etsy.com
This week's poll is "Which Disney Princess is your favorite?" I'm in super Disney mode right now because I'm taking my 17 month old to Disney World for the first time in a couple weeks. I must be crazy taking a toddler to Disney in the middle of July. lol
I never know what to do with my hair. I usually just pull it back into a ponytail but I recently came across this wonderful little shop, Art for Hair. Their shop has the prettiest hair sticks and hair forks. They even sell some really nice earrings! The craftsmanship on these hair sticks is just remarkable. I can't wait to get some funds so I can try them out for myself. :-) Here is my "interview" with Art for Hair.
Who are you?
Jon and Lindsey Wedemeyer - a husband and wife team from central Florida.
What is your Etsy shop name?
http://Artforhair.etsy.com
What do you specialize in?
We make hand-carved wooden hair sticks, decorated with glass beads, Swarovski crystals, semi-precious stones and pearls. We also hand-carve hair forks, and make coordinating earrings.
What do you like best about Etsy?
How you can find almost anything you could think of hand-crafted rather than mass-produced! Also the stunning art, friendships from the forums and ability to shop locally. It's so inspiring to see how people are setting up their own businesses and producing wonderful art.
Where do you find inspiration for your products?
Colors in nature and from ancient Japanese hair jewelry.
What is your favorite item in your shop? Someone else's shop?
From our shop, it would have to be our Amethyst Glass Hair Sticks http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=12046228
From someone else's shop, this print by bndesigns:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=11103965
It's really hard though, there are so many beautiful items in other people's shops! One could easily spend all day looking at other people's wonderful shops :)
Best advice you can give to other sellers?
Keep promoting your shop, have a website outside Etsy, try to list every day, have a blog, and most importantly, don't get discouraged when it's slow!
Anything else you'd like to add?
We have an opening special right now - free pair of earrings with any hair stick or fork purchase before the end of the month! Don't worry if you haven't used hairsticks/forks before, they all come with instructions, as long as your hair is shoulder-length or longer you'll be able to use them!
Thanks for the fabulous interview, Art for Hair! Check out their shop here http://Artforhair.etsy.com and their blog here http://artforhair.blogspot.com
Just got finished listing 9 new items in my shop, including the debut of my Scrabble Tile Magnets!! My son decided to take a 3 hour nap today so I was able to finish alot of new items. I've also got some other projects in the works which will be posted soon. Here are my new items. For more information on any item or to purchase an item, just click on the picture and it will take you directly to that item in my shop.
What is your favorite item in your shop? Someone else's shop?
Phew, I was busy tonight! Listed a total of 9 new cards in my shop, GiftsEtc. I have a lot of other new items, including gift tags and mini gift tags, still to photograph and list. Those will be up by the end of the week. Besides all that, I'm also working on a bunch of things for my upcoming, "Christmas in July" sale. That's right, I said it CHRISTMAS!! Can you believe its just 6 months away?? More information will be coming up about that sale in about a week. On to tonight's listings!! Click on title to be taken directly to my shop where you can purchase these cards. :-)
I know boys are supposed to be rough and tough, and let me tell you, my little boy definitely is rough and tough. He's almost 17 months old but he can run, walk, climb and fall down like he was 5 years old. Today he took quite a spill that I must tell everyone about. Evan loves his balls. No, not those balls. lol Beach balls, basketballs, bouncy balls...those kinds of balls. Anyways, he was laying on his beach ball like he always does, when it slipped out from underneath him and he hit the corner of his eye on a wood chest.
Poor kid cried for a few minutes but was ok when he saw Mommy break out the container of Italian Ice. lol Always makes him feel better. It bled a little bit this morning and by the time I put him to bed, it looked sooo purple!! It'll definitely make a cute scrapbook page! :-)
No joke, President George Bush was in Naples, Florida today where I live!! His helicopter landed in the football field of the middle school across the street of my mom's preschool...and we were there when it happened! Well, my mom was, I was on my way there. I just saw the helicopter. lol But my mom and some of the other teachers at her school saw him in the limo when he drove by!!
Here's the news link about it...
http://www.winknews.com/news/local/20605099.html
This piece was written by Christy, an Etsy seller with a passion for helping other people. I must say, reading this definitely opened my eyes up. She introduces a side to Etsy I'm not sure most people are aware of.
Be sure to stop by her shop, Sticks and Stamps, your "one stop shop for paper crafts, hand knits and anything else I decide to create on a whim". Christy has some beautiful cards, adorable booties for babies, and very clever card organizers. Check out her shop! http://craftyconservative.etsy.com
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The Craft of Giving
For hundreds of years women have been using craft as a means to help raise money and awareness for charity. From quilt raffles to bake sales, countless lives have been touched by homemade goods. All it takes is a resourceful person to turn something made with love into resources for a deserving charity.
My interest in the craft of giving has increased even more since I have found a cause that I feel passionate about. It has raised my awareness of all the many ways that crafters are making a difference. If I'm looking for a gift, I prefer to purchase something that I love that supports a cause that I love.
Etsy users have banded together to use the site to raise money for a variety of charities. EtsyForCharity is a store devoted to raising money for different charities. This month all proceeds benefit UNICEF.
Most of the stores that are using their items for charity use specific tags for the searches. Feel passionate about breast cancer? You might find something like this pendant. Are you like me and support autism related charities? Check out this bracelet. Proceeds from this item go to a charity that funds teachers salaries in Zambia. How about some yarn for HIV awareness? What have you found?
Sometimes your craft can be your donation. Project Linus, Afghans for Afghans, and Warm Up America are just a few of those charities that accept handmade items. Most of these charities have specific guidelines for donations so if you are interested in contributing, please check before sending items that they will not be able to use.
For me, personally, being able to raise money for Autism Speaks and other autism related charities has given me some peace of mind in knowing that while I may not be able to control the autism, I can control what I do about it.
Next time you shop, try shopping with a cause and support the craft of giving.
I wrote this piece for another blog, http://naturemanipulated.blogspot.com/ but thought I'd also post it in mine as well. Be sure to stop by her shop! She has beautiful portraits and jewelry - http://naturemanipulated.etsy.com/
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Have you browsed through the Promotions Forum lately? If you have, then the term BnR has surely been integrated into your Etsy vocabulary. Many people are not sure what this simple, 3 letter term means. As an Etsy seller, a BnR is a fabulous way to get some sales, make new friends, and have a ton of fun!
To cut to the chase, BnR stands for “Buy and Replace”. Basically, you make a purchase from any of the shops on the BnR list, and your shop replaces their shop. Once you are on the list, someone can make a purchase from you. It’s that simple. Usually there is just one listmaster who updates the list when a purchase is made.
Now, you may be asking yourself, “Why should I make a purchase just to get one?” That’s what I was asking myself when I first joined Etsy. I just didn’t see the point. Well, one day I decided to see what the hoopla was all about. I made a small purchase from a wonderful little shop I’d never seen before and within a day, someone had made a purchase from me! My “heart views” had also gone up quite a bit and I had more people “heart” my store. I realized that not only did I get a sale, I got traffic to my shop, which in turn leads to more sales.
There are many benefits to participating in BnRs. The most obvious is that you can get some sales. And who doesn’t like getting a sale? J Another one is that you are introduced to many shops you probably wouldn’t have seen had it not been for the BnR. That is especially true in my case. For example, I found a shop in my BnR (which I will discuss later) that sold the cutest little purses. I had to have one…and then another…and then another! I have made 5 purchases from her total and her work is amazing!! .
Another benefit is the chance to interact and connect with such amazingly, talented people. I have made so many Etsy friends in the past few months. I look forward to getting online everyday to talk to all my Etsy pals. We talk about our everyday lives, our newest creations, and even give suggestions to each other for new items. One Etsy friend of mine encouraged me to open up my second shop this past February, and I have had over 130 sales in just that shop!!
Of course, as with everything in life, there are a couple of cons with BnRs. Sometimes, you don’t get bought from right away and may be on the list for a while before someone will buy from you. It can be frustrating waiting for a sale, but in the meantime you can chat with the other shops on the list. Another thing is that sometimes the listmaster will be discouraged by lack of sales that they’ll just abandon the list altogether. This is why it is so important that if you buy onto a list that you help promote it. By participating in the thread, you are also getting your shop out there for potential buyers to see.
Something fun that most BnRs do is get a Treasury or Treasury West. Not only do you get the benefit of being in the forum thread, but you also get exposure with a treasury. This also brings in more sales for the BnR. My latest treasury for my BnR actually generated 3 sales in less than 30 minutes!
Speaking of my BnR, I am actually the listmaster for the Rockin’ BnR. I started the BnR on January 1, 2008. Today, the BnR is still going very strong with over 550 sales and 2 treasuries currently. There are quite a handful of amazing shops that get online everyday to chat in our thread. Some days we are more talkative than others. We have all sorts of fun too. We’ve had special “Happy Hour” promotions, “Guess the Shop” game, and even a scavenger hunt.
Being the listmaster can be hard work (keeping all those shops in line, lol) but I have found it to be truly rewarding. It is just remarkable to see how many sales we’ve had in 6 months. Our total sales average out to be 100 sales a month!! I am soo proud of all the work my fellow Etsians have put into this BnR, making it such a success.
So, if you are a newbie or in need of a few sales, why not take a moment to stop by a BnR. There’s a plethora of them in the Promotions Forum right now. Take a chance with a BnR. You’ll be amazed with what you find. And remember, we would always love to have you come chat with us in the Rockin’ BnR. We totally rock! And you can too!
I'd love to start featuring some Etsy sellers on my blog. There are 2 ways I'm going to do this -
1) Each week, I will have 1 seller that I "interview" and feature in my blog. I will also promote this seller in my BnR for the whole week!
2) I will also feature 1 or 2 articles written by my fellow Etsians in my blog. The subject matter is up to you, as long as it is Etsy-related.
Leave a comment here if you are interested in either or both. If I choose your shop, I will send you a convo via Etsy. Thanks and best of luck!
I know this is a couple days late, but my Yart Sale has officially begun! Huge discounts on some super cute items!! I'm having the sale in both of my shops, so check them out!
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5590465§ion_id=5475462
(Gifts, Etc.)
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5376487§ion_id=5483870
(Skincandy)
For a looong list of Yart Sale Shops, click on this link. They're categorized too!! If you are having a Yart Sale in your Etsy shop and would like to be added to this list, please leave a comment or convo me with your shop name and category or categories you'd like to be added to.
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5664976
Welcome to my blog! I'm still new to the whole "blogging" thing, so please bare with me. I'm hoping to use this blog to promote my shop as well as some of the other fabulous sellers on Etsy.
In my shop, I sell handmade greeting cards, gift tags, matchbook notebooks, business card envelopes, and more in the works! I also sell diecuts and punchouts that can be used in scrapbooks and your own handmade creations. Along with the paper crafts, you will also find some of my photography. These photographs have been taken right in my front yard!!
Thank you for taking the time to look at my blog. To get to my shop, just click this link.
http://GiftsEtc.etsy.com
