my creative space

This was my creative space last night - finishing up the ninth pair of earrings out of ten for a special custom order. I'm sadly abusing my cutting mat, but it saves the dining room table!

this handmade life

He has been a busy bee. David has just finished making the surf waterhousing for a Canon 7d in this photo I took of him (using my 'hipstamatic' of course). It has been an intense process, and it is such a relief that it has now gone to it's new owner. Life is, well, kind of crazy, but so rewarding too. Now on to the next one...

this is me thinking out loud

Now this post is a work in progress. I have had these helpful tips for starting out on Etsy rattling around in my head for a while now, and recently shared them with a couple of people new to selling on Etsy. I called them my Eight Etsy P's, for fairly obvious reasons! To get the ball rolling I thought I'd post them as is for now, and work on polishing them up as I find the time.

Things to consider before starting up a shop on Etsy:

1. Product, haha, of course, but really just 21 items fills a page, and one page is a good starting point. Then you want to aim at adding or relisting an item per day, to start with.
2. Photos - take the time to get these right. Use all five slots if you can, no less than four. Develop a system so shooting new product is relatively easy. Crop your pics to a ratio of 155x125, especially for your first pic. Try to have two or three pics that you can swap around as your 'first pic'. Show the scale of the item. If you can't fill all five slots (and I need to do this myself...) use one slot to show off your packaging.
3. Packaging! Including business cards, how will you say 'thank you' (ie, write it at bottom of packing slip, buy some plain gift tags in bulk and write it on there, etc etc), will you offer 'gift wrap' as all inclusive? What will it be? Don't rely on customers letting you know if it's a gift or not, some will, some won't. Just decide what you will do and go with it.
4. Postage. have this nailed so you know what to be charging when you do your first listing.
5. Profile - fill out the profile page of your shop - something i'm bad at, but people like to know there is a person behind the shop.
6. Policies - Check out what other big busy shops say here, there are a lot of things to consider.
7. Payment - how will people be able to pay you? decide and then stick to your guns. Make it clear in your policies and/or listings what their options are. This way if someone buys your item then wants to send you a jar of pennies you can refer them to your Policies page where you state what their payment options are. If they don't want to pay that way, that's fine, you can cancel the sale if needs be.
8. Promotion - how are you going to promote yourself once you start listing things? there's lots of great ideas out there, but double check them to make sure they are legit! I'm not great at promotion at all, but if I ever get the time there have been so many good threads in the forums to go back and read!

Now I'm not saying I've got these 8 points nailed, when I started I had a list of only 4 P's, the first four. There will always be room for improvement. But I thought they were useful points for consideration as a guide to what you may need to get started on Etsy, or other online selling venues. I'm also missing some important points too I think - SEO (search engine optimization) being one of them! Anyway I hope this develops into a useful set of tips for anyone new to Etsy or considering starting an Etsy shop!

stretchy!

I was admiring some of my semi-precious beads recently and was inspired to do something simple, with silver accents, to feature the lovely colours and finishes. I have also been thinking a great deal about bracelet fastenings, there never seems to be one easy and popular solution to the difficulty of putting on your own bracelet. This lovely bundle of stretchy bracelets were the result of my meanderings. There's something quite lovely about holding a handful of gorgeous stones!

my first giveaway!

Well this is a bit exciting, I'm having my first giveaway! It is being hosted on the Team Bacon! blog, "Six Degrees of Etsy Bacon". Team Bacon! is one of the newest teams on Etsy, a quirky crafty creative and talented mob united by their love of Bacon! There are all sorts of interesting features on the blog, so after entering to win a pair of my Atlantis earrings, have a poke around - apart from some awesome recipes and great market sellers tips, there's an interview with Rob White from the Etsy Admin team!

funny bunny

Because sometimes we all need somebunny to love!

I was bitten by the sewing bug this morning, and some green polar fleece had been crying out to be turned into a frog or martian or something. But the kidlet said bunny, so bunny he be. Please welcome the newest member of our family - Funny Bunny!

I drew him up and got to work straight away, he has felt arms and legs, felt face and tail, polar fleece body and backs of ears, and a lovely stripey fabric I've not used yet but had for ever for the front of his ears. I had some blue and green cotton yarn scraps, that were perfect for sewing on his eyes and nose. And the machine was already threaded with a pistachio green thread, which inspired all the exposed zig zag seams, a last minute addition to the design. I'm pretty happy with the little fellow - now to put him to the test of some real loving by the kidlet, I hope he doesn't lose his stuffing!

Happy Easter!

I love receiving packages from Helena of Little Mo and Friends! I wanted to share this little bit of bunny goodness with you and wish everyone a Happy Easter! (And don't forget to go check out Helena's little shop on Etsy!)

And this is what I bought - a beautiful postcard to brighten someone's day!