Saturday, October 20, 2007

Grand Canyon


Here's the project I mentioned in the blog below.

Autumn, Holidays, crafting project and shows

Halloween is rapidly approaching and I'm crossing my fingers that I may get a show for this coming weekend. It's the show I so wanted to do, but heard it had been filled. Last week I heard there may be a few more openings (there were a few tables last yr that were not very prepared... low stock and not much of a display and apparently the mgrs of the show didn't want this again this yr) and I sent in an application after my sweetie spoke with them. I included a few pictures of my table display and some of my items, along with my business card. I've always received compliments about my table displays at the shows I've done, so I'm hoping I receive word early this week.
My holiday line is coming around and I put a couple items on ETSY last night, to see how they would do. One item sold within hours (WOOHOO- thanks Capturing Life!) and the other pendant is featured in my shop and should be on the right border of this blog, in my ETSY mini. I've been experimenting with some prints of my personal photos on pendants and ornaments made from polymer clay and I finally found the right combo of clay, paper and finish (the above picture is the Grand Canyon and I'm going to make it an ornament. I also have a couple pictures of lighthouses, sunrises and the beach, along with decorative Holiday prints. My family members will be receiving ornaments with pictures of my 2 boys and I may offer to do some custom jobs at upcoming shows (and maybe at ETSY, if time allows) for personalized ornaments.

My Yuwie crafters group is now up to 13 members and I received another message from a "friend" that they visited my ETSY shop and they said they'll be signing up, looking for Xmas gifts. Hopefully they stop by my shop for a couple of those gifts : )
If you'd like to join the club, you can join by using this invite.
http://r.yuwie.com/creationsbyr The site is free and resembles myspace (but w/o the spam) but you may find that everyone wants you to be their "friend". It's a good thing, as you get paid for page views and another place for me to advertise my Etsy shop. I spend about 20 minutes a day there, accepting all my friend requests and I've viewed about 1,900 pages (I guess repeat views on pages count) It may take me awhile to earn enough to request a cash out, but it's totally free, so what the heck (especially if it results in a sale or 2)

Sorry, the picture of the Grand Canyon item isn't coming up, the blog site is having difficulties with the upload section of the site. I'll try again later.

Til next time...
R

Thursday, October 18, 2007

This is just like Myspace, but you get paid...

Earlier this week I blogged about joining a site call Yuwie. The site is very similar to myspace, without all the spam nonsense and stalkers. Apparently you can do everything you do on myspace and you get paid for page views (no not a lot, but what the heck, if it takes me 6 months to reach the minimum amount before getting a check, why not) I joined a knit club on the site with the word Etsy in the tag. The club hasn't had any posts this week, so I posted to see who from the club is on Etsy.
I also started a crafters club earlier today and I'll see how many people join. I used Etsy as the 2nd tag, so maybe I find some fellow etsians on the site. So far, spending about 60 minutes a day (usually a bit less) I've already qualified for earning money for the month and I've only been on the site 6 days (I think?)
But the best part is, I included my Etsy address in my profile and I've received 2 compliments from "friends" who looked at my shop and liked what they saw. Hopefully they'll sign up and make a few purchases from someone at ETSY (neither of them ever heard about Etsy before)
If you are interested in this Yuwie site, go back 2 or 3 entries, there's a link to the site that you can use for an intro. (even though it's free to join, you need an invite to do so)

I'm busy making my holiday items. I have a decent supply of Christmas ornaments ready and I should be placing a couple on Etsy over the next few days. My show schedule is starting to fill up and I might be getting a table at one of the better shows in Ocean Co the weekend before Halloween. The show often turns away vendors, but they must have had a cancellation or 2, because they are again looking for someone and hopefully it'll be me.
My November is nearly booked and I'm just waiting on one show... my application is in... should I be accepted for this show, my November will be full!!

Okay, time to finish a scarf and then hopefully tonight, my sweetie will take his son's out to a school function so I can finish my ornaments in peace. Hopefully : )

Til next time...
R

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Down to one pair of the Skull Earrings!

Just like that, a pair of the skull earrings have been purchased. So I am down to just one pair!!
1st Halloween order gets these scary skull earrings for free!
See the blog from earlier today for details!

Halloween is quickly approaching and Autumn swings into gear...


Despite another 70+ degree day at the Jersey shore, the leaves on the trees continue to change colors and they are beginning to fall. The acorns seem much larger than the previous few years and hopefully that means we might get at least a little bit of snow this winter ( we had about 4 inches last winter : (- what a shame for the kids!)

I have only 2 possible shows to choose from before Halloween and I would really like to do 1 of them and I'm not all that thrilled about the other because it's a short 4 hour show in the evening, starting at 6 pm and it's on the same weekend as one of the biggest festivals in this area... the Cranberry Festival. The Cranberry festival is just mobbed and people come from all over the area for it. It's not uncommon to see cars with license plates from New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware... and lots of them. You often have to park about 1 mile from the festival and walk down the narrow roads, which is always fun with small children. But it really is worth the hike. I would love to have a display at this festival, but felt I wasn't going to be ready to do a festival of this size just yet. I'd really like to give it a shot for next year (and maybe I can share a space with one of my fellow NJ street team members)


So that brings me to the question of what to do with all my remaining Halloween items? It's really not that much, but I just found a couple pairs of skull earrings in my holiday decorations bin. I thought, perhaps I'd make sale through my blog, one that's not available on ETSY. I have 2 remaining Halloween items in my shop on ETSY. Both items have been reduced in price by 25% and I'm offering FREE Shipping on either item (the items are the Silly Skeleton Pendant/necklace and a set of 6 Halloween magnets... both are featured items and you can see them in my Etsy mini on the side panel) If you buy either of these items, along with the 25% off and the Free Shipping, I'll add the Skull earrings for FREE. I had been selling these earrings for $6 at the shows and had they gone on ETSY, I would've listed them for $5. So hurry, there are only 2 pairs left... 1st come 1st serve. Get these in time for your Halloween parties!


Til next time...

R

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Slow Crafting week, No shows...

So there was no craft show on the schedule for this week. I spent the day with my sweetie and our boys, going to an Irish Festival. It was fun, all the vendors seemed to have many of the same items, though we did pick up a Irish Christmas tree ornament for the boys to give their Grandmother on her birthday next month.
I had a small private showing of some new jewelry on Sunday that resulted in a couple sales, nothing major, but a sale is a sale and you just never know when word of mouth can lead to more customers. Etsy seemed much slower this week (as far as views went) I thought I promoted a bit heavier than in weeks past, but the views seemed to be down. I did have a lot of members "heart" me as a seller this past week, but I didn't think the buyers-only (the buyers that don't also have a shop) were really there. Perhaps I wasn't active when they were viewing.
I did have a multiple item sale from a local person who may have picked up my business card from last week's show. She bought 2 small items 1 day and came right back to buy another 2 the next day. I was a bit worried because she had zero feedback and was paying by money order, but the MO was in my hands 2 days later and now I hopefully have a another regular ETSY customer.

I read in one of the ETSY forums about one of the regs forming an ETSY club on this pay for view site, so I looked into it. It's one of those sites where you get paid for each page view you make (and probably for every time someone views your pages), so I joined since it was for free. As usual with these type of sites, you need to ask people to make you a "friend" and more importantly you need to make referrals. It's really like myspace, except you get paid to chat, surf, blog and post pictures. I'm in the ETSY knit club and I'm thinking about starting an Etsy crafting club. If you're looking to make money on the Internet, don't want to invest a single penny and have about 20 minutes a few times a week to surf, then maybe you'd like to check this out.... http://r.yuwie.com/creationsbyr

If you do sign up, let me know if you'd be interested in joining a Crafters on Etsy club. I don't know what qualifications you need to have to start (and I'm very new) but I'd love to get an Etsy club going where we could trade craft secrets, show info, Etsy tips, etc.

Til next time....
R