Showing posts with label etsy. Show all posts

Man, a week flies by fast. Here is another collection of fabulous Etsy shops, for this most excellent Thursday evening. Enjoy.

I'm so totally addicted to creating treasury's on Etsy. Something about putting together a collection of different items that compliment one another is just so much fun. If only there were a job that payed to do this. It's impossible to always get a treasury spot, although I try. But there is no need to wait for one. I've decided to curate my own collection of beautiful things. It's my Curate Thursday. This great widget from Good Widgets lets me create a light box widget. The widgets here are fantastic and worth a look. See mine below. (Click on the photos to see a larger view.)

Twice now, I've been lucky enough to have an item from my jewelry shop, on Etsy's front page. Both of which resulted in sales. Being chosen for a treasury is exciting. Being noticed and well received is great fuel for creativity. To see your own work on the home page, is even more fantastic. It's a bit of a rush, however long it lasts. That is all I need to keep me happy. So, when a sale results from all of this, it's just icing on the cake. Bonus points.

So listing often won't guarantee me sales. But, finding myself on the front page is guaranteed to make my day.

Here is the wonderful FP treasury, curated by chicalessia . Thanks Ana.

My friend Sam shared some of her great new paper with me. She sent it from Arizona, and I received it yesterday. It's really yummy paper with wood grain patterns, swirls, and even cute little cowboys. I got to thinking it would be fun to continue the love of sharing by paying if forward. I created a set of gift tags with the papers I got. I listed them in my Etsy shop as a PIF (pay it forward). Usually when someone lists a PIF, it costs 20 cents to cover the listing fee plus the cost of shipping. I decided to cover those costs for my PIF, because I wanted it to be a true gift. I asked for one stipulation. That the receiver Pay It Forward, somehow. When they do, they must report back to me and tell me what happened. Then they tell the next person to contact me and tell me their PIF story. And so on and so on.

I don't know how far I can expect this to go. The longer the love train gets, the less likely it will be that people will report back to tell me their stories. But, I can at least try and follow it as long as I can. It will be interesting to see how it goes and hear about how others Pay It Forward.

Here is the gift tags set I offered below. Within 5 minutes of listing, RayvenRenn took the challenge. She says that she does PIF's all the time and thinks they are great fun. She will try and continue the train! So thanks Rayven, let's do this love train...

It's so exciting to find my treasury on Etsy's front page. Even more so, when I actually see it and can take a screen shot.

Open Waters

Treasury west seems to like me lately. I've managed to snag 3 or 4 treasuries in the last week or so. It's definitely less popular, harder to get to, and less visited for sure. But, quite a few front pages seem to be coming from the West, recently. Plus I'll take a treasury any time, any where. Today I made an all white list, my favorite to create and look at, I think. So clean and crisp.

I love to log in to Etsy and find my treasury on the front page. I love it even better when I remember to take a screen shot. This was one I made in Treasury West, which usually doesn't get much action or visitors. So I feel lucky that someone found it and decided it was front page worthy.

I love making treasuries. Once they are gone, they are gone, - forgotten about, and never again to be appreciated. For some reason when ever Ive been lucky enough to be in treasury that made it to Etsy's front page, I forget to take a screen shot. A treasury I have now, will end soon and I actually remembered this time.

After almost a year running my shop, Pictures of Lily, I finally decided to open another. This one is for my jewelry creations. I've always enjoyed making my own jewelry, and kind of put that hobby aside to make room for all my paper crafts. Until now. Because Etsy is jam packed with jewelry sellers already, I'm not sure how it will all go. But, I thought I'd give it whirl. Check out my shop, The Glass Onion. I've just only listed a few items, today. But plan on adding more each day. Here is what I've listed so far:




Wish me luck. ♥

Boss man, Rob, (Rokali) announced in a Storque article that Etsy received 27 million dollars in funding from 2 of their existing investors and from a new investor, Jim Breyer. Mr. Breyer will hold a place on the board of directors. Rob explains how this money is needed to allow Etsy to keep up with it's increasing growth, and also exactly how some of the funds will be used, in the article.

2 days following this news, Rob had another announcement that generated a lot of buzz, mostly happy buzzing, regarding a separation of handmade goods from supplies and vintage. The plan is to exclude supplies and vintage from the default search, with the ability to opt them into a search, from the drop down menu. Read more about this change here, and the discussions from the community here.

I am happy for these changes, personally. It's great to see Etsy making this distinction, allowing handmade items to be brought to the front, rather than buried amongst the supplies and vintage items for sale. I am all for both of these non-handmade items having a place on Etsy. I am just glad to see some solution for separating them from the handmade goods that people expect to see from a place that boasts, "You're place to buy and sell things Handmade."

I should have known better than to start something like this count down. It is rare that I am able to update my blog daily, let along 12 days in a row. Besides the fact that the "12 days of Christmas" are starting to bore me, I've been off or behind so much, that I'll just finish it off now. And honestly, my reader following isn't much to speak of, at all, so I'm pretty sure I won't be disappointing anyone by cheating. So here is the rest.

by unicomkidsstudios

5 Golden Rings

by kateszabone

4 Calling Birds


by LilaB

3 French Hens


by the patchworkdress

2 Turtle Doves
by LilaB (again)

and A Partridge in a Pear Tree


by armatodesign

Ahhh. Now I'm free to post what I want, under no time frame.

Merry Christmas to everyone and a very Happy New Year. See you in 2008!

From the Storque: "Yesterday, the 2 millionth item on Etsy sold. This is cause for celebration over here at the Etsy Labs. But what we're really happy about is the trend: it took two years to sell the first million. After that high water mark, it only took four months to sell the next million items. Who knows what the future holds?"

It's amazing to me that the first million took 2 years while the 2nd only took 4 months. Go Etsy. Whenever these milestones are announced, I can't help but think how cool it would be to recognize the seller who sold that 2 millionth item. A little prize or something for being the lucky one would be pretty nice. Plus I'd like to congratulate them, and I'm sure they'd want to know. Anyhow, goooooooo Etsy.

One of the first purchases I made on Etsy was my shop banner. It's the one on the top of this blog. I feel so lucky to have found Briana of bennyandroo, who created it. It was a premade banner she had listed in her shop, but I swear it was meant just for me. I've had it since, May, and I still absolutely love it whenever I look at it., which is so rare for me. The only problem I have had with it, is trying to use it as a logo. Because of it's shape, (bannerish) I have a hard time trying create a square logo or avatar from it, without cutting off most of it. I made due, as this was a minor issue, especially since I was so happy with it. However, I knew that one of these days I was going to commission Briana to create a custom logo for me, one that I can use to brand my shop completely. I wanted to have something that would work as my banner, my avatar, and for all of my business forms, easily. Her fees were quite reasonable, worth every penny. Now that my PayPal account had a few extra bucks in it, I am able to have her create one for me. So, I've contacted her, paid her, and she is working, this week, on my brand new logo! I can't tell you how excited I am to see what she comes up with. I'm a little sad to give up my current banner, but I just know whatever she creates will be just as fabulous, if not more. So, stay tuned for the "brand" new branding of my shop.

I highly recommend Briana of bennyandroo if you are in need of any graphic design work.

I am such a last minute person, especially when it comes to the holidays. I am one of those people who are out on Christmas eve, scrambling for last minute gifts. Having an Etsy shop has forced me to prepare ahead of time, at least for other shoppers looking to buy for Christmas. I have to admit, even though November has begun, it is a bit strange creating things in red and green color schemes. I hope I don't get tired of seeing it before Christmas even arrives. Here are a few of the holiday items available now, in my shop:


"deck the halls" gift tags


"holly jolly" gift tags


"jingle bell rock" gift tags


I am not sure how ready shoppers are to buy holiday gift tags yet, but at least I've prepared, some, for when they are ready. I've got lot's more ready to add, so check back often to Pictures of Lily.

I haven't learned all the ins and outs of it all out yet, but so far, ning seems to be pretty cool. I joined the "we love etsy" group as another way to promote my shop. There are quite a few fellow etsiens there. They have a bunch a fun tools to add to your page. Here's a slide show from the photos I uploaded so far:


Find more photos like this on We Love Etsy

It took all of 1 minute to create. Im sure flickr has something similar as do other places as well. Wherever it comes from, it sure is a nice little way to showcase your work.

Yesterday I found this great jewelry shop on etsy, gorgeousredhead. I loved just about everything in her shop. I couldn't resist buying something. Here is what I decided on:



giver her shop a visit, there are lot's of lovely things left. You'll be glad you stopped in.