Etsy Attempts

It's been three days since my last entry...what have I become?!

Have you ever tried to get an Etsy Treasury? I have. I've never actually been successful, but I've tried! I just lately found out that it's easier to get a Treasury West treasury, so I'm attempting to grab one of those today.

I've been working on more gift tags this weekend. I'm going to try renewing four items a day in my Etsy store, I hope it will bring more sales and views into my store.

This past week and weekend I've been focusing on getting more hearts and views into my store. One of the ways I have been pursuing this is by participating in the Etsy Forums more often. I used to comment all the time in there, but have been slacking in that department lately. I'm pretty sure that this is what brought several more hearts into my collection within the last couple days.

Last night I had a dream that I had sold a bag. I checked my Etsy store this morning and it hadn't sold...drag! I was hoping it wasn't just a dream...

I love getting mail!

I came home at lunch on Friday to find two packages waiting for me! One full of this great fabric I found on Ebay and the other MY GOCCO!!!!!! All the way from Japan, little Japanese candies, paper bags and clothes-pins included! I have yet to use my Gocco since I didn't have the PERFECT picture to start with, but I'll be experimenting tonight, so hopefully it goes well and I can post pictures soon.

Also, the Ebay seller that I bought the fabric from has an Etsy shop! Check it out!

I'll be making a Kiki bag out of the fabric and I can't wait to get started...now if only I had some free time....

(before the mess)

Today I was reading through Murray Adams blog (she's one of my new faves) and saw that she had posted pictures of her work space. I decided that was a cool idea and in response to her call for pictures of other's work spaces, here's mine!


(after the mess)

I just have to keep telling myself that mess happens to everyone, especially crafters! It's just naaaatural!

So last night Hubby and I went to the gym. We go several times a week. If it's a "good week", I go about four or five times, if it's a "bad week" it's more like two or three.

I went for my usual run, about half hour and then on the bike until Hubby was done (10 minutesish?). He decided to go and look at this quad he's wanting to buy and I drove home.

Cobie needed a walk so I let her on the road and we started to go our normal route. I still had energy from the gym (you know, that adrenalin rush) and so I started jogging. Before I knew it, we had passed our normal route, gone a couple blocks further and then looped back home. I ran the whole way!! WOOOOOO!!

I've always loved running. I tried to run outside last year and it was so different than running on a treadmill that it really discouraged me. This time I paced myself and ran the entire way and I'm SO pumped! I'm definitely starting to run outside this spring and summer (:

Sorry, there were multiple subjects in this post (:

Promotion and Store Exposure

Do you ever get into that mood where you want to write something profound? I get like that every now and then. Now is one of those times. But there's nothing amazing to write, not yet anyways. Maybe something will come to me in a bit.

Ok, while there's nothing profound to write about there IS something exciting!!

After I posted about the Poppytalk Market the other day, I mentioned it to my husband. The cost of it was a bit of an issue. In the long run, it's a great deal, but at the moment, it's a bit too much for us. I decided to wait for a few months to sign up for the market, to help our bank account out a bit.

We didn't have to coach ball hockey last night (spring break for the kids) so I was cruising on the net and noticed I had received a convo on Etsy. Christy, this amazing artist, had written me asking if I had booked my table for Popptalk yet. She went on to say that we could split the costs and book one together. Brilliant!!

So that's what we're doing. Half the money, double the exposure. I'm so excited!!

Has anyone else ever heard of Indie Parade? I hadn't until today. It's a super cool blog featuring...you guessed it!...indie artists. Some of the sellers are from Etsy, some not, and they're all worth checking out!

Remember to check out this link to submit your own items!

Blogs and Mags

It seems like every day I'm finding new blogs to become addicted to! Check out a few of my new additions on the left:

Oh Happy Day
Elizabeth Dye
{A}
and
Pixie Blossoms

I just noticed that I've added Modish twice...I must love that blog or something (:

Guess what I got in the mail today! My Wish magazine. I can't wait to go home tonight, steep some tea and read it. Maybe have a bath. With the cup of tea and magazine...

I've been loving magazines lately. Decorating on a Budget, Wish, Domino and anything else crafty, gives me puppy dog eyes when I walk past them in the store and I can't help but pick a copy up.

The Bluelines blog is a net-mag (is there even such thing?) of the Blueprint magazine that's another fave of mine.

I'm trying to get a project done so I can show you what I've been working on lately, but it's taking longer than I expected...only because my life is so busy lately. Here's a sneak peek:



In the meantime! Look what I got today!! Just because he loves me (: Awwww!



Oh, have you checked out my ad? Oh, and check out this one too!!

Treasures

I have a great-aunt that is obsessed with sending our family large boxes of household items, whether they are in good condition or not. At first they were boxes of old things she thought we would like; table cloths, ugly lamps, old books...just stuff that she wanted to get rid of. Now the boxes have graduated into collections of junk.

It's kinda sad actually. She can't really afford to send us these things and we keep telling her that (not only are we worried about her financial situation, but most of the things she sends aren't things we want) but she doesn't listen. She's even got to the point where she's going out and buying us bundles and bundles of face cloths and tea towels. Like I said, mom has told her several times that even though we love receiving the boxes, it just isn't necessary, she just doesn't listen.

While I was at my parents house yesterday I looked through a couple boxes and was able to snag a few treasures! The beginning of these boxes were actually quite cool, filled with some great stuff.





I seriously love the red and cream fabric and can't wait to make it into a pillow or even a bag! Some of the items I brought home need a bit of cleaning up. They have the odd rust colored stain on them, but I'm sure I can get them out or work around them. I can't wait to get started!

I need labels. I don't have any for my bags or toys (Yay! I'm a toy-maker-person!) yet, but I neeeeeed to get some. Here's some funky ones I came across in Etsy (where else?). The Dancing Needle has some great labels...custom made so you can get exactly what you're looking for!

So on my other blog, EtsyAlberta, I've asked for people to send me their pictures of crafts or something that represents Etsy.

I'm going to do the same thing here!!

If you have a pic that is crafty, send it to my email with the subject "Etsy Picture" and I'll feature it on this blog! If you have an Etsy store, I'll link your name to it for more exposure (:

The picture can be anything from you crafting, your workspace, your newest crafts, a craft fair you recently went to...be creative!

I can't wait to see them!!

Day of Projects

Today I've been super busy. I woke up dying to craft. I had so many ideas in my head, so many fabrics I wanted to work with, so many bags that needed to be made! It was so annoying to shower, it was going to take up all my craft time! (I did shower, don't worry :)

I'm doing a joint-effort project with another Etsy seller, Jenny Keith Hughes. She's painting several of my bags with her great art work, and we'll both be selling them, either in our Etsy shops or otherwise. I finally had time to work on making more bags for this project today and finished most of them...thank goodness! Here's the first bag we did together.



But my biggest pride today is the toys I made in the below pictures. Pika and Poko. They're bother and sister, the love buttons and safari's and they're always bothering each other. I wasn't able to get a picture of them both together, Pika was ticked off at Poko because she had told him she didn't like his tail. So separate pictures it was! These cuties and their cousins will be for sale soon in my Etsy store!

I posted more boxes in the store this afternoon! Let me know what you think! Do you think larger ones would be more popular or handy?

Here's a few that are on the way!

I love funk. I love unique items that are funky and ingenious. As hopefully you can tell by the items I post (: And most of all, I love having things that other people don't. Isn't it a pain to go into someones house and see that they have the same stuff as you? It's really not that bad, but it would be so nice if everyone didn't shop at WalMart or other big department stores! Etsy (wink wink) is the first step in this direction. The first EASY step. Do you realize how EASY it is to buy on Etsy? Click click click and tada! You have uniqueness. Ok, well, not right away, but you'll have at a week later (: And it's so worth it!

Here are a couple more of my fave stores. The first one is Inkjet Designs, an awesome little company based out of England (yay for Brits!).





The second it a gorgeous etsy stop; Allisons Photography. Seriously, who wouldn't want pink snakeskin magnets or zebra coasters??