Craftrgawker

Spent the week updating my shop, chatting on the forums, listing my items on other websites and yes even tweeting on my new twitter account, (I now have 6 followers (how, I don't know)). Also found some new free sites and just submitted my four items to a new site Craftgawkers. This is a great site as the photo is a direct link to your shop.

Yes, that's my fat quarter bag, Wood Handle Handbag in Garden Maze Brown on the left in the first row....

In fact, last Thursday, my Floating Pebbles Necklace was posted on their site and as of today my view count was up to 753 views but no sales as of yet.... :( ...

I have spent so much time online, yet no time making anything...this marketing thing is a lot of work.

Look What I Found

So this morning I was reading through The Storque section in Etsy regarding shop makeovers and browsing the forums for some business tips when someone's question caught my eye. She had asked if there was a way to quickly copy a similiar item in their shop when creating a new listing . Another shop owner mentioned an individual who built some very cool tools for his wife's Etsy Shop.

If you currently have a presence on Etsy, you should check him out...

#!etsyhacks

Below are some of his popular hacks:

• copy listing - create a new listing based on an existing one.
• item zoom - adds a zoom icon to images in search and shop listings.
• edit this item - edit or delete a listing from the View Listing page.
• buyer info - add extra information to the "buyer" box on a receipt page.
• forum wrangler - add extra features to the Etsy forum pages.

Now if he could only write a script to let you edit an expired listing before relisting...

New Item in Shop

And today's new item:

Garden Maze in Brown Fat Quarter Bag

A great small handbag in a fabulous cotton print from Amy Butler's Midwest Modern Collection, "Garden Maze in Brown." A color palette that consists of tan, brown, yellow, white and hot pink, then lined with a coordinating pink cotton fabric. The interior has a large split pocket, a great place to keep your blackberry, cellphone, keys or other important items as well as a magnetic snap to keep your items secure. The bag was constructed with a 2" inch gusset, interfacing and a plastic bottom to help maintain its shape and is finished with light brown wooden handles.

Approximate bag measurements:
Length: 9 1/4"
Top Width: 10"
Bottom Width: 12"
Handles: 3 1/4 x 5 1/2"
Overall length: 12 1/2"

Spot Clean when necessary and use low heat to iron. Fabric pattern placement may vary.

New Items in Shop

Added to two more handbags to my shop:

Gray and Yellow Dot on Black Fat Quarter Bag

A great little summer bag to carry you into fall, but large enough to carry your essentials. Cotton fabric with a color palette that consists of black, yellow and gray and lined with a coordinating black cotton fabric. The interior has a split large pocket, a great place to keep your blackberry, cellphone, keys or other important items as well as a magnetic snap to keep your items secure. The bag was constructed with a 2" inch gusset, interfacing and a plastic bottom to help maintain its shape and is finished with black wooden handles.

Approximate bag measurements:
Length: 8 1/2"
Top Width: 10"
Bottom Width: 11"
Handles: 3 1/4 x 5 1/2"
Overall length: 12 1/4"

Clematis Gray Pleated Handbag

A great pleated midsized tote in a fabulous cotton print from Amy Butler's Daisy Chain Collection, "Clematis Grey." The color palette consists of aqua, gray and teal and then lined with a coordinating light turquoise cotton fabric. The interior has split deep pocket, a great place to keep your blackberry, cellphone, keys or other important items as well as a magnetic snap to keep your items secure. This lightweight bag is also constructed with interfacing to help maintain its shape.

Approximate bag measurements:
Height: 10 3/4"
Width: 10" wide at the top & 15 1/2" at widest point across the bottom
Handles: 10 1/2"
Overall Length: 20"

New Item in Shop

So it's back to work, first item on the list:

Posting items in my shops, so today's new item is the Fredrika Slouch Tote Bag

Midsized slouch tote bag in a fabulous Ikea home decor fabric. The color palette consists of oranges and blue and turquoise and lined with a coordinating orange heavy canvas fabric. The interior has two deep pockets, a great place to keep your blackberry, cellphone, keys or other important items. The bag was constructed with interfacing to help maintain its shape as well as a magnetic snap to keep your items secure and includes a 3" inch gusset at the bottom to accommodate all of your essentials.

Approximate bag measurements:
Length: 12"
Width: 13 1/2"
Handles: 21 1/4"
Overall length: 21"

Back from Vacation

Spent a fabulous week in Washington DC with DH and some of my family.


We had such a great time, I didn't want to come back. But it's back to the grind, time to start getting ready for the holiday season, make some decisions about a few more shows and post items on Etsy and 1000 Markets.

Back to work.

What's been occupying my time....

Almost a month since my last post. I am not apologizing as I blog without guilt, but I have missed it. Last month, my application for the Sayville Summerfest was accepted and therefore for the past 30 days I have been sewing non-stopped in preparation for the August 1-2 weekend event. This is the 3rd or 4th time we have done the show, the first two shows were great, the 3rd one was terrible and last year we skipped doing shows altogether. I was a bit hesitant to apply for this show as I wasn't too sure if folks would be willing to do some spending in this economy. In addition, I also decided I would also fly up North to assist my sister (who usually does all the selling) man the booth.


The first day, Saturday was disappointing, my sister said it was a beach day and it show in our sales. The next day was overcast and the place was mobbed with people. My sales were great until about 1:00pm and then the rains came and by 2:30pm we started packing it up because it was downpouring. I still came out ahead despite the booth fee, airline ticket and material cost, but I just wished it would have rained closer to the end time which was 6:00pm.

This time around, in addition to the jewelry, I was selling handbags and my lampwork beads. I didn't sell as many handbags as I would have liked and I did have a bunch of lookers. I think my tiny fat quarter handbags were priced a few dollars too high, but perhaps they will sell on Etsy. I was also surprise by how many folks purchased my lampwork sets.

Overall it was a good trip, I got to spend time with my parents and two other sisters and it was interesting to watch people react to my products. We even had, according to my sister, repeat customers from previous shows. Yep it was a good trip.