Changes

I hope everyone had a great holiday. Mine was pretty good. On the home front, I have had to deal with some issues that have kept me away from the shop completely. I am hoping to have everything under control soon. My plan right now is to overhaul the shop this week (creating lots of new things and changing old) and making it all available Monday Jan. 4th. So stay tuned. I probably won't be posting until I get it all done.

Merry Xmas and Happy Holidays!!!

card design by Sweetpapers

Handpint Xmas Presents

Today began the Xmas fun. We tend to spending Xmas eve with my hubby's mother, then Xmas with his dad (my fam live in another state so I wont see them until mid-Jan)

Anyway this morning before making Xmas cookies and heading over to my in-laws we stopped by my daughter's school to drop off presents for her teachers.

I thought I would share the pics before I never knew there were so many things you could create with a kiddo's hand-print. I only did a turkey when I was a kid.

In searching for fun ideas I came across lots of fun ones that are not Xmas related like a sun or giraffe.

My daughter is young and hard to keep focused so I wasn't able to do the painted hand-print which would have been faster but a lot of focus for a 1 year old, so I traced one hand as a template and traced that over and over again to get the rest of them....it took a LONG time but I love how they turned out.

Its a fun way to get the kids involved and really economical :)

Who Doesn't Love New Stuff

I have listed several new items in the shop and I continue to be in love with each and every new item.

Here is my new favorite...I have fun creating it and the pictures turned out great (in my opinion).

I am still working on new items so check back often.

I am currently working on how best to market the shop. I tend to be a shy person when it comes to things like this so the idea of contact people to showcase my items or giving business cards to businesses is a big step but I know I need to step it up and put the shop out there.

I plan on submitting my shop to some blogs and maybe doing some give aways...so much in the works.

Happy Monday!

Ramblings...

I've been very neglectful of this blog. Its been busy all around for me with my day job, the shop and the holiday season. I am working on new designs and putting a lot of focus on figuring out the best ways to promote my shop. I'm hoping to have some images of new items this weekend when I get a chance to do a photoshoot.

I also think I am going to set a schedule for mailing out packages. I realized that trying to get orders done during the week is pretty hard. Not to mention I was sick last week so that slowed me down big time. Right now I get up at 4:30 am (hit or miss lately because I've been super exhausted) and work on shop stuff/new designs by 6 am I need to be out of bed and getting myself and my munchkin ready for work/daycare. I'm gone from my house until 5:30 on a good day and general I can check my email a couple of time during the day but thats hit or miss. Then I try to be a mommy until 8:30/9ish and then its shop time until 11 pm. I am hoping once I am getting consistent sales I can prioritize my time better and find a good balance (yes if you didn't notice my hubby gets very neglected...but he is pretty understanding since he knows how much this means to me).

With Envy Wednesday

I have been really busy with all aspects of my life the last few days and needless to say I'M EXHAUSTED. One of the projects I have been working on are bookplates for my friend Sonya. We are throwing her a work baby shower tomorrow. She is having a girl and she loves the color pink. My mom is making her a pink giraffe afghan and alot of the presents I bought had pink giraffes on them. So I made book plates with pink giraffes. Today I went to by a bunch of stuff and my cart was full of hot pink items. So in honor of hot pink here are some super cute hot pink items from talented Etsy artists.

Recycled felt applique pillow by alexandraferguson $45

not so secret garden ring by cookoorikoo $15

Chloe Collection Lined in Ink Silk by FIAZCO $70 (i love this shop so many cute purses)

Vital Bicycle - women's tshirt by vital $18 ....which matches the bicycle paper goods in my shop (well except my bikes are horizontal)

Busy Bee

I've been very busy this weekend in and out of the shop. This weekend we are decorating for Christmas and I have to get our Christmas card done and mailed. I also am working on shop orders and stuff for my friend's baby shower. I have also been working on re-shooting items per the suggestion of some Etsy members (I requested some feedback).


I have also been working new stationery for the shop. I AM TOTALLY IN LOVE!!!! I had a lot of fun designing these illustrations and Wade helped with some design idea that I am still working on.

I listed these in my shop

Stop by the shop to see more options!

With Envy Wednesday

A new feature (well everything is new because this blog is new but whatever), called With Envy Wednesday where I plan on showcasing items from shops I like and eventually I would like to feature an artist of shop. Tomorrow is the Civil War game between U of Oregon Ducks and Oregon State Beavers. Its a HUGE game because both teams are in the running for trip to the Rose Bowl. I did not grow up in Oregon so I really only a Ducks fan because green is part of their colors and my hubby is a Ducks fan.

So in honor of the Civil War game here are some neat collegiate based items from my families favorite schools.

1)For My Hubby-University of Oregon-Ducks

Upcycled Coffee Sleeve w/Pocket by MommaBearCrafts $5

2)For My Dad-University of Missouri-Tigers (GO MIZZOU!!!)

Mizzou Frame by Lettersbylandmark $90

3)For My Sister-Duke University-Blue Devils

Dammit Doll by Pghpatchworkgal (so funny, my sister would probably want a UNC on though) $8.50

4)For My Husbands Father- Oregon State-Beavers

Oregon State Beavers Tote by laurabeachcreations $15

5)For My Husbands Step-Father-University of Wisconsin-Badgers

Upcycled Glass Tendant Necklace by rcbowan1 $6

HAPPY WEDNESDAY AND STAY TUNED FOR NEW ITEMS IN THE SHOP!!

Critiques

I spent most of the holiday weekend adding new items to the shop. Now that the work week has come back it's been harder to find time to do much with the shop. I have been creating items at night after my daughter goes to bed. But as far as having time to print, cut and photograph items, I really don't have any until the weekend. I am going to try and get new items created during the week and then spend most of the weekend doing all the other stuff. I will also try and print what I can before I leave for work and photograph when I get home (I have about 30 minutes, if I leave right at 5..which is rare, before my daughter gets home from daycare), so I might be ale to list new items during the week. I would prefer to list during the week because it seems like there is more traffic. But I will eventually find the best strategy for me.

All week I have been mentally critiquing my shop, which is hard because I really don't know what other people think. So I went to the Etsy Forums and asked for critiques of my shop. That was a big step for me because I will admit I have a hard time with criticism and I can be pretty sensitive. But I really needed feedback from people other than my family/friends. The information that I have so far has pretty much been what I was thinking. I sounds like my photos are a bit busy and some are too dark. So I will be working on re-shooting items and trying to find good backgrounds that don't detract from my products.

Another issue that I am having is that when I first started this I loved the idea of have the patterns on my items slightly visible over the white/writing portion. I thought it was cute. I still like it but I worry that it makes the cards to busy. I am rethinking this but still have not decided if I will change things all together or offer another option and see what sells better.

I also have some fun things I have been working on that I am absolutely IN LOVE with. So stay tuned !