BOGO Half Price Sale

I've decided to have a BOGO Half price sale section on some of my Bubbles bracelets in my Etsy shop. I'll refund through Paypal after purchase :)

Tangerine Bubbles


Jade, Purple and Pink Bubbles



Goldenrod Bubbles

Mondays Featured Seller

Todays featured seller is Folksy seller Stacey from JewelleryAngel

My favourite item in her shop is without doubt this funky Totally Loaded Goodies Charm Bracelet



Next I have picked this Balls and Chain Necklace made from plastic, metal and cotton beads.



Stacey has lots of earrings in her shop but these Pearly Hearts Earrings really caught my eye

Friday Round Up

Today is a very big day in our house. My daughter Alex leaves primary school. This week we went to her new school for her induction evening and last night we were at her Leavers Night at the Primary. I felt a little bit sad last night that she really is growing up and starting a whole new era, when she will turn from a little girl into a young woman via the inevitable nightmare teenage years. But I have no choice, she is ready and raring to go - it's me that needs to let go :)

This week I made the deciscion to reopen my Folksy shop. I haven't really added any new stock since Christmas but I've decided that I will give it another go. I like the fact I can refer people to a shop that sells in pounds but there are still a few things about the site that need work on. It remains extremely slow for one and I have still no idea how they decide where an item is in search - I have to hunt through several pages of listings before finding any of my items, even newly listed ones. I've decided to list only a few of the same items as in my Etsy shop, such as a few Bubbles bracelets, but will mainly do a different line of jewellery.

I've listed a few necklaces on Folksy including this Teal and Turquoise Cluster



I've also listed this perfect summer Chunky Boho Necklace



I haven't completely forgotten about Etsy and have been listing some new memory wire bracelets like this Peachy Pink Shimmer Memory Wire Bracelet

Wednesday Wish List

This recent spell of good weather and my upcoming holiday to Cornwall has put me in the mood for summer clothes, so I decided to see what summer skirts I could find on Etsy.

The first one I found that caught my eye is this funky one by ZoeChen



Next, I really liked the fact this Prairie Skirt by LedThread is reversible and can also be worn as a dress.



And finally, I love all the pieces by this fellow EST member ThongbaiTatong, but I the gorgeous mix of patterns and colours in this Cotton Skirt are especially lovely.

Summertime...

and the feeling is easy!

Living in Northern Ireland our weather tends to be a bit wet, a bit windy and rarely lovely.

But over the past few days it's been absolutely glorious! Instead of sitting inside in the evenings, I've been outside with a book in the evening sun, enjoying every minute of it.

Alex took some pics of the flowers on our patio last night -




Yesterday was the longest day of the year. Can't even bear to think that the days start to get shorter now :)

Mondays Featured Seller

Today I'm featuring the work of Folksy potter Angela from TaitGallery

First up are these cute Personalised Ceramic Wedding Favours



Next I really like this Love Heart Gift for your grandma. I'm sure my Mum would love to get one from my kids!



And finally, a very sweet Graduation Keepsake

Craftcount

I stumbled across this interesting link in the Etsy forums last week - it's was for Craftcount I may have mentioned it in an earlier blog post but it was mentioned in relation to paid advertising and I took a better look at what it has to offer.

It basically offers a summmary of the top sellers on Etsy and breaks it down further into 'Overall', 'Handmade', 'Supplies' and 'Vintage'

It wasn't just the sheer volume of sales that these sellers have made that surprised me - 83453 sales for the top supply seller Yadanabeads, 30049 for the top handmade seller TheBlackApple - but that I recognised so few of the sellers on any of these lists!

Even using the option of selecting top sellers by country and putting in 'UK' I only recognised 14 out of the 44 listed.

So what you might ask? Well, it kind of shows that maybe I should spend more time creating and less time browsing the forums for one :D Also, it shows thats you don't need to be one of the admin favourites to sell well on Etsy (though I do think it helps)

Check the site out - it will either inspire or depress you!!!

Front Page!

I'm delighted that my latest treasury made it to the FP of Etsy yesterday! Of course I missed it as I was at work but got home to a convo :)

MOO

I thought I would do a short post about MOO and what it can offer your business. I use MOO business cards and love them! You get to design your own custom careds, using images of your work and put your own message on the back - I put a bit about offering discount for repeat buyers which I used to write by hand and it saves tons of time.

Not only can you get super quality business cards but also mini cards (make great hangers for earrings), postcards, stickers and greeting cards.

Anyone who has not yet tried MOO cards and would like to just leave me a comment with your email address (or convo me on Etsy if prefer) and I will pass on your details to MOO to get you 10% off your first order.

Wednesday Wish List

With Fathers Day just around the corner I've been having a look at what members of the European Street Team have on offer for all those Dads out there.

First up is perfect for the Cool Dad - this Silver Fingerprint dog Tag from AliBaliJewellery



Next, I found this amazing Wood Tie Clip by JealousyDesign



And finally, who could resist this yummy sounding Mens Juniper Berry Soap by Ultimate Organic Soap

Chasing My Tail

Today is one of those days. In fact, it's been one of those weeks! I seem to have so much to do, that nothing much is getting done. It seems like ages since I made anything new and I'm starting to get withdrawal symtoms - not quite the shakes but close enough LOL!

I think since I spent all last week preparing for the school fair and this week working on custom orders (which I love!) is leaving me missing the buzz of making something completely new.

I should say that the school fair was really pretty good and as a result I have orders for 2 necklaces, a bracelet, a pair of earrings and flowergirls jewellery. But instead of being productive, I seem to just be looking at the beads and worrying I'll not get them done.

Is it just me, or does anyone else just faff about when they are at their busiest?

Friday Round Up

This week I've been spending all my free time making bits and pieces for the school fair, which is being held tomorrow. This has left me very little time to make anything new for my shop but I have managed to add this Hot Pink and Black Bubbles bracelet



Also back in stock is this Cherry Red Bubbles bracelet



And finally, also back in stock is this Gold Bubbles Bracelet

I've Been Buying!

Instead of my Wednesday Wish List I thought I should share some of my latest purchases!

I simply had to indulge my passion for more earrings and went back to one of my favourite sellers Chameleonite for these stunning Purple Glass Flower Earrings in Brass



Next I treated Alex to one of Minnies headscarfs. It was hard to pick which one she would like best but I finally choose this this one.



And finally, I needed something to keep all my favourite earrings in so I got this sweet little felted bowl from Colour It Green

Website Grader

I came across a link to this website - Website Grader on the Etsy forums the other day and thought it was worth checking out. You simply put in your shop (or blog) name eg http://www.etsy.com/shop/AMIDesigns and within a couple of minutes it will give you your website grade.

My Etsy shop has a grade of 85, which means (apparantly) - A website grade of 85/100 for www.etsy.com/shop/AMIdesigns means that of the millions of websites that have previously been evaluated, our algorithm has calculated that this site scores higher than 85% of them in terms of its marketing effectiveness.

It will give you lots of other information as well, such as when google last did a crawl of your website, your MOZrank and metadata. Not so sure what things like MOZrank are, so any info is appreciated!!