Friday Roundup

This week has been pretty busy with my 3 Front Pages, so to be honest I've not made much new stuff, I've been working on replacing items that have sold.

I did make this Lavender Floral Bracelet. Well, I made two as the first sold within a couple of hours of me listing it!


I've also working on a custom order of matching Ivory Bubbles Bracelet and Earrings. It's been a bit frustrating waiting for supplies I've ordered on the internet though - some companies are great and ship immediately, some I've had real problems with this week, with the wrong order being sent through twice!

I also made this Cerulean Memory Wire Bracelet which is a little wider than my usual, so is perfect for those with a slightly bigger wrist.



And finally, I'm having a 10% off sale throughout my shop this weekend - I'll refund through Paypal after purchase.

Front Page!

Well they say things come in 3's and that's been true for me and Etsys Front Page this week! In addition to the FP on Saturday I've been featured twice more!

The first one was on Monday in this stunning blue treasury by lazygiraffe -



and the other was on Tuesday morning in this lovely hot pink treasury by BeadsbySam



Thanks to both of you for including my bracelets in your treasuries!

Etsy Showcases!

I've always been a bit unsure about buying a slot on one of the showcases on Etsy, as I've not read particularly good things about them in the forums.

However I eventually decided to bite the bullet last Friday on the Fall Wedding Showcase and thought I'd share my experience. Coincidentally that was the night I was on the FP as well - typical!- so it's hard to tell which results have come from which!

The item I featured in the showcase, the
Fizzy Bubbles Bracelet is one of my best sellers as a bridal piece.



It didn't sell on Friday.

However I did get 4 enquiries about custom orders for bridesmaid accessories. 2 of these have become definite orders for multiple items, which is fantastic!

So would I pay the $15 again for a showcase?

Well, I wouldn't say definitely yes, but I may be tempted to do a wedding one again, as I do think it brought extra exposure to my shop. It's not something I would rush into though, as I think $15 is pretty steep for one days advertising.

Mondays Featured Seller

Todays featured seller is Folksy seller Chloe from Hatastic



What is your name/business name?
Hatastic!

What is your craft?
I design and make fascinators, headdresses, and other such hair accessories.



How long have you been crafting for?
I have always made things, but Hatastic! was officially born in March 2009

What is your most favourite thing about your craft?
I LOVE being able to put things together from whatever I can find at home or in secondhand shops! Currently I am making a bespoke piece for a client which includes a pheasant feather. I didn't have any fabric that was quite the right colour to go with the feather, and used an old makeup bag which was totally unusable and had aged naturally, so the gorgeous patent pewter colour of the bag was cut up! Looks fab!



And the least favourite?
Paperwork!


Where do you sell your work?
Folksy and a bit on Etsy, but I am lucky to have a few stockists too.
Eco Emporia
Rococo Ethical Boutique
The Oriental Magpie
Shop Curious
Mary Portas Living and Giving Shop



I am also featured in
Not Just a Label
Cosa Verde

Anything else you'd like to tell us?
I am also a blogger for Eclipse Magazine on hat fashion. Check out the current competition where you can win the exclusive Eclipse Fascinator! Ends on 14th September so enter now!

http://www.eclipsemagazine.co.uk/magazine/winaneclipsefascinatorfromhatastic.html

Thanks so much for answering my questions and I hope you'll all enter the competition as it ends today!

Front Page!

I woke yesterday morning to find out that I made it to the Front Page on Etsy overnight thanks to PaisleyChainsaws treasury.



I got a total of 30 new shop hearts, 1500+ new item views and a total of 81 new item hearts! No sales though but it's amazing what half an hour on the FP does!

Friday Roundup

I've had another good week on Etsy which was rounded off yesterday by my treasury making the front page!



This was a last minute poster sketch that I did using the search term UK, so I'm really pleased it made it to the FP! On a side note, is anyone else getting fed up with the huge volume of admin curated front page? It seems 9 times out of 10 when I log on that it's an admin FP, which I always think is a bit of a shame when there are so many gorgeous treasuries.

Anyway, I'd delighted that I've reached 250 sales on Etsy this week. My goal this year had been to reach 200 sales by the end of September, so I'm chuffed I've surpassed it.

I've got to say that I'm loving the rearrange your shop feature. I've spent far too much time playing about with it and it is a bit irritating to have to keep rearranging when I renew or list something new, but with practice I'm getting better.

On the crafting front I've made another pearl bracelet. This one is Metallic Blue



I've also been working on some new memory wire bracelets. This one I've called Irish Sea as the colours remind of the stormy seas around the North Coast.



I'm working on another custom order as well, so I'll let you see it once I've completed it

Photos

I've been asked a few times about how I take my pics and I've decided to do a short tutorial today.

Can I stress immediately I am no photographer, I've just improved my pics over the past year and a half or so of selling online.

There's no doubt the best way to get customers into your shop is to draw them in by great photos. When I'm looking to make treasuries or just browsing with a view to buy, my eye immediately runs past many lovely items just because the pic is poor.

When I started selling online I had absolutely no idea about taking photos of jewellery. This is one of the first pieces I sold on Etsy.


Really pretty dreadful because the shadow is so harsh. I remember getting so frustrated waiting for sunshine to make it as bright as possible. A friendly Etsian sent me a convo telling me to improve my pics or I'd have trouble selling online. She suggested using something like Photoshop. I'd never heard of it, but it really was a god-send. It took a bit of practice before I stopped dazzling everyone with the over bright pics! Unbelievably this bracelet sold to someone who has become a great repeat buyer!



Gradually I got much better and am pretty proud of this pic of one of my first memory wire bracelets I sold last July.


So now I use Picassa which is free to download. I take all my pics outside, in the shade on a pure white background using the macro setting. Ours is a pretty basic camera (don't ask me the make!) Once they are loaded onto the computer, I just edit them with Picassa. This allows me to whiten the background and just as important, crop them.

The white background works best with dark colours like this blue bracelet -


but not so well with paler beads like in this lemon bracelet -


I still stuggle to find an alternative background when the white doesn't work and usually pick a grey/black one, which I'm not too keen on.

Hope this has been helpful and as I say, I'm certainly no expert!