The Black Hole of Time

I'm not sure where this week went. I know that sounds cliche, but I really don't. From Monday night to today it just...went. You know it's bad when I woke up this morning and my first thought was "What day is it?" and it took me a good 3 minutes to figure it out. And so, you begin to understand the lack of blog posts. : )

In other news, I got a haircut on Saturday. I think it's darling. ^_^ It is also short. Not the shortest it's ever been, mind you, but gloriously, free-ingly light. Not only did she cut my hair she also thinned it out. I have my mother's fine hair and my father's abundance of hair. (Well, when he had hair ; ) Which means hair cuts usually involve thinning out 1/3 or so of my hair. I feel so much better!



Also, we officially have the world's cutest cats ever. Check out Abby making "Puss N' Boots" eyes at the camera.



She's all curled up so you can't tell how much she has grown in this picture. Trust me, she's growing quick enough! Not as quick as Jack though, who will soon be one of those "dog-cats" of immense musculature and swagger. Strangely enough, Jack is content to sun himself while other cats wander by the windows while Abby goes chasing after them, hissing and growling. Just a mite bit territorial. : )

Well Read Dragonlings

I have been busily stocking up my shop with dragonling bookmarks! I am so excited to finally get these listed. We just won't mention that I originally made these a year ago.

I always used to look at those "Book Thongs" they would sell in Borders and think, that's a good idea but...But they would get tangled on the rack so you couldn't see them. And they were just so awfully put together. The colors, the charms, the whole thing left me very disappointed. Not to the mention the thing string they used seemed at risk for fraying though if used a lot.

So when VAST held a contest for bookmarks, that was all the kick-in-the-rear I needed to actually get my bookmarks put together. The contest went swimmingly, with lots of beautiful entries, and I was absolutely delighted to discover that my little dragonling bookmark had won! I listed a couple on Etsy, made up an additional batch and bought the supplies for many more. And then the idea stalled out somehow. I took them to my craft shows, but I never quite got around to taking photos of the rest of the bookmarks to list on Etsy.

Well finally, this weekend, in my previously described fit of phototaking, I got that done! YAY!

And now, I am enjoying the fruits of my labor merrily listing up bookmarks on Etsy. ^_^




Each dragonling is hand drawn and colored by yours truly, which means every bookmark is an original piece of art. Which is pretty neat in my book. : )

In Sympathy

The single most common request I get is for sympathy cards. And I understand why. There is just something about the sweet simplicity of my flowers, the understatedness of the design that would lend itself beautifully to the solemn mood of sympathy card.

So I have been on the hunt--searching high and low, for a very long time, to find the message that would be *just right*. Because I am very picky about the sentiments that go on my cards. I don't want the "usual". "With Sympathy" or "Happy Birthday" just don't seem special enough for the precious people in your life. On the other hand, some sayings are so overblown as to be insincere. Copious mentions of religion are something I try to avoid, so that rules out a whole 'nother category. And then of course, there is the small matter of not violating copyright rules. Oh boy.

My first 3 or 4 full on searches were so fruitless that I finally went into "standby" mode. Meaning everytime I was looking for something else, I would look for sympathy messages as well. And, finally, I found that sentiment that struck just the right cord. Not insincere, not overly preachy, not forcibly happy, not gag-me mush, but simple, sweet, heartfelt, compassionate, and understanding.

Today I listed the first of my cards with the new message.



It reads "When someone you love becomes a memory, a memory becomes a treasure."

Happy Thanksgiving!

(Well to those who are celebrating! Excellent days to everyone else! : )

Today was a wonderful day. Not only is my husband a very accomplished turkey roaster (who knew?) but today I got TONS of back items photographed. It wasn't until I looked at my signature on some of the pieces that I realized that some of these items had been waiting OVER A YEAR to be photographed and listed! Yikes! Procrastinate much?

The good news is the photos are now taken and the listing has begun! Check out one of the first...a little dragonling bookmark!

I am ridiculously pleased with how well the photos turned out!

I also was able to spend some time talking to my parents and my hubby and I have made plans to attack Kohl's early tomorrow during their crazy Black Friday sale! On their website today I found a polo shirt for $3.40. I bought two--one for my hubby and one for my brother. It looks like they are putting most things on sale for 50% off or more! We are hoping to pick up some casual clothes for the husband and some work clothes for me!

This will be my first time participating in Black Friday and not just huddling at home avoiding the crowds! Will anyone else be out there, braving the stores?

Gratitude

Here in the US, tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Essentially, a day filled with food and family (and did I mention lots of food?), it is also a day to stop and reflect on all those things that we are grateful for. Here are a few of mine.

1. My patient, supportive, selfless, loving husband. He does so much for me (and the kittens) and never complains. Coming home to him every day is a treasure.

2. My sweet, adorable, long-awaited fluffballs of kittens. They have personality and spunk AND they are lap cats!

3. My job which lets me learn everyday doing things I love and my co-workers who are willing to teach and share.

4. The internet which lets me keep in touch with old friends and meet new ones.

5. Etsy for giving me an avenue to sell my work, which has taught me valuable lessons in entrepreneurship and buisness.

6. My family for being the right kind of crazy.

7. My friends for their unconditional love and support. And for making the effort to stay in touch since we moved.

8. My Etsy customers, who so loved my work, they were willing to give up some of their hard earned money.

9. Chocolate. Because it's delicious and saves sanity. ; )

The Journey

One of the best things about art is the journey to the product. You know, that "a-ha" that leads you from one bright idea to another. Ping-ponging among possibilities.

This particular piece started with my very first flower cards. I began with large flowers on 5" x 7" cards that I had on hand, and offered the option of adding a message under the flower. A few of my first buyers clued me in to the real potential, saying things like "Oh, this is so lovely! I'm going to frame it instead of mailing it out!". Hrmmm.

When I did my first craft show last December, my mom broke out a couple of frames she had on hand and we framed up a couple of cards. Since then, those have been a staple of my shows, and people are always much more interested in the framed cards than in the unframed ones. It adds that "special something".



Since then I have toyed with the idea of buying frames and framing up the cards and selling framed art. I have some unfinished frames from a long-lost plan to decoupage frames as gifts one year, but I really didn't know if I wanted to commit myself to finishing frames. I found frames at Target and such, but the ones inexpensive enough to consider were also not of a quality I was happy with. So nothing happened.

And then, Etsy came through for me! I found the most fantabulous seller, mudpuppy, selling handmade, resin frames that were just perfect.

With the missing ingredient in hand, I was finally able to pull together my first framed original work.



I just love it! (Of course, I may be a bit biased here. ; )

Getting Going Again!

Finally, new things in the shop! HOORAY! I actually have a ton of stuff made up but I keep missing the light/motivation to take pictures. This weekend I made two realizations: (1) I hadn't yet listed all the things I had taken pictures of and (2) some of the things I was waiting to retake pictures of could be fixed in a photo-editing program instead. HOORAY!

I've been listing like crazy the last couple of days. I am trying to show some restraint so that I don't run out of photos, but it's tough when I am so excited about getting some new things in the shop!

Anyway, now available in the shop:

A Guide to Shopping on Etsy for the Holidays

Being that I am taking part in the Handmade Pledge I thought I would stop and take a moment to help buyers who are new to Etsy (and perhaps working off someone else's wish list) learn how to effectively shop Etsy. This list is based on my own experiences last year giving people a wish list of Etsy items. If you would like to send these helpful tips to others, simply direct them to this link! Thank you!

If you are looking to buy for other on Etsy this holiday season, here are some common questions and their answers

1. But it's already sold!!! Because Etsy is a handmade site, each item has to be listed individually. Because sellers want to spread out their listings to maximize exposure, they typically place very low quantities up for sale at a given time. This DOES NOT necessarily mean the item is one of a kind (OOAK). Even if the item were one of a kind, the great thing about handmade items is that there is a good chance that they could make something similar.

If someone has sent you a link to an item that you would like to purchase and that page says that it is already sold, you have two options.



a) Check the seller's store to see if they have listed anything similar. You can do this by clicking on the word "shop" underneath the seller's name in the sidebar to the right. From there you can browse their store.

b) Ask the seller directly. You can do this by clicking on the word "contact" underneath the seller's name in the sidebar to the right. This will open up a "conversation" between you and the seller. (Note: in order for this to work, you must be logged into your Etsy account). Most sellers will respond to you within a day or two.

PLEASE NOTE: If you choose to contact sellers, the default way for them to contact you back is through the conversation feature. If you are not going to be logging into Etsy frequently, you may wish to ask them to email you directly.

2. I can't find anything Because Etsy's search engine relies on the tags and titles that sellers give their own items the results can be a bit unpredictable. If you are finding that you are getting a lot of the "wrong" items, trying using an exclusionary search. Which is just a fancy way of saying add NOT into your search with the term you want to exclude.

For example, let's say I wanted to search for listings that mention peridot. However, I don't want to purchase jewelry with peridot stones. I would type

peridot NOT jewelry

into the search bar. The results that were returned to me would then be only items that both included the word peridot and did not include the word jewelry.

You can string as many words as you like together this way:

business card holder NOT wallet NOT crochet

(that search would give you all items including the words business, card, and holder, and removing any items with the words wallet or crochet)

Also, if you are having trouble finding things, check the spelling of your search terms. Business not buisness. Jewelry not jewlery. Etc.

3. Is there anyway I can find my friend's wish list on Etsy? Unlike Amazon, Etsy does not have a specific "wish list" feature like you may be familiar with. Instead, Etsy has "favorites". If you know an etsy user's name, and they have their favorites set to public, you can look at them and see what they have marked.

For instance, say I was your friend and you wanted to check out my favorite items. You know that my user name is mrsdragon so simply go to your browser address bar and type

http://mrsdragon.etsy.com

This works regardless of if the person has a shop on Etsy or not.

That will bring you to either a shop (if they are a store owner) or a profile page (if they are solely a buyer).

If they are solely a buyer, the page will look something like this:



Look to the right and click on "favorites".

If they are a seller, it's a bit trickier to find because there is so much more stuff on the page. Scroll down until you see their avatar (a small picture) in the right hand sidebar. Look just under that and click "favorites".



Once you click "favorites", you will be taken to a page that looks something like this:



You can use the tabs at the top to select between seeing the items they have marked as favorite and the sellers they have marked as favorite. There are arrows below each page of items that you can use to page forward and backward. If the item is available, you will see the price listed. If it has already sold, you will see the word "Sold" instead. (However, never fear! Click anyway and go back to point 1 on this list!)

One cautionary note about shopping off favorite lists. Each person uses them differently. For instance, I add things to my lists that I love (and want to own), pieces that inspire me, things I just like for no real reason, things with really great design elements, gift ideas for others, several contenders when I am shopping for something particular, or just things I want to save to show someone later. It is always best to know the person you are shopping for!

You can also use favorite lists as a sort of "best of" list curated by that person. Many people on the forums have said that they love browsing other people's favorites list as a way of finding new pieces and artists. So if you are in the mood for window shopping, that can be a great way to go. : )

4. How does buying work? Etsy allows you to keep a "shopping cart" while you are shopping. To add an item to your cart simply select the big green button that says "Add to Cart" in the upper right hand corner.



This will take you to a new page that shows what you have in your cart. You can either checkout or continue shopping. To continue shopping hit the gray "Keep Shopping" button on the upper right and you will be taken back to the shop you just added an item from.



You can continue browsing the site (and even use the back button on your browser to get back to the favorites page if you like. The item that you added will stay in your cart. You can add as many items as you like and you can always return to your cart from the little icon in the upper left. The items you select will be grouped by seller. To remove something from you cart, simply click where it says "X Remove".



When you are ready, click on "Checkout".

This will take to you a page where you can enter your address.



Once you do, click on "Next Step". You will be taken to a page where you will select your payment type and can add any notes to the seller.



The message to seller box is the place to give the seller any information that they may need to complete your order like size, color, message, etc. You can also write them a short note or say thanks or just leave it blank.

When you are ready click on the big green "Submit Order" button. Once you have done this you have committed yourself to the purchase and must pay.

The next page will show you everything you have bought and your totals from each seller with shipping included. You will need to pay each seller individually from this page. If you are paying with paypal, you can simply click on the paypal buttons for each seller. If you are paying through another method, this shows the amount you will need to pay.

Happy Holiday shopping! If you have any questions not answered here, drop them in the comments and I will do my best to help! : )

Calendars

Every year around this time, it occurs to me that I will need a new calendar. So I hem, and I haw, and I start obsessively investigating options. I need one that is beautiful, but not frivolous. One that will meet my practical needs and still look good. Every month. Because, you see, if I only get to change pictures once a month, I must like them ALL. Of course, that assumes I stick with a traditional calendar. There are dozens of other options--perpetual calendars (too much of a commitment), daily calendars (too much work), yearly calendars (not enough variety)--but I prefer my monthly format.

Now, in years past, I spent several months frowning at the awful, boring, overdone calendars in Borders and sometime in January, when the calendars were on sale for 75% off, I would pick the least offensive and deal with it.

Not this year! This year I have Etsy and oh my! I could drown in all the beautiful, colorful, creative options. So tonight, I went shopping. *sheepish grin* I haven't bought a calendar this early in, well, ever.

So what made it into my cart for the final round of decisions?



Done in tones of brown and beige I thought "Ooh, this would go with my brown theme in my office!". My husband adored it too, thinking it was simple and sophisticated.



Brilliant colors and page layouts by one of my favorite digital designers on Etsy (check out her cards, *swoon*), this calender gets extra awesome points for featuring quotes. (I am a sucker for meaningful text.)



This little black bird is curious, cute, and just darn everywhere! Love the simplicity and the cohesiveness.

And as long as I am discussing calendars, I will go for the shameless promotion and pimp out the FAE Etsy Street Team calendar. Put together by Sarah of Artca the calendar features work from many of our talented members. : )

Here is my page:

How to Write a News Release and My News

I thought that this article was well written and informational. I also thought it might be of considerable interest to those who (like many indie businesses) are their own PR department. And, if you scroll to the bottom, she has an email list you can join for more articles along the same lines.

In my news, Airyn will be winging off to her new home tomorrow! Safe travels little one!



Also, the trees are changing colors here and I love it. This is my first fall with trees that do that, you know. I am drinking in the beauty of it all.

Snowflake Fantasy

The current FAE (Fantasy Artists of Etsy) Street Team contest is of the theme "Snowflake Fantasy".

I knew I wanted to create an ACEO with my dragonlings, but what exactly...? So I thought and thought and came up with MY snowflake fantasy.



As I wrote on the back of the ACEO:

"Small dragonlings carefully guide each snowflake to its designated spot in the sky so that it will fall "just so" and at exactly the right time. This ACEO is my own interpretation of the magic in the ordinary."

The contest ends at the beginning of December, and I will be sure to update you all once voting starts. Each contest sees amazing work from all of our team members and I'm sure this one will be no different.

It's also a great theme to shop by if you are looking for some seasonal decorations with some fantasy flare. : )

Ah, A Productive Day

Today was a GREAT day! I got some cards made (including some with my latest saying!), ran to the post office to get a much delayed package sent out, ran to Kmart, spent some quality time with my husband, caught up with my parents AND my brother, and had not one but TWO delicious meals that actually involved some degree of real cooking! Yay!



It is way past my bedtime now, but I am so excited to be getting back on track with making things for my shop and getting things off my to-do list!

Promotion Comotion

As a community of online sellers, Etsy is commonly abuzz with talk of how to use the internet to reach new markets, find your audience, and promote. Myspace, indiefinds, flickr, squidoo, talent database and approximately a million other sites allow you to get other and there are many strategies on how to use them effectively and where to spend your time.

However, what many digital sellers underestimate is the power of being (almost) famous in your own home town. Local art shows and craft fairs can provide a great way to connect with your customers and sell your wares but promoting yourself goes deeper than just that.

The other day a local blog for artists posted this article about how to become almost famous.

Check it out, it may give you new ideas or provide the kick in the rear we all occasionally need to make it happen.

Tonight

Tonight disappeared into, well, I'm not sure exactly what. The time sink cause by daylight savings time? That must be it.

I did however, get one of my mistletoe cards back in the shop. Yay!

Oh My!

I'm back! I'm alive! And no one was harmed in the process!

I apologize for my long and unannounced blogging hiatus. It was a combination of factors including my poor computer being unplugged and handed off from person to person for much of last week in an attempt to set up home networking so I can (gasp) work from home. Theoretically it's as easy as installing the software and away you go. In practice, for me...she of the anti-Midas touch for all things electronic? It's six weeks and counting of back and forth and "try this" and do that and talking to the tech guy. (And it's not over yet!)

Anyway, the other factors include some time off for my own mental health. Sometimes, you just have to sit back, take a deep breath, and say "something's got to go", or else something will go and that something will be your sanity.



Thus it is that I stepped down this week as the moderator of the FAE Street Team. The ever fabulous Sarah of artca fame will join Chel (aka chelmorning to create the new dynamic duo. Unbeknownest to be, they have been friends outside of Etsy for quite some time, so I am even more confident that I made the right decision. The group is in excellent hands, and I will be able to continue my participation as a member instead of a moderator.

This is just the beginning of a resorting. I also need to rank my priorities elsewhere and carve out a schedule for my weekends so I can actually get things made! : ) But it is a start.

Also, because it seems ridiculously on topic, the ACEO shown here is called "Juggle" and is a piece that I did based on an Illustration Friday" topic of the same name that I ran across while scanning their list of past topics. The card shows a little dragonling juggling several balls (seemingly) effortlessly, while the words in the background hint at the true effort it is taking to keep them all afloat. Too often we only see how easy it looks when other people "do it all" and, at the same time, are hyper conscious of all the "background noise" that fills our own juggling. The truth is both levels exist for everyone, based on our own strengths and weaknesses (and how much help we have!). And sometimes, like this week, we need to know that it's okay to hand a ball or two off to other people so we can keep the others in the air.