sell things on etsy

I’m up to about 4 sales now, and have some custom orders that I need to work on, as well. In the last month or so, my page views have decreased a little. Not sure why, but I’m working on promoting myself. If you are in need of a cuddly sock animal that you’d like to open your home to, go and check out the site. I have monkeys, bears, dogs, and am working on some more animals as well!

http://fourheartscreations.etsy.com

I haven’t had any sales since the last two and I think my page views have decreased as well. I haven’t had the time to promote my site or even create new things for it, so obviously thats not going to attract any attention. I am working on an idea now to do custom shop banners. Since my shop has a boutique feel though, I’m not sure if I should just make a new shop for graphics or just add a graphics line. I have tons of other handmade ideas but otherwise lack the time and materials to complete them.

Off etsy though, I’m working on a painting for a friend so I’ll get some extra money from that without having to give etsy a percent of the transaction.

I have big ideas so I’m just gonna have to keep working.

it’s in the works, ladies & gents! & i’m oh so very excited :)

-chris

Even more so with the beautiful headbands I’ve seen. I anticipate that I will be spending far too much money on decorative hair accessories sooner or later.

Last week, I was talking to someone and they said something along the lines of how I don’t want to be working in a bakery for the rest of my life (I’m 18 and have been working their for 2 and a half months – this strikes me as a little overstated). Anyway, I said that I’ve never truely known what I want to do with my life other than work for myself. I don’t want to be rich or famous, I just want to live comfortably doing something I love. I know that I’d prefer to be doing something creative and fashion design has stuck out to me for quite some time. After watching series after series of Project Runway/Catwalk however, I realised that there is only one aspect of fashion that I have real passion for and that’s lingerie. I’m a girly girl when it comes to clothes so making romantic handmade matching bars and knickers gets me excited and where better to start than Etsy!

I was even more inspired when I went looking for inexpensive, elegant underwear in soft satin fabrics and pretty pastle colours with cute little details like bows, pleats, ruffles and lace. Unfortunately, nothing really fit my criteria and the closest things I could find were very expensive. The rest of the lingerie I found was, to put it quite bluntly, slutty. I’m the kind of person who likes classy, feminine underwear and choose it based on how it makes me feel as opposed to what a man would prefer.

Anyway, I’m very excited and inspired and am hoping to crack on with it all as soon as possible!

I’m just at the very beginning stages of planning this one. It is going to take a lot of steps before I can even start listing items. I will consider this goal met when I have successfully completed a sale and shipped out my first item.

3 sales!!

These were completely random, not someone I know that commissioned work. I sold a pair of vintage earrings and a mini painted bird house.

I was so excited that I sold 2 in one week!

I’ve been procrastinating on a paper the last several days, thinking about all the things I’d rather be doing. I’ve got a mental list of what crafts would be best for an etsy shop…esp. since it’s not like I don’t have a full time job or grad school or a dog and a house or anything!

For starters, I think the covered flower pots would be good. It’s the right season for potting, they’re cheap and easy to make, since I already have the templates made. I need to remember to only use soft, cottony papers. I can’t seem to do it without at least a few wrinkles, and they look much more natural on a textured, soft paper like Lokta, Washi, Yuzen or Fiori. Oooo…Fiori would be really nice.

Knitting is too slow, and I get too emotionally involved…but maybe in a few years, I’ll get back into making condom hats (I know, sounds silly…but that’s how they fit and roll on…I think they’re cute) and put a few up. I used to whip them out like crazy, but right now, there’s a million other knitting projects on the reel, and none of them getting done.

Card making would be a slam-dunk, except that there’s a million people out there selling hand stamped cards that are probably cuter, nicer or more sophisticated than mine. But I can give it a shot.

There are a few niches that people haven’t filled, I think. One is pre-made scrapbook pages…there are a few, but not very many. I’ve been doing this for my friend AM…she won’t scrapbook, but she will paste in a few photos and a block of text. Actually, most of her scrapbook I’ve been putting the photos in…but you get the idea. She got married recently, and I made pages for some of the events leading up to it…a trip we made to see her guy while he was deployed (he proposed as soon as he got back, so I think it counts), the marathon she ran the week after he got back (she trained to distract herself from him being gone), and a few more pages are in the works: engagement dinner, bridal shower, rehearsal dinner, wedding, reception…

The eventual goal is to sell marbleized papers…another niche that I think needs filling. It’s why I started thinking about this the other day…Martha Stewart was doing it on television…tiny little 18×12” sheets (I do 27×18”)...and they were doing it wrong. I mean, not wrong…but they weren’t telling or showing the whole story. The problem is that I don’t have a good space to do it in. I need good light, access to water, a large table and a drain. The basement will work, eventually, but I need to finish the “studio.” Right now it has bare walls, rafters, no light, a closed up window and a shitload of tools.

I don’t ever think I’ll be a decent potter, but my mom has the wheel in the basement and a gorgeous setup at her house. If she someday has extras, that’d be a thing to add to the shop. It helps that I told her I’d do the glazing.

Gosh. I should do the marbleizing in my parents basement. Hmmmmm….

Really, really need to stop procrastinating on that paper…

Right now I’m making a ton of items to list and I’m going to get my shop set up soon.. I’m so excited! I hope people like my stuff. :)

I am working hard on my business plan. I have decided what products I will start off with and how many I will need to list to start. I am working on a catchy logo, and have my name all set up. I have my whole shop done; my front page, my policies, my sections, my shipping estimates…
I am just waiting on some business cards (I want to stick them in with my orders) and the supplies for one of my products.

Too bad I burned my hand really bad at my day job, and can’t knit or crochet at the moment – I need more of those items.

It was my future sister-in-law Cheryl, but I’m super excited that my etsy now says I have a sale! I just need to get on the ball and make more items! I only have 12 listed right now, but I have at least 3 works in progress that need to go on there soon!