Selling on Etsy

I love Etsy. I can spend hours browsing the beautiful art work and kitschy creations. I've bought a fair share of things from some very talented people. Most of my purchases are things that I can't make on my own or it's something that just amused me to death.

But now I'm trying to venture into becoming a seller, not just a shopper. The competition is fierce. Some sellers have turned their Etsy shop into a full time gig. They advertise online through blogs, Facebook, Twitter... you name it. They devote hours upon hours to their artwork and crafts. I want to be one of them. I just have this whole 40+ hour a week job thing I have to deal with.

I tried once before about a year ago. I make greeting cards for coworkers birthdays and everyone has always really liked them. I started getting special requests and before you know it, I was turning out orders for 100+ wedding invitations. I had a boost of confidence in my talents and decided to sell my wares on Etsy. I listed about 50 cards and managed to sell two of them. It wasn't a successful venture to say the least.

After looking at the tons and tons of the paper crafts I was in competition with, it's obvious that the card market is a wee bit over-saturated on Etsy. I've noticed that the successful sellers were full time wedding invitation producers or they work with antique and custom letterpress. Neither of which I have the time or resources for.

I've decided to give it a second go but instead of selling exclusively cards, I thought it would be a good idea to "branch out" so to speak. I've picked up jewelry making (which I LURVE!!) and I'm starting to dabble in fabric and sewing some. I also figure that it would be a good way to liquidate a bunch of the jewelry and flowers piling up around my bedroom. My re-vamped shop now contains items from all of my crafting obsessions.

I really hope to have better luck selling this time around and so far things are looking positive. I've already had a request for a custom order and I've only have my new items listed for a few days. Definitely a good sign!

Upcycled Halloween Cards

I made these adorable Halloween cards using my Cuttlebug, some old Halloween stickers, and recycling cardboard from random things around the house.


Seriously... the cardboard turned out great! I'm all about recycling things and I had stashed away the perfect box for this project. I had bought a desk fan from Target when they had their back-to-school sales last year. The packaging was bright purple and lime green, very simplistic with big blank spaces. I hacked it to bits and stuffed it in my "scrap" drawer for later. The colors are PERFECT for Halloween stuff so I pulled out my scraps and put 'em to good use! The orange came from a Fanta soda box and the black frames were cut out packaging for a hole puncher.



I love how these turned out. Everything is SO shiny... they're just so snazzy! I almost don't want to send them out! Maybe I can stick them in some frames and hang 'em up for some cute Halloween decor...

Crafting ADD

I have a tendency to start projects with one thing in mind and then it evolves into something entirely different. I started this up-cycle with the intent of adding leaves to an old cardigan based on this super-cute idea by Janet of All Trades. I was going to document my project step by step and I even took some pictures. (Pardon the lighting... this is what happens during my 3:00AM crafting/insomnia therapy sessions.)



Well, it just didn't work out. I had a total mental concept FAIL. I cut out my leaves from and old hunter green Merona t-shirt and pinned them to my cardigan. Sadly, I just wasn't feeling it. Maybe, the green was too dark on the cream colored cardigan or something but what I envisioned in my mind wasn't translating to the fabric so well. Being the clothes hoarder that I am, I ran upstairs and found an old gray wife-beater style tank top that I haven't worn in ages and figured the leaves would look better on it instead.

I pinned the leaves onto the tank and I was pleased with the result so I went permanent and sewed them on. The leaves created this cascading ruffle on the front and I thought it was adorable. There was a problem though... I just didn't take into account how the whole thing would look on "the girls" once I put the tank on. The shirt looked great lying flat on the table but when I put it on, I realized the length of the "ruffle" wasn't nearly long enough. It seriously looked like I had a giant patch of green chest hair! (And we can't be having that, now can we?)

I decided I needed to add something break up the faux chest hair mass. I toyed with a couple of ideas but I settled on a flower since they're all the rage right now. I didn't have another t-shirt to mangle to make one so I went with the next best thing... ribbon. I can not even begin to tell you how I made it because I really don't know how myself. I just twisted and turned and sewed and stitched until it looked like a flower. I sewed on the final touch and viola... a new top!~





I think it all worked out in the end but it was nothing like I had planned or intended.

So what about you guys? Do you have the same problem and how does it usually work out?

Tuesday Tutorial: Save the Tatas Card

This past Valentine's Day, I made a lot of these... um, boobie cards and the girls at my office just LOVED them! They're a cute and quirky salute to the female form and they make great Valentines, bridal shower or girl's night out invites. Not to mention, they are really simple to make and although this isn't an in-depth tutorial, I thought I'd share how I made them in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.



I started off by making a 5 x 7 template for my design. To do this, I used the largest circle from my Spellbinders Nestabilities set to out line the shape of the bosom by drawing two circles overlapping a little. Using the dies themselves to do this will make it easier when you go to make the brassiere. From the outer edge of each circle, I drew a diagonal line to the top of the card. Once your shape is finished, cut it out and viola: boobies!

Yes. It says "Boobie Template" on it. Don't judge me. lol
Next, I used a piece of flesh colored 10 x 7 card stock folded in half to make a 5 x 7 card. Place your template on top of the folded card and lightly trace the shape using a pencil so you can erase any lines that might remain. Cut it out and now you have the base of the card.


To make the brassiere, simply pick the color you want and cut out a circle using the aforementioned die. Cut the circle in half and attach one piece to each side of your base. Now you're ready to decorate and this truly a free for all. Get creative and don't be shy! Feathers, sparkles, ribbons, vinyl, gems, stamps... you can be WILD or GLAMOROUS! Just have at it!

Skill Sets to Improve

Hair : Seriously, I suck at drawing realistic hair. Every once in a while, I'll get it right but for the most part, my hair comes out looking pretty goofy. I'll be hitting up some tutorials for sure.

Hands and Feet : This part of the anatomy alludes me. Fingers and toes are so hard for some reason. Again, more tutorials for me.

Shading : I'm getting better at it but I still lack a lot of skill in this area. I think mostly due to mental block. I know how it should look but translating that from my brain to my hand is hard at times. lol.

Painting: Painting, in general. I love to paint things but I never practice it enough because I hate the clean up. (I'm lazy, okay.) I would like to get some part of my craft room set up where I can come and go and paint as I please so I can start making pretty pictures instead of the "refrigerator fodder" I come up with now. I still say stick people count, damnit!!

Sewing... Almost.

I've never been very good at sewing. Really. I made a pillow and pair of pajama shorts in home ec about 15 years ago. The pillow was okay but the shorts were dreadful. My stitches were lose and the shorts were completely lopsided and that was before I even washed them. Sadly, they didn't make it out of that wash in one piece. I gave up the ol' needle and thread after that.

Fast forward to now and I've really been impressed by a lot of the sewing projects I've seen on the blogs. So much so, I was inspired to give sewing another try. I bought a cute little sewing machine at Big Lots today for $14. I figured if the thing sucked or if I didn't fair too well with the whole sewing thing, it was no big loss.

Well look what I made out of an old shirt and some felt! I have to admit I'm a bit proud of my little coaster. Call me lame but I like it, lopsided corners and all! lol