Making supplies an art...

I just love it when supply shops on Etsy have pretty pictures.  It's not very common.  A lot of supply shops use photos from their wholesaler or hastily taken photographs with bad or no photoshopping.

But there are a few with great photography that really stand out to me....

Sunyno

dimestoreemporium

BeadFrenZ

treasurebooth

vivi1981ken

What supply shops have your favorite photos?  Do great supply photos influence you to purchase from that shop over another one?

Birthday sale & $20 bucks for you!

Friday is my 21st birthday.                  ....I KNOW!  So feel free to make many treasuries inspired by me on that day and send me whatever gifts you please.  (I'm just kidding.)

Instead of taking, here's what I'm offering YOU for my birthday!

I will discount 21% off your entire purchase from my shop when you simply mention the code "21" at checkout.  I will send you a refund via Paypal after you pay, since I will be busy running around going to the spa, St. Louis, baseball games, etcetera.  I really want 550 sales by my birthday.  I'm at 549 right now.

Also, I'm giving away $20 to spend in my shop at BailyBelleCreations blog.  It's super easy to enter.  If you follow this blog you just have to comment saying so, and you've entered!  There's some other ways to put in a few more entries.

So happy birthday to me!  Enjoy your party favors.

how did this even happen?

907 convos?  How did this even happen?

let's get deleting!

almost there....

January? What? Why?

Two clicks away.....

*sigh of relief*

A giveaway with a little bit of virtue......

I apologize for the lack of blog posts lately.  All I can say is that I suck.  Summer has been.... well, summer.  Crazy busy!  After getting hit with a load of non-paying buyers in a row, I lost a little bit of interest in my shop and blog.  I'm also busy running my treasury project and have picked up my treasury team's blog.  However, I'm just taking a deep breath and letting the inspiration flow in.  What you have to look forward to:  I will soon be doing a guest blog at blueheart, and I'm considering opening another shop to separate and expand my paper line. 

But for now.... let's do a feature and a giveaway!  Today I'm featuring virtuebathandbeauty.

Jessica is graciously offering up $20 to spend only in her shop.  Which  means you can buy me about 3 of these Cocoa Commitment Bath Bombs.  Did I say "me"? I mean "yourself"!  Keep reading to find out how to win (trust me, it will be easy peasy).

Ashli:  What brought you to Etsy?
Jessica:  I have a friend who is actually a photographer and she bought a lot of her props on Etsy. I decided to check it out and instantly fell in love. The community was amazing and I was obsessed with searching for vintage items and I thought it would make a great home for my shop.

Ashli:  Who or what is your current muse?
Jessica:  I don't know that I have a specific muse, it changes a lot. But i've always had sort of an ideal woman in my head. The person I try to create for. She's timid, but not afraid to be bold. She loves vintage items, but she's always looking towards the future. She's the woman I try to be.

source

Ashli:  What are your Etsy goals?
Jessica:  I really want to be able to just live off of my etsy sales. I want to be an iconic etsy seller, like those I look up to. But most of all I want to give my buyers the best, most pleasant experience possible!

Ashli:  Favorite thing in your shop?

Jessica:  I love all of my bath bombs! But I especially love the peppermint. I am super hot natured so it gives me sort of a little bit of winter in this hot georgia weather. I do have a lot of exciting things coming though that may turn out to be my favorite. *cough* bath cookies *cough*. I love my eyeshadows too though, I have loads of makeup artist friends that have put away their MAC and only use my shadows now. That makes me so happy.

source

Ashli:  Describe what you would want your last meal on earth to consist of.
Jessica:  Oh lord, do you have a while for this question? I am definitely a foodie and I love to make bath products that remind me of food. If I had to pick, I would say a good old southern meal my granny always makes me for my birthday. Fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, sweet tea and green beans. Although, I think it wouldn't be the same without my family's company. I just love them!

*GIVEAWAY TIME!*

How to enter:

Do any of the following and comment saying so.  Make sure there is a way for me to contact you on your profile or in the comment.  Leave a separate comment for EACH entry, otherwise it will only count as one entry.

 

1.  Follow this blog.

2.  Follow virtuebathandbeauty's blog.

3.  Follow virtuebusiness on twitter.

4. "Like" virtuebathandbeauty on facebook.

5.  Go to virtuebathandbeauty & comment back here with your favorite item.

6.  Make a NEW treasury with anything from virtuebathandbeauty & comment with a link.

7.  Purchase anything from  virtuebathandbeauty from now until the close of the contest.

8.  Promote this giveaway in any way (blog, facebook, twitter).

 

This giveaway will be open from now until  Wednesday, July 7th.

SUMMER IS HERE! Giveaway winner announced.

I hope that everyone had a fantastic Summer Solstice.  I definitely did.... I drank plenty of water and iced green tea with lemongrass and made plans to go to the beach at least once this week.

Time to announce the giveaway winner!

Thanks to random.org... comment #51 won!

And that comment belonged to....

Congratulations BailyBelleCreations!!!!  I will be sending your prize out this week.  And just to remind her of what she's won (and make everyone else sad that they didn't win)....

A big thank you to everyone who entered!!!  I'm so excited to have 250 followers at this blog, and almost 50 at my treasury blog!  I love my readers.... your comments keep me going.

xo
Ashli

Etsy Feature Buttons

I got bored with the "featured on the FP" buttons that Etsy gives us for free.

So I made my own. Feel free to save these and use them in your own shop!

for features in the Etsy Voter:

Hopefully I get to use this one someday:

Enjoy!

My first video craft tutorial! Paper Yo Yo Greeting Card

I made my first video craft tutorial today! I demonstrated how to make a card using a paper yo yo technique. The card in the tutorial was the card for June for members of my Card of the Month Club.



I hope you enjoyed this little video! I want to make more... and I would love suggestions on future tutorials.

Don't forget to enter the giveaway below!

It's Almost Summer Giveaway (with a little help from Paula Deen)

hello friends.  It's almost summer!!!  To celebrate this fact (as well as to celebrate my 500th sale!!!!) I'm having a giveaway.  Where does Paula Deen come into the picture? 

I'M GLAD YOU ASKED!  Paula Deen (or as I affectionately call her, Paula) has this new fun summer line of products at Michael's.  She has everything from recipe boxes and cards to gift tags... and then a little more.

Here is everything that will be given away to ONE lucky winner right here on this very blog!!

To get you even more excited... let's talk a little more about Paula and her line at Michael's.  Paula Deen is basically the modern, southern version of Julia Child.  They both have very distinct voices, and believe the more butter the better.  Paula has a show on Food Network called Paula's Home Cooking and does several other specials. 

Included in the giveaway are these fantastic Paula Deen recipe cards (there are 18):

A set of 4 "You're A Peach" Mini Cards from my Etsy shop and 4 gift tags from the Paula Deen line:

These fantastic Paula Deen cupcake liners (it's a package of 50!):

And a pair of "Let's Eat Earrings (Nickel Free)" from my Etsy shop:

This giveaway is open from now until Monday, June 21, 2010.... because that's the first official day of summer!!

How to enter:

Do any of the following and comment saying so.  Make sure there is a way for me to contact you on your profile or in the comment.  Leave a separate comment for each entry, otherwise it will only count as one entry.

1.  Follow this blog.

2.  Follow my treasury project blog.

3.  Follow me on twitter.

4.  Like my shop's facebook page.

5.  Go to my Etsy shop & comment back here with your favorite item.

6.  Make a treasury with anything from my shop & comment with a link.

7.  Purchase anything from my shop from now until the close of the contest.

8.  Promote this giveaway in any way (blog, facebook, twitter).

I'm halfway there.

When I started my Etsy shop, I waited about 3 weeks for my first sale.  I remember how ridiculously excited I was when I got my first sale.  Since it took so long to arrive... my husband made a deal with me.  He said that when I reached 1,000 sales, he would buy me a Land Rover.  (I've always wanted a white Range Rover... my Olds' Bravada is about to die but I refuse to buy another car because I ONLY want a Land Rover but can't afford it right now.)

Today I reached 500 sales. 

I was going to celebrate tonight with a giveaway.... but I didn't want to just throw something together.  So I'm going to plan out an awesome giveaway and post it *hopefully* by the end of the week.

However... I did reward myself by buying myself something special.  And it just so happened to be a fantastic shop's 1st (and 2nd) sales.  I saw this on the FP and HAD to have it!  I also picked up this cutie.

So a giant thank you to everyone who has supported me through these last months... looking forward to working with you in the months and hopefully years to come.  Keep checking back on this blog... keep on board with my treasury blog... and brace yourself for the exciting things (and hopefully Land Rovers) to come!

Craft Fair Aftermath...

Yesterday I packed up my jewelries and such and took them to Not Your Grandma's Craft Fair in Collinsville.  I had no idea what to expect because it was the show's first ever year.  It was founded by this lovely lady:

Here is a photo of me cheesin' it with my setup:

Here are the super cute vendor tags they made for us:

There's even more photos on my facebook fan page.

Anyways.  Here's what I learned from the experience:

1.  Get more than 3 hours of sleep the night before.
2.  Don't expect it to be busy the whole time.
3.  Don't get discouraged and leave early.  Wait until the end of the show.
4.  Bring your tools and offer to make adjustments on pieces.  I made a sale because I was willing to shorten a necklace chain.
5.  Have fun with the shoppers... go beyond "Hi! How are you today?" without being invasive.

Here's a quick shot of some of the stuff I bought:

goldfish mug by linafasano, journal by thread and paper, pin by bunniesandbows, and truffles by ms. mary

Amy from bunniesandbows was a total sweetheart and had her eye on a necklace & a ring on my table.  She's saving $ to go on a missions trip to Japan, so isn't able to spend right now.  I offered up a trade and scored these fantastic prints:

You should seriously check out her shop... pick up a great print (or two) and help support this fantastic artist!

Everyone at the show was SO unbelievably talented... it was inspiring to walk around and so much fun to chat with the vendors.  Oh... and on top of that, it was great to sell some stuff.  I'm marking the show as a "win" in my book.

New Blog: A Treasured Year

I started a new blog.  I'm going to challenge myself to make 365 treasuries in 365 days.  I wanted to keep it separated from this blog.... so check it out here:

A Treasured Year

Letting Your Etsy Photography Evolve

When you've been on Etsy for awhile (okay... I've only been on Etsy for 7 months, but that's still long enough to notice a difference) your photography will hopefully evolve.  What do I mean by this?  Your photos will naturally improve as you learn how to use your camera to its advantage, how to compose a photo, and how to edit your photos to your item's best advantage.

To illustrate my point... I will be providing "before/after" style photos from my shop as well as from other Etsian volunteers.  The other Etsians are shops whose photography I have always admired.

First... an example from my shop.  This photo was the second photo from the first item I ever sold.  So bad.

This is the photo from the last item I had on the Front Page.

You might be able to immediately notice some differences.  Brightness, clarity, life... the fact that you can actually tell what the item is (or SEE what the item is).

This photo is from my dear friend GlitzGlitter's shop.  This was her first sale:

Although it is significantly better than my "first sale" photo... There are some obvious changes that need to be made.  And thank goodness she made them!  Look how luxurious and expensive her jewelries look now:

This next photo is courtesy of the earlier work of peaseblossomstudio. 

Not terrible, but that blue background just isn't doing much for those lovely cards!  I admit that I ditched my fun/different background for a neutral tone simply to be put in more treasuries and hopefully more FP's.  It has paid off.  peaseblossomstudio also uses more neutral backgrounds now... and don't her photos look lovely?

This next example is courtesy of ChelseaVanTol.

Not bad... just a little dark.  Also, when Etsy cropped it for the display, it was a little off.  But seriously... when you look at her photos now, you can see such a fantastic evolution in the photography.  Absolutely beautiful!

Finally... an example from one of the first shops I hearted on Etsy... knockknocking.  This example is a detail shot from this shop's first sale.

Wowza!  A little bit blurry there... plus the colors are totally washed out at the bottom of the photo.  However, knockknocking has now beautifully mastered her shop photography, including the "detail shot".  She even made the detail shot the display photo for this wreath.

The point of this "lesson" is that as long as you are actively involved with your shop... your photography skills will evolve.  Get feedback in the virtual labs, forums, Etsy twitter friends, and wherever else you can.  Listen to their advice.... but ultimately YOU are in control of your shop and will find out what works best for you. 

My photography motto:  NEVER think that you've "made it" with your photography.  Continue to try new things with your camera, photo composition, and editing programs.  When you get stuck, try something new or ask for help.

Remember.... a good photo is an evolving photo.

Suggested Shops on Etsy

Yesterday Etsy unveiled the "Suggested Shops" tab in everyone's "favorites".  I finally got a chance to check it out... and let me tell you, my Paypal is getting DRAINED.  I've found so many great supply shops and vintage items I just NEED to have!

Etsy has done a pretty good job guessing my favorites.... pastels, ruffles, birds, supplies, quaint photography, and adorable vintage.

The following items were discovered in my "Suggested Shops".

tamar

thegildedbee

lovemaestore

farouche

yvetteinufio

neogranny

I think this is probably the coolest shop on Etsy with 5 sales or less.

Check out neogranny.