every little thing

I am the champion

Did I mention that I won a blog giveaway last week?  So cool!  Talk about a surprise.  I mean, you enter those things, but you never actually expect to win them, you know?  Check out the loot:

Oooh, I feel so spoiled!  Such lovely things.  Thank you very much, Amy! I absolutely adore my new goodies!  You can visit Amy's sweet blog, Vintage Fern, and be sure to stop by her etsy shop for more handmade-goodness. 

Amy's generosity is making me want to have another give-away, too!  Hmmm.....maybe over at the Bake It Pretty blog later this week?  I'll keep you posted!

***UPDATE***

I just found out I will be doing a giveaway for Bake It Pretty very soon, but on a different blog.  So, I gotta nix the plan for doing one on my blog, at least for the time being. Sorry about that!  But I'll be sure to announce the location of the other giveaway soon!  It's scheduled for February 2nd!)

A Cordial Gift

When I started the Gallery on Bake it Pretty, it was my great hope that it would evolve into an educational and inspiring place.  Half the fun of baking and decorating is sharing (or showing off) our creations, and it's my own personal mission not to just sell interesting things, but to actually show people how to use them, or how they could be used.  Ideas lead to more ideas.   I am positively giddy over the responses that have been trickling in already, you guys are knocking my socks off!   So, here is the first (of what I hope will be many) features from the Gallery:

             

                  Beautifully presented homemade Amaretto by Courtney.

I have to admit, this is exactly what I had in mind when I designed these "drink me" tags, and it thrills me to no end seeing them put to good use!   And how gorgeous is her presentation?   The best part is, not only was Courtney nice enough to share these great photos with us, she has also posted the family recipe on her blog so we can all make our own Amaretto!  I am so excited about this, I already ordered my bitters (and I didn't even have to search for it since it was already linked in Courtney's post...love that.)   Thank you so much! 

             
                   (Photos by Courtney)

(I have also posted this on the fancy-new Bake It Pretty Blog.  It's not quite finished yet, design wise, but feel free to take a peek and bookmark it if your interested.  I've got a good feeling about where the blog is headed, I think it's going to be a lot of fun.)

Monday's are for adorable French movies

May as well make it official.

I love this movie.  Mike and I rented it from Naro Video about a million years ago, when we lived in a little apartment in Norfolk on Graydon St.  Toto le Heros was one of those gems we picked up on a total whim, based solely on the cover, and by some transient miracle, we were both completely taken in by it.   It was so nice to find this little clip on youtube, since  it does not seem that the movie was ever released on DVD and I haven't been able to find it anywhere. 

*The Big Crafty was a smashing success, lots of fun, and a little exhausting, too.  I'll be posting pictures just as soon as I catch my breath!

Anthro Rugged Angel Remix

I was completely surprised to find a rack of Anthropoligie clothes at our local Rugged Warehouse last week.  Now wait, before you freak out and make a mad dash for the mini-mall....let me finish.  It was a very small rack of clothes, only 10 or 15 items altogether.  Most of them were pretty ugly and had large, conspicuous holes/ripped seams/stains/etc.  Normally I wouldn't even have bothered, but it's Anthro, you know?  I looked over every single piece, and found a shirt that wasn't amazing, but was free of obvious flaws and was only $6.  (For those of you who may not know, Rugged Warehouse is a discount clothing shop like TJMax, Marshall's, and such.)  So I bought the shirt.  The first day I put it on, the lace in the front started to tear away in the middle almost immediately.  Darn it, I should have known better.  Since I'd actually grown kinda fond of the shirt, I thought I'd try to patch it up with a little, vintage doilie from my stash and some blue thread.  

 
(acorn necklace from Contrary - was a pair of earrings, but I lost one, so I strung the lone acorn on my gold chain.)

Not too bad.  I'm very happy with the end result, and I like the shirt even better now.  The lace sort of gaped in the middle before it even started ripping, so now it's all fixed, and it even looks a little snazzier, if I do say so myself.  The whole process from start to finish took about two minutes, (it helped that I didn't bother changing the thread color, but the light-blue worked for me.)  I just pinned everything where I wanted it to go and sewed it up, easy peasy.  It is very simple, but I always have to stop myself from adding "just one more thing" when I'm embellishing like this,  it's easy to get going on a roll over-do it.  I'm far from the first person to be embellishing with doilies these days, but it's definitely a trend I can get behind, what with my huge box of vintage trims, and all.  Speaking of doilies, for my birthday last week I splurged on a Dottie Angel creation that I've been wanting for a long time. I think Dottie is probably one of the pioneers of the doilie-donning movement, and she is definitely an asset to the cause. 

 
(photo from the Dottie Angel webshop)

I love this slip, and it's so beautifully made.  It looks lovely peeking under edge of all my dresses & skirts that are, as usual, just a touch too short on me (one of the many problems with being tall.)  I don't know why people think that height is an asset to women.  In my opinion, if you're not a well-paid runway model, what good is being tall?  Clothes never fit, pants are too short, and adorably petite gals always ask you to reach things for them on the top shelf at supermarkets.  It makes one feel like a circus freak. *sniffle*      
(ok, the pity party's over.) 

My Top Ten Tips for Selling On Esty

Etsy!  A fun marketplace for selling your handmade goods, or vintage items and commercial crafting supplies.  I opened my first etsy shop, A. Bel Studio, in December 2006.  I stocked the shop with all kinds of handmade items, often leftovers from the craft shows I was in.  Eventually, I started selling a few cupcake decorating supplies too, and soon after I created a separate shop for these items called A. Bel Emporium.  That shop sort of exploded, and I had less time to work on the studio shop.  At some point, I opened a third shop, Out Like Bandits, to sell select vintage items. 

Whew, so that's my etsy history in a nutshell!  Now, two years and over 3,400 sales later, you think I'd have some wisdom to impart.  Not really.  At least, I don't think I have any amazing, earth-shattering secrets to success on etsy.  I'm sure everything I know has been said over and over already: take good photos, re-list to stay visible, keep a full shop, etc.  Often times advice is easier to give than it is to follow, but I tried to come up with a few, semi-original tips:

1.  Ship internationally.  A staggering percentage of my Emporium sales were to international customers.  France, UK, Australia, Italy, Japan, and so on.  You are turning away customers if you do not offer shipping to other countries.  Yes, it takes a little more time.  You must fill out a small customs form, and there is a good amount of trial and error involved in getting your shipping costs straight, but I promise it can be worth the effort.  I realize this can be cost prohibitive if you make/sell heavy items (see #4.)

 

2.  Go for variety.  I'm sure some will argue this one, but I stand by my claim.  Variety is the spice of life, and there is a very fine line between having a niche and being in a rut.  The more you have, the more you can sell.  Colors, styles, items....it's all about choices.  The more you have to look at and think about, the longer customers will stay on your site.  But, of course, there is a limit.  You must be true to yourself and your site.  I was browsing a packaging supply shop the other day, you know, corrugated boxes and duct tape, and there was a big link at the bottom that said "Click here for our selection of Country Cross Stitch Samplers!"  Don't be that site. 

 

3.  Stay away from the etsy forums.  They are full of miss-information, the promotions simply don't work, and worst off all, they are a major time-suck.  If you have a question, look it up in Terms of Use or google it, someone has probably blogged about it.  I know people love the forums and the treasury, but with a small biz, time is money, and your time is much better spent elsewhere.  I guarantee you that the top etsy sellers spend little or no time with the forums or treasuries.  Follow their example. 

 

4.  Make/sell lightweight items.  "But I want to carve giant slabs of marble!"-you might be thinking.  Too bad!  Be honest and ask yourself if someone is really going to pay $15 for you to ship them a $4 paperweight.  If I can buy heavier items (candles,soaps, paperweights) locally, I will.  The shipping on heavier items is just too cost prohibitive.  Obviously, more exotic and harder to find objects don't really apply, but it's still in your best interest to give your customers the best deal on shipping you can find.  I've abandoned shopping carts before because I just *knew* they were majorly overcharging me on the shipping.  If you want to add money for "packaging and handling", that's fine.  I just believe that that should be included in the price of the item, not the shipping charges. 

5.  Be brutally honest about your profit margin. (This can be a real tough one.)  Factor in your etsy fees, listing fees, paypal fees, materials, time, etc.  If you are happy having a hobby-business and you're not all that concerned about the profit-aspect, then don't stress about it.  There is nothing wrong with that, and it's your shop - you can do whatever you want.  For many of us, however, making money is not just a part of the business, it's the point of the business.  There is nothing wrong with that either.  Just keep a sharp eye on your finances, and you will be OK.  If you find yourself getting wishy-washy with the details, get someone else to crunch the numbers for you, and don't be scared of the truth!  Often times the brutal truth, no matter how dismal, does not force you to give up, but will encourage you to try harder. 

6. Make/sell what you want, but play fair.  Touchy subject, I know.  I try to stay away from it, personally.  My opinion is it's not so much what you're selling/making, but how you are selling it.  The devil is in the details.  I do truly believe most people have good intentions, and that everyone makes mistakes.  There is rarely, if ever, a need to call-out, cat fight, or publicly humiliate someone.  I'm not saying you shouldn't defend your original ideas, but just be kind to people and keep some perspective.  Deal with complex issues privately and people will respect you.  I know that the internet is an easy place to let loose, rant, rave, and point fingers in an anonymous and non-confrontational way (see #7.)  Don't be one of those people.  Be a good-guy, and enjoy your moment in the sun. 

7.  Get thicker skin.  If you stick around long enough on etsy (or the net in general), you are bound to come across people who are going to a.) not like you, b.) accuse you of something, c.) be irrationally mean for no reason, d.) all of the above.  If you go into it expecting that things like this are going to happen, you will not be caught off guard when they eventually do.  Don't waste time or angst on these jerks, it's just not worth it.  If someone gets to you, just remember: you have no idea who this person really is.  It could be a 12 year old that had a few hours to kill before his Magic tournament and decided to harass people on the web.  In these cases, I think a passive approach is the best one.  If you don't fuel the fire, it will go out on it's own. 

8.  Don't sell jewelry.  Ha-just kidding!  Seriously, though...how do you jewelry sellers do it?  There are just so many jewelry makers on etsy, I can't imagine how hard it must be to compete in that arena.  What I'm really trying to say is, of course you should follow your passion, but if your market is very saturated (like jewelry) you are going to have to work extra hard to get yourself seen. You should expect this and be ready to fight a long, hard battle. Don't act all confused when your charm bracelets aren't flying of the shelves after a day or two. 

 

9. Pretty packaging is nice.  BUT - make sure you plan for the future.  You might not be packing 30 orders a day now, but it could happen sooner than you think.  This is something I struggle with still; how can I create attractive packaging that is pretty, special, economical and earth-friendly?  I love the cello-bag, paper shred, ribbon and decorative card presentation.  It's gorgeous, but it's not very practical. Keep in mind that 90% of your customers are going to throw the packaging away almost immediately.  Of course you want to your packages to be lovely, but it's great to be a little eco-friendly, too.  Also, do you really need to include lots of business cards with your orders?  Do you keep the business cards YOU receive in packages?  I'm switching to non-bleached, recyclable paper bags in my new shop...just one small way I can help do my part for Ma Earth.  I will continue to use recycled packaging materials too, like filler materials and such.  It's not something to necessarily obsess about, but it's good to give it some thought. 

10. Don't offer custom, made-to-order items.  Especially if you are procrastinator that gets behind easily.  After the Strawberry Sachet debacle of 07'  I learned an important lesson: don't offer something for sale if you haven't actually made it yet.  You never know what is going to take off (I never expected those strawberries to be so popular.)  The orders started rolling in and it was great!....until I had to actually make hundreds of tiny, intricate, scented berries.  My fingers were raw, the scented filling made me constantly nauseous, and I almost overdosed on SVU reruns.  The worst part was it totally killed my love for those little sachets, and now I never want to make on ever again.

There they are, my tips for selling on Etsy (or any online venue.)  I hope they were somewhat helpful!  If any of you have a special, secret, amazing tip you'd like to include, please add them in the comments! 

Shop Talk

 

Yesterday's half-hearted attempt at a self portrait session ended quickly, yielding only a few shots of my socks.  Yikes.  I need a great photo of myself for the "about" page on my new website, but I really hate trying to take pictures of myself.  When the tripod and self timer are involved, I tend to get bored pretty quickly.  It's just hard to take pictures of your own face, you know?  Feet, hands, and even the occasional wardrobe-shot are easy enough, but head shots are totally different territory.  I may have to enlist professional help.  If only I had solicited Kate's expertise before I moved 400 miles away...oh well.

I had a big-old post written up yesterday about my new shop, and my computer hiccuped and it was LOST somewhere on the interwebs.  I was so mad I had to take a net break and cool off.  I could blame typepad, but I won't.  I've noticed other bloggers lamenting about the recent changes and I must say, I'm not wild about the new format, either.  But I have sympathy for typepad, obviously they were doing their best to make things better and to make their customers happy.  There will always be people who resist charge in any form, even for the better.  I guess I'm sensitive about it because here I am, overhauling my business, shaking things up, making some changes, and I have to prepare myself for the folks who will disappointed and think, "What did she do that for?  I liked it better the old way." 

{This post ended up kinda ginormous, so I split it up and you will have to click on the fancy link down there to read it all.  I don't know why I'm explaining this to you, I'm sure you know how it works.  I don't think you're stupid...I think I'm stupid.}

Me as Manga

Just go do it, it's fun.

Like my t-shirt?  It's as close as I'll ever get to a designer garment, that's for sure.

Here's the one that Max did:

I think he made himself look a little "tougher" than he is in real life.  But not a bad likeness, all in all.

Everybody Must Get Stoned

So, when I asked if anyone else out there had gone through the Kidney Stone Experience, I was secretly hoping that no one would reply.  I can't believe how many of you, and your loved ones, have had to go through this.  Seriously?!?  Passing stones while pregnant??  After giving birth??  Multiple stones??  Wow, now I just feel bad for all of us.  Lets just block them out of our memories as best we can and pretend they never happened, OK?  OK.

Unfortunately, even after the stone, things still sloped downhill for a few days.  I guess bad things do happen in three's, or sometimes dozens.  Max cracked his head on the table at the local Mexican Restaurant (luckily, his head is quite thick.)  I cracked a molar while chomping jalapeno pretzel pieces, on a Friday afternoon.  Why is it always a Friday afternoon?  Right when the dental office has closed for the weekend?  This phenomenon drives me insane.  It is the same way with Max's minor ailments, as well.  Mystery fever?  Friday afternoon.  Suspicious rash?  Friday afternoon.  You're dog swallows a bee?  Friday afternoon.  (That last one was provided by my friend, Kat.  I don't have a dog, but the scenario still scares me.) 

Flash forward to today:  the tooth is fixed, Max's head has healed, the stone is a slowly-fading memory, and my dad's heart is on the mend as well.  It's been several days since the last major debacle, so I think we may be out of the woods.  Now, it all about packing and sorting, with a big Yard Sale scheduled for this Saturday.   

 

These are my three best friends at the moment.  Tape gun, magic marker and blackberry cobbler.  (So much for thinking I might drop a few pounds during the moving process.)  This cobbler was seriously good, and I'm picky about my cobblers.  I used the frozen berries from our u-pick adventure last month, and they were tart and perfect.   The recipe was from the cover of a new magazine I saw at my mom's house.  I can't remember which one, but I'm sure if you go to the bookstore and scan the magazine section you will find it.   Look for the one with a big picture of blackberry cobbler on the cover, and that will be it.  Or, you can try to read it off this paper plate.  The CANADA magnet is covering the oven temp, which is 375 degrees.  (I don't know if it's just my oven, but I found the temp a bit too low, and I bumped it to 425 at the end to get the top super crispy.) 

My mom told me to just take the darn magazine with me, but I like to do things the hard way.  Plus, it's more of an adventure for you too, right?  Can't make things too easy for y'all.   I think this very  act, of scrawling illegible recipes onto disposable plates, really showcases my total comment to un-organization and chaos.

 

When life hands you lemons...

 

...sell your house and move to Asheville!

So that's not really how the saying goes, I guess, but it's the only way I could think to break the news!  Yep, we are moving.  Our house is under contract, and if all goes well, we will be relocating from Virginia to North Carolina around the first of September.  Shocking, I know.  I don't really believe it myself.  There is obviously a lot more to this story, but I don't think I can get it all out right now, maybe another day.  I can say that this is a good thing and we are all very excited!  I've never even been to Asheville before, but Mike has spent a lot of time there, and the photos I've seen are beyond gorgeous.  Every time I mention to someone that we are moving to Asheville, I get the exact same reaction: "Really?  I'm so jealous!  You are going ot LOVE it there!"  This place better live up to all the hype!

I will try to post updates as often as I can until we are moved and settled.  The Emporium will be closing at midnight on August 1st, and will not reopen until sometime in October.  This week the whole shop is HALF OFF, so stock up on kitschy essentials while you can!

 

This move is also going to mean huge and amazing changes for my on line shops, and I'm so excited about it I can hardly stand it!  But right now I really must focus on sorting and packing the almost seven years worth of stuff we have squirreled away in this house.  If you are a pack-rat, never marry another pack-rat.  That's all I'm saying. 

More Talk of Shop...

Check out my loot!  Beautiful goodies from one of my favorite blog-friends, Cerri of Little Pink Studio.  We go way back, and I am so proud of her for the recent opening of her fancy, new website!  The Little Pink Studio.  You really should go take a look at all the beautiful supplies and kits she has to offer.  I had to restrain myself, and I only splurged on a few select treats, but they are all wonderful!  I was so inspired when I opened my package, that I had to sit down and actually MAKE something, immediately! 

Pretty little swiss-dotted daises for topping your best cupcakes!  I snapped pictures as I went so I could put together an easy tutorial.  I plan to have it on the blog soon, I was just surprised how blue-green-weird the pictures looked.  I tried to color-correct it, I guess my camera was on a strange setting by mistake.  Anyway, if I can make the pics work, the tutorial will be live soon! 

It is very inspiring to see my friends branch out and launch their own, independent businesses.  Don't get me wrong, I adore Etsy and I'm very grateful to be a part of their marketplace.  They (and other sites like it) offer a friendly and easy place to start a business and get your name and ideas out there with almost no investment whatsoever, except time and a lot of creative elbow grease.  And for me, that was the onlyway I could get my start, emotionally and financially.  I will probably always be a part of etsy in some way or another, but my Emporium-biz is slowly outgrowing it's space there.  I have hundreds of other items I want to carry, products I want to design, and features I want to add.  Everything is building up (including my confidence!) and I can feel myself inching closer and closer to making my business dreams a reality. 

And before I go, THANK YOU for all of the comments about my little creature book-mention!  I hate to "give advice" or sound preachy on my blog, but seriously people, if I can do things like this, anyone can.  Just find something you love, do it well,  and put yourself out there.  Wow, I'm going to stop now before I start sounding like an after-school special...