Online Shopping!

I have been working so hard this past week to learn all about opening up an Etsy shop. And today I can announce it is not only open, but actually has a few items in it.

I made 4 luminaries for the shop....

but to keep shipping prices as reasonable as I could, I decided not to ship them with the little tea light.

Besides the luminaries, I put a soft covered book in the shop,

and a couple of face paintings.

If you want to see what it looks like you can find it here.

I will put a button on my side bar to get to the shop..... just not today.

I do have a couple more items I hope to put there in the next few days... I just ran out of time and energy today!

P.S. As I am brand new to this online selling if anyone has any tips I would love to hear them.

Sale Update

Yeseterday I was busy selling my creations at an art sale. It was very busy, and I was happy with how it went.

I sold out of my tea bag luminaires, and was happy when I had, as then people began to look at other things on my table.

THese cards sold very well also, and I only have a package or two left.

The earrings were also a big seller, and I have only a couple of pairs left. The most popular ones were the long thin style.

My river rock necklaces also sold well.

I sold over half or the resin filled pendants that I made. (I made a few more than are shown here, but in my busyness, I forgot to take a picture of them)

I also sold a number of different styles of handmade books

including this style of pocket book

and a few of these "messy" books.

I sold this plaster piece,

as well as this one. Lots of people commented on the plaster paintings, but they were not a big seller. But I understand why, and am not disapointed.

I had two items that sold poorly, and that was these necklaces (I didn't sell any of them)

and my wooden blocks with images and quotes. I always find it hard to know what will sell, and find different things do at different sales. I am always fine to have some things left, as I enjoy giving handmade gifts throughout the year.

Female Grosbeak

This morning, when I had many things to do, I procrastinated, and spent some time trying to take some pictures of birds. It is always so tricky, as they always seem to fly right as I am trying to get them into focus. None of the bird pictures are in great focus, but I enjoyed taking them anyway.

Male Grosbeak

And after I took some pictures I played with this one on my computer.

I do enjoy a good day of procrastination and play!

Another Small Item

I made these little pouches

and inside them are a little booklet.

They are the other small item I made for kids to be able to afford at the craft sale in my local little town that was held a few nights ago.

The pouch is very sturdy as it has a layer of cover weight paper sewn on the inside. The piece of fabric that wraps around it is also sewn to the flap.

The kids that discovered these on my table were quite excited with their find.

Oh So Busy....

Yes I have been OH SO BUSY, getting ready for a couple of craft sales I do every November. The first one was held last night. I really like this sale for a number of reasons. - It is held in the little town I live in (so no driving needed). - I know just about everyone I sell things too. - It is a social event for the community, and it always seems like nearly everyone comes out to it. -It is only 2 hours long. Which means 2 very busy hours for me, but enjoyable at the same time. -And the best part of the sale this year was that my sister and my niece came and sold there creations as well.
Here you can see some of my creations laid out. Unfortunately I didn't have time to get too creative with my table set up this year. But that is okay.

Because the table price is inexpensive, (and funds raised for table sales go to support our local small library) I used 2 tables and was able to spread my creations out a bit more.

Because most of the people in town come out, there are many kids at the sale, and I try to ensure I make some inexpensive items that kids can more easily afford. This year I made a number of mini books.

Even though the population of the town I live in is small, I always seem to sell a lot of creations at this sale. This year was no exception, I sold lots, but I am also happy to say that I still have lots of items left for the next sale I am doing in a larger community. The next sale is in 9 days. Just enough time to do a few finishing bits and pieces, but I don't need to do so much that I will not enjoy it....YEAH!

A few weeks ago I sent off this little box of items to apply to sell my creations at a juried art sale.

I tried my best to include an assortment of my creations so that if I was accepted I could choose what I wanted to create to sell.
I am happy to say I was selected to sell my creations at the sale. At the same time that I am happy I also am a little paniced, as I need to get busy creating things I can sell.

One of the things I decided to make for sale is tea bag and flora art cards. These cards are quite a bit of work, as I like to display these bits in cards with openings in them, and the openings take me a long time to cut. I cut one layer in the card itself, and another piece of card is cut to go inside the card behind the tea bag transparent piece.

I worked on these all day yesterday. This one has a couple of lily petals in it. Lilies petals are one of my favourite to work with, as the petals have beautiful striations in them that you only really see when the light shines through them.

Here are the cards I managed to finish yesterday. I still have some more to put together and will need to continue to make some more of these before the sale.

(The sale is not until the end of November, and yes that is a long way off, but a full time job and driving my daughter to hockey (100 miles one way) 3 times a week takes up a lot of my time.... So I need to work towards this goal a little bit at a time)

I Sold Out - Well Almost!

Here I am with my table all set up and ready for sales at the Cranberry Fair art sale I was at last weekend. I was extremely pleased at how busy I was, how much I sold, and with the many wonderful comments I received from people who looked at my creations.

I was also very happy to have my very creative niece with me to help me out. Unfortunately I couldn't sell her beautiful creations, as this was a juried sale.

I had a real variety of items for sale, ranging from books and cards ...

to jewelry and original art works. All sold very well. I should have taken a picture at the end of the day, as my table only had a very few things remaining on it.... but I was too tired to think of that.

Almost Ready!

I had big plans for the day - but days don't always go as planned, and today was no exception due to an injured young one needing tending to. Because of it I had difficulty focusing, so I said no to a few projects I was going to finish, and am putting the final touches and packaging on numerous items I will be selling at a art sale this weekend. I have a few name tags to glue on yet, bags to collect,
and a few boxes to finish packing.

but, most of it is packaged, boxed and ready to go.

Putting your hearts making out on a table to sell can be difficult at times, but with bravery in my heart, and positive thoughts in my head I venture forth. I head out early tomorrow morning.

Wish me luck!

Joy

Thursday night was my first of the two craft sales I am doing. It was held in the small town I live in, and only lasts for 2 hours. But what a busy 2 hours it was. The town only has about 800 people, and yet I always sell so much more than I think I will. This is of course great, and it makes me smile to be so supported by this small community. I sold out of a number of items. The hard part of this is that next weekend, is the bigger sale that I am in, and I don't have much time to restock my creations.
And so I have been busy today making more earrings, as I nearly sold out of those.

I love the look of metal with bits of wispy silk, and the middle earrings have pearls I bought in Bali last year.

Besides earrings, I packaged up some original mixed media creations, and now am going to try to make some more cards. I will have time tomorrow, but after that it is back to my busy week of work and regular family activities - so not too much time to create.

P.S. The messiness of my studio has seemed to take over the rest of my house - but I didn't take a picture of that to share!

when you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy. ~ rumi