A morning treasure surprise

You know what is considered a nice thing to wake up to, from a crafter's perspective?

Having one of your handmade items chosen to display in a treasury by a complete stranger who appreciated looking at your work.

click here to see said treasury

Treasuries are collections gathered from items found on etsy to convey a particular theme, color scheme, or mood. It is a real feather in your cap to be featured, as they are usually put together by someone you've never met and who isn't otherwise familiar with your shop. It also brings traffic to your shop since people who like to look at treasuries might see your item in a different way.

So here, featured in a beautiful collection of sea related beachy items in colors of blue and green, is my Barracuda Beach Towel. A Stars and Robots original, naturally. Ahh, its great to be famous. (Just quoting the towel, I'd never say that about myself, far too humble.) ;)

So famous

I had to turn this into a blog post. Just had to. While I was facebooking my face off, which is something I do often because it's easy to do from my iphone while I am sitting and feeding my newborn, a friend of mine made an interesting post on my wall.

"Is that your robot on the etsy facebook page wall? It sure looks like yours!" She asked. I immediately investigated.

Yes! Right there on the wall for all 90,368 fans to see was a post FROM ETSY asking people to post their favorite searches. As an example, they had searched robot plush, and from there chose my little ole robot to use for the picture! And I wasn't even a "fan" of the etsy page yet! (I remedied this oversight immediately!) Check it out right HERE!

I had done nothing to "campaign" for this mention, the only thing I had done was last week renew about five or ten expired listings bringing my humble shop offerings up to 18! I didn't renew to get exposure even, I just hadn't sold those items and time ran out, I am trying to get all my current inventory up because I am about to start a whole new batch of goodies. After I make my daughter's curtains.

I know that many of you think that a mere facebook wall post mention is pretty small potatoes, and I guess well, in the GRAND scheme, it is. But for me, my dreams of becoming a Craft Superhero are coming to fruition! I feel like Steve Martin finding his name in the phonebook in the JERK, I am somebody! I'm famous! I have never been able to put a nifty "as seen on the front page of etsy" badge on my anything. I have never been in a treasury, (I don't think? How would I know?) The only other time a picture of my goods has been used was for my own posts here or on facebook or twitter pointing to my blog. OK, once I was on a website where they had a picture from every vendor for a craft fair I did, but yknow.

This time, I was PICKED by someone who works at ETSY to feature on the WALL of their facebook fan page! To me this small thing was a HUGE FREAKING DEAL! I blasted obnoxious all caps posts on my friends and my own wall bragging about my good fortune, I saw my "hearted item" go up ten people in a few hours! I might even make a sale from all this industry buzz!

Ok I am done hyperventilating, and thanks for reading. I added to the wall post that my favorite search lately has been "woodland creatures." Hey, but if any of you bloggers out there feel like it, feel free to search robot plush on etsy anytime!

Purple and Curtains (Not purple curtains)

Oh, a day of relaxation AND accomplishment! It's a premium win win! I believe that staying offline for a big part of the day is quite positive for my creativity. I haven't even checked google analytics for at least a week. That's real progress.

I finally got to work and finished my little man's curtains, he helped, as you can see from the pictures. He wanted to make sure I had the measurements right. I am surprised that I am so immensly proud of these curtains. I mean, we all know they are just rectangles. I guess I feel that way since it really finishes the nursery, and I have never made curtains before. They are also really big, (not for curtains, but for a project) which for some reason makes them seem more worthy of accolade. I dunno, I spend alot of time making tiny robots and things for babies to wear, so something that actually took up the whole table to sew felt gratifying. I should make more curtains, as far as satisfaction goes, it's a lot of bang for your buck.

I logged online sometime in the later afternoon, after finishing curtains and putting baby down for a nap. Open email aaaand...Well looky there! Another sale! I didn't even post anything new since the robot I sold the other day. I mean, the ball is really rolling!

I have to say, I know I have mentioned Feng Shui having a positive effect in some previous posts, but I am really a believer. I didn't do any "fixes" per se. Well, not true, I bought two purple bars of soap and put up a Hawaiian sunset picture (that looks kinda purple) in the back bathroom, which is in the financial area of the bagua and represents financials ($$$). Purple is the color for that area. But mainly, I got myself really organized in my craft workspace (see yesterday's post), which is what alot of Feng Shui is really all about. Organization, streamlining, you know, the positive flow of chi through a space. Can't be blocking up your chi with a bunch of stacked up cardboard boxes and piles of material. Clean corners, clear visual and traffic pathways.

Allright, so that's my story. I relaxed, and I finished a project (monkey) I had in the wings (on my back) and I made a sale. Yay me! Please feel free to share if you have done anything lately to help streamline; success with Feng Shui, Organizing, basically anything that has you "Working Smarter Not Harder." I used to find that concept elusive, but it is starting to become more clear to me now!

Rested and awaiting a cape!

Phew, We just had a sweep of family sickness, and I went ahead and totally unplugged from the internet! I was home alone (hubby gone for a week with work, also SICK) and SICK and super pregnant with a SICK and teething baby and a needing to go out five times a day doggie. Superfun! It was really just a minor cold, but lasted a whole week and my lil baby boy has never ever been sick! (He's 16 months, so it was a real bummer to break the streak!)

Anyhoo, we are feeling much better, Daddy's home and I spent all day facebooking my face off and not doing anything for my crafting biz.

Well, not to let down the craftiness of the blog ....my sweet nephew's birthday is next week, and I ordered him the most perfect gift off of etsy! He is turning four, so I looked at so many wonderful things until...Dat Dah Dahh!!! I found it! A magical cape for a Superhero!

http://www.superflykidz.etsy.com/

This shop is obviously a superseller, check it out, OVER 5,000 sales! They knew their market, and I am in it! I got a custom blue cape with a gold lightening bolt and his intital in red. So as a consumer, I feel completely satiated.

That's all for now, I will be back to my usual blogging routine tomorrow, and will come bringing tales of craftiness!

Quick Goodnight!

I promised myself I'd blog everyday, so I forced myself to reopen the laptop for a nightcap with Blogger. I have been very busy watching tv, afterall, it is Project Runway night! Does everyone else design the dress/outfit they would make for each challenge in their head too? I also spent alot of time on the phone with hubby, who has been away all week for work. (Comes home tomorrow night, better get my blog written early!)

I'd like very much to thank Blogger for their autosave feature. I wrote such a long blog lastnight and had totally finished editing the text. When I went to add pictures, I closed the whole computer down. Le Panic. But blogger saved the day, so phew!

I was really tired today since my little man had a big teething episode lastnight and woke up for about an hour in the middle of the night. I was hoping that would mean he would sleep in. Nope. All I did today toward my crafty-ness was to edit some pics and post then to etsy, then I added a "My Craft Corner" badge on the blog here (see right column). It has taken over facebook as my new crack. Going to sleep now. Above we have a picture of sleep.

Yes, I name my crafts

When I am creating a robot or a star or a skunk, even in an assembly line they have their own personality, their own life. The fabrics may seem random, but I feel each piece tells me which ones they want, like a child dressing themselves. I use a pattern I made from paper grocery bags, but the tracing and seam allowance takes on it's own path as well, its as if it were a loose interpretation of the pattern.

Once I get them dressed, it's all about the face. Sewing on the eyes particularly really adds that breath of life, and it is my favorite step. I always freehand the eyes and only cut them one set at a time. This is a slow step, it only takes a sec to sew them on, but this is where I take a moment to appreciate each one like a little newborn I'm going to send out to a loving family. I know, Cheeze Louise, but I'm extra sappy when I'm pregnant.

So the names, where do they come from?

With the Robots, I initially had 60 of them, so as I took pictures of them I stuck little dot tags on them A-Z, AA-whatever, and then named the photos accordingly. I have a book of Sci Fi Baby Names that I recieved from my sister in law when I was pregnant with my first, and I just picked them out alphabetically. They all came from movies or books or tv series, and had a description of the character. I tried to choose ones that fit. Some were boys, some were girls, some were ambiguous and recieved names accordingly. The ones that got into the double letters got double names, with a hyphen, and that gave me a little creative license to mix and match. My favorite was Olivia-Wan.

So then were the stars, and those I chose just by the way they looked, mostly their lips, or the way they held their "arms" or their eye shape. Their faces made it easy. They were like naming your stuffed animals as a kid.

The Skunks took a more interesting and personal twist. Yes, these are the Skunks for Skyla. They are all Albino Skunks in reference of the Albino Skunk Bluegrass Festival, http://www.skunkfest.com/ , and are made for the ASBF founders' grandaughter and Olympic hopeful Skyla Powers http://skylasjourney.blogspot.com/ (competing in Poland this week!) I donate a portion from each skunk directly to her.

The Skunks are all made from canvas, so I named them for their distinctive stripes. I used the same three giant storage boxes of scrap fabrics and goodwill clothes (ALL WASHED!!!) that I used for the pieces of the robots. But each piece of fabric has a unique history of its aquisition. There are the plaids from flannel shirts I used to make myself a modern grunge skirt for my bands cd release party last year. Those fabrics gave birth to Kurt and Eddie. Yeah. They do smell a little like Teen Spirit. (Which is great for a Skunk)

There are the fabrics I recieved from my mother in law, Some hers, Some quilting fabric from her mother. They birthed the two lovely skunks Judy and Blanche, respectively.

There is Wilmington, from a fabric I bought to make pillows when I first graduated college and moved to the beach, I thought it looked sandy. So you see the trend.

Well, above I included a few pics, see if you can guess the skunk with the fabric described. I tried to get some of the robots with their nametag visible for your enjoyment as well.

Thanks for indulging me with the read, naming my crafts really gives you that extra ingredient, listed in my shop item materials as "love." (Yeah yeah, Sap)

Feel free to click to the right on my etsy store to go spy on the items listed, and look at their names, (no purchase necessary, you can peek away, I'll never know it was you!) Feel free to post a comment here or convo me on etsy if you want to know the history behind any of the specific names. Now, if I can only choose a name for this baby that is going to come out of me in 8 weeks, I'll really have something to blog about!

It's a big world out there.

Today is of reflection. I blog. I like it. I twitter. pretty fun. I facebook. crack. I have started doing more and more to create an online presence, getting lost in techy stuff like adding applications, social stuff like starting groups and posting in threads. I really cannot imagine that anyone could spend more time online without suffering from video-game-obsession style exhaustion.

Yet, the more I do, the more discussions I am involved in, and blogs I link to, the more I am beginning to see it very clearly. I am a tiny, tiny boat lost in a ginormous sea of expert bloggers and expert crafters, some of which "just started and don't know what they are doing" but have hundreds of followers, hundreds of sales and more apps than I even understand. Um. before I was a SAHM I was in IT, yet now I feel like the internet is set to make me feel like a third grader in college.

Don't get me wrong, I am not upset by any of this. I just wonder, what am I doing? I unplugged for many hours today, I cleaned the house, I spent a few hours at a playgroup with my kid, and we just frigging relaxed. I refuse to let myself stop having fun with all of this, but if I don't feel so "Rah Rah" I am totally allowed to take a break. A jaded crafter is not a crafter at all!

I actually took a few pics today in the windowsill, a technique I have wanted to try. I didn't get that far because I caught up with an old friend on the phone. I didn't download the camera, so no new pics. And you know what? I can't wait to do it tomorrow! My motto is to just plug away, but only if you want to do it. I'm not throwing in the towel, or saying I won't stick to any discipline or deadlines, but when I am spending more time "trying so hard" than I am just loving the whole idea of what I do, I think it is just as important to pull away for some perspective. And you know what? Huh, I got three new followers today.

I think it's a good time to work some Feng Shui magic on my environment to zone in on where I am in my head and achieve a little zen. That's a crafty thing to do.

And I am actually a little bit proud of myself for taming the OCD beast and letting myself enjoy the day a bit. So, off I ride into the sunset of sleep with the satisfaction that I still really, really love what I do and will keep on doing it.

It's Curtains for the Polyfil!

Today I hit Hancock Fabric for their big sale, still needing that elusive giant box of polyfil that they told me two days ago was just coming off the truck. Nope. And I cannot get the sale price on out of stocks. That's ok, because Joanne's Fabric is opening in a few days across the parking lot with their Grand Opening Sale. (this magical place is five minutes down the road from my house!) Since I was already at the fabric store...why not take advantage of the sale?


I bought an off white home decorator fabric with a cool blues botanical print to make curtains for my son's room, I have been working on decorating it since our move. With the new baby on the way, I am trying to really pimp out the nursery because I never did with Lincoln's arrival. We didn't even have a crib until he was three months old!


Of course, I wanted to get some kind of liner to block the light, and even thought the print is cool blues and greens, It is sort of a floral, so I saw exactly what I was looking for at 99c a yard! Burlap! It is dark, and masculine, but perforated enough to let some light through. It seems like it will look good in my head, but we will see when I get it done. Of course, I've never made curtains and have no plan or pattern, I'm just going to wing it. How hard can it be?


I'll post pics once I get them done, but above is a photo of the room right now, after I put up a big tree decal I got on etsy at http://www.bubbaanddoodle.etsy.com/


Happy Labor Day everyone!!!! Anyone else pick up any new projects from the holiday sales or get any new inspirations?

Can I say I am too tired to even stay up for Project Runway? I think a bowl of ice cream might awaken me enough, it is on the DVR but still, that's just for replaying tomorrow, the runway in slow motion.

I posted a few things today on etsy and I received an etsy purchase in the mail! Yay! A super cute daisy necklace, I LOVE it! I got it from littleputbooks. It makes me feel pretty, a real pick me up piece of jewelry.

See her awesome stuff at http://www.littleputbooks.etsy.com

I am seeing some networking action from all my hard work, more followers on twitter, convos from my team, new freinds on my craft corner. I guess before I get any new sales, I will have to make myself a little famous first!

I know I said this blog would be about Skunks for Skyla, but I want to get them all up on the site and send out a message to my facebook fans first, so, it's coming!

Looky there, I'm not tired anymore and Project Runway starts in 15 minutes! Take me away Tim Gunn!

Skunks are getting some action!

First, some real life storytime. I took my beloved 15 month old to the fire station today and he got a big red fireman's hat. It's pretty stinking cute, of course I didn't bring the camera. It has been busy charging up for my etsy life tasks!

I took action! Pictures galore! I did eight more product shoots today, mostly skunks. I spent much time on etsy community asking advice in the "critique my shop" forums. I took some advice on my new photos and rolled from there.

I also tried a new tactic, I sent out convos to all my team members on the Bama team, I just joined, and I have already gotten some friendly replies. It never hurts to network and support eachother!

Well, here are some photos, I am working on keeping it short, if you think I am wordy on a blog, you should hang out with me sometime! I usually get along with shy quiet people who don't like to talk much themselves. :)

Next up: Skunks for Skyla update

Photos Using Auto Afterall

Ok, so I procrastinated even AFTER making my big declaration in my last post. Yesterday, I did not blog at all, but I did read alot of etsy emails and look at etsy stuff, and, woops, even bought a necklace. I also spent a good amount of time on my Project Runway maternity blouse. It's...well, it's happening, sortof!

TODAY, I got down to business! And I was still super tired, and heartburned, but I was determined. I read a bunch more in my photography books from the library, and I made a "To Do" list for how to snowball your etsy business that was in an email from a forum on, you guessed it, etsy.

First things first, I decided to get some photos done and post some pics! I took a whole camera full of photos and even posted my updates on facebook AND twitter! And look, I am blogging!

Here is an extrememly helpful link to those of you needing a little oomph in your etsy business, I am all over it!

http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5436688&utm_source=etsy+success&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=etsy_success_082009

And here are my beautiful new pictures! I cannot believe after going through and writiting down every single function my camera had, with notes on which options, flash, no flash, overhead light on, off, etc. that I got the best pics by using Auto, no overhead light (the whole reason my "photo studio" is set up in the bathroom under the sunlamp) and red eye reduction flash. There are no eyes to worry about, well, at least they are only of the felt variety!

I am definitely still a beginner when it comes to photography, but my pictures are getting better! Now to keep my momentum and pic and post, pic and post!

More tomorrow!

New respect for photographers!

Whew! I spent today doing photo reshoot experiments for my etsy products. I have been on the etsy site doing research on the Storque, in the blogs, convoing with other etsians whose pics I admire, I even got some books at the library. I was ready!

I set up in my bathroom under a heat lamp, the kind they have in hotel rooms that gives a pretty sunlight look. I experimented with different backgrounds and camera settings, but my camera has very few options, it's a digital made for people like me, who don't know how to take pictures, so there really aren't any optional settings, just alot of different scene options, preset. (Y'know, landscape, close up, bright light, snow, beach, children in motion...)

I am not a photographer.

Here are some of my best attempts, I only tried two objects, a star and a robot, so I could get the right look before dragging my whole inventory into it!!!

I used fabric, a towel, and a shag rug under the heat lamp, some with flash, some not. Now if I only knew which settings I used for which pictures?

Pics need some TLC

Ahhhhhhh.

I just had the best shower ever when my little man went down for his nap, and I am running on my first 8hr sleep in weeks. Think I'll take this recoup a little further and not do the laundry or vaccumm. It's not that bad, I just vaccummed three days ago. (and we were gone one of those days!)

My new stance on improving sales on my etsy site is that I need to get some new pictures up for my items. I have yet to locate my camera cord, so I am going to go buy one today. (It will of course, turn up as soon as I open the packaging and toss my reciept!)

So I'll keep this brief and post a few pics of the items I need to recapture to make them oh so catchy. I also cannot wait to take a picture of the new tree wall decal I bought from BubbaandDoodle on etsy for my son's room. It is fantastic! I have a new obsession with Vinyl wall decals, they are all over etsy and I like BubbaandDoodle the best! You can spend days looking at decals, they are great for renters, wall art with no paint, easily removable when you leave!

Here's their etsy: http://www.bubbaanddoodle.etsy.com/

All play and no work!

I haven't gotten anything done, because I went to Atlanta to visit a friend and to go to a VBAC talk with Henci Goer, author of the "Thinking Woman's Guide to Giving Birth"
(try said freind's blog if you are into celiac/gluten free diets or even just want to find some natural foods coupons. http://glutenfreecolleen.blogspot.com )

Well, I did do SOME work, but not the clocked in at the sewing machine kind. I dragged out all of my reciepts (some were found this week during my craft-station reorganization) and balanced my Stars and Robots books. I just had a sale this week, and with that, I am in the black!!! Even though I just bought supplies for my "Skunks for Skyla" line. So even though I am only about 26 dollars in the black, I have inventory out the wazoo, (which is almost like money, right?)
I'll blog more about Skunks for Skyla in the future, please look out for that!

I also left some feedback on etsy, and as you can see, put in a lil time on the blog! I used the drive time to reflect on how I can best divide my time to get the most work done that will translate to sales, meaning profits! I decided I really have to redo some photos on my etsy site, and continue to be active on the etsy boards, facebook, twitter, etc... so people can see me! I feel positive, things are going well. :) Happy babies everyone!

Less action, tired Mommy! Organizing is the Priority

Well, yesterday was the first day I didn't put my nose to the grindstone and "clock in" some hours on the skunk line. I am very tired, as my one year old got up from 1-4 am the other night, and I am catching up with that now. I did however, go to the post office to mail out my etsy sale, and go grocery shopping. I had to go to the post office twice, because my fool proof system failed me, I usually gather my goodies in a paper bag with a post it stuck and paper clipped to the outside with the address. This has worked great, but I sealed my Priority Mail box and had no Post it, just a clip in the bottom of my bag. Woopsie. I am tempted to grab a lot of PM boxes so I can do the packaging at home, but for some reason have not done that yet. Every order is a different size, and I am afraid of stockpiling.

Speaking of clutter, I think it's time to redo my craft situation. I gave myself the excuse to not work on skunks during nap 1 today because I could not get to them. My husband "helped" me move some stuff to vaccuum and boxed in my sewing corner behind heavy boxes. I could move them myself, but just oh so pregnant. The laptop was back there too, but I finally crawled under the dining room table to snatch it. I am going to clock in as soon as I am done with this blog. The whole point of starting this blog was to have a forum to hold myself accountable and really get some work done. I hope to also inspire anyone else to get to it, and hopefully learn a few things from my mistakes and triumphs!

So as far as work goes, I did actually get alot done on etsy yesterday, I posted an item and facebooked it, did some chatboarding, joined a local etsy group, mailed off my sale, and rearranged my craft supplies. Oh, I also decided to lower my skunk prices to 15 at the Skunk Fest to bring in more purchases after email discussing with all parties involved. Five will go to my friend Skyla. ( I need to make a sign, Skunks for Skyla! )They are still going to be 17 on etsy, I always have lower prices in person. I need to figure out the best way to tell people on etsy that 5 from each skunk will help support a world class athlete. I think I need to make some lists to clear my head, I feel a little muddled in thought and list making is my way to streamline my priorities. Blah Blah Blog, Blondie rocks in the background (Heart of Glass, from live concert)Ooooh oooh, Aaaahuh!

Allright then, me and my sleep deprived pregnant brain are going to check out and go clear some skunk making space while nap 2 is still underway....Wish me luck!