The Career Game

As my life is settling down a bit. I'm not playing Manic Monday any more. At least not until I have a manic day. I am back at "that" house so things may change at any moment.

I was looking at my DD's keyboard and the ten key at the side and remembering when I was a bookkeeper. That bought me to think of all the careers I've had. I'm going to try to remember them all and list them for you. Some, you will not believe.

My first real PAYING job was at age 16. I did evening billing for a local department store. It was long before computers, and we used adding machine to tally receipts and hand write the amounts on cards for the customer's permanent file. We also subtracted the amount of checks paid. I wasn't very good at it, and I quit before I screwed up too many bills. I've always been dyslexic, and was much worse as a teen.

Next career was more in my line. For several years as a teen, I did freelance crafting. Macrame accessories and clothing, hand painted leather jewelry, beaded jewelry. But for the most part, I didn't get money, only trade. But for me, that was awesome. I kept some of the trade clothes (my fave) for years.

I finally got another Real job when I was 19. It was temporary, but real money and something I could do. I managed a booth at a local mall, selling little glass blown figurines. I found I was actually good at handling money, and managing employees, even at 19.

The next job was selling memberships at a national auto club. It was pretty horrible. I had to make cold phone calls and even drive out to the clients houses wherever they were, even in the city, to close the deal. I discovered that I REALLY hated solicitation.

I moved right from phone sales to department store sales. Quite different. First I was a floater, moving from department to department, then jewelry took me. I liked that, and much different when the buyer comes to you. I had my eye on the art department and the pet department, and when I finally took an offer from  the pet department, I got an offer for art. Too bad I didn't take it. Might have changed my life. Pet department was mostly fun, I wore a snake around my neck at work, and occasionally brought home bags of frogs or snakes to transfer from one store to another. I became a supervisor at 20, and things were great until my married boss made advances. It was a whole different world back then. No protection for employees. I quit.

What would a young girl of 21 choose to do next? Why become a store detective of course. I started with a national detective agency as a store detective and eventually progressed to an undercover detective, working in factories to ferret out thieving employees. It was a lot of hours, writing reports every day, and the deceit was hard for me to handle. I couldn't tell anyone what I was doing, especially friends I made on the job. I finally quit. Not something I was cut out for, but interesting all the same.

I had met the man who I would marry while I was a detective and during our transition from dating to marriage, I got another job in sales at a clothing store. I also did a little repair sewing when they found out I was a seamstress, having taken tailoring in High School. But it was time to have kids and I stopped working for a few years.

Finally when my youngest was only 3 months, I decided enough was enough. If only there was online sales back then, how different my life would have been too. But I got a part time job as an evening bookkeeper at my husbands auto service garage. I worked there and other stations for quite a few years while also going back to school. School would end up taking 11 years to complete.

Bookkeeping turned to station management and eventually computer accountant for the entire Cleveland Area. But I was stubborn, when the company refused to give me the $.25 an hour raise they promised me, I quit. It cost them quite a bit too, because my replacement payed every employee holiday pay, and corporation payed them too. No employee told, my husband was one of them. Karma will get you every time.

While I was finishing school a friend offered me a job at her interior fiber design studio making drapery and slip covers. It was fun, but interfered too  much with my difficult program in industrial design. So I had to quit that job too.

While at school I took various jobs, like part time assistant in school departments, summer school art instructor, and computer tech. I loved computer lab tech, because I was so strict, no one came to use computers on my watch and I could do my own work on several at a time. They were pretty slow for graphics back then.

Graduation time and I had my hopes set on toy design. that was my focus at school, but actually I had more experience in home fashion and lighting design it was. That was supposed to be a temporary move, but lasted over 15 years. My focus was Tiffany style lighting and painted finishes. I decided to move around to get better positions and well, that was my downfall.

After my last full time job as designer, and art director, I got some work as a freelance paint finish designer, working for a US lighting company a few times a year in China. Money was good. I also sold supplies and children's clothing on eBay.

Then came the market crash and a little place called Etsy. Lighting wasn't selling, but handmade crafts were. I still sell online and do a little freelance lighting design. Not sure what the future holds, but I'll keep you updated. I'm thinking of writing an illustrated children's book.

Fauxtography - Punny Picks for Great Photo shoots

I've been working out new ways to do interesting photography for my items. Fortunately I am very handy at Photoshop. I just did (and am working on) a series of Fauxtos of my Bow Ties on Tuxes. Here is some of what I did.

I took some Tux images and creatively altered them in Photoshop to show off my ties better. I did the Jon Hamm just for fun, not to add to my listings. Not sure either he or the producers of Mad Men would like that, but I was having so much fun.

I'm not exactly sure just how legal using these images are, after all, I'm not crediting the photographer. If you photographed any of these, let me know and I'll give you shared credit. After all, these images are digital altered art collages done by me. Heck, a collaboration with me, could make you famous Jon Hamm.

Find these bow ties and many more at Poppy's Garden Gate.

Craft Seller Tips - Sample Making Pt 1

I'm a maker. I designed a purse, but labor is high and material cost is not great either, but the profit is good when I sell. I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out how I can show different options without making several new purses with buckles, zippers linings with snaps, and also not use up all the materials I have and the space in my house.

I thought about Photoshop. I'm good at it, but you see how the fabric folds on the bags in use, That's hard to "shop".

I sell a lot of these Rainbow Brite Purses.

I had a few samples made, so I got a brilliant idea. What if I made "skins" for the samples. You know, just the outside panels and gusset to slip over the purse. I think it will work. I'm going to work on these for a few days and post my work for you. Maybe you can get some ideas too of how to make samples easier too.

My clutches would be hard to do this way, because I put in the zipper un-assembled, but the purses are perfect. I want to make a nice Messenger bag too. I can make the lining only and make "skins" for modeling those too.


Picture above is skin being sewn. Below is a picture of 2 of the skins after pressing. Skull and Roses and NKOTB Jon.

I'm not positive how I will attach the skins. I know basting will work, but not easy to switch for photo shoot. Carpet tape would work, but might also leave sticky residue on the original sample. I will keep posting my progress on this so you can see the finished product and maybe you can figure out a way to save time and money on your samples. Maybe set stones in bezels and glue to one band just for ring photography. Just like artists or photographers can use the same mat or frame for display.

Here's a picture of the NKOTB Joey skin slipped over the matching purse. Once I figure out how to stabilize the top edge, I think it will work. I'm open to any suggestions.

Keep watching. I will be back with more on how I solved my sample making issues.

Business Tips - Packaging and Tagging

I know, I'm sorry. I just don't give you enough tips for you business anymore. After all, who wants to hear about the crazy lady next door ripping open her garbage and throwing it all over the yard, or see pictures of the tree that fell on our house. You want to see better ways to sell your wares, right?

I had to share this one, because I'm very proud of the idea. I've been wanting to wholesale, because I really hate craft shows, but online just doesn't get the traffic I need. If only I could sell what I make at the winter holidays, all year round. But to be able to wholesale, you have to still have a profit with a hefty discount, and I didn't have many items that could support that.

Recently I started making bow ties. They're very popular and material cost is decent. Time needs to be worked on, but I see ways that making larger quantities can cut that down. My bow ties are easy to use and can be sold at a pretty decent price for bow ties.

The problem with wholesale is packaging. You can't just tissue wrap and tie with ribbon. Smaller items need to be carded or window boxed. I ordered clear pillow boxes, but those still need cards and the cost is bout $.25 each.

Then I thought that Post cards might do the trick. They're about the right size I could match them to my business cards, and have info and care instructions on the back.

Here's the front and back of the card. The bow will be on the front and the ribbon band will wrap across the middle of the back. I can reasonably make custom cards for the seller too. And I can whole punch the center for hanging.

There was a sale. So the cards cost about $.10 each and they are nicer than if I printed my own, which with ink, could cost more. Click to enlarge. I got them at overnightprints.com. Their quality is pretty good and I like their postcard size better than Vistaprint.

My daughter uses business card to print little tags, by having 3 tags printed across the vertical card. She cuts them in strips and uses a swift tagger to tag them on a seam of her clothing. Merchandise can't be returned to her if the tag has been removed. Another clever idea.

When you buy business cards on sale from vistaprint.com, they are incredibly reasonable. Much better than printing your own tags.

I'm also considering making fabric labels at spoonflower.com. Their quality is much better than my printer printed labels, and at $15 a yard, I can get a LOT of fabric tags made. I think I can use a spray fabric stay to keep them from fraying too.

Hope this gets your creative juices flowing. There's a lot of innovative ways you can use the resources available to you. Why you could make cute tags for your jewelry boxes from those little business card strips, couldn't you? Oh and of course you can make business cards or post cards too.

Artfire Collection - Beautiful Winter

Beautiful Winter

  Curated By: PoppysGardenG...

ArtFire.com

Handmade Gifts

Changing the Way we Create - One Puppy at a Time

"Sit in this cubicle, with these gray walls, don't talk to any of the other designers, don't leave the office, and create something amazing that we can sell or you will get a pay cut and a demotion. Remember, don't talk to anyone and don't use the computer for anything other that communication with staff or to do your design work on. No browsing websites."

Does this sound familiar to any of you? If it doesn't you haven't ever worked in an office as a professional designer. Maybe this is too extreme. I was allowed to browse the internet occasionally and I did talk to the designers, but then I got written up on it at review time. I talked too much. How does one stay creative without ANY outside influence? I did get to travel occasionally too, to Mexico, Asia and shows in other states for work. Not totally sheltered, but not as much stimulus as a designer really needs.

I got to the point in my life, where I decided that I would rather have a job standing and scanning, than having a supervisor standing behind me, watching me work, over my shoulder. As a matter of fact, mid menopause, I blew up at the owner who was doing just that. There was more to it, but the explosion left me totally disillusioned and needing to escape. I joined the circus, figuratively. First starting on Etsy, then moving around the internet and now on Artfire and my own website. I did a little freelance work at first, and still do a little, but I seem to pick the scariest companies to work for. I think there must be good ones too.

Creativity has to be fed. No matter what way you find you need it. If human contact is the way, or travel, or just browsing the internet for inspiration. Did you know that many art museums have virtual exhibits? They do. It's pretty amazing. Better in person, but not bad online.

I think, like our country, the model for the workplace was created by old school white men. I think if we want to get anywhere in the global economy, we all need to tear down those gray walls install lavender sofas, and all sit down with a puppy, next to a bouquet of roses with a cup of Chai tea, a sketchpad and ideate (that's a product design term) together.

Life Without Etsy - Nearly Two Years Later

It's been nearly 2 years since My daughter Poppy and I were unceremoniously removed from the ranks as Etsy Sellers. Can you believe it? Well she had her shops shut down a bit earlier than mine, and she did brazenly open other shops and sold under different names until they found her and shut her down. Her offense? Mistaken reports of copyright infringement. You can read more in my post Etsy Shop Closings

First Poppy was mad, and rightfully so. She has been with Etsy since the early years, promoted it, and earned her living there. They were not even remotely kind or willing to listen. She wasted a lot of energy, trying to work things out, or break their system. She had already opened an Artfire shop, but back then, Artfire was just a startup, and not working the way it does today.

One day I suggested she go back to eBay, where she started. Statistically eBay as far more traffic than Etsy, so I thought it worth a try. Poppy knew that only her genre clothes would sell there, and sell they did. Sadly, she eventually had to give up her very popular Longstockings and beautiful designer clothing, but she found a niche on eBay with genre clothing and cosplay. After time, her business on Artfire grew nicely too.

This year, in this poor economy, Poppy will be earning close to double the money she made on Etsy. It took a lot of work and re-imaging, but she is a success once again. It really can be done. For those of you who think Etsy is the Sun and the Earth, take a step back from your computer and breathe the real air.

There are many sellers who have left Etsy for their own websites, craft shows, brick and mortar shops, and other online venues, with great success! I know this, because I've done it myself. I had to re-image too, but between my eBay store, websites, and Artfire stores, I've made a living too.

You can visit us at our websites. Poppy's is poppyswickedgarden.com
Mine are akacinders.com and poppysgardengate.com
They will all link you right through to our Artfire shops. We use the websites as a gateway to our shops. Artfire is great for this, because you don't need to be a member to buy, so it's just like having an online shop. And if we decide to switch venues, it's just as easy to do it this way.

Biz Buzz - Holding On or When to Close Shop

early photography with flash

I see a lot of twitter and blog posts lately from sellers debating whether or not to give up their shops. I can tell you from several years of experience, that July is a very bad month and not one to really judge the validity of your marketing and design skill from.

There are several factors that should go into your decision making. First look at your annual profit. July and early August are slow. It's a great time to relax and organize. Look at your sales figures and do your monthly sales for the first half of the year. That way, in January, you won't have so much to do. I do monthly profit sheets so I can see how I compared to the previous years. You may think this will upset you to see your sales figures, but you might just be surprised at what trends you find. For instance, although this was a lousy July, it was still better than last year for me.

natural light photo

If your sales are a bit lower, don't be discouraged. this was a particularly bad July. the only reason my sales were up at all, is because I opened a new venue since last July.

Look at your product. Are there too many similar items on your venue? Are you unique enough to hold on? If not, think of what you can do to make yours different. It can even be customer service or packaging. How about making your tags out of seed embedded papers, or packaging in a little reusable satin bag? Your product may be pretty, but what makes you special. This is a perfect time to take a good hard look at what you're selling.

How about Photography? Do your photos outshine your competition? Handmadeology has some great photography tips HERE.

professional photography

Maybe you're just tired of trying to climb to the top. Maybe it's just hot, and you're too busy with the kids, and your sales are so low this month, that you just don't want to try anymore. It's OK. We are not all cut out for this thing. Some people are better at selling in person at shops or craft/art shows too. Internet sales is a lot of extra work with photography and marketing and listing descriptions. The reason I like it, is that I can make a sample and, then make the product when it sells. I don't have to have an inventory. Very nice for my very small house.

Let's take a close look at your bottom line.

PHOTOGRAPHY - Is it good enough? Look at my early photos compared to my pro photos and improved home photography. Can yours improve too?

PRODUCT - Is your product unique? When I started selling beach glass jewelry, I was the only Etsy seller with it. Then there came all the others, so I decided to try something unique. My flame shaped flowers are different that others on the market. Are they unique enough? Maybe not, because I'm considering dropping this line and moving on to something else.

PROFIT - This is the biggest deciding factor. Are you making a profit? If you haven't made even the tiniest profit in 3 years, you are doing this because you love it.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with loving your craft and not making a profit,but if it has become a chore, and you don't love what you're doing anymore, then your decision to quit is valid. It's OK to so something you don't love if you are getting something out of it, but if your heart doesn't sing, and your wallet is empty, you just might be right. There is a place for you and your art  in the world somewhere. maybe just not online sales.

Shops I Like - LittleBugJewelry - TwillyPop - Lumafina

Today I'm featuring jewelry shops again. I'm going to have to do this often, because there are way more jewelry shops than anything else. And because I'm a jeweler (although some may say a fiber artist) I have a lot of friends in the jewelry trade. Don't worry if you're not here, you will be eventually. There are lots of shops to love.

Actually two of the shops are friends, whose work I love, the other shop I just adore, and do not know the artist personally. As usual, I feel that these shops offer a fairly different style product, even though they are all jewelry.

I'll Start with littlebugjewelry.etsy.com. What a delightful shop. Jane makes the sweetest bezel set stacking ring sets. Someday I have to get one of those. I really love her bezel set druzy and petoskey pieces best though. There is such a wonderful variety in this shop. There are wire wrapped jemstone earrings, freshwater pearl, rough stones, smooth stones, original and unique mixed metal settings. The variety is so amazing that you just have to find something you like there.

The next shop is twillypop.etsy.com. Sara had this great idea of weaving beads and ribbon together. She started out simple, but it's expanded into some pretty wonderful creations. You really have to browse through her shop to see just exactly what I'm talking about. Like myself, Sara took what she had available to work with and made her art. Her modeled photography is wonderful too, mostly done by her daughter standing on a chair to be tall enough. Very clever and creative. I just love her brooches too.

Finally, a shop I just adore from afar lumafina.etsy.com. There is something so calming about the elegant simplicity of this jewelry. It's like nature put on a simple white pedestal. Settings are simple and the features are like they were plucked from nature. A slab of antler, a Herkimer diamond, glass bead or quarts crystal are featured in these simple, mostly silver, settings. I've been really drawn to the simplicity of these designs since I first saw them, while searching for Herimer diamonds. I love the idea of using antler too, as this is naturally shed, and eco friendly. Please stop in and take a look.

Those are my shops for the week. I think you'll really be surprised at what you find in them. Stop in and see for yourself.

Shops I Like - The Little Red Door

I haven't done this in a while, not because there aren't shops I like, I love so many it's difficult to choose. I haven't done this feature because, quite honestly it takes a lot of time to get the images together the way I was doing it. I really need to find a quicker way to make this post. Because there are so many shops that I love, that in the future, I will be featuring 3-5 shops a week.


This week however I will dedicate to one of my sponsors, The Little Red Door. I've admired this shop since forever, as she was right there when I first started on Etsy. I adore her little houses. They are the sweetest. And she will custom make them for you and there is even the Breast Cancer Hope version with proceeds donated to the  Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. These are real ceramic houses too, not polymer. And crafted with loving hands.

If you haven't already visited the shop, please take a look. You won't be sorry. If you have been there, stop in again. I'm sure there is something new for you to love and treasure in your own home.

Putting it Together - Organizing for the New Year

I'm spending a little of my time organizing my life. Don't know if I'll be successful, but I'm going to try. Every day I'm planning to do something to to reach certain goals. The problem is I have too many goals. Well not really, the goal is to make enough money to live independently. Cheaply, but independently.

I've given myself a deadline of 4 months to decide what I am going to do to earn that money, and I'm documenting it in a mini blog. Four Months - A Diary of Progress I'm really hoping it will be progress, not failure. Join me at least on occasion, to see how I'm doing. 


There are a few things that I'm doing to reach my possible goals. The first was to create my website akacinders.com. I told you about that one a previous Putting it Together post. I made a website for my daughter too. When I buy Weebly Pro, I can have up to 10 websites, and while I was putting together my product designs, I decided that I should make a site for those too. A password protected site that has files only a potential client can review, so they don't take my ideas. I can do that on Weebly too.


I also came across this great seminar by Scoutie Girl. Wish I could take it because I'm not very good at emailing to raise awareness. I am going to start emailing more and try to get people to sign up for my emails. I use MailChimp and I did send out ONE email this year. I have to work on that a bit. I will be having bits of advice and web specials if you want to sign up. It's right over there --->
Oh and Tara is a person to watch. She has some pretty great advice.


I also applied to be a featured artist and I will try to make spectacular pieces and try to find some magazines or contests I can enter them in. If anyone knows of a place I can put my work, please let me know, and when I hunt a few down, I will post them here for you. 


Hope you all have a great week and spend a little time organizing your craft and your life too.

Bizz Buzz - Oh My Handmade Goodness

I have so many things on my plate right now I can Hardly find which Fork or Spoon to eat with and don't we eat the peas with the Butter knife? (the butter helps keep the peas on, yes?)

I love to share tips with you, but sometimes I just don't have the time to share my advice, so I wanted to share with you a truly wonderful site, if you haven't already started reading it. Sellers please subscribe to the Oh My Handmade Goodness daily emails, you will not be sorry.

The Blog is the work of a loving and sharing team and it is just full of wonderful ideas to make your business more successful. Please stop by and give it a look today.

Buyers Paradise - Heather Kent Art

YouAs her shop Banner Reads, Heather makes wearable and frameable miniature art. And what wonderful little treasures they are. I can't choose, so I just have to make a gallery, but please stop by Heather Kent on Etsy to see more.

I first became aware of Heather's talent making Treasuries on Etsy. That's where I fell in love with her tiny watercolors. We've stayed Twitter friends. Her artwork is not only amazing, but they are such tiny little pieces of perfect skill and charm.

Such wonderful little pendants and you can even get your own beloved pet miniaturized with personality galore.

If you like feathers, flowers, leaves, houses, wild animals, domestic animals, hobbies, fashion, nature, travel, or food, you can get it on pendants, cufflinks, rings, earrings and so much more.






Heather will even put the little portraits on these sweet little cufflinks.

Please stop by and see what other little treasures that Heather has to offer, because these don't even begin to cover the vast subject matter covered in her shop.

Heather Kent

Buyers Paradise - Two Left Hands

If it's one thing this seller does not have it's Two Left Hands. One of my favorite Etsy sellers, because she is unassuming and generous of spirit. Lefty, as her seller friends call her, is a multi-talented artist and crafter as well.

I decided to feature Two Left Hands today, because she offers so many wickedly adorable items for Halloween, like these little zombies. There is so much more you have to come see.

She Also makes The Sweetest Fairies and Mossies, Treehouses, Gnomes, Brooches and Embroidery. Right now her shop is just stuffed with sweetness and Halloween Goodness.

You'll be able to find something for every season and every occasion. And the detail is amazing. Just look at the detail on this wonderful Autumn Harvest Fairy. How wonderful is she?

Christmas is on it's way and there is a wonderful selection of Winter Holiday items too. Here's a little Hand Embroidered Elf Ornament. Would your little ones not squeal with delight at him?

I must say that I have a particular fondness for this lady too. She has supported me when I was a seller and when I was unceremoniously removed from that venue. Although we don't talk as much as we used to, I still count her as one of my very special friends. Please visit her shop, and tell her Cinders sent you.

Putting it Together - Failure

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that don’t work.” ― Thomas Edison

I saw this quote this week and remembered how much I love it. I'm sure you all can relate, sellers and buyers alike. I know just recently in trying to remember how to make these lovely Halloween Cat charms, I just couldn't get the process right and I made them just last year.

I guess what I'm trying to say, and Edison was trying to say, is that there is no success without some failure.  Sometime it can be so frustrating, when you spend a day taking photographs and none of them turn out right, or you follow a recipe to the letter and your cake falls flat. I remember my first Angel Food cake from scratch. It was about 1 inch high.

Don't be afraid to experiment, that's where great ideas are born. Don't be afraid to fail that's where the genius lies. Don't you just know I fail at something EVERY day, but I still go on, because every day I succeed at something too.

Putting it Together - Family

As I was washing dishes today I was remembering my Mom. She worked full time, cleaned all day Saturday and had fun on Sunday. I made a pledge when I was very young, not to spend as much time cleaning as she did. I kept that promise.

Mom danced around the house with a tissue on her forehead (to catch the perspiration), listening to Very Loud music (mostly musicals, West Side Story being the preferred) and cleaning to excess. Not only did she vacuum, mop, polish and launder, she took out all the good dishes and washed them and emptied the salt and pepper shaker and sugar bowl. I thought about her as I did the dishes wearing my headset, dancing to Lady Gaga and washing out the salt and pepper shakers for the first time in 6 months. Pepper shaker has been empty for probably two months, because I was too unmotivated to clean and refill.

I guess all in all, my mother influenced who I am today. I do chores to music, like she did. She also taught me that obsessing over cleanliness was a waste of time. Covered sugar gathers no dust after all.

I was listening to Born This Way too and I thought of how, no matter how odd I was, my mom encouraged me to be myself. I passed this on (I hope) to my children. There were times in my life when I was tormented by others because of my uniqueness, but she never suggested that I be anything other than what I was.

I even had problems in elementary school, because of my clothing, hair, and accessorizing. When the principal called Mom at work to complain, she politely reamed her and asked if there wasn't a better use of her time.  My daughter has done that very same thing with her children as I had with her and her brother. What a boring world we would live in if everyone was cookie cutter perfect.

Mom also encouraged me to follow my heart and my Art. I was pretty old when I got my BFA, but fortunately my mother lived to see me graduate and become a professional. She was proud of me though, no matter what I did. She passed away about a year after I found my field and became a success. Even though I left that career and am struggling at this indie internet seller thing, she would have been proud.

No matter what your relationship with your parents, and my mom was VERY annoying at times, they have formed who you are. If you love who you are, they have laid a good foundation. That's all you need to put it all together.

"Don't hide yourself in regret
Just love yourself and you're set
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way"     - Lady Gaga - Born this Way

Biz Buzz - Fond Farewell and Marketing Tips?

I wanted to dedicate this Bizz Buzz to saying a fond farewell to the Clown that Ran Etsy But You can read about it at the Inc article or the Great Farewell that Etsy Bitch wrote HERE

I would also like to note that with what has happened in Norway, everything we do here seems so small. So many children lost at the hands of a Madman.

I decided instead, to write about something that came to mind after a few events this week. It has to do with your audience. Who are you selling to? I was trying to come up with search terms for my jewelry. Because it was unique, I wanted to come up with some terms that the average person would use to search. I was thinking about my product and I was thinking of all the other handmade product. I'm not including vintage here, because they have a greater chance of people searching for their items than handmade sellers do.

I thought about all the lovely handmade products and artwork, I and I thought about all the nice things that people had said about my flowers. I thought about how we are pushed by ourselves and our sites to create something so unique that it stands out against our competition. And I thought that if it is so unique, how will people find it. If you designed handkerchiefs for Elephants, that would be unique. Maybe useful (they would have to be pretty big) But who would search for it.

It popped into my head, that the people who are looking at my work, or your lovely work, are mostly artists, or people involved with or admirers of the arts. Is that my target audience? Wouldn't it be nice if the average person, or at least a percentage of the overall population would like my work?

I pass QVC sometimes and see things that are not as lovely as our handmade craft, but mass produced, sell by the thousands. I used to work for a company that sold to QVC and it was not our usual lovely inventory. But that's another story.

And then there was something that Poppy said this week. She was listing a biker T-shirt that had previously sold for $250, and she was debating weather to list it auction, or buy it now on eBay. She was discussing how much to list it for and I said was it too much in this economy. She said people with money have money and they don't really care, they buy what they want. She's right you know. We struggle to sell our beautifully hand crafted wares for under minimum wage and someone pays $1800 for a Lego Millennium Falcon still in the box. (I'd rather have it built for that price).

We work our tails off at the craft we love and yet we could take a $1 t-shirt we found a the thrift store and turn a $200 plus profit on it.

My point isn't despair. It is, how the heck do we get the guy spending $250 on a T-shirt to spend a few bucks on our handmade? How do we inspire the "want monster" (I hate that term and wish it would go away and die forever) to absolutely love handmade. What we really need is not a clown but a Marketing Genius to help us out. Barry Manilow will you write us a handmade product jingle for the new millennium? There is more to marketing than just good SEO. SEO does not inspire desire. How about "I'm wearing Handmade Today" "I just hung Handmade on my walls, did you?" "I'm cooking in handmade."

Posted on Artfire - Etsy Fees Vs Artfire at $9.95

Posted in the Artfire Forums I didn't think this was a controversial or negative post. It was just a little bit of brain boggling math that I thought I would like to point out to the sellers that think Etsy fees are cheaper than the proposed $9.95 minimum fee that Artfire will begin charging.

For those of you who aren't involved or have the time to wade through forums here is my post

"Sorry, haven't the time to read through all of these to see if it's been mentioned. $10 a month for Artfire VS Etsy "reasonable" fees. If you want to have your items seen on Etsy, most people list/relist one item a day @ $.20 so that's $6. Many list/relist at least 2 a day $12 then if you sell there are fees as well. How in the World do any of you think that it is cheaper to sell on Etsy? My fees were $50 to $100 a month there. If you are paying less than $10 a month at Etsy, you are not selling anything, I can guarantee it. If you are making an average of $6 minimum wage (give or take in your state) for a 40 hour week $240 X 3.5%, you would be paying $8.40 in fees above your listing a WEEK. So if you are working Etsy as a business, the minimum you should be paying is $45 a month. That is just making minimum wages.

Brain hurting yet. I know mine is. Again, if you are actually paying less than $10 a month at Etsy you are wasting your time selling there, because it's not working for you."

I'm not even saying which is the better deal, because I sell a lot on eBay and the fees are even higher and the buyer expects to pay less. I had an offer of $8 for a $39 apron, when my materials alone are more than that, let alone fees. Etsy fees are higher, but so is the traffic right now.

I guess the wasting time thing wasn't too nice. But at $10 a month, with Etsy fees, you are not selling anything. I never had a month at Etsy where I payed less that $10, even in a slow month at a slow shop. However, most of us don't make above minimum wages at any of our venues. I know I don't. Just Saying...

Buyers Paradise - Desert Rubble

My favorite shop today is Desert Rubble. Lynn is wonderfully creative and sells only on Artfire. I just love her work. I'm a big fan of Steampunk and this is the most unique take on Steampunk I have seen.

The gears, leather, screws an other pieces and parts are made almost entirely of polymer clay. I just love her mechanical bugs like this Steampunk Bee.

There are so many great items in this shop, mostly neck charms, but look at the great wine glass charms too.

Don't you just  love the Fairy door above. With Fantastic items like these, no wonder she has so many sales. What imagination and Detail.

I have a particular fondness for eyes and this one is just great.

Much of her work reminds me of those Great 90's Post Apocalyptic Flicks like Mad Max or Waterworld where living things need to be altered to survive.

You have to stop in to Desert Rubble, and take a look at the fantastic selection.