Thursday, November 29, 2007

Record Sales!

I have had two sales this week, and the weeks not over yet kids! Of course record sales is a tongue in cheek title since I have a grand total of 3 sales. I'm excited though, they are all from people I don't know and they are all the stuff that I think is cool, not the stuff that I'm making because I think it will appeal to the massess. Maybe I can making a buck doing something I love, probably just one buck though. The approaching Christmas season can't hurt. I've been making some rocking Christmas cards and ornaments if I do say so myself.

Selling is alot of fun! Not just the money, especially since at this point I am not making much. I get all giddy and hyper and happy when I see that I've sold something. Maybe it's what people feel like when they jump out of airplanes, win a bid or hit it at the slots. I never knew I was an adrenaline junky! It's so much fun to see where my little treasures are heading off to live: California, Vermont and Louisianna so far and to think maybe they're gifts these people bought for others and they'll touch others' hands. It's just really intriguing to me that, in the matter of only a month or so, something I made with my own hands is now residing in every corner of the country with people I've never met!

NOTE: My shop The Beehive is now Papercut Kitchen! Please visit my shop Papercut Kitchen by clicking here.


Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Packing and Shipping and Paypal, Oh My!

Learning this new etsy business and all the details that go along with it feels a little like I'm learning to write with my left hand. I'm clumsy and slow and it's just going to take getting out there and learning by doing. This is not something that comes naturally for me. I like to know every tiny little detail of who, what, when, where and why in everything I do. Spontaneity and new experiences make me so tense I feel like my shoulders might tighten enough for my head to pop right off my neck. I have been working very hard to get over this and having kids is a big inspiration for self improvement. I already look at my 3.5 year old having trouble transitioning from one activity to another and getting peeved anytime something new messes up his little routine and I think "My baby is already uptight and stressed and it's all my fault!" So I'm doing my best to ditch the over researching and just jump in and learn from experience.

Now that I've sold an item I'm realizing that there are so many things to consider. I spent most of the day Tuesday trying to get set up on Paypal, something I thought happened automatically when I set up shop on etsy, and running back and forth from Walmart, the UPS store, Hobby Lobby, Walmart again, and back to Hobby Lobby (with a side trip to the grocery store for diapers and milk) just trying to figure out who had the best boxes at the best prices to fit each of my differently sized items and how I could make sure these items survive the US Postal Service without being bent, warped and drenched with rain but still be appealing to the buyer.

Bit by tiny bit throughout the day I reluctantly went through the painful process of letting go of my earth conscious (translation, overly frugal, ok, down right cheap) idea of putting the items in a ziplock bag from the grocery dept (to protect from water damage), shredding up old junk mail and bills for packing material and shipping in the boxes our boys' diapers came in and traded it out for the more business conscious idea of wrapping the items in the nice cellophane used to wrap gift baskets, shredding up nice, new, crispy white craft paper for the packing material and shipping in --gasp!-- brand spankin' new boxes. I have to admit, the revised plan was so much better. I kept stealing glances at this beautiful package, so tidy and clean, thinking this was worth the work. This will make the buyer feel like they're opening a gift to themselves instead of feeling like they found a pretty cool thing in the dumpster that you can't believe someone would throw out because, with some work, it could be really nice.

Monday, November 12, 2007

Yippeeeee!

Pop open the champagne and toss around some confetti, I have made my first sale! Here's to hoping all goes smoothly tomorrow with shipping it out!

NOTE: My shop The Beehive is now Papercut Kitchen! Please visit my shop Papercut Kitchen by clicking here.


Saturday, November 10, 2007

Good Gravy!!

How long does it take a gal to figure out how to insert some pictures into her blog post?! Apparently two evenings! I'm even more blog impared than I first suspected, someone call for help. But I am learning and my blog is looking a little better and a little more like me, though many things are still off kilter. I suppose that's a little like me as well. My new item of the day (drum roll)...some more clothespin magnets! Christmas themed this time. I'm getting the feeling it won't take me much longer with these beloved things to start choking on them, as adorable as they are. It's like I have crafting ADD. I have so many different ideas I can't stick to one thing for long. Merry Christmas! I know, it's early, but I do loves me some Christmas. Click on a pic to go to the etsy.com listing.

NOTE: My shop The Beehive is now Papercut Kitchen! Please visit my shop Papercut Kitchen by clicking here.


Friday, November 9, 2007

Second Wind

Alright, I'm perking back up a bit about my ambitious endeavor of making and selling paper crafts. Still not so sure about this whole blogging thing and, in spite of being a trained graphic designer, I can't for the life of me figure out how to change anything about the look of my blog (which at the moment is asthetically repulsive to me). I think I was feeling down at my last posting because it has been ALOT more difficult to find time to make things and photograph them and touch up/resize the photos and post each product (which includes writting a description of the item, naming and pricing and uploading product pics using dial up) and promoting in the forums. Oh, and did I mention I'm a full time mamma of 2 boys, a 3.5 year old and a soon to be two year old! I did make a new item that made me happy, I think they're cute. They are embellished clothespin magnets. So far I have 2 sets posted but I've made about 5 more. You can view my Bright Flower and Turkeys magnet sets on thebeehive.etsy.com I'm coveting them. Is it odd to covet your own stuff? I guess it's because they aren't really mine, I have to make them and then hide them away to make sure they are safe, just in case someone actually purchases them.

NOTE: My shop The Beehive is now Papercut Kitchen! Please visit my shop Papercut Kitchen by clicking here.

Saturday, November 3, 2007

Talking to Myself

Alright, I'm feeling pretty silly blogging, which is the reason I haven't done much. I feel like someone who is talking to themselves but thinks that someone is standing there listening. The point of my blog was to help promote my etsy store but I would think you would have to have a successful blog FIRST to be able to get sales from it. At this point I am without sales and even though it's only been a few weeks my enthusiasm is already waining. I'm making all this stuff for noone, it's piling high on the kitchen counter. It takes me so long to make something it's hardly worth the price I would get for it. I'm used to making freelance graphic designer kindof money, where I'm getting paid healthily for my time and my skills/talent, not selling your crafts money which covers your material plus a paltry compensation for your time. If I was running a small assembly line it might be worth it but right now I don't know if I'm going to sell one of anything, let alone enough to run and assembly line! All the etsy forums say the past few weeks have been slow on sales even for the seasoned etsians so I'm trudging on. Also, my parents have decided to fund my little endeavor so why not!