Ok, it isn't fair! I tried just a little one because I wanted to pay back the kind and generous people who helped me by featuring my bracelets on their treasuries.
I reasoned that I could show off the work of my friends. It seemed altruistic because I couldn't feature my own work.
It was a little scary at first, but everyone else was doing it. Just a little one, so I just jumped in. I did it! Awkward at first, but then the high set in. Someone saw it and complimented me. Someone even thought I was deep because it was clever (if they only knew it was a desperate attempt to connect all those diverse items that had no theme) I received convos from people who were grateful !
Whoohoo ! this is nice. Maybe I will try it again. This time, no restraints, just pick something pretty and go. All strangers, no restrictions to staying with friends items. This one goes fast, it is getting easy and even I think it is gorgeous and cohesive.
Then reality set in, this was supposed to help my friends ,not provide a high for me. So trying to justify my actions I went to a team I belong to , and picked the first 16 members and created something for them. This was good .They were all teachers, fine people who deserve some attention for their talents, and a bonus, there is a built in theme. Gratefulness descends again and now I can justify the habit.
It takes little now to justify my actions.
Look at this reasoning.-- I had seen a beautiful vintage necklace I own, its twin was in an etsy shop. It was a treasure from my mother and I recalled how I played "queen " wearing this fabulous jewelry. Before I knew it ...there I was hunting items for my royal treasury.
Caught in the dream I couldn't stop! Gathering treasures must fulfill some basic need,(men hunt ,women gather,I am just following instinct right?) Many of these items I cannot afford, and I don't have room for any of them. Maybe it is like "window shopping" with thousands of people. (Does anaylyzing count as justifying??? ) I don't understand it. I am losing control.
I would like to tell myself it is part of a business plan, a way of promoting my shop by helping others. Even I don't believe that. Lets face it. It is computer crack, more insidious than Farmville , facebook, or even ....can I say it???? blogging. I guess I must admit it. I am sure there will be a 12 step program or a rehab center sooner or later, but for now you can see what it has done for me or to me here.
I will try to list them in order so you can see the progression of the addiction.
2 days ago http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4dd03180f5f78eef634187a6/the-recipe-for-life my first http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4dd053e5af976d91516609be/pretty-as-a-peacock a little later that night
yesterday http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4dd1cad35ffa8eef76f77192/i-wonder-what-teachers-do-with-their
and now I am really out of control --today
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4dd319c9dbe28eef566b573c/from-my-royal-treasury
I have no excuses --pray for me.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Monday, May 16, 2011
Breaking News!!!
A summer treasury featured my shell bracelet. Remember as a fan you have a 20% discount when you use the code SEESETHEDAY20
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4dd1b2fa33898eeff2d1a34e/all-dolled-up-for-summer#4dd1bddf30db8eef77f01cfe
Go here to view the treasury
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4dd1b2fa33898eeff2d1a34e/all-dolled-up-for-summer#4dd1bddf30db8eef77f01cfe
Go here to view the treasury
Sunday, May 15, 2011
It is a Treasure
Today I made my first etsy treasury. For my non -etsy fans, that is a collection of favorite items usually in a theme. Each treasury has 16 items so that means looking up a lot of items and their item numbers. I did it kinda backward because my goal was to repay some nice people who have featured my items on their treasury and also to feature some friends shops.
I found items I wanted first and then came up with a theme after. Believe me that is the hard way to do it. It is one of those trial and error things so I did a lot of both.
After creating this treasury I tried doing it the right way. I created a second treasury picking a theme and looked for tags that sent me to items I picked. That was definitely the easy way. It looks more cohesive too. The problem is I helped a lot of strangers sell their wares. Next time I think I will send out a post on my teams with my theme and see if the will convo me with the item they have I could feature. I don't know if I am allowed to do that.
Here is the link for my first treasury (the one with people I know)
www.etsy.com/treasury/4dd03180f5f78eef634187a6/the-recipe-for-life
And the other one
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4dd053e5af976d91516609be/pretty-as-a-peacock
I hope you enjoy them. comments are encouraged
I found items I wanted first and then came up with a theme after. Believe me that is the hard way to do it. It is one of those trial and error things so I did a lot of both.
After creating this treasury I tried doing it the right way. I created a second treasury picking a theme and looked for tags that sent me to items I picked. That was definitely the easy way. It looks more cohesive too. The problem is I helped a lot of strangers sell their wares. Next time I think I will send out a post on my teams with my theme and see if the will convo me with the item they have I could feature. I don't know if I am allowed to do that.
Here is the link for my first treasury (the one with people I know)
www.etsy.com/treasury/4dd03180f5f78eef634187a6/the-recipe-for-life
And the other one
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4dd053e5af976d91516609be/pretty-as-a-peacock
I hope you enjoy them. comments are encouraged
Friday, May 13, 2011
Big Week
A lot has happened since my last post. My sister Linda was readmitted to the hospital and it threw my world into a spin. This is the sister I wrote about in an earlier blog. We are very close although far apart geographically.This health problem is completely different and separate from the Cancer surgery she went through three weeks ago.
I went in to school Monday planning to be back in Baltimore next week. This took a lot of planning because next week is the week we give the state tests. I am scheduled to give tests and so everyone connected had to know. People must be trained to give the test and there are all kinds of state requirements that cannot be accomplished over night. All of my colleagues were understanding and the helpful. They set about immediately making contingency plans.When I finally got to talk to my sister it was clear she would not be home and needing help for some time so I could tell everyone at work to relax.I will go up and help out after school is out in June.
The students were excitable this week! I think the anticipation and fear of the test next week was affecting their behavior. When I say on my shop that I knit as a stress reliever and to maintain sanity it isn't just a catchy line. This week I was very grateful to have some creative pursuits to keep my mind off of the stressful moments of it.
There were many good experiences this week too. I had each of my son's and their loving families over for dinner and I made another sale on my etsy shop. I have finished 20 of the promo items and I received the business cards I ordered. I am taking time this weekend to rest, get caught up at home and do a little of my crafts for fun.
One of the things I am enjoying about etsy is the teams I joined. I joined them to promote my shop and learn more about how to bring it to the attention of others. The surprising thing is that I have found a whole community of artisan friends. I try to highlight some of them on facebook or introduce them to you here. Today I would like to tell you about
http://www.etsy.com/people/BarbieBoutiqueBasics
IF you know someone who would be interested ,I think you will find the Barbie fashions beautiful and reasonably priced.
I went in to school Monday planning to be back in Baltimore next week. This took a lot of planning because next week is the week we give the state tests. I am scheduled to give tests and so everyone connected had to know. People must be trained to give the test and there are all kinds of state requirements that cannot be accomplished over night. All of my colleagues were understanding and the helpful. They set about immediately making contingency plans.When I finally got to talk to my sister it was clear she would not be home and needing help for some time so I could tell everyone at work to relax.I will go up and help out after school is out in June.
The students were excitable this week! I think the anticipation and fear of the test next week was affecting their behavior. When I say on my shop that I knit as a stress reliever and to maintain sanity it isn't just a catchy line. This week I was very grateful to have some creative pursuits to keep my mind off of the stressful moments of it.
There were many good experiences this week too. I had each of my son's and their loving families over for dinner and I made another sale on my etsy shop. I have finished 20 of the promo items and I received the business cards I ordered. I am taking time this weekend to rest, get caught up at home and do a little of my crafts for fun.
One of the things I am enjoying about etsy is the teams I joined. I joined them to promote my shop and learn more about how to bring it to the attention of others. The surprising thing is that I have found a whole community of artisan friends. I try to highlight some of them on facebook or introduce them to you here. Today I would like to tell you about
http://www.etsy.com/people/BarbieBoutiqueBasics
IF you know someone who would be interested ,I think you will find the Barbie fashions beautiful and reasonably priced.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Promotion
When I started my Etsy shop it was the result of peer pressure. Now I have 30+ items in my shop I belong to 12 teams and it has become a bigger addiction than facebook was.
Three of the teams I joined recently are designed to help promote my Etsy shop. For one of the teams I must create 20-40 promotional items which will be sent out as feebies when people sell things. We each do that to help promote each other. Another team is for people who offer coupon codes. They created a treasury that features members work and they are having a big sale right now. Every shop has a coupon. The third team are people with active blogs and we help each other by mentioning each other's shops on facebook and blogs.
I am not sure how much any of this is helping sales but it has added excitement to the whole process and I am meeting some really nice people and viewing some really beautiful creations. I believe it has expanded my ideas about what to expect to see on Etsy. These people are true artists.
Check out some of these links and see for yourself:
Three of the teams I joined recently are designed to help promote my Etsy shop. For one of the teams I must create 20-40 promotional items which will be sent out as feebies when people sell things. We each do that to help promote each other. Another team is for people who offer coupon codes. They created a treasury that features members work and they are having a big sale right now. Every shop has a coupon. The third team are people with active blogs and we help each other by mentioning each other's shops on facebook and blogs.
I am not sure how much any of this is helping sales but it has added excitement to the whole process and I am meeting some really nice people and viewing some really beautiful creations. I believe it has expanded my ideas about what to expect to see on Etsy. These people are true artists.
Check out some of these links and see for yourself:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/threadsandthings1
I guess I better get back to beading and knitting those 40 keychains for the promotion team.
Have a Great Mother's Day- I will be eating a fantastic homecooked meal at my son Gardner ad DIL Kristen's house.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Calling All Crafters Global Etsy Meet-Up - Not just for Etsy people
My friend Ruth and I are co-sponsoring a craft meet-up in June. This is a global affair with a local emphasis. "Think globaly act locally" isn't just for our environmental actions anymore. This is a celebration of creativity !We want this to be a meet-up for anyone in the greater Hickory area who likes crafts. We want everyone who wants to come, to feel welcome. Come and bring something you are proud of and/or something you are working on . We want to craft, share ideas, eat, drink and meet new people from our area.
My co-sponsor, Ruth, is an artist who loves to work with fabric, yarn and fibers. I finally convinced her to join etsy to showcase her work. Today she found out about this meet-up. We were actually hoping there was already a network and we coould attend their event. We were on the phone together finding our way through the event pages and finally decided we would just do it ourselves.We can make the event anything we want, so we are inviting all crafters.
We want feedback from potential attendees. This must be a simple affair because it is my last day of teaching with kids for the year, by then my energy is spent and I just want it to be a wind down day. We were thinking everyone could bring food or drink to share. When we know how many people plan to attend we will announce the location. Mark your calendar for June10, 2011 at 7pm and go call a friend or 2 and invite them.
If you craft and have cards or promo items bring them along, networking is good.
Bring something to show and something to work on.
We will announce more as we get organized. Please share your ideas with comments here or email me,or facebook comments and ideas.
My co-sponsor, Ruth, is an artist who loves to work with fabric, yarn and fibers. I finally convinced her to join etsy to showcase her work. Today she found out about this meet-up. We were actually hoping there was already a network and we coould attend their event. We were on the phone together finding our way through the event pages and finally decided we would just do it ourselves.We can make the event anything we want, so we are inviting all crafters.
We want feedback from potential attendees. This must be a simple affair because it is my last day of teaching with kids for the year, by then my energy is spent and I just want it to be a wind down day. We were thinking everyone could bring food or drink to share. When we know how many people plan to attend we will announce the location. Mark your calendar for June10, 2011 at 7pm and go call a friend or 2 and invite them.
If you craft and have cards or promo items bring them along, networking is good.
Bring something to show and something to work on.
We will announce more as we get organized. Please share your ideas with comments here or email me,or facebook comments and ideas.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Family Ties
Sunday was my granddaughter's birthday celebration. It was great fun for everyone. We went to a park and the kids had a great time in the old fashioned way that you don't see much anymore. Cell phones and computerized games nearly forgotten. No quarrels or scraped knees so I guess you can count that as a terrific celebration. Even Tippy the dog seemed to enjoy the sunshine, fresh air and lucious grass. A family friend's baby was there so she became the perfect model for my headbands. Her big sister got into the act too trying on a glittery headband. I hope to post those pictures soon.
Today was dinner with my youngest son and his wife. She is a genius so she helped me fix this blog up a bit and linked it to my facebook and etsy pages. We had a lot of fun catching up on each other's lives. Kristen's blog is a great one because she is such a good cook and she shares her thoughts and even her recipies. I linked her blog so you can follow it too. Pieces of the Seeses.
Tomorow my other son's family will come for dinner.I look forward to these time we get together once a week. It build's the family ties.
Today was dinner with my youngest son and his wife. She is a genius so she helped me fix this blog up a bit and linked it to my facebook and etsy pages. We had a lot of fun catching up on each other's lives. Kristen's blog is a great one because she is such a good cook and she shares her thoughts and even her recipies. I linked her blog so you can follow it too. Pieces of the Seeses.
Tomorow my other son's family will come for dinner.I look forward to these time we get together once a week. It build's the family ties.
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