Ankle update!

Well my ankle is finally starting to feel better. I can almost put all of my weight on it. I still got a bit of a limp going but that is expected. The swelling has gone down a bit but it is bruised big time. I didn’t even realize it was bruised at all until Thursday night, lol. I took a pic but I’m only adding it as a link. It really isn’t thank gross, but I know some people are squeamish and bothered by that kind of stuff so I don’t want to post the actual pic.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/projectwonderland/674182497/

Sprained Ankle :(

So last night I spent about an hour and a half designing some promotional stickers. I was sitting on my left foot the entire time. I got to get some printer paper and somehow did not realize that my foot had fallen asleep and was completely numb! As soon as I stepped down my ankle turned sideway and I was on the ground. At first it didn’t really hurt too bad, because my foot was numb, but then I realized I couldn’t put any pressure on it, like at all. I went to ER today to get crutches. They did x-ray and luckily it isn’t broke, but it still hurts like hell. I’m not real good on crutches and can’t walk at all with out them, so I guess my weekend will be pretty dull, but it will give me a chance to catch up on my reading…. I’m currently reading “How to win friends & influence people” by Dale Carnegie, “Guerrilla marketing excellence: the 50 golden rules for small-business success” by Jay Conrad Levinson, and “Guerrilla marketing for free: 100 no-cost tactics to promote your business and energize your profit” by Jay Conrad Levinson. I can’t seem to just read one at a time, but they all compliment each other so it works out pretty good. So far they are all really great books that would highly recommend. I’ll being doing reviews on them in the following weeks. Well I’m gonna go ice my ankle…again!

Delays…..

Well I was supposed to sell at my first market this Friday, but it looks like that is not going happen. My mom was going to go with me but unfortunately something came up can she can’t make it. I not possible work a booth alone from 7:30 AM to 10:30 PM. and I can’t find anyone else willing and/or able to give up an entire Friday. I’m really disappointed but the market is held ever Friday so we are going to go in two weeks. I’m trying to look at the bright side. This delay will give me time to perfect my displays and make more stuff to take. In all honestly I guess it really isn’t that bad. I have been working on my displays all day and I’m not nearly finished. I made a necklace and keychain display out of PVC piping and tonight I started spray painting them. I have a whole new respect for graffiti artist and anyone who works with spray paint. It is harder than it looks. I can not seem to control where the paint is going. Well I’m off to do make some jewelry.

**To the right- Princess my puppy...unrelated to my post...but adorable :)

Buttons Galore!!

In preparation for my first market, which is next Friday, I’ve been super busy creating new items all weekend. I bought a bunch of buttons and I raided my mom’s vintage button stash. I’m thrilled with the results: button bobby pins, button brooches, and button pendants!! They will be making an appearance in my Etsy shop soon!!

Book Review!

Guerilla Marketing Online Weapons by Jay Conrad Levinson

Well I’ve heard good things about Guerilla Marketing books so I thought I would give this one a shot. It was published in 1995 so I wasn’t surprised that a lot of the information was a bit outdated. The internet is an ever growing and changing place, and is a very different place than it was in 1995. That aside, I like this book. I didn’t read it all but it was well written and covered the basics. I wouldn’t really recommend it because it is outdate, but I am excited about the other Guerilla Marketing books on my library wish list.

Mid-Month Goal Evaluation

June is half over so I thought I would evatulate how I am doing at reaching my goals for this month.

My goals for the month:
1. list daily or close to
- Done!
2. promote more
- Not promoting as much as I should, but I am reading a book about marketing. Does that count?
3. keep my blog current
- I’m trying…
4. make my first sale since reopening
- Not yet, but I’m still hopeful :)
5. prepare for my first show (in 3 weeks)
- It will June 29 at Roger Ohio Open Air Market! I think it is the perfect place for my first show experince!
6. organize my craft space and keep it that way
- I have it half organized. I’m hoping to get it finished up over the weekend and maybe even post some pics!

Business Week!!

There was a great article on the business week website today about Etsy!!

SO…

I complete redid my computer….like wiped everything out…so it was like brand new again. Well I didn’t think it through because I forgot that I have a ton of pics on my comp that are no where else. I like my friends and all but I could care less about their pic. I wanted the pics of my puppies. I was soooo sad they were gone, and then I remembered I had them on yahoo photos. What would I have done with out a pic like this? That is Jayde as a pup, a purebred miniature pinscher *I think* who is now 3 years old. She is so cute, and she likes to cuddle…

Concerns about privacy on Etsy?

If you frequent the Etsy forums you have probably noticed several threads stating concerns about privacy issues on Etsy. The main issues are that anyone can see what a buyer has bought and how much they have paid through feedback and that everyone can see the prices of a seller’s previously sold items. This can create some problems such as someone finding how much you paid for their gift or someone adding up your income from Etsy sales.

While I am personally not concerned with these issues, I can understand why others are. Admins have noted that they are taking these issues seriously but don’t want to make any hasty discussions. I can also understand that. My partial solution (and the solutions of many other sellers, just ask them): don’t leave feedback. While everyone loves feedback if you don’t leave it there is no trail. If you are concerned about people knowing what you bought or what you paid for it, ask the seller not to leave feedback.

Hopefully in the following months there will be a more permanent solution.

What to what every one else is thinking… read these threads, if you search there may be more!
ADMIN, pls consider changes to what's displayed on feedback pg
CHANGE THE PRICES IN SOLD ITEMS NOW!!! Please :)
Prices on sold item page

Book Review!

Crafts and Craft Shows: How to Make Money by Philip Kadubec

In two words => not impressed! The photos are all in black and black and are horrible. The advice given in this book isn’t for everyone. To be fair this book may be useful for someone who plans to be a full time craft show vendor, but for someone just starting out and not planning to have craft shows as their sole source of income this advice is horribly off base. Hiring a professional photographer and attending only juried shows is not only costly, but in general not reasonable or feasible for a beginner. The good parts of the book are common sense and information you can find doing a simple internet search. The section on booth set up leaves a lot to be desired. I learned more about displays my doing a search on http://www.flickr.com/ I kept reading hoping I would find something truly useful in this book, but sadly it never happened. I must be missing something because it had good reviews on http://www.amazon.com/

**Please note this review is based on the 2000 version, the link and picture show the 2006 version. I’m not sure how different they are**

My new creation!

So it’s nothing amazing and nothing original, but I’m still excited. I made a wire wrap ring using this tutorial. I think it came out really good for my first try!

So June is here…

Around the beginning of the month you can usually find a ‘Monthly Goals” thread in the Etsy forums. Well today I read a post in that thread that I just had to share. The poster was dmriceart. And to quote

“Reading thru these lists... makes me realize... we are all going down similar paths, and yet we are all individuals, with different lives... It is neat to know that others are looking forward, too! Seems like Etsy gives us much more than just a place to sell our creations... it is giving me inspiration from knowing others are here, doing what they love ... and working toward successes, small steps at a time...”

Etsy truly is so much more than just a place to sell and buy, and I could not have said it any better myself.

My goals for the month:
1. list daily or close to
2. promote more
3. keep my blog current
4. make my sale since reopening
5. prepare for my first show (in 3 weeks)
6. organize my craft space and keep it that way