Etsy Business Advice

If you are a seller on Etsy, check out this blog post for a "self service critique."  The author is on the Sellers Assisting Sellers team, which is a group of people successfully selling on Etsy who offer to be mentors to new or struggling shops.  After doing many, many critiques, she noticed a lot of shops suffered from the same problems.  So she wrote up this post highlighting many of the common shop issues.  Does your shop have one?

 

Metal Clay Heads

A group of fellow metal clay addicts and I started a new etsy team called metal clay heads.  Its very informal and not limited to artists who work in metal clay.  You can see our very new team blog for more information and for tips, tricks, and tutorials.  Right now you can also vote on the team's challenge, to make a piece incorporating a found object.  I was not able to enter this month, but my fellow metal clay heads did amazing pieces.  it was interesting to hear the processes everyone went through expanding their skills by incorporating something other than clay in their work.  Vote here!

Can You Hear Me Grow by SeavBeach (incorporating a steel bottle cap)

Meet the Family

Hubby (Andrew) and I

The Cats:  Inanna, Misty and Fiona

Charms for Charity

As part of the upcoming Metal Clay Conference in July, artists and guilds around the country are creating metal clay charm bracelets to be part of a raffle benefiting the American Cancer Society and the Marrow Foundation.  The picture is one of the actual bracelets, isn't it fabulous?

How can you get involved?  If you are a metal clay artist, make a charm (or two) and send them to Holly Gage.  If you would like to win one of the gorgeous bracelets featuring the work of many fabulous artists, contact me to purchase tickets.  Tickets are $5 each or five for $20.  The drawing will be held at the PMC Conference on July 30, 2010, but you don't have to be there to win.  More details can be found here. 

Thanks so much for everyone who came out to the HandmadeMN show this weekend.  It was fabulous.  If you missed it, here are pictures of my booth,

Busy, Buusy Bee

Buzz Buzz Necklace in Fine Silver (PMC).

I am desperately trying to get everything done in time for my craft show in Uptown (Minneapolis) this weekend.  I am always worried that, I won't have enough product, not the right price points, or that something will generally go wrong.  I even had a nightmare last night about the various things that could go wrong (including a snowstorm in May so no one came, I forgot my tablecloths and risers, and I met the teacher from Glee and my husband got jealous and refused to help me set up my tables).  None of these things are likely to happen, and I know I just need to go with the flow.  Last night I did complicated formulations to arrive at what I think are more fair pricing levels for my pieces, based on the level of design and difficulty involved.  Some pieces went up in price, some down.  I'll be putting my shop in vacation mode soon, in case the one of a kind pieces sell at the craft show.  So if there is anything you have been keeping an eye on, get it now.   

Since I won't be posting any new items before the show, check out the boro (Borosilicate) beads from Harold Williams Cooney on ebay.  I love the colors you get on boro beads and have collected a number of them at shows and stores over the years.  These are blown glass as opposed to lampwork.  According to Kate McKinnon, Cooney is auctioning off beads (you must check these out) to raise money for the Bead and Button show, my favorite event of the year.  On second thought, I might bid on some myself.  So don't check them out, you might outbid me.   

CraftEdu Is Live

Donna Kato's new site for crafting tutorials, CraftEdu is finally live.  She has an insane number of amazing artists who will be offering web-based video tutorials.  I am super excited.  There are only a few metal clay ones up so far, but there are some AMAZING polymer clay offerings.  The site is loading very slowly, so you may need to wait a bit.  I can't wait to try one.