The Whys and the Wherefores

hand embellished Sodalite Pendant necklace

For the past few days I've been trying to figure out the whys and wherefores of Etsy.  Why do some shops find almost instant success while others languish, floundering in a sea of invisibility ?   Why is it that 2 shops selling almost the same items will have such disparity when it comes to views and sales? 
I've been trying to build up my shop inventory as I've heard that the more items you have the better are your chances of being found by search engines and therefore found by potential customers.  But seems that the past week or two, as I've added more items, my views have fallen from 30 or 40 views a day to about 10 or less a day.

 

I made the black nylon cord adjustable so necklace

can go from very short to very long

 

I recently listed this Sodalite stone pendant that I embellished with sterling silver wire work and sterling silver beads.  The cord has my handcrafted  sliding, macramé clasp on it making  it very adjustable. 

 



After listing I tried promoting, yes  used all the old standards that I could think of :   facebook, teams, etc.   Now, a day later, I find it has a total of 5 views and 9 admirers (meaning  that 4 people must have given it a heart without even clicking on its etsy link).

In the past I tried opening a shop that was just for my jewelry and one shop for other items but found it spread my attention too thin and neither shop was profitable.  This time I had some of my soft textiles listed, such as the pair of crochet potholders-trivets-dishrags.

 

Above trivets etc. in hot pink-red and white are about 9 inches across

Below trivets in crisp white on dark apple green and white on tomato red.

 

 

I also listed some of the cute Ruffled Boas that I made.  My daughters loved the ones I gave them at Christmas and said I should put a few on my etsy shop - they thought they would

sell quickly.

 

 

 

 

 

 They got a number of views and hearts for awhile but have dropped down to zero lately.  So much for my daughters' intuitions.  :D

 

I feel like I'm neglecting so much lately trying to crank start my old etsy shop.  Granted etsy has far more shops now and a lot more unscrupulous resellers selling their items way below market value.  Trying to rid etsy of these shops is like a never ending game of "Whack a Mole".  They "conk" one out and a dozen more pop up.

 

Anyway, like so many mornings before, I took my mug of coffee and went to check on my etsy shop.  There were no orders and I noticed that I had garnered all of 1 shop view since I had turned off my computer yesterday.  How, Why, What ?  Just a whole lot of questions and I haven't an answer.

Clicking My Needles

 

Photo above - my handmade felt "Welcome Bear" goes up on my front door ever Christmas.

Okay, blogger is going to give me headaches so guess I'll just have to work around it until they find and fix the problem (or until I pick up a new browser such as Firefox).   I have uploaded photos from my PC to Picasa Web Albums and then I've uploaded them from there to here. Sort of like going around the block twice to get to your next door neighbor's house. :D

Christmas was an enjoyable time at our house as Wendi, our daughter in New York, came down and spent a couple of weeks with us. It was wonderful to have her here and I hated to see her go. I also did not have to worry about filling Christmas orders from my etsy shop Almost Precious as for the months of Nov - Dec  I only had one order for each month, both were for a pair of my Christmas earrings.

Photo of Candy Cane beaded earrings sold on Nov. 11th 2012

 

Can't say as I was swamped with business, LOL, but at least it allowed me to enjoy time with Wendi. 

Photo above of Holly Berries earrings sold the week before Christmas 2012

Also on a joyful note, the person who purchased the lovely Christmas "Holly Berries" earrings emailed me to let me know that the earrings arrived safely and were everything she hoped they would be. Her only down side she said, was that she would not be able to wear them all year long. :)

 

Over the past couple of months I've done more knitting and crochet work than making jewelry. This fuzzy scarf is so soft and warm that it almost makes me wish I lived in a cold climate . . . almost ! Wendi loved it and thinks it is adorable and as soft as a baby kitten.  Now I need to make one for her as this one is going into my etsy shop - guess if it doesn't sell then Wendi will have two "Lulu" scarves to keep her warm during NY winters.

Lulu?  Yes I named this scarf  Lulu.  How did I come up with the name "Lulu" ? Well most of you are far too young to remember a comic book character, of many ages gone by, called Lulu and the comic books were titled "Little Lulu". Little Lulu had her dark hair fixed in springy, coils and it was the spiraling fringe on this scarf that reminded me of Lulu's  hair-do.

Wendi and I think this fringe is both cute and novel. Hope others do too and that some sweet soul will purchase the scarf.   I have it listed on etsy but etsy has rapidly been getting a reputation of cheaply priced items - I've even heard people refer to it as "Etsy Yardsale" - "etsy-bay" and that etsy is just another version of Craig's List -  now I'm wondering if maybe my stuff is too expensive for those who shop on etsy?

I was recently on another site that had posted suggestions on where one could go online to sell their creations - the first site mentioned was, of course, etsy. It was eye opening to read so many comments that denigrated etsy. Several said that etsy was getting old; others said there were too many resellers and too many tacky craft items on etsy; a few bemoaned that etsy allowed venders to copy the creations of other venders and sell them as their own. I suppose when a site becomes as big as etsy is, it become hard, if not impossible to police things (though that never seemed to slow them down when it came to the forums and shutting down threads - LOL).

What is your opinion about etsy and do you think there are any other sites that are as good or even better than etsy ?

TROUBLE - TRIP and TURKEY

Well, to start off with I'm going to be away for a while.   About 3 months ago I broke down and finally made an appointment with the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida.  So we'll be off to Jacksonville where,  hopefully, I may get some answers as to what's going on with me that my local doctors can't figure out.  I have put my etsy shop on a temporary vacation and will reopen it  when I return, if all goes as planned  I will also be listing a number of new pieces in my shop, AlmostPrecious.
Troubles?  Yes I've been having them lately with electronics.  Maybe I'm DC (Direct Current ) while everything around me is AC (Alternating Current ).  All I know is it seems that I've been frying a number of electrical things lately.  Most recently it's been my Cannon Printer.  About 3 months ago it ran out of black ink - we replaced the cartridge - then it began printing pictures with strange horizontal lines running through them and the text wasn't sharp and clear either.  Just this past week the 3 month old black ink cartridge died - normally (with me) they last at least 6 months.  Again we replaced it but then the printer would not print anything in black.  Okay now an email is sent off to Cannon tech help.  We are instructed on how to perform a "Deep Cleaning" of the inking apparatus and are told to do this not once but 4 times to thoroughly cleanse the device.  And, they said, if that does not cure the problem then the  printer needs repair or we need a new printer.  Well after 4 deep cleanings there was still no sign of black ink on the test page.  Guess I need a new printer.  :(

Yesterday as  I breezed through the living room I glimpsed out the window and caught sight of something.  It was outside of our front yard just on the street side of our chain link fence.  I stopped and focused hard on it to figure out what it was.  It appeared to be a bird, a really big bird, but it wasn't the Canadian geese, or a large crane or heron, nor was it a hawk or a vulture.  I called my hubby, John, to come take a look.  He too was baffled but thought it might be a feral peacock.  Upon closer inspection - through a pair of binoculars - we found it to be a wild turkey.  John called our neighbors, Mike and Linda, who are avid bird watchers.  They know that wild turkeys are native to Florida and even to our part of Florida, however they had never been seen in our neighborhood before.  I wish I could have gotten a photo of the bird but it was rather timid and when we went outside it flew off into the tall trees at the back of our property.  Early the following morning we saw it again but only for a short time.  It, being very skittish, took flight when a little Cattle Egret landed in the yard next to it.  We've no idea where the turkey went, hopefully it headed out to less crowded country and won't become someone's Thanksgiving's Day feast.

Okay - enough said.  I'm off to do some laundry.  Sort out what I need to take with me and start packing for the trip to Jacksonville.   Sigh - if only they had  Dr. Gregory House at the Mayo Clinic, I'd be sure to get some answers.  :D

You all take care, be happy and healthy and enjoy each day of your wonderful lives.  Until I return, I shall miss you.

Multi Functional - Is that a Good Thing?

Things that are multi-functional are favorites with me. Never found myself in adoration with one trick ponies.

Many moons ago I worked as a sales-rep for Sarah Coventry.  Sarah Coventry was an in-home distributor of unique jewelry, following the same principles as Tupperware's infamous home parties.

One thing that captured my attention with Sarah Coventry jewelry was that most of their pieces were multi-functional. Brooches could be used as necklace pendants, long necklaces could be worn doubled up or even as a belt, necklaces had matching bracelets that one could couple together to form a longer necklace, clip-on-earrings could be used as shoe clips or clipped to a chain and worn as a pendant. 
Come to think of it all of Coventry's earrings were clip-ons, not many women back then had pierced ears - unlike today where just about anything and everything is pierced - guess we were all very timid back then or it just was not the vogue thing to do.

Occasionally I try to create multi-functional pieces, pieces that can be worn different ways, switched around. Recently I came up with these "Change About" earrings for my etsy shop, Almost Precious . The sterling silver earring hooks are my own handcrafted earrings to which I've attached a tiny little sterling silver lobster clasp. 

This clasp allows one to change my two sided earring dangle around to display a different side. 

Both dangles feature a beaded bead, Swarovski crystals and sterling silver jumprings.

I can also imagine someone using the basic earring hooks to hang a favorite charm from, or another cute little drop or dangle. 

My own handmade sterling ear-wires with Swarovski White Opal crystal and teeny little sterling silver lobster claw clasp ... can you see this with a cute charm dangling from it?

Photos above and below show earring with charms (starfish and sand-dollar)

Hope people can see the possibilities of this versatile piece of jewelry. What do you think? Is it practical or is it just plain dumb?

Jewelry Findings and Components...in a sea of "Stuff"...

above Hills Tribe Fine Silver Full Rose Pendant component

Help ! I'm being taken over by all my "stuff". It is perfectly okay to have stuff, but when you begin to feel like "stuff" owns you then it's time to dig out the shovel and literally dig yourself out.
For years I've crafted jewelry and participated in local arts and crafts shows. Was a lot of fun, but now the fad that became a rage has grown into Godzilla proportions and so has my inventory of jewelry findings, beads and components. At this moment in my life I'm not sure just which direction I wish to turn but this fact is undeniably clear; "My life is in dire need of decluttering" ! What better place to begin than in my hobby(slash)studio(slash)catch all(slash)storage room ?

above is photo of a lovely sterling silver box clasp handcrafted by Pacific Silver Co.
So for those of you who love to create fantastic pieces of jewelry I am beginning to list some of my supplies on my etsy shop. Though a bit of my findings and components are silver plate or gold plate, the bulk of my supplies are either sterling silver or gold filled ( 14 k gold filled). I had always attempted to create pieces that would be used, treasured and, hopefully, passed down like a family heirloom, therefore I shied away from base metal findings that could be bought in packages of 100 or 1,000 pieces, they may be economical but not very precious.

above is photo of same box clasp showing back side and sterling stamp.

In this post are photos of some of my newly listed items if you dabble in jewelry making or are a full fledged professional jewelry designer please check out my esty store website for more information and prices.

Latching mechanism on this clasp works as smooth as warm butter. Latches and opens easily unlike some of the cheaply made and less expensive clasps. This beauty has a lot of silver in it !

above box clasp is one of my favorites. Beautiful feather pattern. Both square and feather clasps feature a safety catch and are heavy weight sterling. Matching feather pattern stud earrings will be listed in my etsy shop soon. Earrings have bottom ring/loop for attaching dangles. All are exquisitely make.

above feather clasp shown open. This clasp would cost at least $30 in a bead store or most catalogs...that is if it were even available in a catalog.

above small rose drops in Fine silver by The Hills Tribe, beautiful for earrings or charms

All these item are in my Etsy Shop Almost Precious if you make jewelry please take a moment to visit my shop, if you have friends that make jewelry I'd appreciate it if you'd be so kind as to rely this information on to them. : )

On Top of a Down Economy

Perhaps it is indeed, just the economy. Sales are down and people are scrambling to get in on any financial scraps that might come their way, like a flock of hungry pigeons pecking at any and every crumb that's dropped. At times even the smallest ort will create a feeding frenzy.
Online shops and website stores seem to hold a glimmer of promise for the artisan or crafter trying to stay afloat or make a living from what they do, and yet there are only a few who truly make it. Those that started out first and got their sites well established, or those who have other avenues that will lead prospective buyers to their site. It is always an advantage to have outside connections such as a real brick and mortar store, hosting in-home trunk shows or buying parties, even attending craft fairs, art shows and exhibitions. These things bring you into contact with people and also keep you abreast of what the public taste is and what they are buying and, most importantly, how much they are willing to spend. Their budget gives you an idea of exactly what your price points should be and how to tailor your products to that price point. In the least, it is a means where you can pass around your business cards, give your customer a cheerful smile, a welcome "Hello", and a casual mention that you've an online shop. This can perhaps draw some buyers to go online and check you out.

Photo of my "42nd Street Bead Shoppe".

Jumbie Beads

Had to get away from the computer yesterday, seems since I opened my Etsy online shop I've done little else than wrestle with my PC. I can't and won't profess to be even remotely computer knowledgeable...case in point...tried to do a page on "facebook", there was supposed to be a way to get my etsy widget on the main page instead of in my profile. Tried for days to get that to happen. Went over the directions, step-by-step countless times...well maybe not countless, but definitely more times than I'd care to count. Never did get it the way it was in the instructions. Finally, in frustration, I ended up deleting my facebook account.

 

 

The break from staring at my monitor was refreshing and sorely needed. Walked about in the yard and took a few photos. Found this vine growing rampant in the lot next door. This tangled mass of a vine grows wild in tropical climates such as southern Florida. When we lived in the West Indies, Trinidad to be specific, the vine's bright red seeds with a deep black dot were called "Crab Eyes" or "Jumbie Beads" and islanders used them much like beads in making necklaces and bracelets.
 

Brilliant red and jet black, like a tiny lady bug, a signal of nature, a warning, as lovely as they are these seeds also contain one of the most virulent poisons of the plant kingdom. Though the shell of the seed is extremely hard and almost impossible to crush with the teeth, many countries have banned any item that contain Jumbie Beads. Since the seed casing is exceptionally durable, island crafters have to boil Jumbie Beads in order to soften them enough so they can be pierced for stringing, this act destroys the potent protein toxin, abrin.