Too Much Too Soon

Update June 2, 2014-  On 8/26/2013 I blogged about a great new website market place for handcrafted arts and crafts items.  The site was called Craftinest.

Unfortunately Craftinest is no longer online.  No one knows what happened.  Though Craftinest did post on their facebook page that a fire had destroyed much of their sites equipment and they held out a promise to us that they would repair the damage and get the site back up and running promptly. . . that promise is yet to materialize.   As I update this post is has been  over 8 months since anyone has heard from Craftinest. Craftinest has not bothered to update their facebook page nor notify any of their many shop owners as to what is going on. All our emails are returned as undeliverable. We have pretty much given up hope that Craftinest will repair the fire damage and reestablish their website. 

 Personally I believe that Craftinest grew too quickly, that the inundation of so many artists and crafters overwhelmed them and their sites ability to handle such an enormous influx of shops and traffic. 

Craftinest came online around the time that Etsy decided to change their definition of "Handmade", embracing the items of artists and crafters who have their work manufactured for them. When Etsy made that announcement it created an exodus of vendors fleeing Esty to find more promising venues.  I recall that another, well established site, Zibbet, actually crashed due to the volume of people requesting shop space.  However Zibbet was in a position to rectify the problem quickly and efficiently, Craftinest, in it's infancy, was not prepared.

The loss of Craftinest is sad as it held forth so much potential . . .  but sometimes things are simply not meant to be. 

Below is my old blog post of 8/26/2013 -

*********** 

When I first sent off my application to apply for an online Craftinest Storefront, I figured they'd be a marketplace much like Etsy or Artfire, only without the supplies vendors and vintage shops. However Craftinest is more like a hybrid between these standard marketplaces and having to construct one's own website. . . minus all the HTML hoopla. With a Craftinest store the search engines call up your shop and not the marketplace. This was explained to me by Samantha in the correspondence that I've copied and pasted below:

Hi Anna,

Our format is definitely different from Etsy (and it’s many clones) with more of an ecommerce website format. Each store is basically its own mini-ecommerce website... with the mall being the central hub to bring all stores together.

As for your store domain, it is only available in the following two formats:

Sub-domain: http://almostprecious.craftinest.com

Sub-directory: http://www.craftinest.com/almostprecious

Sub-domains never use the www in front of it. However, if someone types in http://www.almostprecious.craftinest.com , the browser will automatically forward to the proper http://almostprecious.craftinest.com  format. So you can use either.

One thing that I did want to add to the whole store domain issue is that Etsy only forwards the request for your store domain to their own etsy.com address. At Craftinest, the store domain is an actual sub-domain that persists throughout the buyers experience.

On Etsy:

http://www.almostprecious.etsy.com forwards to http://www.etsy.com/shop/almostprecious

http://almostprecious.etsy.com  forwards to http://www.etsy.com/shop/almostprecious.

And the item listing URL’s don’t include the store domain at all. . .

http://www.etsy.com/listing/156715014/red-jasper-acorn-earrings-olive-jade

Whereas at Craftinest:

http://www.almostprecious.craftinest.com forwards to http://almostprecious.craftinest.com

http://almostprecious.craftinest.com stays on http://almostprecious.craftinest.com

And the store domain is included throughout your entire store. . . including item listings, categories, info pages. I’ll use another store as an example with an item listing URL of http://twolittlewitches.craftinest.com/find/1399-Bunny-Rabbit-Kids-Wall-Art-Print-for-Kids-Room-Girls-Children-Decor-by-Two-Little-Witches

So as you can see, your store domain is more present with Craftinest. In fact it’s more useful when you look at the results in search engines. To see for yourself, type in “Almost Precious Etsy” into Google and you will notice one result for your store - www.etsy.com/shop/AlmostPrecious.

Now try using the sample store from above by typing “two little witches craftinest” into Google. Not only is the store domain presented as twolittlewitches.craftinest.com , but there are several results since all listings and categories use the store domain too.

Hope that helps... Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance.

And welcome to our little nest.

Samantha

The Craftinest Marketplace

Hooks and Eyes

 Besides the rag rug I've been preoccupied making other things, such as this matching chain and earrings set.

There is naturally a story behind these pieces and like most stories this could be a long one so I'll try to condense it as best I can.

Some time around 2010 my etsy shop went from being an unsuccessful jewelry shop, to being a mediocre jewelry making supplies shop. 

Back then the etsy forums was a busy place and the busiest of the forums was Promotions.  Forget speeding bullets,  Promo threads came and went faster than Superman himself, therefore many threads fell by the roadside unnoticed like so much road kill.

 

One day I spotted a Promo thread that was a genuine plea.  The poster had a small etsy jewelry supply shop that she wished to close and she was clearing out the last dribs and drabs of her inventory.  The few items she had left were grouped together in one lot and drastically discounted, the price had been slashed to the bone and items were below cost . . . she was desperate. Unfortunately no one had time to read her post as they were all too busy playing the Buy and Stay, Buy and Replace, Give and Take or whatever happened to be the hottest rock-em-sock-em promo threads going.  (I later learned that those threads were perpetuated by groups of shops and they worked together to keep their threads at the top of the forum.)

Anyway I could not help but feel sorry for the shop that posted its going out of business thread and so I contacted the shop's owner and informed her that I was interested in purchasing her lot of odds and ends.   Much of it I really did not need but I felt an empathy with her situation and knew firsthand how it felt to be invisible in the promo forum.

One item in this lot of supplies was a bag of gold-plate shepherd hook clasps. 

Over the years I've used a few of them but still had a number left.   Then I got this idea to create a necklace using the hooks and the eyes along with a number of my own handmade links.  There are various colors of gold in this chain, some darker, looking a bit like antique gold, and some a paler, lighter yellow gold but I think it all works well together.  I even saved 2 of the Shepherds hooks to make a pair of matching earrings.

Maybe I'm dorky but I think they're kind of cute. :D

The Oxymoron of Manufactured Handmade

Photo above - Small seed beaded earrings featuring a pumpkin motif. 

 

There have been distractions lately.  Normally I handle distraction well but for the past few weeks I've chosen to ignore them.  Rather than dwell on these distractions  I've buried myself in making jewelry.   I find it calming, this simple task of beading.  Concentrating upon  an intricate peyote pattern, counting the beads, like counting stitches in a cross stitch pattern, relaxes me,  occupies my hands,  keeps my mind busy and, most importantly, satisfies that spirit within me that craves to create something. 

 Photos above and below - 2 drop peyote bracelet, in progress.  Holly pattern courtesy of  Fusion Beads.

I don't think  I am an odd-ball to feel this way,  I'm sure most of you can relate to this feeling of serenity as you paint, sketch, sew, crochet, knit etc. etc.  The mind seems mesmerized by what it's doing and all that other "clutter", those shouts that echo and ricochet from one brain cell to another, are temporarily silenced.

Photo above - Seed bead hank put together using my bead spinner

 

Photo above - For some reason, to me anyway, these seed bead hanks remind me of Egyptian jewelry - very regal.  I made one necklace using these beads before and thought about offering these as destash on etsy but lately my etsy shop has been like a morgue -  really, really dead. Hanks are 22" long and contain 12 strands.  If anyone is interested send me an email with your inquiry.
 

Ah yes and etsy!  Etsy's been one of those distractions that I've been trying not to dwell over.  All of etsy's changes, their  embracing of big handmade "manufacturers" ,  it's something I am still having a hard time assimilating.   How can something be handmade if the construction of the item is farmed out to others for  mass production ? 

When handmade becomes manufactured it loses its heart and soul and also its worth vastly diminishes.  It becomes no different than the items one would find on the shelves at Wal-Mart.  Mass produced, manufactured goods are not crafted with the devotion and passion as that of a product made one at a time by one person.  Would a Picasso painting be worth as much if Picasso had a factory manufacture his masterpieces, cranking out hundreds at a time ?  Would people value them as much?  Would they be willing to pay the hundreds of thousands of dollars for these knock-offs?   

We all pretty much know the answer to that.  No!  No one would pay the same price for a Picasso that was not painted by the great  twentieth century artist himself.   

So why would anyone wish to purchase somebody's stuffed armadillo toy that's manufactured in China and pay the same price as when it was lovingly handmade by the artist ?  Well that beats me, I really don't know.  Perhaps they don't realize that what they're buying is no longer truly a part of the once vibrant and untarnished Handmade Movement that once  flourished on etsy? Unfortunately on etsy that movement now appears to be drowning in a rising sea of manufactured "handmade" products.

Photo above - Pumpkin motif seed beaded earrings.  These were fun to create and I confess I ended up creating several in Christmas colors of red, green, white and or gold.  Some had candy cane stripes, some had diamond designs or hearts or holly berry motifs, but they all kept me happy and busy.  For anyone that lives in my neck of Florida all of my seed beaded holiday earrings can be seen first hand at Sandra French's Gallery in the Village of The Arts in Bradenton Florida.

One Great Advantage of Craftinest.com

Update June 2, 2014-  Unfortunately Craftinest is now no longer online.  No one knows what happened.  Though Craftinest did post on their facebook page that a fire had destroyed much of their sites equipment and they held out a promise to us that they would repair the damage and get the site back up and running . . . that promise is yet to materialize.   As I update this post is has been about 9 months since anyone has heard from Craftinest. Craftinest has not bothered to update their facebook page nor notify any of their many shop owners as to what is going on. All our emails are returned as undeliverable. We have pretty much given up hope that Craftinest will repair the fire damage and reestablish their website. 

Personally I believe that they grew too quickly and the inundation of so many artists and crafters overwhelmed them and their sites capacity to handle such an influx of shops and traffic.  The loss of Craftinest is sad as it held forth so much potential . . .  but sometimes things are simply not meant to be.

 

***********

 

When I first sent off my application to apply for an online Craftinest Storefront, I figured they'd be a marketplace much like Etsy or Artfire, only without the supplies vendors and vintage shops. However Craftinest is more like a hybrid between these standard marketplaces and having to construct one's own website. . . minus all the HTML hoopla. With a Craftinest store the search engines call up your shop and not the marketplace. This was explained to me by Samantha in the correspondence that I've copied and pasted below:

Hi Anna,

Our format is definitely different from Etsy (and it’s many clones) with more of an ecommerce website format. Each store is basically its own mini-ecommerce website... with the mall being the central hub to bring all stores together.

As for your store domain, it is only available in the following two formats:

Sub-domain: http://almostprecious.craftinest.com

Sub-directory: http://www.craftinest.com/almostprecious

Sub-domains never use the www in front of it. However, if someone types in http://www.almostprecious.craftinest.com , the browser will automatically forward to the proper http://almostprecious.craftinest.com  format. So you can use either.

One thing that I did want to add to the whole store domain issue is that Etsy only forwards the request for your store domain to their own etsy.com address. At Craftinest, the store domain is an actual sub-domain that persists throughout the buyers experience.

On Etsy:

http://www.almostprecious.etsy.com forwards to http://www.etsy.com/shop/almostprecious

http://almostprecious.etsy.com  forwards to http://www.etsy.com/shop/almostprecious.

And the item listing URL’s don’t include the store domain at all. . .

http://www.etsy.com/listing/156715014/red-jasper-acorn-earrings-olive-jade

Whereas at Craftinest:

http://www.almostprecious.craftinest.com forwards to http://almostprecious.craftinest.com

http://almostprecious.craftinest.com stays on http://almostprecious.craftinest.com

And the store domain is included throughout your entire store. . . including item listings, categories, info pages. I’ll use another store as an example with an item listing URL of http://twolittlewitches.craftinest.com/find/1399-Bunny-Rabbit-Kids-Wall-Art-Print-for-Kids-Room-Girls-Children-Decor-by-Two-Little-Witches

So as you can see, your store domain is more present with Craftinest. In fact it’s more useful when you look at the results in search engines. To see for yourself, type in “Almost Precious Etsy” into Google and you will notice one result for your store - www.etsy.com/shop/AlmostPrecious.

Now try using the sample store from above by typing “two little witches craftinest” into Google. Not only is the store domain presented as twolittlewitches.craftinest.com , but there are several results since all listings and categories use the store domain too.

Hope that helps... Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance.

And welcome to our little nest.

Samantha

The Craftinest Marketplace

So now you can see why I was impressed about the Craftinest marketplace and excited about joining their site and why I encourage others to join me there.   :)

Happy 4th of July

 

 ! HAPPY 4TH OF JULY !

After reading about Hotlinking I am not 100% sure how to "borrow" an online photo and use it on my blog legally . . . so much for using free clip-art of firework displays. :D

The only thing I could think of using that was red - white- and blue,  was  my own photo of our (what used to be new) flag and this necklace that I have on etsy.  The flag won !  :D

Wishing everyone a Safe and Happy 4th of July.  

Out of Africa

Out of Africa

4 strands at rest and not twisted together.

Not too long ago I created this multi strand necklace and have debated about exactly what to do with it. It is a beautiful piece created around a precious strand of African tribal beads. These beads had been purchased by someone I knew who had lived a few years in Angola, Africa and it was there that she came across these lovely, handmade beads.

Lucky her, she managed to obtain several strands from the village chieftain.

 

This particular village was primitive and did not have resources such as fancy, electric kilns, or even work tables upon which the bead artisans could craft their beads. Instead of a well equipped studio, these crafters either sat outside on the ground or they sat on the earthen floors of their huts while they worked creating their beads. Their kilns were crude brick ovens fueled by wood fires.

Making beads or a number of other handcrafted items provided an income for the villagers and afforded them a standard of living that provided them with life's basics;  food, clothing and shelter and perhaps not a whole lot more.

Holy - Moly there's a lot of 14 k gold filled saucers beads !

When my friend offered to sell me a strand or two of these marvelous beads, I jumped at the opportunity even though I had not the slightest idea just what I would do with them.  It was months later that I happen to mix them up with some lovely ivory colored freshwater pearls and some 14 k gold filled beads that I realized it was a winning combination.   So if one strand of this combination would be a winner, what would 4 strands be?  A  Jackpot !

Above photo shows the 4 strands twisted together.

 Since the African beads are a lovely rusty red, I decided what better to compliment them than rich, Red Jasper.  And so it was that I used red jasper to create links at the back of the necklace and fashioned an "S" hook clasp using a large Red Jasper bead and  gold filled wire.

Photo above shows the 6 and 8 mm Red Jasper beads and my handmade "S" clasp.

Okay, so what's the problem?  Well, I was more involved with creating a piece of art than something that would fit into my  usual line of jewelry and went out of my ball park on price points.  

The "Out of Africa" necklace contains:

·         2 strands freshwater ivory pearls 

·         1  1/2 strands  of those precious African beads

·         6 feet  of 49 strand, super flexible, beading cable 

·          2  gem grade, Red Jasper 6 mm beads

·          3  gem grade, Red Jasper 8mm beads

·         18  gauge 12 k gold filled wire

·         20 gauge 14 k gold filled wire

·         8 crimp tube beads in 14 k gold fill

·         8   jumprings in 14 k gold fill

And an incredible 162 ,  14 k gold filled 4.7 mm saucer beads. !!!   These beads cost a small fortune and if you look them up you'll find:

·         Fire Mt. Gems' best price (the 200+ level) is 62 cents apiece (.62 x 162 = $100.44 without the $5 S and H fees)

·         Artbead's best price  (for 40+ beads) is 72 cents each (72 x 162 = $121.50)

And so there is my problem.  With so much vested in materials I'm really hesitant to list it on etsy where many shoppers are looking for handcrafted bargains instead of handcrafted future heirlooms.  A part of me says; "Forget it, you'll be wasting your time and 20 cents".  However a big part of me says; "Hey, what the heck!  For 20 cents go ahead and list it, the worse that can happen is that nobody buys it".

I really like the way the choker looks with the clasp worn at the side of the neck.



I would love to hear any experience that you may have had listing something that you thought might frighten a customer away from it. . . or perhaps having something sell that you thought would never stand a chance. . .or how about those things you thought were fantastic but for some reason just never attracted the right person.   Or have you ever made something and then figured out the cost (like I did) and was floored by how much went into materials ?

 

Here's a New Place to Help You with Promotions

So just found out my world isn't all chocolate chip cookies and ice cold milk - whoever made the dStash site has probems that need fixing. Thanks to a comment by Jan of Jan4insight , I have learned that my link goes nowhere. The listing looks great but if people cannot access the link to one's website, what good is it ? :( Maybe someday somebody will fix the glitch but I've a feeling that when they do they'll start charging a fee to list there. lol :D
 

Photo above was the item I had tried to list - listing looked great but the link didn't take me to it or my shop.

Hey there - I have some great information to share with those who are looking for places to promote your handmade items or whatever you're trying to sell. It's a site called dStash and they call themselves a Classified Ads site. It's free and there isn't a lot of information on "how to" but if I can blunder around and figure it out then just about anybody can. :D

You start off on the front page  of dStash and over to the right side there's a bar that says: Publish A New Ad - by clicking that bar it takes you to their listings page where you can choose your category and type in a listings title and a description.  You can add the URL to your product and even a UTube video if you want.  And best part of all is that it is Free.  

I Really Need To Know . . .

Anyone who has made jewelry for the purpose of selling, probably knows just what I am talking about.

You fuss over an idea, fidgeting with components, tweaking things to get it just right and once it's done, it's lovely. . . or so you think. You put it out for the world to see and nobody bothers to take even a glance at it.

It doesn't matter if the piece is displayed in an online shop or loving arranged on a display in an arts and crafts show booth. There are some things that just catch people's eyes and other things that people just ignore. But why?

I'm sure many have asked that question before and I am not the first to have it rattle around in my own little skull.

 

Recently I fabricated these long, swinging dangles.

It would take several paragraphs explaining all my design decisions, so let me just say, the finished product may look easy-peasy,  but looks are deceptive. 

It required more effort and time than I ever imagined; from making the earring hooks by hand, to hand reaming the holes in the "swinging" magnesite beads, plus I used more 14 k gold filled components than I intended to. All you jewelry makers out there know how very cheap 14 k gold filled wire, findings and beads are - right?

 

 

Once finished, I thought they were perfect, so sassy looking and with incredibly smooth movement. Surely they would do exceptionally well on my etsy shop. Wrong !  

 

I've second guessed myself many times on this design. 

Maybe I should not have used the 14 k gold filled components, perhaps that made them too expensive? 

Maybe they are too long? 

Maybe they are too dangly? 

Maybe watermelon red is totally out of fashion? 

Maybe no one appreciates magnesite? 

Maybe gold is out of favor ?

 

After listing them in my etsy shop  I did tout them on facebook, promoted them on Craftori, I Support Handmade, Handmade Saturday,  Handmade's facebook page and even went into all of my teams to post  them as my latest listing.  According to Google stats, in the last 7 days there has not been one single, solitary view on these earrings, they sit there with a big fat zero, zilch, goose egg, 0, nada !!!  Not even one accidental, "Oops, I didn't mean to click on that !" view.  I cannot believe it!

 

I really haven't a clue as to what could be the reason and would be most grateful to hear your comments or feedback as to what I could do to perhaps generate a sale on these or a least some views. I realize my photo's are not spectacular and the pretty watermelon red, which is more pink than red, only shows up in photos that were taken outside under bright sunlight.  Inside, the beads photograph as just plain old red. I tried taking my mannequin outside to take photos on but - well that is another story for any post. :)

 

 

Upgrades and Uploads and Crucifixes

Over the past few weeks I have been able to fabricate a number of new pieces of jewelry.  Some were simple, others were complex but I cannot say that I found any of them disappointing. 
However the one thing I am disappointed about is the fact that my hubs had to remove the latest Windows update from my PC.  For reasons unknown, it acted as a barricade preventing me from uploading photos into Blogger or even into my etsy shop.  Whenever I tried to add a photo I'd get a pop-up saying that an error had occurred and then it would shut down the Internet.  After John un-installed the new version of Windows, everything went back to normal and I was able to upload photos again.  Hurrah !

The one thing I do miss about not having the new version of Windows is that it ran spell check in every comment box on every website.  Hate to admit it but I am a notoriously bad speller, so yes I truly miss that part of Windows upgrade.

Below is one of my favorite new beading projects - a 3 dimensional, beaded cross.  It is on a russet brown, leather cord which I think compliments it nicely.  The full description is posted in my etsy shop listing.    I just hope that it will get some views and that maybe someone will fall in love with it.

Wish I could have captured the shine and the sparkle of the beads but my very old, little point and click camera just doesn't have that ability.

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 ?