Weekly Chat November 30th to December 7th

[naturepoet]

Welcome to new members, welcome back to returning teammates! If this is your first time here - this is a place to ask questions, share your most embarrassing secrets, or just chat about the slow and boring bits of your day…we want to hear from you!!

Be sure to check out the discussion board. There are games to be played and threads to explore. The more you promote your fellow team mates, the more you get promoted, so be sure to participate on a daily basis. Check out our blog and our Facebook page, as well as the other links provided below.

IMPORTANT LINKS:
* Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/301427606658253/
* Etsy Calculator: salecalc.com/etsy
* Etsyology: www.etsyology.net/
♥ Online Photo Programs: fotoflexer.com/ or www.picmonkey.com/
treasurypin.com./ and editor.pho.to/
arwmedia.net/tools/pixlr_express.php
* Etsy Craft Tools: www.mycrafttools.com/
* Etsy Gadget: www.estygadget.com
* Craftopolis -Edit multiple listings: www.craftopolis.com/#com=ee
* Etsy Banner Maker: bannerfans.com/banner_maker.php?bnew=1&pses=1a256d05
* Craftcount - craftcount.com/teritory.php
* Google+ tutorials blog.kissmetrics.com/personal-google-plus-account/ and moz.com/blog/tips-to-use-google-for-s
* Chrome Treasury Box: brittanysbest.com/treasurybox-chrome-extension/
* Google+ information plus.google.com/communities/112658132414010568954
* Etsy team page: www.etsy.com/pages/aaasupport
* Check your keyword relevancy in search: www.tools4etsy.com/Wall-e/Relevancy/Keyword
* 50 Reasons you're not getting Etsy Sales: www.handmadeology.com/50-reasons-youre-not-getting-etsy-sales/
* Betsi Lite: www.blugrin.com/ (make sure you click on Lite at the bottom of the screen, as that is the free edition!)
* New Category List: www.etsy.com/help/categories/seller#node-id-1250
* Promoted listing guide m.youtube.com/watch?v=zXhsyqXBWPM

Also, don't forget our promotion thread on the forums! Here is the link:
www.etsy.com/teams/21915/promos/discuss/15267796/page/157

Hi everyone. I got the chat started on time this week. Amazing, I know.

Remember that every Monday is RAK (Random Act of Kindness) day. Do something for a team mate. It could be a shop fave or a page fave, make a treasury, or just send a note of cheer to someone who's having health issues. We support our team mates and promote their shops.

Be sure to take part in the games, as this helps to promote your own shop as well as others. Remember to Read the Rules if you're not sure what to do.

This thread is private, so you can talk about whatever you'd like. A personal or shop issue, sales or ask questions. We all help one another any way we can.

I have my Christmas shopping about wrapped up. How about you? That would be a nice subject for a discussion.

Have a wonderful week and happy sales.

[KrochetKingdom]

Hi Mary, hope you have a wonderful Monday! Sadly I have not done any Christmas shopping yet. Don't know what happened because I am usually done by October. I guess it is time to get started now.

Going to do some RAKs today. Will be back later.

[BedlamSoapery]

Morning all.
Finally got all the fps Russia stuff into it's own store as it didn't blend well with my brand. I seem to be closing in on 600 sales pretty fast and my body has decided to give me a flare up, always likes to keep me on my toes haha. Hopefully I will finally get the christmas baskets up today.

Hope everyone had a great weekend, now off to do some RAKs.

[Former_Member]

Good Monday morning, everyone!

Pam was again in a hospital for excruciating pain, and they upped her pain medication. It's h##l, this amount of pain without having a diagnosis. Her latest doctor said it was a "complex" case. That's a mild understatement!

Did a lot of work this weekend toward our goal of rearranging the apartment. The hallway is clear, so now some furniture can be moved into my bedroom. Now that the TV is gone (the old one, you know, the kind before flatscreen TV), Pam can start getting things put back together in her room.

Yeaterday was a major trash today; today is storage day, taking things to our storage unit. Pam and I haved culled our books, which I'll take to the library in incremental loads. We're going to have to impose on our friends to help move furniture, hopefully this weekend.

I think I said before, I had a very good session with my psychotherapist last week; I liked her, and think we'll work well together. So that aspect of my life is settling down nicely. She sees her patients every two to three weeks, and our next meeting will be determined by when my knee surgery is going to be. I hope I'll get the date this week.

Right, then. Off to have some lunch and do chores, and then I absolutely have to work on my journal, which has been languishing on my end table.

Hope the weather is nice where you are; here, it's rain and very cool.

Have a good day, people!

[COLDHAMCUDDLIES]

Had orders for 4 Cuddlies over the week-end, two of the new Baby Hedgehogs, the last Mommy and - for a change - a Panda Hand Puppet. That's on top of the two orders I had the previous week - so the Coldham Cuddlies bank account is definitely looking a whole lot healthier than it has done since about May!!

Here are the new Hedgehogs, listed yesterday - decided to put them up here BEFORE the press launch, in case some more folks wanted them as stocking stuffers for Christmas. Don't want to look a potential gift horse in the mouth, do I?

https://www.etsy.com/listing/258319512/toy-baby-hedgehog-unisex-toy-black-grey?ref=shop_home_active_...
https://www.etsy.com/listing/258324692/toy-mommy-hedgehog-art-doll-black-grey?ref=shop_home_active_9
https://www.etsy.com/listing/258224065/toy-daddy-hedgehog-art-doll-black-grey?ref=shop_home_active_8

Have got another to list showing the whole family in one go, but haven't got round to that - what with one thing and another. Tomorrow maybe.

Alanna, that psychiatrist seems to be doing you good already. Long may it continue. Sorry to hear Pam is having such a hard time of it at the moment. Be sure you're both still in my daily prayers - and have been since the first time they were instituted.

Kitty, well done with the sales. But it does sound as though you on the verge of doing too much, and not doing yourself any good. Take care of yourself more.

Got my last Christmas presents on line this evening. Once it has arrived, will have a major wrapping session. I've been gradually collecting stuff over the past few weeks. Not quite as painful on the bank balance that way.

Off now to do some RAK'S.

[BedlamSoapery]

Wow, what I day, just hit 610 sales and our house is crazy right now. Two Etsy stores run out of this house, one is mine and one is a friend who lives with me. The post office must hate us both right now, this picture is becoming a typical post office drop off: https://gyazo.com/3a1121e1b531c0739a9ed3458ca60b42

Isobel, those Hedgehogs are so beautiful, I bet they will fly off the shelves so to speak.
I tried to hire my housekeeper to help me a bit with orders but it didn't work out. I left simple tasks like tying ribbon or putting labels on things but ended up out a days pay and having to redo everything as well as pull about 30 lip balms from the stock shelves due to labels being almost diagonal.
So for now I just focus on the fact that this rush will be over in a couple of weeks, fortunately I make most items in small batches so when I sell one i make five, that has helped a lot.

[JasminesTreasuresLLC]

Hey everyone. We had a great weekend. Had good sales last week, even a custom order and a great Thanksgiving.

Sorry to hear Pam isn't doing well. That's hard. I will add her to my prayers as well. Allana glad you like the new therapist. That's good news!

Isabel, Kitty is right the hedge hogs are adorable! I painted one on a mug and it sold. I should do it again!!

Wow Kitty! That's a pile of boxes!! I can only imagine that many sales!! Do you do Etsy as your full time business?

We got snow in Minnesota and getting more tonight! Hopefully roads will be cleared by morning though for my husband going to work.

[CustomCraftJewelry]

I'm in the process of making jewelry for Christmas. I have a cross stitch custom order to make and 2 bracelets to do.

I wished I had more sales but I'm hoping with the new jewelry items that I will add will sell quickly. Could definitely use the money. I only had 5 sales this month and I have had over 4,000 views. I don't like those statistics :(

We have had some bad weather lately. We had a freezing ice storm over this past weekend and then it has snowed for the past couple of days. My St. Bernard loves it and I don't mind it. He goes nuts in the snow lol!

And I'm really loving this team! The support from all of the active members is awesome! So thank you all for your support and views/faves!

Does anyone have their Christmas tree up yet????? I will try to decorate this weekend. No tree for me though. My cat would knock it over or climb in it so the decorations will have to do!

Have a great day everyone!

[CustomCraftJewelry]

Oh I forgot to mention that I see my Dr. on Thursday for biopsies on some lymph nodes. They are trying to rule out Hodgkins Lymphoma versus Dercums Disease. I don't want either but I guess whatever the outcome is I will just have to live with and put up a good fight! I wish I didn't have this genetic disease. It's really made me isolated and I lost most of my friends when I first got really sick in 2004.

Not trying to be a Debbie Downer lol.

[CustomCraftJewelry]

Alanna, I was an RN before I became really sick. I research all the time. If you want to message me and maybe tell me Pam's symptoms, maybe I can offer you some ideas. I have issues with almost every body system so I'm pretty smart and probably smarter than a lot of Dr.'s! You don't have to if you don't want to but maybe a fresh set of eyes might help.

[BedlamSoapery]

Renee - no I have a normal job so to speak. I only started Etsy 6 months ago as a bit of fun.

Kristi you need to get a day light bulb or something because your pictures all have that strange tinge to them, some you have shadows half over the pieces also so hard to make out the detail in your pieces.

[COLDHAMCUDDLIES]

Well folks, the die is cast. 14 invitations to the Press At Home next Monday were sent out before end of play today. Most won't come - because many of the destinations are in the south of England, but am hoping I'll be able to interest the TV stations who have already featured one of my target Hedgehog hospitals, and also the local print media. Am planning on a follow up email contact tomorrow - with background to various items mentioned in the Press invitation. Then, finally - if needed - I'll be telephoning them on Friday.

We've got the Old Chapel Close Christmas dinner on Thursday - at one of the local restaurants. It was a great occasion last year, so am hoping it will be as good this time. Really cannot spare the time, but it's one of those occasions that one should not miss if one wants to continue on good terms with one's fellow residents!

Christmas is arriving too darn fast. While I've got all my presents, they've yet to be wrapped, and although I've written my round robin letter, I've yet to print it off and get the cards. Where does the time go?

See you all around soon.

[Former_Member]

Good afternoon, everyone.

It is incredibly noisy at the moment. Our upstairs neighbors, who were noisy themselves, have moved out. Now the management is replacing all the floor joists, which means they're tearing up the flooring. And on top of all that noise, someone is singing. Loudly. And off-key. Thank goodness, they're supposed to be done today.

Isobel, those hedgehogs are incredibly cute. I bet you get a lot of orders. Congrats on the four you've already had! May you have many more.

Kitty, that amount of sales is amazing in the short time you've been open. I can just see you reaching a thousand before January!

Renee, wow, snow already! Glad to hear you had good sales as well as a happy Thanksgiving. I hope the snow tonight is just a dusting.

And Kristi, I'm glad you're okay after that ice storm. As for Pam, I appreciate your offer greatly. She is doing better today, now that she's on a better course of medicine. She now takes four hydromorphone a day to keep the pain under control. I know that's a lot of medication, but she also has a great tolerance. Low tolerance to pain and a high tolerance to pain medication.

As for her problems, she has two big ones: the neurological, and the cognitive. It's the first that gives her so much pain. She doesn't have MS or Parkinsons. What she has, accotding to her latest doc up at the University of Maryland Medical Scool, is a process of demylinization of the nerve sheaths in the nerves in her leg. The problem is that the axon seems to be destroying itself, and then regenerating in some sort of cycle. And that's about as far my knowledge goes. Pam is far more knowledgeable than I am. She worked in the pharmaceutical industry for 24 years, as a clinical research associate, regulatory affairs associate, and as a medical writer. She often knows more than the doctors.

The cognitive is much more than is usual with the advance of years. She's 58, and they've ruled out dementia or early onset Alzheimers. She had a battery of tests up at Johns Hopkins, and has an appointment with the hospital's Bayview hospital in January to talk to a specialist about it.

Sorry for the long post; as you said, I probably should have sent a message, lol.

I took the major step today of putting my shop on vacation. I still don't know when the surgery on my knee will be, but between that and helping Pam, I just don't have the energy. Fortunately, my shop is more recreational than a booming business such as Kitty has. It's not a major source of income.

Well, I'm going to shut up now. Hope everyone has a great evening!

[naturepoet]

Not sure how I got two weekly chats this week, but closed the other one.

[CustomCraftJewelry]

Alanna- When you mentioned everything it made me think of Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease. Here is a link that you can check out from Mayo.
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/charcot-marie-tooth-disease/basics/definition/CON-2002...

Kitty- I'm so not a good photographer at all. I don't get a lot of natural light and I have been so busy that I haven't been able to take new pictures of everything. That's going to take some time to do. I have different settings on my camera and when I'm taking a photo, I try all of the settings and just pick the best one that I have. I don't really have anything like a background and I don't know what to put my jewelry on for the most part. For lighting, I have been using my Ottlite that I use for cross stitching and it just doesn't work well with pictures. And being disabled, I can't afford much to improve the quality of my pictures. So I'm kind of at a loss for what to do.

[CustomCraftJewelry]

Like how does everyone get such a good white background??? And 1 more really stupid question.....how do you change your favorites so you can put in new ones? (Sorry for that dumb question)

[BedlamSoapery]

Kristi- these were taken on a piece of white paper from my printer with a $ 5 desk lamp over the item with a $2 daylight bulb in it, taken with my iphone https://www.etsy.com/listing/240904311/organic-essential-oil-blends-for?ref=shop_home_active_24
https://www.etsy.com/listing/240898761/organic-beard-oil-midnight-liaison-100?ref=shop_home_active_3...
https://www.etsy.com/listing/240901953/organic-beard-balm-spicy-encounter?ref=shop_home_active_11

Just watch for the shadow and take the picture - Etsy allows you to brighten the pics in the website. Doesn't need to be fancy or expensive.

[BedlamSoapery]

You can put a daylight bulb into any lamp. They are same cost as the soft white bulbs most people use around the house and are sold along side them.

[JasminesTreasuresLLC]

Kristi, I just bought a piece of white poster board for about a $1. I use it behind my items. I place on a small table that is up against a wall near a south window in my craft room. Part of the poster board is up against the wall, part is on the table so that there is a curve part instead of a 90 degree corner. That way there is no lines. I try to take my pictures on a sunny day when there is lots of natural light. If its cloudy for days then I have a table lamp that I can point the bulb up towards the ceiling and take pictures of items on the table below. That way the light is diffused, not direct on the item causing a glare. Also there are free photo editing programs that let you crop and add light to your pictures before you use them in your listings.

Hope that helps.

[Former_Member]

Kristi, thanks for the link. I'll tell Pam about it and let her research it. Her muscles don't seem to be involved, except for the aweful spasms she gets in the legs and arms. She's unable to drive because of the possibility that her legs could start spasming. This is one of the things that really bothers her: she's essentially housebound, unless I drive her.

[Former_Member]

Kristi, there was no sign of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease; the symptoms didn't match. So far they've labeled it as long nerve polyneuropathy. They plan to do a PET scan (they can't do an MRI because my sister has metal in her left arm, remnants of shattered arm bones from a fall she took back in May 2014). She just has to get a prescription for the scan, which is aimed at seeing whether there is some organic reason for her cognitive difficulties.

[CustomCraftJewelry]

KItty and Renee- Thank you so much for the tips. Since my son moved out I can set up my card table in his old room and get some natural light. I think one of the problems is that most of my lamps have a tint to them so they aren't completely white. I live on the bottom level in my apartment complex and I don't like opening the shades in the living room (which is also my bedroom) because it's so easy to look into the windows. But I think it's safer in my son's room. I will give it a shot because I have to put up a listing today!

Alanna- I hope they figure something out with the PET scan. Believe me, I know how frustrating it is to get the correct diagnosis. It took me almost 14 years to figure out what was wrong with me. I will keep you and Pam in my thoughts.

[CustomCraftJewelry]

I have a really stupid question. How do you change the featured items in your store???? I don't know why I can't remember where the tab is at to do this but my memory sucks lol!

[Former_Member]

Hi Everyone,

Sorry I haven't been around in awhile, I have been very busy with my parents who are elderly taking them to their doctor appointments and such and then there was Thanksgiving with people in and out. Hope everyone had a great day! I am so excited I finally reached 100 sales in my little shop! I didn't realize it, my friend in Colorado actually congratulated me. It just slipped on by when I wasn't looking. I guess I would have eventually noticed it. What an accomplishment!

[naturepoet]

Kristi,

To change the feature items in your shop, you click on "your shop," listing manager," look down the list and see "featured listings." Now look to the right of that and you will see "manage." Click there and you will see how to change your featured listings.

You have a bit of reflection in your picture with the rose. Other than that, I think a bit of brightening will make them a lot better. I use my camera's software to do that but there are several online photo editors that are very easy to use.