♦♦♦♦ Alberta Street Team CHAT THREAD for JANUARY 1 - 31, 2017 ♦♦♦♦

[#1]

Hello and welcome to the Alberta Team Chat Thread for January 1 - 31, 2017. Posting here counts towards your team participation and is the main place to get up to date on what we are doing as a team!

Post your New Listings in our promo thread:
https://www.etsy.com/ca/teams/5084/alberta-street-team/discuss/18209861/

WHERE TO FIND OUR TEAM & PARTICIPATE:
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/AlbertaStreetTeam
TWITTER: twitter.com/etsyalbertateam #EtsyAB
PINTEREST: www.pinterest.com/ABStreetTeam/
INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/etsyalbertateam/ #etsyalbertateam

If you have any questions about the team or how to get more involved please contact Kalen, the Team Captain, at www.etsy.com/shop/minibytes

Previous chat thread here:
https://www.etsy.com/teams/5084/alberta-street-team/discuss/18173710/

[minibytes]

I like the cow idea, it's super cute :)

[Former_Member]

I finally feel like I'm coming out of the Chinook haze here in Okotoks. They give me such bad headaches and drain all energy out of me. I've been trying to take advantage of a slower month to focus on pinterest and Instagram I think my social media needs a little tlc.

[MagpieQuilts]

Is Bonnie still a member of our team? Maybe we could get a sock cow from her?

[myCorabella]

...or a dinosaur might work?

[WireExpressions]

Ugggh...so far behind...cows and dinosaurs! Looks like I have some catch up to do!

[cindylouwho2]

Nothing against cows, but I vote dinosaur. Of course, I might be a bit biased 😀

[Former_Member]

We're finally coming out of round of the flu. Yes, the kids all had flu shots, but between one being at a hospital, one at a university, and one at high school, they are exposed to everything! I've had the shortest bouts, and I didn't get s flu shot. Go figure.

Different topic...anyone battle with carpal tunnel syndrome? My wrists are making me crazy. The normal crafting I can handle, but the added pressure of using canes and a wheelchair has me down. Any suggestions?

[BubblegumSass]

Traveling cow or dino? You guys are getting a little strange on me ;-)

So, finally have an interesting shipping story to share. Back in July... yes truly July... I shipped a small Dreamcatcher to Germany. Easy peasy. Except that my customer didn't mention that she was going on vacation. The package arrived there and sat. When she was finally able to go pick it up, they told her it had been returned. So we both very patiently waited. Generally I don't refund anything until the item arrives back to me, but we waited, and waited. Knowing it could possibly take a couple of months... right be Christmas, we came to the mutual agreement that it had been lost & I refunded the item cost. She was a very wonderful & patient & understanding customer, so not a high stress situation. Yesterday, a small box arrived in my mailbox. It was her order. It's covered in all sorts of interesting stickers, tape and labels. It's traveled all over the place. I don't even want to open it. Only took seven months, but it did arrive safely back to me. Wowza!

[MagpieQuilts]

Kellie - I have no advice! Hope your family gets past the flu bugs. We thought we were done with that when our kids left home, but now the grandkids come with their bugs - and we love them despite the runny noses!

If anyone on the team has a stuffed dinosaur, I would be happy to purchase it for the purposes of sending it around to fellow team members to promote our products. Kalen? Bonnie? Kellie? not sure who else sells stuffed critters?

[quirefly]

I make stuffie owls from repurposed sweaters and today, I was thinking I might stitch up some sort of cute, strange, creature that could be a mascot. I doubt it would be anything even close to a dinosaur or a cow though....

I am excited about this idea. How much fun is this!!!

[Former_Member]

how about this blast from the past:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ookpik

plus just google Oopik on google images.

In other news, 3 Great Horned owls sat outside my daughters bedroom window last night having a hoot (3 diff voices so I assume 3 owls) and I heard them too. She was annoyed but I thought it was great.

[Former_Member]

Hahaha travelling Alberta Beef ;) I like it.

So I'm going to go MIA for a bit. There was a death in the family and some responsibilities are calling for my big-girl pants. Haven't decided whether to put my shop in vacation mode or just only leave my instant downloads up, as they're pretty self-sufficient. My promoted listings experiment is off for now too, which is quite sad.

Also just clicked on your link Terri...finally I get NAIT's mascot! Lol I've often half-wondered about that, just never taken the time to research :D

Reeeally dislike how turning things on/off affects SEO. Last year I had similar circumstances and you can see it by the giant drop in my view and order stats. On the other hand there's no sense waiting for the ultimate breakdown to finally take a step back. Being responsible is such a burden on my creative juices.

[Former_Member]

yep, Naits mascot & ookpik- they both look just like cows according to alternative facts.

[WireExpressions]

Really sad to hear about Symmons Valley Market! My heart goes out to the vendors who have lost everything they worked so hard to grow or make. 😞

[Former_Member]

Sounds like there are a lot of challenges for members of the team. I am impatiently waiting for my wrist to let me get back to normal. Can't happen soon enough for me.

[Former_Member]

Take care Shayla & a big "get-well-soon" to everyone thats under the weather.
That's bad news about the Symons Valley ranch. The owner said they are looking for alternate venues now for the vendors.

[Former_Member]

Happy new year everyone, just following all this informative chatter! Ive had an idle etsy shop open for years but only just startwd uploading items and getting serious about it all.

My goal is to start an inventory of my items on a spreadsheet and get super organised. Does anyone have an organization hack to keep items that are posted on etsy not mixed up with my other items (physically)? Also- should I have seperate column to track those items in a spreadsheet?

[TheWickedPotter]

The flu has finally caught up with me, I was a step ahead of it for at least two months as everyone else was catching it! So now I'm trying hard to focus and plow through! Im sorry to hear the challenges some are having. I had Carpel Tunnel surgery, definitely it helps but it takes quite a while to mend, depending on what you use your wrists for everyday.
The mascot sounds exciting.
I noticed a jump in sales just after Xmas in my Etsy Shop, wondering if my shop somehow was getting noticed more. I'm never sure if Etsy changes ways to search.
Hope everyone enjoys the great weather coming this weekend.

[BubblegumSass]

Kristi - I'm also very sad about the Symons Valley market. Several fellow members/farms of YYC Growers (the growers group we're involved in) will be greatly impacted by it. Who needs more struggles as a farmer, really?!

[cindylouwho2]

Shayla, I am very sorry for your loss ((HUGS))

Kellie, you may want to get a consult for ergonomic use of canes - they shouldn't cause carpal tunnel if you are using them correctly. I had to practice quite a lot to get the hang of walking properly with a cane, because of my coordination issues.
I could never propel my own wheelchair so no advice there, other than getting a motorized one. You may be able to find a good deal on a used one, if price is a factor. (I bought my push chair for $50, almost brand new - usual price for this model is $300-400.)

Elena, you can download your Etsy listings into a spreadsheet:
https://www.etsy.com/ca/help/article/338
so I just keep that one separate from my website listings. I don't have any other major sales channels where I need a stock of unique items premade, though, so it is not as hard for me as some of you.
My items are all small, so I just keep them sealed in individual plastic bags, then organized in labelled (used) bubble envelopes. Everything is in a filing cabinet, & my website has a separate drawer from my Etsy shop. But that wouldn't be as easy to do with larger items, of course.

[junquete]

Shayla so sorry for your loss. This must be a hard time for you.

Cindy thank you for sharing that article again. I had it at one time then my stupid computer at the time didn't like red wine. bummer. So it's been crazy learning to redo everything I think I had at the time. But I am woefully disorganized and have become rather lazy too.

[hopnflop · Accepted solution]

Before the month is over, we have a couple new members to our team.

Please welcome:

Oriana Chalbaud of OriChalbaud
https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/OriChalbaud

and

Stacey Kokot of Twilight Raven Designs
https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/TwilightRavenDesigns

[NextThymeCraftStudio]

I'm sorry for your loss Shayla :(

I've added the newbies accounts as favorites!

I also wanted to pop in and let everyone know about Made Urban if you don't already. Sign up to get notified of vendor calls all over Alberta :)

https://www.madeurban.com/l-Canada-Alberta

[quirefly]

Shayla, so sorry for your loss.

Terri, looove the ookpik. When I was a small thing, my dad worked in Tuktoyaktuk for a while. When he came home, he brought me a little ookpik. It is in terrible condition now, but oh how I loved it.

I have been out of the workshop for the last month due to an overwhelming demand from my children to do things like feed them, clothe them, cheer them in hockey and ringette games...... ; ) I am hoping to get in to the little green room this week and (1) clean it up.... and 2- more fun and more importantly, make some stuff. Like a stuffed creature.
Anne, any news on stuffies for EtsyAB mascots?

[MagpieQuilts]

I'm still looking. I think I'll pick up one of Bonnie's sock monsters and get some kind of Alberta patch on it. I do have an Ookpik but I don't think the rabbit fur is durable enough to travel and it's more North than Alberta.