Hello! Let's start chatting!

[#1]

'Bopa' here under another guise.
Thought I'd get a general chat thread rolling ... while we wait for the 'big chop'.
Shall we get our knitting needles out - like the women who surrounded the guillotine?! (seems very etsyesque!)

[Former_Member]

Hi Sew, yes I'm a scottish lass :-) I lived in Lockerbie for years and years and then Moffat for a few and then I started working as a field engineer for a company in Falkirk but the area I covered was anything north of the Glasgow and Edinburgh. My favorite area was from Fort William up the west coast to Ullapool. I miss it up there.

Nice treasury Baban, fingers crossed for sales for you x

[Former_Member]

Hi this is madewithlovebykaren's other shop :)

I was born in Brecon & brought up in Fishguard & very proud to be Welsh!

[teabreaks]

well done on the treasurey Baban....
As for the 78p I have arranged for it to be paid directly to my bank account....the bad news is that my husband owes the tax office 39p...rofl...at least we are still 39p UP !! Better than when I got my first pension notification....it was £1.08 a week and they asked me if I wanted it weekly , monthy or yearly !!!!!!! I told them that there was not way that MY £1.08 was going to sit in THEIR bank account making interest for THEM !!....
I borrowed some money to buy some back stamps and now get a measly £62 and still paying back the loan !!...ain't life grand...lol... At least I am able to craft and sell...although no thanks to Etsy.....what HAS happened to etsy sales?.....they are virtually non existent, yet ebay has picked up and I sold 90 items on Folksy over the last year.....
Anyone got any ideas?....lol
Cold here this morning...lots of clouds heading Cardiff way...(sorry Baban) but there is some blue sky over Swansea ...I live in hope...

[Former_Member]

Wow. We just had the shower of all showers! It was so dark. If Derek doesn't do something about the weather soon I'll be heading to Florida. Well, perhaps not if it's the start of the hurricane season!
Typical Brits to be talking about the weather.
Really don't know what to do for the best. I'm gradually listing on Folksy. I don't want to do it all at once. I've already had more views after, just over, a week there than on Etsy. I've started to tag all my photos now because a thread came up with the suggestion.
I'll wait it out until Christmas and then reassess.

[teabreaks]

well I would love to know the etsy secret......does it help to list loads and loads or are you just throwing good money after bad? I will keep listing but not sure how often to add items.... I doubt if I would close my shop as I think that for 20c there is a chance of a sale, whereas in a drawer they are certainly not going to sell. My plan at the moment is to list on ebay first...(as I am doing quite well on there at the moment) those items that don't sell go on Folksy and then finally on ebay and then i start the circle again.....
I have only had one sale on etsy in weeks....yet I have quite a few bids on ebay at the moment and 3 sales on folksy last week.....
I am on lots of teams and so I DO promote my work.....mystery to me...lol
Have a great weekend everyone.

[Former_Member]

Lovely treasury Cat I tweeted for you :)

They say the trick is to list 1 item every day to gain maximum exposure & obviously using twitter, FB & other networking sources are a great way to get people to look at your things - I went from selling at craft fairs to 100% online selling & considering they say it is 1% of your maximum sales I'd say that everyone is doing well :) Also great pics of your work is a must as possession is 9/10ths of the law so they say lol so if people cannot touch & hold your items they have to have great visual interest. I don't know where I come into play here I am just sharing what I have learned about internet selling in the last year - I hope some of this helps you.

[artizen]

Finally Ive listed some art... if it is art!? only taken me 3 years...
http://www.etsy.com/listing/75756370/wooden-painted-art-blocks-natural-plant

[artizen]

and Ive forgotten to include details of the plant pigment inks so will have to edit it... oh dear

[artizen]

yes etsy is very quiet for me but then ive not done much on here recently cos its so dead..... going to have a go at listing more over the next few days
Ive been doing better with things in a little local shop... town population 1900!!

[Former_Member]

yay - we had sunshine today - yippeee It was even warm enough to have the back door open most of the evening too whilst I made two batches of soap and some lip balms.

teabreaks -that's interesting that you have a 'circle'. Does that help you keep things fresh in you shops? I have an account on Folksy but never thought it was all that well known. I have one bar of soap listed but will have to give it a go.

Karen - you're so right about the photos. My first pictures were abismal and I'm not sure how I managed to sell anything, now at least they have a bit of interest but it's still not producing sales. I've only had 5 sales this year but luckily mum had a sale table at a quilt exhibition where she shows her quilts and she sold £40 worth of soap - yay for mums!

[Former_Member]

Artizen - those are blocks are interesting. I like the way you followed the grain in the wood.

[sewmuchfrippery]

Helo bawb! Hi all!
I love the pigments in your art Artizen - beautiful earthy colours.

Etsy is abysmally slow at the moment. Abnormally slow in fact. Something has not been right for the past month. I was doing really well - selling on average 1.3 items per day - but it's all dried up pretty much. It may be something that etsy has done. They are doing loads of work on the site at the moment and they no longer close it for maintenance as they used to - so I'm sure all this experimentation is impacting on the visibility of many shops. It could also be the recent changes to Google. My items are still appearing reaonably high in Google searches (no worse than they were before) but it's possible that etsy as a whole is ranking lower in the search engines than it used to. I really don't know how to explain it all.

It's a good idea to diversify though and spread the load a bit - so that you're not totally dependent on one site. If I was making handmade things (which I hope to eventually) I think I would start listing on Folksy too.

I'm hoping that if I can list a few more new things it will help a bit.

How are things Teabreaks? Will you be auctioning off any Pobol y Cwm autographs on eBay by any chance?!!

Off to the Spar now (are we allowed to advertise?!) to get my nocturnal shot of Elderberry Flower Cider!

[Former_Member]

Hi all and all the new peoples that Iv not chatted to.. I dont know turn your back for five mins and everything changes LoL
Im over on the west coast visiting schools right now.. maybe doing some workshops in the new term and Im going to be working with a bunch of proffs and doing a photo shoot in Glasgow next month with a new range of textile jewellery.. so watch out for some amazing photography.. not mine .... hope things pick up soon. I did a makers market up here and it was really good.... I like the new listing set up on etsy I didnt know about different pages for different countries tho..

[sewmuchfrippery]

Hi Morag. I'm so pleased that things are looking up for you.
Yes, the new listing page is great ... etsy did something right for once!!

I have mixed feelings about the regional FPs though. I like being able to look at recently listed items from the UK - and the UK Blog etc - but I do worry about all the regional fragmentation. I think it's only a matter of time before they develop a separate regional FP just for the US, and that could impact very badly on non-US shops (especially since around 80% of etsians are US based). Let's hope it doesn't come to that!

Yes, we have lots of new members. This thread is a real hive of activity again!

[StraylightVintage]

hi everyone.....haven't been here for a while so busy putting things up in our shop. I'm on a treasury team now that gets on the front pages so will be sure to include some things from my Welsh family of friends!

[artizen]

ah CT thats nice... we feel a bit adrift here as we have our own front page .. only changes once a day not hourly..... only has items that ship internationally .....only allowed 2 to 4 items from the uk.. I miss seeing the main front page... so be sure to tell us if you get there cos we can go and see it on craftcult I think!!

[Former_Member]

Hi parkave, artizen, CT & Karramandi nice to meet you :)

Its a super hot day here today & I put too much sugar in my tea (I hate it when that happens) & alas too lazy to go back downstairs to make another. The sales fairy visited me twice yesterday YAY! I am now sending her to all your shops :) It looks like I am going to have to curate a team treasury to get you all noticed :) On Sunday when I come back from the beach it's my day off I will do it then - Have a good weekend all xxxxx

[sewmuchfrippery]

Hi everyone.
A another Welsh treasury - or one with some Welsh sellers - would be great Cynthia and Karen.

Incidentally, artizen, I still have the main US FP set as my default (and toggle between that and the UK FP if I feel I want to) . It's easy enough to switch back and forth between FPs..

It's a beautiful day here today. With a bit of luck I'll be able to fit another car boot sale in tomorrow.

Hope you're all enjoying the weekend break!

[teabreaks]

Puzzled Karramandi...I don't have a circle, so I don't really understand...I am
IN a lot of people's circles though......It just means that you are connected up with other artists and craft workers.
I show all my work on facebook and on artwanted and on the ebay group...and I promote my work everywhere. I sell well on Folksy and ebay, so I am mystified as to why I don't do well on etsy.....
I really cannot afford to list every day as I am a pensioner.....so money is in short supply.... I will keep hoping though. I sold 7 paintings on ebay today, so the customers are out there but don't seem to come through etsy.....
Sewmuch......ha ha.....Those tv people left their car here for nearly 3 days and really took advantage of my hospitality...in the end I had to phone them and tell them to remove it...and the lady said "Oh I had forgotten all about it and I am in Worcester for a few days !!"....can you believe the cheek !!
I have been doing some painting today and am really pleased with the results. It is an 11 x 9 painting so it won't be going on etsy as I think it would be too expensive to send abroad....
We had thunder, lightning and hailstones today and now that it is nearly time for bed....sunshine....lol

[Former_Member]

Congrats on your sales teabreaks!!! Cheeky beggers leaving that car there though lol I am off to the beach in a bit gotta get my cuppa tea on first

[Former_Member]

I've just been following a thread where Yvonne included the link to craft count
http://www.craftcount.com/
I've spent a really depressing day looking at the successful shops. The most successful been here for years. No surprise there really. They're mainly American. Again no surprise. They're also basically giving their stock away. Not shocking at all. Some of the successful crochet shops can't even be covering their costs.
I did mention here before that I used to work in the charity sector. No more! To undercut I'd have to start a sweat shop. Plus, slavery has been abolished.
On top of it all it hasn't stopped raining all day. It's cold. My cats refuse to go out in it so now they are wild. They're doing the Wall of Death in the kitchen!
I might go to bed and pull the duvet over my head!
Give me a shout when it's safe to come out.

[teabreaks]

Ha ha Baban ...I have a new project for you...you should write a book...lol....that made such good reading...lol....what a horrid day eh?
I am doing better on ebay that anywhere else at the moment....strangely most of my sales are to people in the US...so I have no idea why etsy isn't as good......I think we just get lost in the hundreds of shops.....
here is my latest tiny painting....

http://www.etsy.com/listing/75847212/aceo-evening-walk-watercolour-painting

[Former_Member]

I got rained off the beach so here is my treasury to cheer up Cat http://www.etsy.com/treasury/NzAwMjIyNHwzMjI3MzA4NDQ/think-pink

[Former_Member]

Thanks for doing that. Those hot pinks made me realise that somewhere in the world it is sunny and warm just not where we are.
Lovely misty atmosphere in the painting. I like!
The downpour stopped enough for the cats to get some fresh air. The heating is back on. I've watched Midsomer Murders which always makes me glad I live where I do. Life isn't so bad after all.
Did I mention that I also opened a bottle of wine?

[Former_Member]

Oh Baban, I'm so sorry to have posted a link that got you down :-( I've been looking at craftcount all day today and wondering how the heck they manage to sell so much soap, again in the USA but there must be a way to crack the market. I've also got another couple of shops on here which sell totally different things which I've neglected but thought I might dust off and try again at.
The weather has been awful here too, it's not let up all day! The kids have been bored to death, we've painted, we've playdoh'd, we've done jigsaws but its just not the same as going to the park on the bike or playing on the swings.