In case you missed it...

So Martha went for the jewelry...

My little flourish pendant was featured on her table along side Katherine Riechart and Luxe Delux . It was a brief stint of fame for my lovely green pendant but ooo so much fun to see. I am incredibly honored and really enjoyed the segment. I took a screen shot of the website with my link on it (below) and if I can get one of the video I will share.

Yay Etsy, Yay Rob, Yay Martha, Yay Me :)


I'm the last one in the photo, me, on the website. Martha Stewart. Me.

:)

Martha! Martha! Martha!

I'm going to tell you a little story about a stressed out crafter....


It was Friday and I was sitting on my mothers couch in the Bay Area when I opened up a conversation on Etsy from Daniellexo, from admin. She said Etsy was to be featured on the Martha Stewart Show and they were interested in a set of my accordion books in consideration for the episode. Oh holy goodness Yay, right?
It was total elation until I read they wanted the books Monday, three days from that very moment, where I was sitting, out of town, on my moms couch. The one and only best thing that could ever happen to a crafter and I was NOT home to send the items off. If there was ever a time to PANIC that was the very moment. I am, however, incredibly lucky because my good friend & shop assistant extraordinaire Lea kindly agreed (after a smidge of begging and pleading) to go to my home, pack up the items and ship them off, overnight express. I immediately called the producer (yeah, that's a number I'll be keeping) to let her know I was having items sent and that she could reach me by phone or telegram or flying mule if needed. After a few days of nail biting it was confirmed that the items arrived in perfect condition and just now confirmed that although they won't be mentioned by name they will be ON THE TABLE during the episode, on Martha Stewart's table, on her show, while she talks to Etsy president Rob Kalin, on the Martha Stewart show. Martha. Stewart.

Yay.

The end.

:D

Ps it airs friday the 29th. Martha Stewart Show. (ahem) If I can get a download of the segment I'll show it off for ya, here.

Yay, again.

The Spooky Trees of California....

After leaving my fathers I headed south to my mom's home in another small town north of San Francisco. She has a nice house, all full of internet and refrigeration. Unfortunately it is surrounded by spooky trees that creep into my over active imagination (yes I am still 5 sometimes) while I try to sleep. Aside from the trees it is a nice place to get away with lots of quiet, gorgeous coast line and good conversation with my family. It is always nice to have Miles visit his grandparents and uncles, he has a large fan base here. :)

Today are headed for a quick trip to San Francisco and then turing around and coming home (yayayayayay home!). It is a long drive filled with lots and lots of "when are we going to be there?'s" and gorgeous scenery.. I'd love to drive straight through but I know we're not going to make it. Please remind to pass up the Shilo Inn this time around, I am hoping to fall asleep in the un-gross.

:)

Happy Sunday!

I survived. :)

The lost coast is one of the most beautiful places in my world. I grew up (partly) in this teeny tiny cabin smack dab in the middle of nowhere. As beautiful and serene as it is, sleeping on a mouse poop couch with little more than a solar powered light bulb & a crackling hot wood stove just isn't as fun as it used to be. It is hard to believe I used to be such a bumpkin considering how entirely hardwired my life is now. It is great to be there but it is also great to be back, online and surrounded by real, honest and true electricity.



And real plumbing has benefits too.
:)

Happy Friday!

Posting, from the dirty hotel....

We're about half way there... it is a little longer than 9 hours from my house to my father's place & 9 hours is just too long to strap my small friend into any car seat. We stopped at the Shiloh Inn, which has usually been a good place to stay because they welcome dogs & I always bring mine. However, this place is capital N, Nasty. Our first room had a broken lock on it, in fact the door was open when we arrived. We readily switched into the room adjacent and only discovered after sleeping all night that the blankets on the bed were not only unclean, they were DIRTY and dirty in a way you really don't want to know about. I'd complain to the manager but I am certain the only apology I receive would be a small discount towards another stay and I can promise you I will not be staying here again, ever.

We have about 5 more hours of driving today and then a few days of wild quiet on the Lost Coast. My fathers owns 1 of 3 cabins on a 26 mile stretch of coastal wilderness. It is truly the most remote place I've ever lived. You have to hike in to his cabin, about a mile down a very steep hill. It is completely isolated, except for the back packers and day hikers that pass by. There are times where I find the solitude somewhat frightening but overall the peace, quiet and freedom of being there, alone and uninterrupted is something I look forward to & cherish.

I will be completely off line while there but I hope to return with hard disks full of new photographs & shoes full of sand.

I am sure to have something to write about when I return.

Happy Monday!

And........

We're off! Miles & I are geared up for a 7-8-9 day road trip. I'm loaded down with paper to fold and camera equipment, Miles is toting books & pens and all things small. I am really looking forward to this vacation, despite being isolated for half of it with no internet or electricity. My father lives deep in the wilderness & it is such a wonderful escape into wild paradise (all be it somewhat boring if the rain sets in). The isolation is incredible. I will be sure to tell you all about it as soon as I can.

Have a great week and keep the peace!

Me~

It's the little things...

I got a huge smile on my face today when this arrived in the mail. I didn't order it, it is just a sample but just seeing Littleput Books in print made me feel like a real & actual company. It is a funny feeling going from crafter to business person and while I'm not quite there yet I really enjoy the idea of the grown up version of my career. :)

So my question to you is:
do you want pens as promotional items?
& what colors should I order?

:)

Happy Saturday, I leave tomorrow for my trip to the bay area, I'll try to blog while I bounce around, I hope you all have an incredible week!

Ryan *girl* as always...

A vacation?

Spring is almost here, which means it's time for my semi-anual trip to the San Francisco area (yay) to visit family & do some paper shopping. I leave on Sunday and have a to do list 10 pages long before I go. I am excited, I love this journey, good restaurants, great shopping, a beautiful drive and gorgeous scenery. However, it seems I am never ready enough to stay open for business & be gone at the same time, but as this is my livelihood, closing is really not an option.

I've asked my friend Lea to take over the shipping while I am gone & I've been doing lots of crafting so I'll have a good supply of inventory for her to ship during my travels. I'm taking lots of things to make (mostly journals which will be arriving soon after my return) and of course a long list of supplies to return with. As prepared as I am & as much fun as I know I will have, leaving my business, even for a day or two, is something I always have a hard time with. Lea is great & will do a fabulous job & I will have a wonderful time, but even still it is so hard to let go. Leaving my shop is like leaving my baby, I will worry about it the whole time I am gone, though I plan on having some fun in between :)

Luz, but mostly, thank you.

The sun is scarce in Portland during the winter but it came out today and gave me the chance to photograph some of my new Looking Glass Pieces. I am really pleased with this line & I even feel motivated to show them off :). They have opened up so many new ways to be creative, I am finding myself very inspired and really eager to expand on so many ideas. I haven't had this much fun since my last trip to the paper shops in San Francisco. On days like this I am easily reminded of just how much I have to be grateful for, now if only I could know who to thank first.

Happy Saturday & I'll start with you....

Thank you! Thank you for supporting my business, inspiring my imagination and helping me find my way as an artist. I have learned a lot in the past few years and have felt very encouraged through every mistake and every success. I feel so comfortable when I post here, I am humbled, honored & grateful for your presence. With all sincerity, I thank you.

Scrabble Tile Pendants.

Before:

After:



Organizing my stock has always been a trick. Before I started repeating styles I would make 100 or so different pendants all at once. I'd make all various prints and patterns & photograph & list them all until a new batch was needed. Once I figured out that with a light table (duh) and a little practice I could create almost identical pieces, I had more time to make stock and more stock to organize. Storing each individual print became a nightmare. I never new how many I had and the fear of overselling and not making replacements fast enough was a real one. I kept them all in ziplock bags, each print sorted (mostly) by style or paper type. Through the holidays I had bags everywhere, on the floor, in drawers, behind my desk and even other parts of my home. Not knowing what I had and what I needed to be making more of was a real stress factor. I don't have the time/patience for inventory sheets and if I can't find what I am looking for I make more, which can create a lot of overstock. I needed to be able to see my whole line, in one place, all neat and tidy.

So I went on a hunt and with total serendipity I found these cute plastic boxes at Storables They were the perfect solution to my inventory nightmare. Now everything is all lined up on my new shelf, ordered by print, style and color. It is so nice to see exactly what I have, no more over selling, no more hunting and best of all no more overstock, now I can see if I need it before I make it. This is a SERIOUS time saver & it looks awesome too!
Yay me!

My shipping Desk! (Yay!!!)

Before:

After:


Yay o' goodness YAY. I used to keep it all on my long beat up craft table with the tins and envelope boxes scattered below Yuck. I got this new table at Ikea and I am in love! It has drawers, shelves, an air of swanky :) and it is only about 18" wide so it created this great big open feel in my studio. Additionally I organized my magnets, my ribbon, my new pendant line and even my envelopes! You can see my studio photo with notes here on my flickr. I am so superbly happy with this table and my new system of lesser disaster I almost enjoy shipping again! :)
------------

A quick peep for those need their own cute and pretties to help with organization, I've begun selling the Large decorated Slide top tins in my shop again. Here. Aren't they pretty?

:)

Happy Monday All!

To Do!

List and photo courtesy of adora-seller BoyGirlParty.etsy.com

It is hard not to panic when sales slow, either on Etsy, in the real world or anywhere else. Having done this selling thing for a while now, the January/February sales drop is something I come to expect and even enjoy. It helps me rethink my goals as a seller and gives me a chance to pause and look at what worked and what didn't in the year past. I've revved up my to-do list and if you're feeling the slowing sale jitters now is the perfect time to spiff up your game plan.

To Do. (with commentary)
1. Update my Flickr I'd love to get in the habit of posting new photos daily.
2. Take photos so I have something to post on Flickr daily.
3. Blog more. My poor neglected blog, it is in dire need of a facelift and some serious spell check, I'm on it!
4. Enhance my new New Line and expand on it. I love delving into new projects and no matter what I try I always learn something that can enhance my established work.
(This is a perfect time for lots of you to get creative and see what great new idea you can stumble onto)
5. Research Etsy advertisng co-op. The Co-operative program & spend some time finding new blogs and online magazines to contact.
6. Streamline my shop for Wedding season, Spring & Summer. Winter is out and I need to get my shop ready for these upcoming markets, staying seasonal is something EVERY retailer needs to focus on.
7. Refocus my wholesale line & look into putting out a catalogue (???)
8. Take a vacation!
9. Do inventory. What sold, what didn't sell, what do people want more of, less of, how I can focus my successful items and stay on target with what works?
10. Revamp personal and profile information. Retake bad photos, give my whole atmosphere a makeover to make it more inviting to all.
11. Network. Etsy is a small community and I need to branch out and say hello to a bigger one.
HELLO!