Simply Shiny Life

I’ve posted several articles in the last few months about how to make the most of your etsy and artfire shops, and how to simplify selling handmade items online with tools, etc.

Here is a quick list of useful blog posts in case you missed any of them:

1. Optimizing your Etsy and Artfire item description for GOOGLE base

2. International postal shipping tips for your handmade items

3. How to price your handmade creations: Tools available online

4. What are Google Alerts and why do I need them?

5. Using Google Analytics to track my etsy traffic: ENABLE Site Search!

6. More tagging tips for your etsy and artfire handmade items

7. Marketing : 5 basic steps to successful selling

8. Etsy sellers: Want to know what treasuries you’re in? And gift guides?

9. Etsy and Artfire item titles: Are yours configured the best way for Google?

Ok, so maybe Johnny Depp is channeling Madonna in his latest flick, but he does that, right? I mean, he absconded with Keith Richard’s look in the Pirate’s movies, didn’t he? By the way, I am NOT the only one who thinks JD’s Mad Hatter is a TOTAL recreation of Madonna, right down to the gap.  Don’t believe me? Search Google for yourself.

http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=&=&q=johnny+depp+madonna&aq=f&aqi=g1&oq=

No matter, I am counting the days until the new Alice in Wonderland movie hits the local theaters. Have you see a clip? If not, here you go.

I am SO going. Johnny Depp. Tim Burton. I am THERE dude.

We made an offer for a house this afternoon. The paperwork has been filed and earnest money check has been sent. Now it’s time to wait to see if the sellers agree with our terms.

It’s been a REALLY long time since our last home buying experience. I don’t remember being so indecisive and nervous the last time around.  Maybe it is because we aren’t as young and naive as we were before. Maybe it’s because we both know how much work it is going to be to actually move 15 years worth of crap from point A to point B if the offer is accepted.  Maybe it is because when this house is paid for we’ll both be close to social security age. Appalling and depressing on some level I guess. Or, looking at it another way, we’ll be social security age regardless. This way we’ll just have a house that’s paid for, right?

This particular house meets all of the requirements of my earlier list:

1. 3 car garage.
2. Laundry on the main floor.
3. A workspace area for me in the basement. It’s unfinished but HUGE. YAY
4. A man cave.  No wet bar, but a real honest to goodness man cave. Condusive to sports television.  and beer. and testosterone.
5. A larger bedroom for the short Smith.

Keep your fingers crossed for us.

If you are a geek and don’t recognize the names Jaime and Adam,  then you’ve obviously been under a rock if you haven’t heard of Mythbusters.

Here’s one of my favorite clips from the show: The Banana Split

LOL

Happy Friday everyone!

Shiny Spotlight Thursday

This week I thought it would be fun to see what was returned when I used the search term ‘silly’ in etsy’s search.

Clicking on each image will link you to the seller of each item, if you decide you simply must purchase it.

Enjoy!

Lavender Plush Shark Hat from Obey My Brain

One Eyed Alien Bank by Kaufman Pottery Plus  (author’s note: this is an AWESOME shop!!)

Crazy Love Card from upup

Sock Monkey Wedding Cake Topper from Spirit Mama

Silly blue bird called Aldo by Smiling Blue Dog

Amor Dillo Armadillo Sculpture by Just JB

Happy Shopping everyone!

Look for the Shiny Spotlight every Thursday.

Mary Mary recently posted this list in the etsy forums.  It’s potentially good info about how to get your treasury on the front page.  Although, the whole FP process is still a bit nebulous,  at a miniumum, the tips below may help to curate a more gorgeous collection.

Hi there,

Treasuries appear on the homepage several times a day, currently you will see roughly 16-20 Treasuries featured in a given day. As long as your list is active, it has a chance of being featured (usually closer to the day it is set to expire give or take).

Not all Treasuries are featured on the homepage, but we do try to mix things up. Some tips to keep in mind if you are making a Treasury with the goal in mind of it being featured on the homepage are:

* Use all 16 item slots, including all 4 alternates spaces.
* Make sure all 16 slots are from different sellers.
* Try not to use an item from one of your own shop/s.
* Include a variety of represented categories throughout your collection.
* Include a variety of price points throughout your collection.
* Use items with clear, crisp, and most importantly, inspiring photos.
* Try not to use the same sellers or friends frequently when you make new collections. We are trying to use more community made Treasury lists moving forward and will be looking for lists with broader variety. For example, using items or sellers that have been featured on the homepage recently isn’t a best practice for having your list featured on the homepage.

To get an idea of the types of lists that have been featured on the homepage before, browse through craft cult’s vault feature: http://craftcult.com/vault.php This is a great gauge for the types of lists and photography we look for when choosing lists for the homepage, but again, not a guide for the exact items to choose. Get creative, show us all something new, inspiring, and different!

Best of luck and keep up the great work making Treasuries,
Mary

We are moving.
Soon.
Hopefully.

We’re investigating available houses on the opposite side of town. The side with better schools for the short Smith.  The side with a shorter drive for the tall Smith.  The side with closer friends for the entire Smith clan.

Our list of requirements for this new abode include:

1. 3 car garage. We currently have a 2 car, filled to brimming with tools, motorcycles and testosterone what not.  The new house goal is to actually have one stall to park my car. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

2. Laundry on the main floor. Because I’m too lazy to schlep up and down the stairs for clean clothes.
There.
I admitted it.

3. A workspace area for me in the basement. So I can have a bench located in a more temperate location than my current frigid space. It will be heaven to fondle beads and solder without either sweating or fighting frostbite.

4. A man cave.  No further comment needed.

5. A larger bedroom for the short Smith.

And know what I learned during our weekend househunting extravaganza?

1. The rooms always look bigger in the pictures
2. Five houses before lunch are the limit for a 5 year old
3. Other people keep their houses MUCH MUCH cleaner than mine

Wish us luck.

On a completely different subject, guess what I woke up to this morning instead of my alarm?

“We will we will rock you”  “We will we will rock you” “We will we will rock you”

“You got wood on your face, a big disgrace,  kicking a can all over the place”

and additional lyrical mangling. I REALLY need to introduce the kiddo to the REAL Queen. The version he’s learned as sung by the Chipmunks is just a tragedy. I’m pretty sure that Queen sung by the Chipmunks is one of the signs of the apocalypse. Take heed.

And how was YOUR morning?

New green and lavender etsy treasury, featuring the Starving Artist Team members.

If you click on the image, it will take you directly to the treasury list on etsy, until it expires.

It’s a bit embarrassing really. I mean, the site sounds like something one might only do in private, if one were a quasi-good girl.  Plurk is like Twitter, only better. Like what Twitter would be if it were warmer and more touchy feely and fun.

According to Wikipedia  “Plurk is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows users to send updates (otherwise known as plurks) through short messages or links, which can be up to 140 text characters in length.

Updates are then shown on the user’s home page using a timeline which lists all the updates received in chronological order, and delivered to other users who have signed up to receive them. Users can respond to other users’ updates from their timeline through the Plurk.com website, by instant messaging, or by text messaging.”

Does one still have to make mini posts in under 140 characters? Well, yep. But there are icons, LOTS of icons. And weirdly cute monsters to decorate your screens. And a timeline set up that enables users to actually find plurks they’ve responded to. (Sorry, ended that one with the dreaded preposition). And, gasp, private plurks. Plurks that can be sent to your chosen group of plurkers, or just one or two of your faves.

You can check Plurk out at plurk.com. Sign up. Enable your plurks to be automatically sent to twitter. Get yourself a cool background. Find yourself a monster avi. Find me and make me your new Plurk friend.

And, you get to tell your not so cool friends that you plurk. Early and often. Make sure you give a sly wink when you do.

BlueKimonoStudio posted this on the etsy forum. I thought her post was a good one and food for thought for jewelry designers. She provided suggestions from a buyer’s perspective when looking for artisan jewelry on etsy.

BlueKimonoStudio posted:
Since there are so many fab jewelry sellers here, I thought I’d share a recent experience as a buyer on Etsy.

I wanted a simple chain with a certain pendant for my daughter. I found hundreds of listings, but most had some problem that was a deal breaker:

•  the listing didn’t tell me the size of the necklace or charm

•  the listing gave me the size in millimeters. I suggest giving millimeters and inches. I did not have my metric converter handy.

•  the listing used jargon including BOGO and OOAK. (today I’ve figured them out, but what if I didn’t want to do that?)

•  the listing showed only close-ups of the item, and nothing like a hand, person or even a coin for scale in the photos. Even if the measurements were there, it helps sooo much to have a scale photograph, hopefully near a human body part.

•listing didn’t tell me what the materials are.

Folks, I searched through dozens of listings with problems like these. I would buy more jewelry on Etsy if I could learn what I need to know about a piece. I need to see the item in relation to something else for scale. Seriously, this is the biggest drawback for me.

I finally found my necklace after about 20 minutes of scrolling through listings.

There’s so much gorgeous jewelry here on Etsy…I hope these observations are helpful to some of you makers.