Why I Love My Husband

Well, to be honest, this is not the biggest reason, but it did make me smile and I am sharing it here because only other Etsy sellers will find this funny.

As you may or may not know, (since I have been so sadly absent from this or any other blog) I am going back to school. Since school started in January, I have not made a single piece of jewelry. I have cut back my renewing of Etsy items to a bare minimum.

Last night, we had this conversation:

Me: I have not sold anything in almost a week.

Him: Hm.

Me: Well, that is a really long time for me.

Him: Hm.

Me: It is a little unsettling.

Him: Hm.

Me: I really hope things pick up in March.

Him: Hm.

Me: I am worried!

Him: When was the last time you posted something new?

Me: Early January?

Him: Have you been renewing?

Me: Ummmmm. Not very much...

Him: You should probably go on the forums and ask someone to help you. You whiny newbie!


And all this time I thought he was not paying attention to anything I said about Etsy for the last two and a half years!

An Interview

My workspace: not as messy as it was after Christmas, not as neat as it was a week ago.

I took this photo to accompany an interview I did for EtsyCafe. Kim of SchroederSisters put this blog together to feature seller interviews and she posted several great ones today.
Have you ever wondered why I live in Amish country? Or what my most important piece of advice for crafters may be? Do you lay awake at night asking yourself - "What percentage of Stephanie's business comes from Etsy?" These answers and MORE can be found here.
And once you have perused my interview, and perhaps a couple of others, check out Kim's Etsy shop full of soft scuptural goodness and celebrity art brilliance!

Cleaning House

It is that time of year. Time to reassess. Time to clean out the closets. And you know me - I don't mean my REAL closets!

Between now and February 1, I am cleaning out the last pages of my shop. I want to get rid of all the things I am reluctant to renew. The stuff that's been there awhile. The stuff that does not quite fit the "look" of my shop.

Everything marked (HC) in the title is discounted 40%. Write "House Cleaning" in the notes to seller, and wait for a revised invoice. I will be adding new items to this list every day between now and January 30.

And a special offer for my blog readers: Buy any three House Cleaning items and get a fourth one free.

There are some terrific bargains to be had! Have fun shopping!

The Mini-Blog is Up and Running!

Etsy sellers - go add your mini's now!


Following is the press release from The Mini Blog:

"All things handmade.
It's a simple concept, a beautiful one too. Take the world of arts, crafts and handiwork and put it all in one place for shoppers to see.

Etsy.com (the place to buy and sell all things handmade) has done that by building a website where an artisan creates an online store to reach buyers and sell their work.

Those of us who use and love Etsy have taken the idea further by building a showcase where many shops within a category can be viewed simultaneously.

These unique galleries of handiwork are not only stunning and easy to navigate, they are also live and constantly changing.

The MiniBlog organizes and compiles thousands of items currently offered for sale from the hundreds of shops on Etsy---each run by the artisans themselves.

A “mini” is a comprised of 4 photographs the artisan has chosen to represent their work.
A mini allows a shop to offer a glimpse of their wares, enticing shoppers to step into their virtual stores to see more.
The minis change with the shops' inventory, making this catalogue a real time shopping experience that constantly presents new and fresh items for sale.

In addition to being an exciting way to shop, the MiniBlog also allows the viewer to explore trends in the art world. This project is something that has never been done before: it is live, ever changing, worldwide and open for free to every handmade artisan on Etsy.com.

Please use the MiniBlog to find new artists to buy from, write about, admire and be inspired by.

For those of you in the strong world of blogging and Internet, please link us and spread the word. The MiniBlog is 100% handmade and should be revered for its innovation, beauty and uniqueness. There is nothing else like it."

I am so excited to be a part of this project!

As If I Am Not Busy Enough

In August I volunteered to help Ryan (she's a girl!) of LittlePutBooks with The Mini Blog, a new Etsy related blog that showcases Etsy sellers' minis by category. Listing on this blog is free for sellers. Buyers can click on any category and see an array of minis showcasing sellers whose work fits into the category.

There are a slew of volunteers helping Ryan upload the minis for each category, but as you can imagine, this is a huge job and we still need more helpers. Ryan has set up spots in the blog where the volunteers' minis are highlighted and she will be featuring a different set of volunteers on the front page of the blog each day.

Check out The Mini Blog for more information about how you can help.

Staying Out of the Etsy Forums: A Pledge

I hesitate to label this One Small Change - I have not done any small changes in more than a month and of the ones I set this summer, I have not kept up half of them. Hello, Coca Cola, welcome back.

Anyway, two things happened at once.
1. My dear friend Denys had to google me and post a comment on my blog in order to get me to return her phone calls. Denys and I have been friends since the dark days when Thing One was the only Thing, and she was not yet a talking Thing. We attended Gymboree classes once a week so that I could pretend to interact with adults. We wandered the empty halls of the mall on a Wednesday morning, just because we had to get out of the house. Then Denys appeared. Lo, a mom who could make me laugh. A mom who enjoyed talking about more than babies (though there was plenty of that talk too.) A mom who shared my political beliefs. Whoot! Feeling low at 4PM because you know it will be at least another 2 hours before Geoff gets home - call Denys and talk while making dinner! The weather is beautiful and you know a good mother would take her child to the park, but you cannot stand the thought of standing there mindlessly pushing the swing for an hour - call Denys - she'll meet you there and you will have FUN! Yep, my friendship with Denys saved me from some serious depression. Then you know the story - I moved, she started a business, I started a business....But my point is - this is a friend whose calls should be returned in a timely fashion.

2. Over a couple days, earlier this week I spent a sum total of at least four hours trying to unravel an Etsy forum mystery - who were the banned members? Why were they banned? Was it warranted? I read pages of forum posts, articles and comments on the UEN (Unofficial Etsy News) and various Etsy sellers' blogs. By the time I was done, I was exhausted by the drama, the narcissism and the negativity. I am too tired, (and smart) to share all my thoughts on this matter, and really, it has nothing to do with me, so who cares?

Since I am unable to read forum posts without getting sucked into the drama, I am done reading the forums.

Surely this will free up some time to make new jewelry, list new jewelry, catch up with blog reading, and actually have coffee with a (gasp!) real, live friend.

Buttons and Magnets and Rings! Oh my!

Regular readers will remember my excitement when Liz of Hobbledehoy loaned me her 1 inch tecre machine. Here is a peek at some of the fruits of my labors.
I made rings with chiyogami paper, magnet sets with all sorts of recycled papers, pin back buttons with dried flowers, recycled magazines and more chiyogami paper, and subtle promo magnets featuring the same paper I use in my packaging. Very, very fun! Geoff used recycled magazines and the tecre to make funny celebrity magnets for his brother. Thing One had fun collecting flowers for pressing.
Last week I mailed the machine back to Liz so she can get started on promos for the holidays. It was so great to give the machine a test run. I am still on the fence about whether I want one of my own - when my current stock of promos gets low, I will have to make a decision, but in the meantime, thanks to Liz, I am stocked through Christmas.

In the spirit of sharing, I would like to send a little package of goodies - at least one ring, magnet set and pin back button - to the first five readers who comment here. Thanks again Liz!

Photo Help

Ahhhhh! I cannot decide.
The brown background/the white background?
The white is a pain in the (beep) to adjust, but might get me into more treasuries. But no matter what I do, I cannot get it white-white anyway. Does the brown make my work stand out? Or is it too dark?
Please share your thoughts, and if you have time and are so inclined, please share YOUR photo set-up details - lightbox? natural light? camera?
I hate my photos!

Summer Finally Caught Up With Me

Over the last two weeks, I have not read very many blogs and I have hardly commented on the ones I have read. I have only listed one new item on Etsy. I have not e-mailed people. I have only posted about things I felt I had an obligation to write.

So where have I been? What have I been doing?

overdue summer playdates with the kids friends
a trip to the northern woods of Pennsylvania
celebrating Thing Two's birthday
playing at the pool
planning and teaching jewelry making workshops at a day camp
reading Harry Potter
selling at Eastern Market
just to name a few of the activities that have been keeping me away from the computer.

What do you do with so many blog-worthy events, but no time to write about them? And I know I am missing great posts from you that I am never going to catch up with - it is strange to feel so disconnected.

And the next two weeks look just as crazy!

But I will be back in a couple weeks. I am looking forward to catching up with all of you.

Oh, and before I go, I have to thank Tamara of BlockPartyPress for so kindly including a feature about me on her blog. She has been doing a a terrific series of posts about inspiration and its sources. She was one of my first Etsy favorites and a source of great support in Jewelstreet's Creative Challenges. Thanks Tamara!

Happiness Swap

I just received these fantastic goodies from Liz Elayne as part of Karen Beth's Happiness Swap.
A wonderful tote from Liz's Maude series, filled with sweet, happy, little goodies: an idea journal, a pencil, lip gloss, gum, a beautiful handkerchief, a lemon scrub bar, and a collection of vintage buttons.
In addition to sweet bags, Liz is also the maker of wonderful flag sets inspired by Tibetan prayer flags.

Thanks Liz! I am so glad Karen Beth encouraged us to get to know one another - I love your blog and your Etsy shop.

hobbledehoy!! or The Kindness of Strangers

I do not know Liz, the seller behind the etsy shop, hobbledehoy, from Adam, but when she read my forum post asking where I should buy a Tecre Button Machine, she offered to LOAN ME HERS.

For those unfamiliar, a Tecre is the pinback button making machine recommended by all Etsy sellers who use button machines. And they cost $250!

I have been wanting one for the longest time, because I think it would be so fun to send out little stephaniegibson pins and magnets (the machine makes those too) as promos to my customers. I could also use the machine to make rings that I think would sell like crazy at Eastern Market. I have saved up all my sales money for the last three months to justify buying one, but I was still thinking maybe this was an impulse buy that was never going to pay for itself. Now, thanks to the generosity of Liz, I can try one out and see whether it is really something I need to invest in, or whether it is just another craft gadget for the closet where all non-jewelry-related craft gadgets go to live sad, lonely lives, unable to entertain even one another, because, of course, they are all still sealed in their original packaging.

So, help me celebrate by checking out Liz's shop. Not just as a favor to me, but because she is selling fiber batts called Riot in the Batcave!

The Adventures of Ducky and Bunny

Ducky and Bunny (so named by Things One and Two in a temporary lapse of creativity) traveled to us all the way from Germany and the gentle, talented hands of Eva. They arrived in pretty paper wrapping, sewn closed with thread and identified with beautiful hand stamped tags. The design and workmanship of their embroidery is breathtaking.

Ducky was created just for Thing One. Thing One is a little too imaginative for her own good and often thinks up some scary things to torment her in the night. Her sweet, brave Ducky has the word "Courage" embroidered on the back, just to help her out a little when the dark is too frightening.

Bunny was created for a little cousin who has not joined us yet, but when Thing Two saw him, his eyes lit up. "Is that MY Bunny?" he asked with hopeful excitement. Well, how do you say no?

The two of them ran off with Ducky and Bunny and immediately began telling stories with them. Ducky's and Bunny's lives have been filled with peril and miraculous rescues since they arrived in our home. But I am sure they do not mind, because they end each day snuggled in the arms of children who loved them from the moment they saw them.

Thank you Eva. You are generous and thoughtful. The beauty of your spirit shines through in your lovely handiwork.