February Goals

 

Now that my Etsy store is up and running I can shift my focus.  No longer is it all about getting the site up, now there is maintenance, networking and marketing.  I need to work on a business plan and make sure I’m utilizing Etsy to its fullest.  I also need to collect my receipts to see how far in the hole I am!  The good news is that I’ve made a few sales already!  It is encouraging to know that others like what I’m creating.  I feel very satisfied with what I’ve done so far and look forward to seeing where it will all lead. I hope that one day this blog may be of help to others looking to start their own Etsy shop or craft business.

Gift Wrap

Gift Wrap Example

 

If you’d like to order a gift from my Etsy Store, and want it gift wrapped, I can do that!  Just message me before making your purchase to let me know.  Be sure to include a short note for the gift card.  Your jewelry will be placed in a Kraft box, wrapped in white tissue, and tied with raffia.  The gift card will be attached as shown.  If you want the gift mailed to the recipient, make sure you give me the address. 

Valentine’s Day is coming up….hint, hint!  ;-)

Facebook Fan Page

My Facebook Fan Page

To help support and promote my new Etsy store I have created a Facebook fan page for my jewelry designs.  Following me is a great way to stay up to date on what I’m creating and selling, as well as special discounts for my subscribers.  When you go to the page you can click “like” or “subscribe” to follow my work.

Here is a link to the page:

https://www.facebook.com/PamelaHeydaJewelry

Etsy Banner

Etsy Banner

Creating a banner for the front of my Etsy store was a must.  Luckily I was able to use the banner I made years ago for my art website, www.pamelaheyda.com, with a little tweaking.  I’ve used it for eight years and still like it.  It contains my name and tree symbol.  I’ve been drawing that tree for more than 20 years, so it was a natural choice for an icon.  It symbolizes my potential and energy, love of trees, and passion for nature.  The store should be open in about two weeks.  Stay tuned!

Processing

Choosing photos from iPhoto

I thought I’d go into a little detail about the process of putting photos of my jewelry on the web for those of you considering creating an Etsy store of your own.  It is a longer process than you might think, and requires a substantial time commitment. 

1. I went through all 833 of my jewelry photos in iPhoto, picking out 5-7 for each piece.  A variety of views are ideal, so the shopper has a strong idea of what they are buying.
2. I listed the file names in a notebook.
3. Each file was opened in Photoshop and saved with a descriptive file name.
4. The photos were then organized into files: The Collection Name > Type (Ring, Necklace, etc) > Name of Design > Individual Photos

Recording file names to keep track

The next step is to go into each photo using Photoshop to crop and clean up the image. 

If I don’t post much about my progress, know that I am working on this.  It is hard for my back and neck to sit at the computer for hours on end, so I’ll be doing a little at a time, taking lots of breaks along the way.  Once I have my store up and running, this will be easier.  I’ll just post a few new pieces at a time.

Organizing photos into computer files

Holiday Crazies

I’ve been away from the blog for a couple weeks and don’t have a good excuse.  I could say I got caught up in the holiday crazies (shopping, decorating, partying, baking), but that just isn’t true.  I did partake in a few of those things, but not to the degree I suspect most people imbibe.  I can only blame procrastination.  I wanted to blog about how I was making progress towards my December goals, when in fact I was making no progress.  I had nothing to write about. 

The good news is that is changing.  For the past several days I’ve gotten myself back on track.  I have about 200 photos to process for my upcoming Etsy store.  Each picture needs to be handpicked out of hundreds, titled, filed, cropped, spot corrected, and adjusted.  I’m on my way.  This is the drudgery of opening an online store.  Five photos for each item, and I have about 30 pieces.  You do the math.  I’ll need to retake a few along the way, but it is all progress.  I was gifted with the perfectionist gene, so what you see is my absolute best. 

Resources

"Donated" necklace, store purchased seed beads and shell pendant, tree pendant made from silver clay, beach pebble pendant, and acorn pendant made from a shell and wild cucumber seed.

After looking at the picture in my last blog entry, you might be wondering how I came to possess so many beads.  Well, I’ll tell you!  They came from all over:

*The bead store!

*Bead catalogs and the Internet

*Leather, Native American, craft, Tibet, and second-hand stores

*Gem and bead shows

*Old broken necklaces

*Donations from friends who are cleaning out their jewelry boxes

*Garage sales

*Sidewalk finds

*The beach and woods (shells, rocks, seeds and sticks can be drilled to make beads)

*My own making (from clay, plastic scraps, etc)

I’ve been collecting for a long time, over 15 years.  Collecting beads feels somewhat addictive to me.  I’m a sucker for little, tiny, beautiful, and precious things (like sea glass).  String those treasures together, and you have a work of art!