Front page!

I am so excited! My mini pumpkins were in a treasury that made the front page yesterday! I haven't really been promoting or finishing anything for new listings lately so no sales, but being on the front page was just as exciting as a sale! Ok....enough with the exclamation points.

I've heard so much about not putting all your eggs in one basket, but mine all there there in the Etsy basket. I would love to churn out some items, and list in other venues/craft fairs, but the things I am working on right now are taking some time. I am working on some felted bags, but the knitting portion takes me so much longer than it takes to make a needle felted piece. Plus I plan on lining them, and have no sewing machine so all that hand sewing will be quite laborious. Luckily I am pretty adept at handsewing. The holidays are coming and I'm trying to create some gift items/holiday themed items. Now if I can just stop spinning long enough to work on other things, or spin enough to make something from the yarn I've spun.

Long term thinking is what is needed now. It is too late for me to get into any craft fairs this fall. I've been thinking short term and just trying to do enough to stock my shop on etsy. What I need to do it really push and get out as much as a can, so when craft fairs come up next year I will be ready with stock.

My first ACEO

After finishing all the work I could do on my photo box last night, I finished up my first ACEO. It is wool felted and I call it Fall Sunset . I posted it to Etsy right away. It has gotten a few hits and one heart without much promotion.

I really enjoyed working on it...I think I may do another one. Things seem to go in cycles with me. I create something new to me, and then do more of the same type of item. Then I move on to something else...and make a few of that type. I'll take that as a positive thing. It means I have a good selection of items, as opposed to meaning I have project ADD!

Something different

Nothing new to list on Etsy today. I want to start on some needle felted tapestries. Since I haven't "painted" with wool before I decided to start small to see what I could do, and I started a wool felted ACEO. It's not so bad, just a bit of a learning curve, and perhaps smaller is not less intimidating than a large piece. It may be moreso. Of course I am a perfectionist so I keep working with it ad-nauseum to get it just right. Though, what artist doesn't pour everything they have into a piece? I got to a point last night where I was almost done with it, but I had to put it down and clear my head. I should finish it tonight.

Funny....when I joined Etsy, I did it to (hopefully), make some extra money by churning out things I thought people would want to buy. It has turned in to much more than that now. Yes I create things to list them and hopefully sell, but it has become much more than that. This has become my creative outlet. Whereas, initially I considered myself a seller, I am now starting to look at myself as an artist. I'm still not entirely comfortable with that description, but I'm getting there.

In looking at all the amazing listings on Etsy, I've come to realize my pictures need a lot of work. The photos many people have are just stunning, and really showcase their work wonderfully. I found this great DIY photo box project, and I'm planning on working on it tonight and re-doing my photos. Here is a link to the instructions for making your own photobox:

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/07/how-to-diy-10-macro-photo-studio.html