Real Simple news!

It's official! and I quote: "the I Spy Bags will be featured in the aug/sept
issue of Real Simple's special family issue."

Holy cow.

I made the front page of Etsy! (I think)

Well, I was chatting about how proud I was of getting 500 hearts in the Etsy forums last night. It was getting late, and I went to bed. I got up this morning and had a ton of sales! I was like "wow, what happened?" I didn't think too much of it - I did, afterall, list a big group of new bags yesterday. Well, I checked on my thread in the forums, and lo and behold, someone said something like "yeah, I hearted you when I saw you on the front page today." I was like, O.M.G. I cannot believe I was on the front page and DIDN'T EVEN KNOW IT! Sheesh. I *think* it was my rocketship bag that was on since it has like 31 individual hearts now or something.

Perhaps I could start a blog that was like an archive of the front page. I would have to publicize it a lot to get others to help me capture screen shots all day (and night). Hmm.... Something to think about. I sure wish there was someplace I could get a shot of *me* on the front page... Anyone?

I think he would be proud...

Today is my brother's birthday. It makes me feel old to think that my little brother would have been 28 today.

When I was fresh out of college, recently transplanted by my husband to a new "big" city, I was desperate to find a job. A degree in graphic design didn't leave me too many options, and I found that the criteria for a "good" job boiled down to 1) paid the bills and 2) I could walk to it. We lived downtown in a cool city loft, and I finally found a job working as a secretary in a law office that specialized in immigration. Within weeks, I moved up the ladder, became a "paralegal" (I use the word loosely since I didn't have any formal training!), and ended up with a swanky corner office on the 33rd floor of the tallest building in town. I remember how proud I was! I brought in some vintage maps to hang on the wall, an oriental rug, and tons of plants. I loved my office. I loved my job (well, it was a love/hate relationship actually)....

My brother came to visit me, and I proudly escorted him all over town. I showed him all the great places to eat, our awesome library that was just blocks from where we lived. I bragged that we were only minutes from the baseball stadium, and finally I took him to my office after hours so he could see what all the fuss was about. He smiled at me. I said "isn't this great?" He said "yeah!" Then as we were walking out, he said "it just isn't what I always thought you would be doing." I asked him what he thought I would be doing, and he said he didn't know. He just didn't think I would be the "corporate" type.

I didn't know it at the time, but he was so right. He was so right.

I think that he would be proud of what I am doing now. It is much more fitting that my office today is a studio filled with fabric, notions, photography equipment, art papers, stacks of books, and my kids running circles around me. Every nook and cranny is filled with interest. All the little bits and pieces of my life smooshed into one little room. I've come a long way.

Even though I can still think fondly of my corner office that I left behind, I know that I'm headed in the right direction now. Thank you, Ross.

449 users call thosegreathousewomen a favorite

This is what it says on Etsy when I click on "who hearts this shop" - wow! I remember a time (not too long ago?) when I was totally obsessed with how many "hearts" I had. When one user marks your shop as a favorite, it gives your shop a heart. I would check the count every day (actually multiple times a day, actually multiple times an hour). Now it seems that it has been like a week or something since I even thought about it. I used to click on every shop that showed interest in my work, scouring their shop to analyze why they "hearted me." Did they want to buy from me? Did they "heart" any specific items? Did they admire my work? Did they want to copy me? I swear it drove me batty. Now I guess you could call me a seasoned professional. Does 5 months on Etsy make me "seasoned" I wonder? Is 449 hearts in 5 months a good total? Do I care?

Now that my mom has a shop, I find that I'm becoming obsessed with how many hearts *she* has. I find it amazing that she has so many (38) in such a short amount of time being open (5 days). There is this really cool program that some Etsy nut created called the Heart-o-tron. It tells you how many hearts you have as a shop, how many hearts each item has, how many hearts you got in the past day, and who those hearts belong to. I guess this speaks to the "heart obsession" in all Etsians...

Have you hearted me lately?

Yeh! Greathouse Hardware has sold 2 items!

Everyone congratulate my momma, who has now sold 2 items in her own shop, after only being active for 4 days! My mom is SO cool. No, really. She is. Maybe a little mad.... *wink*

Right now she is living on a sailboat in Key West researching some more artifacts...

I discovered this evening that she was also featured in a treasury on Etsy. That is a collection of great things that another member put together to showcase. Etsy chooses from the treasury list to pick their front page. This is a pretty treasury, so maybe it'll make the front page!Thank you to SherriTruitt for featuring us! She's got some pretty cool jewelry herself - check out this cool necklace that is a level.

I can do this. I think.

So, I'm not sure I can do this, but I guess I'm gonna try! My hubby accountant is trying to get all the tax info on hiring an employee to help my business grow. I guess tomorrow I'm going to open a business checking account and apply for a line of credit. I had no idea that starting a business (for real, not what I've done on Etsy so far) would be so expensive. I'm freaking out over all the expenses. I know, I shouldn't be... but maybe that would be scary, too, if I was calm about the whole thing.

I got in the Etsy forums, and posted there about my woes/triumphs. Read it if you want. Hopefully a fellow Etsian will help a sister out!

Yikes! This is exciting and scary!

The jury is in...

I heard from Real Simple Magazine today, and (although not guaranteed until print time), my I Spy Bags have been chosen to go in their Gift Guide hitting news stands mid-August! Holy crap, I am excited! It's my big break. I think.

They shoot the photos next month, and I had to fill out a "credits" form giving them all the pertinent information. I seriously can't believe this!!!!!! I don't know which they will choose at this point, but I sent them these to choose from:

I've been quite absent, I know!

I swear I have a good excuse! I have been in "the zone" designing new products. My poor little Etsy shop has been totally ignored for the past few weeks, and I've been buried in bits of fleece and poly-pellets for days! Thanks for my wonderful husband, who kept the kids out of my hair long enough to develop some WONDERFUL new designs!

I began by thinking of different groups that I would like to see developed. Some ideas I had were sea-life, space, farm animals, wild animals, aviary, and insects. I started in aviary, and thought about how I could further develop my chick and to come up with some other birds. My mom found me some perfect yellow fleece to create a duck, and I thought I could simply make my chick in red with a black beak and call it a cardinal. Of course, I've already made it in blue, but I (duh) never thought to call it a bluebird! It didn't hit me until a customer requested a bluebird - then I was like... hmmm... I could have a whole line of birds!

Then like magic, I went to my mom's in Indiana for Easter, and while there I received an email from Real Simple Magazine. It's like they were reading my mind - or at least on the same wavelength! She said she was interested in my chick, and could I send her a sample for their editorial review, where they would consider it for inclusion in their special issue gift guide! I emailed her back and let her know that the chick was part of my aviary series, and I was also working on these other series... She emailed back that they were interested to see what I had in space and sea-life.

So I got to work developing those lines. First, space. I already made a simple spaceship. Mostly, it was born of the love of the space fleece and desire to do something other than the norm with it. Unfortunately, my supply of the space fabric was dwindling, so I needed to think outside the box. I redesigned the ship. Prototype #1 turned out looking like one of those water beetles that I hated seeing in the pool as a kid. Failure. Prototype #2 got stuck in my machine and was ruined as I cut it out. I invested in some stabilizer. My final design was almost perfect, and my good friend and neighbor suggested some flames coming out the back... so here it is:


The wings and the flames are made from felt, and the stripes are embroidered on with my fancy schmancy new sewing machine. I think it turned out quite cute!

I also created a flying saucer. This was a bit more difficult to develop - I had to figure out some kind of legs, and make sure it didn't look too much like a hat. My first prototype, which is now in my sale section on Etsy, looks a bit weird - kind of like some crazy space monster. The legs turned out looking like teeth or something! A few prototypes later, I ended up with this:

I think this one is especially cute! I photographed it on a piece of sky poster board that I found here. It was a lot of fun to make, and I love how the antenna came out crooked.

I also made a round bag with a moon shaped window, which was okay. My mom really liked it, but I don't know. It sold already, though, so I guess it was good enough. I'll make more. Someday! I tried making a shooting star, which was a failed attempt - maybe I can expand on my space collection another time.

Next, I got to work on my sea-life collection. This was a really fun genre! I drew up plans for a jellyfish, seahorse, starfish, shell, shark, whale, and octopus. I really tried to make the jellyfish work, but something just wasn't right. Here are my attempts:

I'll be selling them in my sale section soon!

Oh, baby is crying, so I will post more later!

Three more treasuries have included our works!

I can't help but post when we get featured in a treasury. It is so exciting. What a great feeling that someone chose one of our products to put in a list of only 12 out of the thousands of products on Etsy. Here are our latest inclusions:

Thanks to Crowley Manor for including our insect stickers! And thanks to
The Intuitive Garden for including our fan envelopes. And thanks to PK Fairaday for including a different set of fan envelopes! (I guess the fan envelopes are a success... now if someone would just buy some...).

We got a picture in the Storque!

Etsy announced today that they have accepted a $27 million investment in this article in the Storque. The Storque is kind of like their newspaper. It's a big announcement, and a lot of people are going to be reading the article. Why is this great news for me? Because at the bottom of the article they list 3 items, and mine is one of them! Check it out



Yay for free publicity!!!!!

Good day...

Well, I was getting ready to post about how I haven't had any sales in about a week, and totally start complaining about it, but then...... I checked Etsy and I have sold FOUR (4) I Spy Bags just in the past few hours! The buyers are OUT spending their holiday cash... and I guess getting ready for Valentine's day and what-not.

Here is what I sold today - a heart, TWO fish, and the spaceship (all the more expensive variety):

So, I guess I better get to work and make some more...

Holy Canoli, we made the front page!!!

Yes, we made the front page! It was only for about 15 minutes, but it was there - I took a screen shot to prove it :)

By a stroke of luck, my mom saw it and called me so I would see it before it went away. How very exciting for us.

Unfortunately, no sales yet, but it was exciting none-the-less...

In another treasury! This one is really pretty...

Okay, I just have to say that the treasury is on steroids... I can hardly get through it to even see if I'm in one! I liked it better when there were fewer - when I get to the bottom of the page and it says "the treasury is full right now" I have to laugh every time. Yes, that is an understatement. Is it EVER not full?

I digress - anyway, mom and I are in this really beautiful treasury right now - maybe even front page worthy??? Thanks to yaelfran for including my mom's totally cool My Favorite Sweater Bag.

Here is a quick screenshot ~

Isn't it pretty? I just love the colors :)

And I really love those monster paws by BadCloud. How fun is that?

Holy Smokes - It's 2008!

Wow - we had super Christmas sales! I got so busy that I (obviously) let the blog go for awhile (and I was on hiatus for awhile with a sick baby). Hmm, don't think anyone missed me :)

I was selling those darn I Spy Bags so fast that I couldn't even keep up my supplies. I was running out to Michael's and Jo-Ann's almost daily trying to replenish my stock (and paying a premium for trinkets!). Now I'm all set with wholesale accounts for trinkets and for pellets. Now..... all I need is for new year's sales to pick up!

I'm gearing up for Valentine's Day, which is only about 6 weeks away. I already have a heart-shaped I Spy Bag. Now I'm busy making it in several fabrics and trying to promote it! I relist it every night - hopefully worth the 20 cents - to keep it on the first 10 pages of the children's category. It's CRAZY how many items are listed every day!

Since I last posted, we have been featured on several other treasuries - most recently, my heart shaped I Spy Bag was featured simply because it was plaid! Hey - whatever gets me exposure :)

So, I'm thinking of making some Valentines for sale, but I don't know if I'll get around to it or not. If I've learned anything, it is that I have GRAND ideas, and NO time. I'm so busy with this business and my 3 kids that in my list of new year's resolutions I actually wrote "brush my teeth every day..." Of course I do that already, but sometimes it's after noon! And on good days, I'm dressed by then, too. In my stay-at-home-mom uniform...

Well, that's it for now. I must get back to doing something productive. And to think that my husband was so happy last night because I took the sewing machine off the kitchen table. Yeah, that lasted a long time... ah, the woes of being married to one of those Greathouse women.

Another break!

Well, after yesterday's SUPER sales, I have pondered why it was so..... It could be one of many variables that all came together at the same time. According to the statistics found on http://www.etsytools.com/, Mondays usually have the most sales, and yesterday had ALOT. On the other hand, I purchased my first showcase spot in the Children's category page and it ran yesterday. So, I was thinking last night that it was probably the showcase spot, which I originally didn't think would be THAT helpful. It was just an experiment. Well, the experiment was a success.... so I thought. So, this morning I got up and decided to purchase two more showcases. One will be on December 5th, the other on December 10th. So, I shelled out $14 this morning working off the assumption that it was the showcase that gave me the great sales.

It's likely that I am WRONG! I got an email this morning from a customer who forwarded this newsletter to me:

I was apparently featured in the December 3rd issue based on her suggestion! Thank you SO much Barbra at AllAboutTheButtons!

Here is a screenshot of ME in the newsletter:

Also, Barbra told me that Danielle at Etsy told her they were going to put an I Spy Bag in the Gift Guides. AND THEY DID! It's in the boys (3-7) category. This is the one they picked:

This is all very exciting for me and my mom (probably more for me haha)... I hope it keeps up after the holiday rush.

Tonight I'm working on some more I Spy Bags in shapes. I have some more hearts cut out, and I'm trying some stars. More later!

YIPPEEEE

Today was my best sales day EVER! Okay, so I know it hasn't been THAT long (just wrapping up my first month on Etsy), but today was my best day so far. I've sold so many I Spy Bags that I have almost totally run out of supplies! I have to figure out fast how to get some more so I can keep striking while the holiday iron is hot! Here are some of the things I listed today:

The heart shaped one sold almost right away. I relisted it - I have plenty of fabric, I'll just have to make another if someone orders another right away. I sold 4 today of the large bag made out of pirate fabric. I'm so glad that I bought some more of it. I think I'm going to run out by tomorrow, though!

I have to admit that I am SO happy doing this! I've got my creative outlet allowing me to get away from the kids at least mentally if not always physically. I'm having so much fun, and I'm SUPER busy. I love being busy. It's nice to be busy doing something other than changing diapers, fixing booboos, doing laundry, or cooking. Or, I don't know, sweeping the kitchen floor for the sixteenth time since my two youngest put EVERYTHING into their mouths... Yes, I am happy with the hum of my sewing machine, the fibers flying around and settling in my hair, the repetitive motion of turning the wheel, putting the foot up and down.... the crunch crunch of the scissors gliding along the table as I cut fleece. This is probably my mother's worst fear - I just MIGHT be turning into her. But how cool is that?! My mom is awesome...

Oh, how I wish this could be my full time job! I can just imagine all that I could get done in a day! I would have so many new designs and I would be able to branch out into different areas. Ah well, a girl can dream :) Speaking of dreaming, I gotta go to bed.

Another Treasury!!!!!!

Yippee! We are in another treasury! This time our children's sweater is featured.







Thanks to aktie9 for featuring us!





More great news - I sold my first I Spy Bag yesterday! This one is now gone...

We're in a Treasury!!!!!!!!

Yeh! We've never been in a treasury before. I guess someone out there is finding our stuff! I would put a picture of it here, but I don't know how yet. :)

Thanks to tagyourit for featuring our Christmas tags backed with vintage sheet music.