long time, no blog

Hello, all! It's been too long since I wrote apparently! A week, wow...I set up a small booth at a shop here and so far, only 1 sale. Things are super slow there, and while I didn't really expect to sell out, I was sort of hoping for a few sales at least...Other than that...I can complain about people on Etsy who make 'special requests'...ARGH! I welcome them, I enjoy them...but for the love of all that is holy...why do people request something and then NOT PAY?! I got what I needed (had to go search for it, no less), made them, put them up (earrings) within 24 hours of the request...and I've yet to hear back from the person...Seriously?

Hopefully I'll have some new pics up soon for you to take a look at, in the mean time...I hope all is well in your worlds!

what's new...

Hello my faithful followers lol :) Hope all is well in your worlds as this week draws to a close. This has been a busy few days for me! I was surprised and happy to have 2 totally random earring sales on Etsy this week (yay!!!) and got some great news on Wednesday...A new little shop is opening up in the downtown area of a town about 10 miles from me...we call it TR...anywho, Mac & I stopped in on Weds. and as luck would have it, the owner happened to have space for my soap! So I went up today and set up a small-ish corner shelf with some soap, bath tea, and recycled magazine bowls...they opened about 3 weeks ago but tomorrow is the official 'Grand Opening' of the shop! I am so excited! The booth rent & fees are exceptionally reasonable and I think the store as a whole is going to be really successful...So hopefully I will be able to have a little place for my soap to really reach customers...because Lord knows, it isn't on Etsy :( But this news has really put a spark in my week and I hope that I'll have more good news to report in the days & weeks to come!

Facebook Fanpage

Hey everyone! I made a fan page for my store on Facebook. Please become a fan of mine on FB, and send me a link to your fan pages as well! I'll support yours if you support mine :) Hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend!!!

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Greenville-SC/beadsbuttonsbubbles/98674921681?ref=nf

yay!

WOOHOO! So I woke up this a.m. to a convo on Etsy...turns out one of my little rings has been featured on a blog!!! Yessss! Makes me kick myself for not taking a better picture of it, because man...I'm learning a lot about taking great pics...but I digress. It was my black marbled ring, which I have had now for quite some time on Etsy...frankly, it hasn't garnered a lot of attention, but maybe the exposure on this blog will do it for me :) It's a great fashion/artsy type read, you can check it out (and my ring!) here:

http://theeamerikandream.onsugar.com/

Just scroll down and you'll see the pic!

what's the deal with etsy...

My bestie & myself both have Etsy stores. We promo each others stores on our shop announcement. Often times, we end up making similar earrings because we have such common tastes & ideas...however, it seems that her store sells more, hands down, by random people finding, clicking, and buying, than what I do...why? She and I were discussing this today, and we can't really determine the issue here...I use as many tags as I can, I feel like my prices are competitive with other (similar) items...what gives? It doesn't really make sense to me...we have literally had the same item in both shops and hers will have tons and tons of views while mine...will have 3. It's so strange to me...how does that happen? Perhaps I need to promote more...but I don't know where or how! This is truly bothering me...

what's shakin?

Sooo...being that Michael's & *especially* Hobby Lobby are basically my second home...I tend to uh, buy stuff. A lot. Like hit up the clearance section in every HL store (I have 3 in my area lol) and M's and just stock up on stuff that I don't have a project for at the moment, but just *know* I can "do something" with. So last night I'm watching Colbert in Iraq (unusual for me, not my typical type to watch, but the hubs was interested) and thought...hmmm. I should be making something. So I whip out these super cute paisley chipboards I got at Michael's for a song, and decided they'd make super cute magnets. I just have this thing with magnets. I've made them from buttons before, and I just think it's a really cute thing to have--pretty, fun, fashionable magnets. I mean, why not, right? So I get out my oodles of buttons, and start embellishing with my trusty super glue and voila! Cute magnets! They are not yet listed in my store, but should be in the next day or so :) Just a fun, inexpensive treat for someone or to give to someone else! And speaking of buttons...oh my. I DO LOVE BUTTONS. I have developed a button obsession, you might say. They don't have to be fancy or vintage, just pretty & eyecatching and I'm hooked. Yesterday I was perusing Etsy for buttons when I came across this store...*sigh* If you love buttons, or even if you don't...you MUST check out forsythecompanystore on Etsy! SO much to choose from, and super friendly as well. Needless to say, I made a purchase :) You can visit them here: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5366352

Can a shop survive on earrings alone???

That is the question I am pondering this afternoon. What would happen if my shop consisted of ONLY earrings??? I love earrings. I love them for me, I love them for others, I love making them. That's primarily what is in my shop right now, aside from my soap. So I have to wonder...would the shop thrive on earrings alone? Not that it is booming right now, mind you...but hypothetically...

I have lots of buttons waiting to be made into earrings and/or rings, and I can't wait to see how they turn out...but the more of those I make, the more they overtake my shop...is that bad? I mean, I AM beadsbuttons(AND)bubbles lol...I've just been concentrating on bubbles in the past more so than beads & buttons...and since bubbles aren't paying the ol' Etsy bill, maybe beads & buttons will? We shall see.

I also need a new outlet for finding buttons. I don't usually get into the vintage stuff too much, because I like being able to keep my things affordable and fun; the vintage can get really pricey...but if any of you dear readers know of a nice Etsian or site with reasonable, fun buttons...By all means, let me know :) I'll tell them you sent me, ha!

Craft Fair Wrap-up

So, the craft fair was not a success. I didn't do very well, people were looking but just not buying. I feel like so many people are anti-glycerin soap, but I don't know WHY...It's giving me a complex. I *did* sell 2 pairs of earrings (Nemo & the gold leaves)...the earrings were something people really looked at, and everyone seemed to love the button rings, but none of those sold either. The scrubbies I got from Lanee's Crochet were a hit, I ended up selling some to a lady for her daughters even though she didn't buy soap...but I didn't make any profit from it...I know that the exposure and experience is always good, I know it never hurts to have a dozen new people see your items...but it still costs money to do these things, and I busted my butt for weeks getting lots of fresh, fun new stuff to sell...and I didn't reap the rewards. I am disappointed. This was my...(I'm counting, hold on)...5th craft fair? Yes, fifth...and I've never, ever done well at any of them...what gives?

2 days left...

...until the craft fair :) woo hoo! Or not...lol :) I'm killing myself trying to make sure I have plenty finished in time...One of the things I've been working on are goodie bags to hand out to people...I just haven't decided if it will be to people who make a purchase or what, because I only have about 30...ok ok I digress. My point was that I decided to make some small, sample sized soaps to include in the bags...I love for y'all to comment and let me know what you think :) I only have a picture of one, the other ones are slices of green & white (the shape of an orange slice, for example). Enjoy & comment away!

a few of my favorites...

So when I joined Etsy in March, I had no idea about the chat rooms or forums. I barely knew enough to tag my items and it took a couple weeks to figure out that relisting really helps :) Once I discovered the chat rooms, I was able to branch out, meet a lot of fun people and discover tons of new stuff...shops, people, ideas, art forms, you name it. I wanted to take a moment to highlight some people I have met, and who are great at what they do as well as super nice people.

The first person I 'met' was in the forums, and it didn't take me long to realize why she's made it on Etsy for so long. A super nice chick who always had a kind word and offered me tons of advice, her name is HempLady4u. I can testify to the awesome-ness of her work, as I have a couple pieces myself! You can check out her store here: HempLady4u.etsy.com

I happened to be in an FS chat one night, and ran across a chick I call...Nic :) She makes awesome gift tags, greeting cards, invitations, you name it...It didn't take long for me to enlist her help with some packaging for my soap & scrubs, and through the course of that, we became friends...You can check out Nic's store here: ambientgirldesigns.etsy.com

I was looking for some awesome crocheted items to package with my soap for an upcoming craft fair, and at a super-low price. I received lots of great offers, but just couldn't find anything in my price range. HempLady suggested someone she new, and I quickly accepted an offer from LaneesCrochet. I must tell you, she does awesome, quality work and is a pleasure to work with. You can check out her store here: LaneesCrochet.etsy.com

Once again, this guy is a find...I ran across him in an FS chat, and just fell in love with his store. He has the coolest green crafts, and at super reasonable prices. I have ordered from him, and recently worked with him on a custom order as well...I can tell you, he's hands down one of the nicest people you can meet! The crazy crayons are a personal fave :) You can check out his store here: Ryanplz.etsy.com

This is just a tiny list of several people I've encountered...I'll add more soon...But I really wanted to shine a light on this awesome Etsians...so take a look and shop!!!

update...

I haven't had much time to write in a few days, I have been soooo very busy making yummy new things for the craft fair this week! I can't believe it's less than one week away--it has really crept up on me. You can take a look at my Etsy page to get an idea, there's lots of new earrings, some new soap, and I'll be adding more soap plus some new bath tea as well (softening like before but with dried lavender and chamomile). So here's a couple of pictures of my newest creations, and I'll leave you with that for now :)