Let me Do the photo for your charm.

Photo by Ildiko Gagyor Photography 

You're just about to order one of my wedding bouquet charms and are thinking to let me do the photo for you, but it costs $5 more.
Here's what my customers say.

 I increased the price of my add-on "Photo service"-  from $3 to $5.
Yes that's a big increase and here's why:
   It's really EASY to do the photos yourself... (IF you have access to a printer, can resize a photo and have a little patience... ) or you may know someone that could easily do it for you.
My customers agree that it's rewarding and intimate to add your own photo to one of my charms, that's why they are offered as a DIY (do it yourself) ....  but the reality is, not everyone can or wants to do it.  So I started offering to do the photos (a couple of years ago) on my Etsy shop. It was so seldom requested and I enjoyed making them, so $3 was a good price.

It's not hard to add your own photo

   I enjoy making them, although I often get teary or sad knowing that this person's image I am editing, is no longer with their loved ones and sometimes this is the only picture they have. So I do my best to fix what I can.
I rarely know anything about these fine folks, but just looking at their faces & what they are doing gives me a tiny connection as to who they were, and I want this photo & charm to be perfect to honour their memory for years to come!

It often takes a lot of my time to edit photos. The best ones have been scanned, but some  are thumbnails or smartphone photos of photos... (sometimes the original pictures are so old they are yellowed, cracked,  orfuzzy to begin with. )

Not all shoppers are techies, so I try to be as helpful as I can. One lovely mom actually mailed her only treasured pictures to me, so I could scan them, make the charms with the photos, and send her pictures back- with the charms :)  Luckily we had lots of time to do it that way.

I use a clear plastic dome "sticker" to enhance and protect each photo then cut each one to fit snuggly into it's frame.
Anyhow if I want to keep offering the service I should pay myself a bit for doing so.
I think you'll find that for $5 it's still a great deal!

I'd love to add the photo for you.

Flowers, earrings and things are popping up.

Things are popping up all over... 

Primroses in my front garden.  (ignore the weeds please).

Finally warm enough for the robins to take a bath.

Primroses come in so many colours :)

More primroses, with a single grape hyacinth.

 Our magnolia's starting to bloom.

 

Morel mushrooms.

Spike... he didn't actually pop up.

Some earrings I've just made

You can get them in my Etsy shop soon.

 These pieces have been fired once, and I'm glazing them 

 to be fired soon.

Simply charming...

The short version: I bought some charms and made simple, earrings with them.

The long version:

  I enjoy shopping for unique pieces to use in my jewelry.

Combining pretty charms, colourful glass, or precious stones, into a pair of earrings, is almost instant gratification.

 The other day, I received a new order of charms, and was anxious to go to my studio and make some new earrings. However, my son was on Skype, and we were having such a good visit, so I opened the packages, and we just kept talking.

    I have a couple of tools in my desk, so I made several pairs of earrings while we visited. 

They're simple, lovely, and Inexpensive.

Clay pieces often take weeks from start to finish. 

Paintings also take many hours to be completed.

Earrings are one of the few things I can make from beginning

to end, in one sitting AND they are easy to ship.

But, just adding a charm to an ear wire? Anyone can do that… if they want to.

Makes me reluctant to call them "handmade", however, not everyone is willing or has the patience,
to fiddle with tiny things. 

 So... 

A simple charm hanging from a hook.

Easy to make, and yet so pretty to wear.

It'll take time for me to get them all listed in my Etsy Shop, but I did 

add the butterfly earrings.

September... already?

Digital greeting card created with Smilebox

Another awesome Etsy buy

My "hippy fish" tote bag has arrived! I'm thrilled and it looks even better in person :)

Shopping- for a new purse.

Long story - shortened…

I splurged and bought a new, unique, handmade purse from GreenBeezArt on Etsy -for less than $40.00, because the handle broke on my 6 month old,

cheap purse. ------>

Here's a Treasury of some awesome purses I found on Etsy.

NOTE: (I'll add a photo of my new purse when it arrives.)

*****************************

The "I have a bit of time to read" version:

Don't you just love a good deal? I've found many at garage/yard sales, 2nd hand stores, bargain shops, or the sales section of any given store and even the occasional auction.

It's not often that I buy myself new things, or pay full price. I guess I'm just cheap… or financially challenged, or the to use the popular word "frugal". Whatever you call it, it's a way of life for me. "Re-use, re-cycle, re-pair" is my mantra.

I don't follow trends, I do my own thing and sometimes it becomes popular (trendy), of course by that time I've often moved on and am doing something else. Not sure if I'm ahead or behind, the times, and don't really care which.

Purses are on my mind theses days.

In the past 10 years I've had 5 purses: 3 black, 1 brown (tapestry) & a white one that I did some beading and embellishing on.

I know most girls like to have several purses for different occasions, or to go with different outfits. Not me. I have one purse and it is used mercilessly until it's so worn looking or starting to fall apart, that it's almost embarrassing. Then I usually spend days shopping for the perfect one- that looks new, at a thrift store, or like the last 2 … on sale at Walmart. I don't think I've ever paid more than $20.00 for a purse AND they usually last a year, two or sometimes more.

About 6 months ago, I bought a new purse (a black one with lots of sections) on sale for $10- at Walmart, and last week the handle broke. Luckily I was able to put it back together with a safety pin, but that's not going to last long, so I've been on the hunt for a new one.

Maybe it's the crappy weather, or the fact that I've got a bit of $ in my Paypal account (from some recent sales in my Etsy shop), anyhow I decided to buy one on-line… brand new & less generic than plain black or brown. It needs to be big enough to hold my wallet, camera, books, ladies stuff and the kitchen sink, should I need it.

I googled "Purses"… endlessly looking at photos and decided I should narrow down my search. Since I adore Laurel Burch designs, I was on a mission- searching on E-bay, Zibbet, and Etsy and so many sites that use her designer fabrics. I couldn't decide what I liked best… the Mythical horses, adorable cats, dogs, birds. OMG! Too many choices, it was overwhelming.

Well, I drove my husband crazy, becoming yet another plug-in to my computer. I got vertigo from endless scrolling up and down, looking at so many photos, styles, colours, designs, PRICES. I was getting downright obsessed, and with such an amazing array of purses at my fingertips I realized I could be shopping forever, and my safety pin wasn't going to last that long.

So, I narrowed it down some more: under $40.00, handmade, unique… and it's gotta be from another Etsy shop. Oh let's not forget it's gotta be already made, so I don't have to wait too long…there's that safety pin to think about, and shipping time to consider too.

Finally, on Saturday night I found a purse that I adored. Not wanting to make a rash decision, I got ready for bed & was gonna sleep on it.

Laying in bed, it occurred to me, that it was the only purse like it. I wouldn't be able to find one similar- anywhere! and if someone else bought it during the night, I'd be back to where I started! So I snuck out of bed (without waking Dave), and bought it.

Dave doesn't understand WHY I would take the time to write a blog about a purse, let alone shopping for one, but he's a man and has a different way of seeing things I guess. BUT he has a great way of calculating things…

so, at $36.00 (including shipping), if it lasts just a year, it only cost me 10 cents/day! For a purse I'll use everyday, all day, to work, to play. What a bargain! Besides, I think I'm worth it ; )

Now…. waiting & wondering if my safety pin can hold on for a few more days…

A rainy day in my studio

Today was a particularly stormy day. Lots of thunder & lightening, and finally some rain.

This kind of weather makes it easy to spend the day in my studio.

Recently I bought a small block of self-hardening clay, that doesn't need to be fired in a kiln.

I used the whole block to make a whole bunch of little skulls and one big one.

Now that they've dried for a few days, today was a perfect day to paint them all, so that's what I did. I think they look great all together.

The big skull I made into a wall hanging, complete with glow in the dark beads. Each small skull has a hole in it, so they can be used as beads, or pendants.

I took numerous photos of them, and will add some to my etsy store. I'm just not sure if it would be better to sell them individually, in groups, make them into necklaces or sell them as a supply for someone else to use... in their creations.

I ended up liking some of the photos so much, that I made a few really cool gift cards with them.

A long time ago, I had joined and set up a shop on Zazzle- but hadn't really added anything to it, so I uploaded a couple of skull photos (and grandpuppy photos) and designed some cool buttons, key-chains, mugs, a neckTie, and even shoes!!

Decisions, decisions...

*********************

Updated Oct 29/10

It's almost Halloween, and I've finally added some of the skulls in my Etsy shop.

(I've added links to the photos, and to the highlighted texts.)

Thinking of selling your crafts on-line? Try Zibbet 1st...

Are you wondering about selling your handmade items,

vintage or craft supplies, on-line...

but don't know where to begin?

That's where I was at in the summer of 2008.

(Note: I still consider myself a beginner,

but I'm a lot more knowledgeable than I was then.)

The reason I'm suggesting Zibbet 1st, is mainly because it's free!

You can learn as you go, start right away, and partly so I can get a referral.

(You can always upgrade later, if you like it of course.)

I know there's many other venues out there, that I have yet to try.

My main venue is Etsy, (Love it!), however it's not free.

Hopefully, you already have:

- a Paypal account, (or some reliable way to send & receive payments.)

If not...you may want to do it first, because it takes time

to get confirmed through your bank account.

Paypal has reasonable fees, and is the preferred method

of payment at many sites, Etsy, Zibbet, eBay and others.

- an e-mail that you will check AT LEAST ONCE A DAY.

- a digital camera, (or access to one) having decent photos of

your items are crucial, so is uploading the photos to your shop.

- a computer, with reliable internet connection... and know how to

use it.

- well made handmade items, craft supplies, or real vintage pieces.

- patience/willingness to learn. (This is on-going...re: shipping, marketing, etc.)

It's really not a big list at all.

I shopped around a bit and looked at a few seller venues.

There's many out there, and it's a good idea to do a little research,

what works for me may or may not work well for you.

The ones I've tried (so far), are:

eBay- I'd bought through eBay, so I knew how to to that. So I tried selling

there first. Ends up I found myself buying stuff rather than selling there.

I think it was all the little fees for extras, that added up, and made it seem

rather expensive just to list an item, but I'm going to try it again, since I haven't

tried to sell anything there for a long time.

Etsy-It's only .20 to list an item and a small 3.5 % is charged for each sale.

I've had my Etsy shop since Nov/08 and really like the site and am having

my 1st spring SALE. My monthly fees vary substantially month by month.

I like the fact that I can renew items (for .20 each), and it helps me to keep visible amongst this rainbow of talented artists, however, those little fees add up by the end of the month.

Zibbet, This is a great place to start ... Zibbet (Yes, this is my referral link,

if you decide to set up a Zibbet shop, please help me out, by using this link

to do so.)

It's very easy to set up, and a Basic account is completely FREE!

You can list up to 25 items and there's no fees...even when you sell an item!

I've had my Basic account for a couple of months now, and I like the easy set-up and listing

of items. I'm still in the early stages of my shop, but I'm already considering getting a

Premium account. For only $8.00 a month (right now), I can list an unlimited number of items, and there are no other charges- even when an item sells!

( I average more than that in monthly fees, on Etsy).

I'm very happy with Etsy, and Zibbet is another outlet, and a very reasonable one at that.

It's still quite new, and growing steadily.

Disclaimer: I'm not a pro, and don't claim to be.

This is just my experience and I hope

there's something here that will help you,

if you decide to sell on-line.

I'm always happy to get e-mail, so if you have any questions,

feel free to contact me: smilingbluedog@yahoo.ca