I (heart) Etsy

So, I am a huge fan of the site Etsy.com.  If you don’t know what Etsy is, it’s an amazing site where people can sell their homemade goods, supplies for crafts or vintage items.  I highly recommend checking it out.

I purchase a lot of supplies for my jewelry from Etsy, but I have always been a little intimidated by the idea of selling on the site.  Years ago, when I began selling my jewelry over the internet, I gave Etsy a try.  I didn’t have any strategies for marketing my shop, I didn’t have any cool graphics and I had horrible, fuzzy photos that I used to display my work.  Needless to say, my store was not much of a success.  But not anymore….

I am setting a goal to get my Etsy shop up and running by the end of February.  It will be mostly jewelry, but I will also have other crafts available for sale.  I have my strategy all planned out, which includes blogging here, setting up a facebook site with link, and setting up some pictures on flickr.  I will have a colorful, catchy banner.  I will have clear and professional looking photos of my work.  And, most importantly, I will market my site to the best of my ability.  I’m really excited to take on this new adventure!

Look for my work soon at creativityismess.etsy.com!

The Craft Table and My “Trip” Down the Stairs

I’m sore.  Also tired… somewhat hungry… a little grumpy… but mostly sore. 

I planned on writing in my blog today about the amazing craft table that I finished this weekend.  I was inspired by an old window that my husband wanted to get rid of, but I insisted we keep because I knew I could find a purpose for it.  I came up with an idea to upcycle the window into a table top for a tall craft table to use in my new craft room.  I went to Lowes, got all the necessary materials and a little advice to begin my project.  I set up my garage (equiped with a heater) as my workspace for my table-building expedition.  I took pictures as I progressed in my first attempt at making any-sort of furniture.  I was so truly proud! 

Anyway, I had just gotten the table legs attached to the plywood frame when I had to go inside to grab some more tools.  As I went back out to the garage with my hands full of tools and such, I stepped down on to one of the icy concrete steps leading to our back patio, when suddenly…. Slip, SMACK, BOOM, BAM!!!  My legs slipped out from under me and I fell down the stairs.  There I am… laying on the cold concrete ground, looking like a toolbox exploded all over me, making sure I wasn’t impaled by a screwdriver or shot by the staple gun and trying to hold back the tears…  Thank God my cell phone was in my pocket and I was able to call my husband (who was inside the house) to come and help me.

I did manage to get a few more things done before my body completely stiffed up and was unable to move most of Sunday.  I don’t think I did any major damage.  No bones broken, no twisted ankles, injured wrists or torn knee tendons.  I think my tailbone took the brunt of the fall and it seems to be in one piece.  I do have a nice couple of bruises to show off however (don’t worry – I didn’t take any pictures of those).

I am feeling a little better today, but I may just wait until I have my full range of motion back before I go finishing the table.  Or at least wait until we invest in some ice-melt…  Ouchie….

Scrapbooking without the scrapbook

So, I am not a big “Scrapbooker”.  I don’t know why, but every time I sit down to put together a scrapbook, I get bored and leave it unfinished.  So I have found that if I use Scrapbook paper and embellishments in other forms of art, I don’t get tired of them as easily and enjoy doing it.  Maybe I have a short attention span… Or maybe I just don’t like the idea of keeping my work in a “book” – I would rather have it out in the open, displayed for everyone to see.

So anyway, I made this paper sign for my niece who has a jungle themed room.  I love the way it turned out and it was super easy to do.

Wall / Door Sign

I cut small squares of cute jungle-themed paper and then glued them on to a large pink square.  Then I glued that on to a slightly larger green square to add a little more “stiffness”.  I adhered some cute chipboard letters spelling out her name and added some monkeys.  Then I simply hole punched a couple of holes and ran a ribbon through to hang the sign. 

a closer look...

Very simple, very quick and I think it turned out pretty cute!  I hope she likes it (she’s 6 weeks old – how picky could she be?).