Sunday, November 23, 2014

the revamping of my Etsy shop

As I have slowly worked through plans for what remains of the year and goals for the new year coming,  I have found myself coming back frequently to the question of what I want to do with my Etsy Shop. 

While I had been getting a fair number of views and favorites from those that follow me, I haven't had a sale in some time. Which, led me to thinking that the shop has become stale.

With all the designing I have been doing, there just isn't enough time to create new embroidered pieces for the shop. And so, I took a look at what I have done in the past with my shop-- what was successful, what was not. I thought about the time spent to make items, and how I felt about making things, and what I find myself drawn to now.  

Earlier this month I made the decision to pull back a bit on the "Tidbits", my crocheted flowers that I have been offering on my website.  While most will be going into hibernation, I think I will still put something together each month and add it to the monthly specials. Other than that, I need to free up the time for designing and stitching and figuring out new techniques and surprises for those who are working my designs.


What I have found, however, is that I still really, really, *want* to crochet and create embellishments. It is  love that runs a very close second to my designing. So, what do I do? 


 I always have scraps-- orts. Those bits and lengths of thread and floss that have been tossed into plastic bags. Lengths of fiber that I have rescued from abandoned needlework kits at this thrift store or that. I won't even comment on the stacks of fabric and pre-cut quilt blocks and jars of beads from deconstructed jewelry.

And so I have mulled. How can I pull all of this together? How do I create fresh, fun, and beautiful things  in my needlework designing and still find a way to satisfy my want to explore other fiber and sewing ventures?

Think, think. Think, think.


It was a light bulb moment. Not anything with a huge wattage. More like a table lamp light bulb moment because I still need to sort some of it out-- okay, *a lot* of it still needs to be sorted.

I am working on a lot of embellished designs that include flowers and beads and buttons, and I am always trying to find new things to work into my designing, more now than I ever have. 

Came to a conclusion, albeit a fuzzy one. 

There *is* a place for my crochet embellishments, my trims and my sewn flowers and all those other things I experiment with. I need to approach it from a 'one of a kind' way of thinking. I think part of what had me feeling boxed in and a bit stymied was that the flowers had started to take on this mass-produced feel. I loved making them, but it was starting to feel a bit monotonous. No surprises. That's one of the reasons why I love special orders.  It breaks things up a bit. 

Clear as mud, yeah?


So I have given my shop a face lift. It will now showcase one of a kind fiber goodies, be it crocheted art yarn, trims, sewn flowers, crocheted flowers. I am going to give myself one day a week to just flat out play and create and explore. Denying myself that opportunity really only stifles my other creative projects. I know this from experience.

At the end of the month, the Tidbits (other than the embellishment packs for designs) will be coming down from the website, and my Etsy Shop will be the place to find the new, one of a kind things that have been dancing around in my head. A chance to tap into those things I really want to try and to fashion new fun from those things that others may have left behind.




End of ramble.

Shoo, off with you.

Time to play.

1 comment:

  1. If you've got the "dirt", I've got the "rain". And let the *MUD* PILE-ing begin! :-D

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