Monday, January 31, 2011

NEW Pictures! What I have learned.

I have learned that I actually love taking them.. I had so much fun, putting different arrangements in the vases, until I felt like I got them right.

This is my sweet flowers vase.. I made that little wire flower yesterday morning..and I woke up to find this little guy in a Treasury.

I learned to make sure the vase is facing the right way before I take the picture. See my initials on there? Yup, I should have turned this one around.

And this is Bubbles.. I just like Bubbles so much, and I really like the way the greens look in this one.



And this is the vase I call Citrus, it is in two treasuries posted last night! Here and Here.




A big lesson I have to learn is how to take the proper picture that when I upload it to Etsy, it doesn't cut my picture off in the thumbnail. I think that is a matter of centering that first picture..hmm.. Unfortunately my time is cut short during the week, with all of our running around shenanigans. So, I will have to do another photo shoot at another time, to fix my mistakes. But, I am proud of what I accomplished thus far. Sometimes it is important to give yourself a pat on the back.

Have a great week!

Saturday, January 29, 2011

I get by with a little help from my friends. Please.

I need help, folks, I need help..

So, I reopened my Etsy shop almost 30 days ago. I am having a ton of fun making my vases.. starting to fool around with some other ideas, won't get into that yet.... But, I am trying to put up a new listing everyday, sometimes not possible, because I don't have one finished and ready for its close-up..

Anyway, so my problem is my pictures in my shop, Please click on my shop to the right and have a look-see! They are boring, they are same same. I do like the white background..I changed from a white sheet (complete with wrinkles - I couldn't get them out!) to a white posterboard, and I have found it works fabulous.. But, I was thinking.. should I put some flowers in them? Should I MAKE some kind of fake flowers, like out of found objects? That is more my style.. and maybe if I get good at that - I can offer those in my shop too.. but this is something else that I would have to teach myself, and I don't know where I would find the time.

SO, should I put a prop in there? Should I pick up some sticks and put them in there? fake Flowers? Real flowers (expensive)? Should I scrap the white background and lay them down in the grass...err..it's Texas..everything is dead here..should I lay them in the brown hay grass then?

I just need ideas to make my pictures better.. ideas? eek.. I don't know!

(Below is a new vase done last night.. I think I'm going to give it to my Mom. It would look nice in her kitchen, I think.)


Oh, and I am not at all marketing my shop yet. The only thing I will do is give a short tweet to a new listing, but I am pretty sure those are all fake views.

I need to work on my banner, my pictures, put more items up.. and then, I will figure out how to promote. Oh, won't that be fun - to see Kristin fumble her way through that. Promoting myself is. Not. My. Thing. But, I will need to make it my thing.

Ok, thanks in advance for your help... and enjoy your day!

It is 75 degrees here. 75! We have been laying on blankets in the backyard, I have been giving the girls playdough manicures. they love it.
:)

Friday, January 28, 2011

A Dog Birthday and a little sentimental.

Jack is (almost) TWO! We adopted him from a North Carolina shelter in May 2009, when he was 3 months old. So, that would put his birthday some time in February. Some of my longtime readers will remember when we adopted him! Amazing how time flies, and how long we have all "known" each other, you know? Might be weird to some, but I actually feel like I have a real friendship with a lot of you. I think we aren't pretending to be something other than what we are, and I feel a very supportive community here, and that is what leads me to believe that if I were stranded on the side of the road in one of your towns, that you would come rescue me. I would you.

Anyway, but this is about JACK! :)

Here we are posing sweetly: (make no mention of the hair.. I just got out of the shower.. it dries frizzy and wavy.. it is what it is. I make no excuses for it, lol.)


Jack and Me - cheek to cheek!



But, those pictures are rare - he is so full of energy, that most of the pictures we have of Jack - look more like THIS:




Happy Birthday, Jack.. and MANY more!

Sunday, January 23, 2011

It's been awhile....

....and let me tell you... I do not wish selling a house on anybody. Man, is it hard work.

I like to think that I keep a clean house in regular life..but, when you are constantly having showings, and you have 2 small kids, and a big dog, the cleaning is constant. It is an exhausting process.

We have been getting really good feedback, no offers yet, but there is time. Summer is the deadline for us to move. We want to be moved in time to get Allie enrolled in Kindergarten - KINDERGARTEN - and get to know our new city. So, what will happen to the house? Only time will tell, and if we must slash the price to get it to move, we will, be it grudgingly, do so.

So, with no showings scheduled today. I deemed it Pajama Day!




There are few things better than pajama day, and combined with double chocolate cookies that I am going to make this afternoon..it really does not get better than this. Hope you are enjoying your day!

Saturday, January 15, 2011

What a difference a day makes.

I spoke about how gloomy the weather was making me feel. But I watched Bill Cosby last night, and I really felt myself being pulled out of my funk. Then, I calmly drifted sweetly to sleep.. and awoke this morning, feeling refreshed and ready to take on the world! ok.. well, that might be a little dramatic. But, I at least ran some errands, and then the girls and I did some watercolor painting.

The girls are happily playing with their Barbie apartment complex, really this thing is huge.. leaving me time to list this in my Etsy Shop.

I am proud of myself for jumping back into Etsy. I have really missed it. A lot of things have changed. I don't understand some things, and when I get time, I really need to spend more time on the forums. When I have a good amount of items in my store, I will start figuring out an advertising strategy. But, I want to add more of a mix of things, and that will take time. Right now, I just do not have the space to trudge out all of my supplies, and really make some of the ideas that I have floating around in my head come to life. But, for now, baby steps.
And of course, a happy weekend to you.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Feeling Blue



This is my Feeling Blue Vase. Pretty Much sums up my mood as well. The weather is cold and gray. It is so funny how sometimes the sun, or lack thereof, can dictate your mood. I am bummed because I can't take any new pictures and I am on a roll with one new listing a day.. darn, I guess I have to break that streak. I am off to go play Connect Four with the girls, seems like a good day for that. I am sure it will cheer me up.

Happy Friday!

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Saturday, January 8, 2011

On the Market



Our house was just listed in the MLS yesterday. It is officially for sale. And I have officially turned into a crazy person with my obsessive cleaning. On the down side, it hasn't even been a full 24 hours, on the upside, my house looks really nice.

I was a tad disappointed in the realtor pictures. I don't think you get a good feel as to how big the rooms are. But, maybe that will mean people are just pleasantly surprised when they come see it.

Strange as it may sound, I actually don't want this house to sell right away. March would be good, April would be great. But, I will take what I can get. We want it to be on the market to give it time to sell. In this area that we live in, it seems that it takes about 4 months or so for a house to sell. And if it doesn't sell, we might turn it into a rental, like our NC home. We shall see was happens.

In other news, I am watching closely to the news in Arizona right now, regarding the shooting of the Congresswoman. My heart is truly breaking for what happened today.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Help with Pictures

My Favorite Vase



To say I have been struggling with my pictures on Etsy is an understatement. I have been experimenting with different backdrops. My gut is telling me to keep it with an all white background. Some people are able to take pictures and it seems like their items are floating in air.. just hanging in space of vast nothingness. With mine, well, can't you tell that is a white sheet? And all of the ironing in the world can not take out all of the creases, I have tried.

I am not so skilled with photo-shop, where I can easily fix my images. I honestly think this is going to be the best it will get for the time being. I have to have something that I can easily take down and put away, and a sheet seems to be the best thing for that purpose.

In other news, our house will be listed in the MLS in a few hours.. our house will officially be on the market! Praying that it sells. Will keep you updated!

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

The Start of the New Year



After months of longing to get my Etsy Shop back up and running, I finally did it. This was my first listing, on New Year's Eve, my Good Luck Green Vase.

The original goal was to get my shop running in September, when I had 2 kids in school.. well, preschool, for 8 hours a week. Wow. Did I have my head in the clouds or what. 8 Hours of free time flew by. I did not have any time to get anything done. I would use that time to go grocery shopping, or clean the floors without little feet rushing by..and then, it was time for pick-up. I also had some days of enjoying a lazy meal, in front of my computer screen, not gonna lie, but after 5 years of never doing that, I felt I could give myself a break. And when my munchkins are home, God Bless'em, it is not like I can lolly-gag in front of my computer. Did I just say "lolly-gag?"...moving on..

So, during the last few months, in the midst of getting a house ready for sale, and trying to talk myself out of pulling out my artsy supplies, as then I would just be creating more of a mess for myself.. well, I battled against that thought. I would find some time, usually early morning, before anyone was awake, trying out some new art ideas...and I stumbled across this.

You see.. My husband gave me flowers for our anniversary in September, and when those flowers were long since dead, I was left with this non-descript glass vase. I thought, how could I jazz that up? So, I went to the store, bought some stucco..after several atempts, I found a technique worked well. I then would paint said stucco, apply a clear acrylic sealer, and voila, a semi-homemade vase.

They are so much fun to make, I enjoy every single minute of it. Believe it or not, it is not too messy, so I can put my supplies away relatively easily. Which will help, when our house goes on the market within a few days!

Please visit me at my shop, I hope to add new inventory regularly, I would love to have my shop filled with 50-60 items. I would love to aim for a craft show later in the year as well, but, given the fact that we have no idea where we will be living, it might not be an attainable goal. We will see. Baby Steps.

Sunday, January 2, 2011