My Craft Room is Clean--a Christmas Miracle!

As i have mentioned in previous posts, my craft room goes through cycles of messiness--it barely ever reaches a state I would call "clean". Well, my Christmas present to myself was to spent a good deal of time cleaning and organizing over the holiday break :) My husband was shocked at how good things look now. He actually asked me if I had thrown away half of my stuff (I did recycle and discard a few things, but the appearance of extra space in the room now is really the result of organization.) Hopefully I can sustain the new level of organization in the room!

First Attempt: Banners for Web Advertising

These banners are the results of my first attempt at creating a web ad for SmuTopia. I received a conversation from a fellow North Carolinian offering me free advertising space, which was great motivation to make some ads (which I have been meaning to do for awhile.) Let me know what you think of my first attempt :)

Make room for the Tree!

My husband and I finally went shopping for our Christmas Tree, which means all of the furniture from the dining room is now (temporarily) in my craft room, making it a bit difficult to get anything done in there. On the other hand, I am very lucky to have a whole room devoted to crafting! Looking at the room right now, I feel like I could use a whole lot more in the way of storage and organizational containers :) Do you live and craft in a constantly fluxing mess like I do? Have you found any great solutions for bead storage or organization? Please share your wisdom!

Simple Change--Big Impact!

I've taken another round of photos, and during shooting the proverbial lighbulb went on in my head......but let me back up a bit and explain. I have been working on my photo and lighting set up for some time with limited success. I had bought three 75watt full spectrum bulbs to light my photos, but all of the shots kept turning out too yellow. I made my own light tent, which didn't change much. Finally last night I had that "duh" moment and realized that I had been leaving the overhead light on in the room, with its regular compact flourescent bulb. I turned off the overhead light and Voila! Perfect color in my shots! Now I have another stock of photos for new listings :) Here are a few previews.

One more listing, then it's Camera Time

Here is my last unlisted item before I run out of photos and need to set up another craft room photo shoot :)
My plan is to include several pendants in the next round since that category in my Etsy shop is currently empty. Please let me know what else you would like to see in my shop! Am I missing your favorite color? Leave a comment with your suggestions :)

Free Shipping at SmuTopia.etsy.com 12/11-12/12

The Holidays are here--are you ready? If a gift of jewelry is what you seek, go to http://smutopia.etsy.com for great deals and FREE SHIPPING through Friday 12/12!

Time Well Spent

In two months since starting my new job, I had completely stalled on improving my Etsy shop. I wasn't finding the time at home to take photos of my work, post new listings, visit the forums or do anything else to promote SmuTopia. I had a chat with a friend a few days ago who encouraged me to find a way to make time for my artistic side and I realized that they were right--too many people give up on the things they enjoy and I don't want to follow that road. With that in mind, I have made time this past week or so to get some new items listed and it has paid off! I had a sale last night, and my view counts are way up :) Definately time well spent.

New Work!

I have taken a new round of photos of new work that I am prepping to list on Etsy. I had a breakthrough today with my photo editing software--I think these are some of the best I have taken with artificial light (I still like natural sunlight best!)

Observations from a Rainy Saturday Show

I had a great day at the Designers' Downtown Market on Saturday 11/29, despite the rain and cold. My incredibly thoughtful husband bought me a tent for my birthday and this was the first time I had taken it to a show, so it was almost appropriate that we had rain.

The rain and cold did depress the turnout a bit, but in spite of that, it turned out to be a very profitable show for me. I like to think that my improved displays and new tent combined to create a more professional look, drawing in more shoppers for a closer look. Thank you to all of my customers--I hope to see you again at the next DDM in March!

Blogging from my new iphone

So I just got an iphone (early Christmas gift) and i'm hoping it will help me recapture some of the free time I left behind when I changed jobs recently. I find it hard to believe that there is no iPhone etsy app. If I could manage my shop from my phone I just might be able to get restocked! :)