Friday, July 31, 2009

Smu's Friday Finds, Round 2: Pretty Posies

Here's my second round of Friday Finds: Pretty Posies! I found so many that I've adjusted the format for this round to fit in more selections (including one of my own items that fits the theme!) Links to each of the listings featured here are listed numerically below :)
1 - Handmade Original Map Paper Rose pin International
By hopeandjoystudios.etsy.com
2 - Blossoms--Peaches and Cream Earrings
By smutopia.etsy.com
3 - Simplicity Essential Patchwork Bag in Fresh Poppies
By Antiquebasketlady.etsy.com
4 - Flower Cupcake Toppers ' Spring Celebration '
By millalove.etsy.com
5 - the kayla headband
By monkeyandsquirrel.etsy.com
6 - I Love You Petals. flower plush
By lapomme.etsy.com
7 - True Blue Flower Sterling Silver Ring
By Nafsika.etsy.com
8 - Pink Fairy Rose Lariat Scarf Necklace
By knittingguru.etsy.com
9 - Sailors Valentine inspired Ivory SHELL BLOSSOM Brooch Pin
By MermaidsBaubles.etsy.com


Smu's Friday Finds: Canadian Geese (for Mom!) :)

Per my Mom's request, my first round of Friday Finds this week are all items featuring Canadian Geese! Be sure to click the links to give these items and the shops they came from some handmade love!

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Google Base--Improve the Visibility of Your Shop on the Web

Go Google your shop name right now and see what comes up. If you aren't seeing your individual listing pages, keep reading! Using Google Base has drastically improved my Google search results. For those of you who are scratching your heads right now, Google Base is a tool where you can go set up an account then load your listings directly into the Google product search database. After I signed up with Google Base and began loading my listings I saw a noticeable increase in sales to customers who had signed up for Etsy that same day (a good indication that they found the item they purchased through a non-Etsy search.)

Once you have signed up with Google Base, rather than uploading each of your listings manually, I suggest reading this article in the Storque with instructions on how to set up automatic updates to Google Base via your shop's RSS feed. http://www.etsy.com/storque/etsy-news/tech-updates-feed-enhancements-google-base-and-more-3173/ Once set up, your RSS feed will upload all of the listings in your shop to Google on a daily basis to ensure that all listings and information are up to date.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

I Couldn't Resist--Random Stuff by Steph

I've run out of thank you notes, tags and business cards, so it's time for a bit of Etsy shopping! I came across these adorable "Creativity Tags" via a post from @EtsyToday on Twitter. If you like these tags, be sure to check out Random Stuff by Steph, the awesome shop they came from! She is currently offering free international shipping through 7/31/09!

Friday, July 24, 2009

Smu's Friday Finds--Science Geek!

Although I do not work in the field, I majored in biology in college and have always been a bit of a science geek :) Today's first round of friday finds are some of my etsy favs paying homage to my love to science!



Thursday, July 23, 2009

New Work!

I staged a quick photo shoot this afternoon and just finished editing--Here are three shots of new "bling rings" I'll be listing soon!

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Oh Trades, How I Love Thee....


Sales have been a bit slow lately, and while I am jewelry-rich and cash-poor I've been seeking trades with other handmade sellers for gift and supply items. I've traded many items with fellow Etsians since setting up shop in early 2008 with great results. My most recent trade was with FairyCake on MadeItMyself--I will be receiving this adorable blueberry muffin pincushion, and we will both have the opportunity to gain valuable seller feedback for our shops on this new selling venue!

SmuTopia Featured on Affordable Treats!


Stop by and check out this post on Found Paper Co's Blog titled "Affordable Treats"! I'm thrilled to find a pair of SmuTopia earrings featured in the $5 and under section! Visit the original post to see the <$5, <$10, and <$20 picks, all of which are amazing! And stop by foundpaperco on Etsy to check out her fantastic vintage items!

Monday, July 20, 2009

I've Joined the Virtual Craft Show at Cafe Handmade!

Today is the first day of SmuTopia's month-long exhibit on Cafe Handmade's Virtual Craft Show!
Be sure to stop by and cast your vote for best-in-show! I'll be keeping an eye on Google Analytics to see how much traffic is generated for my Etsy shop from this $10 investment. Wish me luck :)

Thursday, July 16, 2009

The Winner is Me!

I often enter handmade giveaways during my daily blog reading, and much to my happy surprise I was selected as the winner of a giveaway on OceansideCreations blog! My prize was the gorgeous blue fused glass dish from BuddhaKittyGlass, which I immedialy began using to spice up my product shots :) The pretty blue dotted fabric beneath the glass is a hand-dyed silk scarf from Flamboyant Scarves (my neighboring booth at last weekend's Designers' Downtown Market in Raleigh) which I traded two pairs of earrings for.
What do you think of my first "handmade collection" photo shoot? Do you use handmade items from other artists as props in your photo shoots? Please leave a comment and share links to your photos as I would love to see your use of handmade collections in staging product photos!

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Branching Out

After reaching 800 hearts this week in my Etsy Shop (Yay!) it occured to me (not for the first time) that after devoting so much time to developing SmuTopia Etsy I would be well served to spend more time developing my new shops on Artfire and MadeItMyself. I love Etsy and could never have reached this point without it, but it can't hurt to expose SmuTopia to new audiences in these alternative handmade communities. I have a few token items listed in both my Artfire and MadeItMyself shops, but plan to add new listings as quickly as my free time will allow :)

In addition to adding items to SmuTopia Artfire and SmuTopia MadeItMyself, I've also been creating new project wonderful ads for SmuTopia using photos of new work. Here's my latest, just added to my project wondeful bids today:


Finally, I have made an investment in some additional advertising by joining the Cafe Handmade Virtual Craft Show for next month! The cost was $10 for four weeks in the Virtual Craft Show......more to come on the results of that investment!

Monday, July 13, 2009

Rockin' the DDM--Smu's Successful Day!


This past Saturday was the third Designers' Downtown Market for 2009 and without a doubt it was my most successful show to date! I was given a prime location in the Ornamentea parking lot just inside the entry across from the Popsicle Vendor Locopops (which was great for traffic as the day grew warmer!)

Despite a few incidents early in the day (in my clumsiness I knocked over and broke a ceramic hand and one of my star-shaped mirrors while setting things up) my displays held up well and there were no wind-related catastrophes :) The wooden hands generated lots of comments as they always do, and I got quite a few compliments on the suitcase. In fact, several returning customers remembered my set-up for previous shows and commented on the overall progress I have made in improving my booth, which made me very happy! In addition to my returning customers, I also had a special visit from my Twitter friend TheSickChick! Keep an eye on her blog as she will be posting about the DDM and may just include a photo of the two of us in my booth!

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Craft Show Displays--Always a Work in Progress

I made some great progress last night prepping for this weekend's Designers' Downtown Market, and am SO happy to be finished with pricing (my least favorite prep activity)!  I've set up my displays for a dry-run in my craft room so I can see how everything comes together and I'm feeling pretty good at this point.  The open suitcase at the front of my main table is a new addition that I purchased from Home Goods a few weeks back--I love the way the dark velvety inside provides a backdrop for the hanging necklaces :)  I've always had issues displaying my longer necklaces and this solves that problem nicely.

As much as I love the new setup, the one thing I have made no changes to is my bracelet display of wooden hands made by my Grandpa :)  I always get great comments from customers on this display!
Now that pricing is done and I've done a dry-run of the set up, it's packing time!  When I get home tonight I'll start packing up my inventory and displays.  Once everything is ready to go, I may actually have time to make a few new pieces for the show!


Monday, July 6, 2009

Running Out of Time.......Again! :)

One of my monthly chores at home is to update our whiteboard calendar to the new month and to add all of our family appointments and events (you'd think that things would be pretty calm since it is just me and my hubby, but that never seems to be the case.) As I changed the calendar from June to July this weekend (only a few days late!) I realized that the next Designers' Downtown Market is NEXT WEEKEND! Too much to do--not enough time left.  I'm going to bed early tonight to rest up, then I'll be devoting the rest of my after-work-time this week to prep for the show!

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Messy Jessie: Progress! (at least on one wall)

As promised, here is the latest update on my craft room organization series (aka "Messy Jessie"). The photo above is from a different angle than the last photos, and shows the section of the room that looks the best :) I've actually gone through all of the drawers in the rolling organizer on the left, which now hold my SmuTopia paperwork and tag-making materials as well as overflow jewelry supplies still in their original packaging. The end table in the middle was actually my childhood nightstand, which came out of storage when I was a kid and is who-knows-how-old. The organizer on top of the end table is one of my favorite creations--a gigantic pencil/marker/etc holder made out of old tin cans attached to a 2x4 :)

I have a day off tomorrow (Friday 7/3) and hope to have more photos showing additional progress.......wish me luck!