springtime in my yard

It's all in bloom! Pin It Now!

collaboration: killer party

A few weeks ago my wonderful husband created this illustration for me to use for a Halloween party invitation in my Etsy shop. It's definitely a bit on the morbid side, and not what I usually put in my shop. BUT, it is Halloween. I love the surprising splash of red, and the raven inspired by Edgar Allen Poe.

Here's my additions to the illustration for the invitation:

Thanks for collaborating with me, Rob. I couldn't have done it without you.

Killer Party Invitation on Etsy

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halloween spooktacular

This is just one of those fun pieces of typography that I originally created as a hostess gift for a Halloween party that I was invited to last year. This year I'm adding it to my Etsy shop in two versions... one is personalized and the other is ready-to-uy with no personalization. I make each of these signs by hand. This is one of those things that makes me happy to make. It's just so fun, and I think it adds another very special decor piece to someone's Halloween collection.

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dreyke: my inspiration

It's true, my child is my inspiration. I would have never been illustrating trains and cutesy kid stuff if it weren't for him. It's nice to get to throw myself into a design that is all about him and his big day, AND to have it double as a new item in my Etsy shop. Even if no one ever purchases my "Two! Two!" Train party package, it will always be one of my favorite items in my shop. He loved it, and I loved making it for him.

On another note, it's been almost a year since I last blogged. At that point, I was still very much an Etsy newbie, and I still am. I believe I've made a lot of progress since then with my endeavor, but I know I've still got a lot to learn. I'm excited to see where my journey takes me.

For now, I'm thoroughly enjoying designing for life's celebrations.

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an unexpected niche

I've only had 13 or 14 sales in my shop, but by far my best seller has been the quilt label. I really added these in as an after thought. My mom is a quilter, and I've made them for several of her quilts. I viewed it as something easy and I really didn't see myself selling very many.

Now, I've found, that these are quite marketable. I truly enjoy making them as each design is a little way to make a title come alive with typography. It really makes me happy — more than I would have ever thought when I first started making them.

Alas, this is my first hard lesson on Etsy. I've discovered that I've priced my labels too low. I spend about 45 minutes to an hour creating each label, and then there are the corrections, printing, and shipping. So, I'm spending at least 2 hours if not more on each label for a profit of about $7. Eeek! I don't want to say it's about the money, but really my time and my talent is more valuable than that — as my husband has lovingly pointed out to me. It was a very difficult realization to come to. I love my little labels. Each and every one is a work or art in my eyes and truly one-of-a-kind. For now, my price is only going up $2.50, but I plan to increase it further in the future. I'm investigating different ways to handle it — I've even had some very good suggestions on pricing from one of my very first customers. She has been very supportive of my new change, and I must say that the sweet comments that I've received from my quilt label customers have really made this endeavor that much more meaningful. These quilters have spent countless hours working on these quilts, and I am honored that they want to place my little piece of art on their quilt.... something that will be a reminder to all of the love that went into each stitch and who it was made for and why.

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status

I'm thinking that it's time to take my blog in a little different direction. I still want this to be a place where I share "the flourish" in my every day life, but I also want to use it as a place to post my thoughts about and learning experiences pertaining to my Etsy store that I started back in January. So, just to catch you up:

I make no bones about the fact that I'm not a "business" person. Yes, I'm super organized, but the whole "business" part kind of terrifies me. But, despite that — and, yes, it took me years to get up the nerve — I now have a Federal ID Number, Ga. sales tax number, business license, and I've set up shop. It really wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be to do all of the legal things necessary to be 100% legit. I'm using my name as my business name, so that made things even easier.

Now for product — how I've struggled with this over the months. I started out with the intention of posting "print your own" personalized creations that I would customize for the customer, and then email them a PDF to print however they liked. I do love designing these things, but I want my Etsy store to be full of things that come from my heart — from the things that inspire me every day — the flourish. To do this, I'm going to have to invest in some printing, and move away from the personalized items being my main focus. I have a printer that I hope to purchase before October that will open up a lot of potential for my product line.

What I've learned so far. I've learned that this process really is a journey — a journey to reveal the true artist in myself, and what makes what I do special. Ultimately, my goal in this is to always do what I love, not what I think will sell. If I can hold on to that, I think I'll be happy in my work. Pin It Now!

toad-ally

Today I spent some time working on a design for a quilt label that I sold in my Etsy store. Thanks to a cute name for a frog-themed baby quilt, I had more than enough inspiration to get this design off the ground. I'm not an illustrator so I'm always happy when I come up with some little creature that looks halfway presentable. I like my little frog "o." He makes me smile. Pin It Now!