Hip Hip Hooray for Etsy Little Rock

So I had lunch with one of the leaders of the Etsy Little Rock team, and I got a fantastic insight into the amazing things going on for them! I wanted to share it with all of you since it could be AMAZING vending opportunities for any of you! 

Etsy Little Rock will be participating in the Main Street Food Truck Festival - Little Rock in conjunction with the Downtown Little Rock Partnership! 

Last year the Food Truck Festival had over 5,000 attendees! FIVE THOUSAND PEOPLE! That is amazing, and as we all know in Little Rock there are so many events that each year increase in size so tremendously that they are sometimes unprepared! 

Well the organizers of the event want ETSY sellers as the vendors and have joined with Etsy Little Rock to provide the vendors! 

That's not all folks! The teams efforts are now going to be featured in the Etsy Team Newsletter! We all know exposure is the key! This is BIG exposure! Just think if you participate or are able to participate in any way at all you will get to get some of that exposure! 

Here are the details......

Event Date: October 6th (hopefully the weather will cool off by then)

Time: 10:00 AM - 3:00PM (Not even the whole day or multiple days so you can still have a weekend!)

Spaces: 10 x 10 on the sidewalk which will be predetermined so you can be directed to the space when you check in

Registration Fee: $35 
NOTE: $10 of each registration fee will be donated back to Etsy Little Rock for their coffers so they can offer more events and more benefits for sellers! I can't tell all the cool things we talked about at lunch, but trust me folks this will be beyond amazing! I SWEAR! 

Deadline for Vendor application has been extended to August 31st! If the form hasn't been changed ignore the date I confirmed over the phone today! 

This is a great opportunity folks and I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to see our amazing Arkansas Etsy sellers really get a huge benefit from this event. I am going to TRY to make it as well, but I will have to check my increasingly busy schedule. Just writing that makes me smile! 

If you have any questions, you should totally contact the Downtown Little Rock Partnership at 501-375-0121!

Hope to see you there! 

Licensed Fabrics - How to Sell!

We have all seen the licensed fabrics that are available for colleges, professional sports teams, Disney, Sanrio, and a multitude of other providers. I had once been told that some colleges were going to stop allowing fabrics to be made with their logos and trademarks since crafters were making items with the fabrics and selling them, but the school wasn't getting any profits from those items.

I have recently been asked to make corsets for a local store that are in Arkansas Razorback fabrics. I was concerned about the possible impacts as I have known people that have received cease and desist letters from the University.

Therefore I did a little research. The university is breaking the law by requesting such a thing, but since most people don't know that, they are sufficiently intimidated and stop making the items.

See the manufacturer of licensed fabrics holds the license to print the fabric but when you buy it in a store the license isn't transferred and the fabric is effectively sold with out a license. Legally if the school or entity didn't want things made for profit with the fabric they should not approve fabric to be created. They can not control the use of the fabric after it is sold to a consumer. 

Here is the trick you need to be aware of for your listings and tagging...... The Tabberone Disclaimer.

This simple and sweet disclaimer should be listed in your Etsy, Ebay, or other listing online. It should not be at the very top or very bottom, but properly located in the middle so as to not be overlooked or scare off buyers. It should also be in at least the same font as the rest of the listing. You don't want to use super small print where it will be missed, and don't get too carried away with big bold print.

This of course would be altered as required to accommodate whatever licensed fabric you are using. Also I have elected to add a second tag to my clothing items with this same disclaimer so that it is properly displayed when my items are being sold in stores. 

For more information on court cases and where this comes from go here.

July Featured Seller - Holly Cogworthy!

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I’m an old at heart youngish person who likes cats, knitting, and crafting in general. I’m also really goofy.

Apart from creating things, what do you do?

I’m a therapist by day, working with kids. It’s always interesting!

What would be the title of your memoir? Why?

Maybe something like “Catladying: a collection of vague and unnecessarily detailed stories about the art and life of one person in time,” because I’m something of a cat lady… and I tend to make short stories long. It would be only fitting that my memoir would be the same!

Where does your inspiration come from?

It comes from things I’ve seen and things I would like to see, from nature to fashion to old family photos.

What does handmade mean to you?

Handmade means someone cared about this.

Who has been most influential in your craft?

My sisters, because they’re my sounding board for how projects are going.

When did you know you were an artist/maker?

There’s no specific time I began considering myself an artist or maker. I’ve just always liked making my own things or wanting to do things myself. My dad has always been an independent type, and the kind of person who looks at something and goes, “I could probably make that,” and I’ve always kind of been that way too.

How would you describe your creative process?

When I make something for the first time, I usually don’t have a particular plan in mind. I’m a very spur of the moment person. Some of my favorite work began as something entirely different from what I intended. I gather materials I want to work with, and see what happens.

If you could peek inside the studio of any artist, designer or craftsman (dead or alive), who would it be?

The Yarn Harlot or Spilly Jane!

What handmade possession do you most cherish?

A painting I found at a Salvation Army. I can’t read the signature, and have no idea who made it –but it’s gorgeous.

How do you get out of your creative ruts?

Doodling with Zig pens, crocheting circles or rectangles, or mashing up clay… and seeing what happens.

Where would you like to be in ten years?

Maybe in a place with a little more clarity. I’ve finished grad school and I’m enjoying my job, so I’m taking it easy at the moment and not stressing over five- or ten-year plans!

Blog 
Store 
Facebook - In the works keep an eye on the blog! 

Keep the feed Going!

So we all know that keeping our names in the forefront of the consumers mind is extremely important to return buyers, and leads.

A lot of you have Facebook pages for your businesses, and previously I discussed the promoted post, which can become costly. However, you should also know about the scheduled post! Imagine this, you have worked and slaved for weeks, months, years to get the likes you have on your page. You are working to keep your customers interested in your work and looking at the new things you are producing.

What happens when your customers are worldwide, in different time zones, and they don't see your items in their news feed because you are asleep and not on Facebook?!

TA DA

Enter the scheduled post! 

When you go to enter a new status update you have a little clock icon in the bottom left of the status dialog box.

See the pretty little clock?

 You can click on that and it will open individual select boxes, one at a time, for the Year, Month, Day, Hour, and Minute. I have all of them open below.

You can use these to schedule posts for maybe once every 2-3 hours, or whatever works best for you. That way the more people following you the more people will see your stuff! This keeps your items, posts, or whatever you are looking for in the main viewing window more frequently for your customers.

There are so many different social media uses, and according to Etsy they can be a BIG help in pushing your items in the marketplace. Sometimes though we may not know how to use them.

Good Luck Team Members, and keep up the good work!

The power of Triberr!

I am constantly trying to find special little things that will help us cross promote and increase our customer base!

When I started my own blog I wanted to only blog about sewing, but I found myself talking more and more about all the random things that happened to me and things that I thought needed to be said. Therefore as time has gone on I have blogged about a variety of things, and developed online friends that are also bloggers.

I began to follow these bloggers on Twitter and make more and more contact. I began to notice that every day I would see tweets that gave the name of some blog post, the link to the post and then said "via @twittername". I thought these guys have some sort of financial agreement to do this for each other as a way to cross promote and increase viewership to their individual blogs.

I finally asked one of them what was the deal, and discovered they are not paying each other it is a website called Triberr that once you join the site you join "tribes". The tribes consist of people with like minded things, or not in some cases.

When you join you upload the RSS feed URL for your blog, your Twitter information, and your Facebook information. Then you join the tribes you want to join!

Each morning I log into Tribber and click the "Approve" button for all of my tribe mates blog posts that have uploaded since the day before. I look to see if there are some posts I have already promoted that I would like to promote again and click to send those again.

Then through out the day on a time schedule I give it, Triberr automatically tweets the promotional tweets of my tribemates. So I am active on twitter a lot that it isn't actually me, and all my tribe mates are promoting my blog as well!

It's like multi-level marketing for bloggers and tweeters! Don't worry we won't kick you out if you don't promote the "family".

I have set up a Tribe on Triberr for Sweety Darlin's AREtsy Tribe, and we have two members besides myself at this time. I would love to add more members so that we can start to cross promote daily!

It did take me about an hour of fiddling to get things set up the way I liked it, but that was also because I had to research how to find the RSS code for my blog. Now it is a minute each morning and done!

I have seen increased traffic, not necessarily increased sales, but that is because I haven't been talking about my sewing much lately! Some of the things I have been working on my clients have asked me to keep under wraps until the item makes it's debut. I can live with that.

Look it up and check it out!

Facebook and the Promoted Post!

Some of you may have noticed my facebook status updates and tweets about how there was rumors that facebook would start charging for business to have fan pages etc. 

I did some research and have been able to figure out the following information. Keep in mind folks that the internet is a big array of information and if you look long enough you will find information that fits what you want it to say. I have tried to weed through all of it in order to attempt to find the truth. 

If you go to your company page and post a status update you may find this new little blue word... "Promote" This is kind of like a facebook ad that gets forced into the feed of the people who "like" your page. 

Here is the specifics, when you like the page of a business all of there status updates show in your feed. You can choose to hide those, or unlike the page, or just ignore your information. We all know that we ignore junk that shows up in our feeds. Plus with the new timeline and different ways to view your feed you may not see the status updates of the pages you have "Liked". 

So if you choose to promote your status update you will have to pay a fee, and facebook will make sure that your promoted posts are not ignored. It will even make sure that if one of your watchers likes your post that the post may also show up in their friends feeds so that they can like your page too! 

The fee is based on a variety of things frequency, etc, etc, etc, but you will pay a fee. 

However you can always just keep doing what you are doing, without a fee, and hope that enough of the people that like your page keep watching for your updates. 

May Featured Seller - Crochet Best Friends

I am WAY behind on getting this posted Brea! Sorry for that!

How cute is she!?!

Tell us a bit about yourself.  

My name is Brea, I’m 15 years old and I own the Etsy store Crochet Best Friends. I have loved stuffed animals ever since I was little (well who doesn’t lol ), and started making them when I was about 11. I started my shop on Etsy because I was too young to get a job, and like every kid, I desperately needed money!! In the beginning it was a little scary trying to set up a store, but luckily, my parents have worked online for many years, and were there to help me through the difficult patches.

Apart from creating things, what do you do?  

School of course. I’m home-schooled and about to enter 12th grade. I will graduate at 16, so hopefully I’ll be able to dedicate a lot more time to my store then! I also love to draw, probably as much as I love to crochet. Oh, and I’m working on writing a book! :D

What would be the title of your memoir? Why? 

I don’t think I have lived long enough to write a memoir lol.

Where does your inspiration come from? 

Much of my inspiration comes from Japanese culture. Sushi, hello kitty, manga…Japan is the land of cute! On the other hand, I also like old fashioned dolls and toys, I think my shop is something of a mix.

What does handmade mean to you? 

Handmade means one of a kind. Isn’t it way cooler to have something unique, instead of something that a factory produced one hundred million of? I think so.

Who has been most influential in your craft? 

My mother and my grandma. My mom doesn’t craft much, but she seems to have an endless stream of ideas and possibilities. She’s also extremely good with advertising. My grandma always has a suggestion and a kind word. They help me out a lot.

When did you know you were an artist/maker? 

I don’t know…I’ve always loved crafting. It just took a little time, dedication, and a lot of practice to really be able to get what I wanted it of it. I’ve always been an artist, I just have to work hard to be a GOOD artist.

How would you describe your creative process? 

Process? I think of things, I draw them, then I make them. :)

If you could peek inside the studio of any artist, designer or craftsman (dead or alive), who would it be?  

Naoko Takeuchi, yes she’s an artist not a plush maker, but like I said, I love art!

What handmade possession do you most cherish? 

All of the items made for me by my Great-Grandma. She passed away, and her handmade dolls, blankets, and pillows are part of my cherished memories of her.

How do you get out of your creative ruts? 

I tend to push myself into creative ruts. I’ll have a lot on my to-do list, and  stress myself out about getting things done. The end result is, nothing gets done at all. I just take things one step at a time: work on a small project, or take a break!

Where would you like to be in ten years? 

In a small apartment, with an art degree and my own plushie studio! :)

Meet & Greet = Success!!

Big Momma's Coffee Bar! YUM!!!

Saturday the 28th we had a Meet and Greet in Fayetteville. There were a ton of events in the Fayetteville area that day and a lot of our team members were previously engaged, but we were super lucky to have Jewels Under the Sun and Trinkets Too as well as Gingiber in attendence. 

I love the decor!

We were so happy that Big Momma's Coffee Shop was willing to allow us the use of their facility for our event.


Deborah of JUSTT and Stephanie of Gingiber


Stephanie of Gingiber was a featured seller for Etsy a while back and she was able to talk about how when she was asked by Etsy to attend an event in New York, the team members all knew each other and were very active.



They held events, craft shows, and brainstormed to promote ideas for the team and shops to be better. 

PIMA, Sweety Darlin', and PTAL of Sweety Darlin' Designs

She was also given a great priviledge to be included in the Martha Stewart All Etsy Show! It even has gotten her a link placed on the Martha Stewart website. Now I don't know about you, but that counts a a bit of a celebrity!

We all talked about how it would be great to have a craft show totally made up of Etsy members! I would love to do that too!

The consortium family of mom, dad, son, and sister-in-law that is Jewels Under the Sun were the sweetest people! Shane and Stephanie talked about the upcoming roll out of the CSS options on Etsy. I think this means we can have more customized shop pages, but it was way above even my own nerd knowledge!


Albert, Shane and Deborah of JUSTT

Sandi of JUSTT

I also talked with the team from JUSTT about motocycle hair accessories for women, and possible participation in Bikes, Blues, and BBQ and also Babes, Bikes, and Bling! Which in Northwest Arkansas are very large motorcycle enthusiast events!

I think we all left the event feeling encouraged, and I want that to only get bigger and spread through the entire team! We have more than 300 members and I know that there are more Etsy sellers out there that are not in the team.

We want to have a team that helps all of us become highly successful!




Pattern Review: Butterick 4790

So I have a large collection of patterns, as I am sure most seamstresses do. I use them for making the garment they are intended for, mixing parts of them with other patterns to create a specific look, and sometimes I don't use them at all.

However I wanted to review a certain pattern that I think is without a doubt one of the best easy breezy summer dresses you could ever have! This is one that can be used as a cover up after the beach, a daytime date, a outing to the park, whatever! It was too easy for words and I thought all of us sewing types might want to know about it.

The pattern is Buttericks 4790. It is in their retro inspired line of patterns. When I first saw the  pattern cover I thought that is kind of cute and simple.

Then I do the flip and check out the back.....

You gotta be kidding me! That is IT?!

So I grab a cool plaid that the short ones think is awesome. They didn't have enough to make the entire back, but I have some left over from a previous project that filled that in nicely and the front was just a simple cotton. The entire edge is nothing more than double fold biased tape, and you hem the bottom edge only!

I made one for each of them and they loved them! I have since made the dress in other combinations and they are a staple in the summer, very lightweight and easy to wear. My youngest like a pair of soffee shorts under hers just because it is a wrap dress and in just the right weather can blow up and expose some parts.

Northwest Arkansas Meet & Greet

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen!

You are invited to an

AREtsy Meet and Greet

in Northwest Arkansas!

Saturday April 28^th

12:00 Noon – 2:00 PM (or whenever)

at

609 W Dickson St 

We can get to know one another, share ideas for team improvement, and shop promotion!

RSVP: sweetydarlindesigns@gmail.com

UPDATED! A Giveaway to Increase Visibility!

Okay I had posted here about the giveaway I participated in that increased my Facebook following so significantly that in four days I went from 74 Likes to 1,500+.

I had a lot of inquiries about the process and it became apparent that I was unclear. However I have now been informed of another giveaway in the Month of May and I want to encourage all my Team Members to involve themselves.

Keep in mind that this is a tool for you to increase your own visibility, but if you win that is great too!

The complete details are HERE! (The link has been removed as sign up is closed)

READ THE INFORMATION COMPLETELY! 

The way this works is you follow the very simple rules. Which are...

1. This is FREE to get on the rafflecopter! 2. You MUST have this giveaway shared by your Facebook Fan page between 9:00 p.m. EST, May 3, and 9:00 a.m. EST May 4. 3. You MUST promote this giveaway a total of 9 times on your Facebook Fan page throughout the 3 weeks it is live. 4. This giveaway will run from 9:00 p.m. EST on May 3 through 12:01 a.m. EST on May 24.

The Rafflecopter is the way people enter the contest, and once the contest opens then people must "like" your Facebook page to enter the contest.

Now if you don't follow the rules, the administrators of the contest will remove your information from the contest, and in some cases not allow you to participate in future events.

When people connect to you, they will then see your posts in their feed, and it is only reasonable that it will increase your views and hopefully in turn result in sales.

I entered the first contest trying to win, because I wanted a Kindle Fire. So the entire situation was shocking to me once I learned what I had actually done.

However Etsy tells us that using social media to our advantage is a plus, and if we can find ways to expand our social media footprint then I think that is a great plan!

UPDATE: As soon as I see another opportunity like this I will post it as well. I am very sorry for the short amount of time for signing up, I had no idea they would close it that fast. 

GOOD LUCK! Let me know if you have any questions at all!

Ways to Grow Your Visibility!

Trying to Find AREtsy! 

I know that all of us struggle at times with getting people to look at our products, but we all know that if we can generate more traffic our chances of sales go up. I accidentally fell into a way to make this happen, and it has been SHOCKING! Almost too easy for words.

First when I started my blog I read a book by The Simple Dude called Grow Your Blog. It was only $1.99 and it gave me some simple tips and ways that help your blog grow. Now I have seen dramatically increased traffic, but as of yet I haven't gotten to his level of success. I have faith though.

I know not everyone has a blog and it can be a little daunting and confusing to get it all started and set up the way you like it, but if you already have one this may be a good idea. If you are interested in starting a blog, I would be happy to help, and could even do maybe a series of tutorials to help Team Members if you are interested.

Second, I found a contest where they were giving away FOUR Kindle Fires. I know it is somewhat foolish to think that I will get one, but it was also foolish to think I would win the $540 million power ball, but I gave it a $2 try anyway.

Now I had never heard of this site before and didn't know a lot about it, but they have these contests with varying prizes frequently. The trick to them is that they use a company called Rafflecopter, and on of the biggest ways to gain entries into the contest is to "Like" the Facebook pages of participating companies.

I know this can be annoying, but in 24 hours I received an additional 1200+ additional Likes to my Facebook page. I also saw an increase in number of people reached from an average of 60 to a new number of 275!

Here is what you need to think about, when people like your companies page all the items you post on your Facebook go into their News Feed. A ton of people that know nothing about you see your items, and it is only reasonable to think that someone will eventually click on your item.

Third, use some of the opportunities we are cultivating to get your name out there more. I have been asked by the Arkansas Women Bloggers to request donations for some of their events. They are not looking for really expensive items, just things that they can give as door prizes etc.

The benefit to us is that if you donate, they will post your shop information on their website, ask their members to blog about your items, and your information will be included on the flyers that go out with each event. They have a total of 171 members in their directory of women bloggers in the state, and based off their research there are some staggering numbers about how those members can help you as well.

If you are interested in donating for their events, keep an eye on Facebook and Twitter which is where I generally post this information, and if you ever have questions you can contact them directly as well from their site!

Etsy tells us that using social media to our advantage is a highly successful and FREE advertising method. It doesn't matter how you get people to like your page, you just need to get them there. I stumbled into this hopefully highly advantageous event, and wanted to share with my team members.

Good Luck!

UPDATE: As of Thursday the 12th I now have 1,400+ Likes on my Facebook Page and have reached 935 people. Now I was asked by another person about the raffle copter. They only administer the contest, and I agreed to participate PRIOR to the start of the contest, but Acadiana's Thirifty Mom does these frequently. Keep your eyes peeled and if you agree to the terms of the participation, you too can get this kind of a boost. Think of how great that visibility is!

April Featured Seller - Lybly

This month, we are going to feature our captain! Marisa and her shop Lybly!

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I have two insanely beautiful and wonderful daughters, Lyric (9) and Blyss (8).  They are the most amazing gift and I never get enough of them.  I live in Hot Springs currently, but work in Little Rock.  I have always been a creative/creating-obsessed person, but started trying to narrow in a business of creating things when I was between jobs 2+ years ago.

Apart from creating things, what do you do?

In my day-job, I am a creative director at an advertising agency and have been working in marketing and advertising for the last 10 years.  I can usually be found with a book in my hand, listening to a book during my freakishly long commute, or trying desperately to get outdoors and do something – bike, hike, whatever.

Where does your inspiration come from?

My inspiration for creating things usually comes from the smallest spark of an idea that comes out of nowhere.  It never comes from the same place twice and hits you very unexpectedly.  And, unfortunately, it is just not something I can plan (or I’d probably be way better off).

What does handmade mean to you?

I just love everything that handmade stands for.  I feel like it keeps the human element in those ‘things’ that you love to keep around your house or wear or flaunt.  J  And, if everyone would buy handmade, think of all those small businesses and artisans that could stay in business and support their family the way we all want to.  Dream world, right?!?

Who has been most influential in your craft?

I guess my girls.  Both, because they like to craft with me (they love to help anywhere they can) and because they always have wants or needs for things that I’m like “I can make that for them.”

When did you know you were an artist/maker?

I was itty bitty when I realized I was quirky than the other kids. J  And, always wanted to be the artist in the game of Life, never a doctor or astronaut.  I think I have just always known I’d go somewhere down that path, but have definitely never gone the exact direction I planned.  So, I’ve just learned not to plan, then you are constantly surprising yourself.

How would you describe your creative process?

It has no rhyme or reason.  I never do things the same way for too long and am never happy with how I did, so I’m always looking for better/new ways to try it.

If you could peek inside the studio of any artist, designer or craftsman (dead or alive), who would it be?

I would have given anything to have had the opportunity to be a part of Andy Warhol’s chaos, or watched Robert Rauschenberg or Roy Lichtenstein work.  Actually, the list of people I would (or would have) liked to get a glimpse of is miles long.  I just am so inspired by people who create and why they do it and where it alls comes from.

What handmade possession do you most cherish?

I love anything and everything that I can buy or have handmade.  I don’t think I have one possession I cherish more than others, unless of course it is something my children made.

How do you get out of your creative ruts?

I do seriously get in these moods where I can’t make myself do anything!  Does everyone have this??  Everything I’m working on seems like its terrible and I can’t get any motivation.  I have found that when this happens for me, I need to force myself into ‘something’ and I’ll just naturally find a way out of it.  It might take my a few hours or days of internal arguing to ‘force’ my way out, but it always seems to work when I do.  J

Where would you like to be in ten years?

I’m not really sure where I’d like to be in ten years.  Life has thrown me for some loops in the last couple of years, so I have turned into a rather ‘go-with-the-flow’ kinda person.  I do know I would like to have a thriving business of my own creation and have a happy and healthy home.  Other than that, I’ll probably just ride the wave and see where it takes me.

Find our leader at all of the following links: Store, Website, Facebook, Twitter, and Blog!

Thanks Marisa, for letting the team get to know you better! 

Calling All Team Members!

We have been working on our directory and a pack of other things. However we are having some trouble getting good information on craft shows and other vending opportunities.

Come on team! Let's get to posting!

If you are participating in ANY craft show any where in the state, or even just across the lines.

Let us know about it! We want to help our team with as much advertisement, and getting seen is the only way to do it!

If you are at a show or fair, tell people about AREtsy! Tell them to visit the other shops! If they are looking for a certain item and you know of a team member that sells that, then send them in that direction!

We want to help as many as possible! I know it is a slow process, but we want everyone to have as many opportunities as possible to succeed!

Happy St. Patricks Day

Today is brought to you by the color green, oh and AREtsy Artists!

If you click on the photos it will take you to our Team Members Listing!