Drum roll please...

I mentioned in a previous post that something big was coming in July. Hopefully, this won't disappoint.

AREtsy is having a team wide Christmas in July sale starting Monday, July 6 and lasting 2 weeks until Sunday, July 19. This sale is HUGE! There are some amazing deals to be had and you don't want to miss out.

Here is a list of participating AREtsy shops along with some basic details for their sales. What are you waiting for? Go shop!

The Beehive - $5 off scrapbooks, memory catchers, framed silhouettes and premade page layouts (including custom orders), free shipping on all other items not mentioned above. Also, receive $5 off future purchases. Just enter "Christmas in July" in notes to seller at time of checkout to receive the discount.

Idyll Hands - HUGE sale section and free shipping on all jewelry purchases! Other discounts and specials to be announced over the next two weeks.

Wooly Hands - Huge sale section on yarns and roving. New items and discounts to be announced over the next two weeks.

Urban Amulets - Free gift with each purchase.

Peaces of Indigo - Free shipping to be refunded via PayPal after purchase.

The Doodle Brush - Free shipping

Girlchild - Free shipping. To be refunded after payment via PayPal.

Punkinhead - Free shipping. To be refunded after payment via PayPal.

Forever and a Day - Free shipping and free gift with purchase, contact seller prior to purchase with "Christmas in July" to receive discount.

The Wishing Well - Free shipping and free gift with purchase, contact seller prior to purchase with "Christmas in July" to receive discount.

Tutu Cute and Moore - Free sweetly embellished hanger to match any tutu purchase.

Elizabeth Jayne - free shipping or 25% off order. Leave a note to seller requested discount.

AJs Art Studio - discounted items and free shipping. Shipping will be refunded after payment.

AR Painter - commissioned paintings will receive matching note card. All other purchases will receive a free ACEO.

My Curly Red - Buy one get one half off on all zipper pulls, free shipping, and large clearance section.

Ekio Art - all items already marked down.

Shillcutt Studio - free shipping, will be refunded after payment via PayPal.

Glass Bead - buy one get one of equal or lesser value half off. Item will be refunded after payment.

Bluetail Designs - 20% off of everything and free shipping to US and Canada. Enter "July09" in notes to seller at time of check out to receive refund via PayPal.

Simply Stacy Jewelry - 15% off of everything (excluding mother and grandmother bracelets). Send a convo to seller letting her know which items you want and she'll adjust their price.

Rum and Rubies - see shop for details

BBs Bowtique - Buy one item, get one half off. Wait for a revised invoice prior to paying.

Connies Inspirations - free gift with each purchase

Linda68 - free shipping in the US, $1 everywhere else.

Hats Etc - buy one item get one half off - item refunded after payment.

BMacre - free shipping with $20 purchase, free shipping and free gift with $50 purchase. Refunded via PayPal after payment.

Heart Homes - free shipping with $20 purchase, free shipping and free gift with $50 purchase. Refunded via PayPal after payment.

Sew Into You - discounted Christmas fabrics.

Madd Crocheter - 10% discount on all items. To be refunded after payment via PayPal.

ScrapADot - buy one item, get one item half off. To be refunded after payment via PayPal.

Handy Helpers - select items discounted. To be refunded after payment via PayPal.

ElsBells - free shipping on all items.

By Cheryl Images - buy one luggage tag, get one luggage tag free.

Pamper Me Please - sale section and $1 shipping to US and Canada (excludes items in Flavors section).

Oak Leaf Hollow - 10% off of everything. To be refunded after payment via PayPal.


Oak Leaf Hollow Vintage - 10% off of everything. To be refunded after payment via PayPal.

TDogArt - select discounted items in the jewelry and ACEOs sections.

Anyone up for a team sale?

While we're still lazing away the days here in May, summer is just around the corner. Before you know it, it will be June and just 4 weeks later, we'll be facing July dead on. The AREtsy team will be holding a team wide "Chrismtas in July" sale in July. It will either be the entire month or the first couple of weeks - that has yet to be determined. We'll promote it here on this blog, on our personal blogs, on Twitter, Facebook, other team blogs (we do have some sister teams), in the Etsy forums and on the Etsy event calendar. It should be big - so I'm hoping you'll all join in.

If you are interested in participating (and I sincerely hope you are), please email send me a convo on Etsy (Idyllhands) with your shop name, what your sale is (type of discount, free shipping, etc) and how the buyers will redeem their discount/sale (for example - will they leave a note at time of purchase? Will your items already be priced at their sale price?).

We're looking forward to a great summer of sales!

Tagging... revisited

Tags seen above can be purchased from TheBeehive over at Etsy.

I know there was a post about tagging long ago and far away, but I think tagging is so important that it deserves another post. I know we'd all like to sit back and let Etsy bring people straight to our shop, but get real guys, your shop is exactly that, your shop. Etsy isn't going to stand at the door, calling for customers, or are they?

There seem to have been many complaints lately about Etsy's search function, but if you ask me, I am okay with it. Sure, sure, I know how to navigate it, but I'm almost always able to find what I'm looking for provided the sellers tag correctly. Has Etsy created a tagging system that, essentially, brings people straight into our shops to do some shopping? Perhaps they have. It's wise for new and old sellers alike to search through the catagory for items you sell and see what sub-catagories there are. It's wise to use these for tagging instead of creating your own tags as they are hard wired into the system to be chosen while searching for items to buy.

The Storque has published an article about tagging and you can read it HERE. Tagging everything, using all 14 tagging options, and tagging well is very important - don't ignore that part of your shop.

Oh, and by the way, make sure that each and every one of your items has the following tag "AREtsy Team" - this allows people to search by team and Etsy has asked that we add "team" to our team name when tagging... you can be flagged if you don't (but who would be that mean?).