Friday Features: Janey Mac Press

1. Tell us a bit about yourself.
We are a mother daughter design team. We work from home in Idaho.

2. What first made you want to become an artist?
I (the daughter) started out with architecture. I really loved design, and once I had kids I felt my creative senses moving into different directions and landed with designing vinyl for home living spaces - but I mostly love to design decals for children's spaces.

3. Please describe your creative process.
I get a lot of my inspiration from fabrics and trends.
I like to keep my design classic looking. I feel like clean and fresh designs are what come naturally to me.

4. Name your top five books, movies, musicians, and websites besides Etsy.
Books: John Adams, The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands, Gone with the Wind,
The DaVinci Code & Hunger Games
Movies: Steel Magnolias, Gladiator, The Count of Monte Cristo, Gone with the Wind and Any Shrek movie :)
Musicians: Imogen Heap, The Beatles, Enya, Peter Bjorn and John & Sarah Mclachlan
Websites: Shabby Apple, Spearmint Baby, Decor8blog, picnik & Ucreate

5. What advice would you give to artists on Etsy?
Stay true to your style :)
Like Dr Seuss says:
'Today you are you, that is truer that true. There is no one alive who is youer than you.'

6. How do you promote your work?
I advertise on blogs and do local markets.
We also have our own blog where we do weekly giveaways, inspiration, tutorials etc.
www.janeymacpress.blogspot.com

Posting later today then I normally do. But, this is worth sharing. I woke up this morning to that wonderful feeling. I sold another piece. It always feels good. The best part about selling a piece is that I now get to reinvest that money into more beads. This means eventually more pieces, and hopefully more sales. It is a nice growth cycle.

Now off to Fire Mountain Gems. If you are a beader this is a good way to order. I know I have mentioned them before. They have a teired discount. I always make sure to be able to order enough to at least get the first discount. There is never a reason to pay full price. Never. I have ordered the new brand of Delicas called Dyna-Mites. They are the house version and I haven't worked with them before. I am going to put a review up here when I get to play with them.

Business Sense: Last Call

So I seem to have run out of ideas for this line of articles. I know there is a lot more out there that I haven't covered. So I am giving you a chance to give me ideas. I figure there might be issues that you have run into and want advice, or a second opinion on. Just leave a message and I will find an answer for you.

I am also trying to come up with another series for my blog. If you have any ideas of what you would like to see let me know. I want my blog to always be useful to you and entertaining.

Again, if you have a question and need an answer let me know by leaving a message.

Friday Features: Trendy Knitting

1. Tell us a bit about yourself and 2. What first made you want to become an artist?
I have been knitting and crocheting since I was a little girl. I don’t remember when I exactly started. However when my first daughter was born, I started to spend more time on design so I could knit more creative things for her. Because at that time it was not as easy to find different clothes for babies in Turkey, we didn’t have lots of alternatives. By the way, my first daughter is 30 years old now :). So, I have been a full time mother for about 30 years. I have two daughters and a son. But my daughters were married about 2-3 years ago and my son is in another city at university. So, although I’m a very social person and have lots of friends, it was just two of us at home with only my husband. :) I realized that I had lots of spare time and I need a success story in my life for myself. For a long time, I had forgotten to think about myself.

Meanwhile, my daughter mentioned about Etsy, its potential, system etc. I like the idea of selling my own handmade pieces worldwide. My daughter and I became a team, and opened our shop on Etsy. I’m responsible of all the design and production process of our Etsy shop, Trendy Knitting, and she is responsible of all the communication and listing process on Etsy, since I’m not as good at English. And for about 2 years, I feel very good about myself, happy and successful. Now I have a success story for myself. I design and knit handmade accessories and people from all around the world buy and love my items :). I become so happy when receiving positive feedback and compliments from my customers. Moreover, I have a production team of 5 people, who are full time mothers too. And I provide them the opportunity to make some money by working at home. This makes me so happy too.

3. Please describe your creative process.
Inspiration doesn’t come at the time when I start to think about designing a new item. It comes when I’m dealing with another thing, when I shopping around or observing people on the street, their clothes, their styles etc. Actually, because of this, I love my own inspiration process, having the idea on the time that you don’t expect makes you much happier.

After having the inspiration I start to think about the details of the item, which material and color to use, what differentiates it from substitutes, which details to add to make that accessory unique etc. After having all these in my head, I start to knit or crochet my new accessory. If my first draft wins approval from my daughters :), then it’s my team’s turn. They make this new item in 3-4 different colors; we list the item on Etsy and wait for its buyers.

4. Name your top five books, movies, musicians, and websites besides Etsy.
For books, my favorite is all Dan Brown books and Lord of the Kings and Harry Potter series. While it is not a movie, I love the LOST however I did not like the ending. :) My favorite musician is Bon Jovi and the website is Craftopolis :)

5. What advice would you give to artists on Etsy?
Actually I do not have a specific piece of advice for the Etsy Sellers, but I’m a very social and positive person. I try to get all the pleasure of every second of my life, and by this way I’m so happy. I suggest to everyone to try to be happy and have a success story for you as well :).

6. How do you promote your work?
Well I have a loyalty card for my customers. Each of my customers gets the loyalty card and I give them special offers for their future orders. This special offers are not only for my customers, but also for their friends :)

Home Again, Home Again...

After every car trip I sit down and think about the small lessons I have learned. It has become a tradition since my trip to New Orleans four years ago. I make a list of 10 thing I didn't know before. So in keeping with tradition.

Things I learned:

1. It doesn't matter how big or comfortable the vehicle is after 5 hours it isn't.
2. Being the navigator only works if the driver will follow the directions and not argue over every step.
3. Cities you are not used to never label streets or highways well enough. It is worse if you have good directions.
4. Eating a brownie out of the back of a large toy dump truck is more fun then it sounds. (So you will believe me: The Dirty Dump Truck
5. Pools in hotels are built for 6 year old children to swim in which is why they are only 5' deep at best.
6. That a company or the government will pay me not to start a Wind Farm.
7. That some childhood stories you should never admit to... You will never hear the end of it from your friends.
8. That being the same height as a 13 year old is a disadvantage at a summer program for middle school students.
9. That you never need ear plugs when you need them, and need them when you can't find them.
10. That coming home to a made bed is the best feeling ever.

My trip was mainly uneventful. The first day we spent 8-9 hours in the truck and stayed in St. Louis for a day. Then we got up and drove another 4 hours to Kansas City. This is were most of the trip happened. I decided that if I ever move I am going out there. It is amazing. The part of the city where we stayed was really well laid out, artsy, and was gorgeous. I also found that the cost of living seems to be cheaper out there. Two days later we got back in the truck and drove 9 hours to Nashville. We made a pit stop by my home town of Clarksville. It is amazing how small that place seems now. I know a lot of it is that I live in Atlanta. Everywhere seems kind of small now. But I was happy to see that the house my Mom built was still there. I got a few photos for her. Then in Nashville we were so tired from the trip we only slept. The next morning it was another four hours back to the safety of home. I missed my bed. Since this post if long I am only going to add a few of my favorite photos...



I will be putting more up on my flickr if you want to look in a few days.

Iron Butterfly

First, yes I totally listen to them. I am a big fan of classic rock, hair band rock, heavy metal, and the always bad but fun fantasy rock.

Now on with the show. I finally finished the custom cuff for CyberCulinary. You can find her on Twitter and Etsy. I think she is working on a way to bring her love of cooking to Etsy. She tends to represent herself in Butterflies, because of the constant changing in their growth pattern. Knowing her it is extremely accurate. Every time I talk to her she has a new recipe or craft she wants to try. In that way we are very much the same.

So here are some really fuzzy images. I am going to take some really nice ones when I get back from my trip.

On the Move

As you read this I will be somewhere in between St. Louis, Mo and Nashville, TN. I took the weekend and dropped off my niece at the Duke Summer Program. It is amazing to think of what she is going to be doing there. I have never known a person so eager at such a young age to actually work towards her goal of being a doctor. So this week when I get back I am going to be posting about my adventure across country.

I won't actually be back at my home until Tuesday Night. So this weeks posts are going to be rather sparse.

Friday Feature: Kreativ Link

1. Tell us a bit about yourself.
I'm a homebody. Apart from traveling to new countries, I'm happy spending my time in our messy little house here in Austria. The only room I like to clean and organize is my studio. Yes. It's becoming a real problem. Thankfully, I have a very understanding husband!

I'm self-employed and have been working from home since 1996. I'm so used to doing things my way, I don't think I could ever go back into a "real" job. And well, I'm also rather unsocial I have to say. I'm not the one you would find at parties or things like that. Most people I find rather ... boring. Yep. There. Now I said it! :D

The Internet is just my thing. I can communicate with people all over the world, have fun chats on Twitter and the like, but I can as easily step away and be my grumpy, solitary self.

2. What first made you want to become an artist?
I don't know. I never planned or dreamed about becoming an artist. It's just what happened in my life. Somehow.

3. Please describe your creative process.
That's another question I always have a hard time answering. There is no "process". I just do what feels right. All the wonderful forms that there are in nature fascinate me. And, I can't get enough of ancient and mysterious cultures. I often think about how it was living in old times. Or how it will be living in the future. When I'm in a deep forest I can't help but keep an eye out to see if I see a fairy. Not that I really believe they exist, but wouldn't it be nice if they did? I can spend hours just daydreaming ... and all the crazy things in my head somehow find a way into my work. But if that is a process, I don't know :)

4. Name your top five books, movies, musicians, and websites besides Etsy.
Ack sorry, can't do that either. I love to read Science Fiction and Fantasy for fun (surprise, right?) with the occasional tough stuff in between. I like old baroque music and smooth jazz and blues. The movies I love most are the ones that make you forget about the here and now. And websites, well, I don't think I know about any cool ones that aren't already well known.

5. What advice would you give to artists on Etsy?

If you are lucky and don't have to earn money with it - just enjoy and have fun!
If you have to rely on the income - prepare for long hours and lots of work. Success on Etsy doesn't come easy. There are thousands of artists who are offering amazing work. It's not enough to make something "nice". You can only survive if you make something that makes people feel "ahhh... I WANT/NEED that". And it needs to stand up to your customer’s expectations when they open your package at home. Your product is the first and most important thing. All other things - like taking good photos, giving great customer service and such - come after that.

6. How do you promote your work?
I do have a website http://www.kreativlink.at and a blog http:///www.kreativling.at
I post photos on my flickr account, on deviantART, and I twitter about it.

A little bit of a change...

There is a change in my normal weekly formatting. I found that most of the shops I go to and look at have so many wonderful items. I always have a hard time trying to pare down my choices to one option. Many of the times I will switch one item out for the next. So I have decided to make Friday Favorites focus more on the shop owners and not just the items for a little while. I am going to call it Friday Feature. If you would like to be featured let me know. I am going to make a list of questions that will help us better get to know you. If you want to go ahead and answer them, here are the ones I have right now. I am letting you know I am borrowing these questions from the Etsy Featured Seller.

1. Tell us a bit about yourself.
2. What first made you want to become an artist?
3. Please describe your creative process.
4. Name your top five books, movies, musicians, and websites besides Etsy.
5. What advice would you give to artists on Etsy?
6. How do you promote your work?

Friday Favorites: Pottery

I love buying new dishes. There is a row in Target where they display a full place setting up on the walls. All of the colors, patterns, and shapes all seem to show off while they are next to each other. So when I realized I could turn to the wonderful sellers on Etsy, I decided it was time to share all the goodies with you.

1. PigeonToeCeramics/ 2. vesselsandwares
3. kbrownpottery / 4. dbabcock
5. juditavill / 6. glyntpottery
7. hughespottery/ 8. andersenpottery

Business Sense: Packaging

Lets play a game... Name that companies packaging. The little teal blue box is famous. It is a simple color. It isn't highly decorated. The most the company does is a simple text logo on the center of the lid and it is wrapped in a simple white bow. It is the purest form of package design out there. It is classic, simple, colorful, and easily recognizable.

These are the key concepts you want to shot for in your stores packaging. There are several resources for packaging online. You should think about your product and what it requires. The packaging I have for my Ring Blossoms is very different from the packaging I use for my embroidered cuffs. My cuffs in general are very sturdy and don't need a lot of protective packaging. I do however like to send them in a card stock paper box. This way I don't worry about anything getting damaged. For my Ring Blossoms I created a fold over card that I attach to a clear plastic resealable bag. They look like something you would find hanging from a hook at the store. If someone wants one wrapped as a gift, I use a paper stock box and use a bit of matted cotton to puff the ring up.

However my needs are going to be different from another Etsy seller. Someone who does pottery for example is going to need protective packaging to be included. Think about how you would receive a vase sent from Target. It would come in a cardboard box. Inside you would have a molded piece of Styrofoam or corrugated cardboard supports. Those would be taped in place to keep the vase from moving. Since you cannot mold Styrofoam to each piece, you can consider buying large blocks and cutting them to generally fit. Or, you can buy packing peanuts. If you have an issue with this places like FedEx can help you find the best option for your piece. You can then look for those options at a cheaper price and do it yourself. Consider the one trip to FedEx as research.

If you have clothing you are sending consider a simple piece of tissue around your folded garment and decorative twine. You could also use a sample piece of fabric you have left over and make pouches that button shut. This is a great idea and feel free to use it.

Just remember you want you packaging to be consistent. Pick a theme and go with it. You also want to consider how reusable your packaging can be. If you want to "be green" try to make it a functional piece as well. The pouch your shirt arrived in might be useful as a travel piece. If you have creative ways to reuse your packaging, suggest it on cute little note card. People will love the time you took to make their item so special.

Also consider offering Packaging as an added item in your store. This way if people do not want it, then you do not have to worry about the cost. It also gives them the option of not paying for it with the item. The customer also has the option of not having to wrap the best birthday present they have ever seen for their bestfriend.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any creative ways to package your items.

The Farmer's Market and Me

Over the past few weeks, I have been take more time out of my schedule to cook. I am cooking a healthy home cooked meal three times a week. So I have been going to the Farmer's Market near my home. This allows me to get the freshest fruits and vegetables at a fraction of the cost. The moment this really struck me was last night in the grocery store when I saw organic tomatoes on the vine for $2.78. At the Farmer's Market, I got the same thing for $1.28. So if you have one near you, I suggest finding it and take a trip out there to scout out your options. You do however want to look up their health code scores online. You don't want to go to one that has problems with health code violations.

But, I have also picked up a magazine on Clean Eating. The theory is that the more natural the food is the better it is for you. The more processed foods tend to have more ingredients and therefor are not as good for you. This isn't a new concept. So people who run around buying the diet foods are still not eating the best food for them. I also suggest buying a crock pot. Many crock pot recipes start with 2-3 cups of raw vegetables. This means super healthy. As long as you don't pile on lots of butter it is hard to make it unhealthy.

Here is a link to the magazine I was talking about: Clean Eating Magazine.