Opening Up Shop

At long last, my Etsy shop is open! You can visit it at InStitchesKarenDubay to see my crafty items, all made with vintage sewing machines. After the craft fairs were over I wanted to try this as a means of selling where I didn't have to leave home and smile for seven hours straight to sell my items. Craft fairs can be fun but they are always a lot of work and when sales are just mediocre it's discouraging. What's nice about Etsy is the wide audience you can reach. My calendar towel tote bags have a wide variety of themes that Minnesotans might not care about but those in Cape Cod or New York would love to have (those are two of the bags I haven't sold yet).

So here's what my shop looks like:

I had a graphic designer, Justin Ross, design the banner (as well as my business cards: thank you Justin) for a professional look that I really like. I took photos and started to add items for sale. Sounds easy, huh? Not so much.

1. Set up photography set: tables, backdrops, lights on poles, camera on tripod
2. Learn to use husband's new camera: don't break anything!
3. Learn about lighting: and shadows and settings
4. Learn how to download: ignore the 500 photos previously taken of scenery
5. Learn how to edit in new software program: short learning curve since I've been editing for this blog and Craigslist entries
6. Learn how to write script for items: how many ways can you say "toaster cover"?
7. Learn Etsy
8. Repeat

So now I sit back and wait for sales. Or promote my site for sales. You are reading this blog post instead of visiting my shop? Well, the link is at the top of this post so you only have to click (this is shameless advertising, isn't it?). I hope you find this interesting, no pressure to buy, but would welcome comments for improvements. Do I need to make the descriptions cuter? compelling? more descriptive? Are the photos clear? Would you actually find this interesting even if you were not in the market for a toaster cover? This is all new to me so we will see how it goes. It has been suggested that I should post my sewing machines for sale in Etsy and make them "local pick up only" so I might do that with a few that are more colorful. The portable models would look good since I can use the photo set but cabinet models are more problematic. Here's one I photographed in the photo set:

Centennial

There are always new skills to learn! But isn't that what keeps us alive the ticking?