Wow! How Cool!

Etsy is having a Christmas in July Sale coming up this week and there are 2 blogs about how it started. I am getting excited to offer my deals up this week. Only a couple of days and I will share the first surprise sale!

Read about it here:
http://www.handmadenews.org/article/index.php?id=1971

and here:
http://indiestyleblog.com/?p=590

That's all for tonight. I'll be getting stuff ready for the sale and for my show, so I'll be busy.

Long Time NO see! Christmas in July sale

I'd like to try and keep better track and update my blog more. I also would like to make it a little more user-friendly and more interesting to read. If you have a comment or suggestion, I am all ears!

I am thinking of moving my focus of just Etsy and scrapping to possibly that and everyday life. The last few months have been pretty crazy. I have spent most days creating and making more stuff for my shop and thinking of new ideas to WOW! my customers. I've also spent some time trying to figure out how to better promote my shop to people.

My sister has generously decided to let me use her home to have my very own craft show, coming up this week. My brother-in-law came up with the idea to help expand my business, so I am going to go for it! I am nervous a little; not because of not having enough material but to speak a few words to her friends, some of who I don't know or haven't met yet. I have to bite the bullet and just go for it. I have confidence that my work will sell itself, but I need to work on feeling confident to talk in front of people I don't know, and not show how painfully shy in real life I am.

If anyone reads this, please wish me luck this week! :)

My Etsy shop has been open for a year and a half now. In that year and a half I have learned a great deal about running a business. I've learned what works, and what doesn't. I've made many improvements and changed many a things since being owner of Paperika. (see my shop at: paperika.etsy.com I've studied for months how to take better pictures.

I have some news to share about Etsy. Every year, the sellers participate in a seller wide sale, called Christmas in July. We can have a sale however we want.Some sellers have sales on just Christmas stuff, some have sales in their whole shop, some offer free shipping. Last year, I made a special price on some Christmas items.

Etsy's seller-wide sale is going to be later in July, but I am beginning my Christmas in July sale on July 8, which is the date of my home party. I will be offering some special discounts on Christmas items, anything having to do with the cold, and some older inventory I'd like to give a new home too a little quicker! So watch my shop. Each week (and perhaps some surprises within the week) I will feature a special sale. I won't spoil my plans here. You'll have to come and check out my shop to see what's in store! :)

Featured Sellers

Here is another edition of my featured Etsy Artists.

Today, I was on the forums on Etsy and I found this seller. She has a stained glass piece that I think is BEAUTIFUL!

Her name is Magpie: magpie.etsy.com
She sells stained glass and other supplies.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=8191439
This seller, Mia's Closet, miascloset.etsy.com has the most adorable clothes for pets. I bought one of her outfits for a Christmas gift. Check her out!

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5012518

Thanks for reading!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Sorry I haven't been back as often as I wanted to. I was sick earlier in the week and some other issues have come up too! But I am back and I am hoping that I can post more regularly.

Thanksgiving brought me a custom order! I will be working on that this weekend and finishing up my own personal Christmas cards. I posted a few new cards too. For those of you who look at my shop www.paperika.etsy.com I listed new cards. There aren't enough pictures to properly show the whole listing, so here they are!

Season's Greetings Card Set:

A grand idea for another post!

I've been checking out other Etsy sellers, and I just got an idea....I would like to share with you some of my favorites out there!

This week, I'll spend some time sharing with you my favorite sellers. I was promoting my shop on the forums and asking members to see their snowman products and so many people had adorable Snowmen so I thought I'd share with you some cute creations!

Today I will highlight two of my favorites:
Crafty Little kitten has some adorable stuffed snowmen and Santa Claus items. Her shop site is : www.craftykitten.etsy.com


Earthly Creations: She's an awesome seller who has given my some great advice on my shop's pictures. She has some great pieces! She has some really creative pieces. One particular thing I really liked was some earrings in the shape of a fish! Jewelry is a hot item to sell and Earthly is really creative! She also has a pair of earrings that are pink and adorable. I also like her giraffe pendant and the dolphin pendant.
Her shop's address is:
http://www.earthlycreations.etsy.com

Christmas in November!

Wow, I checked my blog here and didn't realize how long it's been since I last posted. I was busy with work and making creations for my Etsy shop. Now I've been off work for what will be at least a month because of a medical problem with my feet.

I have made 231 Christmas cards so far and more are in the making. I am sure more creations will be coming, as I just bought myself a great little tool that is brand new to the scrapbooking world. It's by Making Memories, and it's called The Slice. It's a digital die cut machine and I love it. Very easy to use, the shapes are cute, and it's little so it's portable.

Without further ado, let me show you what I've been working on!

Boo to You!

These adorable gift tags are about to be the newest addition to my Etsy shop! The image of the ghost is what inspired me to make a ghost shape tag, which was made from two different templates! They were lots of fun to make. I am going to upload some more tags and cards throughout this week!

Remember to check out the rest of my work at:

www.paperika.etsy.com