Banner Review

Before bed last night, i whipped up a new banner for Scribble Shop. Am quite pleased with it, considering that it only took me about half an hour. A bit of fiddling around with the then-banner in MS PowerPoint and saved as a JPEG file and wa-la..

I think i've improved my banner-making skills. Let's examine shall we?

March-April

May - August, Sept  

++I believe Aug and Sept shared this same last banner.

Oct-Dec

Hmm....I can't tell. I spent a lot of time looking at my shop banners while making them, so i can't be objective enough. Though I can tell you the latest one is my favourite; but even then now that i look at it again, i still can see improvements to make (lighter grey background, more texture).

I have thought about buying one for about $5. Some of the designs I've seen on Etsy are not bad, for that price. But my miserly side is shaking her head. Maybe sometime next year, if i see a great deal. In the meantime, i shall keep playing around with graphics until i make the ULTIMATE banner, the banner to BEAT them all muahahaha!

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*Cough* Ahem. Pardon me.

Goodnight folks.

Super Sunday!

It's Super Sunday today. Got home after badminton session and found myself in this Storque article (the Storque is Etsy's Blog name) about bookmaking, quite by accident. Another check with Craftcult later led me to realise, not only was the article responsible for the GINORMOUS increase in Scribble Shop's incoming traffic, but also i was on the Front Page again! For a little while anyway.

1 Storque article + 1 Front Page features ----> 30 new item "hearts" & 17 new shop "hearts".

Front Page List

A little more reflection and then it dawned on me. I made a comment in the forums about Etsy's new shipping tool option (offering a suggestion and inadvertently making my presence known) and the forum's poster Etsy Admin member JulieinCharge took notice. She was the one who wrote that Storque article.

He He He....Mighty happy. =)

Road Map Envelopes

Things have been quite slow in progress in terms of Scribble Shop additions. August has been a busy month, especially with my new art course. We're given homework and though it doesn't seem like much, it certainly takes up my time.

I feel i should be focusing on my art education and so, i've been trying to do some self-study as well. At the moment, i'm reading 2 useful books on watercolour painting, and pattern design. My plans for the immediate future are:

1. More frequent art sessions - e.g. a painting a day, quick sketches, plein air studies in the Park


2. Organising my crafting areas - find suitable vertical storage, orderliness, separate creating & mailing spots,


3. Better housekeeping (uh-huh)

Also, my niece is coming in about a week. As in, coming into the world. Yes, i think it's a girl. We don't know, only the doc does. My Mum will be visiting and staying for 2 months to help with the baby. And a dear friend of mine is getting married.

Looks like September will be a very interesting month. =)

Latest Stuff

My latest listing are these gift/hang tags:

Not quite sure where i got this sailboat idea from. Most probably from the wind direction bits in these maps i collected. I had also wanted to use up this massive pile of used envelopes i'd stashed for months. I'm glad i finally found a good use for them. They look so much nicer in person. They look rather faded in the photos but in real life, the subtle colours gives off a very pleasant calming nature.

I'm in a real pit at the moment, creatively. Thinking of starting over in Etsy and heading in a new direction. I've been doing more research into business side of things as well as recycled paper supplies. The latter has proven to be the most difficult part of all. I can't bring myself to lower my standards and just purchase any recycled paper eg lower post-consumer waste, overseas origin, plantation fibre, only green in the energy department etc.

Particularly, recycled acid-free cardstock. Apparently, they exist. Thus far, i've found some from the US but they don't ship internationally and even if they do, way too expensive. I'm a little suspicious of a local supply and they sell only in these humougous sheets (think bigger than A0) and most probably to registered businesses only.

Sigh. Huge dilemma. Do i give in to the masses and just choose a less recycled content paper, or do i struggle on in my beliefs and compete with the other more successful sellers who use them?

I want things to work......

Where have i been?

It's been a while. Where have i been?

I'm still around. Art classes are keeping me busier and though it doesn't take up many hours of the week, i have been finding it difficult. As in, feeling lethargic and just so tired. So i went to the doc.

He advised me to take supplementary vitamins, B1 and B6. OK, yes i'm guilty. I haven't been eating properly regularly. I came home, and searched through Wikipedia. Symptoms of deficiency in B1 and B6: -emotional disturbances, fatigue, lethargy, poor concentration etc. Yup, sounds like me....

So i really need to take care of myself a lot better. =(

I'm still crafting and have come up with some new ideas. Excited about it, can't wait to show them in Scribble Shop.

I promise to show some of my art next time..have learnt lots and am very glad i signed up for the classes. Oh, and next week a male model will be posing nude...! I wasn't totally keen on the idea and am still tossing up between going or not. It costs $10 extra per session with the model as well, so it's also a cost factor. I'm on a really tight budget at the moment. Art supplies can be pretty dear.

Toodle - oo, eat well, sleep well, craft well...

Celebration!

It's a miracle! I've made a sale! =D Super-duper happy about it - a complete surprise. I was just pottering around on the computer over the weekend when Outlook popped up with a new e-mail message from Paypal...i looked at the message, and only after 5 seconds did it hit me. I did it! My first customer was from the US. Hehe...i was so delighted!!

I'm glad the Branch Out note cards sold. It was pretty unexpectedly made, on a whim kind of. The few days since that, i've had some unpleasant scenarios to deal with so sat down to make more cards. Lo and behold, i produced some pretty ones i like. It's funny how when bad things happen, i then go on to make nice stuff. =/ Is that a good or bad thing?

OK - so new stuff i've put up:



I'm experimenting with photography and props again. Hmm, is it just me or do my photos seem to get worse and worse? =/ Gotta brush up on my skills. And here's a sneak peek to come later in the week:

Unedited photo. I'll make them clearer in the shop.

Cheerio!

PS: How was your Earth Hour? Mine was great! Sleepy but great. =P

Temporary Drought

I haven't been idle.

However, since the weekend, i had been experiencing a creative juice drought, brought on by personal matters. There are bad days and there are good days when it comes to crafting. Yesterday was one of the bad ones. I'm happy to report that today was a lot better. =)

I made a couple of japanese stab-bound notebooks. They may not be as fanciful as some of the ones on Etsy but i like them all the same. And i'm glad i didn't break my needle like the last time. That was frustrating. Imagine an embedded needle in the middle of a 1 cm stack of paper. I shouldn't like to keep breaking needles. They are quite affordable but it's a pain to go to the shops when you're in the middle of the project. Fortunately, i had a spare. I should probably just keep a stash at home in case.

Speaking of breaking stuff, i also broke my circle punch. Uh-huh. I tried to punch my Ecocern cardboard and it....broke. Tough stuff that cardboard. Reminder to self: don't force the poor punch. I tried to find a replacement when Spotlight had a storewide 20% off sale recently but no luck. I think it might be time to make online orders instead of traipsing to the shops to get supplies, since i know exactly what i want to get. The thing is, there's a billion scrapbooking punch suppliers on the net. I've trawled online before and it boggles me. How on earth do you compare so many of em to find the best value?

Oh, i've added a couple more items to my shop. And i figured out how to show my items on the right side of my blog. You can see it here ---------> Hehe...i'm not that technologically-challenged after all..

Next post - my latest op-shop buys.

A Date To Remember..

Yippee hoha yay! I've opened shop!

Only 1 listing at the moment but i'm getting the hang of things. The next step is to learn how to improve in photography. When you can't see the product in person, photos make or break the deal right?

Any suggestions are welcome..i'm excited. =)

Sneak Peek

I've been taking photographs and playing around with editing and lighting. Does this look too blur and washed out? It hasn't been edited by the way.

I've also been looking at packaging. I didn't want these art/note cards to bend. Some research later, i thought it was best to do the stiff cardboard sandwich method. I was thinking of how to make them when i remembered that Australia Post seems to have something like that in their product range. True enough, the Computer Disk and Photo Mailer seems like it'll do the job nicely. All i gotta do is wrap these cards in cello wrap to make them waterproof. And maybe add a ribbon. And a thank you card. And a business card.

Preparations, preparations...fortunately, Etsy has heaps of helpful information. The Seller's Handbook is very handy. I was overwhelmed when i first saw it. Everything from your shop's appearance to tips on describing your creations, to photography. Initially i was trying to follow all the tips. But now i've realised that is just not possible. I should just start listing a few items and then improve as i go on. Otherwise, my shop will never open LOL. Less perfectionism, so to say.

Cheerio!

Sticky

I'm going to ramble.

I was happy yesterday and early this morning. I had finally found something to help kink out the bubbles when i'm pasting papers. Using a ruler/any other flat object doesn't seem to work for me. Maybe it was just the glue+water mixing that i didn't get right.

Anyhow, the brayer i got is pretty nifty and affordable. It's like a paint roller, but with rubber. Traditionally used in screenprinting, i got it from a local Riots Arts and Craft store. I tried it out last night and this morning, and it works great! That was the good part.

The bad part started with using a sealant on top of the papers. I wasn't happy after the first coat. In fact, i'm not even sure if i should seal my work. Bahh. Visible brush strokes on today's work, but none on yesterday's. What went wrong? After a bit of telly, nibbling, thinking and pondering, i'm guessing it's probably because i didn't wait long enough. I need to let it dry overnight and then tada! Brush strokes will disappear..i really hope so. I don't think it's the weather. It rained a while but wasn't so damp that nothing dried.

Patience, my love...patience. Good things come to those who wait...

.....sometimes, i really hate glue...*sigh*.

Found and Bought - Treasures

Time to reveal a bit more about myself. I'm currently working as a volunteer at an op-shop in the next suburb. It's only for 2.5 hours on Wednesday afternoons, so it's not too time-consuming and is quite fun. =)

I read people's accounts of how they find treasures in op-shops/thrift stores all the time, sometimes more so if they work there because they get first picks. I never thought i would be one of those people as i had always been refused in previous applications. But a few weeks ago, magic happened and i joined one of them!

The OneNoffs shop in Randwick Junction is run by The Ted Noff's Foundation. TNF helps youths and their families who have drug and alcohol issues. And now on reading the website more closely, i see Ted Noffs was a co-founder of Lifeline. Interesting.

I've been on 3 shifts so far and have seen some interesting items, but didn't make any purchases. Then earlier this week, lo and behold! I discovererd a gem (to me). Presenting...

This beautiful black velvet pencil skirt

Everything in store is currently 50% off. And because i am staff, i get another 50% off! So from $10, to $5, and finally i got this beauty for a mere $2.50. =D This has got to be my best op-shop buy yet. $2.50!

And i didn't even get first dibs at it. It was just hanging on the rack along with many other black skirts.

It's a very good velvet material. Most velvet clothes i've seen are thin and wrinkle very easily, but not this one. It probably needs to be handwashed carefully. This skirt certainly made my day.

Velvet really does not photograph well, let alone black velvet. Notice it's not wrinkly or too lint-y.

In crafting news, i'm still working on "designing" note cards and notebooks. It's tough. No wonder designers charge an arm and a leg. All that time spent thinking and trying to come up with something appealing and original.

It doesn't help that using reclaimed paper means having a very unpredictable supply. So i decided to get some truly recycled paper, for some of my future creations.

Ecocern paper is made from 100% post-consumer waste (photos coming soon). That's right. That means it's made entirely of office scrap papers, and what-not. No new trees were chopped down to make them and no bleaching agents were used to make these lovely, earthy-feel brown-gray paper.

Ecocern does sell 100% recycled white paper as well if that is what you prefer. I also bought some cardboard to experiment with because i only eat so much cereal in a month. =) Anyway, check them out:

http://www.ecocern.com/

78-90 Old Canterbury Road (it's in the Industrial Complex - i walked right past it twice - another story another time),

Lewisham, Sydney, Australia.

Till next time...