Swap Addicted

Cupcake ATC Swap- US only

My very first ATC's! I used permanent marker pen and watercolors as my medium. The theme we had to use was "cupcakes". I absolutely love how they turned out! I'm really going to miss them when they're gone.

Back To My First Love

I must say April was definitely the month for me! I started listing items for sale on Etsy in January and felt like I was beating my head against the proverbial wall with absolutely no sales for three months. When I first started listing on Etsy I started out by listing crocheted items- baby blankets, dish cloths, loofahs and even some cute fingerless gloves. I learned to crochet in the fall of last year (2009) so I was trying to stretch my skill level and learn and do as much as I could. I like crocheting, but I wouldn't say I'm passionate about it. So after awhile, my lack of passion combined with no sales combined with what felt like the onset of carpal tunnel I decided to go back to my first love... paper crafting!

In mid April I made my first card set and within a few hours of listing it, I had a special request for not only that set, but 15 more of the same card. Just like that- FIRST SALE! This happened two more days in a row to end up being three sales in three days! Needless to say, I was ecstatic. I finally felt like all my hard work had paid off. Since then I have tried to add at least one new item to my shop every day and have made six more sales since for a grand total of nine sales!

Now I am more motivated than ever to continue doing what I LOVE because when you do what you love, it's easy to love what you do!

As always
Angela

Too Legit To Quit

Here's a great idea... I'll do something I love and enjoy and then I'll make money for it (or at least TRY to)! Sounds simple enough, but you know how that goes... if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. In September 2009 I set up an etsy.com account, but it wasn't until a few months ago that I actually listed anything for sale and when I did it was nothing more than one baby blanket I had spent countless hours creating and a multitude of dishcloths (which happened to be the first thing I ever learned to crochet). At that point that was pretty much the extent of my crocheting skills. I have since then listed a few more blankets, 2 of which I sold offline to family members, none of which I have sold on etsy. Of course I can't really blame anyone for not buying... the pictures are barely mediocre and the selection is, well... crap (though my dishcloths have had 70 hits).

In the past month I put down the baby blankets and picked up a broader range of skills, working feverishly to produce something original and fun... something someone might actually want to buy. I am happy to say I'm getting closer to that goal (at least I think so). But a week ago is when things got a little rocky. I discovered that to legitimately sell my items I actually had to register as a business... yes, that's right... an actual business! And oh boy is that where I hit a huge brick wall. I was full of questions on how to go about it, but the answers were elusive at best. At least 20 times a day I went back and forth in my mind about whether I should forge ahead or give up the fight. Luckily, my personal "mission statement" in this endeavor is this: "If you think you can, you can. And if you think you can't, you're right." (Mary Kay Ash) After making this my mantra I was able to keep pulling myself back from the depths of despair to overcome that brick wall in front of my head. Answers were eventually found and the process has been started (involving lots of fun forms). It is altogether possible I will never sell a single thing to anyone outside of my family (thanks for believing, mom!), but I know one thing is for sure... I am too legit to quit. In other words, I am awesome.



As always

Angela



www.etsy.com/asalwaysangela