Storage Issues

So, for my New Year's resolution for Sleipnir, I am determined to better organize not only my shop online, but also all of my business items and inventory at home. The most hassle are the crane ornaments. They don't rest well on a flat surface and are better stored hanging. They also tangle easily with each other due to their shape.

I am thinking of something like this, which is inexpensive and would serve my purpose. I know it would be very easy to make one from better materials, but it's just simply not in my budget right now (have had to pay out over four digits in vehicle repairs recently), and I don't think I have the time, either. Anyway, I was thinking of something like this:



The drawers come out and ornaments can easily be organized in them. They won't get dusty, which is the biggest concern I have with paper items. It's not like I can just take a wet rag to them.

Right now, my star ornaments and things like my gift boxes are stored and organized in a boatload of acid-free photo boxes. These types of items don't tangle, rest well together, and are easier to sort through.

The problem I'm having is that my shipping supplies are taking over. I have a few different-sized boxes to cut down shipping costs for my customers as much as I can, when I can, while still being able to ship their items safely. Plus I have different gift boxes, tissues, my scale...and the misc. small things like tape.

Lastly, I need to set up a permanent place for my photo box. Right now, the whole thing has to be set up on the floor or a table somewhere and put away when I'm done with it. It takes a long time for me to get it how it needs to be for a few pictures, and then to put it all away again. It's just too time consuming.

If anyone has any ideas for me, I'd be happy to hear them!

What a Week!

It has been a busy, busy week for me by my terms. I'm not complaining, I've had some great discoveries and some fairly awesome sales! I'd rather be busy than twiddling my thumbs any day of the week (which is probably what will become depressing after the holidays are over).

I had two sales in the past few days, which is just amazing, and super exciting as one of the items is going all the way to Australia! My first international sale, and definitely one that shocked me as I checked my shop right before my bf and I sat down to watch a movie last night. Here are the two beauties that have found their new homes:





I am ecstatic!! I have also been doing some work with another shop, helping them to understand SEO and fix the little things in their shop that some people are not aware of that are hurting them. I really do like helping others (not that I consider myself a veteran by any means) when I have the time. I know I certainly would have an empty shop full of bad photos and horrible item descriptions if I hadn't asked for help when I started!

I also have a craft fair coming up in about 2 weeks. This is a first for me, and I still have things to prepare for it. (We were waiting on my bf's big Thanksgiving paycheck, LOL!) I need to go get the cloth I want and make my tablecloth, finish a few ornament displays, and figure out what my finishing touches will be to pull it all together. I'm also waiting on a shipment of MOO cards, and need to finish setting up my ProPay. Oh, and let's not forget I need to get some shopping bags from Uline, since I have none!

All-in-all, this has been an awesome week for me. I received my Australia sale from my item being featured on this site, which Google had not told me about. That was a very fantastic thing to find! I also had a very random convo recently from someone who said they are an old friend of mine but would like to remain anonymous, complimenting my shop and saying they had found me through Google. (Also, VERY good thing to hear, right?)

I'm still working here and there on the origami directory I had in mind, but it's what we call a very tedious chore. I think that I will also be writing up my own version of how I have been explaining SEO to other sellers, which will probably be in a few parts. (And have plenty of links to many other guides I've seen.) So much to do!

SEO ... Yes, I said it.

I'm wondering how many people have actually gone through the SEO, as I come across so many bundles and bundles of people who looked at it and gave up on page 2. (No fault of theirs, IMO. The guide was written as if we were all web developers.) I've found myself helping more and more people with their SEO recently, and am being told that apparently the way I explain it makes perfect logical sense (and isn't confusing.)

So, I may put aside the time to copy & paste different convos and emails I've had with people to the blog. I know there's SEO newb guides already made, but it makes me feel better when I help someone instead of refer them to another link (although I'll post the links I have as well, because these other guides are great, too).

I'm not sure if I feel let down by the guide, or what. Everyone was so anxious and ready for it to come, and then they threw us this giant file full of confusing examples and language that a LOT of people do not understand. If we still have people who can't figure out how to use the back button to return to a shop they were in, how the hell do they expect people to understand META tags? Sometimes things are better explained just by telling a person what they need to do and why, without all the extra bits in-between.

Don't get me wrong, the guide was great - but I understand programming languages and web design because I went to school for it for a few years (and I can't even count how many sites I've been a part of developing for friends, etc.). It just upsets me how many people were all for it until it happened. And then they all backed away with their tails between their legs. This is no fault of their own, of course - but they really could have made the guide much more simple, with plenty of optional reading information. Read the simple guide, and if you understand it and want more info, read the addendum or something.

Patchwork Origami - The Secret Project

Alright, I've been making patterns (yes, patterns) for these things and I'm starting to bundle up my paper scraps and pick out some designs for these guys. What are they? Well...for now I'm calling them patchwork origami, because that's pretty much what they are. Oodles of little paper scraps stitched together to make one square sheet, and then folded into something. Right now I'm doing cranes. Because I love cranes. I love cranes. I imagine I'll do this with other things someday, but I'm in love with how these are turning out.




Ta da!

And there it is. I have no idea how on earth I got this idea, but it just clicked in my head one day when I was sorting scraps. I have a box full of them ... and some are too small to fold, so they go into the "future handmade paper" box to be recycled by hand. But some scraps are odd-shaped or still seem a little too large for me to not use. I did a few experiments (without patterns), and quickly learned that in order to make this work as intended, it was necessary to step back and use the crease pattern of an origami crane to make sure that the stitching isn't too bunched up in some areas. So, after I created a reference to use, I made a bundle of patterns for these guys using cardstock. This made them much easier to fold.




A little stitching detail.

A few problems I ran into on my test pieces:

1. Too much stitching, caused by trying to put way too many different sheets together. Depending on the desired size, I find that 4-7 pieces is ideal. The larger the final crane, the more sheets you can add.

2. Not paying attention to what I was punching ... and either punching a hole "off" the edge of the paper, or overlapping holes on adjacent pieces. I solved this by leaving a wider margin at certain types of angles. It adds to the desired look.

3. Tearing through the guide holes while stitching. I simply moved them a fraction of a centimeter back, so that I could make sure the stitches were tight enough not to come loose, but without worry of tearing the paper.

4. Stitching that wound up in horrible spots. As I said above, I made some patterns that would put more alternating paper in the visible areas, and less in the hidden areas of the model. This is to make them easier to put together as well as making them look much better than the totally random test-runs I made.

5. My stupid needle was too small for the thickness of the string (maybe it's considered yarn at that point? I dunno...). Simple fix, went out and bought a larger set of needles! (Because they were taking me 3 minutes to thread...lol.)





The belly stitching.

So, I was thinking of ways this would make a great gift and I came up with a few:

Someone you know could have, say, broke a leg, had a surgery, been sick, etc. recently. It would be a great get-well present as these guys have been recently stitched up as well! (I know, some people find gifts like that offensive, but if I broke an arm and three ribs I would laugh at the irony of getting something like this, lol.) A different type of "Get Well" gift.

You're looking for a gift for someone who truly is one-of-a-kind. (Of course, we all are OOAK.) They're spazzy, they're calm, they're funky, they're happy, they're sad. All different aspects of a personality can be represented by individual patterns and/or colors.

You know someone who has everything. I think all of us know at least one of those.

Well, let me know what you think! I keep the first one I made right next to me on my desk at all times. He turned out well, although not as "patched" as the newer ones. He looks more like he just scraped his elbow and broke his neck and tail, lol. Oh, and some closing shots:





From the right and left sides.

Featured Shop: Bead Origami

Since I came across this very awesome shop, BeadOrigami, I can't stop looking at all of her awesome beaded creations! I can see why she calls it bead origami, because each one certainly reminds me of all the varying types of kusudama there are in the origami world.



You cannot tell me these aren't amazing.



Earrings are, of course, not the only thing she makes, either. You can find plenty of matching necklaces in her shop as well. I cannot imagine how many beads are used to make each individiual piece! I have enough problems keeping seed beads out of my carpet - how many more would land under my desk if I attempted this, LOL? I love how the pendant on the necklace below is double-stacked. The variant sizes really give it depth.




The next necklace is entirely beaded. Look at the amazing detail in the 4th photo of her listing! (And this necklace has 5 total beaded beads!)



If you're feeling extra crafty (or if you have experience with weaving), you can also try your hand at making these yourself. BeadOrigami offers tutorials as well as the finished product. I'm not sure if I am quite that gutsy, but maybe you are!



Her tutorial about the Disco Ball Beaded Bead is one of her advanced tutorials. 26 pages long, 65 steps, and over 80 full color photos are included. I don't have to tell you that the resulting product is a stunning work of art - you can see her examples for yourself!



Happy gawking!

A Creative Weekend

Aside from a lot of baseball (a lot of baseball, I repeat), my brain got to thinking about a few ideas this weekend. I thought about some new boxes, some new kusudama, and some smaller projects. Then, last night I got such a random and odd idea that I had to jump around and try it. Not only were my attempts successful, I realized I cannot find another person doing anything remotely like this on the web. Not to say this hasn't ever been done, it very well might have been. But it's so good I have to do my best to keep it a secret until I get a technique down that works well enough to list. (They are so cute, it's hard not to just come out and show the samples I made!)

I tweeted a really really awesome item I found on Etsy the other day, but it's just so great that I'd like to share it here as well. (Tweets can get lost easily!) Check these out!



I could see myself wearing them to a show, using them to draw attention and to get some conversations going with customers. Never have I seen a cooler pair of pantyhose in my life (I'm usually a fishnets type of girl)! If I get accepted to the show I applied at in December, I am highly considering picking up a pair of these to wear there.

I've also been doing a lot of browsing for scarves. I am a scarfaholic. I LOVE scarves. How can I possibly pick just one? My budget doesn't allow for me to splurge on my weaknesses too often, but I've come up with a few favorites:


   
   

I think the last one is my *most* favorite so far because it's so long - I love long scarves. Did I also mention I'm sort of addicted to the color green? It's so hard to pick - there are so many beautiful scarves on Etsy right now and they make me crazy!

Still Always Learning

I attended another v-lab today on Etsy. This one was about tags, titles, and descriptions. There's another lab tonight covering shop critiques that I also hope to get into. They really are about 30 times more fun and enjoyable than the forums (which are far too negative lately to draw much of my attention). I learned a few things in the lab. Most importantly, it is allowed to have the same types of items in multiple categories. So for me, I've been experimenting with putting my gift boxes in paper goods and in supplies, to see what draws more attention. I didn't know if that was allowed, but Danielle let us know that you can.

Some other things were covered that had been confusing me. Unless you are listing in supplies, you don't need a handmade tag on your items, because it's already going to fall under handmade anyway. I am still debating whether or not to include handmade in my titles though, for SEO purposes. Title space is limited as to what you can work with before being truncated, however, and it's not as important as my other keywords like "Origami Crane Ornament" for example. Though SEO is related to all of this, we didn't cover anything that wasn't directly relevant to titles and descriptions.

However! If you are having trouble understanding the lengthy 25-page SEO guide that Etsy released (found here), Sheryl Westleigh (aka noadi on Etsy) wrote a very, very basic helper guide on her blog. You can find the mini-breakdown here. I suggest that if you are having a hard time getting through the guide that you start with her cheat sheet, but then I would definitely go back to the guide (I know, it's long) because it has a ton of information in it. Sheryl's post should help you understand the very basics of what SEO is about, which will help you when going through that huge guide once you know what to look for.

Is all this shop editing time consuming? Absolutely. Is it worth it? Well, I don't have stats to prove one way or the other, but I know my GoogleAnalytics is showing searches that are a lot more relevant. Whether it's a coincidence or not, I believe my SEO work has had something to do with it. I'm nowhere near done, either. I know that I am very much looking forward to Etsy being able to automatically upload our item listings into Google Base, but as Danielle told us in the lab today, she is not sure when they will have that project finished. It will, I assume, change the entire listing process, and so I will sit here and be patient as long as I know they actually are working on it.

Sleipnir's Blog has Moved!

Well, it was getting confusing for me to post on my other blog, since I originally signed up for it with an email other than my business email, which is the one I check most often. Having to bounce in and out of Google accounts while checking on different sites is sort of a pain in my...

So, to make things less confusing for me AND my readers (since the name now matches), I've decided to move the blog. And on top of that, I finally figured out how to put the Etsy mini and Flickr stream into it. I'm usually pretty good with editing html and javascript, but the way you have to add widgets onto your blogger definitely confuses me. Maybe it's just the way that it's laid out - I'm much more used to editing coding in the raw, without all the little pretty boxes everywhere.

Well, aside from that, I've started to put up those little pyramid gift boxes that I had WIP photos of almost a month ago. My camera didn't want to cooperate with me for a few weeks, but after much groveling and begging on my part, I got some photos that are - at best - good enough for temporary use in my listings. I hate having all this inventory (at least 100 new items) lying around and not being able to list it. So I'll get the hard part out of the way, and worry about editing the photos that need it. Surprisingly, some actually don't.

Here's a few I listed today: