Spooky Greetings

Halloween is just around the corner, but there is still time to order some spooky postcards. You can purchase these in my shop and spread ghoulish cheer this month.

Sneak Peek

Here is a little sneak peek of what I have been working on for my shop. In addition to this color combo, I also did some in red and navy. I am excited to finally have something new! They should be ready son.

Ink Pot

I mixed a bunch of ink yesterday. Getting ready to reprint my lace cards in time for the busy holiday season. Keep an eye out, they should be ready in a couple of weeks. Next weekend I'll visiting friends and their new baby boy!

Sale - Help Me Clean House!

Hello there, you probably thought I had fallen off the face of the earth, or moved to Siberia. But lo and behold, I am still here and I have been working on some new cards.

The house is in order and I have turned my creative energy back to my gocco. Every new card I print is bittersweet for me because it means I have made a new card (yay!) but it also means I have even fewer supplies left (boo!). I was a good pack-rat when the last of the gocco supplies were being sent out, but I will run out eventually and I am still working on my plan B.

But for now, I am in business and I would like to make some room in my shop for my new cards so I am having a sale. Buy 2 get 1 free! For a limited time, buy any two single cards, and get a third single card free. Likewise, buy two packs of cards, get a 3rd pack free. Check it out!

PS - that is just a gratuitous photo of my cat Mr. Sparkles...

My New Etsy Store!

I decided to try my hand at another shop. PinholePix is now open for business! As you can tell from the name, I will focus on my pinhole photos. I may expand to include some Holga photos too, but I am not sure. Stop by and let me know what you think!

Moving Sale!

I love danitashop's Moving Away print, check out her other lovely creations in her shop.

Her print is the perfect inspiration for me right now because in order to get ready for the move I am having a buy 1 get 1 sale in my Etsy shop.

After May 15th I will be closing the shop for about 6 to 8 weeks to settle in to the new place and hopefully work on some new designs. In the mean time, come buy and help make my move easier!

Finally on Flickr

OK, so it took me a while, but now I have a photostream on Flickr. I spent the day uploading older photos, and I am pretty much caught up now. From here on out you'll see new photos of my Etsy stuff and my other adventures. Visit me at flickr.com/photos/paperwren.

This is a photo of my Remington (pre cleaning) that you will see on Flickr along with some other shots of it.

Good Sunday Morning

I was very excited to find my red and pink "you float my boat" card on the front page of Etsy this morning! It always makes me so happy!

Progress

One month into the new year, I think I am about 1 and a half resolutions into my five crafty resolutions. This week, on the same day I broke 100 sales and 400 hearts on Etsy. Selling 100 things before March was one of my goals, it felt good to do. Maybe I will try to sell 200 things in my second year on Etsy. It might be a little dangerous picking a resolution that is partly out of my hands. I can make all the cards I want, but I can't necessarily make a horse drink.

I think I will work through The Etsy Seller Handbook to see if there is anything I can do to attract customers or improve my shop. This ties in to one of my other resolutions, reorganizing my shop. That is my half. I have re-photographed some items, made a sale section, and as some listings expire, I will make some other small changes.

I think I will also have a crazy sale to celebrate my 1 year anniversary on Etsy in March, I will keep you posted. For now I am off to some of my favorite places - York, ME and Portsmouth, NH.

Cards for a Song

I am working on my new year's resolutions, slowly chipping away at them each weekend, and have been organizing my Etsy shop. I have a new sale section where you can find some cards for a song.

Speaking of deals, gypsy and twink is offering seven (yes seven!) adorable lithographed owl cards for $10.00! What a deal! I am desperately trying to come up with a witticism involving hooting (cards for a hoot?) but it is a little too early on a Saturday morning, and I will spare you all this time...

New Freebies - Gift Tags!

One of the many fun things about Etsy, is that often when you buy something you get a free little gift with your purchase. I had been printing out little business card sized thank you cards, with tiny envelopes. But, I was glad that I ran out recently because I really didn't like them (hence no photo of them).

For Christmas I bought my husband a card from sushipot. I was inspired by the cute little freebie she included in my purchase. It was a little gift tag punched out of a bit of vintage ephemera.

When I print cards, I almost always end up with a few that are not quite good enough to sell. Whether it be because on spot smudged, a bare spot in the print, or that I printed the card upside-down (it happens more than I'd like to admit), I have been accumulating less than perfect cards for quite some time.

Now we get to the "ah ha" moment. I decided to make use of these cards by punching them out into tags and including them as the freebie with purchases. Something free for my buyers and I get to reduce, reuse and recycle - it's a win win! These are a couple of the tags I made this weekend:

Bits of my "You float my boat" card.

Bits of some wedding invitations.

New Card - Valentine's Day

I have a new card up in my shop. 

Ask someone to be your funny valentine!

A New Year

A new year means new resolutions. This year I have a few crafty resolutions:

• Reorganize and clean up my Etsy shop (and re-photograph some items)
  
• Sell 100 hundred items by my 1 year Etsy anniversary
  
• Try a new art/craft (traditional screenprinting?)
  
• Take one of the classes I have been thinking about taking
  
• Make time to design/print at least once a week

I think that should keep me busy in 2009. Do you have any crafty resolutions you'd like to share?

Free Handmade Goodies!

Check out the great giveaway that oh, hello friend is offering. I was very excited to participate by offering up my lace stationary set as part of a prize. There are 4 great packages being offered so make sure you enter for a chance to win.

There are a bunch of really great Etsy sellers involved like TheArdentSparrow, jessicajane, craftyfolk, Space Dog Studios, and too many more to name. See all the participating sellers here. Have fun!

Faired Well

I just survived a busy weekend with a little over 12 hours spent at a two day craft fair at the Somerville Museum. It went really well. I met a bunch of nice people, the space was lovely, and I sold some cards. I had learned a few things from my last craft fair and went to this one a bit more prepared. I brought a cushion to sit on and knitting to keep me busy.

I was not thrilled with my table set up, it was a bit uninspired. I need a bit more space and a better way to organize/display my cards. But it did the job. It was nice to make a little money for the holidays. I am thinking about getting genealogy software for myself (not really in the holiday spirit, I know).

Its kind of geeky, but after a trip to the New England Historic Genealogical Society last year, I became a member an have periodically been digging around in my family history. Have I mentioned that I am the great (say it 27 times) granddaughter of King Edward the I of England? If you have spent any time with me you have probably heard that a number of times. My husband hears it every time I want to be pampered or want something done for me...

Anyway, I think I will do this fair again next year if they'll have me even though I will be sore for a few days from sitting on my keister for so long.

Resurfacing

I am resurfacing from a weekend away filled with Tofurkey, stuffing and other delights, as well as a busy week of not unpacking, my last drawing class and my last basketball game of the season. Tomorrow is day 1 of the craft fair and my husband's birthday. Pancakes in the AM, craft fair, and then off to bowl and dine with friends. Then Sunday is day 2 of the craft fair.

As the holiday season approaches, I really enjoyed Poppytalk's list of 101 Reasons to Buy Handmade. Check it out.

Craft Fair Postcard

Arpitha sent me an email that the postcards advertising the holiday craft fair are ready. I am very excited, I have never been on a postcard before. You can see the front and back on her blog.

I have a lot less prep to do for the fair this time around, which is nice. And I will be inside, which is even nicer!

Holiday Mission Accomplished

I finally finished all of my holiday cards. They are all posted in my Etsy shop as well.

Crafty Update

The Somerville Museum updated their website for the craft fair. If you watch long enough you will see one of my cards.

Etsy Treasuries

I have some cards in a treasury called yellow and grey put together by katedowding who makes really great sock monsters. It comes down on Tuesday afternoon.

I also just found some of my holiday cards in another treasury called Winter Ice, put together by poshpretties who makes fun hair accessories for kids. This treasury will be up until late Tuesday night.

Check them out while they're up!