Un-Cluttering My House Sale

I am going to have a sale this weekend in my FaceBook Store Front. Before I talk about the sale I want to tell you what initiated the need for a sale.

In the book Zen and the Art of a Clean House the author talks about the relationship between the condition of your home and the condition of your life. "You put a house in order and you put your life in order. All the trash weighs you down. You might as well drag it around on your back, the dirt, the mess." In other words when your home is organized and clean then your life is organized and you things are basically good. But if your house is cluttered and really needs some work then your life is in pretty much the same condition.

I have found that to be very true. I have also found that when I am constantly feeling frustrated about everything, a good house-cleaning does wonders.  I have been very frustrated lately to put it politely.

Some of the clutter that weighs me down is all the crafting supplies I have. They fill all the closets and any free space in my small apartment. My husband has been gently suggesting that I downsize my storage needs.   I finally agree with him.  The box in the picture is the first of about 7 boxes of crafting supplies.



This is a very short list of items:
Foam Shapes
Wood Shapes
Wood Plaques
Wood Boxes
Beads
Basket Making Reed
Small Gifts for Gift Baskets
Baskets
Candle Holders and Votives

I am going to be listing the supplies (and anything else) in my Facebook store. To get to my store, you go to my Facebook Fan Page and click on the Shop Now tab. The pictures you will see when my store opens are the featured items. Click on the drop-down menu on the left-hand side that reads "Browse by Category", choose a category and you will see all the items in that category.

I will be uploading pictures to the photo albums on my Fan Page if you want a sneak peak. I have a lot to get done before Friday so I may not have time to answer questions especially because the info will probably be in the listing.

Did I mention that Facebook Fans get an additional 10% off the sale prices?


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My First Customer Appreciation Photo

I received my first customer appreciation photo today in My Extra Beads feedback. When a customer leaves feedback on a transaction, they have the option to add a photo that includes the item they purchased. I really enjoyed seeing the necklace that was created using beads from my shop. Isn’t this beautiful?




I contacted my customer to find out if she minded me including the picture in this article. I found out that she also has a shop on Etsy, Andy’s Treasures.

I am by nature a curious person and I love to see what everyone is selling so I just had to go look at her Etsy shop. There are several items in the shop that really intrigued me.


I really like these Blue Moon Earrings. The thing that comes to mind when I see them is that "Once in a Blue Moon" usually refers to something good that doesn't happen very often.


Here is an excerpt from the shop policies:

“I use all kinds of materials, as I am always coming up with new ideas. I work very hard to make sure that my designs are different, interesting and pretty. I love to make simple designs, but I venture out occasionally as you will see. I also take pride in providing high quality and durable products.”

Another design that I really like is this pair of Bright Spring Earrings. The colors used in these earrings remind me of Spring.


I enjoyed looking at the designs in this shop, they are unique and innovative. You ought to check out Andy’s Treasures too.

I enjoyed receiving the Customer Appreciation Photo so much that I have been excited about it all day. 

I plan to encourage more customers to send in photos of the designs they create using my beads by posting those pictures on this blog for all my followers to enjoy. Click here to read more!

How to Create A Treasury East

Etsy has created a new Treasury environment.  You can now make a Treasury whenever you want and you can have as many as you want. But, how does the new Treasury East work?

First we'll review some basics.  A Treasury is  a poster created by a Curator that shows items from different Etsy Artists. Sometimes there is a theme (Valentine's Day, Green things), sometimes the items are from shops that are friends or teammates of the curator and sometimes the items are just things the curator likes. Treasuries in Main or West only last 48 to 72 hours and you can only catch one of these Treasury spots if you are in the right place at the right time. 

Treasury East is a different story.  You can create one at any time and you can have as many as you want and they don't expire. 


Here are the steps for creating a Treasury East. 

The first thing you need to do is figure out which items to include and arrange them in an Etsy application called "Poster Sketch".  You will need the item number for each item you want to include.  The url for an item looks like this: 


http://www.etsy.com/listing/44962313/green-organ-donation-awareness-ribbon

You need to copy the number only.  

Open the poster sketch by going to this address: 

http://www.etsy.com/poster_sketch.php

The poster sketch screen looks like this:
 
I cropped the middle out of this picture, but you get the idea. 

Enter each of the item numbers in one of the 16 boxes like the one outlined in green.  After you enter each number, click on OK and the picture of the item appears.  Once you have done all 16, you can arrange the pictures using your mouse to drag and drop. 

When the pictures are arranged the way you want them it is time to claim your Treasury East at this address: http://www.etsy.com/treasury/

The top of the main screen looks like this: 

Just click on "New Treasury" and you will be taken to this screen: 

 
Fill out the information for your Treasury Name and Description.  Enter your first item number in the first box and press "Enter" on your keyboard.  Repeat this until you have entered all 16 items.  Then click on "Save This List" at the bottom of the screen and you have created a Treasury East. 

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