Hello! So it's been a few days since my last SugarPea Designs post and it feels a good time to just have a bit of a natter about what is going on in my crafty life. In short, I've been card making less and sewing more.
With 3 months of SPD posts, I didn't have much in the way of brain space to do much other card making, which has affected my posting on here with anything but SPD, which I'm a bit sad about, but hope to remedy in the next few weeks. I then also decided that I would step up my sewing and open up an Etsy shop. Nothing like piling on extra pressure, eh?
I love trying new things and I love that recipients of my bags really do love them, so it seemed a logical next step. I literally have no clue about Etsy, and feel a little bit swamped by all the jargon.
As luck would have it though, I met a school Mum in Morrisons one day (my youngest and her eldest started school in the same class this year) and it turns out that she has three Etsy shops which bring in actual income. She is looking at her next step which is setting up local support networks for Etsy businesses. Our meeting couldn't have come at a better time!
It is a huge and daunting task, but my mentor is being really supportive and tells me it is possible to make a living out of Etsy (after all she does it), but it's important for me to do lots of things to get set up. The worst is not buying fabric! Now I know I shouldn't buy too much fabric, but you know, like card making supplies, sometimes you need that 'hit' of instant gratification and cute and pretty prints can be hard to resist. It's not been all bad as buying and posting on IG and making and taking my things to colouring classes has resulted in 4 completed and 2 in process orders. But, she is right, I have a sizeable stash and have been doing an inventory of it all. You should try that sometime. It certainly brought me back down to earth! I'm heading to the Harrogate Knitting and Stitching Show in November though as it's my birthday, and I'm going to have a little spend, but just keep that between us, OK?
It's really a fascinating process setting up in business. I have to remind myself it is a business, and with that I'll have to make some adjustments to what I make, and probably prices as well to take account of things I never really did before - like packaging and all the sundries I use like thread etc. It is going to be a lot of hard work too, but I am a pretty determined person, and it takes a lot to stop me - not even broken boilers and cars not starting yesterday stopped me sewing all my unfinished projects.
I aim to keep this blog going, still with mostly card making, but I also hope to share some more sewing as I fill my shop with more things. It's almost 4 years old my blog and I've put a lot of hours into it over the years and I don't want to let it slide.
I've dropped of IG and Facebook for the past few days as I did succumb to a bit of stress and needed to not have so much 'noise' going on to reset. I'm hoping to be healthier in my IG and Facebook habits and stop myself from mindless flicking and checking and worrying about stats. It isn't good for anyone's mental health, and I want to reengage with the community that I loved when I first started, on IG especially.
I've updated my Page about my Crafty Storage bags to link to my Etsy shop, so do pop by and have a look. It's very spare on product, but I do like to start backwards with things and just open a shop, then make things for it!
Anyway, thank you all so much for taking the time to read and I hope to continue to see you here and your blogs too. Just keep swimming.... just keep swimming..... and breathe.....
With 3 months of SPD posts, I didn't have much in the way of brain space to do much other card making, which has affected my posting on here with anything but SPD, which I'm a bit sad about, but hope to remedy in the next few weeks. I then also decided that I would step up my sewing and open up an Etsy shop. Nothing like piling on extra pressure, eh?
I love trying new things and I love that recipients of my bags really do love them, so it seemed a logical next step. I literally have no clue about Etsy, and feel a little bit swamped by all the jargon.
As luck would have it though, I met a school Mum in Morrisons one day (my youngest and her eldest started school in the same class this year) and it turns out that she has three Etsy shops which bring in actual income. She is looking at her next step which is setting up local support networks for Etsy businesses. Our meeting couldn't have come at a better time!
It is a huge and daunting task, but my mentor is being really supportive and tells me it is possible to make a living out of Etsy (after all she does it), but it's important for me to do lots of things to get set up. The worst is not buying fabric! Now I know I shouldn't buy too much fabric, but you know, like card making supplies, sometimes you need that 'hit' of instant gratification and cute and pretty prints can be hard to resist. It's not been all bad as buying and posting on IG and making and taking my things to colouring classes has resulted in 4 completed and 2 in process orders. But, she is right, I have a sizeable stash and have been doing an inventory of it all. You should try that sometime. It certainly brought me back down to earth! I'm heading to the Harrogate Knitting and Stitching Show in November though as it's my birthday, and I'm going to have a little spend, but just keep that between us, OK?
It's really a fascinating process setting up in business. I have to remind myself it is a business, and with that I'll have to make some adjustments to what I make, and probably prices as well to take account of things I never really did before - like packaging and all the sundries I use like thread etc. It is going to be a lot of hard work too, but I am a pretty determined person, and it takes a lot to stop me - not even broken boilers and cars not starting yesterday stopped me sewing all my unfinished projects.
I aim to keep this blog going, still with mostly card making, but I also hope to share some more sewing as I fill my shop with more things. It's almost 4 years old my blog and I've put a lot of hours into it over the years and I don't want to let it slide.
I've dropped of IG and Facebook for the past few days as I did succumb to a bit of stress and needed to not have so much 'noise' going on to reset. I'm hoping to be healthier in my IG and Facebook habits and stop myself from mindless flicking and checking and worrying about stats. It isn't good for anyone's mental health, and I want to reengage with the community that I loved when I first started, on IG especially.
I've updated my Page about my Crafty Storage bags to link to my Etsy shop, so do pop by and have a look. It's very spare on product, but I do like to start backwards with things and just open a shop, then make things for it!
Anyway, thank you all so much for taking the time to read and I hope to continue to see you here and your blogs too. Just keep swimming.... just keep swimming..... and breathe.....
2 comments:
Love the title name of your Etsy shop. Very cute. Good for you branching out. Good luck with your new adventure ☺
You know I wish you all the best with your new venture Ruth, it’s an exciting time for you! Looking forward to seeing some of your new projects whether they be bags or cards xx
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