Thirsty Visitor

I LOVE IT when birds visit my feeders. Today I was camera happy, and this little cutie decided to hang out at our birdbath. I also got an excellent photo of a female cardinal, but I love how fat 'n furry this yellow goldfinch looks, so I posted it here for all to see.

Today was also the first day of Etsy's Jewelry Showcase; I bought a spot in it. After thinking about it, it was probably a bad idea to have purchased the spot on its debut; however, it did generate 40+ hits for my featured item (Ocean Storm) as of the time of this posting. I also purchased numerous other Showcase spots, including the main Showcase on November 8th, and Jewelry Showcases on November 21st and November 23rd ("Black Friday"...oooooooooh).

I'm also in an Etsy Treasury today! ArtisticDetour was able to curate yet another cooooool list. This time, my Winter Grapes and Lemons Earrings were featured. Thanks once again, ArtisticDetour!

This week I hope to keep filling up the shop with items; I worked on some new earrings today and some pendants. The photo shoot took longer than expected of course, some requiring a re-shoot, but I should have enough to work with for initial postings.

Wrap it up,
Chelsea

Couchbound

Gooooooood grief Charlie Brown, my cold has kicked my butt this week. I thought I was coming around, but today my head felt like it would explode and my energy is all gone. So, most of the day has been spent on the couch. I have my little bead board beside me, waiting to be picked up, but the creativity just isn't there, basically because every two minutes I have to grab another tissue and blow my nose. Ick.

So, I'm going to have a slight delay on the feature article; look for it early on in the week. I also think I'm going to do a book review of some of my favorite resources. Finally, I need to figure out how to do this Blog Carnival thing, as I'm a member of the Etsy Bloggers Street Team and I need to determine ways that I can be further involved.

I'll also be posting some new items this week--a few pairs of earrings, my Talking in Circles necklace (finished! finally! yay!), maybe a bracelet, and a pendant or two.

Wire it up...
Chelsea

Happy Halloween!

May your tricks be minimal and your treats be abundant.

For you readers who like random pics posted, here's one for ya from my back deck. It's called "Mr. Pumpkin's View." He stares all day into my woods and doesn't seem to mind it. Lately, however, he's been quite bummed because those leaves they are a' fallin'.

Anyway, some store updates: A fellow Etsy member sent me a convo today to ask if I sold pendants by themselves...the answer is YES I do; I just haven't listed any yet. Look for more to come in the near future.

Also, I'm beginning to feel a little better, so I'm hoping to be able to post my first "Sharin' the Love" entry either tomorrow or Friday. The reason for the weekly feature is based on the poll I conducted regarding what would encourage readers to subscribe to a blog. I had 22 voters; each voter could vote for more than one item. As of tonight, the results are as follows:

• 12 people voted for "Tutorials (banners, avatars, photography, Photoshop, writing descriptions, etc.) "


• 8 people voted for "A monthly contest"


• 15 people voted for "Interesting, engaging, and visually attractive blog posts"

To my surprise, no one voted for "A checklist for listing Etsy items" or "A neatly formatted list of 'Etsy Best Practices,' grouped by category." I believe the reason for the low turnout on these two items is because most of the folks that visited my blog may be seasoned Etsy sellers rather than new sellers.

The upcoming feature will combine the tutorials (based on those that others have submitted [I don't want to reinvent the wheel here] or ones that I create) and the use of interesting, engaging, and visually attractive blog posts. My goal is for "Simply Wired: The Blog" to serve as a collection of resources--a "one-stop-shop" to find out what types of information is out there to assist sellers. Along the way, it will highlight some amazing Etsy members and their products.

Improving the Etsy Shop Series

Now that I've opened up my store, I'll be doing most of my changes right on my site. Today's tip was to be sure your Featured Items are ranked appropriately. This one is also finished, as I've been keeping up with my featured items as I list them. The one bit of advice I did get from it, however, is to be sure to have featured items that are in later pages of your items. This will encourage buyers to browse ALL items of your list. Great idea!

My Latest Purchase

One rare occasions, I do buy jewelry for myself. This does not happen often, as most of my creations are spoken for, or I make them as gifts. But every once in a while I find an item that I just can't put around anyone else's neck but mine. Recently, this happened when I visited Mary Boden's site, Wood Thrush Studio. I bought this lovely li'l pendant from her site on Etsy. A visit to both of her locations is recommended; she really makes some amazing stuff. I'll also be posting this work in progress as I create it. As of today, metals, gemstones, and materials to be included will include amethyst, citrine, glass foil beads, and copper. Sorry folks, this one will be my Christmas present to myself this year. But, be sure to check back often for photos! Perhaps my design can give you some creative ideas.