VidalButtons Treasuries

400 sales!

2011-06-18T13:46:00.000-07:00

Finally! 400 sales! Just wanted to stop by and talk about my journey with my Etsy shop and a couple of tips on running an online shop. While Etsy is a great venue with lots of traffic, there is lots of work to be done once you set up shop. I started my shop about 3 years ago with a different kind of product. I started selling my circle skirts in my other shop in Etsy while I was still experimenting with other products to be added to the line, I had lots of beautiful buttons, beads, trims and fabrics around the house. I decided to test a couple of listings of my vintage looking buttons and some beads that I had. Beads did not sell well, as the category was already saturated up to the point where I was not able to compete with the competitors prices. Therefore, I started to look into other supplies that I was able to sell the best and that would fit with my current situation. I did not have much space for large inventory items, so supplies fit the best in addition to the fact that I love buttons, perfect match!

The following are a couple of hints on ow to build a successful store and get best views and sales:

*Look for your nitch! Research into many categories or merchandise of your interest.

*Research the market and category to see what your competitors are doing. Find your competitiveness and differentiation against the others. This will be your strength.

*Test your product to see if it sells, make a couple and list them. Have in mind that your product may have to be modified, tweaked or even changed into a different category. It all depends on the target market your customer is and what group you are aiming for.

*I can't stress this enough, invest a lot of time in your visual merchandise and display. How your product is presented is key to everything. Remember that people can't see the product in front of them so you will need to have great pictures in addition to creating a good mood that matches with your shop. Provide views of all sides and angles that make the composition interesting.

*Having accurate complete descriptions is key to a successful listing. Tell your story, what inspired you to make the item, people like to hear stories behind products. For jewelry makes, providing measurements in cm's along with inches is important, specially if you selling international.

*Never under-price your items. Price according to the time you invested and materials. Also check your competitors prices and where you stand compared to them. Consider that other shop may be almost giving away there items and me underbidding and underpricing the market they are in, and it you can compete with that and separate your shop and differentiation from those so that you have set your own pricing strategy.

*Customer Service! This is very important. Be consistent and follow up with your customers. Every time you send an order, so follow up sending shipping confirmations and convos or emails. This gives the customer a sense of security that they are dealing and an actual person being your operation and that they will have someone to contact in case of any issues. Do not feel bad about asking for feedback. Ask for your customers to kindly place feedback as soon as their order arrive. I know that some customers just dont do it, but this has worked for me over the years, and do get people sending convos letting me knwo they got the order and placed feedback.

*For al Etsy sellers, dont fall into the "renewing trap", yes i call it a trap. Been there, done that! I have experimented renewing items in my most busy hours. It does not get me necesarrly more sales, yes, you can get more views, but folks, it will not guarantee sales. For me personally, it didn't works. The only thing that it did was giving me a bill of over $50 a month with very few sales. Not worth it! specailly if you are just strating out with little investement capital.

*Pack your items with LOVE. Customers like top know that you take care of your merchandise and you care about your customers getting there orders intact and safe. For instance, I always seal my fabrics with some plastic (so that if the envelope gets wet with rain the fabric wont get affected). My buttons and trims, I always pack them with a plastic baggy and seal them with a cute fun looking tape.

*Last but not least, Patience, Hard Work and lots Love into your work. I learned that only with time, you will get more customers, more views, and more sales. Of course if you apply all the ones above and mentioned. Participating in Etsy forums, cats and teams will keep your shop very exposed to many creators and people that like your stuff. Also there is a huge amount of resources that you can find in these places, you would be surprised what you will learn just from hearing other people's experience. Have patience, there could be times where frustration will take over, but stick to you shop and creations and believe in it. You will see tat 3 years later you will say, "I am glad that i didn't give up!"

Summer Treasuries!

2011-06-11T16:33:00.001-07:00

This new summer treasury will feature lots of shops with items priced not higher than $70. I decided to create a price cap for considering how the economy how days. I was able to find some very interesting jewelry, buttons, editable and much more!

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Passage Necklace	Custom Moss Ring Pillow	1 onz Sunset Rouge Tea

Sojourncuriosities $50	Braggingbags $60	Dreamweavershop $3.50



Heart Chalkboard Tags	Victorian B&W Spats	My Cariads Wrist Wrap Bracelet

Bradensgracewallart $8	Joelmasouza $69	MyCariads $45



Oxidized Upcycled Basket	Brownie Sunday Charm	Cherry Button Earrings

EatGreen $15	GodsLilTippy $2	Snailtreasures $6



Coffee Nights Art Print	AlteredHeads Dolly Photo	SLS Free Orange Vanilla Soap

Courtneyoquist$15	AlteredHead $9.95	Mbell34 $4.50



Cupcake Lollipop Cookies	Yellow Sunshine Origami Earrings	Noodle Stoneware Serving Bowl

CookiesLaCouture $15	FourthKingdom $14	OneClayBead $28



Pineapple Upsidedown Cake Soap	Elephant Art- Under The Stars	One Sweet Day Print- Sale

Soapopotamus $6	HamjArt $10	Thepoppytree $11.90

I love the art found in Etsy! Many cute lovely stuff! Great prints, soaps, supplies, and accessories! Feel free to comment below and remember to follow the blog as I will be featuring more wonderful items from my followers! Thanks!

Heartsy?

2011-06-09T16:38:00.000-07:00

I was browsing around Etsy as usual and noticed that in the forums people were talking about this Heartsy site. According to many sellers this is a great venue to get more sales in quickly manner. You post your shop, get at least 60 votes to see if people would like to buy from your shop and in 72 hours you will get approved or not whether your shop will be featured in the site. Now, the concept is actually that you as seller submit discounts of your items, I believe you give vouchers away and people get discounts. This is bringing many many sales to lots of Etsy shops.

Now, I sell supplies, and Heartsy only accepts people that make handmade items, therefore this does not apply to me. But I decided to help another shop from a lovely seller that I know in Etsy, CookiesLaCouture. By the way, she makes these amazing cookies in different shapes and colors great for many occasions and events. Anyways, I thought that if would be great to feature her lovely work here for you guys to see. She just submitted her shop to Heartsy and she needs to collect those 60 votes.

Feel free to vote for her shop below, and if she gets approved, you can get a discount in her shop through Heartsy. Hope you guys enjoy this lovely feature! and please please vote in the link below!

http://heartsy.me/deals/3906/like

Valentine's Heart!

2011-01-29T11:55:00.001-08:00

Heart Cookie Cutter Ring by CreaShines

For this Valentine's I am wishing all of you many sales and views plus lots of romance! Therefore I am starting a PROMO section below where you guys can keep adding your avatars, comment, and get to know other shops around here.

By the way, love that cute little Cookie Cutter Ring that I found from CreaShines. So unexpecetd to find these kind of things. Love the mini fork and knife LOL

US & International Shipping, How do I figure it out?

2011-01-29T11:49:00.000-08:00

Ok guys, I know it can be a pain to send international but once you get a hold of it you will be find. Just wanted to post a link that always, but ALWAYS helped me, the zone and price chart from usps.com check out the linkable preview below.

So basically what it is, is that USPS categorizes countries by zones and the chart gives you the pricing by zone and weight. How do you know what zone you are sending to? easy, it provides you with a list of all countries and zones. I personally figured out which zones where the most expensive and basically based by prices from there. For instance if you check the list, you will notice that Australia is one of the most expensive place to ship no matter the size or weight. This I used as a standard and went from there. I really thin this chart helped me in many ways, hope it does for you guys! :D Oh, I posted the link right below the pictures just in case the pictures are not taking you to the link.

Ecrater.com?

2011-01-27T15:34:00.000-08:00

The other night I was browsing around the Etsy forums and found out that the Ecrater has been working for many Etsy pips. check my shop so that you have an idea of the site, Vidals You can find the forum post at, Etsy. I knew about this site but was never sure what it exactly did. Anyways so here it goes, apparently you can set up a shop there with all your listings for FREE and all it does is that it features all kind of products, handmade and commercial and it makes your products for relevant and visible to the Google Search. There is traffic- 1.7m and growing. They're bigger than ArtFire and Fineartamerica. Up to what I know, there is no limit on the listings and I guess it does works to get more traffic to your shop.

I finally tried it and created my fabrics shop, haven't had any sales from there, but I must say that I did get many views right away. In my opinion, any thing that brings me more traffic to my Etsy shop works for me, plus it doesn't charge me anything. Just wanted to let you guys know about this site.

Comments are more than welcome, would love to hear your thoughts! :D

2011 Promo Bus!

2011-01-17T16:55:00.000-08:00

Great News! the New Year's Free Promo Bus is still running! Check in and add your Shop's avatar and browse around these amazing shops from Etsy. Personally, my new resolution this year is to cross-promote everywhere and share some love and creativeness with others. I am planning to make some really cute stuff for my shop this year, clean and reinvent everything, time to wash away 2010!
Hop in and have fun! Don't forget to check my Etsy Photoshop Tutorials! :D

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This year will be filled with many amazing opportunities for all us shop owners, given that there have been some really positive new things added to Etsy and I feel that some new features will really help us go through sales a lot more easier and will give the buyers a better more fun experience in our shops. I feel that the new feature of Sales Stats has given me a great overview of the monthly and weekly sales and gives me a view of how my sales are going, who else thinks the same? Add your comments below, I will love to see what others think.

Visuals and Beautiful Calendar by TheNebulousKingdom

For 2011 I am shopping for...

2011-01-13T22:10:00.000-08:00

So I was wondering, what are people looking to buy for this new year. Are people looking for the same old stuff or there is a new flare in the air? I personally am looking to buy more personal stuff that reminds me of my childhood, and you?

New Years Shops Promo Party Bus!

2011-01-13T17:15:00.000-08:00

London PinkBus by Lulisplanet

Hello Everyone & Happy New Years!

Hop in our fun New Years Promo Party Bus to promote each other and start the new years with many many sales! Just register below and add your avatar and then spread the work in Facebook, Twitter or Flickr! Simple and easy!

Also I wanted to keep everyone updated on the new upcoming awesome shops that just opened in Etsy. Many people are getting to know more about new ways to recycle and help our environment, and sell there creations online. I just found a couple of shops that I thought were really interesting and creative. For instance, LRLCreations makes beautiful rings out of unusual materials and many other interesting new upcoming items to come! I also found this new shop called EatGreen who also works with recyclable materials, like recycled crochet hats and really cool plastic recycled bag hearted shaped keychains. It makes me really glad every time I hear people making amazing stuff with our own resources that we use on a daily basis.

Fall Gifts under $80

2010-11-02T00:33:00.001-07:00

Hello my friends, this is my new Mini Treasury of Fall Gifts items under $80. I found so many colorful items that would be great for gifts for these Christmas! Personally I love the color purple, so I decided to start with purple tones into bright reds and some peach. Etsy is an amazing place to find these kind of unique gifts. Also I decided to add unusual gift ideas like Gift Tags, since they are handmade they are an awesome gift for someone that loves to make gifts for these Christmas. Felted items are so in too! from cute decorative hearts to laptop cases are really the next generation's favorite fabric! so easy to sew and so many amazing colors.

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Crochet Mary Janes Slipper Socks	Lime Canvas Skirt	Dopamine Molecule Embroidered Heart Ornament

Sweetbriers $16	SouthernSkirts $50	Whatnomints $15


Superhero Shoes- Leopar Wings	Cookie- Print	Kawaii Striped Cupcake Necklace

Smallfly $22	Magicbeanbuyer $16	Allysin $15


Red Art Necklace	Holidays Gifts Christmas Tags	Checkered Tea Box

Papermockingbird $79	Hjmart $8.50	KhaliNouveau $50


Everyday Lady Wristlet Pouch	The Healer- Print	Hanger or Hook Duck

LilachOren $20	Braidy $40	PortugueseVintage $11


Triple Disc Water Blue Necklace	Yoga Mat Bag- Astro	Blythe- English Rose Felt Doll Hat

Soulsongcreations $28	ChellaBellaDesigns$20	Cindysowers $15

I also noticed that there are many shops with very cute dolls, and prints. These are great ideas for gifts and even for your daily routines. I loves the little tea box, very cute!

Creating a Picture Package in Photoshop

2010-10-12T00:16:00.001-07:00

Getting images ready in one page can be time consuming, specially if you need the same image in several sizes for different purposes. For instance, I was planning on launching a party at home to showcase all my wrap skirts and get the people to know more about my work in Etsy. I decided that I wanted to start by creating my little ad with my info, which will end up being my address forward sticker ,stickers to be printed out and give to my clients and a flyer with my Etsy address. All in different sizes since they all have different purposes. Photoshop did all the work for me, I needed the same image in 3 different sizes all in one page, that is when Picture Package comes in. Take a look at my tutorial, I hope you guys enjoy it, and like always please leave some comments! :D

Awesome Gifts under $50!

2010-10-08T11:32:00.001-07:00

Just got back from being very busy at school! I know, school can be very time consuming and it's a bit hard to handle school, my store and my blog, but I do love to do the three things so I don't mind :D I was a little behind on a couple of Mini Treasuries that I had in mind to start. I started to come across with these interesting shops in the chat rooms and forums and couldn't wait to do one focused on those that are planning to buy gifts but not that expensive, so I just created a "Under $50 gifts Treasury" . I am hoping these Christmas will pick up and people will start shopping! Check these cute gift items!

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Rocking Chair Charm Pendant	Angelic Ammo- Silver Bronze Bullet Pendant	Route 66 Hair Pins

FallenAngelBrass $5	TrashAndTrinkets $48	Jackdawpilate $10


High Waisted Silk Skirt	Folk Art Aceo Beeswax Painting	Handmade Paper Flowers

Tangente $30	LiaLane $15	Mcfunk90 $20


Miniature Citrus Clay Flowers	Mermaid's Tear Glass Bottle Bracelet	Recycled Book Purse- Burnt House

SimplyByBex $40	kodashii88 $47	Smartdesigningr $45


Tree & Sun TShirt	Peach Rose Victorian Comb	Chocolate Bon Bon Magnets

Bittybamboo $18	Hotpinkchick $10.50	JustWhatsIts $10


Hand Painted Picture Frame	Baby Mommy Elephant Print	Lego Skull Shield Stud Earrings

Sweetdixiedesigns $24	Trendypeas $44	ArtifactsNRelics $14

Weekend Promo Party!

2010-09-24T15:00:00.001-07:00

Pom Cupcake Topppers By MySilly Bear

Hey guys!
Another Weekend Promo Party! Let's celebrate that things are finally picking up in Etsy, and strat some serious promotion! I decided to open this Party for this weekend, so it will be ending by midnight Sunday. So hop in! all you got to do is place a comment on any of my treasuries or video tutorials, Please feel free to request for specific tutorials, as I am always open to the public's feedback :D Enjoy your FREE PROMOTION!

Creating Product Line Sheets

2010-09-18T13:09:00.001-07:00

This video will be focused in creating Product Line Sheets in Photoshop using the Contact Sheet Tool. What is a Product line sheet? and Why would you need it for? It's the same as a linesheet, which is the term that we call in the apparel industry as designers . It's a page with all your products lined up with product tittles, style numbers, and sometimes retail prices. Product sheets are excellent to prospective wholesale buyers, boutiques, vendors, or anyone that is interested in seeing your line of products.
Product sheets, as you see, are very useful. Like I mentioned in my video, getting together a book with all your products takes time, but Photoshop gives you a way of creating a Product Sheet in a easy less time consuming manner. You don't have to worry about any resizing and lining next to each other and all that nonsense. Photoshop lets you create a batch of pictures and it automatically lines up the sheet for you! :D Isn't that awesome?, well I will show you how to do it, and I hope you guys enjoy it! Please comment and remember feedback is always appreciated! :D

Summer Treasury!

2010-09-16T13:50:00.001-07:00

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Passage Necklace	Yellow Rosette Retro Hair Clip	Polymer Clay Necklace

Sojourncuriosities $50	Onewildorange $10.50	Kucuksheyler $15


3rd Birthday Tutu Outfit	Wedding Bouquet	Plum & Oak Hand Knit Baby Booties

BellaModernBa by $45	Creativedesign4u $65	Ablueearth $22


Felt Love Letter Toy	Eat Shit Die Coffee Mug	Modern Bird Print Pillow

Somethingmon umental $5	Knotworkshop $15	Suebrever $19


Black Filigree Leaf Earrings	Chair Necklace	Button Bobbies

KatdesignsNYC $12	Daileedose $24	Amberike $5

Crown Necklace	Queen Necklace	Antoinette

Daileedose $19	Paulahiga $68	Kiwicuties $20


Best Wishes Flower Card	Brow Flower Clutch	Brass & Copper Earrings

Ablemabel $3.75	TStyles $47	Beadedrelics $15


Mad Hatter Tea Party Pendant	Migration- Limited Edition	50's White Bugle Beaded Purse

Thependantemporium $8	Chanyeevon $25	Loveintheafternoon $48

I also noticed that there are many shops with very cute illustrations, like the Migration Print from Chanyeevon and Antoinette from Kiwicuties, very interesting prints!

The September Chu, Chu, Train Promo!

2010-09-12T02:09:00.001-07:00

Chu, Chu, Train Necklace By TheWellingtonBoot

Welcome! Lets all hop in the September Chu, Chu, Train!!

All you have to do is the following Super Simple Steps:
1- Comment on the weekly video tutorials, mini treasuries, and posts. (optional, but very appreciated)
2- Follow and Bookmark this blog (very helpful tutorials, treasuries and critiques are given weekly)
3- Go to "click here to enter". It will take you to a link where you will ad your name/image from your site or shop. (Remember, it can be your site, FB, Twitter, or Etsy Shop)
4- Your thumbnail will be added to this linky list and you get FREE PROMO.
5- I will be following every single one of you for my Mini Treasuries.

The support from everyone is very much appreciated. Please feel free to take this Chu Chu Train, far, far away... by posting it in Facebook, Twitter, forums and chats. It's great to see people getting together in one place, share the beauty they can make and getting to see other peoples stuff too! Thanks for hopping into the Chu, Chu Train! Yey!
Love, Marga

Hector Ortiz Illustrations

Wooden Ornaments

Gorgeous jewelry!

Wedding Wishing Tree Tags

KitzieG Paper Cut Designs

Tali Epstein - Fashion

Unique charms + supplies!

Get comfortable

Vintage & Handmade

Needle Felted Sculptures

Quilted Ornaments

Zemphira

And Handmade Originals

Brick House Fabrics

Designer Handbags NYC

Lisa Steiger Photography

Whimscial illustrations

peace, love and fun art

Pouches by Pomella

Handmade jewelry

Fluffels plush & jewelry

stuffed animals patterns

Jewelry & Paper Crafts

Handmade art jewellery

Cards and gifts

Beads and Jewelry Supply

VintageRhinestones - Etsy

Hand Made Jewelry.

Naturally Dyed Products

SMBdesign. etsy. com

Pretty Handmade Aprons

Pixie Dust Fineries

MoonAge Vintage

FREE SHIPPING IN SEPT. !

Pinkie's-envelope seals

Softpencil Studios

Great Porcelains

shesacraftyone

Affordable Photography

Elegant Sterling Jewelry

Humorous Tee Shirts

Birch bark Frames

Cuffs Necklaces Rings

MINI FOOD JEWELRY

Cool Travel Accessories

Hemp Jewelry & Creations!

Original Fine Art

Fine Pendleton Wools

Handcrafted Jewelry

Adorable & Affordable

Full Circle Skirt

Vintage Whimsies

Crochet Gifts & Bouquets

Vintage Jewelry

Needlefelted animals, etc

Whimsical Art

Jas Stained Glass Art

Vintage Buttons & More

Note Cards & Gift Tags

Birdhouses Buy DIRECT

Modern Nursery Artwork

Reshma Gypsy Jhumka Hoops

Handmade bags & Clutches

Felt Crowns Wands & Knits

Vintage Jewelry

FirstCrushDesigns

Castle Blush

NaKris kitschy corner

Handmade and vintage

Embroidery & Sewing 4 You

Colorful and sexy!

Linda's Jewelry & Accesso

Vintage Twee

Cool Cufflinks and Stuff

SomeWear In Tyme

SAVE THE SEABIRDS

Art Fabric AngelicaV

Natural HEART SHAPE ROCKS

Handmade Baby Blankets

Anac Designs

Caroline's Curio Vintage

PurplePlatypus

BitsOfFiber

Beautiful prints for kids

Handmade bath & body

YOUR Aura Made into Art!

PATTERNS, CROCHET & KNIT

Upcycled Cashmere Beauty

BEGINNER CROCHET PATTERNS

Wieber Art Gallery

Pink Parisian Beauty

Upcycled Charm Jewelry

Vintage goodies for decor

realistic food magnets

PaizleyPolkaDot Coasters

Divine Wedding Stationery

Hair Accessories and MORE

Organic Catnip Cat Toys

frankideas wearable art

Vintage Plaid Hobo

Rustic Wicca Pagan Hoodoo

Casual & Dress Up Vintage

affordable vintage finds

Blue Broomstick Lace Cowl

Original Colorful Pop Art

ImagineBetty

L'isolabella

Handmade little treasures

Retro Art

modern charm jewelry

SOMETHiNG MONUMENTAL

Classy Handmade Jewelry

Vintage Fashions

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Change the color of your Background

2010-09-12T00:13:00.001-07:00

I was searching for shops to feature in my blog and stumbled upon numerous shops that have background colors that were too similar to the color of there products. This made me think of doing a video to show a few tricks to edit your backgrounds independently from your product. This will prevent from changing the colors of your product and you will be able to keep it true to it's original color and only work with the background.

One of the main tools to work with is Replace Color as far as changing one specific color in the composition. Please take a look at my video and feel free to leave some comments :D

Keeping yourself Organized when Editing pictures

2010-09-11T18:12:00.001-07:00

As a rule, when taking pictures for my Etsy Shop, I always take probably around 10-20 pictures of the same product in different angles just for the sake of having from where to pick and edit later on. As I am not a professional photographer I always get tons of blurry, bad angle and bad lighting pictures that really, if I didn't have that extra shot i took, I was going to have to take the shot again, uff painful! I know! So that is why I make it rule to have tons of shots :D
As a result of that, organization is key even when editing your pictures in Photoshop or any other editing site. When dealing with hundreds of pictures one always wants to see what is the easiest less time consuming way to get all your pictures laid up in front of your screen. Using the tools in Photoshop to keep yourself organized and be able to compare side by side is crucial if you want to save time. Please take a look at my newest video and feel free to comment and even add tips! :D

Makeover Tutorials

2010-09-11T00:18:00.001-07:00

After long hours of trying to figure out how the video posting works, I finally got it to work! :D

For the longest time, I have been wanting to help others with there picture editing and figured out that the best way was to start doing mini tutorials. I have been selling in Etsy for over 2 years, I believe, and noticed that the same problem repeats over as far a pictures go. Like I mentioned before, having a great picture is a key to success for an Etsy shop or even any online selling venue. Customers are all about trying to get the feel of the item as close as possible through the pictures.

A couple of days ago I decided to post a thread in Etsy mentioning my video tutorial idea, and I offered to get a few pics from volunteered sellers. In this tutorial I decided to work with a picture by seller Twistedbeading who actually makes some really nice jewelry pieces, including this Red Tiger Eye Ring.

The picture below has a great angle and it is a great close-up to the actual product, which is great. The only thing that prevents the prospective buyer from appreciating the beauty of the ring even more, is that blueish glare or reflection from the background which removes part of the actual original color from this beautiful ring. I worked with a couple of tools in Photoshop in order to fix these minor issues to make the item look even more attractive. I really hope this serves as a help for many. Thanks for watching! :D

BEFORE AFTER

View Full Album

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More Jewelry By Twistedbeading

Sweet Long Weekend!

2010-09-05T13:45:00.001-07:00

Hello Everyone!
Considering that this a Labor Day Weekend I decided to go with my boyfriend in the motorcycle to Santa Cruz Boardwalk and have fun for these two days! I will use this weekend to get inspired for my next Treasury which will be focused on summer, bright colors, and fun stuff that one can wear for what we have left of the summer. At least here in San Francisco and East Bay the weather still feels a bit summery :D
Stick around for my weekly Makeover critiques and makeovers and also my Summer Treasury! Hope you guys have a wonderful weekend! Before I leave I want to leave you guys with some cute summery stuff that I found in Etsy! Let's have fun! :D

                                                  By Ikabags

                                                   By JennMaruskaDesign

                                                 By CoupleHome

                                                        By Artyecological

Quick Picture Makeovers!

2010-08-31T01:59:00.001-07:00

As many of us know, having a shop in Etsy, Artfire or any other handmade selling venue means that having great pictures is a MUST. We always have to remember that people are buying what is on the picture and that the person has never seen the item in person. Having this in mind having a crispy clear, well presented item is very important. I noticed that there are a few main issues when it comes to photographing, which I will list below:

1- Blurry pictures & yellowish backgrounds

2- Clutter or unnecessary distracting elements in the background of the picture.

3- Selection of background colors that are too similar and that make the item disappear.

These are of course just a few issues out of many, but I decided to start with these and give a few examples of Picture Makeovers that I proposed to all these amazing shop owners. Hope you guys enjoy and learn! :D

Picture Makeover #1

Taking a picture without it being blurry can be a challenge sometimes, therefore my advise is always try to use a tripod or hold your breath for that snap second! :D

Many times, if the picture is very blurry and you can’t figure out what is going on in the picture, then you know what to do, take the picture again. Like with many things in life, doing it all over again works best, but in some cases you can manage to get away by tweaking things out.

In the example below, I was able to tweak a picture where she just needed a little of editing to make her picture a bit more crispy, clean & clear! :D

Faerie Secret Garden Necklace

by BrightFireBeads.

Basically I used Photoshop tools to get rid of that sepia color in the background and the blurriness in the necklace. Do have in mind that Photoshop is not the only solution, there are many sites like Picnic.com that have editing tools for those that don’t have Photoshop. The only difference is that Photoshop does have many tools that these sites don’t have, but for the purpose of light photo editing they do the job.

Going back to the editing of the picture, I basically worked with both the Replace Color tool and the Unsharp Mask tool in order to get the background and the blurriness fixed. The Replace tool basically gives you the liberty of manipulating whatever color is selected with the eyedrop tool. I selected the sepia color and worked with the lightness bar in the Replace Color Box. After that, I worked with the Unsharp Mask tool in the Filter tab from the top Menu. This tool gives you the ability to manipulate how much of sharpness you want, versus just doing Sharpen, or Sharpen More. This gave a bit more edge to that amazing necklace. I hope these simple steps helped you guys in your editing process.

Check out some other amazing jewerly

by BrightFireBeads !!

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Makeover #2

Clutter or unnecessary distracting elements in the background of the picture is the other factor. Try to always take your pictures in a clean environment with no distracting things in the background. This takes away the attention from the main focus which is you product. You want the prospective buyers to have there eye just on your item.

Also as far as backgrounds goes, for example, I sell buttons and trims. I use a plain white $.50 cents cardboard as my background. It looks clean and professional. Some people like to have patterns and textures to give it a twist, which is great, but only if it doesn’t take away the attention to your item and it’s not so bright and busy that it fighting against your product.

I found this cute shop that had the perfect example of having a distracting element in the picture. I think it looks like some sort of lamp base.

Foxes Embroidered Towel

by SewWriteCreations In this particular picture you can go many ways, using the Clone Tool or just Painting with the brush. Given the nature of that one element on the top corner, I decide =d to go further with the regular brush painting, why? because if you try the other option and it does not come out as you want you have to move to your next option, is that simple. The Clone tool works great for literally cloning one area and repeating that same element somewhere else. In this case I wanted to clone the white from the rest of the lamp base but painting it was just easier in this situation. If you decide to play with the Clone Tool method, this is how it’s done:1-Click on the Clone Stamp Tool on the far left tool menu.2- Hover on top of the area you want to clone (in this case the white area) and select ATL button, a circle with a cross with come up, versus the regular circle symbol. This means you are ready to clone.3- Go around the area that you want to clone like if you were painting on top of it.4-Open a new Layer, in the “Create New Layer” buttons in the bottom of your Layers Window.5-Once you are that new layer opened, with the Clone tool selected in the menu, (you will see this time a circle brush) start painting. You will see the area that you just cloned being painted again. Voala’Is you decide to go with the Brush tool method, this is how it’s done:1- Create a New Layer in the Layers Window.2- Go to the Brush Tool in the far left Tool menu.3- In the upper Menu in the top of the page you will see the brush setting and size, change it to a blurry one like any of these sizes: 45, 65, or 100.4- Set your Foreground Color to be White in the bottom of the tool menu on your far left.5-Start painting the white area that you want. You can always go back of delete that layer without affecting the original picture, that is why we created a new layer :D This method seems less steps for this particular picture, but remember that is not going to always work this way, this is why you need to know who to work with the other tools that Photoshop provides. That is why I decided to post the Cloning option.

Check out some other amazing embroidery

by SewWriteCreations !!

If you need someone to do the job for you, visit my shop QuickPicFix

Undiscovered New Shops!

2010-08-30T01:37:00.001-07:00

Ok, so I figured that with the recession and the bad economy, many are coming with creative ways of having some extra income (including myself :D) This leads to many people opening shops in Etsy and many other online selling venues. I discovered a few amazing shops and wanted to share with you guys!

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Wish Granted Earrings	Green & Copper Fairy Necklace

DoxyDame $16	ElainaLouiseStudios $55


Antique Brass Nightingale Necklace	Simple Elegance Bridal Pin

AllureByU $ 22	CReid0409 $25


Off the Page Flower Hair Pin	Orange Linen- Pillow Cover

TriggerHappyTrends $6	Sukanart $34.95


Primitive Halloween Candy Corn’s	VW Beetle Photograph

LittlePenniAnn $11.99	Vmphotography $13

Simply Weird, Unique & Interesting!

2010-08-29T13:19:00.001-07:00

Ok, so while I was looking for sellers to post for the previous post, I found myself amazed with all the beautiful, unique items that are simply weird & interesting! Check these out!

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Loopy Goth ArtDoll OOAK Sandra	Purple people eater Bracelet

Loopyboopy $125	Dogzillalives$120


Int Bonus d20 Dangle Earrings	Organic Swirl Focal 2

Unintentional $12	MitosisGlass $8.50


Sterling Silver Evil Eye Ring	Steampunk Acorn Girl Necklace

Twistedsisterarts $100	CosmicFirefly $45

The minute I saw these items I thought, “thank God for Etsy!” I just think that it’s amazing the weird and beautiful things one can find in the net! I really enjoyed searching for these shop!

Dark & Cute Treasury!

2010-08-27T23:53:00.001-07:00

Hello Everyone!

I decide to start the first treasury with cute gothic inspired items that could be great gifts for young people. Considering that Halloween is coming up I thought that featuring a couple of shops form Etsy with dark but cute stuff would be a great way to start off. Hope you guys enjoy it!

Cute & Dark Gifts

less than $20

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Men's Studded Cuff	Red & Black Gingham Clippies

TinaagleShop $17	KalliopeKreations $5


Sugar Skull Plush	Alice in Wonderland Pouch

Raspberryrocket $4.99	HautTotes $15.50


Gothic Arm-Warmers	Piosonberry Pumkin Patch Earrings

Darkfusionboutique$20	MollythePirate $10


Black- The Devil Bunny	Gothic Girl & her Umbrella- Print

Zeropumpkin $17	VelvetMorning $10

Etsy! One of the best things that happened to me!

2010-08-26T18:06:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! This is my very first post in my blog, so I am very excited! I hope this blog will serve as a source of inspiration for many artists and poeple that love the arts. I plan to make my little treasuries with a different theme every week and help other shops from Etsy, and many other handmade online venues to gain exposure, so stay tuned!

Like I mentioned in my About Me section, I am a fashion designer with turst for lots of inspirations. I have two shops, one with cute buttons and embellishments, Vidalbuttons Shop & Quick PicFix Shop where I fix other peoples pics. My intention with this blog is to make this blog a venue where many people from different handmade places can get together and see other peoples creations. Why? I get a feeling that what happens with Etsy and all these places where people sell stuff, is that we create our own mini handmade worlds and we need to make 1 world :D