Interview with me on a Market Research Blog

A few weeks ago I won a sweepstakes and got a $200 gift certificate. The man who sent me the certificate noticed that I have my own blog/website and asked to interview me for his blog about market research! I happily agreed and the result of that interview is here: Face to Face With Gen Y.

Aside from an awesome interview, I also was able to buy a whole bunch of beauty products, christmas presents, and clothes, soooooo I'm going to call this entire episode a huge WIN in my book.

How are everyone's Christmas sales doing? Mine are going so well, they're actually interfering with studying for finals. I'm not at all upset about that.

Black Friday Weekend at OmgLia.com!

Novemer 28 Through December 1!
This Black Friday weekend, http://omglia.com is offering tons of awesome bonus deals! Pick a coupon from the following list and enter it during checkout to redeem! (if you cannot find where to enter it, just email it to me!)

Free Shipping on Domestic Orders: BLACKFRIDAYSHIPPING
Free Gift Box + Gift Packaging: BLACKFRIDAYGIFTWRAP
Free Pair of Holiday Earrings With Purchase: BLACKFRIDAYEARRINGS

Holiday Planning

Indie Shopping is featuring an article about Omg! Lia? Be sure to check it out! There will also be a sponsored newsletter going out to subscribers (it's a great newsletter, by the way!)

In other news, I'm ridiculously busy, hence the lack of updating. I've been working on an Access databse for Omg Lia:

which is quite time-consuming, which on top of schoolwork (ahhhhh) and social life-having is putting a real cramp on my time management :(

I do have plans for the Holidays though - hopefully I'll get them all up and running during my Thanksgiving break in time to have a Black Friday sale! - which so far can be seen at http://omglia.com in the form of a new layout (still working on it though) and Gift Idea categories. I've got gift packaging in the mail and new items to post as well as new advertisements to make (ahhhh! head exploding!) anyway, I'll try to keep posted on what's new with me!

Halloween Costume Thoughts

I'm not sure if I've fully outgrown the anticlimactic costumes of previous years (i was a lamp, sperm, trash, and a janitor) but I do kind of want to, you know, look at least moderately attractive this year. To see a full entry on the thought proccesses leading up to my Halloween outfit for this year, see My Livejournal
I SHALL BE:

EXCEPT FACEBOOK. OLD FACEBOOK. With a space for people to write on my wall!!! It's brilliant!! :D yayyyyy.

Halloween jewelry at Omg! Lia?

It's that time of year again! Fall, which is my favorite season (don't forget about my autumn button earrings which are perfect autumn-wear!) and Halloween, which is a wonderful time for people who are into things like free candy, dressing up, and wearing lots of makeup, (um, sign me up for all of the above, please, thanks). And on Halloween you get to all of those things AT ONCE. Amazing. What a great holiday. I am also intrigued by spooky shit, so that gets an A+ in my opinion too. I'm really hoping I'll see a ghost one of these days - my friends see them all the time and I always miss out.

But anyway, we all know the real purpose of those post is (what else) to promote me. Yay, me! I'd like everyone to go and take a look at my Halloween Section (the Etsy has one too) and pick out something pretty and buy it. And I'm going to give you free shipping on it too! Cuz you are great!
Here is one of the new necklaces in the shop:


What's everyone dressing up as for Halloween? I don't know if I can top my last few year's costumes, which were respectively a lamp (age 14, I wore a lampshade) sperm (age 15, I wore a pillowcase that said SPERM on it) a janitor (age 16, I borrowed the school custodian's outfit) and trash (age 17, I sewed that one by hand out of trash bags, and it was super NOT skanky at all.) Ideas?

Ways to Drive Free Traffic

Selling on the internet is all about getting hits. I know it sounds like something involving drugs and alleys, but hits just means traffic, which means the amount of people looking at your site. The more exposure, the more likely someone will buy something, so hits are a vital part of owning an online shop! I thought I'd share where most of OmgLia's hits come from. Now I personally haven't done much in the way of paid advertising - which I imagine would be FAR more rewarding - but I'm offering my advice for getting FREE hits specifically because those benefit everyone!

Traffic Buttons by Buttered Parsnips

First, how do I know where I get my hits, you ask? I use 3 traffic trackers to get a well-rounded idea of my traffic and referall sites:
1. Project Wonderful, which tracks referrers, unique users and pageviews on every page where its ad boxes are displayed
2. Site Meter, an excellent free counter that also tracks referrals
3. Google Analytics which tracks very efficiently but is difficult to place on every page of a domain - much more effective for a blogspot blog or etsy shop.

Now onto the sites. In order of most referalls to least, here are the places that OmgLia gets it's hits:Traffic Light Decal by Elephannie

1. LiveJournal Communities is a HUGE place for hits. It's a very targeted blogging site that mostly caters to the under-25 crowd, and happens to have a wonderful community for selling in particular. There are livejournal selling journals, selling communities, and advertising communities. Each community has around 500+ members looking at any given day, and although there are often many posts per day (think the Promotions section of the Etsy forums) one well-designed advertisement posted to about 30 communities (again, at 500+ members each) usually gets me TONS of hits when I take the time to mass-post. This is a VERY time-consuming but VERY rewarding way to get hits. First you have to find and join the communities, then you have to make your banner ad, then you have to copy and paste it 30 TIMES. But my traffic skyrockets every time I do this which definetly makes it worth it to me! Feel free to add me on LJ and join the communities I'm already in!

2. Topsites Listings and Directories. If you've never seen a topsites listing, go and run a search for "topsites [use a keyword from your site here]. A topsites list is a big list of sites with banner ads that you can add your site to for free. Here is one example. Its order is ranked by the amount of "votes" you get, or people clicking from the topsites link on your site to visit the topsites list. There are top sites for everything and the more you join, the more traffic you'll get from them. Just make sure you have a place to link back to the site from - like a myspace or a blog - so that you can keep your link on the front page! Directories are similiar to topsites listings, except without the whole voting/rank thing (which I personally find is useful if you have enough traffic to generate a lot of votes, because then you stay on the front page.) Some good free directories I use are The Handmade Product Directory and Indie Collective.

Photograph by Mcclainphotography

3. Google Search and Google Image Search, as well as other misc. search engines. I know, big DUH there. But why is it that I'm getting so many targetted google hits for specific items (like, "cute funky jewelry" or "handmade wallets" - things that are definetly on my site)? Google ranks the results of its queries based on a few different items: one is the amount of links back to the site that exist on the web (see above 2 ideas to raise that number significantly), and the other is keywords and tags. Etsy users already know how to use tags properly, but if you have your own site or blog, it can be trickier. First make sure your TITLE is descriptive enough to pop up as relevant to Google and relevant to the person searching: if you sell knit scarves and your blog is called "Katie's World," for example, then you might get far less hits than if your blog was called "Katie's World: Knitted Scarves and Other Crafts" or something more descriptive and specific. You'll notice that my blog title is "colorful plastic jewelry". Secondly, make sure that you use keywords and tags in the BODY of your posts. If you have a domain, make a little opening statement that has a few key words (for an example, see http://omglia.com and read the opening paragraph). If you blog, make sure you're using descriptive terms that will show up as relevant to google. And use lots of images. I get tons of hits because I once posted an entry about making jewelry displays, and included pictures, and that image links back right to this blog.

4. Links from other sites. This refers to link exchanges, links on blogrolls, anywhere someone posted a link back to omglia from their personal site. A lot of the time these are voluntary links that I had nothing to do with, but there are 2 ways to get more links to your site up on other people's sites:

a) Link Exchanging. you post their link, they post yours, everybody wins. With Etsy, this can be great for other shops because the only link that works on an Etsy announcement or profile is another Etsy shop, so consider offering a section called "Shops I Love" and putting link exchanges there. Approach blogs and other domains that you think might mutually benefit from an exchange - more often than not, they're looking for ways to get more links out there too (Remember, more linkbacks = more google results!).

b) Make it easy to link back to your site. I have a Link Back page with all of my advertisement banners plus a simple copy-paste HTML code for immediate postage to a myspace, blog, etc. If people like my site, they can share it with friends without having to do anything but copy and paste. For blogs, this might mean an "add to your blogroll" or "share with friends" link somewhere to a site like Google Reader or Digg. The easier it is, the more likely people will use it.

Panda Crossing Sign by minitrafficsignsmini

5. StumbleUpon I think many Etsy users have already discovered the joys of StumbleUpon, but I'll reiterate. Stumble EVERY new item you post, EVERY blog you write, EVERYTHING. And USE KEYWORDS/TAGS like your traffic depends on it! (Newsflash: It does!)

6. Forums and Message Boards. This includes Etsy forums, Crafster, Diyscene, even your World of Warcraft message board or your Motherhood forum. My random MB that gets me hits is HoboWars -- shameful, but effective! Make sure EVERY signature contains a link to your site, and if possible use a universal username or avatar for brand recognition and familiarity (mine, predictably, is omglia.).

7. Misc: Myspace, Flickr, LinkReferral, etc. These are the ones that everyone has heard of that always get tossed around as good places to get hits. I know I've left of several that you can probably list from the top of your head (Twitter, Facebook, etc etc). I don't get a bulk amount of traffic from any one of them in particular, but combined they are definitely invalueable. Have as many profiles in as many places as you can, and if you happen to maintain them, even better (I'm kind of a fan of leaving my link and moving on, personally). Remember, the amount of time spent on customizing and editing your profile (and then keeping it updated) will result in a greater amount of traffic. The more you put in, the more you get out of it, as is true with most things. You can use a URL shortener like Bit.Ly to track the number of clicks you receive on any specific link.

Print by Thedreamygiraffe

So there you have it. Remember, I excluded paid advertising! That's another HUGE way to get hits. ProjectWonderful is a good way to dip your toes into paid advertising, but if you're looking for places to advertise the best place is to search for keywords relevant to your site and then from those results, find as many blogs or domains offering advertising as possible. Also, if you need banner advertisements (which I find vital in attracting my target market, personally) I sell them at very reasonable prices. *Wink*

One last thing. If you have the abilities to keep track of where your hits are coming from, CONCENTRATE your efforts on the places that seem successful! For me, that's Livejournal - those mass advertisement posts take hours, but they're so worth it! If you start to see a lot of hits coming from topsites or message boards, find more of those and join them! Whatever you're doing right, keep doing it! Good luck! And please feel free to comment with some suggestions of your own!

Featured!

Several of my rings are appearing in Ring O Blog!
Elektrosawruslove blogged about me.
A pair of my earrings were featured at Cuteable.

I Want This!

So, I'm going to let the cat out of the bag .... I, the plastic jewelry designer/creater/connoseuier, do not actually wear very much plastic jewelry. In fact, I don't really wear very much jewelry of any kind. I used to be really into chandelier earrings when I was 16 and I just never bothered to update my style, so, yeah.

That said, I do have a kind of necklace that I prefer and want to own and, of course, wear. And *GASP* the style looks nothing like that ones that I create! Anyway to give you an example, here is one such gorgeous necklace that I am lusting after from a fellow Kentuckian's shop:

http://thatwinsomegirl.etsy.com

NOBODY BUY IT, IT'S MINE IN THE FUTURE.

Renegade Craft Fair

Did I mention that I took a road trip up to Chicago to see Renegade this past weekend? Here is what it looked like:

All the vendors were amazing, and there was still a surprising amount of traffic despite all the rain!
Speaking of traffic, we were stuck in it for 11 hours on the way back. It's a 4 hour drive, but all the highways were closed due to flooding. Ah, lengthy car rides with college mates I barely know. Gotta love it!
PS I applied for the Holiday fair, wish me luck!

Update from my life

Hello! Wow have I been busy lately! What with all the (ex)boyfriend drama (yeah, we're still broken up, and neither of us are handling it very well) and then the whole leaving for college and making new friends thing, I've hardly had any time for my business! I did manage to create and list a few new things at http://omglia.com including a bunch of rings, and some new Halloween merch like a necklace, a bead/charm lot and a charm bracelet. But more on that later - for now I just want to post pics of my dorm room!! That first pic is my computer area. Yes my TV says RELAX on it, I got that in a swap on Crafster :D And this pic on the right is my bed. And by bed I mean workstation and by workstation I mean where I make jewelry. My sewing machine is tucked away in my closet and my beading supplies are all shelved in that little bookcase there, and all of my packaging materials are in boxes under my bed haha. Anyway that's the update from me, I'll be posting more soon with all my new Halloween products! Until then, please admire this beautiful picture of me. *fans self* Hehe.

Consignment

I've got some items being sold online at Oak Boston as well as in their store! Check out the Mario mushroom necklaces :) Exciting!

And the winners are ....

I chose the winners for my giveaway the old-fashioned way; I wrote them all down, cut them out, and drew 3 names out of the pile randomly! The winners are sweetcharade, spottedonetsy, and whimsicalcreations. I've emailed them already :) Congrats!

In other words, I've been going through some really rough patches in the personal/romantic areas of my life and haven't been quite as productive as I could've been. But I did manage to make a killing at a local flea market (because I have a bunch of Louisvillians reading this I will let you in on my secret - there's a flea market in Jtown right on Taylorsville road! Check it out!) Here is the stash I scored after 2 hours of frantic searching through MOUNDS of stuff!

GIVEAWAY!!! Free prizes!

As some of you may know, I recently changed my primary etsy shop from liasaun1.etsy.com to http://omglia.etsy.com. As such, many of my listings have expired - and to be honest I don't feel like relisting them. They're old, the pictures aren't very good, and I'm sick of looking at them in my inventory. So here is your chance to get some of my unsold designs FREE! I will be giving away 3 pairs of earrings. You may enter using the following options. (enter as many times as you can!)

Option 1: Feature my giveaway in your blog. Include a picture of your favorite item from my shop for an extra entry!
Option 2: Have a website, myspace, livejournal? Add my banner and show me where you've added it! You can find a page of easy copy and paste banners for you to add easily RIGHT HERE.
Option 3: Complete this short survey:
1. Have you seen my shop/blog before? If not, where did you find out about this giveaway?
2. What appeals to you about my shop/items for sale?
3. What would you like to see more of in my shop?
4. What do think is the target market for my items (age, income, etc)?
5. Any suggestions or critiques for me?
Giveaway Ends August 10 at 11:59 pm!

Craft Fair Sign Tutorial

This is the tutorial for my sign displays!
You Will Need
1. Good cardboard. Any ordinary cardboard box will be fine. It doesn't matter if it has writing on it. You'll also need a bit of lighter cardboard, like a cereal box. Yay, recycling!
2. Pretty paper. I used a combination of scrapbooking paper from a craft store and free paint samples from Home Depot! Construction paper, wrapping paper, etc will also work well. Whatever looks good. If you want your signs to match, though, make sure you have enough! I didn't, as you can see, so they're all kind of in the same general color scheme.
3. Access to a printer and computer for designing the actual text. If you're fabulous at handwriting or something, I guess that'll work too, but I found that printed text makes it look more proffesional.
4. Scissors! And possibly a box cutter if you're into that.
5. CLEAR PACKING TAPE. This is important. It's to waterproof everything so it lasts longer!

Let's Begin!
1. Design your labels, print and cut them out. My labels included the name of the item, its price, and sometimes discount for multiple purchases.
2. Cut out strips of cardboard. You will be folding these in half, so make them twice the length of your sign size. To find the width, I held up the cut-out label on top of the cardboard and cut around it. You can of course also make them all one size.
3. Fold your cardboard strips in half. Now they should look like little tents! Cute! If you're using cardboard with writing on it, consider folding them with the writing on the OUTSIDE and the blank side on the INSIDE, because that way you won't see any of the writing stuff once it's covered up *shrug* I'm OCD, are you? Hehe.
4. Time to get out your tape! Cover your cardboard strip with the decorative paper, tape it in place and then tape all over it (in straight lines, so it looks neat). Also tape your label in place on one (or both, if you like) sides. See the picture to the left for what it should look like now!
5. To prevent sign your flattening on your table, we're going to make a little bridge at the bottom of each tent to hold it in place. I used paint sample paper; any light cardboard (get out those cereal boxes now!) will work fine. Fold your tent again and set it at the angle you would like it to stay at forever. Cut out a strip of light cardboard the width of the bottom of your tent. Then tape it to the bottom on top AND bottom of the strip. This is kinda hard to explain, but I'll try. Place a strip of tape underneath the cereal box strip so it goes around on top of the decorative paper sides of the sign, and also one on TOP of the cereal box strip so it stays in place with the tape going up the sides on the INSIDE of the tent. Does that make sense?

Now your sign is done! Just repeat these steps to make the rest of your signs. They should be sturdy and waterproof, as well as proffesional looking and perfect for your craft fairs! Here is an action shot of my signs:

Long time no post

Hello all! Gosh, I've really been slacking off about posting here. Amazingly I've been managing to keep pretty busy despite having personal issues (remember about a month ago, I posted that my boyfriend of 3 years broke up with me? I'm moving on! I even have new mancandy to help with that *wink*) And I've come up with some awesome new stuff I want to share with you!
First is those wallets I've been talking about forever. They're finally listed and available for purchase on the site! More new wallet designs are coming soon, I'm planning on really expanding my wallet section and doing a lot more custom work.

Next I want to share some new packaging I made last night! I've been seeing bag toppers all over and always wondered "wow how do they make those?" Then - DUH - it hit me like a ton of bricks. They just print out a design on nice paper and fold it in half! Durrr, that's not hard! So I whipped up a design and made some for myself.
I can't beleive how proffesional they make my orders look! I can't wait to get some more earring orders now (I had a bunch of supplies to send out that I put them on, but I think the earring packaged are prettier!) You can even see the freebie I put into each order in that pic ;) Well, that's all for now! I'll update again soon!

Craft Fair Tips

I've been thinking, and I've decided that with 3 craft fairs under my belt (2 not-so-good ones and one very succesful one) I might as well write down some tips for the n00bs. In no particular order, here are mine:

1. Bring everything on this list. I packed up a big box for my first fair and just bring it to each subsequent fair, and nothing ever gets left behind!

2. Make a big excel file of all of your inventory and its price. When you sell something you can cross it off, and then at home you can tally up everything you've sold on the computer to keep track of it really easily. Plus it helps if you forget the price of something or other.

3. Mark prices very clearly. Some people don't like to ask, and some people decide what to buy based directly from the prices they see. This picture shows my pricing signs: they are little triangles made out of recycled cardboard and pretty paper, laminated (and waterproof) with clear tape. Easy fast and cute, and I can reuse them over and over! I'll make a tutorial if anyone wants one.

4.Have freebies, either from your shop or other people. It creates loyalty because everyone loves freebies! Freebies for your own shop (promotional freebies) should be USEFUL so they don't just get thrown away. My favorite item for this is magnets, which I make myself. Pens, mirrors, etc might also work wonderfully! Make sure your URL is on there and all that. I gave away all but 3 of the 50 or so magnets I had sitting out there, and now they're all sitting on people's fridges for them to see every day!

5. packaging! Bring bags (NOT recycled wal mart bags) with your url or logo somewhere on it. Include a biz card inside. I also toss in etsy promotional packs, makes them feel like they're getting more freebies! Consider wrapping and whatnot if your item works that way.

6. Have a draw like the giant teddy bear I used at my last fair! (see my previous entry for pics) it will attract your target demographic. If you're a soap seller, think about how The Body Shop always has that little dish set out with yummy smelly samples in it OUTSIDE their store, to draw people in, for example. If you sell plushies, make a huge one. If you sell clothes, put your best outfit on a mannequin. Etc! People will see it from far off and want to come check out your stuff!

7. Displays. Think about how you want your items to be seen. If you are marketing adult-oriented, sophisticated stuff, you may want all matching displays. I personally chose a variety of themed displays for my tables, so it doesn't match very well but does look interesting. For some ideas on DIY jewelry displays, click here. The picture is of an old, dirty necklace stand that I painted! Get creative.

8. You'll hear this one a lot - levels! You need your table to have lots of levels so it doesn't look all boring just laid out in one spot. I personally like to put a box underneath my tablecloths to mix it up and then put things on top of that. The picture is an example. See how one jewelry display is much higher than the other? It makes it look more interesting. Plus, you can fit more stuff on your table that way! Also consider hanging things from the side of your tent. The more levels, the better!

9. Be friendly. My last craft fair, I was going through a breakup. I was SOOOO not in the mood to smile and sell my stuff. But I did anyway (plus my friends showed up to help, which cheered me up!) and I got a lot of return customers from one day to the next! All these teenage girls kept coming back to talk to me, it was adorable! If I would've let my mood take over I would've sat glowering at everyone, but instead I said hi to each customer and sold my products cheerfully. Always stay proffesional.

10. Promote your fair. I know, that's the job of the advertisers ... but in my case, I wasn't sure there was advertising to my demographic. The fair organizers had advertised in the newspaper and around their neighborhood, but I hadn't seen anything on craigslist, facebook, or myspace!! So I got promoting, created a facebook event and a craigslist post. We all know how to advertise here, and the more customers a fair has, the better EVERYONE benefits.

If I think of any more tips I will update! Please add your own too!

Craft Fair Pictures!

Pictures of my latest fair, as promised, are here! This first picture is of little Lia the Bear, complete with DIY reconstructed top and ice cream cone! She was popular with the kids who all wanted to buy her :P This fair was 2 days long. These pictures were taken on the first day, which was unfortunately very gloomy and rainy and not too many people showed up. The 2nd day which I have no pictures of was bright and sunny and tons of people came! Also on the second day, I put up a pink sheet in the back of my tent so you couldn't see the ugly caution tape and cars like in this picture, so just imagine that there, hehe. I wore my hair down the first day b/c it was cold, but the 2nd day I was sweating in my shorts all day long! This next picture is of some earring and ring displays and also my newwwwww graphic art wallets which aren't on the site yet but are coming REALLY soon! I sold 2 wallets, and lots of people stopped to look at them, so I hope that's a good sign!

The only snag I hit with my display was that at one point my tent collapsed, nearly taking out a customer! It just started leaning over ... and over .... and over until I looked up and realized it was almost completely parallel to the ground! The weight of the supply displays on the sides must have sagged it down. Anyway the guy next door helped me hammer each leg deep into the ground so it stayed firm the rest of the fair. I guess you get what you pay for, because my tent was $50 on ebay.
The rest of my pictures are over at My Flickr. Suggestions for improving my booth are welcome!

Success!

Today was the final day of my 2-day craft fair. PICTURES COMING SOON! Suffice it to say that I sold 22 items and made a profit of over $100!! It was a wonderful fair, fireworks and rides and everything, and all of my friends stopped by :) I had a lot of fun!

In personal news, I was just dumped by my boyfriend of almost 3 years and feel totally distraught about it.
So ya know. Feel free to cheer me up or help me stay busy somehow.
Business success really does wonders for a broken heart, though, doesn't it? Hmmm.

Update From My Life

I had my orientation for Indiana University yesterday (I'm transferring in as a sophmore.) I was going to get a business degree, but it would mean cramming in a zillion required classes this year (no, I'm serious, it would be almost impossible. Their business school is very good and very cutthroat.) So my declared major is now Apparel Merchandising! I know, it's not very common, but it's hella useful for my chosen career path, provided that stays the same for the next 2 years or so. Anyway, I'll be minoring in business, so I'll still get tons of nerdy business skills. So I get to take classes in fashion design and accounting. Can we say, perfect?

In other news, I've been secretly working on totally new line of wallets! I've designed them and started to laminate them and cut them out, but haven't sewed any up yet, so I can't show you :( but I will show you this awesome secret preview!

Oooooh. No copyright infringement here, guys, it's all original :)

COMING SOON IN LIA'S LIFE:
1. New hostess job at Olive Garden!
2. Craft fair this weekend! 2 days! Lots of kids! $75 that I must make to break even. Yikes. I'm going to have to do a ton of sewing this weekend so I at least have some more expensive items. I hope some of the people at this fair like hot topic shirts.
3. I have 3976763 consignment orders to go out in the next few weeks. Hopefully I can at least make some money that way, b/c this summer is going SO badly.
Stay tuned!

YART SALE!

Some of you might have heard of the "Yart Sale" on Etsy right now! If not, it's ton of stores with discounted prices from June 11-20th .... like a yard sale, for handmade items! 2 of my shops will be participating! Pictured are some of the awesome items for sale that you can snag at my Etsy shops. To find other great Etsy deals, just add "yart" or "yart sale" to your search, and voila, discounts galore!

I've made sections in my shops for the sale items: Here are the supplies and Here are the earrings!

As a special, secret bonus,I've also marked down one BITCH wallet in my new Etsy shop! Here it is! Enjoy these great deals and be sure to search through other shops as well!

Dinner party at my apartment!

So I threw a little dinner party for my mom, dad, and grandmother to break in the new apartment, so to speak. I slaved all day (imagine the heat of 80degree weather, a shower, an oven, AND boiling water in my little apartment, Ahhhh!) cooking and cleaning just like a cute little housewife (except my boyfriend doesn't eat food I like, or trust my cooking, so he opted out, haha.) Anyway, here are a few pics! First can we just admire my plate set in that first pic? Pink and green PLAID. How much? $3 for all of it (plus the serving tray and a set of knives). Yard sale. HOLLA! Ahem, moving on.

These are Garlic Chedder Biscuits courtesy of the amazing Joyful Abode blog. They are really easy to make and delicious (though I recommend adding an entire bag of cheese rather than half, don't skimp!) and serving them warm, if possible.
I've got loads more pics up at my Livejournal Blog so head over there to see them!

Wholesale/Consignment Tip

Along with many other sellers this summer, I'm not selling a thing! I haven't had a sale in almost 3 weeks now, the longest time ever since I first opened up my shop! So, what to do? Give up? Toss in the towel? No. The answer is, devote my time to other alternatives and opportunities during this slow summer. For me, this means a couple of craft fairs and wholesale/consignment work.

For those not familiar, wholesale means you sell a large amount of your items at a reduced price to a store to sell at whatever markup they like. Consignment means you send items to a store along with a list detailing what prices they should be sold at, from which you receive 60% and they receive 40%. Wholesale means upfront payment; consignment means payment when your item sells. I think of consigment as a 24/7 craft show: your item is on display in a shop with lots traffic! I'm going to be doing my first consignment orders this summer.


What I did to jump-start this re-focused attention thing was write up a Wholesale/Consignment Tip Sheet with every item I wholesale, the minimum price required to buy to receive the discount, and its price. The same items are also available for consignment. Next, I visited my Etsy Thread which lists loads of stores who sell handmade goods, along with their locations! (In alphabetical order *ahem* you're welcome!) I clicked on every website (though, if you're really ambitious, you could probably google the ones without websites listed as well) and if the store looked like it fit my target demographic (edgy, funky, alternative) I found their email address and added it to my list. Once I'd compiled all of the stores, I sent out a mass email with a link to my wholesale page and a couple of suggestions (for example, I can make custom wallets: local-themed wallets, political wallets, graphic wallets, etc! I suggested these as a great personalized shop-specific selling item and, surprise, I now have 2 consigment orders for them!) Not all 30-something of the shops I emailed have gotten back to me yet, but I have several new orders to work on and now I don't need to rely on my dead Etsy shop and Website for income.

To make your own wholesale info page, you don't need a website, although it does help (mine was just simple HTML). You can also write up an email in Notepad and copy-paste it into your email provider to send it out to multiple people. Your wholesale tip sheet should include example pictures that showcase your items (I had pictures of previous orders I'd done as well as my best items from each category), prices, and if you have any requirements for wholesale/consignment or feedback from other wholesale buyers, you can include that too. I can't wait to hear back from the other shop owners! And remember, even if they don't order from you right away, you're now in their file of potential sellers!

And so it begins: adding inventory

My last craft fair is in late June, and I have a TON of inventory left over from the past 2. So, rather than save all the old stuff, I'm going to add a lot of it to my new etsy shop and Omglia.com. I was up all last night taking pics of my necklaces with my new camera (which, sadly, isn't as amazing as I expected. Or maybe I'm just a terrible photographer. Could go either way.) I've added 3 to my etsy shop and more are coming!

Keep checking back!

Craft Fair #2

Got back a few hours ago from my second craft fair! All in all, I had a great time. I shared a booth with Kayraffla from Etsy and her mom. She's super cool, my age and going to my university next year, and her stuff is AMAZING. We had totally different items (she's a metalsmith) but they were both really funky and unique, so it worked. Our booth looked kickass. However, she ended up making loads more money (she sold a $47 pendant necklace - damn! I need some of that!) and I only sold 4 pairs of earrings and a keychain (to Kayla, haha) totalling in about $6 profit :-/

HOWEVER, it was a lovely day outside, it was a really nice little craft fair and I got some great ideas for my next 2-day fair in a month. Kayla will be sharing the booth again and we're planning a raffle for a mixed bag of some of our earrings. I'm also going to make a ton of little $1 button bobby pins, because Kayla had some wire-wrapped seed bead ones that sold like hotcakes and I want in! My cheapest items are $3 and are popular on Etsy and have done OK at the fair, considering, but people apparently really go for that $1 thing. A bobby pin with a button glued onto it would probably cost me no more than .15 to make anyway, it would make a good loss leader. We also have our booth all planned out for next month (paralell tables with an entryway like a store, hanging stuff from the tent, etc) so it's gonna be awesome :D she's really cool and I'm glad to already have a crafty college friend for next year! Pics if I can figure out how to get them from my camera.

Now I need a nap!

Wallet Contest!

I'm trying something new. My Harry Potter Wallets are being discontinued because, apparently, people at Warner Bros have nothing to do but hunt down innocent crafters and yell at them (bitter? me? Never!). So, there will be no more copyright infringement. From now on I'll be making my own unique wallet designs, using my computer graphics-making skills and quotes and such. Which is where you come in! I need quotes! I've already got some ideas, but I'm planning on making a vast catologue of pop culture referencing wallets! My contest:

1. Submit a quote in this post from a movie, TV show, song lyric, book/series, poem, etc. Tell me where it's from in case the fact that I live under a rock prevents me from getting it.
2. Leave me your email address, or choose the box in the comments that says "send me email replies."
3. If I like your quote and make a wallet with it, I'll sell you a wallet for $10, which is the wholesale price (normally $15, which will probably be going up soon). I understand that not everyone will WANT a paper/tape wallet, though, which is why this is optional.
4. The best quote ever that I love gets a Free Wallet using their quote!
5. Submit as many as you want. GO!

SQUEE.

I'm "squeeing" right now, which is something I NEVER do (sooooo not a fangirl. Of anything except ... maybe LOTR.) But you know what? It is perfectly appropriate, because!
* I JUST finished my LAST exam. Which means I'm no longer a freshman in college! Which means I no longer have to attend this college! Which means no more super-hard long distance relationships and classes about things that make me feel bad for being white/rich!
* I decided to watch Dick in a Box again after reading a blog called Lunch in a Box because
* All summer I'm going to be making Bento lunches for myself! Which basically just means the Japanese word for Lunch, but a zillion times cuter than everyone else's lunches. I got myself an adorable Pink Polka Dotted Bento Box and a ton of awesome bento accessories to go with it. It's portion control, too, so I can lose the obnoxious Freshman 5-15lbs I gained when I was forced to eat College Food (my idea of dessert: strawberries. College's idea: carrot cake fried in oil.) and all of my little Jewish campers at Jewcamp will be totally jealous all summer long.
* I bought a new camera! Because you may have noticed, mine SUCKS. It's 3.2 MPX. Suck! But my new one is shiny and blue and 8.1 mpx! Soooo that means I can take lots of shiny new pictures of all the inventory from my last craft fair!
*Except not all of it, because my next craft fair is on May 20. I'll be sharing my booth with Kayraffla from Etsy! She goes to my college next year.
* I might get an apartment this summer! My dad said he found some sweet apartments for like $300 a month to rent over the summer ...4 minutes away from my boyfriends house! Sweeeet, dude, can anyone say STUDIO SPACE? I'm telling some of my friends who are home for the summer too. It'll be the coolest building ever if we all get apartments there.
Anyway, that's the update from my life. I'm moving but I swear there will be some AWESOME new camera updates next week. In the meantime, check out Omg! Lia? Dot Com cuz ya know, it's working, and stuff.

Craft Fair: The Aftermath

So, that's me ... making a funny face and looking weird at my booth! Just a thought, but the face might have been from the intense freezing cold that was permeating my poor bones (and it was only 8am!) The Chili Cookoff was a total success for chili cooks, but not so much for us crafters .... which was only like 5 people! Lesson learned: only sign up for shows that people interested in buying my stuff will be attending. At any rate, it was an experience. I sat with my sister and her fiance for about 12 hours in 40 degree windy weather (At least it didn't rain) while odd folks in cowboy hats and overalls walking around tasting chili (which was odd, considering I'm from KY and I was in CT, and I definetly didn't expect to see cowboy hats and overalls.) There were lots of little girls with cheap parents who wouldn't buy their kid my stuff (lame) but also some really nice folks including Jillian from Ms. Kitty Fantastico, leader of the CT street team who I met and who is wonderful! All in all, I came out just about even - the entry fee was $50, and I made $41 plus my sister and her fiance bought 3 things which I kind of don't count, hehe. Anyway, in the weeks leading up to my next craft fair (on the 20th!) I'll be posting pics of my DIY labels and signs and whatnot. In the meantime check out My Flickr Photostream for more pics of the fair and what I've been working on!

Shopping today!

So today I took a trip to the mall. Now, I really hate going to the mall up here at college, because I have no car and it's a 1 hour bus ride each way. It's also somehow always raining on the days I decide to take this journey. So, I tramped through the rain and 2 bus stops to the mall and I beleive I made it worth my while: check out that haul over on the left. CLEARANCE, my friends. Everything in that picture cost $1 each. Mmmmm, I sense upcoming craftiness! (Not that I haven't been crafting my butt off - I made at least 50 new items this weekend alone. Pics later.) I also stocked up at Jo-Anns since we don't have one in Louisville, and bought 14 packs of buttons. I hope that will tide me until summer! I've still got 5 pairs of earrings to make for a wholesale order, and I ought to make at least 10 for the craft fair, considering they're kind of my favorite and most iconic item aside from my BITCH wallets. I've been making some new designs and I really want to start selling them, too. Ah, what I need is more time! Anyway, I'll spare you pics of the rest of my purchases, because who wants to see pics of glue, keychain rings and tablecloths anyway?
Coming up next week: craft fair preperation pics! I've been taking pics, folks. I'm just too darn busy to write about it right now! Stay tuned!

Omg! Lia? Gives Back

So last weekend (the weekend I was out of town) was the local chapter of the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life event. Basically what it is is an overnight relay (walking/running for 24 hours) to fundraise money for cancer research. Well my friend Zilin was organizing the team here and she wanted to set up a table to sell some handmade items to raise additional money, and came to me. I of course said yes and gave her incredibly good deals on all of my jewelry for her to mark up (we're talking 70% discounts here, people!) Well she says it was a total success and all of my earrings except for 3 pairs sold!! I can now officially say that my crafting has helped the greater good. I'm glad I could help them raise money!

Craft Fair in 1.5 Weeks!

So, I'm back from my nice little mini-vacay in time to realize that my first ever craft fair is next-next Saturday! Yikes! I know that you all want to hear the mushy details about my visit home but I hope that this picture of 2 turtles we saw at the Zoo on Sunday will suffice for now (infer what you will. By thw way, if I ever have a turtle, I'm naming it Skipperdee like in Eloise.)
Anyway, because the craft fair is so soon, I'm working my butt off starting today. I've been making stuff nonstop since 10pm (it's 3:30 now! Class in the morning! Woohoo.) I made 10 keychains (they're fun! Why haven't I made more before this?) and 5 necklaces. So that's a decent $100 minimum if they sell. I also sold a bunch of stuff today for some odd reason (3 pairs of earrings and 2 supply lots) so that's more stuff to send out and less to sell at the fair. Oh well, at least I came home to TONS OF BUTTONS for my wholesale order (still need more though, poo.)
Anyway, here's a list of things (mostly for my benefit, skim if you must)to do before my fair:
1. Finish felt sign, sew letters onto sheet.
2. Finish label cards, attach logo onto cardboard backings.
3. Steal more bags from the campus center (ssh, I already paid 50k for them.)
4.Create a giant excel file of all the items I am bringing to the fair
5. Work on getting omglia.com functional (possibly before next fair)
6. Sew the half-made wallets, and make more!
7. Sew some tops!! Lots of them!!
8. More necklaces! and earrings!
9. Big batch of button stud earrings: assemble and decorate
10. Get propay account set up
11. Set up tent outside to test it out, check for weights
12. Put all the stuff from my Things to Bring to a Craft Fair post in a box, ready to go.
13. Possibly start work on portfolio
14. Take a giant 2hr round trip (ugh) visit to the mall for more buttons, more keychain pulls and flickr prints at target (which are apparently free) for portfolio
Phew. Hey, is anyone else NOT looking forward to finals which are conveniently RIGHT after my fair? Relaxing ... what's that?