And So It Goes...

A combination of a sore throat and a smokey fire pit has left me without much a voice this Monday morning. In earlier years such an ailment would have been the result of wild parties, concerts, and outlandish consumption.  This weekend I went to a baby shower, listened to NPR and drank a grand total of 2 mildly offseason bottles of beer.  Oh how times change.  Nevertheless I find myself unable to talk but still with so much to say.

I contacted my old connection at the Always Be Inspired Thrift Shop and Unique Boutique.  For those of you who have read my blog you'll remember they are the first store to ever feature Avery Gray Designs on their shelves.  For those of you just tuning in, don't worry, it's all archived.  Blogspot is like the Netflix of the internet.  Start binge reading at your earliest convenience.  Apparently some landlord/tenant issues have led to the closing of the store, which is not slated to be reopened elsewhere anytime soon.  So basically like a bad breakup: I'll get my box of unsold stuff back with a note saying "it's not you, it's me"

That does throw into focus that my items ARE still on shelves elsewhere, namely Octpus's Garden in Milville.  I really need to update their inventory.  October 13th this is going to become my priority.  What better way to nurse a birthday cake hangover than with a binding machine and paper cutter?

Never the right time.

I've been very neglectful to poor Avery Gray Designs.  Her blog hasn't been updated in almost a year.  Her Etsy shop has been "on a break" that lasted months instead of weeks.  Her store shelves are barren, as sold items haven't been replaced with new creations.  Her business cards are stuffed in a drawer begging for updated contact information.  If Avery had a say in things, she'd have dumped my neglectful ass months ago. Luckily for me, she doesn't have a vote here, and I'm feeling reinvigorated.

Like any bad lover I have my list of excuses.  New house.  New job.  Growing family.  Oh, and this thing called life that keeps getting in the way.  I've done the bare minimum to keep this relationship afloat (aka paying Uncle Sam every quarter to keep her.)  But I'm here now baby, and I want to make this right  I thought of starting a whole new blog.  This one never exactly set the world on fire, but it's ours.  So how do we fix this? 

For starters, the Etsy shop needs to be up and running.  It needs to be done by the end of October if I hope to make even a single holiday sale, preferably sooner.  Why not right now?  Because I'm planning a toddlers birthday party and the craft room is the room in the house that isn't even remotely livable yet, because quite frankly, playrooms, bedrooms, and dining rooms took priority.  My stockpile of crafting supplies and finished projects are still in boxes shoved in the closet.  Out of sight, but no longer out of mind.

So that's it in a nutshell... I'm sorry Avery.  I know you have no reason to forgive me, but I love you and I promise I'm going to make time for you.  I just want one more shot.

Forgive me?

Last Time, On Avery Gray Designs...

So those of you who have read this blog know I am sporadic at best.  I could spend a paragraph apologizing for my inconsistencies, but I rather just jump back in.  Splash. 

The Shops:
I’m currently being sold in two shops, Octopus’s Garden In Milville and the Always by Inspired Thrift Shop and Unique Boutique in Egg Harbor City.  Milville seems to really be hitting my target demographic, and I couldn’t be happier.  Egg Harbor City is off to a slower start, but I feel fortunate just to be out there, so a few bucks here and there are still greatly appreciated.  I was the featured artist at Third Friday back in November and was able to premier some new upcycled goodies, including but not limited to: wish bracelets, dictionary necklaces, and upcycled glass magnets.  It was a blast and seeing people interact with the things I made was a great experience.

The Online Marketplace:
Etsy.  My number of views is significantly down.  My numbers of orders is up, which is what matters to me.  Nine orders in the last 30 days.  Now I know that’s hardly considered to be setting the world on fire, but it is progress in the right direction.  Keep moving forward.  I would like to go back after the New Year and photograph all my items again.   I saw a tutorial on making your own light box and I’m feeling quite empowered on this little upswing.

Social Media:
I’ve never been big on social media.  Clearly I don’t blog half as often as I should.  I don’t tweet personally or professionally.  I am not an avid pinner on pinterest.  I have embraced FaceBook as a marketing tool.  It’s still mostly supportive friends and family, with the occasional random custom, eventually I would like to see those proportions switched.  If you would like to be a part of that follow the link below.  Spoiler alert, once I get more FaceBook friends I will begin doing giveaways. 

So that’s a rehash of what I’ve been up to.  Maybe, just maybe, I’ll come back and write again soon.

Like AGD on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Avery-Gray-Designs/302205723247359

One Party Down, Two Weddings To Go

First birthday party is officially over. The party was a huge success and channeled all my crafty superpowers. Complete with Ombre Cupcakes, Dum Dum Topiaries, and a ton of other Pinterest inspired add-ons. Food was delish, the hall looked great, and the balloon artist was a HUGE hit with the kids. If you ever want to amaze and mystify a 3-year-old, make The Little Mermaid out of balloon. I have been fortunate to have a healthy amount of custom orders in anticipation of the Christmas season. The dictionary key rings are a big seller already. Now that the birthday party is over and with two weddings this weekend my goal is to update my etsy page the following week to reflect all the new items I have been working on. I want to change key words to show Christmas and Stocking Stuffer since so many of my items are perfect additions to any stocking. So that’s the plan Stan. Now to execute…

Back in the saddle...



So much has happened since I dropped off the planet.  For starters, I started working full time, which is an amazing change of pace.  I am thoroughly enjoying my mommy time.  Craft time is still happening, though it is reserved for after bedtime because quite frankly E6000 smells and little hands are everywhere.  That being said, what hasn’t been happening is a whole lot of blogging.  I used to blog during my lunch time at work, but with decrease in work so too is there a decrease in blogging time.  That ends today.  I will blog at least once or twice weekly, because awesome things are happening, and they should be documented as such!

I’ve expanded my scope to beyond the notebook.  Paper is still at the route, and board games continue to be a big inspiration for me, but I’m branching out with much success.  I’ve been making necklaces from dictionary pages.  Magnets from Monopoly cards and comics are also a hit! 

I’m in two stores, the first being the Always Be Inspired Thrift Shop and Unique Boutique in Egg Harbor City, and the second being Octopus’s Garden in Milville.  That’s going well.  I’ve had a few etsy orders and a fairly large amount of personal custom orders.  Mostly co-workers getting a jump start on Christmas shopping but it’s been fairly consistent work.  Along with neglecting my blog my etsy store has also been neglected.  I need to update it to reflect all the new items I’ve created. 

The reason everything has been so on the back burner is simple.  October is home to an assortment of weddings, birthdays, and events that have been monopolizing my time.  My “baby” will be one, and I have been putting my crafting to good use with the food, décor, and craziness that goes along with a bash of this magnitude!  Cheers to my best friends getting married, and cousin as well as they both get married the weekend of my “baby’s” first birthday.  Busy, busy, busy.

One last random thought on this my return to the blogosphere.  I was at a thrift store looking for board games (nothing new there) and I found a game called Advance to Boardwalk.  It’s a Monopoly spin off that I never even knew existed, and I got it for $3.95.  The cheapest one I found on eBay was $20.00 so it’s not exactly a collectible, but there was only about 15 listed at the time so while not rare far from common.  I’m thinking of framing it and leaving it as décor as I’ve already deemed it too amazing to scrap for parts.  Anyone who knows me knows there are two things I love in life, board games and the boardwalk (I am a Jersey girl after all).   

So this is me signing off.  Don’t worry, I’ll be back.  Cross my heart and hope to die.



First Sale Celebration!

Was it the fact that I now accept credit cards?  Was it my endless pleas to the etsy gods?  Or was it just plain coincidence?  Who cares I got my first sale!  It was for two small notebooks totally a whopping $5.00 but I could not be more stoked.  Feeling validated.  Hopefully this is just the start of good things on the horizon.  At the very least I can say I made a sale which is more than I could say yesterday.

So tonight when I get home I’ll package it all up and ship out first thing tomorrow morning.  Today is one of those marathon days when I spend 2 hours before and after work driving to Cape May before backtracking to work or home.  I figure the 3 hours of added driving time is worth it for the little one to get a day with the grands. 

Buying for the craft fair in a week and a half is still at a standstill following the drama with my td bank card.  Annoyed but moving forward.  I still need to make some more inventory but what I have done is organized and ready to roll out so bring it on!

Check me out:

Scope the store:  www.averygraydesigns.etsy.com  (though if you buy something you’ll have to settle with being my second etsy sale!)

Like us on facebook:www.facebook.com/pages/Avery-Gray-Designs/302205723247359

I'm trying... I really am.

I’m not going to lie, the lack of a single etsy sale has me feeling a little discouraged.  I’ve been racking my brain on what the problem could be, and I’ve come up with a plan for overhaul.  Here’s how this is going to go down on a weekly basis:

1 etsy treasury

2 blog postings

3 team comments on discussion boards

4 likes for other shops and items

5 new listings

In addition to that I am going to try tweaking how I photograph my items.  I really want this shop to get a little traffic and I need to really sit down and learn the ins and outs of utilizing tags and the like.

In the meantime I am still prepping for the July 6^th EHC Hometown Celebration.  I feel pretty confident in my level of inventory (which now includes some really awesome 35mm film reel Disney bookmarks.)  I still need to buy a second table but that’s on hold thanks to the resourceful guy or gal who hacked my debit card and put my account in the negative.  I could rant for an hour about how much I hate TD Bank, but this isn’t the venue and quite frankly my blood pressure doesn’t deserve the undo aggravation.  So needless to say purchasing anything new craft fair related is on hold for the next 5-10 business days.

The etsy shop is now accepting etsy gift cards and all major credit cards.  How cool is that?

As always:

Scope the store:  www.averygraydesigns.etsy.com

Like us on facebook:www.facebook.com/pages/Avery-Gray-Designs/302205723247359

P.S.  I see that hundreds of people have taken the time to read these humble musings.  So thanks to you as I approach the 500^th page view.  Incidentally I would love to know who you guys are and what you think.  Or if you stumble on this inadvertently, just say hi!