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!

List Therapy

So once again this craft fair thing has kind of crept up on me.  Am I prepared?  Not so much.  How shall I manage this new anxiety settling in?  With a list of course!

Things to make:

·         2 sets of coasters

·         10 VHS notebooks

·         2 board game bracelets

·         1 pair sample Scrabble earrings

·         12 35mm film bookmarks

·         10 VHS bookmarks

For the Display:

·         Earring display

·         Keychain display

·         Laminate price signs

·         Print newsletter sign-up sheets

·         Buy another folding table

·         Pick up card display

I’m optimistic about this Hometown Celebration and it is slated to be the biggest thing I’ve done to date.  Not necessarily nervous, just need to get rolling.  Looks like I’m going to be one busy mama after the little one goes to sleep this week!

As always:

Scope the store:  www.averygraydesigns.etsy.com

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

Chief Plays With Glue

I said I would blog more so here I am… blogging more.  I also need to start gyming more, cleaning more, and sleeping more but that’s another subject for another day. 

When I pull in the driveway from work and see an Amazon package, a small part of me feels like a kid on Christmas.  Laminator arrived, was open and used promptly, and even put away with minimal mess created.  I laminated all the sides to the VHS boxes I had already disassembled.  When I was a kid in grade school I remember being fascinated about how the Indians would use every part of a buffalo.  Fur for warmth, meat for food, bones for tools, etc. etc.  That’s how I’m trying to look at my crafting from here on out.  When I buy something how can I use the whole buffalo?  I use the packaging from the VHS but then end up discarding the tape.  If anyone out there has any ideas please let me know!

I’ve gotten pretty good at doing this with Monopoly games.  The box, property and chance cards all become notebooks.  The houses and motels become earrings or charms for jewelry.  The tokens become key chains and charms for bracelets.  The paper money is used for decoupage on everything from light switch covers to coasters.  I’m thinking of trying to make paper beads from the Monopoly money. 

To see what I've done with Monopoly games so far:  www.averygraydesigns.etsy.com

My Indian name would be: Plays With Glue

My Heart Will Go On...

Last night I was fairly productive considering I have a sick wife and now VERY active baby on my hands.  We haven’t found the proper size baby gate as of yet so the little one kept me on my toes for the vast majority of the evening.  When I was chasing my infant around the living room I did manage to get a few things done:

I created an event page on my Facebook page for the Egg Harbor City Hometown Celebration.  This does not seem like much I know, but if you only knew how technologically impaired I am, you would be impressed.  You can check out my Facebook page here:

 www.facebook.com/pages/Avery-Gray-Designs/302205723247359  (and maybe like it too…)

I made 10 VHS notebooks.  I finally got the new wire binding in.  It’s a little thinner than the last brand I bought, most likely because I went down just 1/8 of an inch in size.  The VHS notebook lay a little more flat now so it actually looks quite nice.  Some of the titles from last night include:

·         Harry Potter & The Sorcerers Stone

·         White Christmas (I know it’s only June)

·         What’s Eating Gilbert Grape

·         Buffy the Vampire Slayer (before Twilight made vampires sexy)

·         Bugs Bunny Cartoons

·         The Mighty Ducks II (Classic)

·         Three Titanic Notebooks! (some of the kids may not understand this, but it’s actually 3 notebooks because the movie was soooo long it couldn’t fit on just one VHS) 

As a side note… I have had the Titanic theme song stuck in my head ever since.  Damn you Celine Dion and you’re infection melodic voice!

The notebooks listed about should all be online and available for sale within 48 hours.  In the meantime, there are still plenty of awesome notebooks and other goodies already posted in the shop.  I’m also making it a priority to get some earrings and jewelry listed as well.  Bit by bit we’re getting there!

www.averygraydesigns.etsy.com

I'm on Fire

Disclaimer: there is going to be a fair amount of back-patting and self-congratulatory behavior to follow.  Saturday I was super productive.  I had a bridal shower to attend on Saturday afternoon; my wife had training so my mother-in-law had the baby all day.  There is nothing better than a quiet house to get things accomplished.  I made 5 VHS notebooks about a dozen Monopoly key chains. 

That’s not even the impressive part.  I listed 15 items to etsy in one morning.  I even figured out my camera settings to take more appealing pictures.  I haven’t decided if I’m going to go back and reshoot all the previous listing, but for whatever reason the food setting works like a gem. 

 

AND… first time ever a post with matching photos!  Go me.

Quite possible my favorite Monopoly Keychain ever.   $5.00

Fresh from Hogwarts.  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone VHS Notebook.  $8.00

Board Game Bangle.  So stinking cute.  $15.00

Like what you see?
Check the shop: www.averygraydesigns.etsy.com

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

P.S.  I know people are reading this… I see the stats… How about a comment now and then?  What do you like? What don’t you like? Ideas? Feedback?  … Anything? 

Eating My Metaphorical Vegetables

So life can’t always be sugar and cupcakes, sometimes you just need to eat your vegetables.  This weekend I’ll be doing just that.  I need to re-organize, re-prioritize, and re-structure.  I need to take stock in what I have before I bring anything else into the house.  My craft space is limited at best.  Very limited.  I literally have a small spot of a closet and my dining room table for small periods of time in between meals.

The problem here is my brain thinks faster than the United States Postal Service.  I get these grand ideas and before whatever I buy even gets here I’m on to the next thing.  (For more on this view my previous post about the perils of eBay)  Or in the case of the laminated book marks my laminator isn’t here yet but my brain is obsessed with Monopoly charm bracelets. 

I think had I been born 5-10 years earlier they would have diagnosed me with A.D.D. because my focus is laughable and I’m so easy distracted… oh look a penny.

As always: scope the shop- www.averygraydesigns.etsy.com

The Perils of eBay

I should preface this post by stating that I, Stephanie Bense, have a problem.  It isn’t something I’m proud of, and I have worked hard to conquer this addiction only to fall at its feet again last week.  eBay.  I seriously need better self-control.  I have one of the steps has to be cutting old ties, which means I REALLY should delete the mobile app off my phone… but… I can’t.  Here are a few of the completely unnecessary things I have bought in the past two weeks:

·         A set of Star Wars Monopoly property deed cards.  Because at the time I figured they would be a cute addition to my monopoly notebooks for that dork in your life.

·         16 Monopoly tokens.  These I’m still justifying because the monopoly token key chains have been a real hit anywhere I seem to set up at.

·         3 reels of film trails.  That’s right, count them up: three.  A Bugs Life, The Emperors New Groove and The Mighty Ducks 2.  Why three? Because I wanted to make 6 inch book marks and can now make thousands apparently.  As an aside, The Mighty Ducks 2 quite possibly one of my favorite movies of all time!

So now not only do I have my previous sort-of-almost-kind-of finished projects.  Now I have NEW projects to start thanks to my low impulse control, the accessibility of eBay mobile and the ease of PayPal.

On a side note, I sighed up for the Egg Harbor City Hometown Celebration and needed more inventory anyway.  July 6^th will be here before I know it so time to let the creating begin!

As always: check out the shop: www.averygraydesigns.etsy.com  This week I will be adding the Monopoly token key chains (compliments of my eBay addiction)