Ok, lets take a hot minute to assess where my crafting has been, where it’s going and WHY I didn’t think to name my Etsy Shop “Fresh Prints of Bel Air” – #FML #AnotherLostOpportunity . . . You see, I opened my own Etsy shop shortly after my wedding was over. I was bored out of my mind and I enjoyed some of the crafting so much that I decided to turn it around into something I could profit from (on the side). Just for fun, a total experiment. At first I had no idea what I was doing. Orders came in here and there, I would barely make a dime for the time I put in and over all I wondered what on earth I was even doing. But, it was something to call “my own”. *-This was of course BEFORE I began this blog and among many other things started dealing with the “Terrible 2’s”. 

After a while I began wondering if it was worth all the work (or lack there of). I added a few new items here and there but nothing really took off. I would stalk research other Etsy shops that sold other things, similar things, whacky things, things I liked and try to understand how they had been open half the time and sold 10 times my figures. I wanted to pretend they were just self employed, totally devoted and had no lives to get in the way of their beautiful shops. That’s when I decided I was going about this all wrong and my logic kicked in. . .

I spent the majority of 8 years Bartending. I could make $600 on an average night at some places. (No, I didn’t take my clothes off- I just worked at all the best bars!) Divide the 7 hours I was at work, I’m averaging a pretty penny per hour. NOW- Etsy: I’m working my ass off for 2-3 hours on a dumb burlap banner (or whatever other weird things I list in my Etsy Shop) that costs me supplies, gas, time with my family and multiple minutes I could have spent watching Gossip Girl Re-Runs. #I’mAnAddict. All For an $11 turnaround? While I’m no mathematician, (I barely passed statistics)  and apparently not very good at spelling either, (my computer just informed me I can’t spell Mathematician). . . . I can however, figure that this is just NOT very profitable. Thus in turn making this “crafting” that I so once loved seem like a fucking miserable way to spend my days a chore. 

At this point I decided that some of the things I did enjoy about my wedding planning were simple little side details that I may have over looked. I created a number of little prints that I had forgotten all about and really enjoyed making. I even made our Wedding Programs and Day Of Timelines (Both printed on a Brown Kraft Paper – If You Can Imagine) . . . I’ll just show you the proofs (Below) since my photographer was the worst fucking vendor we had and declined to take any detail oriented photos whatsoever. (I only made sure to underline this 1,000 times prior to show time, I put a lot of hard work into this day- none of which was captured.) #SheDeservesToHaveHerCameraStolen. I won’t name drop for now, but that’s only because I had carrot cake for breakfast and I’m feeling slightly up beat. 

After my wedding I decided to start making other cute prints as gifts which you can see in a previous post: Gifts For The Girls * and the creative obsession began. I was riffling through movie quotes, song lyrics, Pinterest boards, print searches and whatever else I could get my hands on to come up with my next idea. The creative process began, and still continues! Today, I’m successfully converting my Etsy Shop into a more “print friendly” shop if you will. I’ve devoted myself to creating print after print, color wheels, quotes and personal art that’s easily customized for each customer. I even spent the better part of yesterday morning  creating a Facebook Business Page for this new avenue and have added access to my shop through Etsy Theme Shop! (I can’t give myself too much credit though, I work in Social Media for a living, I better know how to do all this shit!)

I have spent a lot of time considering the options and while I still list some of my favorite “Rustic” crafts, I’ve determined that it’s more appropriate for a full-time working mommy to be heading in this direction. The wonderful thing is that I create the prints once, save as a template and it’s done! It’s that easy! Less time spent stressing and more time spent eating ice cream with Paige, all while being able to dabble in something I truly enjoy! 

On a side note, my first full day having my Facebook Page up (Today), I won a contest through Etsy Theme Shop that gest me 100+ Likes and a Featured Ad to run on Thursday! I’ve met some awesome nice people via this contest already and can’t wait to check out their pages as well! I’m so very excited but rather nervous. I need to get posting some new prints!! Wish me luck. 

Do Any Of You Have Etsy Shops Or Sell Something Online?? Please Share, I love to follow new small business!! Xo.

 

Cheers!

♥ – C