Goals for 2011

Happy New Year's Eve! I thought I'd post some of my goals for the upcoming year. Here are my Etsy related goals:

*Make new items - I want to make new items and maybe learn new bookbinding techniques. I feel like I don't make journals as much as I used to so it'd be nice to craft more. I also want to experiment with new paper crafts (such as new types of boxes and calendars).

*List new items - I'm going to try to list new items a couple times a week. I also want to renew items every day.

*Do more craft shows - I want to try to do more craft shows and get my items in more shops offline. I sell more in craft shows than online so it would help my sales. I also want to get experience selling in a bigger craft show (I've only done smaller ones for local schools). Let me know if you know about any good craft shows in the Chicago area.

*Promote more - I want to find new ways to promote my shop. I'm going to try to get my business cards out more. I want to try paid advertising, but I want to make sure it would be effective. I also think connecting with other websites could help (e.g. exchanging links with related sites, hosting giveaways on more popular blogs). If you have any recommendations for places to advertise, let me know.

*Get more sales - It'd be nice to get more consistent sales (like once a month instead of randomly). Someone on the Etsy forums said they want to double their sales from last year and I thought that was a good goal. It'd also be nice if I got repeat customers. I was thinking of putting some kind of coupon in my orders (like getting 20% off your next order). Do you like getting coupons when you order something from Etsy? Would you be more likely to buy again?

Also, here are some of my non Etsy related goals:

*Stress less - I want to try to relax more. I've been trying to meditate and do yoga every day and it really helps me feel more focused.

*Continue to workout - In the month of December, I did a new workout every day and marked down each day I worked out. It felt really good to workout every day and writing it down made me see how much I accomplished.

*Write more - I like to write creatively (short stories, poetry, etc.) and I want to try to write more this year. I also want to write in my journal more.

*Keep building my collections - I tend to collect a lot of stuff - music, DVDs, candles, books, betc. I want to continue building on these collections.

What are your goals or resolutions for 2011?

New Cards and Sale

I listed some new greeting cards lately:

Turquoise African Animal Greeting Card



Brown Guitar Greeting Card (Version II)



Red and Purple Snowflakes Greeting Card



A couple of other new greeting cards I listed are in the gift guide I did on this blog. I also sold this journal:

Remember Italy Mini Sketchbook



I'm glad I sold a few items this year for the holiday season even though I didn't promote my shop a lot this year. Next year, I want to try doing more advertising and promote my shop more. If you have a shop, did you sell anything this year?

New Items & Challenges

I reached 200 posts, yay! It's exciting to see how much I've used my blog since I first started it.

There's this feature on Flickr called Galleries where you can showcase some of your favorite photos from the site. It's a lot like Treasuries feature on Etsy. I don't see it used a lot, but my photos got featured in 2 galleries in the past and I decided to make a craft related one. I went through my favorites and just added my craft related stuff. You can see it here.

I listed this photo frame. It's an old photo frame I had that's covered with leopard print paper. I don't have a lot of photo frames up so it's nice to list a new one. It's a lot easier to make altered ones than ones from scratch (though I'm going to try to make more of those soon):

Leopard Print Photo Frame



I ordered some new business cards from Moo.com. I think they'll turn out really nicely. They have a photo of one of my items on one side and my logo on the other. This makes it so each card is unique.

My Reindeer card is in the EtsyVeg Team challenge.



You can do me a favor and vote for my card here. I enter every month, but I haven't won an EtsyVeg challenge yet. I'm hoping I'll win one time and maybe it will be this week. I need your help though. :) My card is the last one in the voting poll. I'm doing pretty well sofar so I think I have a chance.

I'm also doing a craft challenge on Craftster.org, which I mentioned before. You can vote for my Gingerbread City here (you can see photos a few posts below). Thanks so much for your votes! It'd also be helpful if you could post on your Twitter about this.

Christmas Inspiration

Here are some Christmas arts, crafts and food that I posted on my craft tumblr blog. I hope they get you inspired for the holiday season. :)































I hope everyone has a good Christmas (or whatever holiday you celebrate).

Holiday Season Gift Guide (Part 7)

This is the last part of the gift guide. If you don't know what to get someone, but think your gift receiver would like my shop, my shop offer gift certificates. You can get a gift certificate from $10-$50. This is what they look like:





Even though it's not as personal, I like getting gift certificates because they let me pick out my own present. Have you picked out all your gifts for the holiday season yet?

Holiday Season Gift Guide (Part 6)

For the Music Lover

Part 6 of the gift guide is for music lovers or people who play instruments.

Rounded Brown Guitar Greeting Card



Ray Conniff Upcycled Record Art Journal



Music Notes Wavy Greeting Card



Just a Note Music Greeting Card



Music Principles Journal



Do you play any instruments or know any musicians in your life?

Holiday Season Gift Guide (Part 5)

For the Food Lover

Here's Part 5 of the gift guide showcasing items from my shop. These items are perfect gifts for food lovers and people who love to cook.

Glittery Sweet Tooth Fabric Greeting Card



Coffee Addict Wavy Greeting Card



Cupcake Lover's Box



Orange Pumpkin Harvest Greeting Card



Purple Donut Ribbon Journal



I just realized I don't really have any cookbooks in my shop right now. I've had a few in the past in my shop and I've also given them out as gifts. Let me know if you'd like to see cookbooks in my shop and what kind of cookbooks you like.

Holiday Season Gift Guide (Part 4)

For the Nature Lover

Here's Part 4 of the gift guide. These items are all nature themed.

Black and White Flower Greeting Card



Green Bird Journal



Green Grass Thank You Greeting Card



Spring Garden Journal



Also, the Recycled Materials section in my shop would be good for people who like "green" (eco friendly) items.

Holiday Season Gift Guide (Part 3)

For the Animal Lover

This is part 3 of my holiday gift guide. These items are for people who love animals or animal print.

Leopard Print Photo Frame



Cow Grazing in Grass Journal



Zebra Lovers Coptic Stitch Journal



Octopus Rounded Greeting Card



Also, I made it to 300 followers on this blog! Thanks to everyone who follows me.

Holiday Season Gift Guide (Part 2)

Here's Part 2 of the gift guide for the holiday season. I am showcasing items from my shop.

For Children

At the last craft show I went to, some children came and looked at my items and I realized some of my items are good gifts for children. I think my items are good for any age group, but these items would be good for younger people.

Little Red Riding Hood Reading Greeting Card



Autism Awareness Journal



Circus Dots Photo Album



Altered Octopus Spiral Journal



I Am a Little Animal Upcycled Journal



Are you shopping for any children this holiday season?

Holiday Season Gift Guide (Part 1)

Here's a gift guide for the holiday season. Last year, I did a gift guides using items from other people's shops. This year I decided to do a gift guide with items from my own shop for different personality types/interests.

For the Traveler

These items are perfect for people who love traveling and seeing new places.

New York City Map Wavy Card



Postcards from Europe Coptic Stitch Journal



Remember Italy Mini Sketchbook



I also thought I'd mention I sold this Postcards from Italy Box:



By the way, if you enter "THREAD" as a coupon code at checkout, you can get 10% off any purchase. Check back soon for the next part of the gift guide!