Favorite Photos of 2011 (Part 2)

Here are more of my favorite photos of 2011.



I took a lot of photos of my sister's dog, Marathon.



I walk by Millennium Park in Chicago every day and this is a shot I got during the summer.

I tried a lot of nail art this year. You can see more photos on my Beautylish.



This photo was taken on my birthday while my mom was lighting my cake.

Feel free to share in the comments what you did in 2011 that you think is worth remembering.

Favorite Photos of 2011

These are some of my favorite photos I've taken from 2011.



I'm currently in at school so I've done a lot of paintings and other art projects this year. This was one still life painting I did.



I took this photo around my house as part of a photography class. The photo is of Irish dolls I have.



I got in to gardening more this year. This flower is from the garden we have in our backyard.



This is another flower shot, but of my neighbor's garden. My parents got this photo framed and put in our beach house.

Check back tomorrow for more of my favorite photos of 2011!

Goals for 2012

These are my Etsy resolutions for next year.

*I want to experiment with techniques. I might want to make my own pape or try to find paper from new places. I always use computer paper or sketch paper for my journals, but it might be nice to try different types of paper.

*I want to continue listing and making new items consistently.

*While organizing my collection of Etsy photos on my computer, I noticed a lot of my item photos are outdated. My photography has improved a lot since I first started my Etsy so I want to go back and redo a lot of my item photos.

*It's always a goal to sell more in my shop. It would be nice if I could get more consistent sells such as selling one item a week or one item a month.

*I want to do at least one giveaway in 2012. I feel like I haven't done a giveaway in a while so I might do something on this blog soon.

*I used to sell a couple of my items in local shops. I want to try doing that again with a couple of items.

*I didn't get to do any craft shows in 2011 so I want to do more in 2012. I want to find craft shows that are not too expensive, but still will have a good turn out. If you have any suggestions for craft shows in Chicago, let me know!

*I want to find new ways to promote my shop. I might try advertising on other blogs. I haven't had too much success with advertising so I want to find a way that works for me. I also want to try Etsy search ads and see if they are effective for me.

*I want to keep blogging consistently and promoting this blog.

First YouTube Video

I made my first youtube video to promote my shop. :) I started it way back in August, but finally got it uploaded. The song I used is "Wishful Thinking" by the Album Leaf. Since I made it a while ago, it doesn't have my newest items in the slideshow, but maybe it will help promote my shop. Tell me what you think of it. And feel free to rate/comment it on youtube.



I will have new items soon. :)

Statistics for 2011

Every year, I do a little review of statistics for my shop of the previous year. You can see stats for 2009 and 2010 here. Here's my statistics for 2011 looking the new Etsy stats feature and Google Analytics.



New Items

These are some new items I listed this year:

Wavy Blue and Gold Bird Greeting Card



Rounded Animal Postage Greeting Card



Visitors

I got about 5,300 shop views this year. About 30% were new visitors. According to Etsy stats, I got 46 shop favorites and 151 specific item favorites. The shop and page views were about the same is last year, but I had less favorites this year. Most people visited on February 10th.

Sales

This year, I got 20 sale orders which I think is the most I've ever gotten in a year. I had the most orders at the beginning of the year. Some of the items I sold were:

Pink Rose Journal



Green Damask Altered 2010-2011 Moleskine Planner



Top Referrers

My top referrers were Google, StumbleUpon, LinkReferral, this blog and Craftster. SocialWhale also gave me a lot of traffic, which is a site I've never heard of,

Blog Statistics

I had about 5,000 visits to my blog this year. Most people visited 2 pages and stayed on the site for 3 minutes. I had the most views on October 23 (123 visits) which was children's Halloween costume ideas.

Most Viewed Items

2011 Planners were popular this year and were my most viewed items. These items were also popular:

Leopard Print Journal



Map of Paris Altered Moleskine Journal



It's always nice to look over and review the year. If you run an Etsy shop, what kind of stats did you have this year? Feel free to use this format in your blog and let me know in the comments.

Christmas Photos

These are some of my personal photos from the holiday season this year. Here are some Christmas ornaments I took a photo of while we were decorating the tree:



These are some of the Christmas gifts under the tree this year:





I did some Christmas themed nail art this year:





These are some photos I got when it snowed:





Merry Christmas!

Gift Wrapping Ideas

If you want to get creative with your gift wrapping, use other materials besides basic wrapping paper and ribbon. Here are some ideas of materials to use:

This photo uses maps instead of wrapping paper. Use old maps you have or look for vintage maps.

Decorative paper makes good wrapping paper. I use decorative paper in my Etsy items, but forget it also makes good gift wrap. You can find decorative paper at craft stores such as Paper Source.



Comics make a great gift wrapping alternative. Recycled newspaper and magazines would also work well. Pick something that fits well with the gift or person you're giving the gift to.

Use kids artwork as wrapping paper. This would be great for relatives and family members.

Potato chip bags are a creative, upcycled material to use as gift wrap. Cut open a potato chip bag along its seam. Flatten the bag, wash it with soap and water and let it air dry.

Use fabric as gift wrap. Tie it together to secure it instead of using tape.

Add jingle bells instead of ribbon on top of your wrapped gift. Purchase the bells at crafts store. Use lengths of thin ribbon or cord to secure to packages.

How do you gift wrap your items for the holiday season?

Christmas Ornaments

Instead of just buying ornaments for your Christmas tree, try making some handmade ones this year. Here are some ideas.

Find out how to make these thumbprint reindeer ornaments here.

Reuse your cookie cutters as ornaments. Use colorful ribbon to tie them to your tree.

Click here to learn how to make pipe cleaner snowflakes.


Make homemade paper stars using contrusction paper, water, a cookie cutter and some other materials.



Decorate pinecones to make them festive. Gold or silver spray paint works great for easily painting pine cones. You can also dip your pinecones in glue and then glitter.

Do you like to make your own ornaments?

Non Handmade Gift Guide

Handmade items are great to give out during the winter holiday season, but sometimes it's faster and less expensive to give something non handmade. I thought I'd do a give guide for items that are not handmade, but are still creative.

For the Fashionista/Beauty Addict

This Dream In Full Color Palette features 29 eye shadow shades, seven cheek colors, a smudge stick and a 12 page step by step artistry look book. It's only $39 for a $366 value so it's a great deal. I love the design of the packaging and it would be a perfect gift for anybody who loves makeup.

For the Dreamer

This Dreamlight is a fun a night light. It'd be great for children, but could be given to someone at any age.

For the Movie Buff

I think it'd be cute to put homemade or store bought popcorn in a jar or tin and put movie related items in it. You could put DVDs, gift certificates to movie theaters/movie stores, a Netfix subscription or movie memorabilia.

For the Gardener

This Elephant Watering Can is a creative gift idea for gardeners and animal lovers.

For the Person Who Has Everything

These Designer Keys are perfect for somebody who wants to stay organized and has a lot of keys. You can get all sorts of shapes such as hearts, houses, stars and cats. You can also get custom designs.

Do you give out more handmade or store bought stuff during the holiday season?

Etsy Gift Guide

Items on Etsy are unique and handcrafted so almost any item on Etsy would make a great gift. The key is to choose the right item for the right person. Here's some ideas.

For the Fashionista



There's a lot of great handmade fashion items on Etsy. I like these earrings for a fashionista.

For the Dreamer



This inspirational print would be great for children.

For the Movie Buff



I love this TV Necklace which has a television test pattern on it. It's perfect for somebody who loves television and movies.

For the Gardener



These herb stakes are vintage silverware handles that are hand stamps with herbs of your choice. These are perfect for the gardener in your life.

For the Person Who Has Everything



This organizer is great for storing or carrying small items such as coupons, pens, letters and journals.

Do you shop on Etsy during the holiday season?

Stocking Stuffers

Stocking stuffers are small gifts you put in someone's stocking on Christmas. Stocking stuffers are usually less expensive than bigger gifts and have to put small enough in size to fit in someone's stocking. Here are some crafty things you might consider putting in someone's stocking this year:

DIY Galaxy Playdough



This DIY Galaxy playdough would be a great gift for children. Just put it in a bin to make it a stocking stuffer.

Pocket Hand Warmers Wool



These recycled felted sweater wool handwarmers from WormeWoole on Etsy are filled with rice. You put them in the microwave for 25 seconds and put them in your coat pocket keep your hands warm for up to an hour.

Silver Leaves Coptic Stitch Mini Book



Mini journals are great to put in someone's stocking. This item is from my shop in my "mini journals" section. It uses dark blue decorative paper with silver leaves.

Other good items for stocking stuffers would be candy canes, candy, small stuffed animals, inexpensive jewelry and makeup. What do you like to give or receive for stocking stuffers?

DIY Gift Ideas

Homemade gifts are always great to give out. Here are some crafts you might consider giving as gifts this holiday season:

Reindeer Gift Wrappers



These reindeer candy wrappers are really cute and perfect as gifts. I couldn't find a tutorial for these, but it looks like you just use colored paper, felt and pipe cleaner over a candy wrapper.

Recipe in a Jar



Homemade food is a great gift if you're a good cook. You can make a treat and put it in a nice box or basket. You can also do a recipe in a jar like this Curried Lentil Soup that is made with dried lentils and seasonings.

Glitter Nail Polish



This video explains how to make your own glitter nail polish. You use clear nail polish, glitter, stainless steel balls and a couple other items. This would be great if you use someone's favorite colors as the glitter or have the nail polish match their favorite shirt or dress.

Heart Sweatshirt



This site shows you how to make two old sweatshirts in to a fun heart sweatshirt.

Do you make handmade gifts for the holiday season?

Etsy Wishlist

Here's my Etsy wishlist for the holiday season. I chose some of my favorite items from items I've hearted.

Beautiful Bear Tee



Personalized Name Necklace



Little Baker Necklace



Little Cute Hippo Mini Zipper Pouch



Japanese Paper Wrapped Pencil



What's on your wishlist this year?

12 Days of Christmas

I decided to do a Christmas series this year to celebrate the winter holiday season. For 12 days, I will post Christmas related blog entries and crafty things you can do. Here's the schedule:

12/14 - My Etsy Wishlist
12/15 - Christmas Decorating
12/16 - Christmas Crafts
12/17 - Crafty Gift Ideas
12/18 - Stocking Stuffers
12/19 - Etsy Gift Guide
12/20 - Non Handmade Gift Guide
12/21 - Christmas Ornaments
12/22 - Christmas Nail Art
12/23 - Christmas Desserts
12/24 - Gift Wrapping Ideas
12/25 - Personal Christmas Photos

What winter holiday(s) do you celebrate?

Winter Themed Desserts

Here are some winter themed desserts that inspire me. These desserts use the theme of snow so you can use them for any holiday during the winter holiday season.

Snowflake Cupcakes



These snowflake cupcakes are really pretty and perfect to start the winter holiday season.

Snowman Donuts



I couldn't find instructions for this one, but you can just start with powdered doughnuts and decorate them with treats or frosting to look like a snowman face.

Melted Snowman Cookies



This video shows you how to make cute melting snowman cookies.

Peppermint Bark Snowflakes

This recipe uses a snowflake mold to make snowflake themed peppermint bark.

Check back next week for Christmas themed desserts!

Still Life Oil Paintings

I did a series of still life oil paintings in my painting class last year. I posted about it before on this blog, but I took better photos of the paintings and edited them a little so I thought I'd post again. In real life, they're pretty big size.

Let me know what you think. If you're interested in buying a print of any of these, you can on my DeviantArt account.

Winter Holiday Promotion

The holiday season is a great time to promote your Etsy shop. If you have a shop, here are some tips for promoting your shop during the holiday season:

• Have a holiday themed section in your shop with either Christmas themed items or items that you think would make good gifts. Have this section at the top so people can find it easily. Also put holiday themed items as your featured items. 
• Make a coupon code for your shop just for the holiday season. Etsy makes it easy to make a coupon code with their "Coupon Code" section under "Promote". For my shop, you can use the code "HOLIDAYSHIP" to get free shipping on any purchase. Use the Etsy forums, your blog, Twitter, etc. to let people know about your coupon code. 
• Offer free gift wrapping. I wrote in my store policies that when checking out, customers should just write in the "message to seller" box if they want it gift wrapped. You can also choose what color you want your gift to be wrapped in. 
• Offer gift certificates in your shop. Gift certificates are perfect for customers to give out if they're not sure what to get someone. You can decide how you want your gift certificates to work in your shop. For my gift certificates, I have the customer tell me some information about the person they are giving the gift certificate to. Then I send that person an email with the customer's message to them and how to use their gift certificate.
• Accept custom orders for your shop. This makes so if a customer wants something that's not in your shop, you can make it for them. Make sure to let your customer know how long a custom order takes if the want it by Christmas 
• If you have a blog, consider doing a Christmas special. You could write about Christmas items in your shop, Christmas items in other shops, do a gift guide, etc. In the past, I've done a gift guide and then sent convos to the owners of shops I featured items from. This helped promote my blog, but also helped promote some other shops. This year, I think I'm going to do a 12 Days of Christmas event where I post about ideas for crafty things to do for Christmas. 
• If you're in any teams on Etsy, most teams usually run some kind of holiday event. Participate in some events to help promote your shop! 
• The Etsy blog has a lot of good advice for promoting and managing your shop for the holiday season. 
• The holiday season is also a good time to do things outside of Etsy to promote your shop. Look for local craft fairs in your area. There's always a lot of craft events during the holiday season. If you have local crafty shops in your area, see if they'll sell some of your items. Leave business cards out and pass out business cards to friends who might be interested in purchasing in your shop for the holiday season. 

How are you promoting your shop for the holiday season?

Winter Items

These are some winter items in my shop that are not any specific holiday.

Rounded Winter Cardinals Greeting Cards



Wavy Red and Silver Winter Berries



Rounded Red Polka Dot Greeting Card



Let it Snow Greeting Card



Silver Paper Snowflakes Greeting Card



Silver Snowflakes and Leaves Greeting Card



Snowflake Shaped Journal



You can see all my winter holiday themed items in this section on my shop. What winter holiday(s) do you celebrate?