Online selling, much like brick and mortar selling, has come to a screaming halt. I guess it is the lack of gift giving events in the summer. Because of this I propose August 1 to be give one person a gift day (preferably one from etsy.com). We craftspeople cannot spend our summers only to prepare for the Christmas season. I do not want to handle Christmas fabric in July. Give us a break.

There are fewer birthdays, graduations, weddings etc. in the heat of the summer. We need one gift giving holiday to get us through until Christmas.

I am looking for names for this new special day. Please comment with a good name for this new international holiday.

P.S.
Whichever Presidential Candidate supports this plan, Obama or McCain, gets my vote.

Http://craftsfromtheheart.etsy.com

http://mustlovehomedecor.com

My son starts school tomorrow. He is a sophomore in high school so this is not a new phenomenon but I will miss our summer together. I like the lack of schedules, the lack of watches on wrists and just knowing he is safe.

Tomorrow things change. He is out of the home and into school. Parents used to await this eagerly. Let the teachers watch them for a while. Today things are different. We worry about shooting in schools, drugs, teachers having sex with students. School is no longer a safe haven for our children. I am sure perception is much worse than reality but does that really make one feel better?

Tomorrow I will see him off and I hope his teachers, admin., coaches and other students treat him with respect and care as I expect him to treat them. If you fell your child is a danger to himself or others please get him/her help. Do not send them to school and rely on professional there to help them. They are overburdened as it is.

Tomorrow I will have a smile on my face and wish my son a great day at school but inside I will worry. That’s okay that’s what moms do.

Linda

Craftsfromtheheart.etsy.com

I am so excited that my handmade pillows have been accepted to appear on the website trunkt.org. It is a juried site that produces minimags and catalogs to potential commercial buyers.
I feel like it gives me a legitimacy that I questioned when starting online sales.

It is hard to judge when creating an object how others will feel about it. You may think wow this came out pretty well but it will just sit in your shop. Other times you will sell things that may not necessarily be your own style and get wonderful feedback.

I think it is true that we are our own worst critics. Even with my 98 sales on etsy and my acceptance on trunkt there is still that little girl in me that says it is all a fluke. Although, you know that voice is not as loud as it used to be.

While selling online I have learned so much that I never thought possible. I have finally been able to put my marketing degree to work even if the internet did not exist when I graduated from UConn. It seems everyday I am challenged to learn a new place to advertise, a new technique to improve my website and blogs, how to photograph ordinary items so they look extraordinary.

Yesterday my favorite new thing to learn was the Etsy Poster Sketch Tool. On Etsy.com buyers and sellers can take favorite items from various shops on the site and narrow them down to their 12 favorite. These 12 are then entered into a treasury for all the world to view. One very smart seller, littleputbooks, figured out we could actually use these tools to create posters of our own items. They can be made into business cards, postcards, fliers etc. What a wonderful way to showcase our handmade items.

Today I have discovered WordPress. I know blogging here will become another favorite. I hope you enjoy visiting my shop at craftsfromtheheart.etsy.com and hearing of my online and offline adventures here in the coming months. Start making that holiday shopping list and head over to etsy.com.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/craftsfromtheheart

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