It's Like Riding a Bicycle Up a Hill

It occurred to me that having an Etsy shop is like riding a bicycle. In theory, I like bike riding, it's fun and I love the feeling of the wind blowing through my hair (I mostly wear a helmet now, but sometimes to be a rebel, I don't). I like how free it feels to be on a bike, peddling kind of fast and feeling like I'm part of nature. In a car, I'm all blocked off from fresh air and it's more like watching the scenery go by in a movie.

The reality of bike riding for me is that it hurts my rump, I'm not in good shape, so it hurts pretty much everything else too. (Please keep reading for the explanation of how Etsy is like bike riding... )

When I was dating my husband and living next door to him, he loved going for early morning bike rides before work. He wanted me to go with him and I did, but I made him pay for it. I whined about being up so early, about it being too hot and I only wanted to ride on flat roads. If we came anywhere near something that had any sort of incline, I would say: "that's not a hill is it?" So in that sense, bike riding for him was a pain in the rump too!

Somewhere along the line, I did encounter a hill that I had to ride up. I put my bike in the right gear ("the little circle") and peddled and peddled and peddled until I got to the top. And when I got to the top, I felt good about the accomplishment, but also felt like I was going to pass out 'cause I worked so stinkin' hard to get up the hill.

So this is the part that reminds me of having an Etsy shop (or anything I'm trying to do to sell art). It's a hill and I'm trying to ride to the top. I'm peddling, peddling, peddling, keeping my head down so I don't see how far I have left to go, but concentrating on what I'm doing now. I'm not telling myself it's too hard, too far, too long, I'm just peddling. And as I do, I can see some progress. As I blog, as I Twitter, as I post in the Forums, as I take new pictures, make new banners, write new descriptions, I can see some progress. I have more people following me on Twitter each day, more people viewing my blog and Etsy shop and I'm getting to be in contact with more people than I ever thought possible.

I have a long way to go and a lot of work left to do, but I can tell that some of my efforts are taking me in the right direction. Toward the top of the hill. Even though my rump hurts, I'm happy to be heading somewhere and meeting people along the way!

Stressin' Myself Out!

As 2009 approaches, I find myself stressing out about all the things I would love to accomplish in the new year. I don't make New Year's resolutions anymore, but do think about things to hope for. I don't think there is anything wrong with being optimistic and hopeful. But if there are too many things to "hope" for, then it seems a little overwhelming.

I really want to do things to help my business be more successful. I am not a business-minded person. I'm not good at keeping track of my materials or figuring out money strategies. I just don't know much about that stuff. So, I'm going to try to learn a few business tactics.

I think what stresses me out the most is taking time to learn the things I need to know. For instance, I've tried to figure out the links in this blog so that they will be "live". Now, as you may know, when you click on what you think is a link, you get an error message. The other thing I've tried to do is make my blog 3 columns instead of two. For some reason, that hasn't worked for me either. I have spent lots of time trying to get computer things to work for me and I still can't do it. It's frustrating because I feel like I have so little time to spend learning.

Anyway, thanks for listening to me vent.

So here are 5 of my goals for my business for 2009:

1. Blog at least once a week
2. Update Etsy shop with new photos, write shop policies and re-write descriptions
3. Read about and implement strategies to help my business grow
4. Get the Etsy Street Team (Missouri Etsy-centrics) up and running
5. Be more consistent in organizing activities for the Street Team

My 15 Minutes

Yesterday the local newspaper ran an article about me and my art. I'm really excited and think it's a good article. Here it is if you'd like to read it:

Tribune Article December 21st

I never thought I'd be featured in the Arts section of the newspaper! Let me know what you think.

Checking In

I just posted my blog address on the Etsy forum and thought I'd better write some sort of update.

I would like to spend some time doing some art tonight, but we've planned this holiday gathering and the house is a mess. So I should work on cleaning, but will I? I'm still in the process of organizing the craft cave. It's coming along pretty well. I love my space. I feel so blessed to have my own space to do with as I please!

Ok, that's all for now. Have a good evening.

Beaux Arts Bizarre

The weekend after Thanksgiving two friends and I participated in an art show called the Beaux Arts Bizarre in Columbia, Missouri. It was held in the Missouri Theatre for the Arts which was recently renovated. It was built in 1928 and was purchased by the Missouri Symphony Society in 1988. Events were held in the theater, but there was no denying the poor old building needed some love! The renovations were finished earlier this year and we were lucky enough to be part of one of the first events to be held in the "new" building. It is truly beautiful. It's awesome to see people who are interested in and dedicated to preserving the past, instead of tearing down what is old and worn out.

There were approximately 45 artists at the Beaux Arts Festival - including a couple of members from the Missouri Etsy-centrics Street Team and some Etsians I hadn't met before. It was good to be able to meet some new people and invite them to join our Team.

Our booth was located at the left side of the stage way in the back, next to the brick wall. The guy next to us was Fergus Moore, a potter. He had a booth he had built out of plywood. It was a really nice display for his work, but the wall that was next to our booth was pretty tall. We were very "tucked away" in the corner - all nice and cozy.

Fergus was a nice guy and sensitive to the fact that we might not want to have the big plywood wall crammed up next to our booth. So he located some nice lavender fabric to cover the wall that faced us and told us we could hang whatever we wanted to on it. I thought that was really honorable of him. The wall turned out to really be a blessing to us. We hung lots of things on it, adopted it as part of our display and it looked great. Thanks Fergus...do you think you could follow us around to all of our craft shows so that we can use your wall?

I think as far as attendance goes, the show was a little disappointing. We had good traffic off and on, but not like we thought we would. Though I'm pretty tired of thinking, hearing and talking about our economy, it's quite possible that is what influenced the number of people at our booth. I didn't make much money, but my partners did pretty well and I had lots of fun. It was great to meet people and to get some feedback about my work. We plan on doing it again next year.

If you get a chance, check out my friends' shops: Jolene at LocoMOmomma and Beth at Heartgrooves . Separately we all have Etsy shops but together we go by the name "3 Moms Creative Outlet". Jolene sells crocheted baby things, felted purses and fleece kidswear. Beth sells altered letters, journals, cards, tags and other papercrafts. Our things compliment each other and fit well together in a display. I'm thankful for Jolene and Beth. It's a way we can cut down on art fair costs and provide needed feedback and support to each other.

We also had a "guest Mom" whose name was Amy. Her Etsy shop is: Truetauruslove. Amy makes knitted hats and gloves, felted bowls and felted unique animals. It was nice to have her with us.