Some not so new ideas.

I've decided to revisit the idea of these Kukui nut bracelets.  I wasn't sure if I wanted to make them to order or try for some sort of resizeable version.  I tried the kind where you pull the strings and it either tightens or loosens it, but I felt like that was putting more wear and tear on the string than was worth it.  I couldn't seem to get the ends of the made to order version with either a toggle clasp or a magnetic clasp either.

This is what I have liked best so far.  The future ones will not have as much of an overlap as this one.  Though it is a little big on wrists like mine, on most it should work very well.

I also have some new stitch markers listed as of today.

This is never a good sign.

I finally got beads to make the stitch markers I have been wanting to make for a while.
Though I even measured the inner circle, the 5mm beads I got were still too big.  I decided to go with some of the ones I already owned.

(sorry for the large image)

As you can see in the image above, all of the shiny golden colored finish has completely come off of the decorative head pin.  While it is a small thing and most people wouldn't notice, I think I would feel guilty for selling this the way it is.  I also would not want to sell it at a discount rate, so I'm not sure what to do.  Though the fact that they won't really come in contact with someone's skin for very long doesn't worry me, but the fact that they will get bumped around a lot and more of the coating might come off does.

I've sent an e-mail to the company, but who knows what they are going to say.  I don't have the receipt from when I bought them, since I was pretty sure I was not going to be taking them back.

Back home.

I'm back home again.  This means that the shop is back out of vacation mode.
I was hoping to find some cool things to work with while I was in Germany, but that didn't happen.  I saw a few things but ran into some problems: 1) It was tourist trap stuff, so not materials to work with, and not cheap; 2) All the craft shops we found were closed when we would have been able to go to them.

Oh well, I had fun.

Slowly filling up the store.

While I have not met my goal of adding some things every few days, I am still adding new items to the store.  The one problem I seem to be running into now is finding things to list.  I made a ton of those earrings and listed a lot of them, but I don't want to have my shop be 90% very similar earrings, 10% random other things.  I want some sort of balance.  Right now I have about 4 card holders, 4 tissue covers, and 5 pairs of earrings.  I think that is pretty good and I should start adding new things.  I have made two sets of stitch markers and I have plans for more.

Yellow Owls with green beads.

Yellow Owls with blue beads.

Good news time!  Though the button thing I mention late last year seems to be on a hold, she is still interested.  I will have all the supply to make them once we both can get everything in order.  Not sure when this will be, but it is good to stay positive.  I also sold a pair of my cherry blossom earrings!  I am super happy about that.

Earring mania!

I seem to have a small obsession.  Not sure if I am calling it small because I don't want to admit how often I think about making these or if it is because the finished project is on the small side.
Crocheting flower themed earrings with beads is a lot more fun than I thought it would be.  This very moment I have made about 8 pairs and I have 6 of them listed.  While I still really like making them, I feel that my shop needs some more verity.  Right now I only have a few pocket tissue covers, a few bi-fold wallets/card holders, and a bunch of cute earrings.
I was thinking of making some knotted bracelets, but I'm worried that they will take more time to make than people are willing to pay for.  I will just have to do a test piece and see what happens.
Sorry for the short update, but I'm distracted by all the tiny crochet flowers dancing around my head.

Can't Do Worse Than Before...

What is that you see on the side there? Could that be items for sale?! I do believe that they are!
I finally figured out what was keeping me distracted and off-track.  I kept fearing failure.  I couldn't fail if I didn't try.  Then I remembered something important.  The last time I tried to sell items, there would be months and months where I would list things, but I wouldn't sell any of them.  There is no way I could do worse than that.
So even though I had put aside days in past weeks to list thing, I did not.  I even tried to set aside days just to work on descriptions.  That also didn't happen.
I was having the problem of not knowing what I wanted to do today, so I decided to push myself to get this going.  The listing interface has changed a lot since I used it last.  I like this new one more.  I also like that you can copy a listing.  Before you had to have one listing open in edit mode while you made the other that was similar.
I also did not list many things at once because of something I read a while ago.  One of the successful Etsy users posted some tips and tricks.  I wish I remember who it was, but it was probably over half a year ago that I read it.  They said that instead of uploading a lot of things at once and letting them sit, to upload a few things at a time.  This way it is more likely that someone will notice something your listed in the "Recently Listed Items" area and take a look when they might not have searched for that type of item.  Listing a few items at a time also gives more time for me to make things so there won't be long times where I don't list anything at all.

Still nothing on the side bar? I think I know why.

I have been wonder and pondering over a problem I have noticed that I have.  I keep thinking of wonderful things to make for my Etsy shop, I have all the materials to make the things, and I have the technical skills to do everything.  Sounds great right?  It sounds like I should have lots of things listed on my shop that people would love to look at, right? 
So why is my shop still in vacation mode with nothing sitting in it?
I think I have it figured out.  I keep feeling like I don't have enough things to list.  I think this is because I have a new idea, I make one item, then move on again.  I need to focus more.  I need to take that one idea and make a few of them.  Then I can have some to list and then I can move on to the next idea if I wanted to.  This way I won't have a ton of single samples sitting around taking up space and not helping me.  No one wants to buy something they don't know they can. 
Who knows, I might have made the perfect ~insert item~ that someone was just thinking about the other day.  If they did a search for it, they wouldn't find it because it is just sitting in my living room.
So my new goal is to take some pictures of the things I have made and go back to some of the older "new" ideas and get a few more of those made.
It feels good to have solid goals and a good plan.