Etsy Tips & Tricks Guide - מדריך מתקדם לאצי בעברית

I recently completed my new guide to opening and maintaining an Etsy shop. The first version is sold in Hebrew, and I will translate it to English shortly.

Unlike my first set of Etsy guides, this is not a technical How-To but a more theoretical guide (though I do tell you where to find the features I am talking about and what to do with them), which covers many important issues, such as:

• Opening and maintaining your shop (I opened a shop, now what?, Payments and fees, Great photography, Tagging your items for success, Canceling a sale, and more)
• Excellent customer service (How to provide top notch customer service, Feedbacks, and more)
• Marketing and promotion (Showcases, Treasuries, Why don't I make any sales??, and more)
• Miscellaneous (Hearts and favorites, Trading on Etsy, What you definitely don't want to do, Useful resources, and more)
  

In favor of my Hebrew readers, I will continue detailing the contents in Hebrew.

המדריך הזה, להבדיל מקודמיו הטכניים (מדריכי צעד אחר צעד טהורים) הוא מדריך תאורטי המכיל מידע רב שנרכש מנסיון (שלי ושל אחרים) ומלימוד. המדריך מכיל טיפים רבים ובכללם עצות לנושאים המטרידים מוכרים רבים: מהו מבנה העמלות באצי וכל כמה זמן משלמים? למה החנות שלי בלתי נראית? מה אפשר לעשות כדי לשפר את המצב? אילו מבצעי קידום מכירות כדאי לי לבצע? איפה ואיך מפרסמים? איך לבצע מעקב אחר הזמנות? איך להבטיח שהלקוחות שלי יחזרו אליי פעם נוספת? כל זאת ועוד בהישג ידכם ובעברית.

הנושאים במדריך החדש יתעדכנו כל אימת שיעלה נושא חדש ומעניין שאראה לנכון להוסיף לו, על מנת להעשיר את הידע של קוראיי. בין הנושאים במדריך תמצאו:

• פתיחת החנות ותפעול שוטף (פתחתי חנות, עכשיו מה?, תשלומים ועמלות, מתי ואיך לבטל מכירה ועוד)
• שירות לקוחות איכותי (איך לתת שירות לקוחות איכותי, פידבקים ועוד)
• שיווק ומכירות (למה לא קונים ממני?, תיוג הפריטים בחנות, צילום פריטים איכותי, Showcases , Treasuries ועוד)
• נושאים כלליים (ניהול מועדפים, מה לא כדאי לעשות, איך לעשות החלפות, מקורות מידע מועילים ועוד)

כל זאת ועוד בצירוף טיפים, איורים, הערות והארות.

אני מוכרת את המדריך בחנות שלי, ושולחת אותו באימייל לאחר התשלום. אם ברצונכם לרכוש אותו אופליין, צרו איתי קשר.

Trudie the hand operated Foamie

This has been a "fun" weekend. I have been waiting for it all week, with a huge to do list, and eventually spent Thursday night sick as a dog with a bad case of the stomach flu, which left me listless and miserable (took me 48 hours to get to the point I can even sit here and write this post..). Every muscle in my body is cramped and I have horrid headaches and fever and my stomach is cramping. In short - I hate my life right now.

But still I have an obligation to the world, and so I am taking a few minutes off my bed rest to introduce you all to my new little friend Trudie.


Trudie is a hand operated Foamie, the mini version of my full size hand puppets. Her mouth lacks finger grips, which is the main difference between the two.

Trudie is wearing a nice purple skirt, and a printed blue top. I also bought her a comfy pair of All Start snickers, which she loves. She likes playing soccer, preparing organic meals, and reading fiction.


Having her sitting next to the computer on this hard time helps me take my mind off my pain. She really is a nice little lady, and I would love her to find a good home where she will be able to chat and sing and laugh and bring cheer. Cheer, now there's a concept. I am heading back to bed.

What I learned from my parents

I haven't memed in ages, but when I saw Ruthi's meme I thought this is a good one. So even though she did not tag me, here goes:

Things I learned from my father:
I learned to write poems in 2 minutes, I learned to speak gibberish, I learned to speak my mind, I learned that saying I'm sorry is a virtue, I learned to make up stories, I learned no one is perfect (not even your parents), I learned to name things, I learned to love the musical theater, I learned smoking is bad, I learned you must be cordial to those who work for you, I learned how dangerous emotional manipulation is, I learned how to bargain, I learned how to be brave, I learned how to love, I learned that giving gifts to loved ones is great fun, I learned how to be a writer, I learned you must never give up on your dreams, I learned to act, I learned the best thing in the world is a cheesy lasagna.

Things I learned from my mother:
I learned to stand up for myself, I learned I am beautiful, I learned to draw, I learned to love fashion and British drama, I learned I love to read, I learned to support those I love, I learned people can change if the change comes from within, I learned what a hero looks like, I learned the importance of being positive, I learned to stand on my own as a woman, I learned how to make peace with your choices, even when you wish you chose otherwise.

What I learned from both my parents:
I learned how important it is to be educated, I learned how to play and be funny. I learned you can survive when you rely on your humor and free spirit, I learned to fly on the wings of my imagination, I learned to be silly, I learned to curse, I learned to play with dolls, I learned to make up songs, I learned that nothing bits a good hug.

I don't like tagging but I would love to read what you learned from your parents, so please comment if you are memeing on your blog!

Is that a large necklace, or are you happy to see me?

Meet Celine De Flutterbutt. I could stay here all day telling you about her, but Gossip Girl is on in 5 minutes, so I asked Celine if she wouldn't mind telling you a bit about herself.

Due to a problem with her dress (see the headline, and last item image here) I am selling her at a burgain price of 32$ instead of 42$. I hope she finds a good home soon!

Meet the Artist - With Krize

It's been a while since I wrote a Meet the Artist. It's been crazy at work (and life) these past two weeks, but here I am ready to introduce you to an amazingly talented lady you may already know - The multi talented, always innovative Kristina Sabaite aka Krize.

Tell my readers a bit about yourself

I am children´s book illustrator, hand crafter, and dreamer. I live in a little town near the river, with a beautiful cathedral, many trees, and birds. I live with my husband Karolis (he is a pianist) and our dog Boogie.

I suspect those freckles are not real..

When and how did you begin to draw?

As I remember, I began to draw as soon as I could hold a pencil in my hand. When I was a child I was drawing everywhere: walls, papers, clothes… Drawing was and still is my favorite game! :)


Where do you sell your art? Is this your day job?

My day job is as a children's book illustrator and also painting. I am very happy about it. As the profession of an illustrator differs from the office work - some months I have lots of work, and some months - no, so I began to make little things and crafts… and this way how and thanks to my friend Claudia* I began my journey on Etsy.

* Claudia Moya, who passed away this year, was an illustrator and Etsian. You can see her beautiful work on her old Etsy shop.

I love your jewelry and bags! When and how did you make the move from illustration to these new formats?

I always try to search new formats to use the illustration, to show that the illustration can find it´s place not only in the book for children. It became a very strong art form and more popular thanks to the artist who create jewelry, bags, clothes from illustration.

Cute and useful!

I have this necklace, and I plan to ask for matching earrings one of these days.

Can you tell is a bit about your work process? Your inspiration, the creation process..

I don´t know from where the inspiration comes from, but she is very welcome in my home :) When she comes, I make her a cup of green tea with a little bit of chocolate. We sit down, begin to talk, and create things. She is so funny! Last week she told me not to cry when my favorite pajama was broken and to make a cute bunny! And so did I.

A bunny

The creation process is like a game for me - I don´t even think much of what I will make, I just begin to draw, to sew, to cut… and suddenly I finish with a lot of bunnies and cats on my table!

What is your favorite item of all times? Please send me a picture too.

I have several, but I think that these two bandit cats have stolen my heart and 109 hearts of other Etsians. They always make me smile.

They look quite dangerous to me!

If you liked what you saw here, you will be most pleased with Kristin's smiling shop and bag shop. And while you're at it, buy me a little gift as well!

H&M Fitting Room

How cool is this gadget?? Enter your measurements and style your fit and face, et viola! There you are, all ready to try on different H&M outfits. They have no glasses, or necklaces, or earrings but still - I had fun making this little me. She is even dressed more or like my true self. Still, my first and only love is my mini me, or Pitzke as I like to call her. Cute little thing, and kinda smart as well!

Where is my head?

Oh my God, it is so hot. I am just back from Jerusalem, where humidity is very low, and coming back home I was planning to go immediately to bed but instead must wait till the air conditioner cools my bedroom to a temperature I can stand.

And what is a girl to do while waiting, if not write about her latest creations?

This morning I woke up determined to make a Frida Kahlo Flutterbutt. I already made and sold one several months ago, and was eager to make more. Then I found I am out of glue (figures..) and had to make do with the second best thing - Making Frida Flutterheads!

I made one Frida Flutterhead magnet decorated with purple and pink Chrysanthemums.

And a Frida Flutterhead room decoration with red, white, and yellow flowers, which you can hang on your wall, wardrobe, and so on.

All in all, they were lots of fun to make and turned out quite well I think.

You can find both in my shop, at 15$ each. They cost a bit more than ordinary Flutterheads, since they took twice to make and include some exclusive materials (like the little Indian ornaments I used for their collars).

And speaking of my shop, the great Yart Sale (yard sale + art = Yart) ends on Sunday. You can find some great discounted items on my sale section, including Barack and Michelle O'Flutterbutt and Queen Elizabeth Flutterbutt cards set, which I personally love.

I even made a special banner for it, here:

And now I seriously must go to bed. It's 1am and it's been a long day. Have a great weekend everybody, and don't forget to check my sale items. Mama needs to buy a ticket to see Madonna in September ;o)

The Adventures of Mini Me

My web designer requested I make a puppet in my own image, to use on the new website. I am very eager to get the website up and running already, but my tasks list on top of which was this project, was quite scary which lead to almost a month of delay. But last night, motivated by the utter lack of anything remotely worth watching on TV I decided the time is now and started working on mini me.

I have to say the hair turned out quite accurate, tied at the back with lots of unwanted freeze on the front.

There was only one option of clothing for the little one - jeans, snickers or a pair of thong sandals, a cami (preferably a frilly designer top) and nice bag. I was most worried about the pants and the eyeglasses. I don't like sewing, and usually refrain from it, but there was no way to go around it with the pants.
I made a Tovale's blouse with black and white polka dots and the signature Tovale's baby logo, decorated with a little black rose (she has a matching black rose on her ponytail). Tiny Paul Frank monkeys snickers and a large hemp bag decorated with big Indian beaded sparkly flowers.

I usually wear either a long necklace, or earrings. This blouse has a lot of details so I opted for long earrings. She has two holes in her right ear and a piercing in the exact same color as my favorite one.

We took about a 100 photos, till she got really tired.

So I told her "honey, baby, my very own soul - why won't you get some dinner for crying out loud?!" to which she responded "for crying out loud!!". So I setup dinner for her, just as I like to eat it - sitting on the rug in front of the TV, leaning against the sofa. Since my favorite food is French cheese, I made sure she is Lactose tolerant (unlike poor me). Bon apetit little one!

Vote!

Vote Flutterbride and Fluttergroom for best wedding cake topper!

Do it now, we need people like you to vote!

Orange you happy it's almost summer?

It is getting hotter and hotter, apricots are filling the shelves at the markets, and both my hamster and I took out our orange outfits. Can you guess who is who?