Butterfly Chic Boutique Blog

Pear Vanilla Oatmeal Glycerin Artisan Tile Soap, originally uploaded by 4thAveSoapCo.

This soap is AMAZING. I used a bar and loved it!

The smell is perfect, You can smell it, but it doesn’t overwhelm you. Sweet and warm with a hint of juicy fruit. The oatmeal adds a slight touch of scrub, not a harsh scrub at all.

I used it as a kitchen sink soap. The foodie smell was perfect and and the slight scrub from the very fine oatmeal was great for scrubbing off whatever I had gotten myself into while cooking.

What I found surprising about this soap, was how long the design stayed on the soap. Even now, as my bar of soap lies by the sink measuring less than an inch wide, you can STILL see traces of the beautiful design that once was.

This soap has a great lather. It really works well for cutting through grease. I would recommend 4thAveSoapCo to everyone.

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5271909

My First Handmade Stamp!, originally uploaded by Valerie..

I would LOVE to learn how to do this (and have the time to do so!) But if I ever started I”m sure it would consume me as I am addicted to stamps.

I love this one, cute, simple, classic and versatile.

Visit Valerie at:
http://www.bitsandpieces.org/

DSCN3638, originally uploaded by mamajeeper.

How cute are these?!?! I noticed this shop a while back and was totally amazed at the tiny art she paints on the nails. But this set takes the cake….er….watermelon.

You MUST check out her shop for more fun designs.
http://dragonflynailz.etsy.com

I’m happy to introduce my newest product Mint Thank Yous!!

3 types to chose from, currently listed in my shop as a 26 piece combo set.

Interested? Use code BCB Blog at check out and get the set for $9 instead of the $11 listing price!

Sweet. Cute. And it’s a butterfly! From windtwirler

Love these frames from rusticblend

How sweet is this little guy from rtisan2? I mean seriously, have you ever seen a  gourd look so cute?

How cute is this apple jacket from jacquelineknits? Perfect teacher gift!

Here is the first of the elaborating follow up posts I promised. If you missed the original post you can read it here.

The most important thing in selling is what you are selling. Your product!
I mean you can have great photos, list regularly, great prices and promote your butt of but if you are selling chocolate covered rabbit poop, it ain’t gonna sale. If you are making the same, exact thing as 285 billion other sellers, you aren’t going to sell as much because you have more competition.

Do you have a usable product?

What do you mean by usable product? By useful product, I mean things that serve a purpose. Practical items. As the USA is in a recession, and the majority of buyers and sellers on Etsy are from the US, and have less and less disposable income, and become more prone to save than spend, it will start effecting companies that sell non-essential items.

Like if you sell art or photography, especially if your price points are in the high-end range, I’m sure you have already seen sales start to taper off, try putting your art onto items people can use, and you can offer at a lower price point, coasters, hair ponies, totes, shirts, cards, those types of things.

Not to say that all people who sell non-essentials will not have great sales stats, but the more useful or unique the product, the easier it is to market and sale….

It also helps if you sell a disposable product, one in which the customer will use your product for it’s intended purpose and then need to come back to you to replace that product. Things such as soap. You don’t buy a bar of soap and keep it forever and never need another bar of soap. It gets used and must be replaced by another bar of soap.

Do you have a unique product? Can they find the same thing everywhere else? Are you one of 15,469,034 zillion jewelry makers? If so, you know what I mean. Jewelry is probably the most competitive handmade market out there, so you really have to do something to give yourself an edge over the competition.

Do you have a style? Do you only work with sterling silver and Swarovski crystals? Do you offer clip earrings? (an often ignored market) Do you work with gold vs silver? Do you use only the finest, most expensive beads and findings, or do you specialize in quality made affordable jewelry?

What makes your product unique or better than those they could buy elsewhere? Do you do something special? Are your cards hand cut by you rather than precut store bought blanks? Are the envelopes handmade? Is that fabric used to make that purse brand name? or vintage? Why would the buyer not just go to wal-mart and buy the same thing cheaper? Why would they not go to one of the other 50 shops on Etsy that sell the same thing you do? Why would they not just go to their local craft show and buy from their instead of you?

Continually improve your product. So you make an awesome product that sells like hot cakes. But what happens when your target market all own your hot seller? Sales drop if you haven’t improved upon it or added to it in some way. Never think you ‘got it’ always look for ways to improve all of your products. There is ALWAYS room for improvement in every aspect of your business. The market is constantly changing and business and products should constantly be changing to meet those needs. That is what makes a successful business.

So, what makes your products special?

I want this for my son. I LOVE wool diaper covers!

• Please check back for links to Jill’s shop, coming soon.

POLYMER CLAY

by Jill Kollmann

This is perhaps one of the most underestimated materials used by artists today.  Calling it “clay” is almost a misnomer, because it’s one of the most chameleon-like materials you’ll ever see.

Polymer artists work with one of more of several types of polymer clay. The most common uses for polymer clay include sculpture such  fabulous dolls, figurines, home décor items, and jewelry.  Polymer clay doesn’t dry if left out, so it’s easy to stop and re-start a project.  Completed pieces are cured in a regular home oven.  When sanded and glazed, some polymer work will have you convinced that it is glass.  Some mixed media artists use polymer with all sorts of other materials to provide additional color and texture to their pieces.

I am the jewelry-making variety of polymer artist.  I custom-blend colors and manipulate the clay to provide shading, depth, texture, and some cool special effects.  Polymer clay lends itself to being used with all sorts of metal leaf, alcohol inks, acrylic paints, mica powders, resin, colored pencils, stamping inks, and even kitchen herbs, to provide texture, shine, and color. 

I manipulate the clay by rolling, twisting, flattening, texturing with rubber stamps, and cutting,  All of these gyrations cause the clay to move around and reorganize itself.  If several colors or shades of clay are being manipulated together, we can get all sorts of beautiful results.  One of my favorite techniques is millefiori, or caning, in which long tubes of different colored clays are combined into a single tube, or cane, and then sliced into pieces that are all exactly the same.  Another of my favorites is “shadowing”, in which mica-laden clay is impressed with a rubber stamp and then the raised portions are shaved off, leaving a shadow that is absolutely smooth but looks three dimensional.

In the hands of an experienced artist, polymer clay can be made to look like the most gorgeous wood you’ve ever seen, the highest quality turquoise or amber, mother of pearl, opal, cinnabar, agate, quartz – you name it.  And it’s very light-weight, which means we can make a big chunk of something and it won’t weigh a lot – perfect for substantial jewelry pieces. 

Literally every day, polymer artists are finding new ways to use this marvelous material to create works of art that are beautiful, functional, and in some cases wearable.  Many of us are members of various polymer clay guilds including the Polymer Clay Artists Guild of Etsy (PCAGOE)  - so come check us out!

Wanna know what it is??? shhhhhhhhhhhh…….don’t tell anybody else……….the secret is………..

……….there is no secret!

I find a lot of people on the Etsy forums asking “why aren’t I making sales?” There is no “secret” to selling and being a successful small business. It’s just know-how and hard work.

Well, part of the reason might be the economy, but there are things you can do to increase your current sales stats.

I plan on making a list in this post, then follow up posts will elaborate on specifics.

Usable product - in a recession this is key to making sales.

Unique Product - Can they find the same thing everywhere else? If so, what makes yous unique or better than those they could buy elsewhere?

Photos - Good, clear, crisp photos. Use all 5 photos.

Descriptions - Give details, measurements, sizes and use lots of adjectives.

Tagging Properly - Use all the tags you are allowed and use them properly.

Sections - Use themt to make your store easier to navigate

Branding - Logo, shop banner and avatar that match the feel of your shop?

Pricing - Not too high, Not too low. Are you using a formula?

Shop Announcement - Is it short so your products can be seen?

Policies - Are your shop policies listed? Have you covered all the bases so the customer doesn’t have to ask?

Shipping - If you ship to other countries, are they listed in each listing?

Price Points - Do you offer different price points in your shop for people with more or less money to spend?

List/renew often - daily at the very least, but the more often, the better.

Stand out - go the extra mile, build repeat customers with nice packaging, fast shipping, handwritten thank you, freebies, discounts for future purchases, whatever you want to make your customers enjoy their buying experience and want to come back to you again.

Attitude - NEVER be rude, condescending, whiny or ugly in any public forum (related to crafting or not), email, convo or anywhere your potential customers could see and be turned off from buying from you. Be professional at all times, in any avenue that your business name is attached to.

Read - everything you can on and off Etsy to learn how to plan, set up, run and market a small business. (this blog is a great place to start!)

Promoting & Networking - Are you promting your shop? Not just on Etsy but outside venues as well? Buying ad space on other sites/blogs? Other websites? Have a flickr account? a MySpace page? IndiePublic? Photobucket? Posts on other, not craft related forums? Your own blog? In Person? Plugboards? Stumbleupon? Project Wonderful? Sending out promos for others to pass out? Are you on any street teams?

In short, there is a ton of time, effort and work beyond creating and listing your products. It is the internet, you are competing with MILLIONS upon MILLIONS of other shops online as well as B&M shops for every sale. You have to stand out from the crowd and draw customers in and give them a reason to buy from YOU.

Check back often as I go into detail and feel free to leave a comment and add something I might have missed.

Good luck!

What is your name? Todd Windsor

Where can people find you online? Well, first and foremost they can find me on Etsy at torchwoodstudio.etsy.com. I also have a MySpace page that I use for promotion, marketing and networking at http://www.myspace.com/torchwood_studio. Within the next month or so, my personal website www.torchwood-studio.com will be up and running. I also have a blog in the works http://torchwood-studio.typepad.com/torchwood_studio/ Hopefully, that will be up and running within the next couple of weeks.

What types of crafts do you make? I make unique handcrafted polymer clay functional art. Most of my pieces tend to be home/kitchen décor items or Holiday items. Mainly jewelry/keepsake bowls, candle holders, vases, pitchers, salt and pepper shakers, cookie jars and Christmas decorations. All of my pieces are created by using standard glass or ceramic items that I then cover with polymer clay in what ever pattern or theme that has recently inspired me.

How did you get into making unique polymer clay functional art? Great question with a funny answer! I have always made handcrafted gifts for my family at Christmas. I always thought that more feeling and thought went into a homemade gift rather than a store bought one. Anyone can buy a store bought gift…how many people can craft something original and specifically tailored to the person receiving the gift?

So, one year I was looking for a new gift idea that I could work with and I came across Polymer Clay. I played around with it thinking I could maybe sculpt some figurines. Well, I took my time and sculpted a baby Harp Seal (at least I thought it looked like a baby Harp Seal). Upon showing it off to everyone, I heard someone say, “Wow, isn’t that a really cute troll doll!” Needless to say, that was the end of my sculpting efforts.

Upon further meddling in the dark arts of polymer clay, I found that I had a knack for making functional art pieces and Christmas decorations that appealed to all of the women in my family. I then went on to make Military and Police themed items for many of the other cops that I work with.

What is your favorite thing about making unique polymer clay functional art? My favorite thing is just taking the hint of an idea and transforming it into a piece of art that others can enjoy. When I can take a few lumps of polymer clay, create a completely unique piece of art, and then see the look on a persons face when I give it to them…it just makes it all worthwhile to me.

What is your least favorite thing about it? All of my pieces are quite labor-intensive. Each piece (on average) can take between 6-12 hours to create from start to finish. Due to this, and working a full-time job, I can’t design and create as many pieces as I would like to. Also, the fingers tend to get a little sore from working with the clay for so long. But, as a close friend recently told when I complained about the sore fingers… “It builds character”

What is your favorite item currently for sale? http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9926821
Why? That would be my Celtic Knot Jewelry/Keepsake Bowl. It was one of my first attempts at creating a polymer clay bowl with a Celtic knot and triquetras symbols inserted into the design and it came out so much better than I expected. As I closely identify with my family’s Irish heritage, this bowl has special meaning to me. As it seems to be a popular piece with so many people, I am in the process of creating other Celtic bowls that incorporate Celtic themes and symbology that resonate with me.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years, in your business? While I love working in Law Enforcement, I would really enjoy doing my art full-time in a dedicated studio. As I also teach at the Law Enforcement Academy, I would love to transfer those skills over to teaching polymer clay techniques to a future generation of artists.

Where do you create? I have set up a small studio within my home where I design and create new pieces. I also use this space to come up with new and innovative polymer clay techniques.

What inspires you? I can’t say that any one thing inspires me. It’s actually an amalgamation of things. My family, my work, things I see everyday. I also get a lot of creative inspiration by visiting other artists’ websites and seeing some of the amazing things they are creating.

What do you like to do besides crafting? Whenever it decides to warm up in NY, you can find me golfing, mountain biking, rock climbing or spending the day road tripping with some friends. I also like to visit art museums for the inspiration they provide.

What advice would you give someone wanting to get into making unique handcrafted polymer clay functional art? Do a lot of research. See what others are creating. Take all those techniques and styles and try to take them in a completely different direction. Experiment and see what works for you. As others before me have pointed out, never create something just because you think it will sell. Create and design pieces that you like, that you enjoy working on because your art is about you and what inspires you, not pandering to the lowest common denominator. If your art is known for its individuality and uniqueness then people will flock to your business. If you can create something not available anywhere else and, at the same time, its something that you find joy in making, people will find you and you’ll be constantly inspired everyday.

What are your current projects? Right now I’m working on some baby related items such as Nursery décor. I’m also working on some more home décor items with earth tone themes.

What is your favorite Etsy shop? I have so many favorite shops; it’s hard to pick just one.
Here’s a few of them:
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5139320 – Copper Leaf Studios

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5418966 – RainWolf Studios

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5380797 – Lean Dog Pottery

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5467443 – Tim See Clay

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5504513 – Greenwood Studio

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5004997 – Marcia Palmer

Anything you’d like to share about your personal life? I’ve worked in one form or another of Law Enforcement for many years and I’ve been able to come home every night without serious injury. There are others who haven’t been so lucky. Due to this, a portion of all of the proceeds that I earn from my sales is donated to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund in memory of Officers killed in the line of duty. “In valor there is hope”

What would you do if you won 10 million dollars? That’s easy! I would donate some to worthwhile charitable organizations, make sure my parents and sister were set for life and I’d then invest the rest. I would then move back to Florida where I would open up Torchwood Studio and spend my days designing new pieces and taking polymer clay in new and different directions. I would also hold free classes at Torchwood Studio for all aspiring polymer clay artists!

What’s your favorite:
food? Sushi
number? 9
color? Purple
blog? http://polymerclaynotes.com/
scent? Sandalwood
band? Red Hot Chili Peppers
song? Home – Michael Buble
movie? The Shawshank Redemption
book? Debt of Honor – Tom Clancy
ice cream flavor? Chocolate with peanut butter chunks
Starbucks drink? Caffe Mocha – with an extra double shot of espresso, whole milk and whipped cream
restaurant? Ichiban – it’s a local Japanese Steak House here in Syracuse, NY. Amazing food!

How cute is this? If anyone wants to buy this from Mylittle for me it would look awesome in my living room and only $20

I saw this and LOVE it. It’s from twocooltexans