Followers

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Meredith's Welcome Wagon


 We've continued to add to our number this month, adding four new members!

Debi Lester from Debidoodah is one of our new Golden Rose Crafters! Debi and her husband have settled in Naples, FL. where Debi is a full-time, self-taught artist. Debi enjoys many styles of painting, but folk art has become her favorite. She also favors angels for her subject matter. Strolling through her shop is like visiting a mini art gallery. We're so glad to have you on the team, Debi!

Painting
Bird House
Debidoodah

Toddlers Pattern
Dress Pattern
 Janet Davis from Rosyjanet also  recently joined our growing team. Janet describes herself as an "ex-hippie wanna be". She lives in Nampa, Idaho with her husband. They have two adult children, a new son-in-law, and a beautiful granddaughter. Janet loves to sew and her shop offers wonderful patterns that reflect her love of the craft. She takes great care to detail all the information a sewer would need to know before purchasing a pattern. Welcome to the team, Janet!


Animal Patterns

Door Wreath
Holiday Spirits Decor

Holiday Spirits Decor
 Carol Fisher from HolidaySpiritsDecor is another of our new members. Carol lives in Chicago and recently rediscovered her love of crafting. Her wonderful shop specializes in handmade presents and decorations to celebrate the different holidays of the year. Take a tour of some of her magical creations located in her growing shop. So glad you're now a Golden Rose Crafter, Carol!



Jewelry Box
Bracelet
 Hazel Gibbs from Hazelgibbs is our newest Golden Rose Crafter. Hazel and her husband moved to the south west region of France about five years ago. Along with their two rough collies, Skye and Dina, they have settled in to the french countryside. Hazel has been sewing most of her life and loves the creative process. She uses top quality cotton fabrics as well as pure silk to created her beautiful jewelry and sewing boxes. She has recently also ventured in knitted necklaces as well as beaded tassels. Window shopping through her shop is a treat. Welcome, Hazel!



Tote Bag
Sentimental Journey Knitters Tote
These are a sample of the great items you'll find when you visit Meredith's shop, Patchworkcrafters.
Jeepers Creepers Tote

Blueberry Patch Crafters Tote











Patty's Picks





This month’s new item I have chosen is “Folk Art Angel” created by Debi Lester from Debidoodah. This is such a beautiful piece of artwork. I love the fact that Debi used a piece of reclaimed wood for her “canvas”. There is an ethereal feeling to this lovely piece. I can almost feel the wind blowing her flowing hair. A wonderful addition to any home!

The chosen renewal item for this month is the “Wire Crochet Necklace – Falling Leaves” created by Pat from Patties Pieces.

This lovely piece is crocheted with wire and accented with beads and lovely glass leaves.

I can imagine this necklace would be very lightweight and comfortable to wear. 

The promotion item of the month is this lovely teal bracelet from Marilyn Rush’s shop Maryilyn 1545.  I love teal and this is a beautiful bracelet.  This bracelet has lampwork beads with Swarovski clear and teal crystals.

I love the way this bracelet was displayed on a cream crocheted doily.

And here are some great picks from Patty's shop,  Twisted Sticks:
Quilted Placemat  SnackMat
AWall Hanging

Quilted Wall Hanging

Winner of Theme Treasury Competition


Paula’s  Gifts Of  Love Shop

On May 18th of 2010 Etsy welcomed a new member. That was the day Paula Gsell opened her shop,  bringing her truly unique art to the fore, ready to share it with the rest of us. If you haven’t visited Paula’s shop yet you must do so.  Once there you will discover amazing designs of handcrafted fabric appliquéd t-shirts, blouses, totes, even handbags and scarves, not to mention the pillows and my favorite the hats.

It was only February of the same year that Paula started turning out her beautiful creations.   Her designs are created by individual cuts of fabrics that are fused together with heat then outlined and detailed with fabric paints, to create the beautiful totes and clothing articles you’ll find while exploring her shop.  You’ll be amazed at how easy these items are to care for, and yet rugged enough to go through the wash.   I’m blessed with several of her items a tote bag and two shirts and I just love them.  I get so many compliments and people always ask where I got them from.

About the Woman

Paula is a 57 year old woman who is divorced and caring for her elderly,  disabled mother.   Three years ago she was working as a Chef, however when her father died , she had to quit that job and it was then that she moved to care for her mother.

Paula has always loved good food and feeding others and says food has always played a big part in how she shares her life and expresses her love. She feels it is inherent in her Italian heritage.   She received her culinary training at French culinary in Houston, Texas, where she lived for 13 years.

Arts and Crafts

Paula’s always been interested in arts and crafts.  When her daughter was young she did decoupage starting out with plates. Later she went into designing furniture . She also designed tile murals and backsplashes for builders. 

Paula is hoping that her appliqué designs she does now will catch on. So far this technique has not shown up by anyone else in another shop.  She truly has a unique product and hopes that through Etsy her designs will gain popularity  and reach more people.

Making Treasuries

This article about Paula has been written and is appearing in this blog due to the fact that she won the Theme Treasury Competition for April 2012.  On being asked how she got started with making treasuries she tells us that she got started about a year ago.  She received help from the Captain of the Golden Rose Crafters, she grew to love the process and she was off and running. She tells us her favorite part of the process is working with the color schemes and the great collections from the many talented artisans of Etsy.
The advice she offers to others learning to make treasuries is to have fun and take your time to find the right creation and color flow to match the title theme.  Paula often takes many hours to create a treasury,  exploring all the many creations that our own team offers as well as all of Etsy to find the perfect fit.  And she emphasizes don’t rush,  take your time.
Golden Rose Crafters
When asked  how she felt about the team Paula had many nice comments, my modesty holds me back from printing all the wonderful compliments, suffice it to say, Paula is very happy being on this team and says the Captain and team leaders have gone far and above to help her with the things she needed to learn. She says there are a lot of very nice people on this team and everyone is very supportive of one another.
Paula is very realistic about her thoughts for the future,  realizing the world economy has a great effect on whether or not we are able to be successful in our business ventures.  She hopes to continue selling and exploring new designs and adding new creations to her shop.
As far as advice to Etsy Newbie’s, Paula reminds us be patient and have fun with whatever it is that you are creating. She says “Join a good team and learn as much as you can about promoting your art work and most of all, do it because you really love what it is you are doing.  Things made from the heart are clearly seen and show in your pieces.”
Congratulations Paula for winning Aprils’ Theme Treasury Competition.


Written by; Marilyn Rush

Monday, May 28, 2012

Patty's Treasury Pick of the Month

The treasury I have chosen for this month is “Beautiful Things for Beautiful People” curated by Marilyn Rush from Marilyn 1545. I love the way Marilyn took the sunset picture and accentuated all the shades of pink to deep rose to purple with all the other items she chose. I loved it! Each and every item is beautiful. Makes me want to purchase all of them! http://www.etsy.com/treasury/Nzg1MTg2NXwyNzIwMjE5MTM3/beautiful-things-for

'Beautiful Things For Beautiful People' by marilyn1545

This is a Jewelry Promotion Team treasury. I picked the Handmade Embroidered Book as my inspiration and I tried to draw on the all the tones found in its cover, the gold, lavender, purple,Raspberry, and pink. I hope you enjoy my work.

Candy Floss -- Sweet pink wa...
$65.00
Raspberry Swirl Earrings, Ma...
$30.00
Sunset on the marsh - Free S...
$20.00
Artisan Glass Headpins/Beads...
$12.00
Dichroic Fused Glass Earring...
$16.00
Vibrant Hand-woven Bronze Fr...
$125.00
SALE- Royal Purple Paua and ...
$20.00
Vintage Garnet Brooch
$265.40
Animal Print Bangle, Decoupa...
$20.00
Pink stripes Pandora STYLE b...
$1.99
Rose Necklace - Pink and Pur...
$16.00
Pink silver earrings, lampwo...
$20.75
Purple Chalcedony Elongated ...
$30.00
Rasberry Red and Peach Pearl...
$19.00
Purple Jewel Necklace, Gold ...
$45.00

Monday, April 30, 2012

Marilyn's Choice SHOP OF THE MONTH Critique



Caught My Eye Designs opened shop almost one year ago.  Joyce the shop owner has built up a positive reputation for herself through her sales .  She is now in 117 circles and has 46 admirers. Let's take a look at her shop and see how she has done that and consider some suggestions for improving her already shining record.

If you are looking for knitted and or crocheted shawls, caps, scarves, or even pillows, you will want to visit this shop. Joyce uses materials such as alpaca, wool, novelty yarn, beads and ribbon plus more.

Party Time Any Time Free Lace Scarf
Let's discuss some of the aspects of her shop. Her pictures are crystal clear as you will see. She does close-ups so that you can see detail. She has her items departmentalized.  Like things with like things.
Her descriptions create mind pictures and fill in all the details that the pictures don't cover.
If I have anything to offer here it would be to make the title of the item descriptive using words that hopefully would come up in a search,  and perhaps save those catchy names for the first of the description. Many shop owners use their descriptions for sales pitches and stories and your titles might fit right in with that type of use.  A descriptive title might say something like, Knitted Lace Scarf in Purple, Fuchsia, Pink and White. It's just a suggestion, but we want our items to come up in a search,  the end desire being a sale.

Scottie is a Hottie
Fleece Pillow
Fleece pillow cover measures 16.25 by 16.25 inches. The design is the same on the front and back. Pillow insert for you to purchase is 16 by 16 inches. Colors are pink, light grey. Smaller Scottie dogs are dark brown. The closure is a zipper as seen in picture, it is offset and measures an opening of 13 inches. to fit your insert, fold in half and slide it into the opening. Zip up and enjoy. Monitors are different. Colors appear darker then they really are.
I have limited amount of this fleece so when they are gone, that is it. 
This pillow is adorable, the description above, is excellent, and Joyce's title is too cute. "Scottie Is A Hottie Fleece Pillow".  Love it.  Imagine it as the first line of the description. Try this on for a title: Throw Pillow Pink, Gray and Brown Fleece Scottie Dog Motif. It's a suggestion.

Popcorn Spaced Out Mobius
with a Twist
We have here another of Joyce's creations, one of my favorites. She calls it Popcorn Spaced Out Mobius with a Twist. I don't really know what that is but I see it fits around the neck, it's beautiful, well made and a fair price. Looking through the shop I find that to be the guaranteed theme.

One thing I will mention here is that Joyce only used 9 of her tags and not one of them was #2grc. Let's take advantage of those tags, that's how we invite people to our shops.  One other item I'd like to mention is the occasion box, Joyce put in Christmas, my concern about that is that a customer may think that it is strictly for Christmas when it is really good for all cold weather months.  I personally leave that box empty on my listings but of course I never do anything that is for a particular holiday.  I just don't like to limit my customer pool in anyway. Through the winter I would be wearing this beautiful item with everything in my wardrobe that it went with.
No Ouchies Here Scarf
"No Ouchies Here Scarf" , this is a beauty, for all ages and all occasions. The colors are lovely and I can feel it's softness.  The description is right-on and the price is comparable. You can't go wrong with this item.
Joyce used only 10 of her 18 tags and again didn't use her team tag. Shame...Shame....


There is not a lot of advice I can give to an almost perfect shop. The banner is cheerful and eye catching, true to the shop name.  It's a great place to shop,  with so many selections I had trouble making up my mind what I liked the best.

Let's look at a few minor things that might help to increase sales...
     1. Use all 18 tags - check shop stats for what words or phrases that are being used, do a google search yourself and find out what words it takes to get you to your shop.
     2. Use descriptive words in your titles
     3. Use team tag #2grc on all your items so that it will come up in a search by us
     4. Tweet - use team tag #2grc on all your tweets so that team members will be able to retweet your tweets
     5. Add International Shipping or at least a few places like Canada, Britain.
     6. Try to make a treasury once a month,  when you advertise for others they will return the favor
     7. Change your Featured Items often and always promote them when you do
     8. Go into your Activity often and check it out. Get into more circles, favorite more items, this gets more item views and shop views with really no work on your part.
     9. Take advantage of our teams clicking group,  again helping others will win you their favors in return.

All in all you have a beautiful shop,  and you are doing a great job on the big issues. Your product is wonderful,  your pictures are beautiful,  prices are comparable. Pick one or two things suggested to work on and see if your sales don't increase.
  
Marilyn Rush of Marilyn1545