New Toy.....

I'm so excited, my new toy was just delivered yesterday!!!! I bought a Cricut Create machine, and so far, I love it!!! I'm having a lot of fun with it. One of the main reasons I bought it was to create stencils for glass etching, but I haven't tried cutting the vinyl yet. I've been playing around with cutting different thicknesses of paper, and learning the machine. I'm really excited to see what I'll be able to create. I can already see myself making cards for my nieces and nephews instead of buying them. The more I'm on Etsy and Artfire, the more I really am looking to give handmade items. It seems to give me a different feeling.....a good feeling. Not that I'll only give handmade gifts, but I will definitely try to buy less.

So anyways, I'm off to go play with my new toy.....have a great night!!!

Glass Etching

After I finished my post last night regarding Artfire and having 2 shops, I started thinking about what I would possibly branch out into. I thought back to various crafts I did while in 4-H and I remembered a glass etching project. I've thought about doing that again from time to time, so it seems fitting that I would look into that.

About an hour later and a run to Michaels, I was playing with etching vases. I found re-usable stencils (which makes it SO much easier!) and bought letters and a florial design. Next weekend we are having my oldest niece's birthday party, so I think I might etch her name into a mirror.

This morning I did some more etching and am really enjoying it. I have a lot of ideas coming to mind, so I'm sure I'll be experimenting soon!!

Now I won't be moving away from making jewelry, the glass etching will be in addition to. Although I really am considering having each in a different store.

Check back later....I will make sure to post pictures of my newest projects!!

Until next time.....get inspired, be creative....

www.AngiesDesignShop.etsy.com

www.AngiesDesignShop.artfire.com

Artfire....

I opened an Artfire store in January, but really haven't done a lot in there yet. I was able to get a $7/month membership and thought I would give it about 3 months. I was looking at my store, my slim store with only 3 items listed, and was debating if I should close up shop. But as I thought about it, I really haven't given the store a chance. I spend so much time on Etsy, that maybe I should give more time to Artfire. Unfortunately, I only have so many items to list and Etsy does not allow you to sell the same item on other sites. So, do I split my items between 2 shops, or do I "put all my eggs in one basket"? Although, if I branch out from jewelry it would work out that one shop could be jewelry and the other shop could be whatever I branch out into.

I've decided to give it more time......more of my time and a more time to really establish my shop.

Check out both my shops....

http://www.angiesdesignshop.etsy.com/

http://www.angiesdesignshop.artfire.com/

Until next time.....get inspired, be creative......

Artfire........hmmmmm

While reading the forums in Etsy, I've noticed a lot of people talking about Artfire. Like Etsy, Artfire is a venue to buy/sell handmade, vintage and supplies, however, it is still in the beta phase. Artfire offers 2 types of seller accounts - basic (free, with limited services), and verified ($7.00/month, with more services available). The $7.00/month is only for the first 5000 verified accounts though, after that, it will be $20.00/month. Unlike Etsy, Artfire does not charge a listing fee, or take a fee for each sale. Etsy charges $0.20/listing and 3.5% of each sale.

So, I thought, what do I have to lose....I'll try it for 3 months, and at worst, I'll be out $21.00.

Check it out if you like....

http://angiesdesignshop.artfire.com/