Surprise Gift From Season Alley

On Saturday, August 16th I wrote a blog Post entitled "Another Wow Factor Etsy Shop! Season Alley". My daughter and daughter-in-law saw that post and saw that I loved the
Grandmothers Are Angels In Disguise Plaque:

They ordered the plaque from Season Alley and gave it to me today!! I absolutely love it! It is wonderful!

Nominating Etsy Shops To Be Featured On My Blog

If anyone knows of an Etsy Shop that they think has the "Wow Factor," and want to nominate that shop to be featured on my blog, check out the below guidelines. If I select the shop you've nominated, I will write a separate post about your Etsy shop!! Note: I always ask permission before featuring a shop.

Guidelines:

The shop you nominate can not be your own, a family member's, or a friend's. It should be a shop that you just happened to visit and thought to yourself, "Wow, what a great shop," or something to that effect.

Your shop and the shop you nominate must not contain "adult's only" content.

Add a comment to this post and include the following:
Name and URL of the shop you are nominating.
A brief blurb explaining why you consider this shop a "Wow Factor" shop.
Explain how you found this shop.
Include your shop name and URL.

If you have any questions, you can email me at AllAboutCatsEtsy@gmail.com

Beautiful Handmade Window Cling/Suncatchers

Window Butterflies Etsy Shop is full of vibrant colored, handmade window clings. They are painted on a clear cling vinyl, using window cling paint, and are UV and humidity proof. These fabulous clings can be applied to any non-porous surface, such as glass, metal, ceramics, mirrors, etc., and can be removed and replaced over and over again. On windows, with the sun's help :-), they will shine and sparkle.

This Sleepy Caterpillar Faux Stained Glass Window Cling/Suncatcher is adorable:


This 7" by 7" Azure Blue Hyacinth Stained Glass Window Cling is stunning!


Here is a pic of Three Butterflies:



Last, but not least, check out this Tiger:



Check out this shop for lots more great window clings!

Do's and Don't about selling on Etsy

I have read different things in blogs and on Etsy Forums about what to do and what not to do as an Etsy seller. Some things I agree with and some things I don't. Here are my opinions on some of these things:

What I read: Don't convo other buyers to tell them you love their shop, items, or a specific item.
My opinion: Why the heck not? I would love to have a fellow Etsy seller convo me to say they love something about my shop! Wouldn't you?

What I read: Don't write about other Etsy sellers on your blog.
My opinion: Etsy is a community of people selling handmade products, supplies, or vintage items. Shouldn't people in communities help each other out? Isn't that what Etsy Teams do? I love to browse Etsy shops and when I find one that I love, I want to write about it. That person put a lot of work into making their shop a "work of art" and I think she/he should be acknowledged for it.

What I read: Advertise, advertise, advertise.
My opinion: Yes, yes, yes. If you open an Etsy Shop and the only advertising you do, is to tell your friends and family about your shop, you are probably not going to sell many things. Buy business cards and distribute them, post on forums, join one or more Street Teams, set up a blog and write about your creations and Etsy, join social networking sites, etc. Advertising won't get done without you doing it!

What I read: Tell potential buyers about yourself in the Profile section of your Etsy Shop.
My opinion: I agree 100%. Buyers do look at sellers' profiles. They want to know something about who they might be buying from. Part of the charm of Etsy is that buyers and sellers can "get to know each other." Why wouldn't you, as a seller, fill out your profile section?


What I read: Don't use packing peanuts because they are annoying to receive.
My opinion: I had no opinion about this at all until I read the blog post about it, but packing peanuts are clingy and do get all over everywhere. I no longer use packing peanuts because I want my customers to be happy with their purchase, not annoyed because they have to deal with a bunch of pesky peanuts.

This last one doesn't really fit the title, but here goes anyway :-0
What I read: Your Etsy Shop is not broken in until you've reached 12 sales.
My opinion: I have no idea if this is true or not, but it stuck in my mind. And I may have worked a bit harder to get sales because of reading this. When I did reach 12 sales, I emailed my family and friends to tell them my shop was now broken in, I did a little dance around the living room, and smiled the rest of the day.

Thats all for now. Thanks for reading!

Another Wow Factor Etsy Shop! Season Alley

I've found another great Etsy Shop! Season Alley features tole-painted crafts that are cute and whimsical and the painted details are amazing. Most of Donna's wonderful creations are holiday related.

Here is a Halloween Plaque that reads "Gimme that creepy crawly shiver quiver heebie geebie full o'fright kind o'night":


Here is an adorable Santa Welcome Sign:


I love this Grandmothers Are Angels In Disguise Plaque:


Check out Donna's shop Season Alley for more great creations!

Etsy Shop Sales

I have 14 sales in my Etsy Shop! Yeah!

Etsy Treasury

One of my items was in a Treasury! Yeah!

The Treasury was made by Linda from Spotted Cow Soaps.

Wow! Factor Etsy Shop: Cyndimac's Nick Knacks

Have you ever visited an Etsy Shop and your first reaction was WOW!? Well, that was my first reaction when I visited Cyndimac's Nick Knacks Shop. And then when I found out her beautiful creations were made from recycled materials, I thought WOW! again. This shop is amazing!

This Snowman Ornament was made from a recycled light bulb.



The below Santa Ornament is made from a shell.



This Santa Ornament is made from a soda can.



Cindi even makes "Special Order" items, like this Candy Cane Santy Wine Bottle.



There are lots of other wonderful creations in this shop, as well!

I visit a lot of Etsy Shops, and when I find one that has the Wow! factor like this one, it makes my day.

Over 100 Shop Hearts

Yeah! It seems like such a milestone!

Spotted Cow Soaps

I bought two bars of soap from Spotted Cow Soaps Etsy Shop. One is Garden of Tulips, and the other is Lime Sugar. When I opened the package, the fragrance was delightful! Linda also included two samples of her lotions.



I haven't used the Lime Sugar bar of soap yet, but I have been using the Garden Of Tulips soap, and I doubt that I will ever go back to store boughten soap again. When I get out of the bath after using the Garden of Tulips soap, I really am squeaky clean! and my skin feels so refreshed! I'm hooked!

Crocheted Cotton Bath Puff

I made this bath puff using Priscilla Hewitt's Cotton Bath Puff Pattern. The pattern was easy to follow, and I love the end result! The pattern calls for "about 2 ounces of worsted weight cotton yarn," but it took almost 3 oz. for mine. I would highly recommend this pattern to anyone planning to make a bath puff.

I am working on my second bath puff, and the pattern is so simple, I don't even need to look at the pattern this time around.

On the same page as the Bath Puff pattern, is a pattern for a back scrubber. I intend to make one of those, to.

There is another bath puff pattern that I haven't tried yet, but intend too. It is by Adrienne R. Congdon.