New art for my house ala acageybee

A Cagey Bee is this faboo seller on etsy that has wonderful original artwork in her store. I ordered a couple of her prints and they arrived today so I had to show them off. I’m stoked about them!

Okay first of all the packaging was super cute. I loved the stamped detail on it.

Then check out those cool 8 x 10 prints! I love both of them to pieces AND they came with a lovely postcard with a handwritten note AND a bookmark AND did I mention she’s having a BOGO Free sale in her shop right now? Two lovely original art prints for $18? Sign me up!

Those are the two prints I bought. I loved the girl reading her book one because it reminded me of fond childhood memories and I adore the birdy one because it goes with my steampunk stuff. A Cagey Bee on Etsy was a great buying experience. Check her out while she’s still doing her BOGO free sale too!

Now I just need to decide where i”m hanging my two prints and my post card. I kind of want them out so others can see them and yet I want to horde them in my studio as well!

Edited: July 31st, 2009

News from the homefront

Don’t forget to comment on this post. The giveaway for free buttons from my store ends Saturday

You may have noticed the Project Wonderful Ad space to the left of my page. I started a PW campaign for Geek Details and decided to add one to my page as well. It was free to advertise there when I put it up and you can put an ad for your store up at any time. Project Wonderful is a well wonderful way to advertise without being insanely expensive. So you may just find Geek Details ads on some of your favorite sites soon!

In other news… I sold 700 buttons today and I have this HUGE grin on my face. I’d order new button parts last week (tons of them) and found they won’t be delivered until next week which was bad. They should have been delivered sometime this week. Part of the 700 buttons I sold today was an order for 500 buttons that the buyers need mailed asap for an event next week. I ended up finding a different site to order from and paid more for really fast shipping. While it cuts in to my profit a bit, I figured the ability to deliver my merchandise in a timely manner was worth the extra cost. In the short run it costs me a little extra money. In the long run though I have a  customer that will be happy with their bulk order and hopefully tell other people that I can in fact do rush orders.

Which leads me to other plans for my store. My husband’s very last day of being active duty Air Force is Today (Friday) at 9 am. Less than 9 hours away from when he’ll pack up his desk and come home for two weeks or so before starting his new civilian job (YAY!). The military gave us a life opportunity we would not have had otherwise (what with being two teenage parents and all), but I’m glad it’s over finally. It was a good ride (mostly) but it wasn’t the lifestyle for us. It was a mutually beneficial arrangement that has come to an end and we’re moving on to other things.

Why does this effect my store? Because he’ll be home all day to help me with new products! I have a *ton* of new stuff I’ve been thinking on, writing down, and creating. He’s going to help me take photos and list my new items. YAY! He’s also going to help me build up a button inventory to take to craft shows this fall. And we’re already starting to build up inventory for… Cons!

I have friends that go to geek conventions and they insisted I should put myself out there and show my merch to the geek group in person. I didn’t feel okay doing that this year though (what with being less than a year old) so we’re doing it next year and I’m so excited! I have a great group of encouraging friends that are helping me plan out what I’m bringing next June and September to the Cons I’m going to try to attend. The booth fee is high, but I’m going to take the chance. Scaring and exciting at the same time… just like getting out of the military lifestyle!

So. New stuff on the way all next week (thanks honey!) and new venues starting this fall. It’s an exciting time and I’m so glad my husband can help me grow my business a bit.

Edited: July 31st, 2009

A peek in to my creative space

I’ve finally finished unpacking everything in here and putting things away in the studio area. I probably would have taken longer except my space gets to be in a write up next week on someone else’s blog and she needed photos. So I’ll give you a peek in to my space and then next week I’ll post a link to her blog where you can see even more of it.

First, this is the room off the master bedroom. You have to walk through it to get to the master so I try to maintain it fairly well. That doesn’t always work though, poor Cody. In any case. The master is an addition to the house from about 60 years ago and this room used to be a bedroom. We were told it was the “master parlor or nursery” but since the baby factory was closed and rennovated in to a playground, it became “The Studio”

The doors originally had clear glass in them and that was great and all unless you wanted to sleep in or unless someone was using my computer and I walked past wearing not enough clothing… So. Privacy was needed as was light blocking. I didn’t know what I wanted to do yet so I grabbed my stash of scrapbook paper and cut some down to size. I had to use a new sheet for each window which is why it’s a hodgepodge. I’m still working on what I want it to really be, but it keeps out light and eyes for now.

The red ball hanging overhead is a kissing ball and it’s something I made. It’s a victorian era thing that i thought was neat so I made one with plans to make more for my store with faces in them. I don’t think that’s something I’ll persue at this time though. Perhaps later.

That is something from my desk area. I LOVE this vase. It’s so super cool and I would love to figure out how to make them to sell in my store. This one is vintage wire thing with test tubes to hold flowers. Way cool right?

I’ll save the other photos for my friend’s blog. Love my space though and I’m so much happier creating in a space that is decorated the way I like! Check out Kootoyoo for more great creative spaces.

Edited: July 30th, 2009

I’m on the Etsy Front Page

One of my drink me bottles made it to the front page of Etsy. How cool is that? It’s one of my favorite colors (teal) and it’s a large drink me bottle.

Edited: July 29th, 2009

New Pinback Button Stuff and a Giveaway

I receive several requests a month for custom orders and finally decided to do a listing for that on my etsy store.

The first of which is 50 custom one inch buttons. I plan on offering both 1 inch and 2.25 inch button in various increments with a decrease in price per unit for larger orders.

I’ll be adding magnets to the mix as well and in both sizes of course. What else is on my plate? Random button grab bags for both sizes. These are reduced substantially from the normal price per individual button and will be a random grab bag of pure geek details button goodness

More to come of course and now a little giveaway to help kick off the new button stuff. I’ve never done a giveaway on my blog before so hopefully this little experiment goes well.

So here’s the deal. Leave a comment here (questions welcome) for your chance to win. That’s it, all you have to do. Giveaway ends this Saturday. I’ll randomly pick one to win a set of 10 1 inch buttons and send it to the winner.   I’d love if you posted my little giveaway around the internet, but that’s not required

Edited: July 28th, 2009

Breaking Down the Brand

When I first looked in to opening an Etsy store, I thought all there was to it was to list my items. I quickly learned the error of my ways and thus starts a new series of blog posts on things I’ve learned along the way. One of the first things I learned was branding.  I’m still working on branding myself and the look of it all, but I have a fairly good grasp of what is working for my shop. So I’ll tell you what I did, how I did it, and (most importantly) why I did it.

Everyone tells you to start with a Logo. My first was a letter “g” with “www.geekdetails.etsy.com” going in a circle around it. It was hard to read, it has the “.etsy.com” in there and just wasn’t what I wanted so I eventually ditched it. I knew when I wanted to brand my stuff that I did not want .etsy.com on my label. Etsy is great for selling right now, but I wanted options for the future. I went to www.godaddy.com and bought the domain name “geekdetails.com” for myself and used their redirect feature to point it towards my etsy.com site. This allowed me to have all my packaging printed with my name on it without being stuck with .etsy.com packaging if I decide to no longer sell on Etsy. The $9ish I spent on that was definitely worth it.

So what’s with the teal panda? The teal panda is my new logo.  If I’m posting  elsewhere on the internet, you’ll typically see the little teal panda next to the post. It’s on everything from business cards to packaging to web ads. If my geek details name is on something, so is my panda.

Speaking of packaging, here’s a shot of some of mine.

First, notice they all have my url in a prominent way that allows you to easily tell where you can buy more of these great items. They also all have my teal panda on them so that buyers can immediately recognize the item as coming from my store.  They all use the same style of font which is one that isn’t a typical font and is easily read. Basically I took the same elements and rearranged them to suit my needs for a particular packaging material.

Changes I’ve made since I started? The button/magnet/pocket mirror packaging now simply says “button” “magnet” or “pocket mirror” instead of “2.25 inch button” “1 inch button” etc. I change the color of the bumbly band depending on what type of item is inside so that I can easily tell if I’m sending someone a magnet or a button which helps me eliminate mistakes in orders.

At one point I had different packaging for the sizes of buttons, button packs, magnets, magnet packs etc. I decided to simplify and in the process, I made it easier for me to package my stuff.  You’ll notice that the saying at the bottom of my items change from item to item. I do that because we (friends and I) came up with so many fun sayings for my store and it was hard to pick just one. So I integrated the various sayings in to my packaging and it’s random what saying will be on what package.

The new hand painted dishware sticker is going to have the same bumbly band on it that my button packaging has on it now.  The original one served its purpose, but I’m not afraid to admit when a design could be improved. The “geek details” at the top could be replaced with “www.geekdetails.com” and then the spot where “www.geekdetails.com” is currently at can be replaced with the name of the item inside. I don’t make tons of different dish styles yet so I can do that without putting too much into label materials.

My business cards are double sided. The front is fairly straight forward with just my logo, my url, and my tag line. I wanted my info on my card without making it cluttered though so I decided to flip the card around and use the back as well. The back states a text wall of all the wonderful things you can purchase in my store. It allows me to give people an idea of what I do without having the front of my card cluttered up. Eventually the back will hold coupon codes for return buyers and/or convention attendees.

So why do all this? If you google “branding” or “etsy branding” you’ll find a host of articles most of which boil down to this one:

• Delivers the message clearly
• Confirms your credibility
• Connects your target prospects emotionally
• Motivates the buyer
• Concretes User Loyalty

Edited: July 27th, 2009

New Pinback Buttons

I’ve been making some new pinback buttons for the last several days and I’m finally uploading a batch of them to my etsy store geekdetails. I’m hoping to add more every day over the next week or so. Things like

There’s more of them on the way too. Things relating to Twilight, random geek quotes, things my friends said when they were over for wine this week. It’s amazing the things people come up with when they’ve had a drink or two put in them.

Anywho. I’m still working on my etsy store and trying to figure out how to categorize all my items. The buttons are what throws me off because there’s just so many of them! I can’t do a “pinback button” section or people would never find what they were looking for and dividing it up by theme doesn’t seem to be working either. I’m starting to think I need a seperate button shop but I’m not sure I want to do that either. /sigh Suggestions?

Add in the fact that I am in a *mood* and it’s just not a good day today.  I’m not sure why i’m in a *mood* but I am and it sucks. I think I just have so much to do and not enough time to do it and now I’m becoming frustrated and unsure of where to start. It’ll pass, it’ll pass. Until then I’ve made a list of what I need to get done so that I can at least stay on track

Edited: July 26th, 2009

An Alice in Wonderland Cabinet

I know, I know. You’re probably thinking “OMG WOMAN! How far can you take this AiW obsession?” Well… pretty far apparently. I get that way sometimes, I have an obsessive personality and when I’m in to something, I am typically pretty in to it. So on to my cabinet.

I found this cabinet at a local store (Those Were the Days if you’re in the area) and loved it. I knew immediately what I’d do with it. I snatched that bad boy up and walked out of the store with it to take it home and Frankenstein it a little bit. Look at it, how can you not see the potential?

I’m going to pair it up with the legs from the bench we tore out. yes, I saved the legs because I know they’re about $7 each from Lowes and I’m cheap frugal. …

So what else will be added to it? Some doll feet and hands of course! I can’t wait to finish this project and post photos. I’m currently repainting it (the blue is much darker then it appears) and then I’ll be altering it to fit my Alice in Wonderland obsession.

——

More photos now. It’s still not done because the arms and legs I had are not quite the right size, but I’m liking it so far. It needs a touch up around the edges because I’m OCD, but what do you think?

I want to do some fun paper on the inside of the house and then I’m going to use it for displaying some of my items when I do craft shows. I don’t plan on selling it any time soon because I like it way too much. Can’t wait to add arms and legs though. I know it’s not at all like the Disney version, but that just makes me like it that much more…

Edited: July 25th, 2009

A Trunk Table

I bought this great vintage trunk for a mere $10 at a local thrift store. We used it as a side table in the cramped living room of the last house and at the new house it’s once again in the living room. It’s great because the bottom holds awkward gaming controllers (like guitars and guns and a drum from japan) and it has an insert that lays across the whole thing and is just deep enough for normal remotes etc. love it

I noticed that we tend to move it a lot and I didn’t like the horrid noise it made going across the floor. Lowes to the rescue! I picked up two sets of casters (for a total of four caster and they were around $3 total) and added them to the bottom of the trunk. No more scratching my floors. Although the floor scratching isn’t an issue right now because the wood floors are already pretty scratched up, we plan on redoing the floors and don’t want those to be scratched up too. So I make changes now instead of after the floors are refinished.

It’s not very far off the floor at all, but the casters make a HUGE difference in moving it around. All we did was drill four holes per caster, insert bolts and screwed nuts on from the inside. It’s a little bumpy on the bottom inside the trunk, but given what we keep in it, that won’t be an issue.

That’s Miss Mouse in the last photo btw. She was my husband’s birthday present almost 2 years ago. She’s a “rare goberian”  which is the fancy way of saying a husky and a gold retriever got together and made a puppy. She’s pretty, but she’s still a mutt. Luckily she was a free mutt but we googled goberian and found someone trying to sell pups for $1k. Um. No.

Edited: July 24th, 2009

A giveaway and Everyday Green-Tips and Ideas For Living and Creating Green

The Etsy Twitter team is hosting a Go Green Event this week and there are some helpful go green tips on the team blog. “Like What?” you might be asking. I’ll give you a peek.

3. Make a change in your HOME – The items in our homes such as cleaning supplies, laundry detergents, even light bulbs are a great place to begin changing your habits to create a greener life. There are many more choices on the market now for consumers looking for greener products. A good laundry detergent to try is Seventh Generation Laundry Detergents (I buy mine at Target) which are vegetable based, nontoxic, biodegradable, and work fantastically well.

There are also tried and true simple cleaning formulas you can make yourself from everyday items like vinegar and water, baking soda, lemons, even Hydrogen Peroxide, which works like bleach without the danger and also deodorizes.

There are more tips on the website (everything from buying local to personal care) and you can find them at this link right here when you click. Not only can you read the rest of the article done by Kristen of FirebirdHouse.etsy.com, you can also check out the cool giveaways being put on for the Go Green Event.  Yes, that’s right FREE handmade stuff from some awesome Etsy sellers. Stop on by THIS POST for more deets. Hurry hurry though, it ends on the 27th!

Want to check out the participating shops? Just click on any of these links to find shops that are going green.

Edited: July 23rd, 2009