Lenox Knits: etsy

Showing posts with label etsy. Show all posts

4/29/2011

My new favorite Bag Maker!

I have to share my latest Etsy obsession. I bought one of The Bag Basement's backpacks earlier this year. I absolutely love how they are made from recycled jute rice bags that are hand dye cut out with patterns. It is huge and has tons of pockets. I use it for an overnight bag/workout bag to bring clothes to work, etc. It really has tons of uses come to think of it. I will also bring it with me to NYC to carry my purchases for the long days out shopping on my back.

The second bag is very similar to the bag I just bought as my summer handbag. I love the cool tie dye effect and it is the perfect size for everyday use. The strap is adjustable so it can be worn across your front if you want which is a great feature.

I also just bought a necktie for my Uncle's b-day. I didn't choose this I love nerds one but how cool is it. She has a bunch of unique designs that you won't find at the mall for sure.

11/23/2010

Merry Christmas For Me!

Handmade Christmas For Me! by paigegeorge

So the big holiday shopping season is almost upon us. I've already gotten my big gift for the year. My Mom and Uncle got me the Canon Speedlite 430EX, an external flash for my camera, for my birthday/Christmas. I haven't had a chance to play with it much but I'm hoping to put it to use this week with the girls.

Amazon.com Widgets

I was doing some looking for fun on my two favorite shopping sites since the network is down this week at work and no work is being done of any kind in our office today. I found the two cool widgets at the top of the page. These are books and stuff that I'd love to find in my stocking from amazon and the top one is a list compiled from etsy. I originally made a treasury of it you can find here. But I just discovered the site kaboodle and put together a wish list and made a widget which is easy to add to a site. I think this may become my preferred way of sharing items on my blog. Let me know if you have any troubles with seeing it or slow loading time.

So do you plan on venturing out for any Black Friday Shopping adventures? What are you hoping to find under your tree this year?

10/05/2010

Sets For Sale!

A month ago I posted about my indecision regarding my Etsy shop here. I've decided that it's important to have some sort of online presence even if it's not as active as I have kept it in the past. That way the customers who take my card at my shows have a way to shop in the future, etc. I also think that my empty shop may have hurt my chances of getting into the Rock n Roll Show as well.

I went ahead and renewed the items that I had listings for that didn't sell at the Strange Folk Festival and listed a few of my scarf/hat sets this week. I must say that the listing process has definitely been improved since the last time I did it awhile ago. I also like that you can use pictures that aren't perfectly square now.

The top shot is of my Fabulously Pink Set. I have it priced at $40 for both the scarf and the hat. I also have a teal set in the same pattern and size that I don't have photographed yet.

The Rainbow Bright Set is made with a machine washable acrylic and is priced at $35 for the hat and scarf together.

And finally my favorite set is the All Natural Pink Set. It was made with an organic cotton yarn with natural dyes. The scarf and hat are priced at $45 together. They are more for fashion than warmth but I think that they are a very cool ensemble.

If anyone has any custom requests for scarf/hat combos I would be happy to oblige. I can probably find something in my stash to meet your color/fiber requests. If not that is just another reason to shop for yarn!

9/08/2010

To Etsy or not to Etsy?

I've been thinking a lot about my online selling woes the past month. I've had my Etsy shop closed for the summer with a message saying that it would open again in the fall. Well, fall is basically here and my shop has no signs of life yet. I'm struggling to find the motivation to get my pictures how I want them. Even now when I know way more about photography than I did when I started, it still takes a lot of time to take the pictures, edit them, and then set up the listing. All for maybe a few sales a month which just isn't worth it to me.

There was a time when I could expect 1 or 2 sales a week during the prime knitwear buying season, late Oct-Dec. There is now so much competition on Etsy that it is nearly impossible to be found, even with improved photos. There are currently 26,553 results for knit scarf. You can tag as efficiently as possible but without some kind of personal promotional tool it's a long shot to be found. I'm not even going to get into my pet peeve about the same people constantly being promoted on the front page and other Etsy promotional areas.

I have kept my shop open the past 3 years through the dry spells because I thought it was important to have an on-line presence. My main priority has been doing a few targeted craft shows a year but I liked having a shop to direct my customers to online. I've enjoyed the camaraderie on Etsy despite their many flaws, but lately I just feel over their antics. They have made a number of controversial design changes and major overhauls to the checkout and feedback systems which make me nervous to reopen at this time.

Etsy Bitch as always, is the best place to go to find out the real story behind the changes. I am sick to death of reading the Storque and getting the sugar coated BS that the Etsy Admin put out. You have to read between the lines so much that it almost becomes illegible. I was even more confused after reading their post about collecting sales tax with the new checkout system. The 99 page forum thread is simply too daunting to figure out what I need to do to be safe.

I'm once again considering other options such as Artfire but I have a box of 500 business cards with my Etsy address on it that I'm planning to use as price tags for the Strange Folk Festival. If anyone has thoughts I would gladly hear them. Do you think that I'm hurting myself by not having an online venue as a kind of portfolio for my work?

6/09/2010

Summer Vacation for my shop!

Be like the flower, turn your face to the sun.
-- Kahlil Gibran

I had an etsy sale last week and instead of being happy about it I was annoyed. I thought now I have to get it wrapped up and go to the Post Office and with everything else that was on my plate last week with my car in the shop, etc. it was just one more thing to deal with. So I've decided to give my shop a nice vacation for the summer. I'm putting her to rest until August so that I can regroup and get my act together with better pictures and fresh inventory.

I only had 15 items listed with most of them things that had been hanging around the shop for at least a year, like the Summer Flowers wristcuff above. I will take some time this summer to put my new photography skills to work and get some new images to really showcase my scarves.

I'm starting to get my motivation to knit back. There were over 3 months when I just wasn't feeling it this year. Mike had set up a router in the living room for the laptop when I was on my back with the broken ankle. I let myself get into the habit of coming home and getting online rather than knitting to relax after work.

I told Mike last month that I didn't think I was going to have enough inventory at the rate I was going for this year's craft show season. So he decided that I couldn't handle having the laptop right next to my couch and he came and took it away. I still have my desktop in my craft room of course but I'm less inclined to waste hours on it and treat it more like my business/photography station.

So I think I'm going to put up an etsy mini of my favorites for the meantime. I'll be back with a full selection of colorful Fall accessories in August.

6/08/2010

900 feedback and not counting...

I had a friend ask me this weekend if I knew any sellers on Etsy that do inlay work so I went into my favorites and purchases and looked around. I didn't find what I was looking for but I did discover that I have recently crossed over into 900 positive feedbacks. I'd say about 70 of them are from buyers but that still leaves me over 800 purchases since I joined in April 2007.

I never know whether to be embarrassed or proud of my ever growing buyer history on Etsy. Today I've decided to embrace it and showcase some of the sellers that I return to again and again for my handmade fix. I made a treasury east here with some of my favorite sellers most of whom I've made multiple purchases from through the years.

That includes a whole lot of supplies when I was on a yarn, button, and bead buying frenzy a few years ago. I have bought 75% of all the gifts I've given the past few years on Etsy as well as the majority of my bath and beauty products. I am always on the prowl for sales and I have a Saturday evening ritual of shopping the Saturday Night Specials thread in the forums. It has really faded away to just a few die hard sellers but they include some of my favorites.

This Saturday I treated myself to one of Under Glass's spoon pendants which was on a huge markdown for her moving sale to 40% off. Her SNS was a free pendant with purchase which is perfect since I love having one of her pieces to gift as she wraps them up so beautifully. I also found her SNS secret item so I got a free pair of earrings. So that means for $25 I got two handmade pendants, one for me & one for a gift, and a pair of earrings like these that will be perfect for my niece Kate. I would say that I'm pretty darn good at shopping if I do say so myself.

5/31/2010

Happy Memorial Day!

Americana Patriotic Pap...

Fishstikks

I hope that you all are enjoying your Memorial Day festivities, whatever that means to you. I have made my pasta salad and we will be heading over to my mother in law's soon for the requisite barbecue. I'm hoping that I won't do too much damage to my new diet with those irresistible cheesy potatoes.

I put together a treasury east, such a fun way to waste time, of some unique takes on Americana. You can check the entire list out here. Wouldn't it be cool if it made the front page. Of course it will never happen because Etsy would never put something up that was relevant but one can always dream.

5/25/2010

Southwest Dreaming!

So I was playing around during my lunch hour with the new treasury east on Etsy. This is their new method for curating treasuries which allows you to create a treasury at any time and it will stay active indefinitely. You can have as many treasuries active as you care to waste your time making and keeping filled. As I was doing my EC drops today I checked out the Etsy shops of the handmade bloggers I frequent and put together a Southwest themed list.

My vacation to New Mexico is less than a month away and I am getting super excited! I found some amazing items in rich colors of the Southwest including but not limited to turquoise and deep orange, two of my favorites. I tried to copy and paste it here but it came in with them one at a time. You can see it in all of its glory here, click on the items, and leave comments if you so choose.

Lenox Knit's Blog Buddies Southwest Theme

I also found some shops with great specials going on and I thought I'd share them with you:

Alterity Button Jewelry:
******Spring Special******
FREE SHIPPING WORLDWIDE

Three Fates Design:
FREE SHIPPING ON EVERYTHING. All sales go to help pay for Yoda's surgery and after care. Please stop by my blog for more info and updates.

Dax Designs Bead Art:
NEWS FOR MAY - FREE SHIPPING.
I've introduced FREE shipping to celebrate reaching 200 shop hearts this month.

Random Creative:
May 2010 special: Take 15% off and get $1.00 shipping on any item tagged "turquoise." Refunds will be issued via Paypal. Please convo me if you don't see a turquoise item that suits your needs/preferences. I'm happy to create a custom listing for you with the same deal.

Happy Goat's Soap:
Shop Special:
~~~4oz BARS 3/$11~~~3oz BARS 3/$10~~~6oz BARS 3/$15~~~

Broken Teepee Designs:
FREE worldwide shipping is included

TiLT's creations:
Clearance sale going on now on all discontinued styles...

4/21/2010

Spring Celebration -- WillOaks Studio

There are only 4 days left to enter the big Spring Celebration. I was hoping that we would get to 200 entries so if you haven't entered yet please take a minute to check it out, to help me reach my goal and possibly win one of the 9 handmade prizes. The last featured shop is another of my longtime blog buddies, Will Oaks Studio.

As part of the Spring Celebration you could win your choice of wrap bracelet/long necklace from the "Made With Silk" series - clear bright colors, lovely pearls and collections, all captured with silk, limited editions. Very comfortable, & budget friendly! Long, versatile and lots of fun.

You may choose any of the Made With Silk series valued at $20. This series is now her best seller ever and I'm excited to own my very own which I bought a few weeks ago. I choose the multicolor in Spring colors at the top. It matches just about everything and is so light that I hardly know it is there. It's long enough to wrap around my neck twice for a great layered effect. She currently has all of the colors I'm showing here and then some.

I asked Karen a few questions about her process and photography tips. WillOaks blog has always been one of my favorite visual displays. I love looking at her gorgeous pictures and inspirations from nature.

1.) Where do you get your inspiration for your designs?
My approach to finding ideas and inspiration is to truly be open to everything around me. My adage is "You never know where a good idea will come from." But I frequently look to nature for forms, color and ideas. I love gardening, trees, plants, flowers and botany and often, pretty neat ideas come to me when exploring in this arena. OTOH, I also get ideas directly from the materials I use. It's partly for the engineering of a piece, or "what goes with what," so somehow, a dialogue goes on in my head between what I'd LIKE to make and what the limitations or challenges of a given material are. And finally, I do subscribe to a few periodicals devoted to jewelry making and other art media because looking at what other artists are doing, especially what the best ones come up with, can help trigger a whole new idea, plus reading about or seeing new materials and techniques can be very inspiring.

2.) Do you have any tips for new handmade business owners?
Well, I spent many years teaching art, including at the upper levels, and it seems to me, to make a "business" of your handmade work, it begins with a commitment to and a true passion for your studio work. This usually shows through in the finished product, and that energy will keep you excited and interested even when things are slow or not going too well. I can remember discouraging my students from trying to dive into major exhibitions until they had built up a fair sized portfolio because it is only with this kind of commitment that your body of work begins to look cohesive. And for me, for a shop or a show to "hang together" there has to be some kind of visual "thread" that connects the different pieces. Next, when you're ready for "prime time" you have to find ways and means--online, in person, however--to get as much exposure as possible. This takes time, but this is how you develop a following of folks that like your work, and then you must figure out ways to keep them posted. And finally, when your handmade things do begin to sell, be very conscientious about customer service. I think a lot of customers are coming to "handmade" because of the personal touch on all levels and it's your job to follow through on that with your work and your service!

3.) Do you have any tips for photographing your items to really showcase them?
I'm kind of old fashioned about photography in that I have always liked natural daylight and so I stick with that. I've experimented quite a lot and normally, I tend to go for very simple backgrounds & minimal props. I've got a little set up next to an east facing window here and I wait for bright, cloudy days as much as possible, or second best is after mid day when the sun has moved so that none is coming directly into that window. I always use a tripod and then, I experiment with different arrangements of and angles on the product. I confess, working on my photography is a constant job and I have to work pretty hard to get it right.

WillOaks Studio on Etsy
WillOaks Studio on Artfire
WillOaks Studio Blog

See the contest rules here to find out how you could win your own "Made With Silk" Necklace!

3/30/2010

Spring Celebration Giveaway!

Spring Celebration with
Lenox Knits! Ends April 25

Over $200 worth of Prizes! 9 Winners!

Come Celebrate Spring with me! Thanks to generous friends, I'm offering nine handmade prizes with a combined value of over $200. It is open to everyone and there will be free international shipping! See rules below.

Here is what you could possibly win:
A Crocheted Silk with Pearls Wrap Bracelet or Long Necklace-- WillOaks Studio $20

Wine Bottle Gift Bag with 4 Coasters-- Nature Acre $15

Three bars of handmade soap (your choice of scents)-- Happy Goat's Soap $15

Skein of Handspun/HandDyed Wool Yarn in Spring colors-- Split Rock Ranch $20

Seminole Patchwork Pillow in bold Spring colors-- So Many Colors $50

Antique Vintage Button Pendant-- Alterity Button Jewelry $25

Lime green Spring knit scarf with an appliqued XL tee-shirt from the remaining inventory of GrayEyedScorpio --Lenox Knits combined value at $35

Knitted Yoda Star Wars Golf Club Cover-- Tracey Knits $25

OR 2 like new craft books from my own library Craftivity: 40 Projects for the DIY Lifestyle & AntiCraft: Knitting, Beading and Stitching for the Slightly Sinister valued at $25.

You can enter in multiple ways, as follows (please include your e-mail address if there is not a link to it on your profile page):

1. For one entry you must follow my blog and at least one other participant site from the list below. If you already follow just let me know. You must do this to earn the extra entries mentioned next.

2. You can earn an additional entry for visiting another participant's site below and following their blog, hearting their etsy shop, or becoming a Facebook fan, for a total of seven more entries. Please leave a comment here for each site that you visit letting me know. Here are their chosen sites:

Alterity Button Jewelry's blog
Nature Acre's Etsy shop
WillOaks Studio's blog
Split Rock Ranch's blog
Happy Goat's Soap blog
So Many Color's Facebook page
Tracey Knit's Facebook page

3. You can earn another two entries for blogging about the contest. Please give a link to the blog post and leave two comments here.

4. You may earn up to 5 extra entries for tweeting about the contest, one tweet per day. Please leave a comment for each extra entry with a link to the Twitter post.

You may cut and paste the following for your tweet: Lenox Knit's Spring Celebration Giveaway with over $200 of handmade prizes! Ends April 25 http://bit.ly/9y5Sk3

5. You may earn one extra entry for mentioning the give away on Facebook with a link. Just leave a comment letting me know that you did.

NOTE: You must leave a comment, as mentioned, for each entry in order for it to count.

So there are a total of 16 possible entries. There will be nine winners, chosen on April 25 by random number generator. The first winner selected will be given first choice, with 48 hours to respond. After the first winner responds, I will contact the next winner, who will also have 48 hours to respond, and so on until all 9 prizes have been awarded. There is free international shipping, and the items will be mailed directly from the participating shop owner.

I will be featuring interviews and additional pictures of the items which can be won throughout the month of April. Stay tuned!

3/26/2010

A stroll through my sold listings

I was inspired by Nancy at Nfall2rt to take a stroll back through my sold listings on Etsy. I have sold 90 items although I'd say around 20 of those were actually trades. My first sale came only several hours after I listed my first item on Sep 2, 2007. It was one of my Indian Surprises from above. I sold 5 scarves my first year using the colorful sari silk yarn in bright bold colors. I don't know why I stopped making them to be honest. The last skein I bought on e-bay had a weird smell so I decided to not use it but I think it's time to look for another supplier. The colors really pop off the screen. I remember how proud I was of the pictures of this scarf with the Buddha head statue from my back yard.

I used a lot more props when I first started photographing my scarves. I was constantly bringing a vase or wall hanging or statue into the shot. I got lazy or perhaps more effective at streamlining the process a year into selling. I think it took some of the fun out of it for me and I do still like going back and looking at the prop shots from the past. This one used a moon plaque I had that I think set a mood. I sold this scarf on Dec 3, 2007.

The High Times Scarflette became the foundation for an entire shop makeover 2 years ago. I first sold it on Feb 17, 2008. I have since sold a number of them on-line and in person and it is still my bestseller so to speak. I've used up the last of the now discontinued yarn and I decided not to go in search for any remnants that might still be out there on-line. The colors captured the mood I wanted to express with my shop perfectly at that time and the pictures in my banner will live on until I decide to shake things up some day.

This last scarf, called Champagne Blush, sold on Nov 3, 2008. It represents the move away from using props in my shots and is a more straightforward shot. I like how well it shows off the details of the scarf and the eye is not distracted by anything else. The pure white background shows that I was getting better at using the light and my camera.

What do you think. Should I continue to keep it simple or do you like the shots with the props better? I'm still torn. I will need to do a big photo shoot of my inventory that I have left after last year's craft shows to be ready for next year.

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4/29/2011

My new favorite Bag Maker!

11/23/2010

Merry Christmas For Me!

10/05/2010

Sets For Sale!

9/08/2010

To Etsy or not to Etsy?

6/09/2010

Summer Vacation for my shop!

6/08/2010

900 feedback and not counting...

5/31/2010

Happy Memorial Day!

5/25/2010

Southwest Dreaming!

Lenox Knit's Blog Buddies Southwest Theme

4/21/2010

Spring Celebration -- WillOaks Studio

3/30/2010

Spring Celebration Giveaway!

3/26/2010

A stroll through my sold listings

My Etsy Favorites!

My Blog List

About Me

Followers

Seasonal Newsletter

Blog Archive

Favorite Posts

4/29/2011

11/23/2010

10/05/2010

9/08/2010

6/09/2010

6/08/2010

5/31/2010

5/25/2010

Lenox Knit's Blog Buddies Southwest Theme

4/21/2010

3/30/2010

3/26/2010

My Etsy Favorites!

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