Building my ETSY shop

In between working on some commissions, in the studio, which I"m not ready to share yet, i've been on the computer quite a bit, as my eyes and my head are letting me know! Often I'm getting into bed at night, with a case of screen buzz.  Maybe you know it? 

The reason is, I've been working on building my ETSY shop for some of my smaller art pieces. I started with 4 pieces and am slowly adding 1 item a day until I get enough to call it a 'shop'.   It's been fun learning about it, but at the same time...it's a bit of a time eater!  ha ha. heh.  Etsy has all kinds of newsletters and helpful ideas and suggestions to help promote your etsy shop.  Today I photographed my little 'Lighhouse at Dusk' painting for the shop, and as suggested I photographed how it could look in various ways, including how it would be received if a person orders it as a gift...  That is to entice gift givers at this time of year. heh. 

I'm not going to say i'm not  a little proud of the way it looks in it's gift box, all dressed up for the party! heh.

A Kindred Spark in the Dark

Yesterday I ventured off to Chasing Lightning Bugs studio, about a 10 minute drive into the heart of Portsmouth village, in Kingston. I've been following her blog from time to time, enjoying the rhythmic ramble of day to day creative musings, when I noticed that her studio would be open between 11am-6pm.  Good, I thought,... my opportunity to go and see those lovely quilts and crafts for myself!

What transpired was the most delightful visit to a 'step back in time' studio in a tiny little heritage house; a showroom and gallery for everything handmade or vintage.  Well, I just loved it! Meeting Annette, who is the creator behind Chasing Lightning Bugs was yet another joy. We totally connected.  We chatted about everything artsy-quiltsy-textiley-small businessy.  She is an accomplished blogger, Etsy retailer, and small business owner, it was so enlightening to chat about mutual interests. After our chat yesterday, in the evening I decided I would try Etsy too, so I set up my Etsy shop with 4 paintings to start. You can click to  see it on the right side bar of this blog. 

And yes....I treated myself.  I fell in love with and bought one of her delightful farm quilts, and a vessel made of fabric.  The quilt is the cosiest.  Last night I wrapped up in it on my reading chair while waiting for supper to cook, and immersed myself in a book. I told myself that the vessel would be a Xmas gift for somebody, but then of course, when i got it home, well, it perfectly fit on the shelf in my kitchen and looks great holding a Christmas cactus. You can see it on the shelf next to the empty milk bottles.  sooooo... well i decided to keep it too! naughty Sally!

I better run along and get back to the studio...I actually have 3 commissions on the go, (a good thing I'm very grateful about)  so I better get to work.