My very first Etsy Trade :)

I'm a bit late with this one as well - I did a trade with Sakura over at Etsy last week and she has been kind enough to blog my cards but I've only just got around to photographing these gorgeous earrings that I received. Not only does she make the most exquisite jewellery and ink drawings but she also does photography and has set up a second shop with her boyfriend called CeruleanTide. Pop over and have a look, I'm sure you'll find something you love. I know I did!!

Midsummer's (well nearly) Resolution

I've been on Etsy now almost 3 months, started a blog in May and only posted a few bits. I've decided that's just not good enough so I'm making a Midsummer resolution to post at least once a week.

I heard a quote earlier today that goes something like "if You are bored, then YOU are boring!" and I thought, how can I possibly be bored when I have all my new Etsy friends to play with? So, I've kicked myself in the butt today and am full of determination to make this Etsy thing work for me. I'm confident that my photography is good and saleable, I just have to work out how to do the marketing side of things.

Just to mark Midsummer, here is a photo I took at our local Open Gardens for Charity event - I'm going to offer it as a print but also as a card.

UK Etsy Secret Swap goodies

Well this post is a bit late but although I wrote it 2 weeks ago, somehow I managed to lose it! I'm just not getting the hang of Blogger as I'm much more familiar with Vox. I sent a handmade calender to Allthosethrees with 12 of my own photos from my travels over the last year or two. If the number of exclamation marks in her email was anything to go by, I think she liked it!

Then I received my own package......

I was so excited. Part of the info we had to send Askey was which seller we would most like to receive our swap from and what sort of things we liked. Well, I'd seen Domino's stuff and thought it was so different so I put her down as my fav and here was a parcel from her. I ripped it open so fast my pendant went flying but luckily I didn't break it!

A beautiful pinky/purple pendant and a pink keyring - just the colours I would have chosen for myself.

This swap has been pretty stressful, I have to say. I had no idea when I signed up how hard it would be to choose something to send to someone I barely knew. I originally was just going to send a print (or two or three) but I felt that was so little compared to the amount of work the other girls would have put in to physically make something. Once I hit on the idea of the calender, I felt much better about it and just chose a photo from 12 different countries, each one different - a beach scene, cityscape or landscape.

Having said it was stressful, I'm still going to jump in on the next one 'cos I like receiving surprises too :)

New! Flower Notecards

I've been haunting my Mum's garden to get these beautiful shots of some of her flowers and they looked so good I decided to make them into cards. I've just listed the first few on Etsy but I had such a choice of flowers to choose from, I'm definitely going to do more.

This pink one is now my avatar, I like it that much but the lilac primrose is stunning in a large format as well as on a card (even if I do say so myself!!). I may have to offer some of these as larger prints I think.

The Postcard Game - all for a good cause

Just found a link to Jennifer's blog where she is organising a Postcard Game. Basically send her a postcard or two and she will allocate a number and post it on her blog so if you make your own postcards, it's a bit of extra marketing! She is going to donate $1 per postcard received to Ovarian Cancer Action - a UK charity trying to get the word out about ovarian cancer in the UK.

And if donating all that cash to the charity wasn't enough, she's also offering some wonderful jewellery as prizes.

Pop along and have a look at all the rules/details.

Update: the link for Ovarian Cancer Action is http://www.ovarian.org.uk/ - Ovarian cancer is apparently called the silent killer in that it is hard to diagnose and may be mistaken for menopausal symptons. This website has some good info that all women should be as aware of as they are aware of breast cancer.
say PANTS to Ovanrian Cancer!!

Etsy Addiction strikes again!

Why can't I just stay away for more than an hour at a time? This is not getting any work done or any cards made!!

Anyway, just a quickie post 'cos the other one is looking lonely! Here is one of the bits I've bought already. I fell in love with the whole series of ACEO's by Themerrymuse the first time I saw them but I resisted gamely for at least 2 whole weeks!The one I really, really wanted but hadn't worked out how to favourite it at the time I saw it, has been sold :-(

Etsy Rules...

most of my life at the moment, it's that addictive. The girls on the UK Street Team in particular, have been so welcoming, the goodies to look at are endless and I have never come across a forum as active as Etsy's. So now here I am, starting my second blog!

In case you are wondering, my first blog is over at Vox but that's mainly my stock photography friends and stuff so I didn't want to bore them all with continual ravings about Etsy. I'm planning on putting my Fine Art photography stuff here and also showcasing some of the amazing talent I've found.

I haven't worked out the nitty gritty of Blogger yet so I'll keep this short whilst I get my head around prettyfying (is that even a word?) my blog, joining the Etsy UK blog ring and generally having a change around!