Nov 26 2012

I am so glad the weekend and the holiday are over. (To all of you who celebrated, I hope you had a good Thanksgiving!) I like Thanksgiving but for some reason, this weekend just dragged by so slowly. So yeah, glad that’s done.

Oh and I was cleaning out a box of stuff and I found an old mandrel. It is the perfect size for the fourteen gauge wire I like to use, but it’s really short, so coiling wire on it is a tad annoying. I think I’m going to bite and use it again though, because I’ve been itching to make a larger Helm Flower and I think this size would work perfectly for it. 

Rainbow Chainmail - at last the full cuff is complete!

Obviously something this big would take a bit of time. And I sincerely thought I would run out of rubber rings fast. -insert laughing-

http://www.etsy.com/listing/114400984/rainbow-chainmail-bracelet-cuff

Also the bracelet wasn't connected at the end. I just threw it over my wrist and tried keep it on long enough for a photo. And it's obvious I had fun with the filters. But I have been messing around with those filters for months and never posted pics like this because I felt to a certain degree that it was just silly. I really liked how this one came out though. It almost looks professional, imho.

A Beginner's Experiences of Trading on Etsy

I didn’t know you could trade on Etsy until just a few weeks ago. And I’m terribly disappointed in myself for taking more than two years to discover this! Trading and bartering has been around for thousands of years, after all. I feel like this is one of those secrets that someone should let you in on once you open an Etsy account. Regardless of how slow I am, (because I’m sure there are quite a few of you out there shaking your heads at me, I can feel it) I’ve plunged myself headfirst into the world of trading handmade goods.

There are quite a few lively and active trade teams but the ones I liked enough to join were:

• Yay For Trades
• Etsy trade team
• Etsy Trade-a-holics

There are dozens of others, but I wanted teams with numbers to them. The more people in the group the more likely I’d find someone whom I wanted to trade with. And I didn’t want to juggle around too many teams; I’ve never been able to get into forums much and the majority of events take place in the team forums. So, I’m keeping it small but that’s just me.

To be honest, I expected my offers would crash and burn; the reality of it has been rather fun! And there are apparently very good reasons to do it beyond getting handmade goods without forking over cash.

First off, you’re doing the trade through the Etsy marketplace so it registers as a sale. From what I can tell, a significant number of people engage in trading in order to boost their sales numbers. And it’s not just the sales numbers that go up. You’re trading with shop owners who understand the value of feedback and are happy to provide it. They know that shoppers feel more assured when they see higher numbers and good reviews. Buyers are far more likely to purchase from you when you have a handful of sales versus if you’re a new shop with zero feedback.

Another good thing is that sometimes people will offer you deals and coupon codes. I’ve had people extend 10/15/20 percent off coupons codes. And when I point out a particular item, people have offered me fantastic deals for them. I’ve been offered anywhere from 20 to 70 percent off, I kid you not!

You can’t expect to join the team, then sit back and be inundated with offers to trade though. You have to get out there and ask first. I’m not going to lie; it can be a little nerve wracking. Even when I see people plainly state that they are open to trades I still feel like someone is going to bite my head off for daring to ask.

The bad thing is that you’ll probably be ignored or turned down a lot. I’d have to take a closer look at the numbers but I’m pretty sure that my offers get turned down far more than they are accepted.

Again, I can’t gush enough about the trade teams. It’s so much easier to approach someone for a trade when you know they’re in a team for it. Teams use tags, they have their forums, they do events, and they have websites dedicated to helping you search out a barter.

It takes a lot of communication to get a trade done though. Honestly, at times it’s enough to make me want to curl up into a ball and never approach someone for a trade again.

I feel guilty too when someone approaches me searching for a trade and I don’t have any need for what they’re selling. And their items are usually amazing and lovely, they just aren’t my style or I have no need for them. To anyone who I’ve turned down, believe me when I say it wasn’t easy! I really did want to trade with you! I completely know how it feels to have your offer turned down and I loathe the whole ‘thanks but no thanks’.

But overall I’ve found it to be a wonderful experience. I love that my chainmail is getting out there and is being happily worn by someone. And I adore getting handmade goods in the mail, of course.

So who wants to trade with me next? :)



cross posted to tumblr: http://twistandweave.tumblr.com/post/35643705878/a-beginners-experiences-of-trading-on-etsy

November 5th 2012

I think I know why blogging on this blog has always been difficult for me. Last year I was spread out between this and a fandom one. My fandom one wasn't popular by any means but I knew people on there, and I could semi-reliably get comments and discussions going. The second reason is a little more complex. I had a falling out this past summer with a once good friend of mine. Things had been escalating and growing for months prior before though. It was easier to write on my other blog, because it had privacy settings. I say this with no malice but she was kind of a snoopy person, so I knew there was a good chance she was looking over my stuff. I know, once you put something on the internet it's free to go where ever and you can't control who reads it but I was just really weirded out by the thought of her seeing anything I wrote. I've closed down my fandom blog and I don't care what my ex-friend does anymore. And now I feel more encouraged to write in this blog. Some part of me feels stupid and juvenile for letting such petty reasons get in the way, but hey, live and learn. I apparently can't handle more than one blog and I need to not let friend drama get in the way of writing whatever I want to.

November 1st 2012

This isn't a Nano or jewelry post but holy shit I despise ball point pens. I was trying to get back into writing in my journal, because I have a respectable 7k words in it for a story. All I had was a ball point pen and that stupid thing crapped out on me every other sentence. The tops of the journal pages are covered in squiggles from the sheer number of times the ink stopped working. I'm going to the store asap and buying a crap ton of ink pens. Because I do like physically writing again. And there's something about filling up pages that I rather like. Cross posted to tumblr edit from the future (11-5-2012): I totally bought ink pens and they are amazing.