store rearrangement

I have been deliberating whether I should colour coordinate the items in my etsy store, after all we were given the 'Rearrange Store' tool just some months back, many sellers were delighted except me.

Not that I'm complaining (of course, the more tools the better!), I just didn't quite know what to do with it.

I have done a bit of rearrangement, basically just had fun moving things around and to different pages without any plan, kind of silly yeah?

What got me to make full use of this option this time was I suddenly realized why I'm a fan of a local boutique here- their clothes are all arranged according to colour!
(now, how come I didn't see this from the beginning?)
Without any hesitation, I would always dash towards the pink section, it's like second nature to me, a friend even asked why are all my tops pink when we barely knew each other! *embarrassed*

So let me show you what I have been up to this weekend:

Before

After
 

Any thoughts? Do you think it's better to have my pieces randomly 'scattered' around the store or it's much neater now with the colours all grouped together?

I would love to know how I can improve on this / any tips, anything!
I will be so grateful, thank you! =)
 

wallpaper// january

I have a little fascination with desktop wallpapers, I mean they are the easiest to change with a click, plenty of designs to choose from & most importantly, free!

Last year, I had monthly calender wallpapers.
I didn't post the December one here, it was in soft, milky blue with snowflakes all over, very soothing design.

(note: I always borrow my brother's computer so when I talk about the wallpapers, it means on his desktop, which he isn't too pleased about, claiming my choices are too girly & too 'me')

Have been busy this whole January that I didn't have time browsing for a new one, was glad when I stumbled upon some Fossil goodness via Danni's blog.

I'm currently using this:

pretty?

I decided to be a lil more considerate this time (ha!), picking something that might interest my lil brother instead of these two:

actually, if the birdies are on the right, I would use this right away!

midnight: mysterious, romance, intrigue!

The etsy treasury is such a fun place to discover gorgeous stores, I was included in this (thank you!) and found some pretty things worth checking out:

this lipstick, wow!

not that I dare to put this shade on, but it's nice to look at ;)

(alright, I don't even wear lipstick, lol)

 beautiful abstract art from ara133photography

this is lovely too, by JamiesArt

Last but not least, Jessica's Little Shop of Illustrations, click on it! 

oh man, I'm so happy to have stumbled upon this store, here are more illustrations I love by Jessica, I can't tell you which I like best, too hard to pick just one ;)

I hope you enjoy these picks, isn't etsy full of super talented artists?

I'm constantly amazed at the things these people can do!

now brewing...

I absolutely *heart* flower cabochons, I have most likely mentioned it here a couple of times, eeks!

do bear with me, I get excited over little things... :S

I restocked these flowers recently and came up with an idea of making use of more pieces in a design. I snapped this while waiting for the glue to dry, can you guess what will these end up as?

Come on, it's really simple! ;)

fast ship tip

photo credit: 42things

The etsy forum has a great deal of info, but if I'm not careful I can spend all my beading time browsing through threads, there are just so much to read! While I learnt many things from various experienced sellers, I have significantly cut down the time spent there recently and found myself more productive ;)

Nevertheless was extremely glad I dropped by a couple of days ago and found this thread by uniquedichroic.

With the extra 4 digits, it cuts down on processing time whereby parcel is sent right to the district / town post office directly, instead of going to the main PO and gets sorted again, this shaves off a day or two :)

 The bulk of my etsy buyers reside in the US so this is really useful for me, even if it is only a day quicker I believe buyers do appreciate it.

I'll definitely be visiting the USPS website a whole lot more often!

Let me know if you find this helpful :)

this mess inspires me

A peek into my work bench!

Note: While taking this photo, I carefully avoided the the messier end of the table, those are wayyy too cluttered to be seen *shy* ;)

I'm pretty sure my family thinks the table an eyesore, mum constantly wonders how I could do actual work amidst the heap of stuff, "why not just clean them up & be more productive?"
But the whole point is- this pile of 'mess' is my source of inspiration :)
Seriously, sometimes 2 beads strewn on the table just happen to roll into each other and I knew that combination would make a great bracelet!

Anyway 2 days ago I was staying over at the hospital, a night prior to the admission I tidied (sort of) the place. Now that I'm back to beading full swing, there you go, chaotic again! 

(why did I even bother, haha!)
I packed all my jewelry supplies I needed to catch up on my local buyers' orders, was planning to make 5 bracelets but in the end I managed to complete 2 1/2 pieces only.
Short of what I planned but it was alright considering I was feeling under the weather those 2 days, hospitals are so depressing!

Something good did happen though, the nurses attending to me saw I was busy fiddling with my pliers and took a look, they called more of their colleaugeus into the room and just before discharging, I received 2 orders!
=)

 

december round up

With just 7 new pieces listed in December, I slacked a little (yes, just a bit!). I created at my own sweet pace and did not push myself at all to take photos, edit them, list new items and all the works related, it was truly relaxing & refreshing! I'm a one woman show, so it's always tough to pull myself away from the business as how many sales I make each month is relative to how hard I had worked. As with everyone else in this dog-eat-dog world, it's natural to keep pushing our limits. In December I decided to slow down this vicious cycle and had the pleasure of 'comfort crafting'!
 

Now that I'm all recharged & raring to go, definitely expect more new pieces this month, in fact I have made a couple of new necklaces, here's a sneak peek:
 

Here's to a blessed new year! ♥♥