Thursday, February 10, 2011

Branding

I mentioned previously that one of my businesses resolutions this year was to achieve more of an image "branding." I finally feel as though I've taken steps in that direction. This week I've debuted my new logo/banner and business cards! I really like the look of them. It was the first time I've busted out the old graphic design skills in years. :}

Let me know your thoughts!

I love pastel purples!



Fellow online business owners, what have you done lately to achieve more of a branded image?

As always, take care, friends! ♥

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Trying new things

On Etsy (and in business in general, really), one of the most important things you can try to do is successfully brand yourself so that you are easily recognizable and stand out! My goal for the early half of this year is to try to make my photos cute and uniform in a way that people will think of me when they see them. I am also trying to add as many cute touches to my crafts as possible, such as lovely vibrant zipper pull ribbons! I love the pop it adds to this coin purse.

Happy Houses Kawaii Zippered Coin Purse for $7.50

The idea for a new touch that I am most excited about is adding is the incorporation of embroidery into my designs! Having had a taste of embroidery making my first embroidery project with the Zodiac Embroidery Kit by MiniatureRhino, I really cannot wait to hone my skills.

I plan on make some adorable love letter style pouches with this gorgeous note pad fabric from Japan, with loving words embroidered on in cursive! Keep checking in to see when those show up in the shop within the next few weeks. I'll be so excited to make this a permanent addition to the shop.

Sold by this adorable fabric shop - stefaniexu of Beijing! 

Take care, friends! I hope all of the new things you have been trying for the new year have been working our successfully! :)

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Lovely kits

I find that the best gifts are interactive. They remind you of the person who gave it to you every time you use them! So much fun! This year I've been making much more of an effort to give these type of gifts to people, as opposed to the typical store-bought items. Etsy and my credit card are been fast friends.

Here is a gift to myself for Christmas - a gorgeous wax seal set! It's so much fun to use and makes any letter a whole lot classier. I tested it earlier today and it was a delight.

My first try! Even messy drips look classy when they're made of red wax.


While this is not from Etsy, you can find many gorgeous wax seal sets on Etsy. One seller, fromsoul, who is from Seoul (hehehe, I love puns!) in South Korea makes custom initial stamps! So cool!

Alphabet Initial Seal Stamp by fromsoul


Here are some other lovely kit gifts I've found on Etsy. Maybe you might like to give them as gifts to your loved ones?

Here is a Message in a Bottle Kit by fellow New Yorker, MiniatureRhino. So neat! You can use it as decoration, a way to send your heartfelt feelings to someone, or send it off to the seas!



Another kit in the shop of MiniatureRhino that I adore is the DIY Zodiac Embroidery Kit. I've actually recently purchased this for myself; if you recall earlier, I've mentioned how much I want to try to take up embroidery, and I kept to my word! This is an adorable kit and you can choose your zodiac, or perhaps the zodiac sign of the loved one you're giving this gift to? It could be a good gift for a beginner or an experienced embroiderer, I bet!

Zodiac Embroidery Kit by MiniatureRhino - I'm star struck!

As someone with a bit of a green thumb (well... at least I want to have one!), I thought this DIY Organic Indoor Herb Kit by RubySueVintage of Colorado was another thing I had to mention in this entry. I love the vintage owl planter it comes with. It's too adorable. I bet anyone would love this. You can keep re-using the owl planter over and over; or else use it as a decoration if you and plants don't seem to get along, right? ;)

DIY Organic Indoor Herb Kit by RubySueVintage

I hope this helps with any gift ideas and as always, take care, my friends! <3

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Embroidery Love

I was talking to someone special the other day and we both decided we would take up holiday hobbies! This winter vacation from classes, I want to learn how to embroider!

I've been inspired by all of the amazing examples of hand-stitching and embroidery I've seen on Etsy. There are so many amazing pieces I would love to buy and hang on my wall. I have pages of them in my favorites that I periodically admire.

Amazing Orion Hand Embroidery by MiniatureRhino, a fellow New Yorker!

Looks so soft! Lovely Snowy Cloud Embroidery by PilliPillihandmade


I purchased this adorable how to kit on Sublime Stitching, a really amazing embroidery website that sells how-to kits that teach how to embroider! $20 is a pretty good deal considering all of the stuff you get within the kit, which includes a wooden embroidery hoop!

Look at all of that stuff!

Wish me luck in my practice and learning! What hobbies and new skills are you guys learning this holiday season? :)

Lots of love, friends! 

Happy Holidays

Just wishing you all a wonderful holiday! I will be spending the next few days with family and friends and celebrating the season! The Stocking Stuffer deal is winding down, but shall still be going until the 27th if you would like to buy some last minute items to give for New Years or Post-Christmas gifts! :)

Buy Kawaii Robot Zippered Coin Purse here: 
http://www.etsy.com/listing/64685291/little-robots-in-blue-kawaii-zippered

Buy Kimono Girls Zipper Pouch:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/64686388/kimono-girls-kawaii-zipper-pouch


My plans for 2011 consist of branching out and advertising on a few nice kawaii-theme craft websites, so I hope you will be seeing me around the internet soon! I am also going to drafting up e-reader holder patterns too. I'll have a Kindle soon, so I'll be able to use it for modeling in my photos!

Take care, friends! 

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Wow!

Long time, no update. Sorry friends, I've been so busy lately that I've had hardly any time to think. :) I've finished my classes for the semester, which means that I have much more time to devote to working on my Etsy shop!

I'm delighted by the success of my Stocker Stuffer promotion so far. For those who didn't know, it's a promotion in which you buy any three items in the shop and get the cheapest absolutely FREE! Many people are really pleased with this sale since they can keep one pouch for themselves, and give the rest to their friends and family.

I've been supplying more holiday themed fabrics for this season. Look at these adorable wintery pouches! Once again, I gotta say that I adore the results of the lightbox.

Snowflakes & Song Birds Zipper Pouch -
http://www.etsy.com/listing/63135595/snowflakes-songbirds-kawaii-zipper-pouch

Happy Winter Holidays Zippered Coin Purse -
http://www.etsy.com/listing/63026531/happy-winter-holidays-kawaii-zippered



Thank you so much for your winter business! What are you doing for the holidays, friends?

Friday, November 19, 2010

Lightbox

This week I decided to work on a little project: making a light box!

There are options for buying them in stores or online, but they're fairly expensive, when you can make one at home. Depending on the supplies in your home, it could cost anything from $5-10 dollars, or even free! My brother takes art classes in college, so he had things such as bristol paper (which you put on the inside of the lightbox for a nice white even background) around the house. Instead of muslin fabric, I used an old white t-shirt that I cut up and upcycled for the light diffuser. Check out the results:


Dandelions and Flowers Zipper Pouch is available for $10 on Etsy!



Want to know how it is done? Check out this fantastic tutorial!

http://www.digital-photography-school.com/how-to-make-a-inexpensive-light-tent

Enjoy, friends!
 
Real Time Web Analytics