new Etsy seller frustrations.

This is not an article complaining about Etsy. On the contrary, I would just like to express how frustrating it can be for a new seller to get started on Etsy. I've been working at this Etsy shop project for almost a year now and I know the day will come when I get my first sale, but I feel like I'm really stuck where I am at the moment and have a hard time catching the eye of buyers.

   MY SHOP'S PROS:

• My prices are affordable
• My tags are precise and trendy
• My photos look good & make my products look good
• I am polite in everything I say
• My descriptions are inviting
• I am in the process of translating my shop in French (as an option Etsy provides) to reach French speaking Etsians across the world
• My shop appearance (banner, icon) is personalized to look modern & professional
  
  
  MY SHOP'S CONS:
  
  
• I don't have enough item (haven't filled out my first page yet)
• Shipping is high (don't have much of a choice, it really is what it costs...)
• The attention my shop is getting is coming from other sellers only
• Jewelry is a highly over saturated product on Etsy with lots of competition. There is way TOO MUCH choice. Despite my tags, buyers do not find my products at all.
• I only have 2 sales. To the same person. And that would be my mom.

All I can really do now, if I got this seller thing right, is add more items, keep advertising my items in Teams (which can at least bump my items up a notch in searches... though barely.) and continue translating my pages to French to gain a French audience that may or may not see me. I am constantly doing these things, because I am just chalk full of hope & won't give up. But that doesn't mean this isn't extremely stressful for me as time passes by and my efforts seem to be going unnoticed and result-less.

As for advertising via social networking, the issue is I have never gotten any luck with that. The problem has never been that my content is uninteresting, but rather that no one sees it in the first place. I do however have Twitter, Instagram and (obviously) a Blogger blog. Planing on a Facebook page as well.

The most frustrating thing in all this is that people around me (my adolescent sister and her friends) seem to have blooming businesses on Etsy the very second they open their shops without even trying. Their shops aren't very full at barely 2 pages and they don't have to bother with extensive daily advertisements like I do considering they already have enormous audiences on Facebook, instagram, and that sort of thing. I wish it were as easy for myself, and I wish I didn't look like such an idiot trying so hard with nothing to show for in comparison with their instant effortless success.

I have high hopes for the iPod case project. Looking forward to getting those cases in the mail. Maybe that'll help. Crossing my fingers and not giving up.

@GabrielleCaramelle on Instagram

Recently joined Instagram in the hopes of gaining traffic to my Etsy account. I also include Polyvore sets daily (clothing ensembles) and photos relating to me and my life. I have to say, this is kind of my new Twitter.

 

@GabrielleCaramelle

3D Glittery rocky iPhone Cases

This is my first finished product from a new line of products I am planning to set out. This is decidedly the project I will be sticking to for my shop from now on.

I've always loved the idea of gloop. Thick slime or oil spills, something about it feels so bold and intense. And I often like to stare at some of the beads in my enormous bead collection and find them so yummy, like real eye candy. I like to play with them and combine them with one another. But in all honesty I've never been much of a jewelry kind of person. Well, actually, I love simplistic jewelry like tiny pendants on tiny chains, things like that. But beaded jewelry, as much as I love to see it on others, has never really been my personal thing, despite my love for beads themselves.

Anyway. So one night I got the idea of making an art piece: I poured acrylic paint on a thick sheet of black paper, covered it in my favorite shimmer powders and stuck my favorite beads in it in a way that I thought would complement a room if hung in a frame on a wall (to give it a 3D crafty artsy look.)

When I woke up the next day I tested the page's resistance to movement by making waves and bends in the sheey (I like to test my products for any potential damage before thinking of selling them) and the dry paint puddle cracked and opened up to a sub-layer of still wet paint. Had to put it in the garbage in the end.

Then my boyfriend suggested I do it on solid iPod cases, and I got the idea of not only using beads but nature as well. Rocks, twigs, this sort of thing. Made this iPhone case and 24 hours after it being listed, I was able to gather 10 admirers and 6 views from my usual team thread games. May not seem like much to an advanced Etsy seller but it's a start... Not to mention my case seems to be featured in the first page of a number of popular searches I've made to test it out, so the keywords really help. I have a good feeling about this.

Ordered these two cases on eBay yesterday. This may sound ridiculous but I don't have enough money to buy more than that. My mother is planning on buying another bracelet from me though, so I will be using the money from that sale to get another iPhone case or two. When I have enough iPhone 4 cases in my shop I will get iPOD cases, then dip into the 5th generations of both. I have many ideas for this project and I am very excited!

BAT FOR LASHES ( Haunted Man : Marylin ) + musical impression evolution with time

Can not / refuse to get this album out of my head.

I can't believe how much my impressions of an album change from the first listen to multiple listens later. For some odd reason I always misjudge an album when hear it the first few times, to the point that it almost gets annoying  I guess it all turns into the same noise eventually. And then suddenly, as I'm listening one day, it just switches completely. Suddenly I am getting those songs in my head and understanding them completely and wondering how I didn't get addicted earlier. Next thing I know I love it. All this to say I've learned not to trust my instincts on music, and to keep a list of potential likes in memory to try again later when re-stumbling on them instead of ruling them out completely. It helps me keep an open mind. As a result, I have widely diversified the music on my iPod in a way that really suits me.

Blue hair dye disaster

So after 10 bleaches in less than 1 week (you read correctly) and one very refreshing blonde toner, several clumps in my hair brush later (which I didn't really mind), my hair didn't exactly turn out the way I was expecting it to.

EXPECTATIONS

 REALITY

 ... So I applied the manic panic SHOCKING BLUE, and my hair went from blonde to a mix of black, navy, purple, blue, greenish brown... it doesn't seem to show on the picture, but in reality it's just allover the place, and transforming for the worse with every wash since. What I have wasted is a total of 100$, and as much as that is a mother load of allot for me in my circumstances (let alone a miracle that I was able to save up that much in the first place), looking on the bright side, it would have cost triple that at a salon. So yeah. That's the bright side, I guess.

I'll be honest. I got depressed for a few days. Really depressed. Might still be on the inside. But I'm making the effort to distract myself with yet another new idea I got for my Etsy shop that I truly believe will this time finally get my shop noticed & running. And I'm telling myself over and over that it's JUST hair. It's just that. And I don't even have a job out in public, so I can hide inside till I think of what the next step will be for my supersonic video game character troll-hair. (sigh...) Yeah, I know, I'm exaggerating. I think I deserve a bit of that. But again, on the bright side, my boyfriend and mom and sisters seem to enjoy the new look, and I guess that's a little comforting while it will still have to stay on my head.

Pomplamoose memories + Actually getting my blue hair!

Wow. I used to listen to this band allot a few years ago. I felt as if I'd found a real gem, really loved the sound of their music. Ever get one of those moments when you remember something is really good to the point that you stop everything you're doing and go find it?

If you like Feist, you'll love this Youtube born band and their covers / singles.

Well... in other news, I did something crazy 3 days ago! I went out and got 3 bottles of peroxide, 10 packs of bleaching powder and a few other things and started burning the dark brown right out of my hair in a long journey to platinum blonde, which is the base I will need to die my hair Shocking Blue by manic panic. I was supposed to keep my money for something else but... I thought, to hell with it. I'm just gonna finally do it.

I am currently a very pale ginger, not quite at the blonde yet, but I still have 3 more packs of bleach and a blonde hair color to go through before I expect I will be ready for the blue dye. My hair is very very angry at me, not friends with my brush much anymore but I calm it down with massive amounts of conditioner between bleaches. Yes, I've bleached my hair 7 times in the past 3 days. OUCH! I'm aware of what I'm doing, and as I expected, because I am not leaving the bleaching solution anywhere near my roots till the last 4-5 minutes of the treatment, I am not losing any hair. The damage is obvious but my hair recovers very easily with the right touch of love. (conditioning love)

So yeah! Hoping to get rid of this ginger tint tomorrow & finally get it all over with! 7 showers in just 3 days... and it's giving me some kind of a cold & wet scalp headache, not to mention a few bleach rashes resulting from my ears, neck & shoulders having been too exposed to the bleach. Once this is all done, I look forward to relaxing and enjoying the new almost witchy night blue look.

Bath Bombs by ZENfulworld (featuring Caramel Latte)

Caramel Latte Bath Bomb Bath Fizzy Made with by ZENfulworld

Oh my god! Look at this thing! Caramel Latte Bath Bomb. I am an absolute adorer of bath time, and with my collection of bubble bath soap and bath salt and whatnot, I had no idea this sorta thing existed.

"Drop one in the bath tub and watch it fizz. Great aroma! Also moisturizing and great for your skin!"

ZENfulworld on Etsy sells many of these pretty little bath bombs with a diversity of interesting scents. Putting a few of these on my Christmas list. (yes, I am aware of the current month)

Blue hair.

I don't know why, but ever since a few years now, I've been stuck on this insane idea of dying my hair completely blue. I don't mean Lolita blue hair or scene blue hair or any of that. Just blue hair. Just like that. If anything, I epxpect it will make me feel like I can tone down on everything else. Relax my wardrobe worries and stick to comfor and simplicity. I'm 20 years old and usually don't give into these kind of things but geez, I really gotta have that blue hair soon. Maybe not forever, but at least for a little while.

I kinda got up and got out of bed like the obsessive thinker that I am to look up pictures and pictures and pictures of blue hair. I found this image that I kind of like because the hair cut is a bit like the one I have now (And have had almost my entire life). The piercing thing is a... sudden innexplicable urge. I don't know, maybe the sudden interest will dissipate in a few days. Regardless, the plans for blue stay. I'll have it one day! That's a promise to myself.

Image source: [ link ]

Shop fiiinaly back in business.

We finally got internet at the new home. (when am I just going to start calling it home..?) The second the setup was completed, I reopened my shop and posted a new item! Not only that, I redesigned everything... E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G. like a maniac. From my Gabrielle Caramelle logo, to this blog's entire layout, to the thumbnails in my shop, and so on. Refreshing.

(Bracelet link: https://www.etsy.com/listing/125626627/water-forest-minimalist-woodland-zen? )

I've also been doing allot of publicity on Etsy team forums, which has earned me 11 favorites in the last 24 hours. Made a list of threads to keep posting my items on daily. Let's get this all finally going...

Update: Presenting my new Sculpting Project! + Painting & Glossing FAILURE...

Over the past few weeks, I've been working on a new project for my Etsy shop. Instead of making jewelry, I designed a bunch of different minimal looking sculptures in gold, black and white, like the ones in the image above. Those are the first two finished results so far. I can say I've gotten around to creating the shape. This is not a problem for me anymore. A few other things however turned out to have been a failure in this first batch.

The gloss I used, for instance, is some kind of semi-shiny polyurethane meant for wood. I guess that serves me right for asking advice on sculpting in a small shop that provides supplies for construction and home renovations. When I opened the can, the gloop inside was... some kind of peachy-salmony-orange. When I spread it on the sculpture, the color of the gloss didn't make a difference on the black and gold, but it did make the white allot less white, almost like bad teeth. Ouch.

...Not to mention that the white paint I used was old, with little crumblies in it, which made for a lumpy texture. It's not that I decided to use this bad paint despite it's condition, I kind of just found out along the way. I wouldn't have used it if I'd have known!! Too late, the lumpies have invaded. My paintbrushes are also getting old and crummy, too.  Yikes... I am in desperate need of new supplies! But all I have left is 10$.

I guess I'll go buy a good gloss at my local art store, and a pack of new paintbrushes to apply it without spreading dust around (goodbye old paint brushes). It's all I can really afford. The reason I'm so low on cash is I JUST DID my art groceries! (or rather, I thought they were done) : I got a can of white spray paint (ooh, fun!), an ENORMOUS roll of paper tape like I've never seen before, 3 different sized circle-sponge-brushes (round sponges on a stick) and when I realized that sponges make for awful poorly defined polka dots, a hole puncher.

The idea is to, for example, paint the entire sculpture gold, cut out my designs in the paper tape, stick it on the sculpture and spray paint my designs using the white spray paint. The hole puncher is for my polka dot patterns. I also got a skinny roll of tape for my striped sculptures. I'm hoping the spray paint will look more professional  (well, anyway, allot more professional than old lumpy white paint!) and save me allot of time.

It's okay!!! Everything's fine. This is taking forever, and I get it, new projects aren't always up and ready to run instantly, it's going to take me some trials and errors. We still don't have internet at the new home, but I'll try to keep coming to this coffee shop for the WiFi to post updates. It's a nice experience anyway, getting away from my new daily load of god awful house chores. (they're not that bad, I'm just lazy ;P) And as much as an x-small coffee with whipped cream might not be anything like a tall choco-mint iced cappuccino, it's still better than no coffee and no internet.