And Then There Was Etsy

One of the things that this craft fair has pushed me towards was an ETSY page. I heart ETSY. I've known about it for a long time, but only recently started enjoying it. What an amazing place for creative people to be inspired, inspire and continue the artistic circle of life. Whoa. That got deep.

My cousin Haley, who I love dearly, told me about ETSY a few years ago when I asked her where she got her cute earrings. The next time the subject came up, she told me that I should be selling on ETSY. She had recently ordered invitations for her son's upcoming birthday party through this site.

Well this struck a chord with me, big time. At the time, I was working as a graphic designer at a print shop in Dallas. One of the coolest things that I had the opportunity to do at this job was to create a line of cards. The idea was that we would create a website that had card templates, people would send us a picture, we would drop it into the design, and then we would print them in house and ship them. This was a fairly new idea at the time. We mostly did Christmas cards, but when I left the job, I was starting on invitations. Since leaving that job, I have designed a handful of invitations for friends and family, but I haven't had (or taken) a lot of time to be serious about this.

But I've wanted to. Right now, I feel like designing invitations, and other printables, is a good way for me to, first of all, get my design juices flowing again. Stretch my Photoshop legs, if you will. And also to make a little money. If I can design things that people will buy, then I will have a product that I don't have to cut, glue, jazz up, or ship - people can print them on their own. That means no one will complain about bent paper, smudges, or postal service.

Of course, most of the time, I would rather be cutting, gluing and jazzing up. But those things cost money. Do you see where I am going here? I would like to start selling on ETSY.

I'm definitely still learning the ins and outs of being an online seller, but I have a few items posted. It is a HUGE help, that my work bestie (fellow ninja and partner in crime) Michelle is a super crafty mom that has lots of ideas but, because she has two kids and limited computer software, doesn't have the time to create all of the things she would like to use. A good amount of what I plan to be posting on my ETSY site has been inspired by her comments, or in some cases, direct requests. Thank you for believing in me Michelle! You have no idea what it means to me.

I have a lot of posting to do. It takes time. I have had precious little time for Gypsy Rhetoric the last two weeks. In fact, I should be in bed right now. My sweet husband held out as long as he could, and now I will try my best, and fail, to not wake him up as I creep down the hall and climb into bed.

But I just had to do this tonight. My sanity was at risk. It has been a rough couple of weeks, and I needed to do something for myself. Cross something off of my to do list. I don't think I could have made it through tomorrow if this was left undone.

So in conclusion, please go check out my ETSY site. Feel free to buy something ;-)

Live long and sparkle my friends. Live long and sparkle!