Etsy Store Open!

I finally did it. I created an Etsy store and sent it live yesterday. This idea has been mulled over many times, though the source was not always Etsy. If it were a grain of sand, I would definitely have a pearl by now. The ultimate question of any crafter: do I sell my products?

I have long sworn this off. I did not want to chain myself to completing a project and deal with the uncomfortable conversation over price with a close friend. It has happened a handful of times, but few and far between. I am always proud of the results, but it made me uncomfortable and pressured to work on a deadline. For example, I spent a frantic couple months churning out this baby blanket for a friend for her expectant nephew. It was so much bigger than I expected. Projects like this are always more time consuming than I think this will be. It should be a recognized crafting syndrome - forgetting the actual hours you spend completing a project and minimizing the work you put into it. (Sore wrists? No, that didn't happen.)

Roll along, you BG warriors! Ay Ziggy Zoomba!

This doesn't mean I didn't scheme and dream. Ever since I was a Girl Scout creating knick knacks presorted and prepped by our Girl Scout leaders, I wanted to craft and get paid for it. I would make a brilliant plan each year to sell at our church's craft fair. It never happened, but every year, I envied the rows and rows of women showing off their work. I collected the materials and tried to make every sort of item under the sun.

By high school, I had adopted my rule: I only make things as gifts. I had had too many classmates eagerly ask, "Can you make one for me? I'll pay you."  I did not whore out my crafts for friendship, nor did I want to cheapen them to that. I saved my creations for myself, or to be given as gifts. I'm not sure how grateful my friends and family were for that, but I do know I have exhausted my scarf-giving abilities among my sister and mother. (And now I live in a part of the country where I don't even need winter accessories. So is life.)

So you may ask: how did you get from "I only make things as gifts" to an Etsy store? Seems like a big leap. I have simply decided to put my summer time to use. I just finished up my first year as an assistant teacher at a Montessori school. I had planned to work the summer programs to keep the cash flow somewhat steady, but was bumped from working because of seniority. This definitely threw a wrench into my plans. Most people would see three months off as a time to lounge around and relax.

Definitely will do, Corona.

Believe me, I will be doing my fair share of that. But I will also go a little cabin crazy without something to do. Plus, I like to feel like a contributing member of society.

I was introduced to the idea of Etsy by one of the parents at school. (I almost said "my parents," which any teacher would understand as acceptable speak. We are allowed to refer to them as "my kids" also.) She would come in to volunteer with the cutest new accessories she had purchased from Etsy. She sent her daughter to school with braids and the most darling hair accessories, also Etsy buys. I was impressed by the quality and creativity of the buys. But more importantly, I had found an Etsy buyer. I had found someone who could potentially buy my items.

A darling mason jar tumbler Jaime was rocking, courtesy of Hustle Mama

Now I had obviously known about Etsy before this. I had searched, admired, but never purchased. (Anyone who has gotten within a stone's throw of Pinterest would be lying if they said they didn't know about Etsy.) I got to thinking, Now all these people are not posting items for no reason. They are posting them to sell them. And many of them are succeeding. There has got to be an audience out there. 

And I believe I can find an audience for my creations. I have all summer to stockpile items. I am giving myself direction and purpose in a less than perfect situation. I want to be able to contribute something financially. I want to see what I can do. So I am beginning with a few items, and seeing where it goes.

Mostly earrings to begin. I have a surplus of beads and an affinity for earrings. 

My earring holder, day one. Four months after creation, it is already overflowing. 

I am nervous about putting my creations out there. I am worried that people will not like them. I am worried that people will attack them or scoff at them. It is hard to separate someone you have created from your own self worth, even something so small. But, I hope that somewhere out there people will appreciate and embrace them. (It sounds so high school to write these fears down, but maybe some aspects of high school live on.)

It's childish and stupid, but then, so is high school. 

I have just started this journey on Etsy. Some aspects of it (sales tax, shipping) freak me out and I have scoured every resource Etsy has available to arm myself when the time comes. I hold my breath, hoping I won't screw up, haven't screwed up, or will never screw up when completing a transaction on Etsy. Yes, I realize that is a lofty goal - to never screw up at any given point in the future. But I can be hopeful.

Bookmarked and opened way too frequently. 

Mainly, I just don't want to get discouraged or devalue my work because of this. I hope other people see it as neat or cool or worthy, and then buy one in every color.

Here's to good beginnings, a little traffic, and maybe even a sale. (And to me not checking the shop site statistics too often.) Fingers crossed.

Alexx