EtsyKids Design Challenge: It's time to Vote!
Posted Wednesday, March 21, 2012
It's time to vote for your favorite item! Voting will be open until March 27th. This month, EtsyKids members were challenged to create an exciting new item based on a theme "Bumblebees, Bugs, and Butterflies". We received a bunch of fantastic entries from some talented people. Please vote for your favorite item from the list below.
Tutorial: Spring Chick
Posted Tuesday, March 20, 2012
From Steph of NewMillie of This Homemade Life.
Has your weather been as crazy as it has been in Texas? Last week we had a few days of high 70's, low 80's with humidity and now for the last 3 days it has been pouring rain and 50 degrees. It's confusing, and I decided we needed a bit of Spring in our lives, and I want to share with you this little Spring Chick tutorial!!
1. Yarn. I used yellow, pink, black and orange, but you could make your little chick whatever color your little heart desires.
2. Hook. I used a 4.25 mm, but once again it's whatever you want.
3. Felt.
4. Hot glue
5. Hair clip or headband
Stitches used:
ch- chain
sl st- slip stitch
sc- single crochet-
hdc- half double crochet
dc- double stitch
tr- treble- Yarn over hook twice, then insert hook into next stitch. Yarn over hook, then draw yarn through the stitch (there will be four loops on your hook) *Yarn over and pull through two loops (three loop remaining), yarn over and pull through two loop,(two loops remaining) yarn over and pull through last two loops.
dbl tr- double treble- Same process as the treble, except yarn over hook three times to start the stitch
trp tr- triple treble- Same process as the double treble, except yarn over hook four times to start the stitch
Are you thoroughly
Chick Body
Chain 4, sl st to form ring
Round 1- 10 sc into the ring
Round 2- 2 sc in first st, sc in 2nd st, 1 hdc and 1 dc in 3rd st, 2 dc in the 4th st,
2 dc in 5th st, 2 sc in 6th st, 1 sc and 1 dc in 7th st, 2 tr in 8th st, 2 dbl tr in 9th st,
2 dbl tr in 10th st.
2 dc in 5th st, 2 sc in 6th st, 1 sc and 1 dc in 7th st, 2 tr in 8th st, 2 dbl tr in 9th st,
2 dbl tr in 10th st.
Round 3- starting in the first stitch of the previous round, 2 dbl tr and 1 trp tr in st,
ch1 and sl st in same st (this is your tail). I also pulled my starting string to close up the hole.
ch1 and sl st in same st (this is your tail). I also pulled my starting string to close up the hole.
Wing
Chain 4, sl st to form ring
Round 1- (crocheting into the ring)- sc, hdc, dc, 2 tr, dc, hdc, 2 sc, hdc, dc,
2 tr, dc, hdc, sc, sl sp into next stitch.
2 tr, dc, hdc, sc, sl sp into next stitch.
Finishing
1. Sew wing onto chick
2. Use black yarn to make a little eye
3. Use orange yarn to make a little beak. (I just found the stitch I wanted to be the beak and attached yarn, sc, ch 1, sc, ch1, sl st all in the same stitch.)
4. Finish and weave in all your ends
Handmade Business 101: Revenue or Profit?
Posted Sunday, March 18, 2012
We crafters are so creative, we often spend more time on the “craft” side of the craft business than the “business” side. With this series of monthly blog posts, I’ll introduce you to some of the business concepts that will help you make your business more profitable. Don’t worry—there’s no math more complicated than simple arithmetic!
Today’s topic is revenue and profit.
Revenue is the amount of money that comes into the business. Let’s make up an example to illustrate it. If I sell a baby dress for $35, my revenue is $35. But even though there’s now $35 in my pocket (or in my PayPal account), I don’t really have $35, because I have to figure that I spent money on materials and selling fees. Profit is what’s left over of the revenue after you subtract the costs you had to pay to sell the dress. To figure that, we need to make a list of the costs associated with this dress. Let’s say I spent $10 on materials for the dress, $1.43 in Etsy fees, $1.32 in PayPal fees. These costs total $12.75. So my profit, what’s left over of the $35 revenue after I subtract $12.75 in costs, is $22.25. That’s how much I’d be getting paid for my hour of work making the dress.
Suppose, though, that I discover that somebody else is selling a similar dress for only $15. I don’t want them to undercut my prices, so I am thinking of dropping my price to $15 also. What does that mean for my profit? Well, even without the labor costs, my materials and fees still come to $12.75. That would leave me just $2.25 to pay myself for an hour’s work! Is that really worth it for me? I would wonder if my competitor is doing the math on this, because her materials and fees must cost something like mine.
Why do we want to calculate profit? Because we’re usually in business to make money. Let’s say I’m earning money so I can take a $1000 trip. How many of those dresses will I have to sell in order to earn that much money? If I sell them at $35, I will have to sell 45 dresses to make $1000 profit. But if I sell them at $15, I will have to sell FOUR HUNDRED and forty-five dresses to make the same amount of money. As hard as it is to find buyers at the $35 price, it’ll surely be easier to find 45 buyers than 445 buyers. Plus it will be much less sewing for me.
Now let’s apply this to craft shows. Many people think they’ve had a good show if their revenue is bigger than their booth fee, but they’re often wrong. Let’s say my competitor sets up at a craft show where the booth fee is $100. If my competitor sells 10 dresses at $15 each, they have $150 in their pocket and they think they’ve done well. But have they? The cost of each dress is $10 for materials, and instead of Etsy and PayPal fees we have to add in the booth fee. So the cost of selling 10 dresses at $15 each is $100 for the materials ($10 times 10 dresses) and $100 for the booth fee. This show actually cost them $200, but they only brought in $150 in revenue. Not only did they not make any profit, they paid $50 for the privilege of being at that show! And that’s not even counting their time making dresses and displays, the gas they had to use to get to the show, etc. Don’t let the revenue fool you—a craft show can be unprofitable even if the revenue is more than the booth fee.
Next time we’ll look at how to find the right price for your items. Pricing your items higher and getting fewer sales may actually give you more profit.
Suppose, though, that I discover that somebody else is selling a similar dress for only $15. I don’t want them to undercut my prices, so I am thinking of dropping my price to $15 also. What does that mean for my profit? Well, even without the labor costs, my materials and fees still come to $12.75. That would leave me just $2.25 to pay myself for an hour’s work! Is that really worth it for me? I would wonder if my competitor is doing the math on this, because her materials and fees must cost something like mine.
Why do we want to calculate profit? Because we’re usually in business to make money. Let’s say I’m earning money so I can take a $1000 trip. How many of those dresses will I have to sell in order to earn that much money? If I sell them at $35, I will have to sell 45 dresses to make $1000 profit. But if I sell them at $15, I will have to sell FOUR HUNDRED and forty-five dresses to make the same amount of money. As hard as it is to find buyers at the $35 price, it’ll surely be easier to find 45 buyers than 445 buyers. Plus it will be much less sewing for me.
Now let’s apply this to craft shows. Many people think they’ve had a good show if their revenue is bigger than their booth fee, but they’re often wrong. Let’s say my competitor sets up at a craft show where the booth fee is $100. If my competitor sells 10 dresses at $15 each, they have $150 in their pocket and they think they’ve done well. But have they? The cost of each dress is $10 for materials, and instead of Etsy and PayPal fees we have to add in the booth fee. So the cost of selling 10 dresses at $15 each is $100 for the materials ($10 times 10 dresses) and $100 for the booth fee. This show actually cost them $200, but they only brought in $150 in revenue. Not only did they not make any profit, they paid $50 for the privilege of being at that show! And that’s not even counting their time making dresses and displays, the gas they had to use to get to the show, etc. Don’t let the revenue fool you—a craft show can be unprofitable even if the revenue is more than the booth fee.
Next time we’ll look at how to find the right price for your items. Pricing your items higher and getting fewer sales may actually give you more profit.
St. Patty's Picks
Posted Saturday, March 17, 2012
Happy St. Patrick's Day from all of us a the EtsyKids Team!
EtsyKids Design Challenge for March: Bumblebees, Bugs, and Butterflies
Posted Friday, March 16, 2012
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"Bumblebees, Bugs, and Butterflies" is our challenge for March, picked by our last month's winner Elizabeth Lauren Art. This month we'll be featuring a variety of items embellished or inspired by bumblebees, bugs, and butterflies, all handmade by our talented team members.
EtsyKids members will have until March 20th to submit their entries, and voting will be open to everybody from March 21st to March 27th. So, be sure to come back to the EtsyKids blog for a new post on the 21st to see all of the entries and VOTE! In the meantime, please click here to get a sneak peek at some exciting entries so far!
Introducing Armadillo Dreams
Posted Thursday, March 15, 2012
Today We Introduce you to Dustin from Armadillo Dreams
Q: What motivated you to start your shop?
There’s a lot of things that motivated us to start the shop. First, our two children Luciana (born March 2007) and Lincoln (born August 2010). We always wanted to be able to provide them with wooden toys, but they were always super expensive. The second was a desire to do woodworking that I discovered during the summer of 2010 while constructing a backyard chicken coop. I had a lot of fun building it and was sad when the project was completed. I then started dreaming up woodworking projects. Other reasons include the desire to be independent and to be able to devote my professional time to something that I truly enjoy.
Q: What is the story behind your shop name?
The name Armadillo Dreams is a long standing inside joke between my wife and I, but does have a deep meaning. I will say that in essence it is our dream of freedom.
Q: Do you have a favorite Etsy Shop (non-child related)?
Yes, The Man Cave (http://mancavesoapworks.etsy.com/)!!! Their men’s shaving and soap products are the best I have ever used and I am really picky about what I use! They all smell very manly without smelling too strong or too generic. I’ve have the least cuts and razor irritation when using their products out of any I have ever used. Highly recommended!
Q: What surprised you most about having your own craft / online shop?
The thing that surprised me the most was the super kind feedback that we have received from customers and admirers. Everyone I have ever heard from has always had nothing but nice things to say about our wooden toys. Most people don’t just stop at a simple compliment either, a lot of our customers love to go into detail about just what they think makes our toys special. Many people will even blog about our products to help us spread the word about Armadillo Dreams. In all of the jobs I have worked at I have never encountered such nice people. Sadly, I used to think people like that didn’t even exist. It’s just so refreshing to know that there are nice people in the world who are willing to take a small amount of time out of their life to tell someone what a good job they did. The world needs more people like Etsy customers!!!
Q: What do you find most challenging about being an Etsy seller?
I would have to say the hardest thing about having an Etsy shop or being a business owner in general is having a work/life balance, especially during the fourth quarter of the year. I can see where it would be really easy to get so into creating and having fun with the business that one might loose sight of their family. I have to remind myself to take breaks and have family time. I’m not perfect at it, but I work hard at it.
Q: What's your personal philosophy behind your shop / products?
We believe it's important for children to have high quality, natural, simple toys that they can dream, imagine and play with.
Q: How would someone (other then you) describe you?
We are both very hard working and driven to succeed. We are also very involved with our children. We have a huge love of the outdoors and are pretty active. I think most people who really know us would describe us the same way.
Q: What music do you have on while you are creating?
We have music on a lot of the time while we are working, but it really varies widely based on the time of the day or what’s going on. Lately it’s been a lot of blue grass. Sometimes it’s rock. Sometimes it’s ambient. Sometimes it’s something in between.
Q: What do you do when you aren't working?
We have tons of hobbies, but just to name a few of the big ones we enjoy spending time with our children, long walks, camping, fishing, geocaching, gardening, beer brewing, cycling and movies. Amanda also enjoys knitting, sewing, garage/estate sales, and graphics design. Some of this does cross over into work though. It’s hard to know when to call something work or not sometimes!
Q: Anything else you'd like to tell us or share?
In addition to our Etsy shop, we will be launching a full shop and blog on our own website http://armadillodreams.com/. Should be up in the next month or two! You can also follow us on Facebook (http://facebook.com/armadillodreams) or Twitter (http://twitter.com/armadillodreams) for news and our daily specials.
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