Meet Etsy Seller WeildHairAccessories

Today we would like to introduce you to

Etsy shop WeildHairAccessories

WeildHairAccessories has been selling on Etsy since August 2013, she sell handmade fun and colorful chunky necklaces for children and adults! Today she is sharing a little about her shop and selling handmade items.


What is the story behind your shop name?
I had the hardest time coming up with my shop name.  I was trying to play off my first name, Jodi, and came up with things like Jodi's Bow-dis and Bow-dis by Jodi, but I quickly realized that wouldn't leave me any room for expanding my product line (and it sounded pretty cheesy).  I switched gears and came up with W(e)il'd Hair once I decided to use my last name, Weil.  When I first started selling, I was only making hair products, but I soon added chunky necklaces to my shop and it was easy to change my shop name to include my new accessory line.  Hence, W(e)il'd Hair & Accessories!

What surprised you most about having your own craft / online shop?
The time it takes to market yourself and your business.  I have a creative side but not much of a background in marketing and business, unless you count that Introduction to Business class I took my freshman year of college almost 14 years ago!  I didn't realize that I would have to spend almost as much time marketing, networking and advertising every day as I do creating my product.

What is your favourite creations from your shop?
I enjoyed adding my current range of chunky necklaces to my etsy shop, those are always fun to make.

What do you find most challenging about being an Etsy seller?
Standing out from the crowd.  There are a lot of other sellers who create chunky necklaces.  I make sure I post quality pictures and descriptive listings – I feel that this communicates to potential buyers that I take my craft seriously and stresses the quality and durability of my products.

What's your personal philosophy behind your shop / products?
I want my customers to be happy and 100% satisfied with their purchase.  I want them to have a smile on their face and feel beautiful when they, their friend, or loved one wears their necklace.

What do you do when you aren't working?
When I'm not working, I'm mom to a 4.5 year old girl and a 22 month old boy, as well as wife to my husband of almost 6 years.  I also like to go to the gym, read, and watch home decorating shows, food shows and other mindless television.

Anything else you'd like to tell us or share?
You would think that my daughter, a girl who is up before the sun and wakes me up to ask if she can wear a leotard and tutu, would be a walking model for my products, but alas, she refuses to try on my items most of the time, so my handsome little son is my guinea pig.  He loves chunky necklaces!

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Meet Etsy Seller Ebony Shae Designs

Today we would like to introduce you to

Etsy shop Ebony Shae Designs

Ebony Shae Designs has been selling on Etsy since September 2011, she sell PDF patterns for making children's animal masks! Today she is sharing a little about her shop and selling on Etsy.


What motivated you to start your shop?
I fell in love with masks as a teenager when I went to see Phantom of the Opera for the first time. The masquerade scene stayed with me for years. I am also a hopeless craft addict, and will try my hand at anything – whether I know what I am doing or not. So as a young married woman, I started making leather masquerade masks. I still have most of them, with no idea what I will ever do with them.
Then along came children, and the process of curing, working the leather, and painting it within a certain time-frame became impossible. Unfortunately the love of masks and creating did not leave. Fortunately kids LOVE dressing up and playing make believe. So I started making a few masks to represent the story characters we were reading about. Friends and relatives started making requests and I couldn't keep up!
It took me a while to realize that I could teach my friends to make their own and the idea of making and selling patterns was born.

What is the story behind your shop name?
When we were waiting for our second daughter to arrive, the difficult process of choosing ANOTHER girls name resulted in many round table discussions.  After all, we had already chosen the best girls name the first time around, hadn't we???  Where the first time we agreed easily, the second time the discussions were endless!  I really loved the name Ebony Shae, but the hubby was adamant.  So when I opened my Etsy store, I simply used the name I loved.

What surprised you most about having your own craft / online shop?
I am constantly surprised that my personal favourite masks are not the most popular.  Not by far!  I am also constantly surprised by what custom orders come in, they are never what I expect.

What is your favourite creations from your shop?
My all time favourite mask is still the lady bug.  I simply love the way it sits and is shaped.  It is also adorable on.  I think it ranks about 10th or less in my best sellers.  The elephant is always the most popular.

What do you find most challenging about being an Etsy seller?
Trying to communicate in obvious ways.  I STILL have people ask for finished masks for $4.00 US, despite having 'pattern' written on the picture, a picture of a PDF icon on the first picture, pattern in the title, and reference to the item being a pattern 3 times in the descriptions!  (If anyone has any other suggestions, I'm all ears).

What's your personal philosophy behind your shop / products?
Our motto is: Make Masks.  Make Believe.  Make Memories.
I believe our time as mothers at home with the kids should be considered sacred (no matter how much or little of it you get).  We will never get it again.  They will never be the age they are today ever, ever again.
I am so fortunate to have a hubby that supports me to stay home and share this time with our kids, and I am even more fortunate that I love it.

What do you do when you aren't working?
I am a stay at home mum who home schools our 2 darling daughters, (we also have a 6 month old boy, but he is a little young for school yet)!  If I ever get time to myself (usually when the hubby is driving the car) you will find me knitting, doing crochet, sewing (ok, so that doesn't happen in the car) or generally avoiding housework in some other fashion!

Please tell us a little about the children's items market / handmade movement in your Country? 
I feel that the children's market in Australia is strong, but piecemeal.  There are markets for used items, there are markets for new items, there are general markets that always have kids stalls, there are craft markets that some of us fit into, then there are craft markets that we don't.
The handmade movement is getting stronger in all areas.  When I became a founding member of our knitting group which started 10 years ago, many of my work colleagues laughed, now many are picking up some sort of craft and realizing the benefits.

Anything else you'd like to tell us or share?
Being a part of teams on Etsy has really made the experience for me.  To have a community to go to to celebrate, commiserate, and ask questions of makes selling on Etsy so much more enjoyable.  Thanks to the EtsyKids team and coordinators for their part in making my job so much more fun!

Ebony Shae Designs is offering a 20% off any purchases, including her pdf pattern combo deals. To use the coupon visit her etsy store and enter code "ETSYKIDS1" at checkout. 

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January Design Challenge Winner!

January's Design Challenge had the theme "Cozy & Cuddly!".
We had lots of lovely entries from our team member but the winning entry with the most votes was..

"Cozy Chair" Two Sock monkeys Reading by JennyDaleDesigns

These adorable little sock monkeys are as cozy as can be! The original artwork was created using acrylic paint and ink. Look for my other sock monkey paintings to create a set. 

Print is hand signed and includes original poetry.

Here are some more lovely items from JennyDaleDesigns

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Penguin Potato Winter Craft

We love finding things around the house to create art with.  My younger daughter just loves penguins and I  had her in mind when I found this craft.  We are big into re-using and re-purposing at our home so I used old brown paper bags and cut them up into squares with funky scissors.

** We like to find books on the crafts we are making to turn it into a mini lesson or just some fun reading time so we got out our penguin books after we made the craft.


What you'll  need:

• potatoes- 2 different size pieces. One for the larger black body and one for the white belly.
• non toxic paint-white,orange, and black
• googly eyes, one per penguin
• brown paper bag cut up into squares

Instructions:

• Dip the larger potato piece into the black paint and stamp onto brown paper
• take the smaller piece of potato and dip in the white paint, stamp over the black paint onto the body.
• use a finger to dip into the orange paint and create a beak and the feet.
• glue on a googly eye after the paint is dry

My daughter had so much fun with this project that she decided she wanted to make a whole "penguin family" on another sheet of paper which is what she is doing above.

Dorinda's shop, Raising Green Kids, offers eco-friendly products for your family. Follow her on Facebook and twitter and at her blog.

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Treasury Challenge #27 - Cuddle Me!

The theme for the EtsyKids Team treasury challenge #27 was "Cuddle Me!" to celebrate national hug day on 21st January.
Our team members created lots of beautiful treasuries featuring some amazing items, but the winner with 221 views is...

'cuddle me baby' by BabywearbyBabs

Plush Puppy - Izzy LittleLuckies... $30	Custom Personalized Kid... cotuitbayknit... $65	Baby Bunny Stuffed Doll... BrightLifeToy... $40	Knitted bear soft plus... janisknitpurl $25
Patchwork Bunny Tooth F... angiebabygift... $33	Natural Stuffed Animal ... woolies $65	Fox & Raccoon Pillow To... MyFunnyBuddy $6	Stuffed Animal White B... baraqada $29
Stuffed animal hippo - ... Mippoos $45	Woodland Nursery Decor,... OllieAndRose $50	Paulie the Platypus MichellesZoo $22.95	Ballerina Mouse Crochet... CROriginals $30
Sailor Tabby Cat softie... bikbikandroro $37	Laura the sheep soft to... PinkNounou $66	Blonde Doll Holding Mer... JoellesDolls $30

Thank you BabywearbyBabs for creating such a lovely treasury!

BabywearbyBabs makes hand knit baby clothes and heirloom babywear, including this cute red knitted cardigan, perfect for snuggles! Visit her shop to see more of her wonderful creations.

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Meet Etsy Seller MyFunnyBuddy

Today we would like to introduce you to

Etsy shop MyFunnyBuddy

MyFunnyBuddy has been selling on Etsy since November 2012, she sell fun and easy PDF sewing patterns to make your own soft toys! Today she is sharing a little about her shop and selling on Etsy.


What motivated you to start your shop?
I loved stuffed animals as a kid! Then when I had my daughter, and dropped multiple "surface wash" only toys in parking lots, I wanted to give her toys that were washable. It's been great, she is my best tester! She is only 3 1/2 but she is proud to show off toys her Mommy made.

What is the story behind your shop name?
I had a doll that didn't turn out quite right so I was calling her "Funny Doll." When I started making animals, I wanted to be more general, so switched to My Funny Buddy. I still need to write up that "Funny Doll" pattern. My teenage babysitters think she's cute and funky.

What surprised you most about having your own craft / online shop?
I never would have guessed that I would make so many friends and meet such wonderful people through my shop. My patterns are meant to be quick to make so they lend themselves to people who sew toys for donations. My very first customer was Dona from Sewing Miles of Smiles. She has now become a wonderful friend. I'm inspired by all the work she does. Kristy from Hopeful Threads is another sewing friend who does great work for charity.

What is your favourite creations from your shop?
That's a tough one. Hmm, I might have to say my monster. It comes with happy and sad faces which can be placed on opposite sides of head, or made as two separate monsters. It is my therapy toy. I love how it can be used for kids to show their feelings or to be a buddy that empathizes with them.

What do you find most challenging about being an Etsy seller?
Marketing is something I didn't know much about. I thought Search Engine Optimization would be the hard part and only way to get the word out about my shop. I didn't realize how big a role social networking plays. Currently, I'm only on Facebook, Pinterest, and have my own website, www.myfunnybuddy.com. I feel like I need to do more social networking, though it's all to easy to spend too much time on the computer and Facebook when I should be sewing and designing.

What's your personal philosophy behind your shop / products?
Designing toys that are easy to make and with personality. I love designing faces that have funky or cute expressions. And I like hearing about beginners who try out my patterns. I would like to do more to get kids (or adults) interested in sewing. It's a great skill that teaches principles beyond sewing. Actually, I feel that way about most arts and crafts. Learning to follow instructions, and learning that you can't just press a button to "Undo" or "Delete" a mistake are valuable. Don't get me wrong, I love my computer. I used to be a computer programmer, and I have to say that all my years of doing crafts made me the most careful programmer on my team!

What do you do when you aren't working?
Playing with my daughter, doing other art projects, sometimes both at once. Also, I'm toying with fabric design. Though honestly, for the past year, any extra time has been spent on my shop. And I've loved it!

MyFunnyBuddy is offering a 20% discount in her shop. To use the coupon visit her etsy store and enter code "ETSYKIDS20" at checkout. Valid until 16th February 2014.

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