My perseverance is paying off

My word for the month was perseverance and it is starting to pay off. I've had 3 sales over the weekend and am hoping for many more. My goal this month was to keep listing things for sale, promote and try and improve my sales. So far I've had about 6 sales in the past 2 weeks and I find that I am liking it!

I hope the holiday sales are picking up for everyone. Persevere!

New Cross Stitch cards

I was a busy stitcher this week and finished 3 cross stitch pictures that I turned into 5 X 7 cards. The weather has made it easy this past week to sit and stitch. It was cold, dreary, windy, and rainy almost every day. Here's what I got accomplished.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160372582425&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160372584230&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

Twitter

I've done like many of you other crafters out there and joined a few of the social media sites to self promote my items. I joined facebook, flickr, started blogging, and joined twitter. My favorite thing to do, I hate to admit, is tweet.

All this week I've been conducting a mini survey of my own to see if it really helps with getting your items seen. I can honestly say that it does. I wrote down the views for some of my items and then tweeted about them. The views on my Etsy items and e-bay items definitely went up compared to last weeks views when I wasn't into shameless self promoting.

Now I haven't had a sale from any of my tweets but at least there are more people out there looking at my crafts. And that's a good thing!

Etsy vs. Ebay

Let me state that I just love Etsy! The site is easy to use, not too expensive (that's if you don't relist items constantly), and has a pretty big following. I had 22 items up for sale for almost 2 months and made 1 sale in 4 months. I've done all the marketing of my shop I can do but to no avail.

Many people now think of E-bay as a flea market atmosphere. I can see why they would feel that way. But lately I have had much more success on E-bay than on Etsy.

Over the weekend I sold three cards that I had listed on E-bay. The previous week I sold 2 cards that I had listed in my Etsy shop for over 6 months. I didn't make a huge amount of money with these sales on E-bay but those same three cards sat in my Etsy store for a month and though I got alot of views, no buyers!

I'm trying hard with both venues to sell my craft and make some money. I set reasonable prices for handmade goods, offer the lowest shipping I can, all to make a few dollars. I am going to keep plugging along, building up sales (hopefully), to get my handmade goods out there.

Perseverance

Perseverance is my word for the month. The definition of perseverance is a steady persistence in adhering to a course of action, a belief, or a purpose.

I am determined to keep creating, finishing, and listing items regularly so I can hopefully get a following of buyers. I am the first to admit that I don't now and never have had much perseverance but I am determined to give it my all this month.

Check out my some of my listed items.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160370596006&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160370595240&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

Cold & Rainy so I'm stitching

It is so hard to believe that we are supposed to be experiencing our Indian Summer here in mid-Missouri since the temperatures have been hovering around 50 degrees. We got 4 inches of rain last week in about 24 hours and now we are supposed to get 2 more. Cold, miserable rain falling lightly that makes me want to snuggle down into my chair and stitch.

I started on a Santa pattern a day ago and am making pretty good progress so far. I hope to finish it today and start on something new. I'm always looking forward to the next project even while I'm trying to finish the current one.

Stay warm and dry!

Back to normal routine

Today everyone is getting back to their normal routine. Yeah! All my husband's tests last week came out negative or normal. He's a healthy, manly 50 year old and it looks like I will be blessed with his company for many years to come. Thank goodness!

Now that the rest of the family is off to work and school I am hoping that I can find the time to get back to stitching and such. I did manage to get a few items listed on ebay last night. Here's the turkey card I worked on a week ago. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160369096627&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

I'm hoping to sell a few more things this week while I'm working on some new patterns.

Have a great week!

All is well! And I'm exhausted.

My hubby and I spent the last two days together. Not the romantic vacation type days but one day he got a colonoscopy and today he had a cardiac cath done. I'm happy to report that both tests went well. He has no blockages at all in his heart arteries. Doctor said they were big and beautiful, and clean. That's a huge relief and a lot off of our minds. Now he's quietly napping the day away while I'm playing catchup. I was up at 4 am this morning to get some things done before we left for the testing at 5:15 a.m. He slept like a baby until 5 a.m. Yesterday morning I was up at 4:30 a.m. while he slept peacefully until 6:00 a.m. I'm exhausted! He's feeling sleepy!!

In spite of the fun I'm poking about him sleeping so much, I am thrilled beyond words that he's gotten a clean bill of health and we can spend many more years together in good health.

Check out this etsy seller!

I just found this beautiful pendant on etsy. The colors are what caught my attention. Great for fall and a really good price too.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=29546919

Started on an owl cross stitch pattern

I finished this adorable turkey last night and made it into a card. This other piece is one I stitched over the summer, it says "Here comes the sun" and is by Bent Creek.

I started on a really cute owl pattern this afternoon. I didn't get much done on it yet but maybe this weekend.

Forgot to blog

Wow! It's been almost a week since I last blogged. I've been doing really well in blogging at least 4 or 5 times a week but got off track this week. We've had a hectic health week. I've been busy setting up medical tests for my hubby. Seems like he turned 50 just a week ago and has decided to fall apart. Have a colonoscopy scheduled for Monday and a cardiac cath scheduled for Tuesday. Not looking forward to next week at all.

Right now he's on a restricted diet for the colonoscopy and he's already getting cranky. Can't wait until Sunday when he's on a liquid diet. I keep warning the kids not to poke the bear on Sunday because I'm sure he'll bite since he will be starving.

I'm hoping and praying all the tests come out with positive results. Be back to blogging when I can.

Have a great weekend.