Handmade felted jewelry in my Etsy shop once again!

 

After more than 3 years of being away from Etsy and my blog, I'm finally back and slowly getting things going once again online. Oh, how I've missed it! 

My last post was way, way back in 2010 when my family went through a transition and big move across states for my new job as Craft Editor for Reader's Digest Association's Milwaukee branch. It is hard for me to believe that it has been that long ago since time flew by, but I'm thrilled to have made my way right back here to being an independent crafter. In future posts, I'll go into a little more detail about by absence online, what I've been up to and why I am thankful to be blogging about and selling my creations again, but for now, I just wanted to pass along that I've reopened my Etsy shop and will also be blogging regularly soon. (Yippee! Well, at least that's how I feel when I type that last sentence!)

For all of you who knew my felting blog in the past, I hope for it to be much the same as before with crafts, fiber and felting information, tutorials, tips, reviews, features and some personal tidbits and photos. It will take me a while to get rooted again and back to blogging so I appreciate your patience. I am looking forward to doing it all again though!

If you'd like to know what in the world I have been up to for the past few years (witness protection, extended Caribbean vacation, top secret spy mission...hmmm, nope), visit my personal portfolio site and feel free to snoop around a bit. As I said before, I will eventually post about it, just not this particular day.

P.s., the felt flower will be listed in my Etsy shop soon. I also hope to do a tutorial on how to make these in the near future. It was created through a combination of needle and wet felting techniques.

Labor Day COUPON CODE SPECIAL at my ArtFire shop!

In honor of Labor Day and the wonderful long weekend, I am having a coupon code special in my ArtFire shop.  You'll receive $5 off orders of $15 or more if you use the coupon code LABORDAY at checkout.  The coupon is valid through Tuesday, September 7th.  (This offer excludes any applicable shipping fees and is only valid in my ArtFire shop.  Discount does not apply to my Etsy shop orders.  Coupon code must be rendered at time of checkout for discount to apply.)

If you have any questions or trouble using the code, please contact me via email at my website.  Otherwise, happy Labor Day and happy shopping!

Last Chance to Save 30-60% at my Spring Clearance Sale!

After the long Memorial Day weekend passes, I will be slowly returning my ArtFire shop back to original pricing.  I just wanted to let you know that this is your last chance to save 30-60% on most items as well as free shipping on select items.

Here's some highlights...

• 30% off all fibers and fiber batts also ship for free!
• 40% off all tagging and labeling stamps!
• 50% off all handmade felted wool scarves!
• 60% off all character and nature stamps!

Gorgeous Vessels and other Felted Wool Creations from Sensory Felteds

Occasionally I try to feature a wonderful feltmaker on my blog.  I don't feel that I've done this often enough lately.  It is overdue for me to tell you about Sensory Felteds.  This newly established Etsy shop has creations by Connie, a long-time customer of mine and online friend.  

  

Besides being very encouraging and a sweet lady in general, she is also a very talented feltmaker.  Her wet felted bowls and vessels are a beautiful mix of form and color.  She creates an array of other felted wool items including brooches and wall hangings too.  For more about her and her felt art, please visit her blog.  You can see more images of her work at her flickr photo gallery.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, & 20% OFF!

First of all, I just wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  And for those who may celebrate other Holidays, I hope they are joyous as well.  Overall, it has been a good year concerning my business, The Funky Felter, and an even better year concerning my personal life with the birth of my first child.  The Holidays are extra special this year!  I hope yours are too!

Not to be too cheesy on this Christmas Eve... BUT... I did want to offer a little special for my blog readers so here it goes...

From Christmas through New Years (12/25/09 - 1/01/10)
20% off orders of $10 or more in my NEW Etsy shop!
(excludes shipping fees which are just $1 worldwide!)
Put promo code "BLOG-20%OFF" in the message to seller at checkout.

To redeem this discount, you have a few options:
1. Request a revised email invoice in your message to seller at checkout along with the promo code and don't pay right away via PayPal.  I will email you a revised PayPal invoice within 72 hours of ordering.
OR
2. Checkout putting the promo code in the message to seller and pay via PayPal, and I will refund your discount within 72 hours of purchase via PayPal's partial refunding option.
OR
3. Contact me with your request and the promo code.  I will make a custom listing just for you in my new shop with the discounted price already factored in.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!   HO! HO! HO!

& HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JESUS TOO!

Happy to be part of the Eclectics family!

I found out this morning that a local artists' co-op, Eclectics Gallery, juried in my felted creations for consignment.  Yay!  I'm happy to now be part of such a wonderful local shop.  It represents a wide variety of talented local artists and crafters.  My fellow artisan, Cindy of Cinderelish, contacted me about submitting my items for review.  I'm very thankful to her for all her wonderful encouragement.  If you'd like to know more about Eclectics Gallery and their artists, please visit the shop's blog.  Also, if you are local and looking for birthday or holiday gifts or just a little something special for yourself or someone else, it is a great place to shop.  It is located at 7015 Oak in Kansas City, Missouri, and is open from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm Monday through Saturday.  Stop by and see what the talented local artists and crafters of KC have to offer!

I've taken the plunge and joined ArtFire! Have you?

After reading many good things about ArtFire, a new community for selling handmade items, I decided to take the plunge and purchase a shop there. (You can visit it by clicking here.) For a limited time and number of shops, the monthly fee is only 7 bucks! And, there's no listing fees or commission rates to deal with either. It is just a flat fee for as many items as you want to list. There's also a great free option which limits the number of items listed though.

I've been on ArtFire for less than a week now, but so far, I really like the site. First of all, as I mentioned above, it is a low start up cost. Also, I'm impressed with the fact that they are doing online and print advertising. I recently saw an ad for ArtFire on the back cover of CRAFT Magazine, and I've read that ArtFire has purchased several more back cover ads on CRAFT.


Here are some other things that I like about ArtFire so far.......

• Item listing is only a one page process! It is also well formatted and easy to use.
• The staff there has been quick to address bugs and new upgrades that are in the works.
• I can't stress this enough so I'll say it again - only $7/month! No other fees!
• Your new item automatically shows on the front page when it is listed! New items rotate on to the front page as they are listed.
• The community is growing quickly considering the site is very, very new. It is nice to get in on the ground floor.
• Even though it has some glitches to work out, the site design is lovely and very easy to navigate and set up shop.
• There are multiple payment options including PayPal, GoogleCheckout, and RME.

I've sold on a lot of sites over the last couple of years with my only really good success being my Etsy shop. I have a very good feeling about my ArtFire shop though. As it grows, I think that ArtFire will become very popular. It has some similar online selling features as Etsy, but it is certainly no copycat, and I like that too. ArtFire is uniquely its own!

If you have an ArtFire shop, I'd love, love, love to know your shop address and what you think about the site so far so PLEASE leave a comment. Also, if you don't have a shop yet, but are thinking about signing up, I recommend that you take the plunge for just 7 bucks a month. And, I would appreciate it, if you would use the link below to register so that I can be your referral. Just click on the link below to check out the site further and see about registering to sell.

Register on ArtFire.com

Come see me and my handmade felted goodies at the No Coast Craft-o-rama this weekend in Minneapolis! Shop, browse, and buy!

If you live in the Minneapolis area or just happen to be there this weekend, don't miss out on the No Coast Craft-o-rama. It is an extravaganza of top notch handmade arts and crafts. I will be a vendor this year, and I'm thrilled about it! I'll be selling a wide range of my felted goodies from hats to scarves to wrist cuffs to needle felted jewelry to brooches to wallets to . . . and the list goes on and on. I'll literally have hundreds of items displayed for sale. Some of them you can see in the photo above, and there are some brand new items that are not listed in my Etsy shop too. Besides my felted goodies, there will also be dozens of other vendors with handmade items from soaps to screen prints to jewelry to . . . well, the list goes on and on.

I will be in booth number C-4 (right by an entrance area). If you plan to go, please look me up on the vendor map and stop by. I'd love to meet you! Be sure to introduce yourself and let me know that you read my blog. And, as far as my blog goes, this will probably be the last post that I make until early next week because I am knee deep in handmade felted goodies in preparation for the big event. I will also be putting my Etsy shop in vacation mode later today or tomorrow until sometime early next week. If you've had your eye on anything there, I'd suggest that you snatch it up now. With over 10,000 visitors expected at the two day show, I don't know what I'll have left when I return (hopefully not much!). You can find more info about the No Coast Craft-o-rama below or visit the website for complete details. I sincerely hope to see you there!


When: Friday, December 5, from 3 PM to 8PM and Saturday, December 6 from 9 AM to 5 PM
Where: Midtown Global Market on Lake Street in Minneapolis
Who: Anyone and Everyone who loves crafty and artsy things! (It is a great place for Christmas and Holiday gift shopping!)
How much: It is free to get in, but I know that you'll be tempted by all the handmade goodies there so bring some cash!
What else: There are many great places to eat at the Midtown Global Market.

Just a few away from a milestone and sooooooo looking forward to it!

I realized today that I was just five sales away from 500 in my Etsy shop! I am truly excited at the prospect of reaching such a milestone sales number. I have been on Etsy for a little over two years now with moderate to good success. I am thankful for and proud of every single sale that I've had in my Etsy shop and hope for 500 more (or even much more!) in the next two years. I also want to thank each of those buyers for making this milestone happen - a BIG thank you! I can't wait for my "sold item" number to roll over to that wonderful 500!

C'mon help a gal out! Please take a few seconds to vote on my poll questions . . .

Today I come to you to ask a teeny weeny little favor . . . really it will only take a few seconds and will be quite painless . . . I promise!   But here's the back story before I ask my favor . . .

After much discussion and planning, my husband and I are seriously considering opening our own feltmaking and fiber art studio/shop.  It is still very, very tentative and up for debate because there is quite a lot to consider from the creative to the business itself.  Personally, I really want a place to teach classes on needle, wet, and nuno felting.  (I get quite a lot of requests for instruction on my techniques.)  We'd also like to sell my own creations along with some fiber art kits and supplies.  This is something that we've been discussing for a long time.  It is just recently that we've felt it is the right time to proceed and see what our options are locally.  Honestly, I'm not sure if anything at all will come of it, but I am enjoying the research that we are doing to explore the possibilities.

Now on to the favor . . . (since you have the inside scoop on why I am asking)

Pretty please take a few seconds to vote on your choices in the poll located at the top left side bar on my blog.  It is just a few basic questions that I've been wondering about when deciding how to expand my funky felter business online and with the prospect of having a public studio/shop too.  I would sincerely appreciate your input!  Thanks a bunch in advance!

Oh, and if you have any personal experience on having your own studio and/or shop, or just want to add your two cents about it all, please leave a comment.

P.S. it has come to my attention that you can't actually choose more than one option when voting, but you are welcome to vote multiple times for your choices.  I thought that I had set the poll up for multiple answers, but apparently not, and now I can not change the settings - bummer!

Are you buying or making handmade for the Holidays? Super special handcrafted Holiday gifts are the best!

Since October has arrived and Halloween is right around the corner, soon followed by Thanksgiving, I have finally started to think about Holiday gifts for this year.  I bought almost all handmade presents for last year's Christmas.  Honestly, I got mixed reviews from my extended family, but I think it is because they are accustom to getting commercialized products as gifts.  This year, I plan to stick to my pledge to buy handmade though.  Except for a few items, I plan to buy mainly handmade presents or make presents myself.

One thing that I've done to encourage others to do the same is to make a Holiday Shopping Guide on my main website.  It features a wide variety of top quality handcrafted items from artists and crafters worldwide.  There are only 56 participating Etsy sellers to hopefully make it easier to browse through their fabulous shops.  Please click on over and take a peak at the featured shops and sites.  I am really pleased with the diverse and unique products that are showcased there, and I'm also pleased with how the overall guide turned out.

Now, my question to you is . . .

Are you buying or making handmade gifts for the Holidays?

And, have you already begun your quest to buy or make Holiday presents?

Please do share in the comments . . . I'd love to know!

A Little Milestone coming up . . . 2 hearts away from 2000 in my Etsy shop!

Just had to share . . . It looks like I might hit the 2000 heart mark this week in my Etsy shop. I'm only a couple of hearts away. Whoohoo! When I closed my shop during the month of June for a vacation, I lost quite a few hearts - at least 50 or so. It made me a bit sad, but now I'm almost to 2000! Maybe by the end of the week, my shop will reach it.

(By the way, for those of you unfamiliar with Etsy's heart system, it is a way for other sellers and buyers to mark your shop as a favorite.)

I've been Mintd!

Well, after seeing many of my favorite Etsy sellers migrate to Mintd and open shops, I decided to as well. Yeah, that's right, now I have three online shops to keep up with, my Etsy shop, my Ecrater shop, and now a brand new Mintd shop. Both the Ecrater shop and Mintd shop are still very much in the building phases. I primarily still sell through Etsy, which I adore, but I plan to better develop both of my other shops when I have more time this summer.


So why did I do it? Because Mintd seems to have a super set up. The Australian based website is very modern and clean in its design. It also has neat and original features such as Lookbooks which I'm still trying to figure out, but I did post one of my very own today called Pink Swirls for Girly Girls. And yes, it is very pink, girly, and swirly, but it is also bright and fun and filled with accessories too.


I think that the magic number is three, though. In other words, I don't plan on adding any more online venues to sell from, but Mintd was just too good to resist. I can't wait to see what results I will have. Honestly, I haven't had much response on Ecrater, but I also haven't developed my store so that could be it too. Hopefully, Mintd will prove to be profitable, interesting, and fun. I already like the community there and have joined their Flickr group, Mintd Styles. They also gave me a free plan upgrade to their "Pro Plan" as a promotional for being one of the first 200 shops to register. So thus far, big kudos to Mintd . . . we'll see how it goes. I hope that I can keep up with it all, but at least I'll have crazy fun trying!