Five Tips on Tuesday - Descriptions

Today I wanted to venture into the land of describing your items.
Let's be honest. I'm more inclined to buy something handmade when the description is detailed and catchy.
For instance, this to me is no fun and doesn't really catch my attention:

Pink heart necklace.
Sterling silver chain.
24" long.
Ships in 2 days.


Okay awesome. You gave me what I wanted to know.
But sense it is handmade I want to know more.
I want to know why you made it. I did an etsy lab that talked about telling a story with your description.
That's a great idea if you can tell a story and one I highly agree with.
But maybe you don't have a story.
But you made it for a reason.

So tell us why. I pulled this straight from my shop.

"I designed this necklace because It is something I believe in. It also comes from my favorite scripture. "For we walk by faith, not by sight." 2 Corinthians 5.7

- This necklace has one metal disc with the words walk by faith stamped on it with a small cross in the corner.

- The chain is silver plated and is 18" long.

- The necklace will ship within 2-3 days after purchase has been made and payment has been received."

I told you why I designed it in the first place. 

Then I gave you the details.

That's what I like to see. :)

So next time you are trying to figure out how to describe your items. Thinks about these five tips.

• Why did you design it? Did you make it for a dear friend, family member, loved one? Is it a favorite bible verse or you loved the way the fabrics blended together? 
• Tell a story with it. Paint a picture of the item that just captures the buyer and makes them want to own that product.
• Be detailed. What kind of chain it is. Fabric. Yarn. What size it is. As a buyer I want to know these things.
• Let the buyer know how long it's going to take to ship. If i need something buy the end of the week and it takes 5 days to ship I need to know that before buying it.
• Name your product. Seriously - have fun with it. I actually need to change a few of these my self. For instance red rose ring doesn't sound near as cute as put a ring on it - rose style. and yes that is beyonce's song put a ring on it. hehe. 

Simple as that.

And have fun with it.

Five Tips on Tuesday - Pictures

Today I wanted to reveal my secret about pictures. Before you run away you don't have to have a fancy super awesome camera for this.  In fact I take all of my pictures on my cell phone.  Yes you read that right - my android cell phone is where all the picture taking action goes down.  While I wish I did have a fancy super awesome camera, I don't so I learned how to use my phone camera the best I could.  I'm going to share a few tips with yall today!

For up close pictures use the manual button.  Auto just doesn't always cut it and you can't take a picture like the one below on your phone on auto - at least you can't on my phone.

Angle it up. If one angle isn't working for you try another one.  You'll be surprised at what that slight move will do for your picture.

Snap it near a window.  Natural lighting is the best lighting.  If you can't go outside or don't want to - take your pictures near a window.  Let that natural light stream through.

Point and shoot from far away using the sun. Line up your camera with the person or object farthest from you. Get your camera as close to the closest person or object that you can. Then start raising your camera higher and angling it down until the sun catches just right, then click!

I used no special effects to get the water droplets. That was all point and shoot from a distance.

Point and shoot from closeup using the sun. For a close up. Focus on the object or person farthest from you {which shouldn't be to far} Get eye level with whatever or whoever you are taking a picture of and click. Angle your camera just slightly until you can tell the sun is having an affect on the picture and then click! This is what you get.

Again no special effects done to this. This was simply point and shoot.

Five tips on Tuesday

I originally posted this on Skye's blog. But I wanted to share it here today.


Today I wanted to share with yall {yes I am from Texas} 5 things I have learned while having a handmade business.

1. It takes time. Lots of time if you want it to be successful. Promoting, working on shop items, editing pictures of your products, writing descriptions, getting your shop out there. I've learned to be very patient with my shop - because it's not going to grow over night, but I know if I put the time and effort into it, it will be worth it.

2. Understand that it's YOUR shop. This is one that got me for the longest time. Don't get me wrong. I obviously knew it was MY shop, but I was trying to go with a theme of things because that's what I saw in other shops. They had a theme and I thought in order for it to be successful that my shop needed a theme. I couldn't have been more wrong. My "theme" is now whatever I create that I fall in love with. Knowing that I don't have to keep it to one certain theme has let my creativity breathe again!

3. Make items you love. You think this would be an obvious one but in the beginning everything I created wasn't something I loved and it showed. I was creating things that I thought would sell. Big mistake. It finally hit me that I needed to be completely smitten with the items in my shop because it wasn't going to show in the way I promoted them and in the work themselves.

4. Believe in yourself and in your shop. If you want others to believe in your shop, you have to believe in it. You have to know this is what you want to do and that you are doing what you love, otherwise how do you expect others to love what you make if they can't see that you do?

5. Spread the word. This is a hard one for me. I'm very shy and asking someone to buy something I make, makes me want to curl into a ball and hide. But truth be told is your shop will get no where if you don't spread the word about. It has to start with YOU. You have to be the one who lights the fire for your shop and then watch it spread and then keep it going. This is something I am going to be doing a lot more.


If you own a handmade business, share with me something you have learned.