Monday, August 22, 2011

A Little Of This...and A Little Of That!

     The sky, header photo, when Ashley and Aron...of the blog Hither and Thither... went to the Brooklyn Bridge Park Cinema the other day, looks a lot like our sky here in Massachusetts. We have some rain clouds rolling out, and it's suppose to turn into a beautiful day!...Great back-drop for the start of a great new week, and to talk about a little bit of this and a little bit of that! :-)
       By the way, if you wanna see some more great photos of Ashley and Aron's outing, you can go HERE
       I wanna tell you about A little Of This And A Little Of That All Handmade, by fabricartist21! :-) And yes! That's the name of a new treasury one of my necklaces was included in. :-)) 
     Considering that I have a few things, kinda random things, to talk about today, I thought it was a perfect name and the perfect time to show it to you! ^_^
      The necklace of mine that she included was my Turquoise Green Birds On A Wire Crochet Beaded Necklace.
       Phew! That's a whole lotta 'mouth full' of name for a piece of jewelry, isn't it?!! LOL More about that in a minute!...First, I wanna show you a couple of the other things that were in this treasury with it!
    One was this three piece table runner set by Serenstitches.
       I'm always so amazed at how much time and love creative-minded people put into their work! You can almost feel it oozing out of their finished projects, can't you?! :-]
       Speaking of which, look at this beautiful Window Pillow by MamaRabbitsWorkshop.
       I crocheted a wedding circles blanket one time that had all of the circles in it. I KNOW that's a lot of work!!...And look at all of those pretty colors! :-) ...Anyway! If you wanna see the rest of the items in her treasury, including some cute quilted pieces, you can click HERE.
      Okay...back to the name of my necklace...I followed an Etsy link over the weekend to an article about SEO, in other words...optimizing the getting of your items seen in Etsy searches. I learned in that article that they've changed how your things show up in the searches now! O_0 In other words, I used to renew everything as soon as it expired because I thought it went right to the top of the searches!
       I found out from this article, entitled 'Make Your Shop More Relevant', that that's no longer true!! O_O The day you used to renew things they used to go right to the top of the searches for a while. Now the date doesn't matter at all! Your items are relevant based on how well you let the customer know what you have!
      For instance, little did I know that when I was titling my necklace as a "Necklace" it wasn't hardly getting seen because it didn't tell people that it was a 'special' "Crochet" necklace, and that it had beads...I also wasn't titling my scarves as crochet scarves!...I also didn't call my circle scarf a "Crochet Cowl Scarf"!...You see where I'm going with this?!
     Those of you with Etsy shops probably already knew this, but 'Miss Wug Oblivious' over here didn't have a clue that my little 'babies' that I've been working so hard on were practically invisible in searches!! O_O ...So, I changed a few of my titles yesterday. Thankfully they said that you don't have to do every listing the same. In fact, you shouldn't...Good!
     And guess what?!...Already this morning I noticed the views increased on some of my items that never get any love!! :-) So, needless to say, I need to be paying a bit more attention to thinking like a customer, instead of thinking like a finicky maker!
      And yes, I am still a finicky  maker!...Remember this?!
       It had gone to the old 'I'll-Get-Back-To-You-Some-Time-Or-The-Other' pile...because I didn't want to fool with 'making' the lining to put in it!...Well, I'm not gonna make the lining!!! Surprised you saying that, didn't I?! ^_^ But hold on....it will have a lining. I gave it to a friend the other day...A friend who is what I consider an 'Expert Seamstress'!...who is going to make me a lining for it! :-) 
      I saw the bag when I was fishing through my other bags the other day trying to find out where the rest of my brown yarn went! I almost got weepy thinking about how much time and effort I put into making it, and here it was...doing nothing, and being seen and used by nobody!!
      So, as soon as she finishes doing the lining, and I pay her WHATEVER she asks!....and then I calculate how much of that price I can reasonably ask the customer who buys it to reimburse me...I'm going to list it for sale in my shop.
       I have an idea already about how much I'm going to ask for it...It's a lot!! But I figure that if pocketbook designers who don't actually sew their bags themselves can ask 2 or 3 hundred dollars for them...I should be able to get at least what the labor on mine is worth!..Hey! It's a 'Ugly Wug Original'!!! LOL...Hmmm...maybe that's not a good selling point. I'll have to think some more on that one!...WHATEVER!!! ^_^
      In other quick news...
     ...regarding the 'situation' I spoke about on Saturday! :-) This makes me happier than you will ever know! YAY! For taking advice and getting on with it people!! :-)
   Lastly, for today... ^_^ ...the gray sweater scarf...
          ...is at a stand-still. :-( I ran out of gray yarn...I really should say I can't 'find' the gray yarn!! In fact, it's in the same bag as the brown yarn I was looking for!! UGH!! How can a menopausal brained-woman lose a whole bag of her 'good' yarn?!! I'll let you know when I find out!!
       I put a pair of my shoes in the refrigerator one time when we were going to a gathering. I put them in there next to the cake I didn't want to forget to bring with me...and the car keys I knew I wouldn't be able to leave the house without!!...Cut to me, hours later, in my bare feet and in a puddle of tears, wandering around the house trying to find the car keys so we could go to the gathering!! ^_^ ....................No! We didn't make it!! LOL But after I calmed down, and hubby got over being mad with me, we had a nice midnight cake party!! ^_^
      Anyway, back to the other story....When I couldn't find the gray yarn right away, and I saw this other soft pretty yarn in one of the bags, a yarn I had totally forgotten I had, I decided I'd go ahead and start a scarf with it for now...and continue to look for the gray yarn later. Here's what it looks like!...
     It's a variegated angel hair yarn, with pink, white and blue. I added a brown thread and another pink thread for interest...
       It started to look like it was gonna be too busy-looking. So I decided to add a section of brown...
        (Sorry about the bad lighting. It had gotten late, and I tried to take this picture in the bedroom by lamp-light....Not a good idea!!)
        This is the time I realized I didn't have enough brown, and went looking for it.....since I had to look for the gray yarn anyway! UGH!! Now I'm aware that I don't have either!! And I can't find the bag they're in ANYWHERE!!!...Don't you wanna be inside my brain...with your high-heel shoes on right now?!! ^_^
        Enough looking already!!!!! I need to get me some breakfast, find me another project to start.....before which I'm gonna make sure I have enough to finish it!! LOL {Reminded me of a scripture from the bible: Luke 14:28..."...who of you that wants to build a tower does not first sit down and calculate the expense, to see if he has enough to complete it?"...I'm not building a tower, but you can see why I thought of it, right?!!!! ^_^}
       Have a good day everybody!!....Whatever you're doing! :-) {The poem below is one I wrote a while ago. I'm only posting part of it. The rest of it is hard-core y'all....reality!!! LOL}

Change Of Life

I have one good week a month-
A change of life that drives me mad!
At 52, this is the worst
of all the changes that I've  had.

The week before-I start to crave.
I clear the fridge-bit by bit.
My 'Slightly Hungry' appetite
becomes a raging bottomless pit.

My highly focused, scheduled mind
now loses shoes, and curries fears.
My hair gets all dried out
and I become a ball of tears.

Then there's  the trembling of the legs,
Flashes-hot and cold alike,
headaches that don't  seem to quit,
charlie horses in the night.

In the mirror is a woman
I recognize-but she scares me!
"Lock me up, please, just this week,
and kindly throw away the key!"

But first, make sure my cave's  in order-
all my things where they should be,
'cause I'll  be checking 'Every Hour'
when I wake up-to go pee.

Yes-it happens every month!
This change of life will drive me mad!
(At least 3 weeks a month-
because one week its not so bad!!)    

18 comments:

  1. I've been slooooowly going through my etsy shop listing and re-titling for relevancy...drives you mad doesnt it?
    anyway I just sold a pair of earrings.
    I love the bag - you have a great eye for colour!

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  2. planettreasures, It would have been driving me mad a long time before now....'IF' i had known anything about it!! *smh* But I guess it pays to do the work, huh?! Congratulations on your sale!! :-) And thanks about the bag too!

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  3. I need to make my Etsy items more relevant too. I am going to spend some time working on that this weekend. I hope that you find the yarn so that you can finish your project.

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  4. The relevancy thing is making me scratch my head too. I'm not quite sure what to do to make my listings more relevant. Between tags, the special tags, the title, etc. you'd think I'd get to the top of the list. Should I still be relisting? Does it matter? These are things I need to do some research on! I'll let you know what I find out.
    The "change" thing....is this why I'm feeling a little insane lately? Hmmmmm. putting shoes in the refrigerator hasn't happened to me yet, but I do lose my car keys and sun glasses on a more than maddening consistency. I also am dealing with changes in my skin, hair, face! Sometimes I look in the mirror and think "I used to be cute, what happened?" I want to devour sweets and candy, and chips and crackers all the time. I'm blessed with a super high metabolism, but my boyfriend isn't....he says I'm trying to make him fat! My 2 year old cat weighs 18 pounds....maybe he's right. I'm only 45, but I think it's starting to happen.

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  5. Just think, all of those thousands of blogs and posts about how to have a relevant shop prior to relevancy are now irrelevant!
    There is a lot of information that is now coming out and I'm not certain if anyone really knows definitively what the best course of action is (I think it's their best educated guess).
    On the one hand there is the argument for changing up your titles so you may appear in various searches, but I've always found that when I do a search and I see the same seller numerous times in the one search it piques my interest more. So part of me thinks dominating 1 search is the key - of course if only 5 people without money happen to use this search, well, you're out of luck!

    Good luck with your shop edits!

    have a great week!


    Lisa

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  6. Deb,I always love reading your blog.This is going to sound strange to you but I don't believe that your yarn is in a bag anymore because if you remember a while back you wrote in your blog how you or hubby did some rearranging in the craft room. I think the yarn you are looking for is in one of those boxes. I know I know how did I remember this? It has to do with that telephoto memory I've talked about having. Hope you find your yarn. Have a great Day!!!!

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  7. I love your bag!! It's so pretty! You're scarves are looking great too. Glad you figured out the SEO. Hope it helps.
    Have a great day and get those titles changed! It IS a big job! Been there, done that!

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  8. Shelley, Yeah, the relevancy thing is really a pain...but I guess if we want to sell things we better make sure the customers are actually seeing them, right?! ^_^ And as to the yarn, NOPE! Can't find it anywhere!! I'm wondering if I threw it away, thinking it was garbage or something! O_O Arghhhhhhh!

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  9. btaylor, Here's three of Etsy's articles to start with that are simpler to understand...I even think "I" got it this time!! LOL

    http://www.etsy.com/blog/en/2011/keeping-it-relevant-default-search-is-now-sort-by-relevancy/?utm_source=bronto&utm_medium=email&utm_term=The+Deal+With+Relevancy+&utm_content=etsy_teams_081511&utm_campaign=etsy_teams_081511

    http://www.etsy.com/blog/en/2011/putting-your-shop-on-top-etsy%E2%80%99s-most-relevant-search/?utm_source=bronto&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Putting+Your+Shop+on+Top&utm_content=etsy_success_081111&utm_campaign=etsy_success_081111

    http://www.etsy.com/blog/en/2011/make-your-shop-more-relevant/?utm_source=bronto&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Make+Your+Shop+More+Relevant&utm_content=etsy_success_081811&utm_campaign=etsy_success_081811

    And according to your symptoms....I'm afraid it sounds like you may be starting the "Change"...sorry.:-( But at the very least, now you can have an excuse for doing and eating silly things! LOL Nowadays I'm ALWAYS looking for SOMETHING!! My skin is always dry, my usually glossy hair is breaking off more frequently, and my appetite has changed, but not for more food. For less! And I am waaaay sensitive to the way everything tastes and smells! UGH!! Just like Archie Bunker said to Edith, who was getting signs of the 'change', I wish it would go ahead and CHANGE already!!! LOL

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  10. Lisa, Ha! Ha! Ha! I'm tempted to just say 'DITTO'!! ^_^ But for the time being, since I just got the point about this relevancy thing, I'm gonna give it that 'good ole try'!...Next week I'll be complaining just like everybody else I'm sure!! LOL Thanks! Have a good week yourself too! :-)

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  11. SnowflakeDreams1, Yes, yes, yes! Exactly! I should have had you here last night!! LOL But I've checked those too now...Nope! They're not in there either! I now think I might have thrown it away...This was the bag of my good, soft yarn that I kept near me most of the time. But when I knew the lady was coming over to do the house cleaning I moved it into another room so it would be out of her way to vacuum...And I think I might have moved it someone near the garbage that was going out, and either her or hubby might have thrown it away, not realizing what it was! :-( The sad thing is that I have enough yarn around here to crochet a blanket for Manhattan!! :-) But that was my soft, good stuff! You know how that is!...Oh well! Manhattan blanket, here I come! ^_^

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  12. CinLynn Boutique, Thanks my friend! :-) I'm all over this SEO now!! We'll see if it makes a difference, now that I actually understand what I'm suppose to be doing!...Have a good day with the kids!! :-)

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  13. The bag looks fun. I like it a lot.
    Have a lovely week, my friend.

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  14. Priscila, Thank you very much!That photo isn't the finished one, but that's the one I came across first. :-)) You have a good week too! Hopefully Irene will 'mind her business elsewhere'!! LOL

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  15. Wow that sounds a bit complicated, naming things for your etsy shop.
    I'm glad the 'situation' from last week has been sorted out too :)

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  16. Jo-anne, Oh Yeah, it's time consuming AND complicated! My poor brain is truly getting a workout! :-))

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  17. O bless you i did chuckle over the shoes and car keys in the fridge ;-)) I can't wait to see your bag finished and i agree you should charge a lot for it, loads of time and affort go into them along with the yarn etc and its a one off to. Good luck with all your projects, dee x

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  18. delia, ^_^ I was able to chuckle about it...AFTER the fact too! It was no laughing matter at the time it was happening though!!...And thank you about the bag. I've decided that even if it doesn't sell, I'll have it around to look at!! ^_^

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