LAST-MINUTE CHRISTMAS DEAL!

Hello to all last-minute holiday shoppers!!!

A friend turned me onto this website, http://www.freeshippingday.com/, that promotes shops of all kinds everywhere that will offer free shipping and guarantee it to be delivered if purchase is made by 12/16/11. 

Here's my link:

http://www.freeshippingday.com/?site=fringeandflourish


FREE SHIPPING THROUGH 12/16/11 USING CODE "DEC16" IN MY ETSY SHOP!!!

My shop features jeweled creations, all UNDER $30!  Take a look and stop in to browse!

Thanks,
ashley

EtsyHeartsBeadsTeam Blog Feature!

I am very honored to say that I was featured on the EtsyHeartsBeadsTeam blog!  You can find it here:  http://etsyheartsbeads.blogspot.com/2011/12/meet-ashley-sovinski-from.html?showComment=1323350493528#c9031461609332696217

Halloween Avatars!

Hi Everyone!  With the holidays coming, I wanted to switch avatars for my Etsy account.  My usual avatar (which you can see on the left side of the page) is a picture of my now-famous cat Gizmo.  He doesn't sit well for pictures, so I photoshopped a necklace on him since he won't wear one in real life. 

I created my Christmas avatar (him with a santa hat on), but as my mother says, "Isn't it a bit early for Christmas?  Whatever happened to Halloween?"  I thought of that, but I also thought it a bit late for a Halloween avatar.

But she put the idea in my head so I had to do it!  Now I've made two, and can't decide which one is better:

The Ghostly Gizmo





or

The Giz-O-Lantern?







What do you think?

NEW TEAM BLOG

So, as part of my new team leadership position for the NNNTeam (The New and Not-so-New to Etsy Team), I have created a blog for the team!  Not only will it give us a chance to further our comradre, but also will be a place where we can post Etsy shop reviews and critiques!  I can't wait to feature an artist from my team!  Please check us out here:

http://www.nnnteam.blogspot.com/

Team Leadership

A fabulous Etsy Friend of mine, Starla from Staflycreations, has invited me to embark on a new adventure with her in becoming the co-captain of her team the New to Etsy Team.  We have been working together a bit on this, and have turned it into something completely "New and Not so New". 

Starla really has opened my eyes to the leadership qualities I never knew I had!

I'm very grateful to her for giving me this opportunity.  She has a fabulous Etsy shop which you can find here:

http://www.starflycreations.etsy.com/

Couple of Custom Creations

I am filling some custom orders and thought I'd show off the pieces that won't end up in my etsy shop.  Take a look:

Thanks for looking!

My BNS Story

So after researching what in tarnation is a BNR or a BNS, I decided to give it a go.  A person in my Etsy circle was participating in a BNS run by a team dedicated to creating these things.  So, I took a gander and decided to play!

The curator was actually a team called "ParadiseBnR".  I noticed that they have a long history of creating these things, and that their treasuries get a lot of hits.  I read the rules, and it seemed easy enough.  And, they are budget-friendly!!! 

ParadiseBnR Rules:

*$4 min. purchase from featured shops (after discounts)
*Post your transaction link (no need to call out)
*Your name goes on list for next round
*Next Round starts right away

List updated by team members all day.


I caught the BNS sale early on in round 39.  The featured treasury items were all shades of pink and was very pretty, but i don't really do pink.  So I took a look around in all the featured shops to see what I might want to buy.  I found a wonderful woman who sells the cutest hair clips.

This is what I bought:

I purchased from the artist Rotifera.  You can see her shop here:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Rotifera?ref=seller_info

So, in the chat that appears below the ParadiseBnR treasury, I posted the link to my transaction.  Once I proved my purchase, I claimed a spot in the next "round". 

To review, I purchased an item in a BNS.  Because it is a "Buy and Stay", the artist I purchased from stays in the current BNS treasury.  Because I bought from her, one of my items appears in the next treasury created by ParadiseBnR.  The current round/treasury will "close" once the 16 slots in the next treasury are taken.  The next treasury is created and that is the next "round" of sales.

My work was featured in round 40 created by ParadiseBnR.  You can check out the complete treasury here:

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/ODQ2NDg4MHwzNzkxMDQxMDE/closed-paradise-bns-rnd-40-4-min-open?index=8

Now, the round 39 treasury was open for sales for a long time.  Since ParadiseBnR has members all over the world, they stay open 24-hours.  Most other BNR/BNS sales "close" at a certain time (like midnight) so everyone can go to bed and get some beauty sleep!!!  I kept checking every hour or so to see if round 39 closed.  I was anxious to see what the curator picked out of my items to be featured in my spot in round 40.  Of course, they must have set some kind of record as to the longest sale ever (or at least it seemed that way because I was waiting with baited breath)!!!

Once round 40 was created, I was highly disappointed.  As an artist, everyone has their "favorite" pieces of their own work.  Well, the item that was featured was on of my least favorites!  I was glad and thankful to be in the treasury, but of course as this was my first BNS, I wanted it to be a good representation of my work.  Hmph.  But not to worry..... I still made a sale!!!

Someone bought a pair of my earrings during round 40 and I thought, "Geez, this really does work!!  All these people are looking at my shop!"  Unfortunately, the customer who bought from me did so towards the end of the sale.  So then I was debating for the rest of the sale, "Should I try this again?"  Then I realized, I bought something for 5 dollars and then someone bought something from me for 5 dollars.  What have I got to lose? 

Of course this revelation hit me when there was only one spot left for the next treasury.  So, panic-stricken, I clicked and clicked on everyone's listings and scouraged each shop for what my next purchase would be.  I found the most PERFECT item ever from H20Works:

If that doesn't explain my new "Etsy Life", I don't know what does!!!

So, again, panic-stricken, I posted my transaction link and JUST made it into the next round!!!  You can see round 41 here:

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/ODQ2NDg4MHwzODA3NjAwNTE/closed-paradise-bns-rnd-41-4-min-open?index=12

And this time, I felt better about the item they featured.  ParadiseBnR does an excellent job creating these treasuries.  Don't get me wrong, they are a fabulous group of people.  It's just that my own insecurities about my work sometimes get the best of me!  I suppose that happens to all artists..... as I have heard many times before, "You are your own worst enemy when it comes to starting a business".  All that doubt can grab a hold of you sometimes!

Anyway, I did not make any sales during round 41.  Round 41 occurred on a Sunday morning, and the speed of the sale was incredible!!!  In less than 3 hours, the sale was over and so was my exposure. 

The results of participating in these sales were incredible!!!  I didn't realize how many people these sales reached.  In any given weekend day, without advertising or doing anything else, I was recently averaging:

• 12 people looking at my shop each day
• 30-40 pageviews each day
• 1 person flagging my shop as a favorite (maybe)
• 1 or 2 items being flagged as someone's favorite each day

During my participation in the two BNS sales:

• 50-55 people looking at my shop each day
• 200-250 pageviews each day
• 8 people flagging my shop as a favorite each day
• 35 items being flagged as someone's favorite (total over 2 days)

See the difference?!?!

THE MORAL OF THE STORY:

I will never again doubt the power of the BNR!!!

What in the Heck is a BNR?!

Whoever thought of the idea of BNRs and BNSs was a money-making genius!!!  Now, what are they?

A "BNR" stands for "Buy and Replace" and a BNS stands for "Buy and Stay".  My last post was about treasuries.  Some treasuries, or collections of etsy artisan works, are these BNRs.  A creator, called a "curator" on etsy, creates a treasury and titles it a BNR/BNS.  This would be like any other treasury:  a collection of friends' work, team members, random people, etc.  Usually these treasuries are created by a popular person with a lot of reach or a team.

The idea is that if you want a spot in that treasury, you have to "buy" it.  You don't pay for a spot in the treasury per se, but you need to purchase something from one of the artists in the current treasury.  For example, I decide I want to be in a particular BNR.  If there is nothing in that treasury that I'm interested in purchasing, I click on each item and then check out the shop it came from.  Once I purchase an item from any of the shops featured, I let the curator know and I get the next spot in the treasury.

In a BNR, I purchase from "Artist A" and once the curator is aware of the transaction, they put one of my listings in that slot.  Artist A made a sale and is no longer featured in the treasury.

In a BNS, a "Buy and Stay", I purchase from Artist B and once the curator knows, I get a slot in the next treasury they create.  Artist B stays in their spot in the treasury for the remainder of the sale.  Each treasury, as explained in my previous post, has 16 slots.  Once 16 sales are made, that BNS treasury "closes" and the curator creates a new treasury featuring all the purchasers from the previous BNS.  These are also called "rounds".

Sound complicated?  It took me a while to figure it out!  And the most complicated part?  Each BNR and BNS is different!  The curator of the treasury sets the ground rules, listed in an ongoing chat that appears below the treasury. 

An example of those rules:

• minimum purchase ("$10 before shipping" or "$5 after any coupon codes")
• length of sale ("open until 16 sales" or "closes at midnight")
• amount of slots per purchase ("buy from curator and get 2 slots" or "purchase over $20 buys 2 slots)
• who picks the item to be featured ("curator chooses" or "artist chooses")
• permission to puchase

Permission to purchase is a bit odd to me.  Some curators state in their rules that you must ask them permission to puchase from a particular seller.  For example, a curator might state, "Call out artist in CAPS.  Wait for curator response before purchase."  If I wanted to purchase, I would have to ask "permission" in the chat below the treasury.  I'm not quite clear on why you would want to do this, other than knowing who was "first in line" when it comes to the end of the sale.

BNRs and BNSs are VERY popular on Etsy.  There are entire teams of people that participate in creating these treasuries.  Currently on Etsy, there are 82 teams with the word "BNR" in the title, and 41 with "BNS".  Some people claim it is the best way to gain exposure and make sales. 

As mentioned in the post about treasuries, the more views a treasury has, the higher up on the list it goes.  The most popular treasuries end up on the first page of the treasury listings.  The higher up in the listings, the more people are apt to see it and thus see your work.  The more people deem it one of their "favorite treasuries", the more people's circles of friends will see it.  I didn't quite believe in the power of this idea myself, but I have since changed my mind.

NEXT UP:  My BNS Story!

Treasury Treasures

TREAS-UR-Y:

• a collection of artistic or literary treasures

That's the literal definition, besides what a treasury is defined as in government settings.  I looked up this word today and found several definitions.  My favorite, as posted in the Collins English Dictionary is:  "a storage place for treasure".

As an Etsy member, you have the ability to create collections of your favorite "artistic treasures" aptly-named "treasuries".  You create a page with up to 16 pictures of items you like from different artists.  You can make the pictures anything you wish.  The Etsy guidelines on treasuries is that you should not include your own work, and feature each artist once.  Every treasury is unique and can be saved and viewed by others.  Each one has a theme:  a color, a type of item, a "feeling", etc.

For instance, my first treasury was called "Orange You Glad?" and of course featured all different kinds of media, all in the color orange. 

You can view it from here:
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/MTQ2NjE2MzJ8MzAxMTY3Mzk4/orange-you-glad?index=22

Everyone featured in the treasury gets a message on their activity feed that says "You are featured in this treasury".  People look, people comment.  If they tag it as a favorite treasury, all their friends get a link to it too.  The creator/curator's friends get a link to it.  If someone searches treasuries for "orange", it would come up.  The more people look at it, the greater chance it might get featured on Etsy's homepage.  It's basically a way to build a network and get more exposure.  If you are on a particular team and make a collection of that team members' work, it helps to promote your team and yourself as well.

Here's my latest traditional treasury:

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/MTQ2NjE2MzJ8MzE2OTcxNTAx/silvery-lining?index=8

Yesterday I got the idea to make treasuries dedicated to certain "friends" or "circle members".  Some artists are just that fabulous!  Each one features 4 pics of that artist's work.  The rest of the collection is made up of that artist's favorites.  I made a few and they went over pretty well.

Here's one of those:

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/MTQ2NjE2MzJ8Mzc4Mzc4NjY4/very-vivacious-view-from-my-window?index=2

Up next?  BNRs  (and you're saying, "what's a BNR?")

My Emerging Etsy Career

Once upon a time, I started an etsy shop.  Actually, it was April 28, 2011.  It was a dark, and stormy night.....(just kidding)

Like I mentioned in my first post, I started making jewelry and ordered (a ton) of supplies from Fire Mountain Gems.  I was making too many pieces for just gifts - I will never have that many friends in my life - so I decided to try and share my wares.  Etsy made it an easy process.  I'm computer literate and all, but even someone who's not could follow their directions.

I took pictures of my work, which is difficult when you have a very curious feline living with you.  I took a board and placed it over my bathroom sink, which is the room in my apartment with the best lighting.  I live in a basement, so natural light is not usually an option.  I put out my pieces and before you knew it, I was having fun taking the pictures.  Then, Mr. Curious came along.  I started having pics with paws in them!  Then I'd tell him, "You stand over there!  You're blocking my light!"  (as if he had any idea what I was doing or what I was trying to tell him)

I researched other items like mine on etsy to see pricing, etc.  I read article after article about owning a shop.  Then I realized, comparable items were all over the map in terms of pricing.  Some were as inexpensively-priced as mine, others were through-the-roof expensive!!!  So, I did what most etsy sellers do, under-priced.  I figured that the lower the price, the more people would likely be able to fit it into their budgets.  However, I have heard from others and from articles online that most people's biggest mistake is under-pricing.  You are "supposed to" take into account supply costs, which is obvious.  But then you figure out, well, "How much do I spend to list the item?  Advertise the item?  How much will 3rd-party transaction costs be through Paypal and the like?" 

Then, "How much am I worth hourly?"  "How much time do I spend promoting?"  As a newer artist without a strong artist career background, I figure "I'm not worth much!"  I laugh when I think of this, but it's true.  When starting out, I assume my hourly rate will be a negative number.  I have to get my name out there before I consider how much I'm charging for my time!  Plus, I'm not a highly-paid worker at my day job.  So that doesn't help the considerations much, either.

The hardest part?  What to do after you create the shop....... circles of friends, new online friends, etsy teams, treasuries, BNR/BNS, networking, advertising........ and now blogging!!!

Today I started this blog thing

This is my first-ever blog attempt!  I figure I'll tell you a little bit about why I'm writing this blog, who I am, etc.  Here goes:

My name is Ashley Sovinski.  I grew up in Sunderland, MA (a very small town) that was traditionally a farming community.  My grandparents were farmers and my parents were railroad workers.  I always had a creative mind, and I believe that's because of my mother.  I remember being a little girl and being fascinated with how well my mother could draw.  Of course it was pandas, but still....

I liked school when I was small, especially art class.  And yes, we still had art in public schools at that time!  I went to a regional high school and then to a public university.  I graduated from UMass - Amherst.  I've had a lot of different jobs in my short life, but that artistic interest was always there.  My first "on the books" job was in a local butcher shop.  Then, at a research firm.  Then, I got into direct elder care and Adult Day Care.  From there I became a case worker for elders who live in the community, which is what I do now.  But that creativity is still looming underneath!

I started out my artistic life with paper crafting, painting, making scrapbooks, etc.  I remember a friend of mine in high school shared my obsession with color - we could go into the art store and stare in awe at all the colored pencils and paints for hours!

Just recently, I thought I would try my hand at jewelry making.  I work with a woman who makes beaded bracelets and watch bands and it was the first time I heard of my now-favorite supplier:  Fire Mountain Gems.  Again, I was struck with that same colored-pencil awe and spent hours gazing through catalogs and even more hours burning my eyes out on their website. 

Of course, my mother was in on it too.  However, she is more into the classic, simple designs.  I'm more loud, gawdy, and sparkly.  She knows when we go to art festivals or craft shows that she will lose me around anything that sparkles and shines!!!

I started making jewelry as gifts for people.  Then I realized that I was making more things than I would ever have friends for!  And that was the start of my Etsy career.....

Check out my shop:  http://www.fringeandflourish.etsy.com/

And give a gander at my favorite supplier:  http://www.firemountaingems.com/