So I am a little late... the latest on art, etsy and my life!

Etsy Buy Handmade lynsi

Where have I been for 6 months ?! I know how do you follow a blog where the blogger never actually blogs. I had waited so long to actually blog again, I kept thinking, "what do I say at this point?!" How do you explain where you've been and what has been going on in any aspect of your life for this long? Or do you pretend you were there the whole time!? LOL. As far as art, etsy and my life go ... Throughout September to early October I fundraised as a volunteer for the Leon County Humane Society (www.lchs.info.) I want to thank all of the Etsians and artisans who participated. It was incredible to have items donated from so many fellow artists, including four different countries! Twittering even helped get the message out! Emailed and convos came pouring in, it was truly a full time job for a couple months but I enjoyed every minute of it. In preparation for the holidays I worked hard both on finding other artisans to trade with daily and making custom orders. As a result of gathering Christmas presents through trading on Etsy my shop has been pretty bare. I had to go out of town and then got sick for most of January, so my shop has practically cleared out. Currently, I am rebuilding my shop and restocking my inventory. More to come, but this is my start back into the blogging world !

I know, I know... I've been a Bad Blogger

You may be wondering why or how I managed to start a blog and then get so sidetracked that there were only two entries. Yet my store appeared to be making sale after sale. Well, first of all, after the blog I also joined Twitter and created a Facebook account for my store and a fan page. Twitter was so much easier than keeping a blog, I was only allowed to type 160 characters! Twitter was so much less intimidating. I could write it as I was running out the door. The blog simply kept dropping lower and lower on the priority list. Just an FYI - I still have not done a ton with my Lynsis Fishbowl account and fan page on Facebook, but feel free to look me up. I will accept you a friend. That was the other thing with Twitter I could follow friends easily and quickly learn what was going on in their world without reading a novel like this, haha. However, I must say Twitter brings views but I do not believe it has brought me a sale yet. Although I did have my first sale within two weeks and at one point sold three paintings in about a 24 hour period I worked at it nonstop. Many of my recent "sales" have actually been trades. Trading is a great way to introduce yourself to new people and save yourself some time, money and effort going out into the outside world for both presents and birthdays. Although I must admit I traded for quite a few things I don't think I am willing to part with. This is the latest in my Etsy life. I promise it won't be nearly 3 months before I blog again!

The Journey Begins...

S0 after signing up for my very first blog, I also signed up for twitter. To my new fellow twitterers I recently announced I was opening my online store. I couldn't believe how many people began to follow MY twittering right away! My husband still looks at me funny when I say, "Guess how many people are following me now?!" At the moment, I am waiting before I update and announce my new site to the Facebook and MySpace worlds - and friends and family. I want to have everything a little more together and more merchandise in my shop. The goal is to more stuff to cover a wider audience and a greater chance of success. With one first impression, I don't want to screw it up! I was also very surprised how much traffic picked up a ton when I began posting on the Etsy forums and chatting in the Etsy chatrooms. Still no sales yet, but I remain hopeful and continue to work at bettering my business and networking. In the mean time, I have been learning everything I can to improve my shop and learn about how to successful selling art and jewelry in the Etsy World. I have a long way to go, but it feels like I am off to a good start!

Lynsi's Fishbowl

So here's the deal - I love creating art and it makes my day to have someone enjoy something I made. Since I can remember I have been creating art but this is the first time I am actually really trying to sell my artwork. It is a hard thing to say "I am an artist." I usually answer with, "Well, I paint..." or "Yeah, I mean... I make stuff." But "I am, I am an artist!" - there I said it. Ultimately, my goal is to build a business around my passion so I am able to do this full-time - as for now, I would be thrilled with part-time art work. Ha! Sorry, couldn't pass it up. What inspires me? Everything around me from my cats to the packaging on the back of my cereal box. I put my heart in everything I do. Each piece is made with a strong passion for arts and the love of making something from nothing. I have this strong desire for others to come into my world and see it through my eyes - this is my fishbowl.