Back in Action

Sunday - Coffee and Cake
weekly musings, articles and mostly babble...


Back In Action It's been a busy few days, and for a change I feel like I'm on track with things! Including doing some new stuff like furthering my web presence on the blog, getting more exposure for the Monday Magic-ers by bringing them into the Etsy Treasuries, even getting a few new prints on the go :) I also sold a copy of Coco Pink earlier in the week which brightened my spirits and a lot of my efforts in recent days have has really positive responses from all that have been involved (and especially the kind few that have returned kind gestures of their own!)
I thought to myself on Monday that it'd be great if I could bring more views in for the Monday people that manage to get featured and thought I'd see what would happen if I created an Etsy Treasury, themed on our newest stars to Etsy... and it has had a tremendous response, I have to say I am really pleased with the feedback so far and I have decided that every Monday Magic group will get inclusion in any treasury I manage to grab (you have to fight for the things!) from here on. I don't know how many people pay attention to the stats of sellers when they find shops and items through Etsy search, or even if anyone checks Etsy pounce regularly which I do try and do because you never know what little surprises you may find with the emerging talents as opposed to what is already known to be fabulous with the established Etsians. I think the treasury on top of the Monday Magic post, although only focusing on 12-16 sellers a week is a step in the right direction for giving the newbies a chance to shine and get acknowledged before they and their items get smothered under the increasing amount of items and sellers adding themselves to Etsy every day. It's something anyway!
A couple of people got in touch with me with lovely kind gestures of their own which I thought was very nice of them, and wanted to give them a shout out because they're so lovely!
TurcoArts, a fellow photographer may I add sent me a message thanking me for showing interest in their work and offering 10% off any purchases, not only for me but anyone that I refer to his store in the future. I told him I'd mention this in the blog which I know made him quite happy and to remind anyone that visits his store from the link on here that plans to buy a photograph, to let him know that you had a referal from moonangelnay! Also I wanted to share a gesture from Wintergarden on Etsy whom kindly included my print Against the Grain in her gorgeous spotlight on byhand.me which is well worth checking out, its a stunning collection of items as is her store of beautiful knitted flowers! Thanks ever so much for that!
So regarding the community my fingers have been very busy on my keyboard! In my own little world however when not chasing my son and being booted from the inside by the baby.. and housework, I have somehow found the time to get a couple of new prints and like I said earlier, get some further word out about things like the blog and also my store... Infact I made an interesting discovery earlier whilst checking out the vault on CraftCults heart-o-matic site and found out that my print Twilight Rose had made the front page on Etsy on September the 18th 2009!!!! LOL! I never knew! I wish Etsy would tell people when they make the front page! At least I know why it's had a zillion views!

Anyways I'll leave the rambling at that as I have a new week to focus on after this and more newbies to find!

moonangelnay x

Balloon Head

New Listing on Etsy - Click image to visit the listing

hello! Yes I know it has been a few days... man it's been a knackering two days but I have quite a bit to talk about. Next Monday and Friday as you know I am introducing my new features for Etsy sellers that are at around 20 sales or under, and had a fantastic response to requests on the Etsy forum about it! Already I have slots filled up for Monday Magic and I'm compiling an interview for a fab seller for Friday Finds! It's going to be great, I'm really excited about the introduction and hope that it does well to drive traffic into their stores. I know how hard it is to do that whether time is your enemy or lack of marketing knowledge. But next week I'll be blasting both posts around my individual communities on the web, including the likes of Twitter, Indie Public and Facebook, which should most definitely help a bit if not a lot! I have a lot of faith in Twitter for marketing and I intend to expand on the reason on my upcoming Coffee and Cake article this Sunday. So keep an eye out for that post as it's part two of my marketing series!

So yeah all in all I have achieved something for once! Lol!

Now, my fatigue... would you believe is completely about paper? LOL I have spent the ENTIRE week fussing over paper, i swear until 2am each night. As you may know already I am introducing my own line of ACEO, 5x7 and 8x12 prints to my Etsy store, in a choice of Archival Matte, 100% Cotton Rag, Satin Lustre or Premium Glossy paper. And I have my beautiful new printer to thank for that. I'm just so excited that I have not been satisfied with any old paper, as the last thing I want is for people to have my art adorning their walls or desktops, and for something bad like fade or moisture runs to damage them! So yeah... archival paper... weeeeeee!

Now another thing i want to introduce in a short while are greeting cards, note cards, calenders and gift tags. I'm quite excited about this, and doing my research today has made me even more enthusiastic at the prospect. it's going to be a fab way (as will my ACEO prints) to offer bundles of my work at lower prices, and value for money is something I think we all think about in times like the present! So this is something I think will be great for customers that want to purchase my work but would like to spend less. And despite being stationary I won't compromise on the paper! Nope, it'll still be archival and of the highest quality coupled with the pigment inks I use. BUT... As I'm still updating items in my store with new descriptions, and have a long list of ACEO's to list, plus new prints to make... it'll be a little while before I can devote time to it. But DEFINTELY in time for christmas, you can expect my high quality and stationary for yourselves or as gifts to hit my store :D

Work aside, I've also been trying to devote more time to the family. The other half is recovering from his cataract operation for the next few weeks so my son has been in his element squealing the house down with joyful noise (although I don't know if the neighbours would think that LOL). It's been none stop since mummy explained last week about daddy's trip to the hospital! He's "doctor" Yukio this week. So far he's been more of an entertainer, like getting his hairy troll puppet to do the can-can, and putting cups on his feet... oh I can't forget him prancing about in my hat and shoes the other day... I don't think we've really been able to contain the laughter since! Particularly as he dressed himself... seriously! I HAD to take photos LOL! But yes It's been hard not to want to get involved in the fun so part of me has been very easily distracted for the past week, even though I have had the opportunity to work. I have been mind you! Just with the odd distraction. But yeah... work and fun leads to a sleepy mum! So I'd better crack on! I may not get a chance to blog again until Sunday but hopefully I should do! Until then :D

moonangelnay x x x

Think Thinking...

ALL NEW ETSY LISTINGS. CLICK EACH PICTURE TO TAKE YOU TO THE LISTING IN MY STORE! :D

I've had the chance to do a lot of that lately. Not so much time, that's still stressing me out but I have managed to lift a fair weight off my shoulders by discovering a few things that have helped me get this marketing thing down a little better, and also in the process given me some wonderous ideas!

I made a FAB treasury the other day. I actually made it into the top 5 before it expired. I'm hoping my newest one is just as good. I may post a pic of that in a few days. But it made me think about this blog and what I can do with it. There is nothing really of value on here for my readers unless you like to hear me chat rubbish all the time, but I thought about my journey so far on the marketing train, and also where I am with Etsy and figured it'd be a great opportunity to share my discoveries and tips whether they are my own or great articles I've come across once a week to help other "new" or low sale etsy artists drive traffic into their stores. I'm very excited at the prospect of doing this as I want to be able to give more than just whether I've had a coffee that morning or not LOL! You get me? I don't see how it's fair I do all this work and not share it as ultimately the whole point of Etsy to me besides selling handmade is the communal aspect of it. Everyone helps eachother on there and I want to do my bit, and make a feature of it weekly now that I'm in a position to document what I've done trial and error wise and let you guys know what works and what doesn't when it comes to getting your name out there. I am JUST starting to make sales now because of what I'm doing and who knows maybe it's just that time of year, but I really do believe that the numbers suddenly rishing into my store has a lot to do with it, whereas before the past 3 weeks (thanks goodness for the other halfs holiday!) I would skip across the room if just one person managed a 5 second glance at my homepage in a day. I can totally feel for anyone who may be in that position, and if you want to work at a home business it's the most devestating and motivation severing thing in the world to have your hopes shattered by lack of traffic. It's hard work but I have done a lot of experiementation (still am doing) and I think so far what I'll share in the coming weeks will take people further step by step and hopefully work some magic in those empty stores.

Another thing I am planning to do soon is offer advertisement slots on my blog although this is still in the making so details will have to come later!

Ah, and especially for the Etsy newbies or under 10 sales people I have a special plan for you all which will also like my weekend help articles, be a weekly occurance. More details about that on Sunday with my other announcements :)

So yes! Sunday will be my first article day. I am going to call it Coffee and Cake, as that's all you need on a relaxing Sunday morning whilst browsing the net. I look forward to it!

Whilst im at it, here are my recent photography prints to Etsy. Enjoy!

Not So Busy Bee...

I think it's fair to say that today has been too much of a blur for my liking. I really do think that the people invented time to cheese me off because it seems to pass by so quickly nowadays. I do think time is speeding up but that's a whole other blog!

Right now though I'm feeling a bit flustered at the lack of stuff I have managed to do today, having been given the opportunity via a baby free house!!! I guess my only consolation is that my mum has been telling me to have a few hours to myself to try and get over this cold, of which I had a few... Not by choice really. "Relax" she told me earlier. In my life that's a bit of a myth lol!!!

Well my form of relaxation came in the form of painting the walls... and I think I performed a splendid display of 'live action DIY mum'! But all came to a standstill when a particular gloss my other half insists needs to go on the frames, COULD NOT be found anywhere. Yet, it's matt twin has been driving me nuts at the corner of my eye all afternoon. I was VERY tempted to use that instead, but Elric wants it all to look shiny. So a velvety room is out of the question, no matter how tempting it is to lob it at the wall. The can is still sitting obnoxiously on the windowsill, probably cackling at me in a parallel universe. The frustration comes from time yet again by the way. There is slight appropriateness to my desperation.

Anyway, ignoring that color entirely! I managed to improve upon his painting with the main wall ;) and started the lower wall near to our sofa. I was pretty chuffed when I was done with that bit, which was why I was ready for color number 3 but... I despairingly gave up after the gloss hunt and twiddled my thumbs ever since. I'm not normally this over dramatic LOL! But I just want the house in order before the stampede of toddlers on sunday! Not to mention all the food I have to cook the day before, and the decorations I need to put up... *sigh* I hate it when I'm on a role and something distrupts it. Really throws me off, particularly when I'm not doing my daily mum thing! So currently I'm contemplating a late night of painting once the boys are back from visiting grandad (gonna make Elric find the gloss he so insists is sitting by the matt equivalent lol!), because I don't really think my brain can handle much else today lol!!!

Infact, away from my wonderfully productive day I have updated a few listings on etsy which I have neglected to share. I made a point of changing some listings to reflect other prices for prints in my store, as even though print sizes and prices are written into my profile, I have a hunch people probably don't look at it, and therefore only see the default size and price for all photography on there (8x12). So now there are some 5x7 listings (although remember they can be changed if you wish for something larger! Convo me on etsy for that). Anyway here are the new photographs I have listed. Each photo will take you directly to the listing which should allow you to view a larger photo too :) moonangelnay.etsy.com

Violet Star 5x7 $10

Sketchy 5x7 $13

Frog 5x7 $10

Iris Munch 5x7 $10

Frog ^_^

Well, I said I'd go to bed last night but actually... well I didn't. Lol. It was another 2am-er and I have pretty much spent today in complete zombie mode which hasn't been good for anyone, let alone myself! To be fair though I think that if I didn't begin working the way I am doing, I'd be sitting in the same position I've been complaining about for months in a weeks time thinking that something is out to steal my time away from me. When ultimately I have the choice to make time, and considering I do get little time being a mum n all, the late nights are necessary. It won't be forever. I just need to keep reminding myself of that! So yes, today... I barely remember it that's how tired I have been. I vaguely remember watering my vegetables, and the usual getting grumpy with my computer, oh and having to scold my little boy a few times because he's been hitting a lot today. Dunno why though, he had a good nap. Probably mirroring my mood! But yeah it's not a good thing that the portion before the other half's return from work is a blur. After however it has been a little more productive. Boring things like research, housework, cooking... but then the FROG appeared!
We have a tortoise called fluffy who has been missing in the garden for a few days, and whilst the other half was looking for her, he found the cutest little frog, whom Yukio befriended and was SOOOOO good and gentle with it. I was just amazed at how sweet he was holding him and gently popping him on the lawn to let him go free. He's not even 2 yet but he has this nurturing concept down to a t. Incredible little boy, he never ceases to amaze me, even when he is a bit of a grouch (i guess he's entitled to this week, head injury n all)!
enjoy the pics!

moonangelnay xxx

Birthday Hunt - I Really Dislike Shopping For Men...

Things have taken a smoother path today, although that has only meant I have been away from my computer (and not throttling it... hense the smooth part). Took Yukio to his little group debutots today which is a FAB drama group for toddlers where they get to have loadsa fun "becoming" the stories that are told to them. Although despite my own enthusiasm (and money), the fact that it's my son's highlight of the week due to the biscuit tin which is religiously plonked into the center of the hall after every session, worries me a tad lol. But I reckon he loves it really ;) I have no idea how much he ate there today confectionary wise, but I haven't had much fun changing any of his nappies that's for sure! Next week is his last session, and we may go for a picnic. I'll totally be snap happy :D
Anyway further to that I spent the rest of daylight hours at my mums doing some last minute shopping for my son's birthday party which is next weekend (the big 2... should i be scared?). It so happens his birthday is on exactly the same day as my best mates, and trust me I think the fact they are so close really does reflect in the pride they share over it! The only problem I'm having is finding a present for my friend. He isn't the fussiest of people, but I'm not your average kinda person that would go and buy a box of chocolates or bog standard watches or whatever as gifts. I'm quite awkward like that (I'm sure the other half will agree). I just HATE being normal, it doesn't require effort to buy just any old thing but it's his BIRTHDAY and they are supposed to be meaningful occassions, so I like to buy meaningful things. If I had the time I would jump on my sewing machine and whip up something totally bizarre and funky, but I lack too much of that these days. I only wish being so busy consumed as many calories! lol!!!

I also lack funds, so the things I have come across, despite how cool they are fall totally out of my budget. But I have to share what I have found cuz they are pretty nice, and who knows you guys may find something awesome for all doting fathers or other male related bipeds :)2 Robot Glasses by BreadandBadger

Circuit Board Guitar Pick by TheBlueKraken

Desert Path Pillow by PluckyPillow

Better get on with some work I reckon and look another time. Still got next week. Should be lucky hopefully!

moonangelnay xxx

Ho Hum...

I'm at a standstill today. It's been a few days since updating Etsy last (or maybe a week???), and I feel befuddled and fatigued to the point where now that the lil' one is napping and I actually have some time, I can't work out where to begin with the mountain of tasks I know I must do at some point. Is this normal in the land of toddler mums? LOL I only know a few people with kids the age of my son but man!!! I just seem to be someplace else right now. I'd love to curl up with a coffee actually, although I think that's the ID in me doing the tempting thing, as I know yestrday I completely over did the coffee and spent the day jittering and being grumpy!

I love my son to bits despite the fact he's been mr night owl for the past few days. He's fab at sleeping through the night, and I'm pretty lucky really as I still confront gaping mouths when I tell my friends that he's been this way since way before his first birthday. But I'm starting to think that maybe he's doing the sleepless nights thing to me in reverse LOL!!! Ahhhh but he's so cute, I still shower him with kisses even if my eyes feel like they are about to hit the floor :D
So probably the only organised and sensible thing I have done so far today is to cancel a dinner date for us both with my mum as I could do with the early night, and I doubt motorists on the street would appreciate a dancing car waving past them. I'm a bit gutted though as I hoped to take Yukio to Hickory Dickory (a big ol' jungle gym type place)... always tomorrow though! Instead I may see if some fresh air will rid me of my headache and keep young mr entertained this afternoon.

In the meantime I'd better crack on with some work whilst I can! My latest update due on etsy in the next hour is a new fave of mine. I'll have to make one for myself I think! I'm bound to post a picture of it by the end of today so keep an eye out for it, and in the meantime take a peek at my other items if you have the time. Love to all xxxxxxx moonangelnay.etsy.com