What A Lovely way To Waste a Day!

Today I have mostly be procrastinating... I didn't feel like working so I gave myself permission to have a morning off and spent the last few hours playing with my paper stash!

I'm really pleased with the results and can feel some new ideas forming in my noggin! These paper bow are really fragile as the paper is very old but they are very beautiful... I wish I could find a way to make them less fragile so I could make them into hair slides!

I am thinking of putting them in box frames and making some cards too... I have so many ideas!  I think they woud make beautiful first anniversary gifts!

Shop Improvements... surviving the July slump!

I am on a mission to improve my shop 1 listing at a time! Looking back on my photos I have realised how much I have come on over the last year as a photographer and as a result some of my listings look a bit sad and drab compared to my newer ones. Also I have learned more about using better more appropriate props and composition.

Before

After

A few months back I bought a light tent (a small investment but such a great little thing!) and a copy of The Crafter's Guide to Taking Great Photos and am working thru my listings one at a time starting with my best sellers, then on to wedding cake toppers and once they are done then everything else! I am trying to photograph, edit and list one thing a day with new shiney photos and so far it is working, it's now the first thing I do every morning after my coffee (if the light is good enough!)

It's a tedious process going back thru over 100 listings but doing one or two a day means it doesn't feel like such a huge chore and it's worth it and my shop is starting to shape up nicely and I think my better images mean more views and treasuries too! Plus I feel my products are better represented now so my customers can see exactly what they are getting!

Why Didn't I Think of This Sooner?

The answer is... I did!

When I first started making owls I thought "I must offer these as wedding cake toppers" and then I just didn't because I am slightly rubbish! Lots of people do buy pairs of owls for their weddings but most do it by special request.

 

Around 2 years on I have finally managed to get my butt in gear and start photographing owls in pairs for cake toppers. I have been making them as special pairs all week. Rather than just throwing 2 random owls together my idea is to offer these as a made to order item so each pair will be made specially for each other just like my wedding cake topper love birds. I'll be offering them as big and mini owls pairs, so far I have on big and mini snowys and some barn owls.

I spent a very busy couple of days making 3 pairs to start off with and over the next few weeks I hope to be able to offer all my owls as wedding pairs. I'll be felting hard and taking advantage of the mid summer lull to get ahead with stock levels for the holiday season and working on new designs (hopefully)

As Part of Christmas in July we are offering a discount code CIJ15 for 15% off your order from our Etsy shop. Offer runs until July 31st and coupon code must be used at checkout to qualify as a special bonus you can also use this code at Inkmeup too and if you buy from both shops we will refund any postage overpaid so that all items are shipped together.

This is a great time to get ahead and start your Christmas shopping early as many sellers are having clearouts and sales right now. Lots of my favourite sellers in the UK Cake and Chat Team have sales too... I'm so tempted!