Viva Variety!

Neglected

2010-05-08T07:25:00.000-07:00

I've obviously neglected this blog and my Viva Variety etsy shop. Maybe I will open it back up in the future, but right now I am focusing on my doll store: www.glamourfae.etsy.com

Many great things have happened for me in the Blythe world. I was a successful vendor at the first ever BlytheCon and will be vending at the second BlytheCon in Portland in June 2011. For more info on BlytheCon please visit their website: www.blythecon.com

I am also collaborating with Romina from I Have Wings creating jewelry to accompany her sets. Please visit her blog to see more: http://ihavewingsatelier.wordpress.com/

Romina also created an amazing custom girl for me per my instruction. She came out amazing!

Romina and I are also sending outfit and jewelry sets to be sold at Junie Moon this summer! Very exciting! :D

To keep up to date with my dolls, please visit my flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/glamourfae/
There you will be able to see all of my new jewelry and headbands for them.

Jewelry making

2008-10-24T04:44:00.001-07:00

I've been crafting a lot this week, trying to stock my shop for Christmas! I worked on some new jewelry to update with!

Here is an upcycled necklace I made using a vintage metal filigree medallion. I added the chain and the dangle bead and sparrow.

I also made some simple beaded bracelets

Christmas is coming!!

2008-10-15T15:09:00.000-07:00

To get ready for Christmas I've made some new gift tags! A lot were made using my new favorite designer paper ,Cosmo Cricket! They have the best designs! I plan on adding more items to my shop within the next few weeks. Probably some more seasonal items and other random goodies that would make great gifts. I'll be sure to blog about it! :D

Blog feature!

2008-10-03T09:16:00.001-07:00

Ya! I am so excited to be featured on one of my favorite blogs; Paper Girl Productions.

Please go check it out and give it some love! And browse the rest of her blog, it's super cute!

Here's the direct link to my feature: Friday's Cuteability!

I finally snagged a treasury!

2008-09-30T13:17:00.001-07:00

Whoohoo! I finally was able to make a treasury! Check it out!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=12409

Playing with dolls

2008-09-29T10:52:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in my previous posts, I haven't been very productive. It seems like the new doll arrival has taken up a lot of my time! But I did make a nice little headband for a fellow Blythe lover. Made with genuine Swarovski crystal beads and butterfly accent. Story got to model it.

Trying to get more traffic

2008-09-29T10:44:00.001-07:00

So I am trying to think of ways to get more traffic to my etsy and my blog. I was thinking of doing a link exchange for etsy shops. Basically, I will link your site on my blog under the "Etsy Shop Link Exchange" list if you link back to my etsy shop on your blog. Anyone interested? Just leave me a comment and let me know!

Look Ma, it's a box!

2008-09-27T08:15:00.000-07:00

While watching the debate last night, I made some gift boxes to get ready for the holiday rush (at least, I hope there will be a rush)! I recycled some Starbucks nutritional facts pamphlets and also used some extra scrapbook paper I had. Hopefully I will get some sales soon so I can send them out in these snazzy boxes!

Is anyone going to offer gift wrapping or anything extra for the holidays?

not being productive

2008-09-26T17:26:00.000-07:00

I have been really slacking the past week with my shop. I haven't done much promotion or updating in a while. I'm planning on going back to college in January and I've been busy studying for my math placement test and looking for scholarships. Plus, I've been spending more time on doll things. I have three hats I need to knit and a headband to make, so it hasn't given me a lot of time for the human goods. And next week I am going to Georgia for about 4 days to visit my family as an early birthday celebration. And as an early birthday gift to myself, I bought Miss Sally Rice! I really love her...

Super awesome treasury!

2008-09-18T17:21:00.000-07:00

I was featured in an awesome treasury made by redpossum!

Please check it out and comment!

Almost forgot!

2008-09-16T05:39:00.000-07:00

I also uploaded these a few days ago. It's my first "set" of cards. I had a lot of fun making them. I really love the Asian inspired paper that I found to use. Oh yes, and they all come with matching envelope seals!

Love

Wisdom

Tranquility

Harmony

More cards

2008-09-16T05:36:00.000-07:00

I've been making cards like mad the past few weeks. I am slowly adding them to my etsy. I'm trying to see if updating once or twice every day will actually bring more sales to my shop. Normally I just add everything at once. In any case, here are the two I uploaded last night.

Halloween Cards!

2008-09-04T14:59:00.000-07:00

Made some Halloween cards. I've got enough to make multiple copies, but I figured I would see how these sell first before I go listing a bunch! Here's the first three designs.

I used victorian Halloween themed children collage photos by geminiangelart.com. And used with permission. :)

I've also entered these into the Halloween Theme Thursday Challenge

Treasury and Blog Feature

2008-09-01T08:11:00.001-07:00

Wow, today has been great! I wake up to find that I'm in a treasury and I'm a featured seller on a blog!! Go check them out!

Elizabeth Jayne blog - Featured Seller

Thank you to ttmorris for including my tags in this totally kitschy treasury!!

Go view and comment, please!

Kitsch time!

2008-08-31T13:16:00.000-07:00

Really, what's not to love about wonderful kitschy things? It always brings a smile to my face to see a pair of pink flamingos in someone's yard or a little old lady rockin' a blue beehive like it was 1962. My favorite kitschy place to visit on the web is LaLa Land.

I promise you, your head will explode from all of the fabulously tacky things. And she even has a shop devoted to all things Kitsch! And something else that makes her equally awesome; she loves Blythe dolls as much as I do.

And in my quest to bring more funky, retro items to the world, I've made these two new sets of gift tags for my etsy shop.

Two sides of rad-ness!

Small update today & sale

2008-08-28T09:34:00.001-07:00

I relisted my black Swarovski bow necklace today. I also added a new bracelet.

I'm having a sale on my stickers at the moment. They are usually priced anywhere from $3 to $5. Now they are on sale for $1.75 to $3.00! Go check them out!

Another treasury!

2008-08-25T09:06:00.001-07:00

Wheee!! I woke up to find that my purple and green garden stickers were featured in another treasury. So far I've been in three but still haven't had any sales come from them! But it's still good promotion!

I especially love the bookmark from ShopBub and the flower brooch from Accessoire.

Another treasury feature

2008-08-23T15:15:00.001-07:00

Being part of the INCrowd Etsy Street Team has really helped to give my shop some more exposure. Still haven't gotten any sales in almost a week but I'm still hoping things will pick up!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=3240

Just a few things...

2008-08-22T06:24:00.000-07:00

I updated the shop yesterday with a few new tags and sticker sheets. Sales have been really slow. I haven't sold anything in 5 days even though I've had two batches of updates. Any advice on how to get more sales? I'm trying to promote as much as possible on etsy forums, flickr, and the blog. I've also included my site in some search engines. I still only seem to get about 20 views a day! Everyone keeps saying to give it time and the sales will come. I just hope they're right!!

And so this isn't a text only post, here's a few photos.

Mmmmm... these look good enough to eat!

Antique Cell Phone Charms

2008-08-20T09:06:00.000-07:00

I found these wonderful antique style metal charms and thought they would be perfect for cell phone charms. I've uploaded these to etsy today

I've got more styles of these charms so if these sell I will definitely be posting more!

My first treasury!

2008-08-17T06:22:00.001-07:00

Thank you so much to SpiceofLifeDesigns for including my wrist corset in her treasury featuring Indiana Estians!

And here is the link: http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=1962

Felted Wrist Corset!

2008-08-15T14:29:00.001-07:00

I began knitting about a year ago and still consider myself kind of an amateur. I can't do amazing color work or shaping like some people, but I am always trying to learn new things and improve. I was watching the Olympics the other night and felt the need to knit. I just casted on without anything in mind and this is what I came up with.

I am just beside myself. Even though it's very simple, I think it's totally cool.

Big etsy update

2008-08-15T14:07:00.000-07:00

Whew, my hands really hurt after all of that typing and uploading on etsy! I spent most of today crafting and trying to add more diversity to my shop. I am really pleased with the gift tags I made!

Heart Stamped Tags - Maybe it's because I am reading the Twilight Saga that these came about...

Stamped Bird Gift Tags - I really love these stamps and so glad to finally put them to use!

Princess Crown Gift Tags

Retro Owl Gift Tags - Another great stamp!

Fairy Tale Gift Tags - These remind me of a faraway place once upon a time!

Any feedback is greatly appreciated! I struggled with how to price these as most people won't pay a lot of money for gift tags but a lot of work went in to them. Hopefully they are reasonable and will sell!

Tropic Thunder

2008-08-13T17:02:00.000-07:00

Joe and I went to see Tropic Thunder today. Within the first five minutes I was laughing so hard that tears were streaming down my face. It got a little long in the middle, but by the end it picked up the pace and became even more hilarious! The end scene with Ben Stiller and the child had me and Joe in hysterics. And the funnest part about the whole thing... we were the only ones in the theater laughing! This has only happened to us one other time when we saw Team America. There were also two older women who walked out of the movie. I wonder what they thought it was going to be? A serious war movie, perhaps?

In crafting news, I made some new cell phone charms and listed them in my shop

Four sales today!

2008-08-10T16:49:00.000-07:00

Imagine my excitement when I got to the hotel in New Orleans and signed online to see that I had four sales today! This is the most items I've sold in one day's time at my new shop. I know it might seem small to some of the more successful Etsians, but I was beginning to get a little worried about my sales. I started to think that my shop was useless and no one would really like my crafts. But this has given me a little more hope and drive to keep creating! Mind you, two of my items were vintage photographs, but the other two were new items I made. They were definitely my favorite cell phone charms from the last etsy update:

I really love being a part of Etsy. Crafting has always been a favorite past time of mine and it feels so wonderful to know that others are enjoying my work. Since I am getting overly cheesy now, I will sign off for the night. I have to wake up bright and early to fly all day!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

2008-08-09T15:11:00.000-07:00

Of course I can't forget to wish my mom a Happy Birthday today. She's hit the big 5-0!!

Friend Request

2008-08-09T08:29:00.000-07:00

I got a request from a fellow doll friend to make the bow necklace in black. I assumed it would be easy to find round black 4mm beads at the craft stores. Five hours and four stores later my search was unsuccessful. Really, who thought it would be so hard to find such a simple bead?! Luckily, my friend was in no rush, so I was able to order some from Ebay that arrived the other day. I quickly got to work and here's the result.

After uploading the photo to my flickr, I had another doll friend ask to make this into a headband for Blythe. That's what I will be working on today and hopefully it will work because I suspect that will be very, very cute. For those of you who aren't familiar with Blythe, here's my flickr Blythe collection.

I have an insanely early report for work tomorrow. I have to wake up at 3am! >_< The good thing about my trip is that I have a 29 hour overnight in Denver so I get to visit with my doll friends Roz and Sher! I believe we're going to the Denver Botanical Gardens so I will be sure to take lots of pictures and post them here upon my return.

And if you've read this far, you may as well comment! ;)

Welcome to my new blog

2008-08-08T08:58:00.000-07:00

Hi all! For those of you who don't know me, my name is Rebecca and I live in Indianapolis, Indiana. I've started this blog to discuss my crafts and updates on my etsy shop; Viva Variety! You may also find me rambling about things that have nothing to do with etsy, but I will try to keep those posts to a minimum!

My goal on etsy is to bring you wonderfully cute and useful things! Currently I sell stickers, jewelry, cell phone charms, and various paper crafts. I hope to update with knitted items once the weather turns a bit cooler. I just can't bring myself to knit woolly things when it's so warm and sunny out! Indiana really has the most lovely summers with it rarely going over 90 degrees.

Here is my favorite item in my shop at the moment

An adorable bow necklace made with genuine Swarovski Crystals and Blue Moon faux pearl beads. I also plan to make them in other colors. Feel free to contact me with any special requests.

With that said, I hope you enjoy reading my blog and seeing my crafts. I also look forward to getting to know more people in the etsy community!