This is my newest Etsy Treasury.  One way I use it is I always pin it to a board in my Pinterest.   As I mentioned last week its a great way to find some super cool stuff.  

Here's another added benefit.  Let's say you have a friend and their birthday is coming up.  You have another resource for knowing what they like and dislike, and often its a deeper peak than what you have previously been able to learn in your past times with them.  Or if you have a gift Idea but you're not quite sure.  Use it to inspire a treasury, then Pin it.  You might can open an informal dialogue about it and might find something he or she likes better.  So its a win win!  Your sharing the love,  shopping for gifts, and driving traffic to your Etsy Store.  

One challenge I've had to deal with this year is how to draw traffic to my site.   For any new Etsy shop owners out there,  one very important factor is "sharing the love"  I have found that it is essential to create interesting treasuries.  

  Why are Treasuries so important? They show others what your interested in.  This leads to people with similar likes and dislikes following your likes and dislikes.  So doesn't it seem reasonable that a friend of a friend of a follower, might be in the market for what you are selling?

It may seem simple and there are a lot of other benefits when you start to evaluate deeper.  But this is really a huge part.   Its the kind of thing you do if you are not really into pushy sales, but you want to share with as many people as possible.  

Plus you end up finding some super cool stuff along the way.  Some of the best gifts I've given have come from some really cool treasuries.  ;)

A New Direction...

It's been so long since I've posted anything on this blog.  So I'm sorry for anyone who may have visited and been frustrated about not being able to reach me.

If there are followers still out there,  here's the scivvy.

After not being able to knit due to a repetitive motion injury to my right arm brought on by really fast, really intense knitting,  I had to move my focus to fabric.  The trouble is I have a lot of creativity and a deep seeded need to share that but not being able to knit killed me.  No more patterns,  no more cute little critters.  :(

I was sad but alas, what could be done?

Well here's what I've been up to.

In May 2012 after returning to my day job after a nice long 3 week vacation,  I found that my boss whom I had grown to love in the past 8 years had moved on.  I had been faced with the challenge of learning to work with and trust an entirely new manager, and that can be wrought with its own set of issues.  I did my best,  tried to be the dinosaur that I was.  I had suddenly become one of the longest employees there and many of the staff now looked to me for guidance and leadership.  

I did well.  I'm not going to be modest here.  I knew my stuff,  I was organized, and I was an excellent resource for not only the staff but also the green manager.  So in the evenings when I went home, I poured my heart and soul into sewing.  

The fruits of my labor finally paid off when in October of the same year,  business in my Etsy store took off.  After earning triple my regular hourly full time wage, I could not justify resisting the urge to take the leap.  And it could not have come at a more appropriate time.  New boss, new rules,  new environment,  new responsibilities and no new wage to match?  It was a no brainer.  

So I'm not officially a successful Etsy shop owner.  It has had its ups and downs,  each week has and continues to be a new challenge,  but as I approach the year mark,  I felt it was time to perhaps cut the ties with my knitting business and move on with the new.   I'm excited to start sharing the lessons I've learned this past year.  As I'm sure I never would have accomplished what I have had I not changed my way of thinking.  

Some of you may remember my "thinking error" phase.  I still use it, and practice it every day.  I still have thinking errors, but I can usually work my way through them very quickly now.  

I hope everyone is well, and I will be posting in a new direction from here on out.  I'm sure it will be an interesting journey.  If nothing else, it'll be a great place to share my opinions and insights without being judged.  Prepare to enter the "No Judgements Allowed" Zone.  ;)