Sunday 30 May 2010

Sharing: A head full of Business

*Waving*

It's week two and, while I've got a bunch of things going through my mind (the most saucy being a constant dream of my future working space), I've put everything in order! Wish my room would do the same for her contents! I've decided to stay focused, meaning not to post random personal photos, and share all my business ideas and difficulties during these two weeks in two categories - one about some personal work decisions and the other containing all about Etsy including some images from my forthcoming shop.

  • Crafting, crafting and again crafting. In my mind.

~ Before I came home I had quite some time to work over the design of my main product for the time being: magnets. The whole concept sprung out of the need to draw and create something simple and cute for a change (and not cat-eating three-eyed sharp-horned bears). I've wanted to replace detail with a respectful degree of negligence and the creation I finished up with looked (and still looks) like this:


All of this was fine for the personal need I had for magnets - something bright and shiny to fix the dark Gollumish fridge-room. It's cute, childish and colorful. However, recently I was trying to describe my target audience (wow, what these blogs could do with you!) in order to think of a proper strategy and even to come up with a way to widen it. Mostly women, my buyers would be either artistic and child-spirited or have kids who'd enjoy the shiny animal on the food-crate. Somehow this sounds like me in the present and future but it did not satisfy me. I want my magnets to be able to fit in a room where decors are more stylish, more subtle. Simply said, I want them to fit in this:



I want them to be a subtle accent. That's why I'll be experimenting with background and coloring this week. Ideally, I'll end up with two kinds of magnets which would offer a bit more options for each client. Whether I've succeeded and what's the outcome, you'll see all about it next week.

~ Speaking of target audiences and blogs, I've decided to take my Etsy shop as a more serious undertaking than I initially thought it would be. I don't want to open my shop and wait for a miracle, I want to make the miracle happen to me.

Trying to pour some brain in!

At the local book fair I saw a marketing book published by some Harvard lecturers who teach MBA. Although I'm still at the beginning of the book, it should be helpful in making me understand the basic things about having a business to sell. Moreover, I'm looking forward to a masters in Publishing which teaches a lot about selling and I want to be prepared whatever the situation. Thanks to my newly born interest in business affairs hopefully my Etsy story will be a step ahead. Oh, and if I fail to understand it (well, yes, I do read fiction only) there's always my smart partner to explain things to me. Phew!

Smart boyfriend + Smart book = Definite success!

~ Taking it on the next level has been my motto for a while. My plans include finding a way to explore interior design theories (know a useful book, anyone?), buying myself a sewing machine for simple packages and learning more about photography than how to press the Auto button. While rummaging through Etsy, I found this site: http://digital-photography-school.com/ and I'll find the time to read all of it after we buy my very first photographic stand (is that even its name?!). I'm quite excited about all of this and can't get rid of this feeling that I have to learn more each day. Wonder if that'd end well! And there is this other thing...

  • The reality of earning pocket money to fuel crazy craft projects.

~ While this blog and all my other thoughts have been a constant source of working experience, I do know that I need actual money to buy actual supplies if I'm to realize all of this. And, yes, I'd like to go on a holiday and not to ask my mom for money every second day. I was preparing my psyche for some boring low-paid job, but then a spark of hope appeared on my mobile's screen when a friend called offering me the opportunity to work with him and a bunch of American doctors. It's going to take 12 days but the pay will probably cover a holiday and some supplies while not leaving me penniless! I'm also quite excited to do something new (Americans, wow, really?) and spend some time as an adventurer! I will miss my partner, but I'll make sure to terrorize him over the phone at least twice a day! 

~ After this job is done, I will probably start working as an intern of a Bulgarian publishing house. Volunteer work, but the experience will surely be worth my time! Tomorrow will be the day to arrange my internship program, so wish me luck! 
  • Conclusion, conclusions!
This post contained a bit too much randomness, but it did present my business process at the moment. Feel free to share some of your dilemmas or suggestions on how to resolve mine! Or just be random, we tolerate random. Having agreed to work for these Americans, I'll be away for the next two weeks, but the blog will be kept alive thanks to scheduled posts! Anyway, this week I'm all live and writing making sure you can get your weekly finds and tips. Join me on Wednesday, when we'll be looking at some creations with purpose in the Alternative Finds section, this week called "Purpose per pose"!

Trying to figure out what is it that the aliens gave to humanity in a form of camera.

Throwing enthusiasm here and there,

Bilyana

Friday 28 May 2010

Finding: Masha

Howdy!

There was a little spoiler on Monday, because Etsy doesn't exactly swarm with Bulgarian artists, however, there are some worth looking out for! Although my intention to feature one of them was realized in a halfway manner (reasons attached below), I think it is a success even if it's just because I feel almost tragically inspired to do what I want to. Tragedy or not, find out why one should and how one could feel free to create from the following interview!



  • Share a bit of your story, please.

My name is Mariya, but everyone calls me Masha because I am half Bulgarian and half Russian. From very little I felt drawn to creating things and I was very encouraged by my family – my mother is very creative, she worked as a Crafts teacher so she was always sewing, knitting, etc. So making things with your own hands or expressing your ideas in a creative way was something very natural to me.
I think I have always dreamt of doing something creative for a living, but I felt some pressure for choosing “more serious” things, so my education has absolutely nothing to do with arts or design. I felt so unhappy at the jobs I used to work – like the days where passing by with no meaning and that life was slowly taking me further away from my dreams, but finally I have come to turns with myself and just realized that making my dreams come true is nobody’s business but my own – so here I am. I have my Ornamelle shop at Etsy, my blog, I help my husband with his wedding photography business and I am full of ideas and plans for the future. Financially things are not so pink yet, but I have finally found happiness and peace and I have never felt more complete.
I have always said that if do something that makes you unhappy you’re not only harming yourself, but other people as well, since that negative energy transfers to those around…
  • What place does art have in your everyday life? How do you manage to balance creativity and chores?

Art is my everyday life – I don’t have working hours, or days  - this is what I find so liberating, sometimes I feel like doing things in the mornings and having the afternoon off and sometimes I find myself sewing through the night… As a matter of fact I hated having working hours.
And honestly I enjoy doing the chores – mostly I enjoy going to the market for groceries, I think of this walk as a treasure hunt – I always find really nice, useful/useless and inspiring things…
  • What is it that inspires you?

I find inspiration in many places – from other people on the internet, in magazines, in nature, but mostly in myself – what I mean is that now I have a pretty good idea of what I like, I have seen so many things (not enough, but a lot) and there are things that have stayed with me and continue to inspire me through the years, so I have created something like an “Inspiration Folder” in my mind and I always go back to it. When I create something I always ask myself “Do you really like it? Would you use it?”.
  • What do you expect to happen to your Etsy store in the future?

I’d love to add more products and right now I’m working on that.  I hope someday I will end up with a place where people will recognize my style immediately and would love what I do…but that’s a work in progress, fortunately.
  • Any strategy to help you achieve your artistic goals? Would you share one tip with all new-born artists?

My experience so far has shown that the best strategy in life is to do what you love, give your best, always stay positive and never forget what are the most important things in life. And I guess my tip is never to give up believing in yourself – not everyone will love your style or product, don’t get frustrated.  The most important person that you have to win over is yourself – this energy will transfer to other people.
  • Anything else you'd like to say?

Thank you for this interview. And I wish the blog all the success !




I too am grateful to Masha for the wonderful start of 'Finding:'! If you ever need more of her spirit and vision, do visit her blog at http://www.ornamelle.com/ and her Etsy shop - http://www.etsy.com/shop/ornamelle.

That's it for this week, hope everybody has a productive weekend. Keep hunting for treasures and remember I'll try bring some to you next week!

A calm and satisfied

Bilyana

Wednesday 26 May 2010

Treasure Hunting: It’s all about those hands




We do enjoy our hands… Well, at least when we see a pair in a TV ad of some divine hand cream. Apart from these few seconds of admiration, however, we rarely take much of our time to just pay them their due respect. We dress them up, paint them all over, stretch a few wrinkles here and there and some of us are chewing some skin viciously even at this very same moment!
A bunch of you might object here, showing shiny rings and a drawer full of cosmetics, but then again, doesn’t it seem that we do exploit them as branches and notice them only when the winter winds bite too often? Even if that’s not universally true, still this Alternative Finds post will attract some attention for the sake of that part which makes us who we are as much as the brain or eyes. Hands.

  •  Create and Nurture
Who, if not Etsians, ought to know that hands are there to bring a little spark of life to the surrounding world? As little as a sandwich can be the right thing from which to grow (and they all do – kids, students, bacteria!), but here you’ll see some more satisfying ways and things to nurture.




                              



  • Feeling Good

The bits of dos to make yourself and those in your private square meters feel calm and grateful. From clothes searching siblings and too-often-cooking moms to mates in need of grooming, it’s all in this simple section.






  • Connect with others

Touching hands, Allen and Barbara Pease say, is the third step in the mating process in a bar. Exchanging wedding rings, some may say, the final! Nevertheless, hands are secretly there during our whole life shared with many different people and not simply as boughs, but as the corner pieces of our relationships. Some ways of connecting:










  • The Disconnection of Harmony

Connecting and feeling may sometimes be a bit too much and when you want to get cozy in your own skin, you’ll need some distance and protection. Get in peace with your hands with these lovely pieces!


'Something Lacy, Something White' by hypericumfragile, 25$













Armed with all those handmade hand goods, you should be able to move on to your next body part! Don’t worry, we carefully select body parts in order to get the most sunshine and a fresh taste! Get your weekly freshness next Wednesday, when we’ll be seeing more shiny gifts from Etsy sellers! Oh, yes, do remember Friday’s post, when you’ll have the chance to peek into Ornamelle’s  own world of art!

Lots of ice tea and the occasional rain storms,
Bilyana

Sunday 23 May 2010

A warm welcome on a rainy day!

Hey there!

My name is Bilyana and I’m a Creative Writing student creatively wasting her time near London. Today I’ll be introducing myself (though I kind of did it already) and this blog called Handmade Discoveries.

I’ve been crazy about Etsy ever since I found out it existed and have spent almost epic amounts of time just browsing through all kinds of things for the sake of daydreaming. Most of the things I liked remained daydreams, but that’s another story. Recently, I thought it might be a good idea to start sharing what I found and from this point on this blog was already writing itself on the back of my mind.

Then I came up with my master plan to rethink and reopen my Etsy shop, and, believe me, there are many things to reconsider, so having a blog would be my way of keeping a track of what’s going on with me and my shop while we’re happily together.

At this point I was dead-certain there were other artists going through a lot while opening their shops and waiting for some door to get loose and it was only natural to decide that hearing their stories and occasional tips would be more than interesting for me and every other artist on the same track. Skipping school was never a fun thing to do alone, it’s the same with Etsy.

And now that you’ve peeked at the insides of this blog, maybe it’s time to show its proper look.
  • ·         Monday’s posts would be my piece of sharing all those thriller (and sometimes even horror!) moments in my everyday life as a maker and as, well, me.
  • ·         Wednesday’s posts will be devoted to the Alternative Etsy Finds. If you ever feel there is some themed search that was never made, feel free to suggest it!
  • ·         Friday will be a true Discovery Day – we’ll be hearing from some fresh artists swimming out there in Etsy.

Hopefully, you’ll be discovering a lot and finding inspiration, motivation or simply something interesting to throw out there while your neighbors are having you over for their kid’s party!

My work-work attitude!

P.S.:
A month from the writing of this post (yes, I write drafts!), a few things happened.

Firstly, Etsy created their Fresh Shop blog entries and, though I had my doubts, I will still feature new artists. I’m screaming from a chair cheering for Etsy’s team, but nevertheless I know they can’t cover all gorgeous artists trying to find their spot.

Secondly, I am now officially wasting time in Sofia! We all know it, there ain’t a place like home. As a celebration and a bit of self-spoiling I will be featuring a Bulgarian artist, who’ll bring the magic to you personally!

And finally, I will announce Wednesday’s topic, just to keep up a healthy amount of suspense! Without giving away too much, there it is: “It’s all about those hands!”

Hopefully without further postscripts,
Bilyana J

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