Autumn treasury

It feels like summer is slipping through our fingers rather quickly now but I don't mind too much, I do love autumn.  A bit like spring, it brings a lot of expectation and preparation for what's to come - particularly with all the winter holiday fun!

So I thought I'd make a quick autumn treasury of items from UK & European Etsy sellers.  

'Turning leaf' by louisemead

Green Wrap Bracelet Sari Si... Shalotte	Copper Leaves Earrings-Rusti... MarrenJewelry	Bright Grass Green Czech Gla... LaserBeads	Greek FOREST CROWN - ATHENA... ManniaTitta
Handcrafted Leaf Pendant, La... ErikaPrice	Lime Green and Spring Green ... Yanettine	Pressed Leaf- Strawberry lea... regularhome	Fall falling maple leaves Mi... SoYesterdaySoC...
felted leaf pin brooch GREEN... Patricija	Linen Leaf Clover Coin Purse... VasilinkaStore	Apple Hedgehog Glass Sculptu... flyingcheeseto...	Wall candlestick Vine Leaf,O... dimitarmanev
Nature collection - Acorn le... sunshineartdes...	Journal, Leather, Handmade, ... Kreativlink	Bath towels, Four leafs bath... Lemiecreazioni...	Forest Cone Violet Watercolo... BarbaraSzepesi...

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Customer Photo - Emma from Tyne & Wear

Another beautiful customer photo from Emma in Tyne & Wear!  I love the wallpaper - it's such a delicious colour and the paisley is so pretty!  The lovebirds painting was a commissioned piece to fit with the colours Emma had chosen for the room.

Customer Photo - Zoe from The Sewing Croft

Another lovely customer photo to share with you.  This time from Zoe of The Sewing Croft. I just love having a nose at other people's creative spaces and Zoe's is lovely.  I can imagine quite happily whiling away an afternoon sewing and making in her studio!  Which reminds me, I really should get around to fixing my little space up how I want it!

Thanks Zoe for sharing.  To check out some of the beautiful items Zoe makes, you can visit her Etsy shop.

50% off prints, 15% off paintings

I do love autumn, the colours, the smells, the changes of the scenery around us.  However, I don't know about you but talk about back down to earth with a bump!  The cooler weather is setting in, it's getting darker earlier, and the sporting excitement of the last couple of months is finally over.

So how about a little pick me up?

This week I'm offering 50% off all prints and 15% off all paintings in my Etsy shop.  That includes custom painting orders too!

To get your discount simply use the following coupon codes when you checkout
For prints: PRINTS50
For paintings: AUTUMN15

Coupons are valid until midnight Sunday 16th September. If you'd like to order a mixture of prints & paintings let me know and I'll help you with a listing to reflect the price after discount.

To start shopping go to http://www.etsy.com/shop/louisemead now!

How-To: Product Photography

I've been promising to start my how-to series for a while but have been so busy, it's taken me a while to get around to it.  I've been thinking about what might be the best subject to start with and funnily enough, photography seems to be the single most talked-about topic in terms of improving your Etsy (or any other) online shop.  


It makes sense really because your photos are the single best tool you have to sell your products to your customer.  Whilst it would be silly to make things look better than they actually are (bigger, glossier, brighter etc), it's just as silly to not to them justice.  You've put all this hard work into making a beautiful handmade item or piece of art so it's only fair on yourself if you put some work into photography that will do it justice.  

I'm not an expert by any means but I have learned an awful lot over the last year or so.  You only have to look at the terrible photos of the first few items I sold compared to now!

Here are some tips I compiled for the Etsy CB team, they're the ones that have helped me best.  Feel free to add any of your own in the comments below.

1. CONSISTENCY IS KING: Once you’ve settled on a style of photo, stick to it. People like to see consistency in your shop, it can really enhance your brand. Whilst people like buying handmade, they don't like things to look amateur.  This is an important difference to remember.  People love handmade but they still prefer to see a level professionalism when they buy and this includes product photography.

2. SAY NO TO FLASH! Avoid using flash – it will make items look washed out.

3. GO OUTSIDE: It's worth trying to shoot outdoors on a cloudy day, the clouds act as your very own softbox.

4. NEUTRAL BACKGROUNDS: I know there is debate about this but unless you're a particularly good photographer I say, if you can, shoot against a plain or white background. Whilst nature and home decor can look nice, it detracts from the item you want to sell. You want all the attention on your gorgeous product! You can buy a white blackout blind from Argos for a few pounds, they can be a great cost-effective alternative to buying a professional backdrop. When you've taken a photo, check if the white background looks white or if it has a blue/yellow tint to it. If it has a tint, try to move somewhere that has better lighting.

5. IT'S OK TO EDIT (a little!): Use some software to adjust the saturation levels and temperature of your finished photos so they really ‘pop’ on the screen and grab attention. There are plenty of free programmes on the market if you're on a budget - I know lots of people use Google Picasa.

6. STEADY NOW! If you’ve got one, use a tripod. A still camera can take longer exposures without blur which means more colour and more rich details for customers to see.

Camera Settings:

Depending on how many bells & whistles your camera has, here are some bits you might like to play about with to get the best from your photos. At the end of the day, the more suitable your camera settings, the less editing you need to do at the end of the process.

- FLASH - Say no to flash – flash is really bad for product photography and should be avoided, I can’t say this enough!

- ISO - Set your ISO as low as possible – lower ISO means less fuzzy ‘noise’ in the photo. If you find you can't shoot with the ISO low, it means you need to shoot in better light.

- SHUTTER SPEED: Slower shutter speed (much easier with a tripod or the camera resting on a steady surface) - Your camera may not have this option, don't worry if it doesn't.

- TIMER: Consider using the timer if your camera has one – that way you won’t cause any shake when you press & release the shutter

- APERTURE: Not all cameras will allow you to control this but if yours does, generally f8-f11 seems to be good for bringing products nicely into focus

- WHITE BALANCE: On my own camera I find it's best to set this to auto but you might find it worth trying the different presets on your camera to get the right one.

That's it for now, if I think of anything else I'll add it.  In the meantime, happy snapping! 

Christmas in July

Crazy or what?  Yes, Etsy is running Christmas in July for the most organied of you who want to start stocking up on gifts & goodies for December.  Or perhaps you're not that organised and you're just looking for a bargain - it doesn't matter the reason really.  What's great is that 1000s of Etsy shops are offering special discounts.

To get into the spirit of things I'm offering a lovely 20% off everything from today until the end of July. Simply use CIJ20 at the checkout.

You can visit my Etsy shop here.

Craft Britannia Treasure-thon

Last night the Craft Britannia Etsy team had a treasure-thon.  For those of you who don't use Etsy or treasuries, you may be wondering what on earth that is!  Well, in a nuthsell treasuries are a place on Etsy where members curate galleries of items they've found on Etsy.  If Etsy likes them, they may be selected for the front page meaning extra visitors for the people featured and the person creating the treasury.

MissBelle UK had the idea for us to have a treasure-thon where we spent 3 hours making as many treasuries as we could, featuring at least 6 team members in each one.  Between us we created over 120 treasuries in 3 hours and we got the tag for the treasure-thon trending.  We were only expecting to do around 50 so it went pretty well!  Hopefully at least one will make the front page for Etsy Europe.  It was great fun anyway and we're talking about making it a regular thing.  Perhaps I'll let you know in advance of the next one.  You can view all the treasuries we made here if you'd like to see them.

How-To

I've learned a great deal since I began selling my art online, particularly Etsy, and I now find myself giving advice and sharing tips with new artists and makers on various aspects of photograping, promoting, and selling online.

I'm not an expert by any stretch of the imagination - I feel I still have a lot to learn - however I thought it would be good to share some of the info I've learned both as an Etsian and also from running websites over the years.


Topics I'm going to be covering include:

• Product photography
• SEO
• Building and running a website
• Getting start on selling on Etsy
• Promoting yourself
• Pricing

These are the main things that come to mind but I may add more as I go.  Let me know if there's anything you'd like to know and if I can help, I'll do my best to share some info.  

Shop of the Week - Merry Go Round UK

It's that time of the week again and this week the Shop of the Week is Merry Go Round UK.  Julia makes a range of handmade accessories and supplies. You can take a look at an interview with Julie here.

New Sale Section

I've now got a Sale Section in my Etsy shop.  This is where you can pick up paintings at a reduced price.  Take a look and you can see some of the paintings for sale!

Shop of the Week - Natural Bathing Co

Well it's Wednesday, what a great four-day holiday it was even though it was raining.  Still, only 3 days of work left until the weekend!  Quick blog post to introduce you to this week's Shop of the Week which is the Natural Bathing Co this week.  Natural Bathing Co makes gorgeous handmade organic soaps and other lovely bathroom items.  You can read an interview here and you can visit the Etsy store here.

Shop of the Week - Spinning Streak

It's that time of the week again and this week the Shop of the Week is Spinning Streak.  Spinning spins her own yarn as well as making lovely creations from that yarn.  From her shop you can buy yarn, fibres, and finished goods.  You can take a look at an interview with Spinning here.

Last few days to get 241 prints

As May is drawing to a close, we're into the last few days to get 241 prints.  Simply visit my Etsy store and use the code 241PRINTS at the checkout.

Craft Britannia Shop of the Week - My Small World

This week's shop of the week is Katie's 'My Small World'.  Katie makes a variety of adorable little things although I especially love her handmade bears - see the gorgeous little fellow below!  You can read a full interview with Katie on the Craft Britannia blog or visit her Etsy shop to have a look at some of her cute creations!

Shop of the Week - axevictimus

It's that time again - Craft Britannia's shop of the week!  This week it's Tony from axevictimus!  Tony makes jewellery from wood and metal.  You can see one of his designs below.  Feel free to visit Tony's Etsy shop and you can also read an interview with him at Craft Britannia's blog here.

Get 10% off this weekend

Use coupon code "WEEKEND10" and receive a 10% discount this weekend on everything in my Etsy store - original paintings, custom paintings, prints, and cards.

Click Here to Visit My Etsy Shop!

Julie Marie Etsy Seller Showcase

Just a quick note to mention a word of thanks to Julie Marie, an Etsy seller from the US, for featuring me in her Etsy showcase over the weekend.  Julie Marie makes beautiful purses, scarves, cushions and other goodies from a wide range of delicious fabrics.  You can view some of Julie's items here:

50% off all work on Etsy

As I'm a new seller on Etsy, I've decided to offer 50% off the list price of my paintings in order to get my first few sales and some feedback.  When buying, simply use the code INTRO50 and it will take 50% off.  Can't say fairer than that I don't think!

New Etsty Shop

I've taken the plunge and opened an Etsy shop.  It's the first time I've tried to sell my art online so I'm not sure how it'll go.  I've started with low prices to encourage people to buy and leave some feedback.  I don't really like to shout about it too much to people I know as I'm a bit nervous of their feedback!

If you're interested, you can browse here.