Singapore!

So I just had my 1st truly international sale today. One KeyFAB on it's way to Singapore! My first etsy sale ever was to Canada, but having spent the first 18 years of my life with in a 45 min drive, it did not seem very international.

So I am off to do my homework on shipping. Luckily, it looks like I priced the shipping correctly, but I am sure there are bound to be hidden Cost.

Things I am going to research

- Delivery Confirmation?

- What does a Singapore address look like, so that I know that I am sending it to the right place?

- How does one send an order confirmation to someone who may not speak English?

- What fun customs things do I now get to embark on?

As always I will keep you up to date.

LB

- by the way the picasa post is going very well. I just have to figure out how to put in all of the screen shots...

LowlaBug's Google Tutorial

Hello Readers,

I have decided to do a series on google documents and how they can help your etsy site.

For those of you who do not know I am compleatly in love with Google and all of it's extentions. One could say that I am having an affair with all of it's features, because I just can't get enough.

There are a couple of things that you need to know about me to fully understand my love for Google. I am the Production Manager at Emerald City Theatre, one of Chicago's largest Children's Theatres. That basicly means that I spend my day managing people, money and coming up with logistical answers to everything from "We left Captin Hook's at the school we toured to yesterday and we have a show tomorrow." to "The leading actor is too sick to perform and the show starts in an hour." So organization is crucial. I also happen to love it.

I have converted all of my staff over to google so it felt natural to use it in my buisness. It is also great for people who are not naturally organized.

I plan on covering Google Docs, Picasa, Gmail/Google Calendar as well as the day to day extentions. I could not run my business without google. Especially not my craft fair buisness and that is where the majority of my sales come from.

So hopefully you are as excited as I am to learn about how Google can help you.


-LB

-- Post From My iPhone

The KeyFAB

Hey Y'all,

I have been MIA for a while because I have gone KeyFAB crazy! I am currently obsessed with making them. So far I have made over 70. 70! I ordered 100 more hardware from Mama and I should get the shipment any day now.

They are really fun to make, though I think the people at Jo-Ann Fabrics would beg to differ. The manager Robert, knows me by name and I think they call him every time I approach the cutting counter. Why you ask, because I am now the person who gets 13 bolts of fabric and ask for 6" of each. I feel bad every time I go, especially when there is a huge line.

So that is what I have been up to. My fear, who is going to buy these. I have made 70. I love them, I think that other people will love them too, but who is going to go on etsy and by them?

Things I did to decrease my fear

- Bought a showcase in May (it was the first accessory showcase they had)

- I bought flyers on VistaPrint.com to put up around the city. (for whatever reason I hate putting up my flyers, but they boost my site traffic)

Wish me luck

-LB

My 1st Etsy Purchase

So earlier this week I made my first etsy purchase from MamaSheCrazy. I bought Key Fobs, yes I am still trying to find out what a Key Fob is. I also bought a couple other things from her. I have never actually bought anything on etsy myself before, but I figured I could by from some big name company or from some actual person who is a fellow Etsian.

It is so weird being on that side of the sale. Etsy tries really hard to make it a "normal" purchasing experience, but its just not.

First off it was extremely easy to purchase something and locate my shopping cart. Then they take you directly to PayPal. The thing that I did not know is that etsy does no automatically combined the shipping discounts. So, even though I offer shipping discounts (as does Mama) they were not taken into effect.

So, I paid and received my seller's message which was good. It had a lot of things that I was looking for including an explanation of how I would have my shipping overage sent to me.

Now I am not a patient person. I want and I want now, which is why all of the things in my shop are ready to ship.

Mama offered package shipping so I was able to focus my energy in to compulsively checking the USPS tracking.

It has been a great experience being on the other side of the etsy purchase. I suggest that everyone does it.

-LB

Post Note -

The package arrived a couple days after I originally wrote this and the key fobs were Fab!

Blogging from my iTouch

I am starting to get hooked on blogging. I have now downloaded it to my iTouch.


-- Post From My iPhone

Location:Home

Jo-Ann Fabrics?

Hello Blogosphere,

I have started doing my Blog Homework and am becoming hip with the lingo.

Today's topic is Jo-Ann Fabics and other Chain Stores verses Wholesale or Online companies.

This comes about because I have spent so much money at Jo-Ann Fabrics in the last week of my life, but I have saved SOOO much more then I spent. How, you might ask? Sales. Sales. One Coupon and more Sales.

Since I stared making LowlaBags I have need cotton canvas. Lots of cotton canvas, and Jo-Ann's just had a huge sale. TIP for anyone who did not inherit their father's ability to sniff out a good bargain here is a simple place to start.

- If you are making something lets say a LowlaBag or purse, but you do not have anything specific in mind go to the remnants section first. I found a ton of great fabric that was all reasonably priced. It is almost alway's discounted a sizable percentage from the original price. Now it is rare to find a yard or more, but you would be surprised at how far 3/4 of a yard will get you when you are designing your own patterns.

So the best part of Jo-Ann's remnants last week was the fact that they were all 50% off the marked down price. O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! So I ended up spending about $75 dollars total and saving almost $200.

So my question .... If I can save crazy amounts of money at Jo-Ann Fabrics, does it make sense at this point in my business to switch to wholesale? Now, I have not looked in to Wholesale Fabric yet, so it might be a lot cheaper or at least constant.

I have looked in to wholesale yarn, but it did not make financially sense.

I guess we will see.

Laura

The New LowlaBag, St. Thomas

Here is my newest line, the City LowlaBags. The entire collection is named after Cities around the world. This one is named in honor of spring break. Even though I am in chicago for "Spring Break" if I go outside and close my eyes I feel as though I am in St. Thomas.

In other news... It is offical, I am obsesed. I am having a hard time making bags to sell. I want to keep all of them for myself. This City LowlaBag is the 3rd one that I have made and I still want it all to myself!

Have a happy holiday weekend!!!


- LB