Tuesday 6 March 2012

A Give-away!

It is time for my first ever give-away.  Are you ready?  Go!



I am going to give away one of my handmade necklaces to someone anywhere in the world.  It is an embroidered image of pink lavender (yep, pink lavender...I have some in my garden) on linen blend fabric, mounted to a slice of branch, and strung on a string of pink toned glass beads.  The closure is a button that fits through a loop.

Interested?  I am going to make you work for it - OK?

Here is the deal...I have opened an Etsy shop.  I am just learning.  Most of the feedback has been good, however, someone related to me by blood has told me that it makes them think of an old granny rocking on her porch.  Someone else has told me that a particular item should come off the listings because it brings down the look of the whole shop.  As I said, I am still learning so I am shamelessly soliciting your opinions to see what I should change.  For a chance to win the necklace above, here is what you do:

Go to my etsy shop "AtTheCrossroads".  Come back here and leave a comment with your honest opinion.  Trust me, nothing you say will hurt your chances of winning.  It will be a random draw but I would like a nice big pool of opinions to go forward with.  And heck, while you are there...for a second chance to win, either mark an item as a favourite or come back and leave a second comment telling me what your favourite item is so that I can see what people are looking at.  Oh, please be sure to leave a way I can reach you to tell you if you won.  I will draw the winner next week, shall we say Tuesday, March 13 and will post the winner shortly thereafter.

I thank you all for your help, and good luck

19 comments:

  1. I think your shop looks great. Personally, I'd probably try to add more splashes of color in your listing photographs (like the flowers and fruits you have in some) - just to draw the eye a bit more. I'm not sure how I feel about your banner - maybe have your shop name or something on it? Though with the current picture it may be too busy. Hmm. I'm not the best to give advice, my Etsy shop is pretty sad looking.

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  2. Hi Nataile,

    Not being familiar with ETSY all that much, I agree with the poster above. I really love your product ( especially the raspberry dish) but it could use a bit more colour. I think if there is a way to add a background to the page itself that might help. I think it would be cool to beef up your bio and add a profile pic, even a kooky one if you want to remain semi-private ( read mysterious:))

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  3. Your products are beautiful, not sure why anyone thought it lookd too Granny like.

    I agree with the above comments. I think your shop would be even more stunning if you would add some items with color to your featured items. This would also show that your shop offers a variety of goods not just linens. Maybe you could even put a tiny piece of pottery on top your knitted banner.

    Great job and I admire your courage in opening an ETSY shop and also asking for honest feedback. I am working up courage to open a shop myself.

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  4. Your Etsy shop looks great! I have a weakness for pottery and yours is beautiful! I also really like your jewellery. Your blog is very interesting. I just discovered it through Keep Calm Craft On.

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  5. Love the items you are selling in your Etsy shop - well done! Maybe a brighter header would draw people in a bit more? I think your items are just lovely though - your pottery in particular!

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  6. your shop is lovely and I personally love how its mostly linnen and white, it looks gorgeous! If anything it would look great to just add the name of your shop to the header in one bright colour. Im 23 and it looks modern and non granny like to me but then again, us crafty folk probably like different things then others I suppose:)

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  7. I love your shop - really - the pottery is awesome and I love the wool and cotton trivets - lovely :)

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  8. Oh, my heart just skipped a beat when I saw the necklace - so beautiful!
    I love your shop, I've been trying to work out what is supposed to be spoiling the look!?
    The only thing I would change is the header perhaps - something with a bit of colour, and maybe your shop name on it?

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  9. Your knitting tote is my favourite (the one that already sold was gorgeous too!); and I love the look of your linen trivets.

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  10. I think your new shop is just lovely, but I'm a grannie, so what do I know??? Honestly--I love the clean look, but I think adding your shop name to the banner would give it a more professional look. You can see all the products quite easily, but maybe a bit more "styling" of the photographs might help. (I just saw a great book at the library called Photographing your Crafts---lots and lots of tips--you might want to check out something like that.)
    The only thing I found slightly confusing---free shipping on featured items with the purchase of...; do you do standard shipping rates for each purchase of pottery and then if some of the softgoods are also purchased they ship free? but not if purchased by themselves? Now that I wrote it out--it makes more sense. Often different rates are applied if there are multiple purchases.
    I like the variety--jewelry, pottery, softgoods. Hope you do well with it!!!!

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  11. Your shop is lovely and the items you have made are just stunning, especially the berry bowl. What I noticed is a lack of color in the photos. Maybe if you placed your item in a setting with a few more items, focusing the lens on the item you have listed it would add jazz up the photos a little. Does that make any sense?

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  12. As many have said the shop looks great! I agree that your banner needs some work - the name, or something. I also think that the photos really help sell the product on Etsy. I would suggest browins other stores and note which items catch your eye and then ask why. Adding props for color, photographing in a setting, changing the angle, close ups especially of the necklaces and such can really make a differenc. Changing up the photos also creates more visual apeal to the entire shop.

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  13. I absolutely LOVE your shop and added it as a favorite. I think the items you have in there are wonderful, but my very favorite would be the birch mug with the berry bowl a close second. I too think some more color might be nice but not too much. I love the simplicity of it all. Not a fan of the banner, maybe some words or color to catch eye. Over all tho, I love your shop!! And I love the idea of asking for feed back on the look of your shop. I may just have to copy that idea as I am tryin to get my shop up and going more too! :) www.etsy.com/shop/handsonfun

    www.ourbrokenroad.blogspot.com

    Hallie
    wpooh_9 at hotmail dot com

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  14. Thank you to everybody who has helped me out so far. I very much appreciate it. Some changes have already been made. Some, I am working on...I have never been happy with the banner either...so I am definitely going to work on that. Some changes I will make as I go on. This is definitely a learning experience and I thank you all, sincerely, for helping me out.

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  15. natalie i just love it, your necklace, your shop and my favorite, the birch mug. i really love the monotone colors, it's very soothing and striking all at once. the only thing i would say is perhaps more natural light in your photos and more close ups, especially of your lovely necklaces. well done!

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  16. p.s. i'm back to let you know i marked the mug as a favorite
    this was fun :)

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  17. Your shop is lovely! I can't see anything "granny like" about it! Although maybe in future pictures add a bit of color to the neutral pieces (as someone above said!) But seriously your work is gorgeous!

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  18. I came back to tell you that I added both the berry bowl and the vase to my favorites. They are beautiful!

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  19. Your pieces are so beautiful, and I love your neutral palette. I would suggest photographing some of your pieces on a colored backdrop--perhaps you have some pieces of colored linen you could use--nothing neon, for sure, but something that would highlight the calming influence of your item. It would be great to see the name of your shop highlighted on the banner, too.

    Don't take the "granny" thing too seriously--just think of it as someone who doesn't understand vintage!

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