Treasury Mania!

It's been quite a long time since I've put together any treasuries on Etsy, but lately I've been inspired to do a LOT of them. I started with one about dragons, but then I moved on to making treasuries that commemorate my favorite movies:

I have so much fun putting treasuries together. There are so many great items on Etsy that it's easy to come up with creative ways to express a theme; however, it's very difficult to limit yourself to just sixteen!

So go on, give my treasuries some love! etsy.com/people/AshleysCrescentMoon/treasury

P.S. To my friends and relations - any of these items in my treasuries would make a great gift. Hint, hint; wink, wink!

Email from Etsy

I just got an email this morning from Etsy concerning some changes they're making in advertising and the like. One of the changes they'll be making is they're giving shop owners the ability to change the name of their shops. I have given it some thought, and I may just be taking advantage of this ability. When I named my shop, I was homesick for South Carolina, and I thought Ashley's Crescent Moon Shop would be a marketable name for me. Later it became Under the Crescent Moon, because I was still working within my AshleysCrescentMoon username, and I thought it felt less "clunky." That's the name I've kept, and it works better than my original name, but I still feel as if it's too obscure. It makes no hints as to what I sell, my personality, or my target market, and I feel that a good business name should point to at least one of those things. I briefly pondered going with "barefoot" something-or-other, because now that I'm back in the South I go barefoot pretty often, but do you know how many shops on Etsy have "barefoot" in the name? There aren't nearly as many shops with "crescent moon" in the name, but there is a shop called Beneath a Crescent Moon, so I'm not original there either. What should my new name be? I'm pretty sure I should change it, but to what?

Rain, rain, go away

Rain makes me so sleepy. We've gotten a lot of rain over the past week, so I've been shuffling around like a zombie, sans the craving for brains. All I can say is I'm glad I don't live in the Pacific Northwest. I will be so happy when the sun decides to come back and stay.

Anyway, today I've been thinking about business cards. I've decided to order some when I get my shop back up and running. I'm leaning toward the minicards from MOO. They're cute, slightly more compact than your typical business card, plus they'd give me an excuse to buy this, which I think is a neat little accessory that is pretty as well as functional. I'll probably get some regular sized business cards too, just for people who are a little more traditional. I'm leaning toward the designs that say "handmade" because they're colorful and fun. We'll see.

Well, that's my thought for a rainy Monday. It's not much, but it's all I've got. I'll catch you guys later!

My SC Treasury

Hi! I know it's been a while, but now I have something to talk about. I've been wanting to make an SC-themed treasury for some time now, but I've never been lucky enough to snag a treasury space when one became available. However, Etsy has introduced Treasury East, which allows users to create treasuries at their leisure, so I took the initiative to put one together yesterday. Here's a screenshot:

Here's the permanent link: http://www.etsy.com/treasury/e085ea1dfc6fcb4b4f1f9600 . Feel free to click on the items and leave a comment or two!

Truly Flattered!

Imagine my surprise this evening when I log onto Etsy and see that I have been featured in a treasury! Check it out: http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=119312

I was quite flattered that my "A Thousand Welcomes" Black Celtic Knot Sign was deemed worthy to be featured along with all these other great items. I want to send a big thank you out to Barn Owl Primitives for choosing my sign to be in this treasury just in time for St. Patrick's Day! Barn Owl, you rock!

I got a present!

My husband went out to Barnes and Noble the other night to pick up some new books to read. While he was there, I he picked up something for me that's pretty nifty. It's box set consisting of colored pencils, a pencil sharpener, 80 different Celtic knot designs, and a book about the history of the Celts. This kind of thing is right up my alley, and all the examples of knotwork should provide me with some inspiration for new signs.

Now for a confession. I set out at the beginning of this year to increase my shop's inventory to at least 50 items. My intent was to post a new listing every other day or so to keep myself near the top of the searches. Well, it's pretty obvious that I haven't kept up with my shop. I still only have a meager 14 items in my shop, and the last time I listed a new item was back in January, I think. My heart just hasn't been in it - the item listing, that is. I think I'm not going to try to fight it. Right now my intuition is telling me just to pull myself away from my shop and work on other projects. I really want to make my shop great, I just don't feel that the time is right. Is that bad?

New supplies

A few days ago, I ordered some new supplies, and today they arrived. It always feels like Christmas when I get a package in the mail. So I'm off to go look them over and do some creating. Now if I could just get my lazy bum in gear and list some of these new creations...

Moving and Future Shop Plans

Good news! After ten years of service, my husband will be hanging up his sailor hat and transistioning out of the Navy. The upcoming months will be filled with anticipation, excitement, and a little anxiety. Our plans are to pull up stakes and move to sunny Jacksonville, Florida! We lived there once and loved it. When we moved to New York, we left behind friends and family, but relocating to Jacksonville will put us within a comfortable proximity to both. Not to mention, we'll be close to the beach, which is one place I've really missed since our exodus to the North.

So, what does this mean for my shop? Well, I'll definitely be going into Vacation Mode during the actual move, but I'm not sure just how long it will take for me to get back up and running. That will all depend on how long it takes for me to procure my FL business license, how much disposable income I will have to buy supplies to make new items, and how long it takes us to get settled in as a family. I'm also considering taking a little while off to build up my inventory, take some great pictures, and work on my product descriptions. I also may need to go into Vacation Mode prior to the move so we can take care of all the move preparations. I'll be sure to keep everyone updated.

Now, I've been doing some serious thinking, and I have a change that I have to make to my shop that will be tough for me. I've been doing some research and adding it all up, and I'm not making a profit. After Etsy fees, PayPal fees, shipping and handling, and all the other miscellaneous expenses, I'm only just managing to break even. For now I'm fine with that, but if I ever want to use my shop to help supplement our income (mainly by paying for Christmas and birthday gifts, small expenses we don't normally budget for), I will have to raise my prices. There is no question. I hate to do it, because I like a deal as much as the next person, but I will not be able to continue doing business if I maintain my current price point. I just can't. That said, I think my buyers will understand.

Another change I will be making to the shop once we get settled into our new home is offering international shipping. Right now, I only ship within the US, and I realized what a great disservice I was doing myself, because several items in my shop have hearts from people in Canada, Australia, etc. So, come 2011 at the latest, I will gladly ship internationally!

Well guys, that's all for now. I'm off to get some housework done. See ya later!

Another Sale!

I hear my little one stirring, so I'm going to have to make this a brief post. I MADE ANOTHER SALE TODAY! YAY! In honesty, it was about the last thing I was expecting to happen today, but it happened. I'M SO HAPPY!

Okay, now that that's out of my system, time to go take care of the kiddo. Have a good one, guys!

Whoa!

Okay, so I have no idea where this week went. Tomorrow's Sunday - what the? I didn't list any of those signs I was talking about in my previous blog post :(. I did, however, list two new necklaces and edit the photos and tags of another necklace. I'm so glad I started taking pictures outside in the natural light. I'm also glad I found the macro setting on my camera; my pics look SOOOO much better. I also have started using http://www.picnik.com/ to correct the exposure, crop, and rotate my photos, so even thought they still aren't perfect, they're much closer to being Etsy treasury worthy (wink, wink, hint, hint). See for yourself:

They're much, much better than this old picture:

Well, that's all for now. I'll try to post some more this week. See ya later!

To check out these necklaces, click on these links:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=40015594 Clam Shell

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=vl_other_1&listing_id=40122058 Starfish

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=34129070 Scallop Shell

Celts, Pirates, and Polka Dots, OH MY!

It's been my intent over the past week to work on painting some more wood signs for my shop. I like to make jewelry, but Etsy is pretty inundated with jewelry as it is, and I'm not sure I have what it takes to really be competitive in that market. I am pretty good at painting, and I like to make fun signs, so it is my hope that one day, lots of homes will have an Ashley's Crescent Moon original. Some projects I have finished this week definitely run the gamut when it comes to subject matter.

CELTS

I listed two signs this week with a Celtic motif. They both have the same design, but one is black while the other is green. They feature a Celtic knot and the Gaelic words, "Cead Maile Failte," which means "A thousand welcomes." The custom order I did earlier this week was for this same design in a neutral brown tone. Anyway, I got the idea from a sign I saw on The Pyramid Collection's website, which featured the same Gaelic phrase on a slate plaque.

Pyramid Collection's sign can also be personalized. Pretty cool, no? My signs are quite a bit different. You can see in the two photos below:

I like how they turned out, especially the black one (I favor black quite a bit in both decor and dress). However, until the green one sells, it is being displayed in my living room because it matches my curtains :). Both my husband and I have Irish in our blood, so it works out nicely for the time being.

PIRATES

A long time ago I saw a sign that made me laugh out loud. It read, "The beatings will continue until morale improves." Now, I don't know where this phrase originated, though it does sound kind of piratey. Morale is very important on a ship, and I can see some hard-nosed pirate captain threatening to beat his crew into happiness. This is what my sign will be all about. It will be black, sanded for an aged effect, and will feature the Calico Jack flag (pictured above) at the top with the words, "The floggings will continue until morale improves." I chose "floggings" because the word is funny to me, plus it seems to fit the pirate vernacular. I don't have the sign done right now, but I'm hoping to have it finished and listed by early next week.

POLKA DOTS

I am not, and have never been, a girly girl. That said, I do have my moments, and I had one of those moments this week. I was reading on the Etsy forums that aqua and hot pink is going to be the hot new color combination this spring/summer. This strikes me as funny, because I've been seeing this color combo for a while now, especially in quirky decor and gifts that are intended for fun-loving, cocktail drinking, fashion following glamor girls. At any rate, I decided to jump on this band wagon by painting a totally cute sign featuring the famous quote by the duchess of Winsor, "You can never be too rich or too thin." I even made a sparkly fun beaded wire hanger to go with it.

I haven't listed this sign yet, mainly because I need to determine an appropriate listing price, but I also hope to have this one up for sale by the end of the coming week.

Anyway, that's what's been going on behind the scenes at the Crescent Moon Shop! Check back in to see what else I've got in store!

My First Treasury

I'm so excited. Yesterday, I was able to create my first treasury on Etsy. I've been in a beachy mood, so I did a search for nautical items, and I came up with a great list of things to show off. Check out the link here: http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=83445

I'm totally in love with the Flirty Sailor Button Necklace, and I'm seriously thinking of telling my husband it's what I want for Valentine's Day. Maybe I won't wait that long ;).

Anyway, I have to go get my day started. I'll be back later for more posting fun. Enjoy the treasury!

Collecting Rocks

As a child, I collected rocks: big rocks, little rocks, shiny rocks, rough rocks, rocks in all colors. I especially liked the granite chips in the gravel paths all around my elementary school. I remember how interesting I found the gray and white speckles, how much I liked the rough texture, and how I especially prized the ones with shiny metallic flecks. I would come home, my pockets loaded down with my treasured finds, and then dump them all on the floor to pick out which ones I would display on my dresser. Mom would eventually convince me to purge most of my collection, lest my room begin to look like a quarry.

When I got older, I learned to be a little more selective in my rock collecting ventures. When I traveled somewhere new, I would look for a special rock to remind me of my trip. Back home, I would only pick up a rock if it had unique features, such as a neat shape, an interesting texture, or unusual coloring. Today, I still pick up a rock if it looks cool, but my tastes lean toward crystal rock formations.

Recently my eye for rocks has led me to create a few necklaces that I just think are the bee's knees. The first is a large, rough amethyst on a rope chain.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=38197143

I love the natural feel of the rough stone, and just look at how the light plays off it. Beautiful! My second creation I really love. I actually had to convince myself to list it instead of keeping it!

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=38598594

This one is just right up my alley. The stone I used for the pendant has some really cool markings and coloration. Combine that with the chocolate brown, braided leather cord, and it is a totally earthy, natural, and just plain beautiful piece of jewelry.

On an unrelated note, I've been trying to improve the quality of my pictures. I took these photos outside yesterday, and I think they look much better than my previous listings' pictures. It's kind of nice to have a naturally white background with the snow on the ground, and the fallen branch in my backyard provided some additional interest.

I've got a few more rock necklaces that I'd like to list in the near future, so keep checking back to see what I've dug up from the rock pile!

Christmas time is here!

Christmas time is here,
Happiness and cheer,
Fun for all that children call
Their favorite time of year.
             -A Charlie Brown Christmas

That special time of year is just around the corner. Our first snow of the season arrived just the other day. I've been bustling around the house, putting up decorations, and making plans for this year's Christmas celebration.

I had big plans for my shop for Christmas. Ideas by the hundreds for ornaments and decorations flooded my brain, and I was all gung-ho to get them done. Alas, it is nearly mid-December and I only have two Christmas items for sale. It's like my mom-in-law says: funny how Christmas always seems to sneak up on you, even though it comes the same time every year.

Anyway, the two items I do have up for sale are, in my opinion, nice. The first is a key for Santa. I have seen these before and thought they were cute, so I decided to make my own version. When I was growing up we had a fireplace. I loved roasting marshmallows on it (hey, why go outside in the cold?), and to me, there is no more appropriate place to put a stocking. Unfortunately, since I have lived on my own, I have not had the luxury of owning a home with a fireplace. So, it was important to me that Santa had an alternate means of entry, as even though I am now 26, I still eagerly await his arrival on Christmas Eve. Thus, I made a special key just for Santa, and I am now offering one in my Etsy shop for all those who share my fireplaceless plight.

 When I finally get my dream house, I intend to have a fireplace. I will use it almost every day, even if I just put lit candles in it. I want Santa to be able to come down the chimney for my children, and I want my children to have a mantel to hang stockings from. Until then, thank goodness for skeleton keys :).

The second item I have for sale is a painted sign advertising Kringle's Tree Farm.

This was inspired in part by two things. The first is a stencil for Kringle's Country Store that was featured in the Craft Fair section of the November 2009 edition of Country Sampler. Advertising candy canes, reindeer feed, and woolen mittens, this stencil calls to mind some of the simple joys of winter, all while invoking the name of Santa. Personally, I find this pretty clever, and wanted to make one of my own. However, I didn't want to just rip off Scrappin' Along's design. This is where I found my second inspiration, which I will preface with a long back-story. As a child, I never had a live Christmas tree, and I never thought there was anything wrong with this. When I celebrated my first Christmas with my husband, we lived in a one bedroom apartment on the third floor of our building. Although it was not a small unit, there really was not a convenient spot to put a large Christmas tree, and so I put up a two-foot, fiber optic, artificial Christmas tree that I had purchased at Dollar General for $10. My husband thought this was an atrocity, because he had never before had an artificial tree in his house at Christmas. (Ironically, his mother now uses a pre-lit artificial tree.) When we moved up to New York in 2007, at Christmas time there were signs similar to my creation advertising the local tree farms. My husband found a tree farm not too far from our house, and we went there, trudged up and down their fields, and cut our own tree. I could not believe how much fun I had! In addition to the tree farm, there was also a small shop where you could purchase ornaments and various gifts. So it seemed appropriate that Santa's own tree farm would offer sleigh rides and hot cocoa to warm you up afterwards. My husband thinks the sign is too simple, but I think it's just right. Take a look and decide for yourself! Happy holidays!

My shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/AshleysCrescentMoon

Key for Santa http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=36179636

Kringle's Tree Farm Sign http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=36038707

Reclaimed Beads

Occasionally, I create an item from a collection of beads that come from broken jewelry. Once such item is my newest listing on Etsy, a pair of earrings featuring  two metal heart beads that I got from God knows where. They remind me a little of Western or Southwestern beads, something you might see a cowgirl wear.

I didn't list them as reclaimed or mention it in my description just because the heart beads were the only recycled parts. I did, however, list my metal bookmark as reclaimed, because the entire beaded portion was recycled from broken jewelry.

I like creating these pieces because I absolutely hate to waste things. Besides, it provides a challenge to create something out of "leftovers." This is especially the case for me, since I am such a fan of symmetry, and working with salvaged materials doesn't always lend itself to that :).

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=34327062

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=35006944

Love for the beach

It's really funny - I'm an Earth sign, but I love the water. I'm drawn to pretty much any body of water, including a swimming pool :), but the beach is my favorite place. Growing up an hour away from the beach probably had something to do with this, as my family would often take several day trips to the beach during the summer.

I love everything about the beach: watching the pelicans and seagulls diving after jumping fish; seeing fiddler crabs skitter across the sand; the breeze blowing the sea oats. I especially love the waves - the crashing sound, the constant movement - they invoke serenity while indicating a great power, the driving force of nature.

When my husband used to go out to sea, I often got lonely. On the days I particularly missed him, I would drive down to the beach, stand in the water, and tell him I loved him. I would imagine the ebb of the ocean carrying my message to him. I don't know that he ever heard me, but I like to believe he did.

I also went to college near the beach. This afforded lots of unique opportunities, such as being able to study while working on my tan. I also went to school with some very handsome surfers, which is where I got the inspiration for my Surfer's Shell Necklace I recently listed on Etsy. You could find necklaces similar to this in just about any gift shop on the beach, and almost everyone on campus had one.  Some of them were plain, but a lot of them had carved shell pendants or shark tooth pendants. When I made my own shell chip necklace, I created my own pendant by layering a mother-of-pearl shell disc behind a metal scallop shell charm. I have also created two more of these necklaces, which I will be listing in a few days. They're identical to the one I have listed currently, except one features a starfish metal charm, while the other features a clam shell charm.

Making beach charms makes me feel good, since it reminds me of happy times in my life. Hopefully one of these days I'll get back to a place near the ocean. Until then, this won't be the only beach-inspired jewelry I'll be making for my shop.

Opening my Etsy shop

Back in October, I decided to open up a shop on Etsy. Recently, I had been thinking a lot about my mom-in-law's old flea market shop and how much fun I had helping her make things to sell there. I had really been missing that creative outlet. I love to do crafts, paint, make jewelry, and all kinds of other things, but unfortunately these projects end up cluttering my house. For the sake of not ending up on some reality show like Clean House, I put my crafting on a back-burner. I began to feel like the desire to create was eating me up inside, so that's where Ashley's Crescent Moon Shop came from. I'm not looking to become rich from this little venture, although I admit that would be nice. Really all I want is to be able to make the things I enjoy making, and then find the right person to take them home.

The name I chose for my shop pays homage to my home state, South Carolina. The state flag features a white Palmetto tree and crescent moon on a field of blue, and so too my shop logo features blue colors and a crescent moon. After moving away to New York state with my Navy husband, I became a little homesick. I love the New England scenery, the snow, and the fall foliage, but I miss seeing my family and spending sultry summers on the beach. This small tribute makes me feel a little closer to home.

The kinds of products I will offer in my shop will vary from time to time. I love to try new things, so occasionally I'll make one or two of something and then move on once I've gotten my fill of it. Some crafts that have remained constant with me are beaded jewelry and painted wooden signs. Beadwork is fun because there are literally infinite possibilities when it comes to what you can create. Painting signs is great because it's an awesome way to express your personality. Hanging up a sign in your home with a witty or inspiring phrase is the best way to make your house truly yours.  

So, come check me out on Etsy! I hope you like what you see! Be sure to check out my favorite sellers as well. There are so many talented people creating so many amazing things that you're sure to find something you love.

http://www.ashleyscrescentmoon.etsy.com/

http://www.etsy.com/

Follow me on Twitter: AMCCrescentMoon