Where to start...

 

This is exactly why I started this blog. Things get so busy I can't even keep them all straight, so I need to write them all out.

So I did get rolling on the blog to pull out the best of the best of Etsy, and as predicted, it takes some time. It's a private blog at the moment, but I  hope to get it populated with enough content to make it public soon. I really like the way it is turning out!

And as I was working on that blog, I could see the kinds of things that were capturing my attention, and what was really drawing me into certain sites. That gave me an idea...  I need to design more products (primarily jewelry) for my own Etsy shops that would draw me in too. My jewelry inspiration is a bit haphazard, and it's not easy for customers to sort through some of the craziness.  I need to make that simpler, which of course means a lot of work which I'd like to get rolling on with time to see an impact during Christmas shopping season. 

Then another idea with shoelaces...  I decided to offer retail shoelaces online via my own web site (i.e. rather than just on Etsy), and between the basic site creation requirements and the subsequent SEO process, I just got that done (see the new page called "All About Shoelaces" for that one when I  get it posted and get a Pinterest site going for it, etc.). The picture above is from the home page of that site.

Then I had another idea for a blog that combines some work I've already written (just one-off special interest topics), and that's rolling around in my brain like a ball bearing in a steel drum.  I need to put that off for awhile, but it keeps coming through loudly in my thoughts.

And then I  decided it would be a good idea to deploy an online store I started a couple years ago. It became too big of a project to finish, and as soon as I started opening shops in Etsy, it completely took a back seat.  With hundreds of hours on a really cool design and product concept (very psychedelic with jewelry, bath/body, home fragrance, makeup, etc.) I need to finish it up.

OK so then I  got interested in rolling out another Etsy shop idea I'd started on but didn't have time to finish. This one is for digital downloads for a combination of DIY craft projects or just use-them-as-they-are files. I think I'll spend a day this weekend taking seasonal photos in the country to get some more content rolling for that shop idea.

I'm forgetting something I know it...I'm sure there was another idea competing for my attention. I'll think of if later.

And to top off all of these hectic projects, I found out my day job is going away. My company has decided to close our local office, and everyone is out of a job. On the bright side it gives me more time to work on my projects, but on the downside, my projects don't pay as well as my day job!

So that's what I've got at the moment...I think I need a glass of wine after all of that -ha!

What am I thinking?

After a long break with a nice vacation in DC*, I'm back to rolling again with some more jewelry projects that I need to get photographed and listed in Etsy, and then I had another project idea...

Etsy has everything handmade from truly artistic creations to glue and macaroni decorations, and there is absolutely TONS of stuff out there. Trying to find the best of the best in all of that stuff is time-consuming to impossible. When we want the best fashions, we seek out our favorite fashion bloggers, so why can't we do a better job of blogging the best of Etsy?

Since I'm out there all of the time looking for all of the wonderful new items (i.e. my definition of wonderful new items -ha!), I could just as well post what I find in an organized blog from which people could actually click to shop each of the posted items from the respective Etsy sellers. The focus will be on the items I tend to shop rather than the entire site, so I'm going for things like jewelry, shoes, clothes, accessories and even a few toiletries. Basically anything you'd find in your closet or makeup room.

Well, it's no small undertaking, but I've got the foundation, and now I need to work through a few organizational details to make sure I can blog as efficiently as possible. Where I think I'll have the time to do something like this, I don't know, but hopefully I'll come up with a blogger-friendly setup that takes little time to maintain.  Always a project... :)

*As I'm rereading this post a couple weeks later, I'm wondering what delusional state I was in to call it a "nice" vacation. I had a serious case of food poisoning the first night there, and have never been so sick in my life.  I  was lucky to be in good enough shape to fly home.  A nice vacation...