Fresh From The Kiln, Fused Glass From Featured Artisan, Jonna Vaughn

Today we are going to talk with glass worker and owner of the online shop Tennessee Glass Stains , Joanna works with both fused glass and stained glass. Her shop is filled with amazing handmade pendants, right from her kiln. Please read more in her shop About Section , if you are interested in the process of making fused glass. It is truly a fascinating read! Here is what Jonna says about her business and art:


My name is Jonna Vaughn, and I am a Cincinnati native transplanted to the small town of Fairview Tennessee, just outside of Nashville. I am a glass artist specializing currently in fused glass, although I got started in stained glass windows when I first moved to Tennessee in 2000,

Although I do love my little town (we just got our second traffic light wootwoot!), it is about a 40 mile drive to "town" (Nashville). There are no real source for supplies locally, so I do all of my ordering online from reputable glass companies but I wouldn't trade the country living, the quiet outside, wildlife, and friendly front porch waves for anything.My full time corporate job left me with weekends only to market my glass doing festivals and art shows. After several years I knew I had to find another way and the ETSY shop was born!

Being an ETSY rookie, I underestimated the amount of time that I now know should have been dedicated to my ETSY shop. Not long after the shop opened, I was discouraged by the lack of sales (although my first sale was to Johnny Cash's daughter!). I guess I must have just thought that if I listed it, they would come. Well....they didn't... and somewhere in there I was learning the world of fusing and the commitment to my shop crumbled. Fast forward a few years...I had learned a new level of glass artistry to share, gained some confidence and stopped poking my lip out so I was back to the ETSY drawing board. I blew the dust off of my shop, set out my new pretty things and open the doors once again.

With the holidays coming, I am feverishly stockpiling finished pendants like a little squirrel. I typically take a break from festivals and shows during the hot summer months and spend that time preparing inventory for the fall festival season. Once I make it through the holidays, it's time to take the winter hours and start preparing for the springtime shows. It took me a few seasons to get out of the "oh my gosh I don't have enough stuff to take to this weekend" mode, where I stayed up like a vampire and ran the kiln so much I got a holiday card from the power company.

My current goal is to get to and keep my shop inventory level at about 300 pieces. One step at a time, right?

I try to keep people engaged in the shop and Facebook pagewww.facebook.com/Tnglassstainsdichroicglass 

Fans of the FB page get a discount code for 10% (hey, it covers shipping!) as do repeat customers. You will also find a monthly dichroic pendant giveaway on the FB page. Following the entry rules is like falling out of bed, and the winner is selected and posted on the page the 1st of every month. Best of all, the winner gets to select their own prize from anything in the shop!

If I had to give any advice to an ETSY newcomer, it would be to learn from my mistakes.....engage with ETSY- participate in the forums and teams. You will get lots of support, make some great friends, gather best practices from others and get the sales going. Treat your shop as you would a physical business and commit the right amount of time to grow it. It won't all come in a day, a week, or a month. But mostly...don't get discouraged and keep finding ways to improve. I am still doing all of these myself!

Easy Photo Editing, Increase Your Etsy Sales!

My Handmade Earrings

We all know how important having great pictures is for selling your handmade products online, but, still, some of us struggle (yes, that would be me here) to get professional looking photographs to use online in my Etsy store. There are numerous photo editing options available, including photo editing software that might be included with your computer or camera. I have a Mac and I was using the photo editing program build into iphoto; however, I desired to add text to pictures, soften my focal area, make collages, and add special effects...and, I didn't want to pay for it. Ultimately, I discovered a website that lets me do all that and more, while being very user friendly. In fact, I liked it so much, I upgraded to the 4.99 a month version, which includes more fonts, overlays, and special effects.

This website is www.picmonkey.com

Photo Collage Made With PicMonkey of my Handmade Products

So far, I have had a great response on Facebook and Twitter to my photo collages and edited photos. The earrings in the first picture sold the day I listed them. I am adding text to photos with my shop name and coupon codes to broadcast using social media. PicMonkey is free to try with several price options for upgrading.

Unfortunately, my digital camera USB cord is broken, so I can't upload pictures for editing until my new cord arrives. I am disappointed because editing my pictures and adding text and special effects with PicMonkey was getting to be quite addictive! I highly recommend this program if you are looking for a very easy to use photo editing and enhancement program.

Happy sales all!

Featured Artist: Ashley Rogers

Alcohol Ink Art

Today we are going to hear from Ashley Rogers, a multitalented artisan who makes decorated tiles, magnets, plaques, jewelry and more. She also blogs and lives in Oregon. Ashley owns the online shop Ashley After Dark.

1) Please tell us a little about yourself and what types of crafts you do? How did you get started and how long have you been doing it?

Pebble Magnet

I am an artist that loves trying new ideas and projects. I specialize in designing an assortment of gorgeous and unique alcohol ink products. You will find a very colorful variety of coasters, tiles, framed art, motivational and inspirational art pieces, as well as upcycled and repurposed jewelry. I am also in the process of adding a new line of trendy magnets. As time progresses I continue to branch out on new adventures in order to create fresh and new products.
I had been seeing etsy here and there and one day my sister in law mentioned she was opening a shop, knowing I had a love for creating, she suggested I look into it. Once I did, it was love at first sight. There are so many amazing items on etsy. The talent is so diverse and wonderful, its eye candy at all times.
I opened my shop July 2012, and have had fun ever since.


2) I see you work with alcohol inks. Can you tell our readers more about these inks, what they are and what types of craft applications you can use them in?

Domino Necklace 

Alcohol inks are by far my favorite medium to work with. It is a versatile acid free ink. It reminds me a lot of tie dye in the sense you have a lot of freedom with colors and mixing. 

3) What type of advice do you have for our readers that also have etsy shops about promoting and selling on etsy? What is the best advice you got about etsy when you first started?

Creations of any sort come from the heart and have meaning behind them for each and every individual. You must have confidence in yourself and in the products you are selling. In order to make it worthwhile you have to believe in yourself. 
The first craft fair I did was very intimidating, but it was also a great learning experience. There was a blind vision on my part that I could hide in the corner and magically sell my art. But as many of you know that is far from how it works. It forced me to communicate with buyers as well as various sellers in order to get my products out there. When I began to see results there was a confidence about me that I wanted to share with the world. If you are able to connect yourself with craft fairs and galleries it's something I would highly recommend to any artisan. 

You also have to go into selling with realistic expectations. Most etsy sellers aren't able to throw some items together, take a few pictures and make money. It takes patience and realistic goals. Success is not going to happen overnight.


4) Do you have any big plans for your shop in 2013?

Decorated Tile

I have already started on one of my plans, and that was to open a blog. You can find it at ashleyafterdark@blogspot.com . I also would like to do some more craft fairs this year and keep selling my products. 



5) Most of our readers live in the Nashville, TN area, have you ever been to TN? If so, what was your favorite thing and if not, what would you like to see and do here in Tennessee?
I have never been to Tennessee, but would love to travel there someday. I would love to go to see all the musical sites.

6) Can you share your blog, Facebook, Twitter and other social media links with us?
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/AshleyAfterDarkWhereThePartyStartsAtTheCraftTable
TWITTER: twitter.com/AshleyRodgers26 
PINTEREST: pinterest.com/ashley_breann/ 
BLOG: ashleyafterdark.blogspot.com/ 
GOOGLE+: plus.google.com/u/0/101678518806867897153/posts?tab=XX

Etsy Shop Marketing: Treasury Teams and Treasury Games

Sample Etsy Treasury Item

Are you struggling to keep views up in your shop and increase exposure? If you need a little boost in traffic to your shop, consider joining a treasury team or playing the treasury challenge games hosted by certain teams. As I am writing this, the Middle Tennessee Etsy Team is hosting a treasury challenge game, featuring Amy Averitte from fAveritte Creations as the featured shop. Being the winner is a big payoff for this Etsy shop; her pillow will now be in every treasury for this challenge!

fAverrite Creations Pillow

First, what are some of the benefits to making treasuries and participating in the challenges?

Number one, it is good for you and the team. You look like a team player and get exposure within your team for making the treasury. Then, you can get even more exposure for your shop if your treasury gets hot or makes the front page. Everyone will want to see who made such an interesting collection. You also could win the challenge and have your item featured in the next round. Finally, you get to use the team tag. The team tag is a very under-utilized tool to be found in search. Often, team members will tag some items with the team tag (ours is Teamboro in honor of our beginnings in Murfreesboro, TN) and use that team tag as a search term when finding items to include in a treasury or when promoting shop local.

Personally, every time I make a treasury, it increases my shop views by 10-20 a day and I have people add me to their circle. All great for more exposure! Furthermore, it gives you material to post on social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, that makes you look like an active shop owner, while also being non-spammy. Sometimes, I will convo people telling them if they have been treasuried, but I find it in bad taste to ask them to follow me on Facebook or share the treasury with friends. I like keeping treasury convos simple and straightforward, praise for the item and a link to the treasury.

So, how to get started playing the games? Easy, just look in your teams for treasury game discussions or search under the teams category for treasury teams. You make have to apply for them. Most teams that host game do it every 1-2 weeks and each one has different rules.

Here is some advice for making treasuries:

-NEVER include your own items. This disqualifies you from making the front page.

-Search for and install Schmetzy tools. It is a pack of 3 apps for treasury making.

-Try to include items from a variety of categories, jewelry, books, clothing, furniture, etc.

-Use your team tag to search for items to put in a treasury.

-Do not comment more than once on any treasury. This lowers the rankings on the "hotness" list.

-Celebrate the unusual and include items and themes that will make your treasury stand out.

-Have fun and don't stress about finding the perfect item to finish off your treasury. You can always make a new one!