[Kilala Mikal]

You learn something new everyday! I didn't know that about the actual hookers. Nifty.

I've never really done the whole etsy thing before. Are there any fees associated with selling items?

[Fauxreal]

On etsy, I thought there was. They have to make their money somehow!

[Kilala Mikal]

That's very true. I'm being all lazy again, and haven't been on etsy in a while. I came up with my shop name, but I haven't up loaded any pictures of anything to sell yet. Looks like I'll be checking them out in depth today. ^_^'

[Fauxreal]

Make sure to tell me what you come up with! SHARE!

[Kilala Mikal]

The shop name is "Hooked by Cici", and THIS is a link to my finished stuff. They don't have any descriptions because I just uploaded them, so to fill you in on what's what:

The green and orange flower is a teether I made for my daughter. The red bag is a dice bag I made for my husband. He had a black dice bag (I'm pretty sure they're side by side in one of the pics) and wanted a bigger one, so I made him a stand alone one that's is bigger than the old one. The name on it is his Character name. The small blue one was made specifically for his favorite dice set. The white one is mine.

I'm planning on taking pictures tomorrow of the granny squares I'm working on to make a bumper for my daughter's crib.

And the pictures are horrible... but that's because I took them with my 3ds and didn't have the best lighting. >.>'

[Fauxreal]

Awww! I want a 3ds - everyone in my family has one but me! lolz!
And I love those dice bags!

[Kilala Mikal]

Thanks! I'm pretty proud of them (I didn't use a pattern, they were straight from me own noggin). And they're soooo easy to make, too! I've been trying to come up with prices, but I'm at a loss. My mom (a fellow crocheter) said to keep track of how long it takes me to make them and charge according to minimum wage plus materials. What do you, as a fellow crafter, think?

[femme gauche]

Yeah the 3ds camera is not exactly star quality. It's novel cause you can take 3d photographs of things. And I like the colors!3d draw/paint program on there.

I got past the fiddly part on my wobble bass hat finally @_@. I was distracting myself with other projects for a bit cause the colorwork was so tedious but I'm past that part now woot.

Etsy does charge a small fee with every sale, and a $0.20 listing fee... I think one listing lasts 3 months or something. And there is a limit to the number of photos you can add for free... I mean I don't really begrudge them any of that of course. They are providing a service.

For pattern listings, Ravelry is good - they don't charge anything unless a minimum earning is met, and then it is nominal - and Craftsy is even better - no fees at all, ever. But Ravelry has a nice community and a very easy to organize format and Craftsy is a bit less neat. I have two patterns published so far - one for sale and one for free - on both sites. The free pattern has had several downloads on Craftsy and none on Ravelry.... So I don't know what the difference is. There are pros and cons, I suppose.

For actual physical items I do have an Etsy shop but I'm not sure I like my name... At the same time at this point i can't really change it I've done all of my branding so far with that name and I can't really come up with anything better anyway...

[Fauxreal]

OMG! coming up with branding names is crazy town!

I just heard of Craftsy recently.

[femme gauche]

Yeah. Well about a month ago I was suddenly moved to actually put some effort into my shop so I created a Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, and blogger account and a separate email account to associate them all with...

And I haven't spent too much time with Craftsy but it is useful in its way. I am just more comfortable navigating Ravelry haha. There's also a new site called Nimblestix.

[Quiet Man Cometh]

I forgot about this thread! Though not sure I've been here before, either. I was on a crafty kick for a while, cross stitch, but now I'm working on something to do with my stitching rather than just frame it or leave it in a craft bin. I got a sewing machine for Christmas, so I may well learn to use that in the forthcoming months.

On wood, I have a piece of drift wood that I want to make a staff out of and it's well and dry, but apparently if you get wood *too* dry it will crack or split as well. It might need some manner of oil or seal on it. That's something for me to look up. I have a piece of amethyst geode to put on it, and I'd like to do some knotting work with hemp to add some fun little danglies.

[Fauxreal]

I need more amethyst in my life!

I also need to get with the crafty program.

[femme gauche]

lol Faux...

Quiet, that sounds like fun. lol several years back my dad fashioned himself some walking sticks... Nothing really fancy... He looked like a dork walking around with them haha but he was slightly obsessed with the idea.

If I were to do wood working I would probably try to fashion myself a crochet hook or knitting needles, or a spindle of some sort.

I'd like to make myself a DODEC wheel (free plans for a cheap-to-make spinning wheel made mostly by a single 2x4).

[Quiet Man Cometh]

My sister started making dolls, and spins her own yarn for their hair. I've started to do it too. It's a little awkward at times, but it's relaxing. I like working with my hands so crafting is fun to do. I've sat and cross stitched during a class or two. Seems to help me focus a little.

[Fauxreal]

oh wow! I have never spinned yarn!?! It sounds kinda fun! <3

[Quiet Man Cometh]

We currently use what I think are called drop spindles, little weighted stick-things that you hook the yarn onto and manually spin. My sister wants a wheel but it's going to cost as much to get it shipped to where she is as it would cost to buy it.

I'd like to get a spindle and some wool but I have no idea what I'll do with the actual yarn yet. Maybe improve my knitting.