New listings!

I've put a couple more things on etsy. Really I should update the blog with more than my self promotion, but real life has been a bit busy this month!

Fruit Danish Pastries

Danish Pastries 

Raw Beef

Beef Dinner Preparation Board

Tuna Sandwiches

Mixed Sandwiches

Etsy - again and other stuff

It's been two weeks since the changes to the categories on etsy. By my own admission I'm terrible at the behind the scenes stuff that needs doing to get seen on the internet. On etsy (and google and others) this involves tags and SEO (search engine optimisation) and a whole load of other things. 

I took a couple of days off making to read all the info etsy had about titles, tags, SEO etc and tried to apply it to my listings. I have no idea if it's worked or not as I don't keep a keen eye on my stats but they don't seem to have jumped up or down since I made the changes. 

It's not enough to list an item - you have to use the internet to promote and network too.

The main points I gleaned are:

* use all the characters in a title and make the title use as many tags/keywords as possible.

I don't always do this. I probably won't use all the characters in a title

* in the tags section of a listing use two or three word phrases and repeat the words in the title.

This is what my most recent changes have done. Repeat everything in the title then throw in some extra

* think like a customer - search like a customer

For instance take miniature food in polymer clay in one inch  scale for dollhouses.

I make miniature food - but search miniature food and a lot of food jewellery come up. I'm in the UK so I say dolls house others say dollhouse. I say 1/12 scale others say one inch scale. I've tried to use as many variations as I can think of in my listings. 

* take clear photographs

I don't know what happens when I take pictures of  minis but a lot of them come out with a dark background. I take them on a clear sunny day etc etc but they are a little dark. That's my next thing to look at when I have some time. 

There is much much more info to read and it doesn't help that dolls house collectables are still stuck in the toy section. I'm hopeful this will change. 

Etsy is not my friend at the moment

I list my miniatures on etsy because I thought this was a million times better than ebay and in this internet age just having a website and hoping people will find you is a long shot to say the least.

I like etsy. I like the ethos behind it even though recently I have had my doubts as to the individual maker aspect of some of the items on there - not just miniatures but in other categories too. I like the fee structure and the charges. 20c for a three month listing and a 3% fee when your item sells blows ebay and their extortionate fees, terms and conditions out of the water.

However this week etsy did the unthinkable and changed the category listings for the whole site. Suddenly dolls and miniatures are no longer a category and instead are buried in toys as a sub section. Lots of people are complaining and I do really hope they have a rethink about it. I consider miniatures to be collectables, they are not played with as toys and  the majority of collectors are adults. Many of the things that are made by myself and other would never be considered toys although some dolls house miniatures can be found in toy shops to buy.

I'm hoping someone somewhere will see sense and put the dolls and miniature collectable category back. I'm now off to do some crochet ... 'real life' size as I've started another bedspread.

Christmas Jewelled Cookies

Today's creations are sweet little christmas cookies. I took my inspiration from the boiled sweet cookies that I'd seen as Chrsitmas decorations. Shortbread cookies with icing and small gold balls and boiled sweet centres. I'd also made some christmas tree shapes and some snowflake fancies.