Artistful.com

So my main place of sale is Etsy, but I also had stuff up for sale on a new site called Artistful.com. It's a pretty neat site where you can have your portfolio, network, and sell your items. Sign up is free. I even made 2 sales there recently. And then I found out why Etsy rocks so much. I love Artistful for it's networking, but for selling jewelry? Not so much. They take 20 percent of your sale AND from shipping because you have to include shipping in the cost of anything you sell there. And then, once you make a sale, the buy pays Artistful and Artistful holds the money for 2 weeks or until the customer receives their items, whichever comes first. Honestly, it's such a hassle. There's really no reason for it. Etsy doesn't do it that way and they're free. Artistful claims they take that much because they offer a free service. Clearly none of them belong to Etsy.

Therefore, after the two sales I made at Artistful, I moved everything I was selling into my portfolio (i.e. not for sale). But just 5 minutes ago, I was commissioned to make another pair of earrings just like the ones I had already sold on there. Go me! The funny thing is that the second I finished making the first pair (see left), I put them in the pile of "to sell if I can" because I didn't like the way they looked. Not one bit. Now here I am, about to make another pair! I guess we are our own worst critics.

30 minute earrings, part deux

Although I may not know if it actually took me 30 minutes to make these earrings, I am pleased to say that someone found them pretty enough to buy! So now I'm making more of them. I have four more in the making: two silver, one copper, and one brass. I'll also be making one white, silver and crystal pair that I may or may not sell. It depends on how much I love them. Then again, I can always make more if I sell them, right?

I think I will be submitting the instructions for this type of earring to the book contest and perhaps to the Baltimore by Hand blog. We'll see. :-)

Oh, and just in case you're wondering, these earrings go for $30 to $40, depending on the materials used.