A while ago I blogged about possibly starting an Etsy shop. I've still been playing with the idea in my head...it would be fun to try to make a few pennies from fiber arts, and the risk of monetary loss with an etsy shop is pretty low, so if I'm going to start a "business", it's a good way to begin. Plus there's the fact that the chances of my moving soon are ever-increasing, and when I do move I probably won't have work right away, so this seems like a good way to occupy my time.
The drawbacks, as I see them, are small but real: Mainly, I'm not sure my work is really good enough to sell. I've produced a few things recently that I feel confident about, but other times things just don't go right. I'd hate to sell someone something and have them be disappointed by it. Beyond that, there's my fear that I'll become overwhelmed by life and not be as on top of things as a good etsy seller should be.
That being said, I'm leaning towards taking the plunge. But I'm a bit stuck on naming my shop. I played with the idea of continuing sports-themed colours like I did in the summer, and being the "Sporting Spinner" or some such. But sometimes I dye a colour that I just can't connect to sports. And I'm also considering selling fiber, not just handspun, so maybe I don't want spinner in the name?
Then I thought about picking out some local geographic name and going with that. But given how unsettled I am, location-wise, that doesn't seem like a good choice. I mean, if we move to K-W, I could be "Waterloo Wools" or something. But that's not a definite, still!
So...I'm open to ideas and feedback if you have any!
Also, I'm going to share a few of my recent creations:
"Football Season", Targhee 2-ply, about 550 yds to 4 oz. It's heavy laceweight/light fingering. The fiber would make yummy socks, but the thinner parts of the yarn might not be the greatest for socks.
"School Spirit", 2 oz. of Superwash wool dyed in my high school colours!
"Girl Thing", 4 oz. of merino-tussah in purples, pinks, and blues
"Seattle", 4 oz. of alpaca, fingering weight. This was my handspun for the Spunky Eclectic swap. The fiber was not dyed by me, but from a Michigan dyer/alpaca breeder. It was one of the yarns I've been most proud of in my spinning so far, though!
The drawbacks, as I see them, are small but real: Mainly, I'm not sure my work is really good enough to sell. I've produced a few things recently that I feel confident about, but other times things just don't go right. I'd hate to sell someone something and have them be disappointed by it. Beyond that, there's my fear that I'll become overwhelmed by life and not be as on top of things as a good etsy seller should be.
That being said, I'm leaning towards taking the plunge. But I'm a bit stuck on naming my shop. I played with the idea of continuing sports-themed colours like I did in the summer, and being the "Sporting Spinner" or some such. But sometimes I dye a colour that I just can't connect to sports. And I'm also considering selling fiber, not just handspun, so maybe I don't want spinner in the name?
Then I thought about picking out some local geographic name and going with that. But given how unsettled I am, location-wise, that doesn't seem like a good choice. I mean, if we move to K-W, I could be "Waterloo Wools" or something. But that's not a definite, still!
So...I'm open to ideas and feedback if you have any!
Also, I'm going to share a few of my recent creations:
"Football Season", Targhee 2-ply, about 550 yds to 4 oz. It's heavy laceweight/light fingering. The fiber would make yummy socks, but the thinner parts of the yarn might not be the greatest for socks.
"School Spirit", 2 oz. of Superwash wool dyed in my high school colours!
"Girl Thing", 4 oz. of merino-tussah in purples, pinks, and blues
"Seattle", 4 oz. of alpaca, fingering weight. This was my handspun for the Spunky Eclectic swap. The fiber was not dyed by me, but from a Michigan dyer/alpaca breeder. It was one of the yarns I've been most proud of in my spinning so far, though!
Comments
Oh, just want to add that you shouldn't put yourself down about your work, though! *pokes*
I think your work is gorgeous, and definitely worthy of being sold. <3 The best thing about an Etsy shop is that you can put items up for sale (or not!) depending on how much time you have to make them... there's very little pressure to keep a giant shopful.
Good luck if you do come on board
Good luck! I think you'll make it work