Focus Feature and Giveaway

Happy Thursday and welcome to another focus feature and giveaway! First, let me announce the winner of the pleasurearts earring giveaway. Using a random number generator from Random.org, the winner is… (drumroll please…) #16, Laughing Fridge!!! And keep your eyes peeled next week because Laughing Fridge will be my focus feature and giveaway! Congrats and I’ll put you in touch with pleasurearts to collect your prize!

And onto the next… This is another shop feature that I am VERY excited to bring to you. I met this WONDERFUL shop owner in the Etsy forums and soon began making purchases and trades with her. I have gotten 2 sets of bookmarks from Mystuff with great photos of flowers and customized the Bible verse on the back so that I could give them to the girls in my Bible Study group. The girls LOVED them and it was such a pleasure to work with Mystuff on the custom orders!

Mystuff2 will be giving away 2 cards and 2 bookmarks of the winner’s choice! Check out her shop, http://www.mystuff2.etsy.com/, to see the photos that you’ll be able to choose from if you’re the lucky winner! Fear not, Mystuff2 will be shipping worldwide, so enter from any location!

Here’s what she has to say:

What’s your favorite item from your shop and what makes it your favorite?

My favorite item in my shop changes as I add new ones. Every day in April and (so far!) every day in May I've added a new listing a day to my shop, and each time I think "This one's my favorite!" I think "Get in my Belly!" makes me laugh the most, while I find "One in a Million" inspirational. And I enjoy doing bookmarks for people who come up with their own quotes for the personalized backs - I like seeing their quotes and have found new favorite quotes that way!

How did you get into your line of crafting?

I ended up in photography because I'm a perfectionist. I wanted to watercolor because it looks so loose and free and effortless - but that's exactly why I'm no good at it. In taking a photo I enjoy "capturing" without having to "create". There are certainly creative aspects to it, because I find that I'm getting better the more I practice - as with anything! And it's both an excuse to travel as well as a challenge to see more when traveling - it makes me keep an eye out.

Do you belong to any groups on Etsy?

I belong to a few groups on etsy. POE is the Photographers of Etsy Street Team, and I was excited to be asked to join. I'm also in a new group called CAPS, for Christian Artists Promoting Shops with a group of lovely ladies dedicated to helping promote one another. And as I mentioned earlier, I'm a part of the May Listing Club, a group of shops who all committed to list one new things in their shop every day this month. I participated in the April group and was AMAZED at what a difference it made for me!

If you had one super power what would it be?

I thought I was going to say I'd want the "ability to read minds" super power, but realized that would probably make me less happy rather than more, so I'll go with... teleportation. It'd be nice to wake up on a beach in the Caribbean, or visiting Europe, or seeing the Great Barrier Reef, or ...

What’s your guilty pleasure?

Guilty pleasure... do I really want to admit to having any? Cupcakes. I can't pass up a cupcake! It's like a mini-party!

If you could be any animal what would it be and why?

If I could be an animal... I love animals. I'd like to live the life of my dogs! I've always been fascinated by herons - how they stand so still, so solitary, all day. I swam with wild manatees in Florida and that was just one of the best moments - to have a wild animal choose to interact with me! That would be it - I'd be a manatee and engage with humans.

Do you have a personal favorite Etsy shop that you would like to share with readers?

Wow - to pick just one favorite shop on etsy would be tough. I'm going to steer clear of naming friends I've made and lovely PEOPLE, and stick to SHOPS. I was a shopper here for over 2 years before I started selling and have bought almost 3 times as many things as I've sold, so I have lots of favorites!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/joanscrafts - I love her quilled Christmas ornaments and am going to buy the whole collection one day!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Loustudio - I was going to try to stay away from friends I've made on etsy, but since I've bought more from this shop - sometimes making a new purchase before my last even arrives! - this list wouldn't be complete unless I told how much I love Lou's cards!http://www.etsy.com/shop/Buttonwilloe - I collect Christmas ornaments and am going so far as to replace my kids' "Baby's First" ornaments with some from this shop - LOVE them!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/klosti - my dishtowel dress is my new favorite purchase

http://www.etsy.com/shop/chelebert12 - she was the first to make a purchase from my shop, so she'll always have a special place in my heart!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/baked - I sent the most amazing gifts from this shop

http://www.etsy.com/shop/BragginRightsBath - and this year all my out-of-town family and friends are getting a "Birthday Cupcake Bath Bomb" from this shop - what'd I tell you about my guilty pleasure?

If you were stranded on a deserted island, what 3 things would you take with you?

If I could be stranded with my hubby, a computer with Internet, and someone to cook for me - I wouldn't be stranded at all! I love to read, and I could read endlessly on the Internet, so that covers so many other wants. Maybe I'd need money in the paypal to download books, though...

From my own personal crafting I’ve been through frustrating moments with new projects. What have you learned from your own crafting frustrations?

I've learned to enjoy what I do. I LOVE watercolors - but I'm better off enjoying someone else's, and doing my own thing. I buy photography from other artists because I love what they do, but it wouldn't be my style to duplicate it. And what I've learned here on etsy is that we all have different taste. Something I'm not that thrilled with may be my biggest seller, so I have to remember I'm not just creating for me!

What advice would you give to new Etsy sellers?

I've only been selling on etsy for 4 months, so I'm not a wealth of information, but I will share this. I love to read and collect bookmarks, and so I opened a shop with 70 bookmarks - and only those bookmarks. Once I added greeting cards, I found out just how many people don't use bookmarks - or only need one. You have to push yourself to try new things - things that scare you even! I've been scared to offer prints, and just last week the lab tech where I have my photos printed called to see if she could buy one in a 12x18 size to give to her mom for Mother's Day! I probably wouldn't have made the leap to prints yet, but that inspired me to think outside the box. And I entered my first-ever photo competition this month and took "Best of Show" - with the first photo I've ever blown up to an 8x10 size: http://www.carycitizen.com/2010/05/05/jaycees-photo-contest-winners/

I have to direct you now to the listing for the item in the photo above:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/45957718/custom-shop-promotion-and-advertising

This listing is for CUSTOM bookmarks that you could use for your own shop advertising! I can't wait until I'm getting enough sales to have Mystuff make me custom shop bookmarks to give away for advertising!

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Anyone can post and accumulate up to 15 entries for the giveaway! Please be sure to include your email address so that you can be contacted if you win, and don’t forget to post each entry as a separate comment!

Visit Mystuff2’s Etsy shop and post your favorite item here. (1 entry)

Follow Clever’s Corner Blog and post to let me know you follow. (1 entry)

Tell me your guilty pleasure. (1 entry)

Post what message you will have written on the bookmark if you win the giveaway. (1 entry)

Tweet about this giveaway and post the link here. (1 entry)

BONUS ENTRIES!!!

Make a purchase from Mystuff2’s Etsy shop and post the transaction here. (5 entries)

Make a purchase from The Clever Crafter’s Etsy shop and post the transaction here. (5 entries)

The giveaway will end on Wednesday, May 19 at midnight (Eastern Standard Time). Winner will be contacted Thursday morning when the next giveaway is posted and prize details will be arranged with Mystuff2. Thanks for your interest and entries!