7.01.2009

The Shop is Open

After a marathon photo editing session last night and this morning...like 8 hours total....I have updated the shop. To celebrate that, and because I am far, FAR behind on giveaways, I will be giving away something to you, one of my 8 blog readers.



What would you like? I'll give you a choice:


a. a mini pouch, your choice of color and/or applique
b. a wristlet (Lisa Lam pattern), your choice of color
c. a t-shirt bag from the shop or one of your own shirts


I'll leave this open for a few days....let's say from now to 6 pm (West Coast time) Monday, July 6.

RULES OF THE GAME:
Go to the shop please, and in the comments on this post tell me
  1. something you like and
  2. any advice you have for set-up, pricing, photos, or anything else.
I welcome constructive criticism!! Good luck!

13 comments:

Heather said...

your shop looks so great! I especially love the Retro Television Kids Backpack. So hip and cool for school! Your pics look really great...maybe one idea would be to try them on a different color background than just white...just a thought.

And I love the T-shirt tote...so cool!

heatherdemke(at)gmail(dot)com

carla said...

I'm biased to the little girl dresses this time around. Too bad I don't have a niece yet! I think your pictures look good. Check out my blog. I just gave you a big shout out! =)

Darling Petunia said...

Hey, I'm always up for winning something!

I like the little apple pouches best. The lining and the applique just go together perfectly.

One thing that seemed off in your shop was the soda bottle with the gold, silk bag. Elegant bag and...a soda bottle. And it wasn't immediately clear which picture was the lining.

Good luck with your update! I need to do one but I'm l a z y.

Antoinette said...

The Flying Monkeys bag! There are t-shirts that are so funny but I'd never wear -- and they are perfect for bags! ;)

I do like how you're staging most of the shots. For the kids' clothes, perhaps you can get a model? Always better to see them on a live, 3-D body if you can. And if the kid is cute, every parent wants their kid to be that kid in that dress.

Thanks for the giveaway! Always fun times.

Natalija said...

Hi! Well I truly LOVE the Nintendo Gamer Book Bag and there's a huge market for items in this style right now, I know some websites that love to promote stuff like it, it's one bag mu husband wouldn't be embarrassed to hold for me while I'm in the restroom! (the John Deere bag is the last pic in the list of pictures of the bag though, not sure about that??)

With the etsy site, my husband's a graphic designer but I didn't want to cheat so I'm going on my opinion alone here...my only thought was that I'd love to see even in the initial page of items if the items that are similar were grouped together, instead of the t-shirt material book bags being scattered throughout for example...obviously you can just click a category on the right and see only one kind of item at a time but in the larger group it'd be more pleasing to at least my eye if things were more organized.

OH and a quick P.S. I'm the proud owner of the corduroy and sage book bag and I had something spill on it and had to wash it and made the mistake of putting it in the washing machine (on delicate of course) and now a seam is split. I LOVE this bag and really really want to use it forever but don't sew...any advice for me? Thanks so much!

Christy said...

Natalija, I would love to help you out, but I can't directly reply to your comment and I can't get to your blog...can you email me with your email address?

columbialilydesigns@yahoo.com

Thanks....

Unknown said...

I like the layout, the background is very creative but complimentary to the items. I'd suggest a couple different photos options for your clothing items so customers can see it at different angles.

Janell said...

I saw Carla's diaper bag and had to check out your store! I also have a bag that she gave me last Christmas that I use every day to tote along all the stuff I take to work with me. I love using it. My only suggestion is that I would like to see pictures of the bags that would provide size perspective either with a model or next to a recognizeable object like the soda bottle. Keep on, I love you designs!

Sara said...

i love the upcycled tshirt bags :) the orange peace bag really caught my eye. I love how you show different pictures of each item :)

Thank you. take care n be well.

justdiysara (at) gmail (dot) com

chrissy said...

So many things are really nice on your sites (blog & Etsy). Since this is my 2nd time officially visiting and thoroughly looking around (my first being yesterday), I will comment on all of the things I like. I absolutely adore your upcycled t-shirt bags especially the Wicked Witch in Training one. I think the purple butterfly fabric on the clutch is just gorgeous! Love the kitty print on an item I can't recognize what it is but I really like the print (an item back in June an item possibly for your sister).

Now for something about your site. I was thinking of an idea for your blog. I think it would carry through to your Etsy shop for when people request an item that is not in your shop - and possibly bring you more business. On your blog, it would be nice to see a gallery of photos of things you have made. I know people can peruse your blog entries, but to see all of the items you have made in one place would have GREAT impact. If someone knows they want something handmade and from you, but are unsure of what you can make, then they could look through the gallery for ideas and go from there.

I hope the suggestion helps. I know I would love to see a gallery of all of the items you have made. Also, a small thing too, for items that are more complex, like the diaper bag you did for Carla, it would be nice to see what the interior looks like.

Keep up the beautiful work. I know I will definitely buy something one day!

Unknown said...

I only found one page of items. Obviously there were more, but I didn't know how to find them.

More information in your shop please.

I liked the T-shirt bags, but I couldn't always figure out what they said. The message is important.

glam.spoon said...

I think your shop looks great! My only suggestion is something I've been experimenting with... if you show only a section of the item in the photo, its like a tease that makes people want to click on it. :)

Steph said...

Oh, man, that Pinstripe Clutch Purse has me drooling (and imagining a nice new pair of shoes to go with it). I think the shop looks good; I respectfully disagree with Heather's comment above suggesting colored backgrounds. Plain white (or, if appropriate, black) backgrounds won't distract from the merchandise the way colored ones might, and it's way easier to set up a lightbox or dropcloth in white/cream so you can photograph a lot of things at one time.