The Grand Opening of My Etsy Shop, fullmoonfiberart

I’ve been keeping it a secret, (mostly because it made me nervous) but over the past couple of weeks I’ve been creating an Etsy shop called fullmoonfiberart and making potholders to sell there.

Yesterday it went live.

I’ve been ambivalent about selling my work on Etsy.  A couple of years after starting my business and blog, I had an Etsy shop, but found I sold more of my work on my blog,  and it became a burden rather than making things easier.

So I’ve been resistant to the idea, but with some prodding from Jon (who loves to shop on Etsy) and friends, I decided to give it a try.  After all, it’s potentially a whole new audience for my work and my blog.  Even I can see that.

I still hadn’t changed my idea about Etsy when I was putting up the shop and making the potholders.  Even when it went live, I was still reluctant to write about it on my blog.

But I did share it on facebook, because it was so easy to do.

And it was when I sold two potholders, both to people I know very well and met though my work,  that I started to think differently about it.

One concern about going on Etsy is about my relationship with my readers and customers.  I make so many connections when someone emails me to buy a piece of my art.  We often have lovely conversations which sometimes even lead to online friendships.

I love that part of my work, and don’t want to lose it.   It seems Etsy can sometimes be a cold place to just do business, without the interaction that means so much to me.

Another part of my reluctance about Etsy was that I felt, in a way, it was a betrayal to my blog, which has been so good to me and for me.

But it’s also that when I put my work on Etsy, I become anonymous.

My blog is me. Read my blog and you get to know me and my work. You get the whole story.  People on my blog  know why I’m making a “Goddess Potholder”.   And they don’t expect my potholders to all be the same size and shape, they already know why I make them the way I do.

On my blog I’m the ruling queen, in control of my queendom.  On  Etsy, I’m just another person(out of thousands) making and selling my potholders.

(I didn’t realize this part of it till just now as I wrote it.  I didn’t know my ego was so big and tender at the same time.  Or that my ego was being over protective.  This is just the kind of thing I mean, when I say my blog does so much for me.)

The interesting thing is, Susan and Linda, who made the first two purchases in my Etsy Shop, are both telling me that they liked shopping for my work on Etsy.  Linda said it was easier to see what was for sale.

On my blog it’s often confusing, because I can’t monitor it constantly and many times I’ve already sold something that someone else wants and there’s no way for them to know that until I email them.

This is easier for me too, because I don’t have to send lots of emails back an forth letting people know what’s sold and whats still available.

On both ends, the whole process of selling for me and the buyer is easier and more efficient on Etsy.

And Susan said that maybe it’s just the opposite than how I’ve been thinking.  That it’s because of my blog that Etsy can work for me now.  Not a betrayal, but a benefit to the blog.

So, now I’m beginning to change my mind about Etsy.  Sometimes it takes actually doing a thing to make that happen for me. It’s too hard for me to imagine.  I need hard evidence.

I’ll still be selling my quilts and wallhangings on my blog.  And, I’ll still be writing about my potholders on my blog too.  Sharing the process and all that goes into the making.   And If people want them before they’re done and they let me know,  I’ll still sell them on my blog.

But I hope to always have an inventory of Potholders in my Etsy Shop.  For all my blog readers and anyone else who wants them.

So Welcome to the grand opening of my Etsy shop  fullmoonfiberart.  Click here to take a look around.  And thanks for visiting.

(soon I’ll have a link on my blog to my Etsy Shop, so it’s easy to get to).