Blog break

Hi everyone!

I have been considering taking a break from my blog for a while now but kept pushing through! I do enjoy searching through other shops and writing my spotlights, but that's all my blog has become recently. I want to do more with it, but I'm just isn't happening at the present moment. Therefore, I have made the decision to take a break from blogging for right now. :( This doesn't mean I won't stop by with an occasional posting at times, and who knows when I might just start back up again! You can still find me on Facebook and in my stores:

Etsy
Artfire
Zibbet
Craft is Art

Happy shopping!

Christmas in July sale!!

Instead of writing a spotlight this week, I've been busily preparing my stores for my Christmas in July sale! Enjoy free shipping on all items now through the end of the month. Here are how the shops are set up:

Etsy and Craft is Art: shipping costs will be refunded via paypal or contact me before making a purchase, and I will set up a custom order for you.

Artfire and Zibbet: shipping has been changed to reflect free shipping

Please don't ask me why it varies from shop to shop - each set up page is different, so it's a matter of how many steps it takes to make all the changes! (And how much time I have on August 1 to put my shipping charges back in place!)

Be sure to search "Christmas in July" at all these sights for some other great finds.

For another bit of self-promotion, here are some pictures of my newest scarves:

Craft is Art

I am always trying to find new ways to get more shoppers to my store. Over recent weeks, I have been learning about other sites like Etsy where you can build your own shops. Many of these sites offer a basic set up for no fee, or you can pay for all the bells and whistles. Although it's more work for me, I've decided to take the plunge and set up some new shops. I told everyone about my new Artfire Studio a couple weeks ago. It took a while to upload everything from Etsy into my new store, and I've only been minimally happy with the results thus far. What I like about Artfire is that they show you if someone has linked to your item from google search which is interesting. But the item views cannot compare to Etsy. However, if someone purchases an item from there, then I will not complain! :) You can upload as many items as you want, and there are no listing or selling fees.

Next I learned about Zibbet. A basic seller can upload 25 items at no cost, so I decided to give that a try. That store is still a work in progress, as I only have 11 of my 25 items uploaded. It takes a while to upload all the pictures and copy and paste my text from Etsy, so I have been a little neglectful. I have not yet figured out if there is a way to see how many views an item has or link this shop to google analytics. I have some more to do here that's for sure!

Finally, I heard about Craft is Art. A basic seller here can also upload 25 items at no cost. However, here, you can import your items (with images!) from Etsy. It still took some time to go through each item afterward and set all the labels and tags, but I started this project today around 12:30 and am already finished! You can check out my newest store here: http://www.craftisart.com/YardByYardKnits. I already have analytics set up for this shop, so I'm curious to see how it compares to Artfire.

I have no idea how these smaller sites compare to Etsy. But I think each has a following of its own, so now I have to see if a cheapo like me will be found amongst all the pro shops that can do more with their stores!

Yard By Yard Knits is now on Artfire!

I've heard talk of other sites similar to Etsy but hadn't checked anything out until this week. After a little research, I decided to give Artfire a try and have opened a second store! At least I can mostly copy and paste from one store to the next, so hopefully this won't become too overwhelming! :)

I will be adding items to my new store over the next few days. Be sure to check it out!

http://www.artfire.com/users/YardByYardKnits

Now, I have many new artists for my spotlights!