Thanks Elisabethā¦Iām sure she will. Your apron is lovely so just gave it a 
Sorry Helen, Iāve never made a Roman blind so canāt help Iām afraid. Thanks for asking though.
Iām finding Folksy slow at the moment too. I donāt think Iāve gone this long without a sale since the very beginning when I was just getting established. No craft fairs planned at the moment either, unfortunately. At least itās giving me a chance to re-stock my shop after all the pre-Christmas sales (mostly craft fair sales though - not so many on here, sadly, although I was certainly doing better than I am now!).
Very quiet here too Helen @PocketfulCreations and @FitzjohnAndNoble - not made a sale at all yet for February. Iām hoping the Spring brides will start to appear, which means I need to get a wiggle on and add the rest of my new bridal designs - one added today, below, 17 to go 
Well the search for a Roman blind maker will go onā¦thanks for letting me know Helen @PocketfulCreations
Your bracelet is lovely karen @silvertreejewellerydesign itās a good idea to market it as a prom piece too. I did notice when I was checking my tags that when I typed in ā50th anniversaryā there were only 2 pieces of jewellery listed but typing just āanniversaryā gives over 4,000 results! I donāt know what all your tags are karen but it might be worth adding a 50th, 40th etc (I hope that comes across as helpful rather than trying to tell you stuff you already know!)
Thanks Helen @FitzjohnAndNoble thatās a great idea - Iād already got some jewellery tagged with āanniversaryā and āpearl anniversaryā but I Googled anniversary stones and have been able to add some more - and some extra birthstone tags as well. I always find the trick with tags is using something that few others have used but are still obvious enough that people will use them to search for what they want 
Iāve still not worked out which is better - one word tags or longer ones - I tend to use a combination of both.
I have a suspicion that wedding jewellery wonāt do very well - I sold quite a bit when I was on the other site and even my most popular comb which I sold on there and sold a couple a month on my own website hasnāt had even so much of a sniff.
Iāve just juggled the order of the bridal collection so the jewellery is more prominent - it was a bit lost in all the combs. Fingers crossed I sell something - otherwise the local hospice charity shop is going to have a big increase in stock for their bridal section 
Anyway - ever in hope - Iāve listed a pair of pearl and crystal earrings today. They were really popular on my own site, so hopefully theyāll be here too
Helen @FitzjohnAndNoble - Iāve just got round to clearing up the box my birds came in (how lazy is that!) and have only just found the tags - thank you so much, they are lovely
Not lazy Karen @silvertreejewellerydesign ā¦yourāe just busy. 
I still have metal mistletoe hanging on my dresserā¦Will probably remove it mid november. Glad you liked the tags too
Iāve just seen this online so thought Iād pop it on as itās in the East midlands area.
Iāve no idea if itās worth doing but thought it worth a mention.
https://www.stallfinder.com/event/the-great-easter-gift-fair/150142/
Iām just going to catch up with the loving and pinning and show you these purses that Iāve listed tonight and then I think Iād better go to bed - my eyelids are drooping!
Hi Everyone,
Folksy has been very very quiet for me too where as on the other side & locally iām very busy hence iām not getting on here as much. Unfortunately if Folksy doesnāt pick itās socks up by April iām just gonna have to let my listings run out & focus on the other side, i like Folksy but business wise itās just not performing. 
Anyhoo dreaming of Spring & warmer days ahead sharing my hand painted briar rose trinket box 
Hello Jac
Iāve got a dozen or so bridal items in draft still to list then Iāll not list anything new. My plus account expires at the beginning of August and Iāll not be renewing it - unless a miracle happens. I may carry on a āpay as you goā basis if Iāve not much left in my shop and I think I can sell it for Christmas, but in all honesty itās taking up too much time. The photography business pays my wages and Iāve got a lot of tidying up to do on the newly launched main website, some new text to write and add to our architectural photography site and we have a 3rd site that is a āmagazineā site that needs entirely re-designing, moving to a new platform and then expanding - and Iām spending all my time tinkering on here for no return. Like you I like Folksy, but business wise itās not for me - Iād say itās because thereās too much competition for jewellery, but your the second person Iāve spoken to today that makes unique and very special items and are struggling so itās probably not just that.
Pleased to to hear youāll still be selling on Etsy - I can keep up with you there. I half regret closing my Etsy shop, but I think the problem of competition still stands over there too. Time to relegate jewellery making to a hobby in the near future I think
And talking of bridal jewellery - Iāve listed these over the last couple of days:
Hi Karen,
Yep my plus account expired in January so i just renewed all the listing before it finished so when they run out at the end of April iāll not be renewing any unless like you say a miracle happens. If Folksy offer their free listing as they do every now & then iāll pop some bits on but all my new stuff is going on Etsy.
You sound incredible busy with all the photography work, sounds very exciting and all that background work that clients never see does take so much time to set up. Like you i canāt justified spending all that time for little return on Folksy we need to make a living & pay the bills. I need to focus my time, energy & investment on where i earn my pennies. I have my private design work, 3 local stockist, local sales & Etsy as well as wanting to set up licensing work with an agent this year so i need to focus on those areas as they earn my pennies and help me grow my business.
There is alot of competition and the market can be saturated in all areas of hand made goods but just trying to get your work seen by people is incredible tough let alone seen by the right customer for your product and for them to understand the shear amount of time & work that goes into making a piece or developing a product. I think also as there has been a big revival in handmade crafts so many people are trying their hand at it & some crafters are pricing others out of the market by not charging what it actually cost to make the product.
Folksy unfortunately does not seem to have the right type of customer for me & i donāt get passing trade where as Etsy i do. Since opening Etsy part way through November iām having Sales nearly every week, lots of views, favās & messages. I like the Etsy set up with updates, the stats are much more informative, there alot of usefully info i gain from them to be able to tailor my descriptions, tags, etc to find my customer or rather for them to find me and also find where they are coming from too e.g Etsy searches, apps, social media ,etc. The search engine works very well for me over there & people are migrating much more from my social media platforms to there then they ever did too Folksy. I think as Etsy is more well know than Folksy & for me as a fulltime professional business it works better for me. Itās still early days with Etsy for me but so far itās looking more promising.
So for me the first half of this year is focusing on the local stockist as we are developing lots & my new brand stockist is selling so wants me to develop more for them so doing that in tandem with developing the Etsy shop, and second half of the year focus will be on art licensing & agent work.
Iāll be keeping an eye on what everyone is still doing over here and supporting other crafters too. Karen not sure if Etsy changed since you were selling on there before but maybe think about reopening your Etsy shop later in the year when you have a bit more time, it might give you more feedback with all the stats info to help your customer find you too??? The quality of your work & photography is fabulous!!!
Talking of work my frames have just been delivered so i really must crack on mounting & framing.
Jac
xxx
Hello. Iāve just discovered these chat room forum things and am keen to join in and be part of the community here. Iām Sam, textile and mixed media artist, single mum and pet rescuer (currently Guinea pigs and dogs!), I live in rural Nottinghamshire (near Bingham) and donāt have any friends around here so Iād love to get to know others. I used to sell my screen printed bags at craft fairs and my cushions at festivals but as I have no transport nor childcare nowadays itās a bit more of a struggle, really hoping for a break through on here! Happy Tuesday everyone.
Hi Sam - please to meet another fellow East Midlander
The point of this thread is to share each others makes, promote East Midlands craft and share news about craft fairs etc - oh and just to chat and catch up 
Please feel free to show us your lovely items and if you could love, pin, tweet - basically share as youāre able on social media - everybody elseās makes that would be fab.
I have a Pinterest board which I tweet regularly using the East Midlands and buylocal #tags and if you want to pin to it, let me have your Pinterest user details and Iāll send an invite - no worries if youāre not on Pinterest, someone else on the board will pin for you.
Iām already following your shop and have pinned and Tweeted a couple of items and I look forward to seeing more of your lovely makes
Hi there
Thanks so much for the lovely welcome! So kind of you. Sorry for the delay in getting back to you, wifi issues then I was teaching an art class to home school kids in Bingham today!
I do have a Pinterest account which I just restarted using, itās violetmaelucas. Thank you so much for tweeting for me, I do have Twitter account but I havenāt used it in ages. Iāll try to reinstate it!
Looking forward to being part of your group.
Kind regards
Sam
Hi Sam
A Pinterest invite is now on its way to you.
Have a good day
Karen
Hello everyone and welcome Sam @VioletMaeLucas ! Glad you have joined us and I hope you do well on Folksy. Iām just catching up on what everyones been up to then Iāll pop on over to your shop.
Itās interesting to hear Folksy is poor for lots of us at the moment. Like you Jac @cheekymonkeystudio I have a shop on 'tother side that does much better. I too wonāt renew my plus account here unless thereās an order bonanza. Sounds like you have more than enough to keep you busy on the photography side Karen @silvertreejewellerydesign but your jewellery is beautiful- youāll always be my port of call when I need a prezzie so donāt put away those beads just yet!
I hope this isnāt putting you off Sam!..
Well, I lost my Etsy account last year when I had a rare sale but was working away for 2 weeks (I sometimes get so skint that I have to go work as a wardrobe mistress/road crew for Disney on Ice) and i couldnāt honour the sale. I refunded the purchaser but she escalated a claim and they shut my entire shop down, I lost all of the hard work Iād put into about 50 listings and my sales were so few and far between, I felt frustrated over the number of mass sellers of mass produced goods that I came back here (I used to have a shop here selling my screenprinted bags) again. Iāve had 3 sales here in 3 months but I know that online selling is very hit or miss and I juggle a lot of small businesses to try to keep myself from going back on tour! Iāve sunk the Ā£45 for a years listings on here so Iāll see how it goes. I have noticed that people also sell clear out craft items and thatās interesting, I have a lot of stock as I used to have an EBay shop too ā¦ Iāll keep on plodding away at listings on here between other things and am already enjoying these forums very much. Many thanks for the warm welcome. Sam
Aw thanks Helen @FitzjohnAndNoble - just wish I could find a way of breaking into the Folksy market as a whole. I think itās just very quiet on here at the moment, I guess thereās peak and troughs with everything. I tried the other side for a year but it just felt like being at a very big party - too loud and overcrowded. Folksy is a much nicer, calmer place to be and I do enjoy interacting with everyone on the forums - on the other side there were too many languages and cultures to deal with, it all got a bit overwhelming.
I hear Etsy could be bad for shutting shops for no real reason Sam @VioletMaeLucas and not offering support to the seller. My feelings about them that everything was done for the benefit of (a) themselves and (b) the buyer and that sellers were just hanging in the wind. They fairly obviously couldnāt cope with all the different tax and trading regulations around the world and just used to issue a statement saying weāre going to do this, consult a local lawyer or tax expert to see how it effects you - like crafter can afford those kind of overheads I have thought about splitting the bridal from the everyday and moving the bridal to Etsy - as it did quite well over there and has done very little here - but I couldnāt face the hassle. Iāll stick with lovely, polite and calm Folksy for now
I tweeted the East Midlands Pinterest board the other day - if anyone comes across it and can re-tweet that would be fab 
Iāve listed a few more bridal items over the last day or so, so here we go 
