šŸ‘‹ Welcome to the Folksy Forums (Read Me)! Introduce yourself here :)

Hello all,

I am a goldsmith and jewellery designer, living and working in the beautiful seaside town of Brightlingsea, Essex.
I have been making jewellery for the last 10 years and besides working as a freelance goldsmith near Hatton Garden I work from my bench at home and create my own unique pieces.

This is my first venture into selling my bits on line and after admiring Folksy for the past 5 years I have decided to give it a go. So many lovely items on here.
Any advice and/or ideas are most welcome!

https://folksy.com/shops/MarliesZwart

Happy making!

Marlies

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Great to see lots of new faces on the forums! :smile:

Do take a look at our blog if you need any help with marketing or photography and more - also have a search through some of the threads here as we cover lots of topics!

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Hi Martha and thanks for the helpful reply! Youā€™ve made me realise that maybe Iā€™m doing things the right way; just need a little more patience and confidence with the techy stuff! So, as you rightly say, master one platform before venturing outā€¦so itā€™s twitter for me at the moment! The idea of a blog is also appealing, and something to consider, so Iā€™m off now to read yours as it sounds great!
Have a lovely day and thank you again for your kind reply, Serena

Hi,
Iā€™m pretty new here and am hoping for a successful shop. I can see that you recommend the folksy blog for help with getting my stuff in front of folks but does anyone else have any advice ?

Thank you

Hi JuliaYorkDesigns! you have a lovely shop! Itā€™s been suggested to me to master social media, with clear photos and keep linking to my shop and products; instagram, twitter, etc. Also, itā€™s refreshing to engage with other like-minded creative people; you soon realise that many of the things you worry/feel about are quite universal! Iā€™m mastering twitter and the art of taking clear, interesting photos to make my work stand out! I also attend art/craft fairs and hand out business cards linking again to Folksy. Kindest regards, Serena (TwibellArts).

Hi Folksy. Iā€™ve just opened my new shop today and Iā€™m so excited! Hopefully someone will find me and see something they like And in the meantime I wish you all well and hope youā€™ll pop over to Three Owls and have a look
Happy selling
Jane x

Hello everyone, opened my shop yesterday, any advice most welcome! Dorothy

Hello,
Iā€™m another newbie on this forum :slight_smile: I donā€™t have a shop yet, but I want to start selling soon. For now Iā€™m a buyer and an active learner.

Hello everyone,
We sell bespoke labels and ribbons and are excited to join the Folksy community.

Hi, Iā€™m also very new to all this and it took me ages to even dare to put my makes out there for all to see!! Iā€™ve only put a few items in my little shop and am very aware the pictures are terrible-the items look so much better in real! I must have a read through how to take better pictures. Am a complete technophobe tooā€¦hmmā€¦might have to work on that as well! :flushed:

Hi! So this is all a bit new to me, and Iā€™m jumping in with both feet! Iā€™m Beccy and I make wirework jewellery. I especially love making earrings and more recently scarf pins and brooches. My little shop has been stocked as best I can and is a work in progress!
www.folksy.com/shops/beccycornwell

Hello everyone, Iā€™m new to the site but feel that this is a great place to be to get started and hopefully get my work out there.

My name is Rachael of LouAllen Designs and, like all of you lovely people, love to make and creative things. Iā€™m the type of person that will come up with an idea/design and then find the right medium to fit the idea. This means that I donā€™t stick with a certain discipline making me more of a designer than a craft person. I was a bit like this at uni too.

Anyway before I end up writing a novel please take a look at my shop as I would always love feedback.

Thank you
Rachael

Hi everyone, just wanted to introduce myself. Iā€™m not quite ready to open my shop yet as Iā€™m still working on samples and ideas but hopefully wonā€™t be too much longer.I have two daughters and do all my crafting when Iā€™m not looking after them :slight_smile:

I have a facebook page that Iā€™ve just started if you fancy popping by and looking at my makes. Itā€™s a work in progress so not all my info has been updated yet but Iā€™m getting there slowly.

Iā€™m currently working on wishing star box frames but have also tried out a couple of Christmas ideas. Iā€™d love to hear your feedback if you visit me
Ellesha

Hi Rachael ,love those oversized purses! What I really liked was the was you described themā€¦giving the idea that they could brighten up an evening outfit is fabulous and now Iā€™m imagining a little black dress with a wonderwoman clutchā€¦genius! Looking forward to seeing more!

Aww thank you so much :slight_smile: yeah thats how I view them as well but Iā€™m the sort of person that likes to stand out and having something that is loud, like the woman woman clutch, is me all over lol.

Iā€™m in the progress of making some more Woman superhero themed bags which I hope will go down well. I really want to highlight strong female characters or things that might not come across as feminine and give it a girly twist.

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Hi Serena, thank you for the welcome. Iā€™m just investigating the markets as well, so if you have any advice for me on those that would be great. In terms of social media, it really helps to post regularly (something Iā€™m not great at myself) and widely. So I use Facebook - I have my own art page (not many followers though), Twitter, Instagram, A blog, and Pinterest. In order to reduce the amount of singular time Iā€™m on these things, Iā€™ve started to spend an hour/hour and half scheduling posts so that something hits each one most days. Itā€™ll need sustained effort, but itā€™s all part of a marketing strategy that you need. Iā€™m just writing my goals for next year and that will have a marketing plan attached so I can look at key events in the year and how Iā€™m going to contribute around them. I need to get more disciplined myself and this is my way of doing it.

Lovely work Jenny, and very nicely photographed. Iā€™m new to Folksy too and looking forward to being part of this community.

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My pleasure! Love your concept and your designs; they will definitely be popular. Will keep an eye on your shop for more fabulous creations! Have a great weekend!

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Good morning! I too have been writing a list for next year and weā€™re rather similar with our approach! I have a twitter account but am rather nervous with social media and so am unsure which to venture intoā€¦especially as I really have to try hard with photographing items. I think thatā€™s why I still like to go to events; itā€™s like a shopfront and advertising all in one! I like your approach to social media; restricting the time spent for each. I think I may pencil in Instagram for trial next year! Have a lovely weekend, Serena

Thank you, Jean, so grateful for your encouragement. I look forward to seeing your work when you open your shop and wish you all the best.

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