Custom Stained Glass Work Via Etsy

I just finished up a Tiffany Style Lamp for a customer who lives in Scotland. Doing custom work via Etsy has been an eye opener as to a different way of making sales that I have been used to. Doing custom work without ever meeting the customer has been a mixed bag. Communication problems can happen and I have wanted to make darn sure that both parties agreed on what was going to happen. I found that sending glass samples to the customer so they actually see the glass is a very good idea.

Packing and shipping custom work is an eye opener as well. The lady at the post office has gotten to know me on a first name basis and is very helpful as to the best ways to ship items. I am also finding that that spray foam like you use for filling up cracks is great too. I can wrap the items in plastic, put it in the box and then fill the box up with the foam. As long as the glass pieces does not move in the box we are good to go. Insurance and tracking is a must as well. I am not going to do all that work and then have the item broken and have to do the job all over again without the insurance money to pay for it. So far that has not happened, but you can't be too careful.

For the most part doing custom work via on-line has been a great experience. I have enjoyed making friends via facebook with several of my customers and have been able to take pictures so they can see the progress along the way. When they ooh and ah over the photos it make me feel good. I have also posted the photos on my facebook site so my family and friends can see what I am up to. Never want to miss a good opportunity to advertise!!

Finding Time For It All

Now that it is gardening time, I am finding it really hard to stay in the studio and get things done. Plants are calling, the sun is warming my face, and I would much rather be playing with plants then doing stained glass work. I have always been multifaceted and interested in many things, but sometime it gets overwhelming, especially this time of year.

I have always been good at keeping organized and operating from lists so I am really using them this time of year to stay on track. I make lists of what I need to get accomplished that day and try to stick to it as best as possible. I usually garden in the early morning before it gets too hot and then again in the evening when it cools off. Mid day takes me to the studio to get 3-5 hours in.

I often get asked ‘why don’t you just go to the store and buy your food and not bother taking all that time’. I have always tended to be one who wanted to live off the land and my little 6 acres ‘farm’ lets me do that. I have always been one to do things as environmentally friendly as possible and organic gardening, where I am putting up my own veggies for winter, is part of that way of life. I even have a pet chicken that lays eggs for me and keeps the bugs at bay.

So, here I am up at 5:00 a.m. listening to the first birds chirp, have my coffee, watching the chicken take her first pecks at the ground, and looking at my list for the day. I am longing for it to get light enough to go commune with nature. Ah, the good life!!

Cat

ETSYCOUPONS.COM

Just found information about a really cool site offered through Handmadeology. They have a new site called ETSYCOUPONS.COM  where etsy sellers can post their shop coupons codes. Up till now it was not easy to get the word out about your coupon codes unless you sent it out to each person who bought something or put the information on your shop home page. That meant people would have to find your shop first, then find out about the code. Contacting people who favorited your shop, past customers, and the like was prohibited, so very few people ever knew you even had a coupon code.

Now the coupon codes can be advertised through this site to draw new customers and increas sales. I have added my current coupon 'CATS15' to the site and will wait and see what happens. Should be interesting to see if sales increase!! I will check back and let you know how it goes!!

Learning how to market via the internet has been a new experience for me, but I seem to be doing well. Sales have been good lately and I have to think that all the work I did during February paid off. I learned when to list items on etsy, what tags seem to work best, started this blog, added many of my items to kaboodle, changes many of my photos to make the items really pop, and did every trick I found to get my name and website out there. Having an item show up on one of the top pages in a google search can be a real thrill.

Raising Money for Animal Rescue

I was cruising through etsy the other day and hit on a site where all the money earned went to a rescue group. Having been very involved in animal rescue in the past and knowing how hard it is to keep fund flowing, I decided to jump on board and do this idea to. Sooooo I started an etsy site called 'For Animal Rescue, where 100% of the profits go to the Cheatham County Animal Shelter. I just added a few of my own items today and will keep adding items I wish to donate as I have time. I plan on turning this in to a collective effort and get other artists to donate items as well.

My husband, John, and I had in the past volunteered as a foster parent , helped with events, etc. but with John now being handicapped, I thought this would be a way to still stay active in the rescue world but not be overwhelmed with caring for a dog or cat. I may get back into that later, but for now 'For Animal Rescue' will be my volunteer effort.

Go to http://www.etsy.com/shop/foranimalrescue?ref=pr_shop to see what is for sale. There are a few items now, but check back from time to time to see what has been donated!!

Cat Carter

My Kind of Jewelry

When you find a shop that has stuff you REALLY like you sometime want to share this shop with others. I found such a shop that has eclectic, hippie, bohemian, earthy type jewelry that fits my taste. This artist is not doing the same old earrings , braclets, etc. that everyone else is doing. They are pieces of art  and reasonably priced. She uses copper accents in many of her works that I have not seen anywhere else! Very unusual! I found her on etsy, or actually she found me on etsy, when she favorited some of my items and shop. I often look at who likes my stuff and I went WOW when I saw what she was doing.

You will be seeing me wearing her earrings and braclets soon!!!

Go to http://www.etsy.com/shop/eversoDear?ref=seller_info to check her stuff out!!!

When It Rains, It Pours

Why is it that when you get one custom stained glass job that is going to tie you up awhile, you get more jobs in and other inquiries on top of that. When it rains, it pours. Not that I am complaining. I just wonder where everyone was in February when I had nothing to do.

Yeah, I got my first Tiffany Lamp commission in many years. And it is to be shipped to Scotland!! It has been hard to compete with all the lamps and other stained glass items made in China and Mexico. I can't work for .50cents and hour. It is nice when someone really appreciates the work of an artist trying to make a living.

My First Blog

Well, it is official. Cat Carter is now a blogger!!! I resisted for so long but figured I had better jump on the band wagon. In my blogs I will be clebrating my art as well as others people arts that I really like and wish to share.  You will see the struggle of an artist as well as the good times, the failures and the successes.

Let me tell you a bit about myself. I have been a stained glass artist since 1983 when I was talked into taking a stained glass class after college. A hobby quickly turned into a business. I opened up a retail store under the name of Carter's Stained Glass in Maryville, Tennessee, where I has gone to college, and operated it from 1988-2006. I did custom work, repair, classes, sold supplies, and my hand made gift items. 2006 brought me back to the Nashville, Tennessee area where I was born and raised to help take care of parents and a family business. My husbands health was going down as well, due to Parkinson's, so my time for art was limited to a few hours a week. I did remodel the barn on the property we bought in Kingston Springs, TN and added the studio to the loft area. I had always wanted to learn how to do pottery and told myself that when I was not so tied down to a retail store I was going to learn. I took some classes, bought a used Brent wheel and small Skutt kiln and off I went. Now I can choose 'Do I want to do stained glass or pottery today'??

Currently I do a few crafts show, teach classes in the barn studio, sell my stained glass and pottery on my Etsy site under the name of Barncatstudio, have a few open house events here at the house, and have a few items for sale at the Milo Gallery In Kingston Springs, TN.

I hope you will check back from time to time to see what is new and what is celebrated in my blog.

Cat