More Flashcards - Surprise, Announcement, and Thanks

Hard at work creating!

It’s been a while since our last post, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t all abuzz with inspiration and all a-sweat with perspiration. (Seriously, what is with this heat?) Here are some of the new items at Wanita’s Closet:

 

 

Birth announcement! This is actually an improved design of one of our original concepts. The new cards are slightly richer in color, and of course they match the rest of our cards in that they are the smaller, 3.5 X 5” size.

 

 

 Thank you! It’s currently listed as a single item, but soon we will have a listing for a set of 10.

 

Surprise invitation! Who hasn’t seen a surprise or two blown in their lifetime? This uniform set of invitations is probably the clearest-cut surprise invitation out there. It’s in bold—“Sh!”

Very excited to report that because the stamps for the “H – as in, ‘hi’” packaging turnout oh-so-well, Wanita’s Closet is once again using GreenGardenStamps to create the custom logos for “XO – hugs and kisses” collection and “A – for ‘adventure’” collection. As soon as we have those stamps in our hands, we will be ready to launch the next two collections in “I Love You Mail”!

Have an idea for our shop? We’d love to hear it! Leave your idea in the comments below, or shoot us a message. And have a wacky day!

Back in the Game!

Well.

It turns out it takes a little longer to shut down a shop, pull together a new product, and launch it.

However, I think it was worth the wait!

Check out these pics from the latest endeavor of Wacky Wanita's. I'm calling the series, in which there will be four collections, "I Love You Mail." These are photos from the "H as in 'Hi'" collection. :-)

 

 

You know you want a set. ;-) "H as in 'Hi'" includes ten cards, all different, but all the same general idea--"Love you, thinking about you--just wanted to say 'hi!'" You can see all the deets at the collection's brand-spanking new listing.

Can't wait to show you "A for 'Adventure'!"

Whew!

Greetings, all!

All right, confession time. This is Wanita, and yes... I forgot the password to this account.

But now it has been recovered, and I have more to tell than ever!

Things are changing around Wacky Wanita's YOUnique Boutique. For one, we might not be going by such a long name anymore; in the very near future, we might be adopting something a little more snappy. But you should still be able to find us at this blog URL! So fret not. We're just going to shorten things up a bit, get easier to remember.

Second, our beautiful button earrings are about to be a thing of the past. Wacky Wanita artist Deborah is moving on... to build her own store, Messy Inspired Designs! The shop will focus mainly on these darling dangling accessories, but there will be a few other special items, too, so run a search on "messy inspired designs" on Etsy and check it out!

(In the meantime, you can still get button earrings at a discounted rate at WWYB... Just use coupon code BUTTON20 at checkout to receive 20% off!)

Third, WWYB is going on vacation from 5/20 through 5/27. After a year on Etsy, I, Wanita, have learned much about what WWYB customers like and don't like, as well as what works for a small business on Etsy and what doesn't. Using this information, I am going to give the shop an overhaul. Update photography, clear out unneeded products, and... drumroll, please... prepare all-new products for their launch in June! But it's going to require focused time and effort, so the shop's doors will be closed for a few days so that I can give the changes my full attention.

I have much more to say, but I think a wiser business person would tell me to wait until I can show and tell, so I am going to sign off here. While you wait for WWYB to return, check out some of these sites that featured Wacky Wanita products in the last year:

Etsy Stalker

My Etsy Blog

The Find

See you soon!

Bags boost sales! (Or, at least, interest in my shop.)

Happy Monday!

I am pleased to report that two bags have been added to Wacky Wanita's YOUnique Boutique! And, as was the case last time purses made it into the shop, interest in the shop increased drastically in just 24 hours. Women like bags, I guess! Whodathunkit?

The first bag, my personal favorite, is this enormous handbag that I'm calling the Grace Kelly clutch. Now, it's a little bigger than your average clutch (fifteen inches long!), but it has no strap and is intended as a statement piece. I chose the name Grace Kelly because I think of Grace Kelly as being a woman of class who, like Audrey, is always "in," but is perhaps a little edgier than other actresses who have stood the test of time. I feel that this purse is a little vintage-y because of its size and material (wool), but it transcends the trends of an era and is very prominent. Like Grace Kelly.

The bag is one of a kind. As the listing explains, the material was limited, so although the pattern can be repeated, this exact model of the Grace Kelly clutch cannot be repeated, so whichever lucky lady ends up with this one can be the envy of all her friends.

The other bag, also a clutch, and also by the the artist of the first two Wacky Wanita purses, Heidi, is almost too small to call a clutch, so it will come up in Etsy searches as a wallet, as well. Its cream-and-off-white pattern make it perfect for a bridal affair, and we have enough material left to make a few matching pieces, if a customer wanted to give a set of them to her wedding party. Even more exciting? A larger version--with its own unique button design--is going to be released shortly, as well.

Still working on the greeting card set "'H' as in 'Hi.'" That will probably be the next thing to appear at WackyWanitaDesigns. It's very exciting. Can't wait to show it to you!

Thank you for stopping by!

Until next time,

Wanita

We haven't forgotten you!

I’ve not forgotten all y’all faithful few who diligently read the blog—it’s just been crazy crazy crazy for this li’l unemployed gal.  But I got a few minutes to update you this morning, so here we go!

Nothing new has been added to the shop in over a week, though there are many projects on the horizon. Heidi, the maker of the purses recently added to Wacky Wanita’s, has a couple new items coming, and Janice, who crochets my hats for me, has been working on a design that will fit a smaller head, so that I can sell my flower hats to chilluns, too. I’ve got my “flashcard” greeting set coming soon, and I’m hoping that Deborah, who recently came into quite a hoard of beautiful buttons, will be filling a couple orders I placed with her.

And speaking of buttons, last weekend, my stepmother (fists filled with coupons) invited me to head down to the craft supply store with her, which I was more than pleased to do. What I did not know was that when I arrived at her home, her mother would be there with literally thousands of buttons, old and new alike, that were free for the taking. She scored an amazing deal at a flea market, picked out the pieces she liked, and offered the rest to us. My stepmother picked out the ones that would go best with her purse designs, while I took every gaudy vintage button in the lot. I probably walked away with five hundred buttons. So many possibilities!

So as you can see, Wacky Wanita’s is not a place of still waters. Things are happening. It’s just the calm before the storm, so to speak—but in a really good way!

Can’t wait to post again soon! Meanwhile, if you’ve got that itch, here are a couple shops I found on Etsy that I love:

Plad: hand-carved, earthy, rustic items that are purely for aesthetic appeal: http://www.etsy.com/shop/plad

Depeapa: pen-and-ink original works, applied to everything from T-shirts to felt brooches: http://www.etsy.com/shop/depeapa

FlapperDoodle: 1920's art and stationery by a gal named Kate out in California (I've ordered from her before; I want EVERYTHING in her shop!): http://www.etsy.com/shop/flapperdoodle

Until next time, stay wacky!

Wacky Wanita

Hot off the press!

Wacky Wanita's has gotten its first endorsement from the press!

Kim Solga, a fellow Etsy-er and the mind behind My Etsy Blog ("an open and candid discussion of what it takes to set up and work a shop on Etsy"), wrote to me a couple days ago to ask whether I'd be open to her doing an article on my catalog-style approach to photos on Etsy. Heck yes!

The short entry, which today is on the homepage and after today will be available on My Etsy Blog under "Great Photos Are the Key," details my newborn idea to use the final photo spot given for an Etsy listing to pair the item with other items from the shop--a stylist's approach. Solga asked me a few questions, I answered them, and, well, now you can read about it!

The article can be viewed here. Can't wait to hear what you think!

Who doesn't love a good greeting card?

I don't have much to post today, but I wanted to give you guys a peek at the new design for my flash "cards." You are really going to like them!

The original design was perfectly acceptable, but I also felt that it was slightly flawed; only the "g as in 'go'" card had the original vintage type on the face of the card, because of the 1960s grammar school flashcards I obtained, it was the only one with a catchy, greeting-card usable slogan built into the flashcard itself. I had to make up the slogans for "sh : new baby" and "sh : it's a surprise" cards, and the font I used was the closest I could get to the original type.

But I'm a perfectionist, and it was not good enough.

I went hunting for something better, knowing that no matter how many fonts I downloaded, I would never find anything that could match the original letterpress stamps that were likely used to make the cards. But therein lay my solution: I should look for stamps.

Lo and behold, the first place I went looking, I found a set of alphabet stamps that mimicked the precise feel of the original type! I purchased some high-quality ink along with the stamps, then experimented on paper to find the best way to make the stamped letters look aged, coming up with what I thought was the closest resemblance to vintage-looking type.

I stamped out the whole alphabet in a line, scanned the sheet, and, through careful measuring and cropping, created my own font!--which I then used to type out handy slogans like these:

I have a whole "H as in Hi" collection planned so that Wacky Wanita customers can buy a complete greeting card set, purchasing ten cards at once at a lower cost per card, and also allowing the buyer to enjoy more of the "flashcard" feel. A few other collections will follow. But I haven't named those ones yet!

Just wanted to keep you in the know. And I was excited. :-)

Some new purses coming soon, too. Came up with a couple design ideas today to pitch to my pursemaker--whose photo and bio should appear soon on the "Artists" page, so look forward to that!

Have a splendid day!

See you soon,

Wacky Wanita

PS--And check out the new Facebook fanpage! http://www.facebook.com/WackyWanitasYoUniqueBoutique
*All "flashcards"/flash "cards" shown here and in the Wacky Wanita store are copyright Wacky Wanita 2012.