pandacub + shrimp salad circus = giveaway

Just wanted to post a quick note to let everyone know that the lovely Lindsay from Shrimp Salad Circus blog (one that I check out daily) has a great feature on me and my shop!

Head on over and you may learn a few new things about me, see some of my favourite things on Etsy, plus enter to win a $15 shop credit to pandacub!

pssst - go enter this contest!

In shameless self-promotion mode:

Audrey, on her lovely blog, Audrey's Country Crafts, was kind enough to do a little feature on my shop pandacub! And along with the feature there's a $15 pandacub shop credit giveaway!

Quick! Go enter now! The giveaway ends this Saturday (Aug. 1)

May kudos

I've been having a great week, thanks to some lovely fellow Etsians!

In the past week, my little shop, pandacub, has been lucky enough to be featured in 2 Etsy treasuries and on 2 lovely blogs! All four places featured different items - check it out! (you can click on the images to get a larger version)

Treasury: A BEAUTIFUL day in the...
Curated by: opheliamiller


Treasury: deer love
Curated by: LANCERIKA


Blog Feature on The Long Thread


Blog Feature on PapierBlue


A special hug and thank you to all four of you for making my week great!

making the etsy front page...

Yesterday, I snuck in a break at work and logged onto Etsy only to almost have a heart attack. There...on the front page of the main Etsy site...my button pin!!!

I almost yelled out, but then remember I was at work. I quickly dialed up my hubby, who was very happy for me (but kind of didn't understand the excitement) and then emailed my sister with the news.

For those of you who are regular visitors to Etsy, you'll know the big deal. For the rest, believe me, it's a nice little pick-me-up. Although it's not a guaranteed sale (my item didn't sell), it's great exposure to all the visitors to Etsy who may have never seen my shop before. You can make the Front Page (aka "FP") by either being in a treasury put together by another seller that Etsy admin like, or Etsy admin randomly search for items using a fun search term (in this case, the word "smile" and put some of their favourite items up.

Although many people complain that the same sellers appear on the FP over and over and over again, this was my first time, and I was shocked that I actually witnessed it since the FP changes over quite quickly (about every 30 minutes or so during peak shopping times).

Here's what the FP (with my item, "smiling . brooch / pin ." in the first row) looked like (click on the image for a larger version):



Just to let you know how the approximately 30 minutes on the main page affected my shop's exposure:

Prior to the main page hoopla:
- my shop had 417 "hearts" (people marking me as a favourite shop)
- "smiling . brooch / pin ." had 3 views
- "smiling . brooch / pin ." had 0 "hearts" (people marking the item as a favourite)

Five minutes after my item left the front page, I checked my stats again:
- my shop had 425 hearts
- "smiling . brooch / pin ." had 152 views
- "smiling . brooch / pin ." had 9 hearts

Not bad, huh? Lesson learned - take great photos, and use solid tag words!

Want to be the one who scoops up this cute little pin for yourself - it's only $2.75 USD! Check out my shop to see if one's available!

look at me - i'm famous!

Fellow Etsian, Sun2Create, surprised me yesterday by including my little birdsong ponytail holders in her latest gift guide featuring Gift for Bird Lovers!

Check out the rest of her blog On The Mary-Go-Round!

Earlier this month, Sun2Create, was featured in the cafe spotlight, so you can learn more about her and her amazing crafting in this post.