Wanting to go out to the lake for Solstice, but the 103 degree Texas heat is giving me pause. A morning run to Home Depot was enough to leave me in a melted puddle, so I'm wrestling with this one. I really want to go and experience some community and Spirit, but  I also know my body well enough to know that the chances I'll end up puking on the bathroom floor from heat exhaustion are better than fair. Hrm.

Doing my Phoenix grading. It's been a challenging week there, and I'm not feeling it.

I'm amazed at how fast my paycheck goes once I pay bills. This whole "getting paid once every nine weeks" bit from UoP means that we end up running our household supplies down to nothing and needing to do a massive Costco and grocery run to replenish. Plus you pay all the bills and all the other stuff you've deprived yourself of, and that big chunk o cash doesn't go very far after all. Bleh.

Bun's made some lovely earrings to put on the Etsy site. They'll be up later today or sometime tomorrow. I'm also putting together some "kits": a bar of soap, a facecloth, and a bag of salts to be sold as a bundle. Keep an eye out for those.

Thanks to everyone who sent along feedback on the site and the products yesterday. We're making some changes so keep an eye on the space. We'll be adding some Ebay auctions as well. Currently we have one up for one of our personal travel altars but I'll be putting some soap kits or spa baskets up as soon as I get some built. 

I know several of you here have your own craft business through Etsy, Ebay, etc. I'm wondering what advice you have to offer.

We're getting a lot of views at our Etsy site but not a lot of sales. I know part of this is the economy itself -- people don't have a lot of money to spend on luxuries. I also know that scented products are harder to sell in a venue where people can't, you know, sniff them. But I'm still looking for ideas about how to increase my sales. If you'd be willing to take a look at the site and give me feedback (either here or at dakotawitch at gmail dot com) about what you like and what you'd change, I'd appreciate it.

I have my first Ebay auction up here. I'm a newbie to selling on Ebay, so any tips you can provide are welcomed. (I know that entry itself could be drastically improved -- it was a sort of "throw it at the wall and see if it sticks" type thing.) Those you who have done a lot of Ebay selling of your own crafts and products, what advice do you have? What pitfalls are there?

I'm looking for other ways to advertise the shop as well. I'll be buying some ads on the local hippie/pagan/eclectic listserv later this week. I'm also participating in a "trunk show" here in DFW later in July, which should hopefully bring me some foot traffic and sales. What other venues do you find useful for getting exposure to your sites or listings?

I'm finding this work incredibly grounding, even as busymaking as it sometimes is, and really want to see it soar. I will have a website of my own up soon -- just waiting on fundage and design time -- which will likely help sales, but I still need to know how to get people to actually visit the site.

Further, if there are products you wish I carried but don't, let me know. We have a number of new things coming -- whole herb incenses, Tarot bags, Sabbat-themed soaps, chakra-themed soaps, salt and sugar scrubs, and more in our spa line, to name a few -- but we are always looking for suggestions.