Where to Find Makers-On-Hudson The Weekend

 A Hullabaloo is Happening in Saugerties

Saturday, get ready to have a blast at the Hudson Valley Hullabaloo. This spring, the Hullabaloo is partnering with the Radio Woodstock Craft Brew Boogaloo featuring not only over 150 craft beers for you tasting pleasure, but a carefully curated group of designers and craftspeople from the Hudson Valley and the Northeast. There will be music, food trucks and lots of fun for the whole family.(Rain date Sunday)

Three members will be representing Makers-On-Hudson at this festive event. You'll find Erin from Harp and Thistle Stitchery with her beautifully detailed punch needle embroidery. Why not commission a custom beard or hair silhouette portrait for your significant other, or choose from a large selection of traditional to funky pieces for yourself. 

Custom Beard or Beard and Hair Silhouette by HarpAndThistle

Joining Erin, Christina, from Hudson Naturals will be bring her luscious line of body products including cold pressed avocado oil soaps scented with essential oils. Christina crafts bath and body products for both women and men. Yummy!

Avocado Oil Body Butter with Lemon Parsley by Hudson Naturals

Sarah from SOHandmade1 will be bring her charming, handmade line of children's items such as: crayon rolls, Lego utility belts and children's doodling books. No batteries required! Pick some up to occupy the kids on the ride home. 

Travel Coloring Case by SOHandmade1

Spring New Members - part one

Hello again! The weather has turned nice once again and, on our team boards, some new faces have been popping up, so lets give them a big welcome!

Nesting Egg Table Lamp by OctoberDesignCompany

Stephanie Reppas is the creative mind behind OctoberDesignCompany based in Hudson, NY. She creates lovely home decor using vintage and found materials, and I'm certainly interested in her lighting fixtures. A different lamp of hers even uses a real emu egg! Who doesn't want that? Nice to meet you.

Set of 3 Paper Flower Hairpins - Yellow Coral Robins Egg Blue by SweetSpotCardShop

Leesandra Diaz's handy hands create SweetSpotCardShop.  Her lovely items all use paper, and she makes greeting cards along with her hair pins. Who knew paper could be so fashionable? Now I just need an excuse to wear them around. Welcome to the team!

Calico Cat, Gourd Art, Ornament, Cat lover gift, OOAK by Gourdament

Devon Cameron is the artist of Gourdament, a shop full of items I never knew I needed! She turns potential boring gourds in to fun and eye catching creatures, and many animals are represented including chickens and pigs! She might have a special place in her heart just for cats, but don't we all? Happy to have you here.

Girls Peplum two piece dress. Summer outfits... Girls by LAIDIECLOTH

Jasmine Terry creates close for LAIDIECLOTH. her shop is a wonderful collection of bright, colorful, and unique clothes.  She has outfits for children, adults, and toddlers, plus some fun accessories to go with them!  You should certainly check her out for some fun new summer outfits.  Glad to have you!

Tribal Cat Collar, Breakaway Cat Collar, Handmade Cat Collar, Girly Cat  by KirasPetShop

Kira G. of Catskill, NY runs KirasPetShop, creating a collection of pet goods.  Not only does she have collars and bandannas for your furry friends, but unique ID tags and even some pet themed bags for you! If only their was one to put on my hermit crabs, they would be so fashionable. Good work!

There are still more new members for you to meet, so keep an eye out for part 2.

Enjoy,
Amber

In My Studio: Things I am loving this month

I wanted to share with you some of the things I have been loving in this the month of May:

My new Etsy Shop banner made on Canva

1) CANVA: I discovered Canva through recommendations and have been using it to design my new Etsy shop banner, new business cards and instagram posts. Canva is a website that enables you to create all manner of social media posts, etsy banners, facebook icons and also gives you the ability to create an image to your own custom size. It will give many different options to create the image of your choice, loads of different fonts and templates. There are many free templates and some which you can purchase for a couple of dollars. After your image is completed you are able to download it for free and use it whenever you need. It makes creating your shop branding fun and very easy.

Lucky Break Consulting

2) LELA BARKER on Periscope: I have been enjoying Lela Barkers periscopes this month. Lela Barker from Lucky Break Consulting is a business strategist for makers and designers. During May she has been doing a 10 day Periscope marathon talking and answering questions all about wholesale. Whether wholesale is right for you, pricing your products to succeed and pitching to a retailer. All her content is superb, very down to earth and useful if you are thinking of going into the wholesale market. All these periscopes are available to watch free from her website www.luckybreakconsulting.com/periscope

Some of my labels made on Avery 

3) AVERY: Yes the label people! I have been printing out lots of labels recently for packaging by products and I have discovered the Avery template website is incredible! After you purchase your Avery labels go to this page and input the code for your new labels. Use the website to design your custom labels or use the free templates. You can even download your Canva design. The website will then populate the whole page for you and you can print them out and save them if you might need them again.

                                 

                                        

4) DEAR SUGAR RADIO: Lastly I have loved been listening to this podcast recently. On this podcast Steve Almond and Cheryl Strayed give listeners advice to their varying problems. I love the sensible, empathetic and pragmatic advice they give using their own lives and experiences to help. 

Good Luck and Good Making!

Sarah

So Handmade

Where to Find Makers-On-Hudson This Weekend

Celebrate Spring, Celebrate Mom

Sunday, May 8th is Mother's Day this year. Our Makers will be out and about up and down the Hudson Valley with beautiful, handmade gifts moms will adore.

Birth Month Flower Beveled Glass Ornament by digiliodesigns

On Sunday, Sue from Digilio Designs and Patti of Get Glassy will be at the first Makers' Market of the year in Warwick, N.Y. You couldn't find a more perfect place to bring Mom for a bit of shopping and a bite to eat in beautiful downtown Warwick. 

One of a Kind Dichroic Fused Glass Pendant by getglassy

Travel up to Hudson on Saturday or Sunday and you'll find Sarah of So Handmade and  Christina of Hudson Naturals at the Basilica Farm and Flea

Lilac Soap by HudsonNaturals

Hummingbird Embroidered Hoop Art by SoHandmade

Our members offer only the finest quality handmade items that are sure to become Mom's favorites for years to come. You'll have two days to shop this weekend too! 

Working on Building my Etsy Store

I cannot claim to be an expert in the Etsy experience. I am a long way from my

Etsy Store being a major source of income.

However, this past year I have really worked hard at building

my store's on-line presence. Comparing last years first four

months to this years, my sales are up by 300%.

What I have concentrated on are the usual "Big 3":

1. Photography

Making sure that my photos are well lit and have no distracting backgrounds.

2. Copy

Using key words within the item descriptions. 

3. SEO

Really paying attention to which key words show up in Etsy searches.

I also am Tweeting much more often and posting on Instagram.

I do need to pay more attention to my DiGilio Designs Facebook Page

and my blog. As they say showing up is very important, have a frequent

and regular posting schedule.

I have been encouraged by the growth that I have seen so far this year

and will continue to learn and try to keep improving.

Sue DiGilio

digiliodesigns.etsy.com