Our 10,000th Etsy cart winner is ….
… a university student! Who here doesn’t have starving college days that they can recall? Man, I used to make it work for the weekend when my cheap meal plan didn’t cover it. I’d get a rotisserie chicken for $3.99, a lime, and a cucumber and make it last for all my meals for the weekend! That’s $5 for food for the whole weekend. I just remember being hungry during all my university years.
I couldn’t be happier for her because she was timely and also “played it” well. Knowing that the shop was within sight of hitting 10,000 Doryn went ahead and bought many different frames to try out along with the PDF, thereby securing her spot! Her cart totaled $145 so she got the 10,000th item – the PDF! – free as well as $100 off her cart.
And wouldn’t you know it, but Doryn is from New Jersey! What a coincidence. I had asked some questions about Doryn, so read our Q&A.
Q: Can you tell me a bit about you?
A: I am studying environmental law and policy. The curriculum prepares me for law school if I decide to become an environmental lawyer. I can also become an environmental consultant for a company and then my job would be to ensure the company is functioning within current federal and state environmental regulations. I’ve loved Star Trek for as long as I can remember and I’m also a Patrick Stewart fangirl 🙂 I’m naturally more of a ‘thinker’ than a ‘doer’; I’d rather ponder over ideas and theories than test them. I’ve also been told that I’m highly analytical, though I don’t think that’s true (I’m just good at pretending I am, ha!)
Q: Do you have a shop?
A: Not yet, but I do plan on launching one within next few months.
Q: Do you like to craft?
A: Love it, it’s nice to let creativity flow. In addition to sewing, I knit, crochet and draw/sketch. I’m relatively new to sewing, I’ve only been sewing for a year and a half. I find it to be therapeutic and I use it as a way to de-stress and focus when my mind is jumbled. I also love the sense of accomplishment I feel when I’ve finished a project that is unique and completely me. I will be using these frames to make bridesmaid’s clutches for my cousin’s wedding and prom clutches for my younger friends.
A wristlet by Doryn.
Doryn made this pen roll.
Q: How did you hear about WhileBabyNaps?
A: I was searching for frames that I could use to make the bridesmaid’s clutches for my cousin’s wedding. I came across your shop on Etsy and I saw how much pride you take in your items and the amount of work you’ve put into making these frames top-grade. When I realized you supported those businesses who use your frames, that you were a jeweler, AND from New Jersey, I knew I had to have them!
Q: How did you hear about the 10,000th item promotion?
A: I’ll admit I’m one of those people who puts tons of items in their cart, and leaves them there so I can mull over the possible purchase. I was finally preparing to checkout when I decided to look over your shop again and I saw the 10,000th item banner! It was an opportunity too good to pass up! Thank you, Winn!
I like her spunk!
Congrats, Doryn. I hope you enjoy making your clutches for your cousins and friends. We all look forward to seeing your shop of sewn good and crafts. My thanks to each and every customer on Etsy (and from the webstore)!
~Winn
Who will be the winner of the 10,000th item on Etsy?
We are getting close! A couple weeks ago, I wrote about our huge milestone coming up, and now we are on the cusp of having a winner. Currently, at 9942 items sold, we should have a winner within the next week, unless my crystal ball is not working. 🙂
Can I start the countdown?
Whoever’s (whomever’s?)cart contains the 10,000th item sold, will get that item and the entire cart free, up to $100.00! I’m curious to see if it will be a brand new customer, a woman who is trying out a new skill for the first time who will make a clutch for her friends, or if it will be a woman who runs her own business and needs to get some more frames to make clutches getting ready for Mother’s Day sales. Not to slight my few but wonderful male customers, it could be one of them needing some more Gutermann glue to their clutches, too. We will have to wait and see!
Vacation Notice: Please get your orders in!
Well, it’s Spring Break time of the year and it’s also a much-needed pull-the-plug from work and plugging into the kids! Both shops, the Etsy shop and the online store, will be closed March 23, 2013 for 10 days. This Saturday will be the last day for shipping so please get your order in by Thursday. Shipping will resume Tuesday, April 2nd!
During the shop closing, Thy will have internet access and will be taking Custom Orders. So while you may still be able to order, no shipping will occur until April 2, 2013.
Thy is taking some time off with her 2 boys, and I will be headed to China(!) with my 3 kids. The Great Wall has been on The Bucket List and I’m finally getting to cross it off! We are also looking forward to being in cooler weather. How we miss the cold and snow of New Jersey! I know it’s been a cold and snowy and tough winter season for many of you above the Mason-Dixon line, but hang in there! Spring is just around the corner. 🙂
Photo courtesy of Over50feeling40.
Warmly yours,
Winn
Striving for the best Customer Service
Recently, Etsy came out with a new feature for sellers. If you are an Etsy seller, you can see some key Customer Service Stats about your shop. What I really like about this is that it allows you to see where you can improve on or where you can keep striving to maintain. After all, people buy from people, and that is clear on a marketplace like Etsy where the focus is often on OOAK handmade goods.
I am beyond thrilled to see that from day 1 on Etsy (November 11, 2009), I (and Thy) have striven to be the best in Customer Service. The following takes into consideration our entire history on Etsy.
This demonstrates our strive to give you the best customer service so you keep coming back!
That is not to say we don’t make mistakes! We make plenty of mistakes. We fall down and get scraped sometimes. But we also get up and try harder to be better. Thank you for working with us and letting us make it right for you in the instances where we do mess up. Obviously, you know that it’s never intentional when we do get it wrong. It’s this reservoir of good-will that we never take for granted. 🙂
So for you Etsy sellers out there, check out your Customer Service Stats to see the areas where you can maintain or areas where you can improve on. This is a great tool and is worth your time!
~Winn
How to sell your clutches with an in-home crafts fair.
I get all sorts of emails from my wonderful and loyal customers, and sometimes there is great information that I think other customers can benefit from. Like Erin who offered her great tips about selling at arts and crafts fairs so that others could benefit from, Susan of Lulu Caswell has graciously offered some tips for you to have success selling clutches at your in-home crafts fair.
With two years of selling her clutches at her house, Susan has wonderful helpful tips. In fact, she sells the majority of her clutches off the Net! Here are some tips:
1. Invite other craftsters to display their goods in your home. More will come when you have a house party for handmade clutches, jewelry, and quilts (for examples) than just clutches alone. Susan sold nearly $1000 in clutches on one Sunday from 12-4pm! With this, she was able to pay off her husband’s tuition for one month. GO Susan!!!
2. Promote amongst your friends via your social networks of Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc… Be sure to ask them to come (don’t be shy!) and to share the post with their friends. How about “Hey, I would love for you to come. I would really appreciate your support and would love to see you and catch up over some munchies while you check out all the goodies! If you cannot come, I would appreciate your support by sharing this post on your Wall with your friends.”
3. Go on to Etsy and solicit other local craftsters/artisans to display their goods at your in-home crafts fair. Susan didn’t know most of them, but that didn’t deter her from asking them to participate in her second year. She had 6 other vendors join her at her home and about 40-50 guests who came, even some customers from the previous year. These things build so hopefully she will have even more attend next year.
4. To get more foot traffic and eyes, create a flyer and post them at local churches, at the kids’ schools, and at the local community hall. Ask the other vendors to do their share of posting the flyers and promoting the event to their network of friends.
5. For a smaller, intimate affair, do an evening show with just your clutches and serve wine and cheese. Email it to ALL your girlfriends and ask them to pass the email to a girlfriend and to bring a girlfriend!
Selling your clutches at your home is just another avenue for you. It is one that costs very little (take out that folding table and throw a nice sheet to cover as table linen!) yet is one that will allow customers to get to know you. People buy from people, and this direct selling has worked for the biggest companies like Avon, Mary Kay, and Lia Sophia.
Take a look at some of the pictures from her last in-home craft fair.
Susan’s sumptuous table of clutches. Look at all the variety of colors and textures!
This paper maker did really well.
This craft fair was held before the holidays. These would make great gifts for a little girl!
The woodworker also sold really well!
I can smell these scents through my screen!
The woodworker, the baker, and the candlestick maker? 🙂 The baker brought her goodies, too!
I want to thank Susan for her generosity in sharing these tips with her fellow clutch makers. If you are a fellow artisan in the Fall River, MA area, be sure to contact Susan at her shop to plan the next in-home craft fair. You’ll be glad you did!
Dupioni Silk clutches
For handcrafted clutches with exquisite dupioni silk in vibrant colors, look no further than Karina’s shop SimplyClutch. Karina lives in my one of my favorite places on Earth, San Diego! My most favorite place in San Diego is the Torrey Pine GliderPort. I love sitting at the outdoor cafe having lunch and watching the hang gliders. If you are not in San Diego any time soon, no worries since Karina has an online shop on Etsy.
I love this bright pop of color!
The dupioni silk clutches come in many colors!
All are made with beautiful eye-catching silk lining.
Karina also makes bridal clutches. Looking for something blue?
I simply love Karina’s careful work from using the best silks, to offering embroidery, to hand-sewing the silk flowers. Her work is top notch! Stop by her shop and take a look!
Vintage Kimono Clutches
Looking for a holiday gift for someone special on your list? Whether it’s for your mom, sister, grandma, best girlfriend, aunt, or babysitter, a handmade clutch handbag is a treasured, useful and thoughtful gift. As part of my holidays promotions, I will be highlighting original clutches handmade by amazing women.
One woman in particular was just mentioned in my previous blog. Erin is a mom of 2 and is based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Erin is the originator of using vintage kimono fabric to make her clutches. Her eye for fabric and fabric placement is quite keen. Her clutches are truly treasured gifts and she sells at local arts and crafts shows as well as online through her shop on Etsy. My relationship with Erin goes back about 3 years and I am endlessly impressed at how giving she is to her fellow clutch makers from encouraging to supporting others with her experience.
This handmade clutch is made with original vintage kimono fabric. This clutch is a beautiful rendition of the peacock clutches that we’ve seen. It goes well for the holidays with a LBD (little black dress) or for a spring wedding.
Erin only uses vintage kimono clutches. She has them imported from Japan! These are the real deal.
Love the bold color!
How stunning is this coin purse? Beautiful chrysanthemum!
If you are looking for a clutch, Erin has a huge selection with many price points. Please check Erin’s shop out!
20% OFF total purchase – It’s on!
Thank you everyone, for your congratulations. This is a gentle reminder that our sale has just begun for our once-a-year biggest sale as a thank you to our customers. The sale ends on Nov. 11 , 2012 at midnight EST so please plan your purchases well. Get your needs now during this sale to make your clutches for Christmas(!) offerings. OMG, I heard Christmas music one week after Halloween at a DVD shop in Ho Chi Minh City! Many Western traditions and culture have permeated the far reaches of the Earth. I just can’t believe they had Christmas music before Thanksgiving already – in Viet Nam, no less!
http://purseframesoutlet.etsy.com
http://whilebabynaps.com **Thy will refund 20% OFF total purchase + any excess shipping at time of shipping at my online shop.**
Our other sister is in town to help Thy out with the orders and so far, all orders have gone out within 24 hours! Thank you for all the emails and notes that you’ve written in Note to Seller. I think I’ve replied and thanked each one who wrote personally, but I didn’t want to go without saying thanks, again, here as well. If I missed you, things are a little cray-cray around here — in a WONDERFUL and BLESSED way — but we are doing everything to get all orders out timely so you can get to the business of sewing and making!
Y is here helping with your orders …
Not helping with your orders? These 2! But they sure look cute! 🙂
11/11/12 – 3 year Anniversary Sale
It’s hard to believe that I’ve been on Etsy for 3 years (and that I’ve been in business since 2001!). It’s really amazing that I still have many of the same customers that I’ve had since I opened on Etsy in 2009! You have included me by sharing about marriages, birthdays, loss of jobs, new opportunities, illnesses, deaths of loved ones, and new babies. You share with me your joys and sorrows as much as I share! Let’s have some cake!
Can you believe that this is a cake? They don’t make them like this anymore …
I cannot have an anniversary to celebrate if I didn’t have customers … so as a thank you for your business, support, encouragement and loyalty, I am offering my annual sale of 20% OFF ALL items in the store. 20% OFF your total purchase. This includes frames, kits, PDFs, and Gutermann glue.
How perfect are these cake pops??? Lots of other cake pops at the blog. Click on the picture for more.
Here are the Legal terms:
*Sale valid from November 8, 2012 – November 11, 2012 midnight EST.
*No extensions of this yearly sale will be made for payments/orders received after the closing deadline of November 11, 2012 midnight EST. Get your orders in!
*Good until inventory runs out! First in, first out. If I run out prior to the end of the sale, you will be contacted and you can keep your order with the rain-check (see below) until a new production is done, or you can cancel the order. Your anniversary sale discount will be honored at the SALE price at which you bought it regardless of price fluctuations in the raw metal prices.
*This sale is not retroactive on any previous sales or for any pending orders.
*You must enter code “3rdsale” at check out during November 8, 2012 – November 11, 2012 midnight EST and you will get 20% OFF your total purchase immediately.
*Due to the anticipated high number of orders in, please allow for up to 5 business days for your items to be packaged and shipped. We normally ship 99% of items within 24 hours, but due to historical high demand during the sale, please allow us time to do final inspections, package, and ship your order. If for some reason that it takes longer than that, we will let you know, but this window will give us time. All orders will have the 30-days money back, full refund (minus shipping both ways) for any reason extended from the date of shipment of your order.
*For Custom Listings, just contact me at the shop and a custom listing will be done for you with 20% OFF and the correct shipping applied. Please know that we only charge the true and correct shipping for all orders at all times of the year.
Two ways to contact on the Shop home page.
*If you don’t see a quantity or size listed, it means someone has just ordered it and it has not yet been re-listed. You can wait until it gets re-listed, order it at my webstore or contact us through the shop home page or through any item and Thy can make custom listing for you.
Contact button available on every item’s listing.
*Sale applicable to frames out of stock but under production as rain-check items (see below).
Raincheck items:
*I just started another new production of frames in various sizes and finishes. The list is quite big, but if the frames that you want are not in stock but is currently in production, we will extend the 20% sale price if you pay in full by the deadline of November 11, 2012 midnight EST.
*Rain checks will be shipped when your entire order comes in unless you contact us otherwise. (Items can be shipped as they come in but you will charged shipping each time.)
*Due to the back-n-forth nature of conversations (emails through my Etsy shop), contacts requesting custom listings must be sent in before the sale deadline of November 11, 2012 midnight EST. If we have your contact with a request for a custom listing with items needed and quantity in before that deadline, you qualify for the 20% OFF total purchase. ALL payments for custom listings must be paid within 48 hours of the Custom Listing going up on Etsy.
Made in New Jersey!!! 🙂
We thank you, again, for your loyalty and support. Work is never “work” when you are getting this much joy from servicing and interacting with your customers. 🙂
~Winn (and Thy)
The videos show my gray!
Well, the videos are taking quite a bit longer than I thought. I have more on the blooper reel than I do actual videos! I’ve never had media training and I get so nervous on camera. I talk super-fast and have had to force myself to slow down. My kids think I wear too much make-up. They are just used to me in my yoga pants, pony tail, no make-up on, getting ready to go to Pilates.
At least I’m getting a lot of work done. Speaking of which, I just got to doing the About page on the Etsy shop website. Check it out!
You all know about me by now. But in case you didn’t know how I came up with the name … 🙂
I hope you all have a wonderful Halloween. I sure miss Autumn. I’ll be back with some Halloween photos! My daughter insisted that she is going as a baby butterfly, and that I go as a Mommy butterfly. How sweet! Are you dressing up? What’s your costume? Send me a pic!
About
I am the #1 US seller of purse frames and I’ve been incorporated since 2001. This blog is mainly aimed at my audience of clutch handbag makers. I have a very small niche that is comprised of 99.9% women. I am loyal and promote handbag makers who are loyal to me by using my fine purse frames. When they are successful, then I am successful.
The two businesses that I own are:
*purse supplies, Gutermann glue, and DIY clutch kits at whilebabynaps.etsy.com, whilebabynaps.com
*up-cycled purse supplies PurseFramesOutlet.etsy.com
To find clutches made using my fine metal purse frames, LOOK to see “Trademarks of WhileBabyNaps.com and H&D LLC” and you’ll know the clutches are made using the finest metal purse frames that are tested for lead and that have a protective coating to lengthen the life of the clutch. You can go to any of the sellers on the Sellers page.
****NOTE: If you want someone to make a clutch for you, please contact any of my sellers and inquire. They will gladly make custom orders!****
Interested in reaching my audience? Advertise. Contact me here.
Thank you for stopping by for a look.
Warmly,
Thy Khuong
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My Etsy shop
#1 US Seller of Purse Frames
My Main shop
Wholesale purse frames for clutches
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