I have a little Christmas present for you!
Giveaway:
The first person to buy a bracelet will get one free, both will come with their own linen lined snowflake pouch, the price $45, shipping is included, and I will even ship the second one to a different address if you are sending it as a gift with a personal note written from you inside, so they know who sent the gift. This is a savings of $45.
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| This pouch is 7" x 10", maybe big enough to fit a Tablet. |
The second person to purchase a bracelet, $45 shipping is included, will also get a snowflake pouch, but they will also get this wonderful Foundation Paper Pieced Snowflake Pouch. I am valuing the pouch at $35, let me tell you it took me a long, long time to make it, hope you like it.
Hey Mara, where's the giveaway, well, I will be giving away 1 bracelet, I have enough supplies to make 4 bracelets. 2 in each color way, the Lustered Pearl ( very wedding looking) and the Silver Lined Crystal (for those of you who like a little more bling). They all have a round magnetic clasp, easy to put on the bracelet by yourself, but not suggested for those with pace makers.
Use Mr. Rafflecopter to enter in the giveaway, if you don't want to sign in with Facebook you can always use your e-mail, that's what I do. If you are interested in purchasing a bracelet let me know by e-mail, grecomara at gmail dot com, I would LOVE to hear from you :)
a Rafflecopter giveaway
If you want to leave a blog post comment I would love to know if you think a shop selling these kinds of bracelets with unique one of a kind pouches for each one, would succeed? Like I have an idea to make a strawberry beaded bracelet with a cute little pouch, or maybe a bracelet that reminds me of the water and a beach pouch.
And If I did open a shop, do you have any name ideas? I have heard it is good to stick with your name, that way if you change directions, it's still you, like "Mara Jean Designs", or "Handcrafted by Mara"? instead of "Bagged Bracelets" hehe. What do you think? P.S. totally hoping someone in the sewing craft world, likes my bracelets enough to buy one, please say you do.
I think you could sell them. They are very dressy but would be perfect for Sunday or any special event. I think my oldest daughter would love it!
ReplyDeleteI would buy it, they are beautiful. Thanks for the chance to win one.
ReplyDeleteYour work is lovely Mara. I think the key to a shop's success is a unique product and great customer service. You have both. MaraJean Designs is a wonderful name!
ReplyDeleteI hope you will succeed Mara - your bracelets are gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteI think you should call your shop Mara Makes Beautiful Things
ReplyDeleteYes, I think that these would sell very well. I would call the store ALL THAT GLITTERS. Thank you for the giveaway.
ReplyDeleteI think you will do great! they are lovely - and all set to purchase and give as a gift w/ the handmade bag! Lovely work!
ReplyDeleteVery pretty! Maybe something like "stitches and beads"
ReplyDeleteI have wondered if items I have made would sell, as well. It is really hard to predict what will do well in shops, but I wish you the best of luck. Your bracelets are very lovely. The price is definitely not a lot for such an intricate, beautiful, handcrafted item, and unique gift giving pouch. I think you are right, that what ever you call your designs should contain your name. Good Luck!
ReplyDeletemy email is bestbelle2010@aol.com
Firstly,these are just gorgeous Mara,and the hand made gift pouch just put them over the top! I would buy one in a heartbeat if only my budget would allow...
ReplyDeleteAs for a shop name,using your own name is a good idea. You could also use your initals,such as ABC Designs or something like that.
As for them selling,as long as you reach the right customer(s) yes they will. The hardest thing,I think,is getting noticed or found on the net. Promoting your business will help with getting noticed,or getting traffic to your shop. So if you can afford to,advertise.
Customer service is also key to keep customers coming back to make aditional purchases,and spreading the word about your shop/service.
Handmade Bracelets and Bags, or I like Stitches and Beads, and you never know until you try. I think your idea to test out the market is a great one. The matching bag is a lovely touch.
ReplyDeleteI think your bracelets are beautiful! How about Artfully Beaded Creations by Mara or Uniquely Beads by Mara. If I could afford it I would buy one now!
ReplyDeletetdkcarpenoctem@hotmail.com
I think the bracelets are beautiful. With the right audience, I think you could do well. They don't look handmade at all.
ReplyDeleteI love your bracelets and think they are wonderful. I think they would be perfect for the bride or bridesmaid gifts, valentine gifts and just a gift to yourself. The Silver Crystal one is to die for. I think you have a very good chance of making a go of a shop if you find the right buyers. Let us know when you set it up.
ReplyDeleteI think Mara Makes is short and easy to remember
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful idea Mara Jean, we have the same middle name and spelled the same. The Bracelets are gorgeous.. and the cute little bag is precious and a great idea. You have been wanting to sell, GO FOR it and dont let anyone tell you diff..
ReplyDeleteThe bracelets are beautiful Mara. Finding the right market to sell them is always a challenge and a lot of work to promote them/yourself. I don't know why some people are able to create lovely things and sell them and others have such a hard time at the selling. I know selling it not my strong point and I honestly don't know what I do right or wrong in that department so I am not much help there. I wish I did know. If there is a gift shop in Greece to sell them to tourists, that would be great and easier to make and leave them there to sell. If you want to open an Etsy shop it's a lot of work to get noticed. I didn't have luck with Etsy and nothing with Zibbet either, so I gave up selling online. I do make a few things to sell at a little shop now. I am not making much, but it's enough to be able to buy a few supplies when I need to. I probably make less than 50 cents an hour when I add up my time and that doesn't include my material costs. It's not about making money for myself, but about enjoying the creating and being able to sell some things so I can have space in my house to create more. It's a labor of love. I could give it all away, but if I do I wouldn't be able to afford more supplies and tools to continue to create.
ReplyDeleteI think using your name in your shop name is a good idea and not specifying anything in particular in case you switch to making something entirely different or add other things you make that aren't the same.
The bags for your brackets are lovely, but adding the embroidery by hand is a lot of work and you really can't make money on the bags. You should price the bracelets to sell and not the bags to go with them. However, if you make a simple drawstring bag in a pretty fabric to go with the bracelet, I think it would be great. Just don't put too much time into the bag as it's the bracelet you are really selling. That's my 2 cents for what it's worth. Good luck Mara!
Those bracelets are absolutely darling. And I agree with helenjean's suggestion for the name "Mara Makes". What can I add to the well written advice given by Daryl? Best of luck to you in whatever you decide to do!
ReplyDeleteThe bracelets are beautiful Mara and I really like the idea of the personalized pouch. Maybe you could save money/time on them, if you have to, as Daryl suggests, printing a special stamp on the linen instead of the embroidery (like in your stamp tutorial!). I personally still haven't understood why some things sell and others don't! I've been to many craft markets and have noticed that presentation means a lot. If you have many of the same kind of product on a stall it makes all your products look better. I think it's worth trying selling online and locally to see which works best for you. Maybe there is a little shop for tourists in your area? I'm not good at names but I like Mara Jean Designs and maybe "in Greece" or "made in Greece" as a subtitle.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful work! Definitely would be able to sell to the right market. Any connections to a bridal store? Would look lovely as wedding jewelry with some matching earrings. Just thinking....go for it! Thanks so much! akronne17 (at) gmail (dot) com
ReplyDeleteThese are so beautiful! I'm sure they would sell. As for a name...Beauteous beads, or Keen keeler.
ReplyDeleteI think so. I like how you did the embroidered pouch to go with the jewelry - I think that is a nice touch that I haven't seen very much.
ReplyDeleteOh I am sure they will sell....they are beautiful.....how about Snowflake Palace......
ReplyDeleteLove these, Mara! Is there anything you can't do?!?!
ReplyDeleteSo here's my two cents based on what I've learned while selling on Etsy:
- Pick a niche that has relatively few people doing the same thing. Go on Etsy and search for items similar to yours. If there are few like yours, Etsy is probably going to be a great forum for you.
- Promote, promote, promote. Use social media to promote your products - become active on Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook. And spend a lot of time doing it. I found my sales doubled once I started to take Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter more seriously with respect to promoting my product.
- Keep your costs low. This includes the cost of materials (without sacrificing quality - get your supplies on sale, free shipping, etc.), your time (how long does it take you to make the profit? Figure out an hourly rate once your costs are subtracted - is it worth it?), and shipping costs (because your item is small, shipping to your biggest potential market, the states, is probably relatively low).
- Name? Well, I'd lean toward keeping your blog name as your store's name. You've already built a 'brand' name with this blog. Why not keep it?
Anywho! Good luck and keep us posted on these, Mara! They are gorgeous!!!!
Beautiful!! I haven't tried any kind of beading before and I'm not sure is have the patience for it :)
ReplyDeleteI think a shop would succeed, and the matching gift bags are a good idea. I have no idea what you should call it though, but having your name in it would be good.
ReplyDeletejen dot barnard at btinternet dot com