Etsy How-to: Viewing your convos

For new Etsy users, being told to go view your convos or to convo a seller can be confusing.  Truthfully, the first time I went to Etsy to buy something for my sister, I put off my purchase for a few weeks until I had time to figure out what the heck everyone was talking about.

It ended up being pretty simple, though.  Convos are conversations–or system messages.  They are accessible from just about any page I can think of on the Etsy site. I use convos in all of my sales to send out proofs. If you’re new to Etsy, here’s how to read your convos.

  1. Using your web browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, etc.), go to etsy.com
  2. Click on Sign in–it’s to the right of the orange square that says “Etsy.”
  3. Type in the username and password you created when you made your account on Etsy.
  4. Click the blue Sign in button.
  5. At the top of the resulting page, there’s a tan/grey bar with several buttons and a search area. You’ll see a small envelope in that bar; if you’ve been sent a convo and haven’t read the convo yet, you’ll also see a number overlain on the envelope. Click on the envelope.
  6. Now you’re in your convo area.  To read convos, click on their titles.  Titles that are bolded and have a new icon placed before them are unread.
  7. If I’ve sent you a proof, you should see a thumbnail at the bottom of my proof notification message.  Click on the thumbnail. Voilà–your proof will appear in a new window!
  8. When you’re done viewing your proof, just let me know if it’s approved or needs changes via convo–when you’re viewing a convo, there’s a little reply box at the bottom of the message I’ve sent you.  Just type your message and hit Send.

There–I hope that helps those of you who were wondering how this works–Etsy is a great place, especially for a wide variety unique, warm and personalized goods and gifts.

Treasured: It is Christmas in the Heart

…that puts Christmas in the Air.

$23.00

$3.50

$3.50

$5.00

$10.00

$56.00

$28.00

$5.00

$24.00

$12.95

$100.00

$6.00

$36.00

$6.00

$2.00

$2.75

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Treasured: Sew Wonderful

Beautiful and unusal items inspired by sewing

$175.00

$25.00

$10.00

$22.00

$8.00

$32.00

$9.50

$19.00

$3.00

$22.00

$48.50

$24.60

$8.00

$25.00

$5.00

$6.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Saturday’s creative work

It’s been crazy lately. During the school year, I’ve got a full plate and am usually at school by 7 a.m. and don’t leave until 4:30 or 5 p.m., and then when I get home I either go back for further work or I make dinner, work on lesson plans and fulfill orders for Bohtieque.

Weekends aren’t much better; I usually have some sort of full-day activity planned with Small Child on Saturday and Sundays are for church, Sunday School, and grading papers or lesson planning.

Yesterday, for various reasons, I had some much-needed time set aside for playing on Illustrator, and I came away from the session pretty happy.  It started with Kristofer the Reindeer over there.  He’s a handsome fellow, isn’t he?  Then, I moved on to my Blushing Santa and Friendly Penguin.  I have to say, they’re pretty cute.

One of the three will definitely be on my cards this year–at least that’s what I’m planning for now.  Knowing me, I might just come up with something else that I fall in love with between now and Thanksgiving, but for now, I’m in love with these three!

Treasured: Dreaming of farm life

$32.00

$19.95

$6.00

$14.95

$775.00

$90.00

$75.00

$25.00

$26.00

$250.00

$16.00

$39.00

$20.00

$24.00

$20.00

$14.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Treasures: Handmade Harvest

‘Elite 16 Style Guide: Handmade Harvest’ by aspeerstudio

The Script and Serif Lined canning labels I wrote about a while back are featured in a treasury!  You can find out more about it at the Elite 16 Style Guide Challenge.

$6.00

$175.00

$45.00

$48.00

$28.00

$12.00

$65.00

$100.00

$30.00

$1000.00

$17.00

$35.00

$21.00

$7.00

$4.00

$3.25

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

School hasn’t even started, and I’m stretched in five billion directions

By the time I got home from school Wednesday, I’d cleared away some pretty important tasks I’d been plugging through most of the summer–most importantly, the framework for a new class I’m introducing. I talked to some kids, solved a lens problem for a publications staffer, tried to hook up a new-old VCR in hopes that I could actually view the channel I’m coordinating in my classroom.  No such luck yet.

There was more, but I’ll stop listing it all now.

When I came home, I spent a bit of time with Small Child and read him a few chapters of a Hank the Cowdog book, then started working with my cutter/plotter to see if I could get it working well enough to cut out some fun label shapes.  It’s never worked quite right, as far as I can tell, so I tested it out on some letters for the bulletin board in my classroom. And that takes me to 11:30, bed time.

Now, let’s think about how many of us start our days out when it’s still dark and wind up fully involved in work of one kind or another aside from those few, precious sleeping hours. Working full time and running an Etsy shop is an intense proposition.

Here’s why I do it:  first, although I love my work as a teacher, I crave a creative outlet where I get positive feedback about my talents through every sale. When I teach, I throw a damper on many of my creative impulses while I let my students explore their own. Second, my ability to generate income helps us save away for those special, home-owning joys like new roofs.

I’d love to hear your feedback–why do you hold down this second job?

 

Childrearing, definitely not for faint of heart

Status

OMG. (No, I don’t normally use “OMG” in normal conversation, but today’s round of school shopping/child events deserves it.)

Yes, I’m that mom who took her son to the Children’s Museum for some mother-son pre-school bonding time only to put him in a very public and messy time-out as I tried to transition him out of the building. If anyone has a better way than reminders/warnings of the big leave-taking  every 10 minutes for the last half hour OR buying said child a huge ice cream cone as a bribe, let me know.

(The huge ice cream cone did work quite well to draw Small Child out of the play apparatus at the McDonald’s Play Place, however. I thought we’d never leave because although I could definitely hear him, I couldn’t see him amongst all the netting, tunneling, and children’s limbs.)