Loosing my Etsy Virginity

As I reached to turn my alarm off on Saturday morning I was pleasantly surprised to see that I had actually succeeded in attaining my very first Etsy order. I can't begin to tell you how excited that made me! A lovely lady in the US had bought one of my dreadlock bead sets and it happens to be my favorite one, the locket and key set.

I only started listing my items on Etsy just before Christmas and so far had only listed 4 items so I could test the water. To my joy, this lovely lady has taken my Etsy order virginity :)

So why is this a big deal? Well, Etsy is THE place for buying handmade items and whenever I look around it I am in awe of the talent of the thousands of sellers there and I honestly believed that no-one would EVER find my items let alone buy one. This is why my first Etsy order is such a big deal because it shows that people can find my items, do like my items and will ultimately buy one of my items. It's a huge confidence boost for me as a creator and as a user of Etsy.

Because of this one sale my confidence in Etsy as a marketplace for my items has increased and I have started to list my other beads and charms in my Etsy shop. I hope I will get some good results from those too. This isn't about making money though, as my items sell for mere pounds I'm not going to make my millions any time soon but the confidence gained as an artisan is immeasurable.

I'm going to spend a little more time on Etsy now as it seems like the kind of place you have to build up your 'status' and work on your social presence, these things of course take time but as Etsy has proven to be a nice place to sell my things, I'm happy to put some time into it. If you'd like to visit my shop, click here.

Now I'm going to go and package these little beads up and send them on their long journey across the sea to their new home.

Do any of my readers sell on Etsy? How do you find it? Is it hard to build and maintain a social presence on there?

Making dreadlocks look beautiful

Some of you know but most of you don't know that I have dreadlocks. Contrary to popular beliefe they are not dirty or stinky and I wash them a lot. I think many people have this misconception because they think that dreadlocks are achieved by not brushing or washing your hair for a very long time but this is further from the truth. Dreadlocks formed the 'natural' way are messy, uneven and probably quite stinky (think about it, someone who doesn't brush or wash for ages...). My dreadlocks were carefully planned and achieved by four days of pure torture to get them done. It involves a lot of hair pulling, cramp and neck strain. Not to mention the poor hands of my husband who was the one who did them for me.

I wash them every week and tidy them up once a month. By tidy up I mean 'stitching' the loose hair at the roots back in with a very tiny crochet hook. This takes a very long time. I also spray them with essential oils which not only makes them smell beautiful, it's also good for my scalp. So all in all, I think on average I spend as much time on my hair as any un-locked girl.

Dreadlocks are sometimes difficult to style and even more difficult to get to look girly. When I'm in a lay-about mood I tend to look really boyish. I've recently discovered a love for dreadlock beads because they make your dreadlocks look girly without being over the top. I've started a little online shop that I really hope some dreadlocked people will come to visit and buy some dreadlock beads. If you're interested, the address is www.airria.co.uk



Here's a few that I've made. I adore the irony of the comb dreadlock bead but my favourite is the locket and key beads. Which one is your favourite?