My Etsy shop is now open… “Designs and Crafts by Janet Saw“… I only have two items (graphics), but I will definitely be adding more soon. It’s a lot of hard work to write descriptions. I try to put as much effort into it as possible, and so it takes forever. I currently have graphics up for sale, but I do plan to sell other things. The items need photographing, and then they’ll be up for sale too. Then, I’m looking forward to starting a new craft, one which includes a gas burner, safety glasses and mandrels! Stay tuned…
Blog
I’m slowly building up my “Etsy business” equipment, namely packaging supplies and labels. I’ve already designed a rubber stamp, which will make it easy for me to label my handmade items but without the expensive price tag of pre-printed cards. Being a designer, I really can’t settle for pre-made anything. My own rubber stamp may very well give a product an even more personal touch!
If I end up without a job in the near future, I will be opening up shop on Etsy. Inspiration struck and I think I will be able to sell packaged graphic designs, and other hand made crafts that take my whim. I’ve been itching to do craft work with my hands, and now there is a reason to make more than just one or two pieces! Same with graphics. I’ve never really been able to design or draw without a purpose, but having this shop will be the motivation I need. I still need to mull it over and build up an inventory of designs, so that is what I will be doing for the next month or so. Even if I do get a job, I can still do this on the side, although that’s wishful thinking. I would probably be too busy. Anyway, I’m also wondering if I should go with my name for the shop, or Citrus Acid Designs. I currently buy under ‘janetsaw’, but I made that account before thinking I would have a shop. Other designers frequently use their own name too, perhaps that will be the best choice for now. If I eventually decide to sell lots of crafts too, I can have a second shop, using Citrus Acid Designs and having both names!
www.citrus-acid.com
After years and years of neglecting the Citrus Acid homepage, I have finally changed its design. The reason I neglected it was because it had a few bad memories attached to it, but finally I stopped being lazy and created a simple and easy to update homepage. I mainly use the domain for emails and to host all my hobby/blog sites, which have also been partly abandoned lately (from being busy I promise!).
Back to the design side of things, the old layout was from 2004 or 2005, I can’t recall exactly when. I also failed to make a screenshot of it before I deleted it in haste to get my new design up. I still have the files somewhere in Melbourne, so they’re not lost forever, but I digress. The old design reflected my more expansively creative days using fractals to overlay on vectory-flowy-lines. I also used purple and pinks, clearly my personal colour choices if I don’t have a theme to adhere to. I used some Javascript in Dreamweaver to get the rollovers to work… It was time-consuming to update, hence, I never did.
Flash forward five years, and I think I would always go for a more simple design, one that’s easy to update. I even whipped up a citrus slice in 2 minutes as a logo of sorts. I figured it would go nicely with the citrus-acid domain. Oh, funny story, I was once told, on the phone, that my email address (@citrus-acid.com) sounded like a cleaning product. Yes, I was young when I bought the domain, but nevertheless I would not give it up because I did create some catchy ways to use it, plus it hosts all my emails and other useless but priceless files.
