It seems like only yesterday I was contemplating opening an online store, what venue to use or whether to sell through the website I had going then. Through the helpful comments many of you made and the support you offered, I finally made my decision and opened my first online store in the Fall of 2011.
Well, a lot has changed since then. My store was named "Sharyl's Jewelry" on Artfire and once I started selling components several years ago, the name seemed inadequate. I was also wanting to experiment with online stores, so since Fall of 2014, I tried out several new venues too, and opened 2 other stores under the name "Metapolies™." Those stores are on Etsy and ACM.
While I did reasonably well on Artfire (current total = 451 items sold), I'm still hoping to do better, and to streamline what I do. It was an interesting experiment having stores in several places, but I admit it was difficult to keep fresh items going all the time in 3 places plus a local art gallery.
While I fidgeted, trying to make up my mind what to do, "real life" stepped into my life and demanded that I cut back a bit.
So, I'll be closing the Artfire store in a matter of days -- with a whopping 50% off all items remaining in that store!
I may find I need to limit myself to one store, but for now, I'll keep both ACM and Etsy venues going.
Just so it comes as no surprise, I'll temporarily close ACM for about a week starting on Feb. 24, and there will be an announcement on Etsy that items may be delayed a week in shipping. After that, hoping things will smooth out a bit.
Thanks to all of you who have supported me through my venture. I hope you'll continue to visit me here, on my Facebook page (remember to click both "like" and "get notifications!"), and at Metapolies.com where you can always find the latest news on stores, sales, and more!
Hope you enjoy the sale! Please spread the word if you feel so inclined! I would love to sell as much as possible from what remains in that store.
My very best wishes to you all!
Sharyl
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Image Credits:
clip art: wpclipart.com
sale poster and photographs by Sharyl.
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It seems like only yesterday I was contemplating opening an online store, what venue to use or whether to sell through the website I had going then. Through the helpful comments many of you made and the support you offered, I finally made my decision and opened my first online store in the Fall of 2011. 
My, how awful my photos were in the beginning! I've written multiple bog posts about it and my progress along the way. (I had a period where all photos looked yellow, and another when they all looked blue.) 
and looks more like this during listing times. I have piles of beads and jewelry that need listing. I'll be trying to do more of that soon! I am liking "copy" feature in Etsy rather than having to recreate every entry from scratch! If any of you have other special tricks, procedures, or routines for listing products in your store, I hope you will share!
Finally, my absolute least favorite thing about the business is figuring TAXES. I don't mind paying them nearly as much as I dislike preparing them! UGH... In fact, that is the task I've been working on lately and finished today... just in time to meet with the accountant. 
Now if any of you have found a way to keep good records throughout the year so you don't have an annual (or quarterly) nightmare, I would FOR SURE love to hear your secrets! For now, the good news for me is that hard part about doing my taxes this year is done--Oh happy day!
What are your favorite Valentine's memories? 
Where you get a shoe box, cut a hole in the top, cover the box with tissue paper, then plaster it with red paper hearts, maybe red glitter, some of the little Valentine cards you shared with classmates, wrote your name on the box, then took it to school on Valentine's Day, hoping for lots of those little cards back in return!
We all want to feel special on Valentine's Day, like "Valentine Girl" here! We want to be reassured we are liked by our friends and loved by our family! 
So many stores, too little time! I'm finding it very hard to have time to make items, list them, and keep each store fresh with new things. So I'm cutting back and simplifying things!
