Friday Friends - Dusty Divas - Part 29 - Topaz Turtle

Welcome lovely readers to the final edition of my Friday Friends - Dusty Diva's blog posts for the 2010 year. In my 29th edition of my Dusty Divas series, and on this New Years Eve 2010, I am very pleased to introduce the lovely Saunthra from Topaz Turtle.
Saunthra makes the most gorgeous goodies from glam resin - I have a few favourites that I would like to share with you now !
I love the design of these Chandelier resin earrings in lime green and champagne (in fact the lime and champagne reference made my mouth water)
and I love the cool ocean colours of these Handmade blue green delicate resin stacking rings that remind me so much of summer

Music has always played a rather large role in my life and I think that this blue shimmer with record circles ( the circles are film from the old 3.25 inch computer discs - how cool ! ) inside a square resin serving plate is just the bomb !

The blend of colours in this Australian Sunset chunky resin bangle are sublime and

There is something about this funky design in the Avocado green square resin ring with black swirls that really captures my attention

and I think that this Sapphire blue starfish resin bowl would make a lovely addition to the summer outdoor dining table.

Dear readers as this year ends, I wish to extend my heartfelt thanks to my blog followers, those who have been involved in being my featured artists each week and to each and every one of you who has left lovely comments or shared a blog post through social networking sites. This has been my first year as a Blogger and I have found it to be such a lovely rewarding experience - there is so much talent out there in the worldwide interweb. I wish you all every happiness and success for the year 2011 and hope to see you back at my blog next year. Love & Peace to you all - Happy New Year !


The Tale of Saunthra & Topaz Turtle

I joined Etsy a year ago (it’s just short a few days) and it has been an experience that has been at times wonderful, exhilarating and exhausting. I thought in this last Dusty Diva blog for the year I would share some of my highs and lows and hopefully inspire you to take a leap into the great unknown.

The biggest improvement I have seen in myself, in this last year, has been in my decision making skills. When I first started I used to agonise over each one. Now I don’t and if things don’t work out as a result, I just build a bridge and get over it.

Obviously, the first few decisions I made were to sell or not to sell, where to sell, what to offer. Selling on the internet opens up a whole new world of possibilities. You can choose to do it alone or use an online marketplace and there are a lot to choose from. Etsy, madeit.com, artfire, Big Cartel and supermarkethq are a few.

The biggest advantage they offer is that they have established themselves as sites selling handmade items or supplies. They have thousands of followers that you can leverage off. The downside is there is a fee involved in selling on these sites.

For a newbie, without the backing of fans or a well known brand, the cost is worth it. It’s difficult to drive viewers to your page, as you will no doubt find out even after signing up with one of these sites. Just imagine how much worse it could be if you were on your own.

Over the course of the year I also found myself joining social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and StumbleUpon. I used to think that these took up too much time away from crafting, designing and life in general.

The fact of the matter though is that these are places where potential customers/ publicity opportunities/ wholesale dealers hang out and you need to have a presence there. Reconnecting with old friends, colleagues and schoolmates is a pleasant and unlooked for bonus.

I also discovered a need for flexibility. Add products as and when you see fit, drop lines if you think they are not successful. Make things in different colours and sizes if asked and if you think they will be successful. If something sold once it is highly likely that it will sell again. Etsy has a monthly merchandising report and this is a good place to get ideas about colours, trends and items that might peak in that month.

As part of the reinvention process I found the need to continue learning. I keep on top off new techniques about my art, better ways to market products, opportunities for selling and how to improve my sales. I learn from books, by joining a team, taking part in forums and chat rooms, taking a class, and by looking at physical brick and mortar stores.

Another piece of advice I would give a fellow seller is to take part in markets. It is a way of connecting with your customers. Markets goers will give you instant feedback such as it doesn’t fit, I wanted a red or that your items are too expensive.

You also get a feel for how people view your product – one man described resin as ‘a kind of plastic’ to his daughter. Fair enough assessment I guess but it drove home the point that I might have to think of a way of ‘glam-ing” up resin.

Still working on that one and I would love to hear suggestions.
My final piece of advice to all readers is to love what you do as contentment and happiness will follow.

I hope I haven’t strayed from the mission for this blog and thank you for reading all the way to the end. Thank you Samara for including me in this wonderful Dusty Diva blog.

Do you fancy owning your very own piece of Topaz Turtle resin goodness ?

Check out the online stores at :

Madeit : http://www.madeit.com.au/topazturtle

Etsy : http://www.etsy.com/shop/TopazTurtle

Or connect with Topaz Turtle at

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/topazturtle

Twitter: http://twitter.com/topazturtle

Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/topazturtle

Blog: http://www.topazturtlehandmade.blogspot.com/