Featured Shop: Fallen Angel Designs

I am very honored and happy to feature Fallen Angel Designs Etsy Shop by my best Etsy and Facebook friend, Brenda! Please take a moment to visit her FANTASTIC shop! You will be glad you did! Her shop features amazing and very unique handmade jewelry designs!

Thank you very much, Brenda for taking the time to answer a few questions about your etsy business: Fallen Angel Designs - http://FallenAngelDesigns.etsy.com

Q. How did you hear about Etsy?

A. I actually stumbled across Etsy one day when I was surfing the internet, (probably looking for beads) and discovered that you could sell your handmade goods on there.

Q. What made you decide to sell on Etsy?

A. What really made me decide to sell on Etsy was the fact that it was free to set up your shop and was only a small price to list an item. As a stay-at-home mum (sorry Aussie spelling there) of four children, obviously it appealed to me that I could generate an income, from my jewellery, while staying at home and doing something I love. Also the fact that people from all over the world, can see and buy your creations is amazing!

Q. How did you originally get into beading?

A. I originally got into beading, because I could never find necklaces or bracelets in styles that I liked, or if I found a style I liked, it would be in a colour I would never wear or didn't go with any of my outfits. I also used to have to alter all the jewellery I bought, to fit me, as I have very skinny wrists and a small neck. So eventually, I just began to make my own! I also started beading because I have always loved beads.

Q. Which styles of jewelry (jewelry designs) can buyers find in your shop?

A. I try to cover a broad range of styles in my store. I have a lot of very romantic designs, full of flowers, hearts and pretty colours, but I also realized that a lot of people like just very simple designs for everyday wear, so I have a large range of simple styles also. There are a lot of locket necklaces and bracelets in my store, as I love lockets. I also do custom orders, so if someone sees a design they like, but want it changed, or have a design in mind that they want, I will make that for them. I have to say, that I have just been making some gorgeous, really glamorous designs lately, using vintage jewels (in gorgeous colours!) and settings, filigree pieces and drapes of chain, they are really striking. I will be listing them in my store in the very near future.

Q. What motivates and inspires you to create?

A. Beads and jewels!!! I love to sit at my beading table and just play with mixing beads, colours, chain, lockets and charms and see what comes out, sometimes I just have to look at a certain bead or charm and the design just pops right into my head. I made my 'Lovebirds Necklace' (which has sold) by accident, I had a cluster of swarovski crystals, on a short length of chain, that I had made for another design and I hated how it looked. I was annoyed with it, put it aside and it happened to be sitting under my lovebirds charm, it caught my eye, so I made that instead, it became an accidental favourite of mine! Flowers in 'real life' also inspire me, I adore flowers, their smells and their colours!!! I also love to create beautiful things, in a sometimes very ugly world ♥

Q. What are your interests outside making jewelry and etsy?

A. My family! My lovely husband and my four beautiful children are my life and my everything ♥ I also LOVE reading, I devour novels by James Patterson, Jodi Picoult, John Connolly, Jonathan Kellerman, Robert B. Parker, Jodi Compton, Lee Childs and heaps of other authors. They are my escape from reality.

Q. What is your best advice for new Etsy sellers?

A. DO NOT STRESS if you take a fair while to get your first sale or your second sale, there are so many sellers on Etsy, it can be hard to get seen when you are new.

When I listed my first items, I would continually refresh the page to see if someone had looked at my new listings, or hearted them, let me tell you, this is a bad habit, you use up all your downloads for the month and how many views or hearts an item gets, has nothing to do with if it will sell or not!! I've had items listed for less than an hour and they got sold on their first view, but I have also had items listed for 4 months and not sold, then I renew the item and sometimes they sell straight away!

A massively important piece of advice is, try to take really clear, accurate photos of your design, because that is all the customer can see of your design, they can't touch, feel, taste or smell it, so you need to appeal to their sense of sight! I was searching for supplies the other day and found the same item in 2 stores and almost passed over one of them, as I thought the charm was ugly, but it was the same charm, in both stores, just one had really great pics and the other not so good!!

Return customers are also great to have, so make sure you treat every person who convos you, or buys from your store, as nicely as possible. I have had people come back to my store, simply because I treat them so well(they have told me this, I am not being arrogant), it is so much easier to be friendly and it costs nothing! Also, when you post a parcel, wrapping your items nicely or putting them in pretty little organza bags, even popping in a little thankyou note, is lovely and the customer will notice it.

Cultivate friendships with other Etsy sellers, via convos, I know I would not have stuck it out, if I didn't have my fantastic Etsy friends, to boost me up when I was feeling low and to help me out with how things work on Etsy. I count you, Helen, as one of my lovely Etsy friends, even though we 'met' via Facebook!!

♥ Here's to you, Helen:

Helen is a very talented artist and I adore her artwork, I have already purchased 2 of her gorgeous prints and know I will be buying more in the future!

♥ To Brenda:

Brenda, thank you so very much for your kind words! I really appreciate it! I adore your work as well! Brenda is very talented, supportive and enthusiastic person I had the privilege to meet on the internet! Thank you so very much for being my friend!

And thank you very much for this wonderful interview!