First Sale on Etsy!

Dear friends,

What an exciting week for Letter Parade etsy shop which I opened with just three 'thank you' cards last Monday, December 13th. As a certified Etsyholic, it is not a surprise that a new seller would not make a sale in months as I've read in a lot of Etsy featured stories so I didn't think I'd make mine right away! And there I go pouring more time into adding more stuff to my shop, the printing, the packaging, the styling and product shots plus editing.... there is always something to do and learn or read about other sellers' mistakes to avoid. It can get overwhelming. The rewarding part was being featured in a treasury on my first day of opening! Then I got invited in a BNR circle that I can't even properly explain what the whole deal is about. Basically, it's a large circle of Etsy sellers who come together online for a set time, like last night we did a three to five hour BNR. A couple of newbies who never had a sale (like me) were included and we took a spot with one product on the board. One seller has to buy one item from our shop to kick me out of the board/spot so she can have a product featured there instead allowing her to promote her products and shop more until another seller takes her spot. I don't know who thought of this but it's pretty darn clever! I was invited by the curator of that BNR herself, seller MyWaterColorDReams. It was there that I made my first sale, a set of two of these to seller FlirtySanchezProject:

 

Being in a BNR like all teams and circles has its own perks, like learning new stuff from other members I would've never discovered on my own. Maybe if I read a ton of Etsy blogs but still, inside tips and tricks are something you can only get from the streets. The downside to a BNR is having to spend and buy off another seller's item just to get a spot. Of course, for my first I never got to do this because I got my hands tied up with excitement for my first sale and opening accounts to payment tools that sellers preferred to use that I only heard about last night. But of course, you pay for good advertising, right? So if you pay to be advertised and still get something awesome and handmade out of it, I think that's a pretty damn good deal! So starts my BNR addiction and there's one in just a few hours today, yay!

Oh, and another exciting thing when I woke up this morning, my pink roses 'thank you' card got featured in another treasury again! This time the treasury is called 'Innocence' put together by seller WaterlilyJewels.

So really quick, here are the newly added products at the shop:

Etched Flower Series note cards                                                 

 

 Bon Voyage French Note Card                                                    

 

 

 La Vie Est Belle Note Cards                                                         

 

 Paris Thank You Card                                                                 

 

Bonjour French Note Card                                                          

 

  

Mime Valentine's Card                                                                 

 These are now available at my shop. And as an exclusive treat to you my friends here at blogspot, I offer a 10% code "LParadeFRNDS10" (apply during check out) until December 31st, 2010, Friday 6:00 PM PST. Thank you for another wonderful year!

Happy writing!

Cindy Gonzales-Kujat

Letter Parade Opens Shop on Etsy!!

Hi friends!

I'm happy to announce that the Letter Parade online shop is finally open! You can visit it here. After unsuccessfully running GKkards with poor product shots that didn't do justice and just wasted posting fees, I vowed to do things differently with Letter Parade. It seems like with the coming new year, it's just a perfect timing to get this thing up and running!

So today, with a borrowed pro camera, I tried my hand on product styling using my "flower series" thank you cards and came up with these:

 

 

 

I must be doing things right that in just a few hours after uploading these and more photos to my online shop, another member featured one of my 'thank you' cards in her treasury! Thank you DoodleBugFramesEtc !

So come check out the shop! I will be filling it with more products and yes it's going to be all about letters, stationery, paper goods, postcards, etc. to get you corresponding in style! 

And maybe you have some ideas on designs that you'd like me to create for you? I can do that, too!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/LetterParade

Happy writing and browsing/shopping!

Cindy Gonzales-Kujat

In My Mailbox : Vintage Stamp Dispenser

The life of my mailbox is at an all time high now with lots of friends from around the globe and all those postcards from Postcrossing.com! It's never seen better days! Especially when I shop around for unique vintage or handmade Etsy finds.

Not really a self-professed collector myself, things just seem to find me (yeah yeah) and soon enough found fallen bird feathers on the streets are piling up on my growing collection of vintage tin cans that spurred from hours and hours of looking over the vintage category on Etsy!

So when this little darling found me (it's fate), the letter-writing, letter-mailing, vintage loving me, how could I say "No"? There's no stopping my epistolary from growing now, from the modest start with letters, postcards, stationery to this little baby, my mailbox is as curious as I am as to what will find its way to me next.

Stay tuned!

According to seller Sassydoggs, this vintage stamp dispenser is.........

"from the 1960s because the stamp pictured on the side appears to be a 1965 4 cent Lincoln stamp."

Visit her shops:

http://www.sassycatts.etsy.com/
http://www.peppermintpixies.etsy.com/ 



Happy writing! (And collecting!)

Cindy Gonzales-Kujat

Shopping for Some (unique) Writing Stuff

From time to time, I like to surprise my pen friends across the globe or at the next state over little stuff like odd postcards, cute stationery, or envelopes made out of torn magazine pages (yes, fashion pages make wonderful sturdy envelopes!). Opting for a colored paper can do so much to add pizazz to an already interesting letter. Every letter writer knows this!

The neighborhood Michael's offers cheap and cute stationery, they have a section where you can dig up colorful and beautifully designed writing pads for under a buck! Or sign-up for their newsletter and get discount coupons as often as once a week. Jo-Ann is also another arts and crafts store that supposedly offers more for a lot less than Michael's, but we'll leave that to whoever runs the 'smart shopping' blog.

But today, I'm going to let you in on an amazing online store that I have been buying cool items from, not just for this hobby, it's also my go-to site for buying unique gifts. It's called Uncommongoods.com and it stands by its name! Here are the items I've been eye-ing lately that I'm sure my pen friends would love to see in their mailbox:

1) Memo Postcard (ceramic $15)
    Like a dry-erase board only a lot chic-er

2) Postcardens (available in 'City', 'City' "Greetings" packaging, 'Botanical Garden', and 'Botanical Garden' packaging "Thinking of You" $12.50)
    A postcard for the gardener or Architectural enthusiast in you or a pal

 3) Stitching Postcard (set of two $10)
     Now this is just ingenious! You can actually map out your routes using the thread and needle included in the kit. If you find yourself backpacking throughout Europe, what a great way to send this one out instead of having multiple postcards! You can choose between USA, Europe or the world.

4) Blackmail Cards (set of two postcards $8)
    Uncommongoods.com has endless list of very unique and quirky stuff like this one. The postcards come in blank so you can stick the lettered fonts to make it look like a ransom note. Imagine how much fun this would be for you and whoever you're sending it to!

5) Postcard Mug (one cup comes with a special Pebeo marker with ink especially made for ceramic - $40)
    Unlike those other mugs that you can write on, this one you can seal it permanently so the ink won't rub off when you wash it, simply bake it in the oven for 35 mins at 300F!

6) Saw Letter Opener ($15)
    I have always been opening my letters the only way I know how, by trailing my fingers through the folded edges and I personally love the look of a ruggedly opened letter, but I suppose you can also find joy in using this saw if you're used to doing things right and clean.

7) Shoe Letter Opener ($15)
    A more feminie version.

8) Elephant Poo Paper Journal and Note Box (choose between the 20-paged journal or the note box with 70 slips of paper - $14)
    Just recently, my pal from NM sent me this clever note cards made entirely out of Elephant Poo! I am all out for recycling and upcycling and making use of an otherwise wasteful matter just blows my mind! It reminds me of this one fashion designer who made use of discarded salmon scales on her accessories collection like how we use snakeskin. Amazing!

9) Panda Poo Paper (notepad, greeting cards and journal - sold in sets or individually - $8 - $24)

    I don't know where all this poo-recycling could lead to, hopefully we can stick to just poo's of our grass-consuming friends. On the bright side, these products are highly recyclable and DO NOT STINK at all.

10) Horse Poo Paper: Note Box and Journal (choose between the 20-paged journal or the note box with 70 slips of paper - $14)
      For your pen pal who has a ranch, a few lean horses and is horse-crazy and looks like she has everything. She probably doesn't have this. Well, she has the real thing I'm sure.

11) Bacon Flavored Envelopes - Set of 25 ($7)
      Yes we're done with Poo.
      I remember the time when scented pens and stationery were all the craze between my girlfriends and I in high school, but the scents were always on the fruity and floral side. Never in our youth would we imagine to ever come across a bacon-flavored envelope!!! But here it is! And it can only mean the beginning of more bacon-flavored stuff!

12) Plantable Wish Cards (12 wish cards plus three pencils - $10)
      Another wonderful idea! You can send out a prayer, greetings and well wishes by writing it all down on the circular cards, plant it and voila! You get a variety of flowers sprouting out in a few weeks.

So for your next Christmas party, you need not panic but visit http://www.uncommongoods.com/. They have a large selection on gifts under $50 or $25 for the kids, coworkers, neighbors - they have just about everything for everyone!

Keep checking back on their website because they are constantly adding unique items.

Snag any of the items above and have a blast writing!

Cindy Gonzales-Kujat
   

You've Got Mail! Sweepstakes via www.readymade.com

In preparation for launching the first Letter Parade sampler kit, I am surprise how I still manage to find extra time visiting some of my favorite websites like ReadyMade - on top of my day job! Part of my daily routine is to enter their sweepstakes, the prizes at stake are huge! Last month was a trip for two to France as tribute to Marcel Duchamp for coining the term “Ready Made.” This month, they’re giving away an $800 Etsy shopping spree! Some days, I’d be browsing Etsy and marking my favorite shops and items that if I won I already picked out the items I want!

Anyway, there are other contests to join at www.readymade.com. The other one that caught my eye that’s still ongoing is the “You’ve Got Mail! Sweepstakes.” The prize at stake is the Primele Home Office Wooden Stamp Set which any snail mail writer would love to have! Winner will get one number stamp set, one custom address stamp and a box of stamp pad. What make it so adorable are the mid-century inspired wooden handles and the calligraphic font style to the custom address stamp. They’re simple like apothecary bottles come but with their distinctively worn out feel to it.

Here’s another best part, you only have to comment about the best snail mail you’ve ever received. If you’ve been writing letters for the longest time this could either be easy or difficult since you get to pick just one! Any snail mail is already so special with the effort put into it. I had to go through the letters I’ve kept to see which one would up my chance of winning the stamp set. I chose between my husband’s letters from when we got engaged and the birthday and anniversary cards. Then, there were a lot from my mother-in-law whose kind heart matches her sweet endearing words. But in the end, I had to pick out the recent one from my mom for my 28th birthday; it was so touching it made me sob! Here’s my entry to the “You’ve Got Mail! Sweepstakes”:

August 04, 2010
I've written and gotten so many letters and each of them are so special. The ones from my husband and mother-in-law were filled with warm notes that made me all warm and fuzzy inside. But I have to say, the recent one from my mother for my birthday is the best because it made me sob so hard! We have just been reunited after eight long years and growing up with her away has been tough. This is what she wrote: "My dearest daughter, I didn't realize that you're already older, to me you're still my little girl. I love you so much! Mah" (and she threw in a necklace with one big and one small heart pendant).

Just reading from other people’s comments is already heart-warming enough. It’s made apparent that letters have such big impact on people, even the simplest ones! To read the entries yourself, go here and share your best snail mail received, too! The sweepstakes end on August 5, 2010 and winner/s will be announced the following week on the 13th. So good luck to us all!


Happy writing!

Cindy Gonzales-Kujat

PS If you'd rather just purchase this beautiful stamp set and have yours custom-made, go to Primele's etsy page and website.