Hey crafty peoples...

[wolffe]

What would make you want to join and be active on this forum? http://www.attackofthecraft.com

Throw out your first impressions, what you don't see in the board categories but would want, what you do see that you like, etc.

I'm not asking you to spend a ton of time, just go and glance at it and give me your impressions. Please and thank you.

Comments

[labradors.livejournal.com]

There's a lot there to look at! I'm interested, especially with the tutorials (which I'd have to register to view.) If I actually made my own stuff the contests would be pretty cool, the ones that are already listed sound interesting and fun.
Since I'm a lazy bum and not too crafty I don't know that I'd be back often... My friend who is crafty is way into cosplay and making her own costumes but I get the feeling that's kind of a different genre.
Anyway, looks like a good forum!

[wolffe]

Cosplay is a different animal but costumers are generally down with sites like that. I guess it just depends on your genre. :)

Thanks so much for your input!

[mellusions]

Hard to say because I probably wouldn't be active there no matter what. Sorry. :(
I should be active on Lampwork, Etc. or Etsy, given my chosen 'career' but honestly, I'm never interested in them enough to keep up on it. I like blogs and I like seeing what people are working on through those blogs. I leave a lot of blog comments. It's more personal and you don't usually have to deal with people getting all butt hurt like you do on forums. (Because there is ALWAYS butt hurt on a forum. lol)
The graphics are wonderful though, that's for sure. Though, haha, I can't see the word POW without thinking of Mark Maron and the WTF podcast because he's always going POW! I just shit my pants! *snort* (It's a coffee ad if you're not familiar with it.)

[wolffe]

Ugh. I'm such a terrible business blogger. I even made a schedule and everything for the rest of the year but I just can't seem to find time to sew, much less write blog posts.

I have another question for you... How much of your sales are from your website and how much is from Etsy? I'm trying to figure out if it's worth it for me to keep up with and really push the sale part of my site or just pump Etsy.

[mellusions]

I'd guess that it's about 50/50 now? I don't keep track of it, other than total sales figures from everything. I'm having a hard time keeping up with it the past few months, to be honest. I can't make beads 4-4 1/2 hours a day, 6-7 days a week for much longer because my hands are TOASTED. You are constantly spinning a mandrel in your left hand for that whole time, without a break, and the muscles on the top of hand just give up at some point. :(

Anyhoo. Annoyingly, some of my long time regular web site customers have moved over to Etsy. I think *maybe* because you can RSS feed it so it's easier to see when I have new stuff posted vs. remembering to visit the site on your own? I've been paying like $200 a fucking month in Etsy fees lately which makes me like this: !@#$!#$!@#$!@#$!@#$ I keep telling myself it's just less in taxes I have to pay in April but still. It's nuts.

But yeah, to get back to the ORIGINAL point, I still get enough web site orders to make it worth it to have it. It's much more customizable as far as picking colors and shipping for people and WAAAAAAAY easier (and, obviously, cheaper) to list stuff so I'll never give it up no matter what. The hosting is only $12 a month, you know? /shrug

[wolffe]

Holy mother... I would die with a $200 Etsy fee bill. Or maybe I'd celebrate for having that many sales, I dunno. LOL

I'm definitely keeping my website. I'm just not sure if I want to go through the trouble of duplicating listings. I know I *should* but I'll probably drop it for now. I have enough trouble finding time to sew.

[mellusions]

Oh no, it's always depressing to pay the fees. ALWAYS. Haha! I've actually been paying them AT LEAST every 2 weeks to keep on it just so I don't get hit all at once when they are *actually* due (and possibly have it NOT be a good time to be hit with a huge bill).

Here's what I know: work is work. Doesn't matter if you are working from home or not, doing things you like to do. Working from home is great until you are working all_the_freaking time and, as a consequence, look back at the end of the week and realize you haven't left the house in six days. (Trust me, IT HAPPENS. I don't have kids to remind me of how much time has passed, you know?) Then the house starts to feel like a prison, which is basically what a 'regular' job feels like, right? Only it's worse because this prison doesn't have a cleaning crew, like a normal job has. YOU are the cleaning crew only you don't have time to clean so your prison is dirty. It's a dirty, dark, depressing prison but YAY! You have extra money to spend! lol

[marz]

It looked a little busy and overwhelming to me. I was looking for categories on specific crafts, but didn't see any. Even something like subforums by materials would be enough (yarn, paper, fabric, glass).

I have trouble keeping up with forums. Either they are too busy and it is impossible to read it all or they are dead with no new posts in ages. I don't even keep up with Ravelry anymore other than to look for new patterns occasionally.